I stare into her eyes, hoping she can see the sincerity in mine. Hoping she can see that she can trust me. I see the resolve cross her features before she nods slightly, once. My brothers all stiffen, our jaws clenching, we know from her behaviour that her injury wasn’t simply an accident like tripping and falling down the stairs.
My god I hope we are wrong though.
The minute she tells Hunter no hospitals though, the sickening feeling churning in my stomach gets worse.
I knew there was something wrong with her this morning. Why didn't I just ask her?You know why idiot, she's skittish enough as it is, a question like that would have sent her running.I remember how it was for me and my brothers before we left for the military at seventeen with a parental signature.
We managed to catch our father when he was drunk but in a calm enough mood, he signed without really knowing what he was signing and by the next morning he had forgotten signing anything. Our father didn't care and even if he did with the amount of shit we had on him hewouldn't have said anything anyway.
A year and a half later we then got selected to join a secret undercover branch of the military that deals with threats to national security or even security of an individual person and now we take jobs all over the world. We have a vast range of skills and are trained in multiple different things that can be applied to a variety of different missions.
It was during training that we met and bonded with Hunter and Jax. You are urged to create teams during training, although in most cases the people on your teams are just work colleagues and sometimes friends if you’re lucky. Most people select teammates for their teams with skills that complement their own. Our team though has grown as close as family, due to similar backgrounds and experiences. I am extremely proud to call these men my brothers.
Sometimes it is necessary to join with other teams if a mission is more complicated than what was first thought, although that doesn’t happen often. I'm brought out of my thoughts with the guys panicked yelling. I glance down towards the only person that could make highly trained military men forget their training, just in time to see Sage's eyes roll into the back of her head.
I'm not too proud to admit that I join my brothers in panicking. There's just something about her that calls to me, to us.
Hunter regains his composure quicker than the rest of us and I watch as he ever so gently, more gently than I have ever seen him be before, picks her up bridal style and cradles her to his chest. Even though she is passed out a grimace of pain appears on her face as he moves her. I hear Hunter muttering what seems to be a constant stream of apologies as he walks out of the cafeteria, Maverick striding quickly after him, with Jax leading a still panicking Kai, his arm around his shoulders speeding after them.
Kai has the hardest time out of all of us seeing women hurt. He was the one who found our mom. We all hate it but for Kai he gets stuck in a memory. It's been a while since he’s been pulled into the horrific memory.
Muttering starts up around me as my brothers leave with Sage, and I remember that the incident happened in the cafeteria. I ignore the muttering voices and race out to follow my brothers, only a few seconds behind.
Please for the love of all that is holy, please, please let her be ok.
I need her.
Hunter
I'm the first one to snap out of the panic that Sage inducedwhen she passed out. Moving incredibly carefully, I gently scoop my arm underneath her knees and one behind her head and gently lift her off the floor. Cringing when I notice her grimace of pain.
"I'm sorry Sweetheart, just a little bit longer and we will get you checked out and more comfortable." I say as softly as my rough voice will allow me.
I can hear the others following after me, but I don't wait for them. She said no hospitals so the only place I can think to take her is our home. We all have extensive first aid training so we should be able to patch her up. I'd feel better if she'd let us take her to the hospital though.
Approaching the SUV we came in this morning, Maverick runs ahead of me to open the back door. I nudge Kai to get in first, knowing that he needs to focus on Sage or the memories are going to consume him. He gets in stiffly and helps me guide Sage in as gently as possible resting her head on his lap. He stares down at her stroking her hair and muttering things too quiet for me to hear.
The rest of the guys load up, Jax snagging the seat next to Sage and gently placing her feet in his lap. The air on the car ride to our home is tense and silent. We need Sage to wake up so we can ask her where she’s hurt. Once we arrive back at our house Kai gently gathers Sage in his arms and caries her through the front door. We all follow in behind him as he lays her gently on the couch.
"Maverick can you check her over once we know where she's hurt? I know we've all got training, but you've gone more in depth with it." Levi asks.
"Yes of course, I'll just go wash up.” He sends a discreet nod in the direction of Kai who is obviously really struggling.
He has Sage's hand clutched tightly in one of his whilst his other one gently strokes the hair off her face. His eyes aren't really seeing her though. He’s trapped in his mind right now and that could get dangerous if he gets sucked into the past too deeply.
It hasn't happened for a long time but the suspicions behind her injury and the fact that he so obviously cares about her is going to be extremely hard for him. I walk over to him and gently lay my hand on his shoulder. He glances up at me his usually cheerful and mischievous eyes, dark and haunted.
I hate seeing him like this.
"Hey, why don't you try and wake her up? We need to know where she's hurt so we can help her." I say hoping that by distracting him he will be able to swim up from his memories.
"Yeah okay.” He says gently before turning back to Sage and stroking her hair off her face again. "Sage, Beautiful Girl? Can you open your eyes for me?"
I watch as Sage begins to stir. Her breathing is back to normal although still slightly shallow. It's not as nearly as worrying as it was whenshe was wheezing in the cafeteria.
"Where am I?" Sage asks worriedly looking around.
"At our home, Sweetheart. Since you said you didn't want to go to the hospital, and we didn't know where you lived we figured here would be best." I reply giving her one of my small smiles.
