“Is ready to say what the fuck we do with him.”
I shake my head once before facing away again.
“She ain't like that.”
“Nah, she wasn't like that, Reign, but it's fucking different now, ain't it?”
When I understand the gravity of his words, my eyes swing to his, and then I shift my focus away from him and warily turn around. I stand back and watch as Chaos kneels beside her,scanning her before delicately brushing her hair away from her bruised face with the tips of his fingers. When he looks at me with glazed eyes, his expression heavy with sorrow, it absolutely breaks me, but I choke the emotion back down before shifting closer to them.
He moves aside, giving me access, and I lower myself, carefully sliding my arms beneath her frail frame and gently lifting her off the ground. Her petite body feels alarmingly heavy, almost lifeless and when she tosses her head back, the dark bruises and blood smeared across her throat and chest paints a grim picture of what suffering she has gone through.
Tears blur my vision as I fight to maintain my composure, overwhelmed by a surge of guilt, anger and sadness. As soon as I am upright, I hold her close to me and turn with her while everyone steps out of the way so I can get her the fuck out of here.
I stare at her the entire time as I take her out of the building and walk back to the car, holding her in my arms. Chaos opens the back door for me, and I carefully lay her onto the backseat on her side, adjusting the soiled blanket over her once more. In reality, I want to take it off her and wrap her in something else, something clean and comfortable, but I know she’s naked underneath from when I carried her, and I don’t want to expose her like that.
I give her one last look before gently closing the door and when I notice she still hasn’t woken up, I begin to worry that she might need the hospital, but Arlo speaks behind me, snapping me out of my reverie.
“Take her to your place where she is comfortable and call this female doctor when she is awake and ready. She will need to be checked over and tested for fucking everything.”
I observe as Chaos takes the business card from between Arlo’s fingers before holding his hand out to him. Arlo takes it and they firmly shake while Chaos speaks.
“Honestly, bro—”
Arlo shakes his head before cutting him off.
“Fucking save it Chaos. I get it.”
Chaos nods in understanding as they break away and then Arlo returns his eyes to mine.
“They’ve got Maddox.”
My brows pinch in confusion because I didn’t hear anyone tell him that before he presses his finger to his ear to tell me he has an earpiece in.
“That fucking pussy crashed his car, but he is still alive.”
He flashes me a sinister smirk that you rarely see from Arlo. I raise an eyebrow before he steps away and as he turns around, heading for his car, he shouts back.
“Call me when she’s fucking ready to deal with this sick fuck.”
Me and Chaos glance at each other before inhaling deeply, knowing this is the start of something very fucking challenging and then we both get into my car.
When we are back home, I carry Charley up the stairs while she is still passed out and Chaos speaks behind me with concern.
“Bro, is it normal to be passed out for that fucking long?”
As a fighter, I know a lot when it comes down to being knocked out and it can be a variety of things.
“Maybe she’s just fucking exhausted, Chaos, but she’s still breathing; we’ll keep an eye on her.”
He stays silent now as I continue to take her to my bedroom and when we enter, Chaos pulls back the sheets before I slowly lower her down onto the soft mattress.
“Bro, we need to take that dirty blanket off her.”
I stand upright as I gaze down at her and I side-eye him beside me before covering her with the duvet. I then gently sneak my hand beneath it until I can feel the rough fabric and grasp it. I delicately pull it away from her until it is on the floor beside the bed, my duvet remaining over her and then Chaos picks it up before tossing it across the room into the corner.
“I’m gonna to stay in one of the spare rooms. I don’t want her to wake up and freak the fuck out because I am beside her. I don't know how she will react to all this.”
I see him nod in agreement beside me as we both stare down at her.
