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“Danni was attacked in the cabin this morning. She’s on her way to the hospital.”
His blood ran cold in his veins. “Attacked?” He asked Matt. His friend looked at him. He knew what Matt was thinking. Calm down. If only he knew the thoughts going on inside Walker’s head right now. Matt would be surprised.
“She asked for you,” Matt said. “Beaten is all I know.”
“Take me to the hospital,” he growled low in his chest. He had to see her. He had to know that she was all right. Then he would take care of Jesse.
“Walker,” his mother shouted at him as his hand reached for the door. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Like kill Jesse?” He asked without looking at her.
“Like kill your brother,” she agreed, nodding her head. Walker glanced over his shoulder and noted the sadness on his mother’s face, but he didn’t respond. He couldn’t make any promises to his mother right now.
He opened the door and climbed into Matt’s truck. His hand trembled that closed it. Matt glanced at him. “You don’t know this was Jesse.”
He scoffed at Matt. “Who else would attack her?” Walker rolled his eyes at Matt.
Twenty minutes later, Matt was turning into the emergency room parking lot. He had barely stopped the truck when Walker’s feet hit the parking lot and he was stalking towards the door. His intensity was unnerving to those who passed by him. He looked like a dangerous man with his build and his tattoos, but he was only dangerous if his loved ones were hurt and Danni had been hurt.
The doors opened as he approached. He could hear Matt jogging behind him to catch up, but he didn’t stop. He had to see for himself what his brother had done to her. Then he thought, he might just kill Jesse. He was that angry.
To the right, sitting in chairs was the entire Hatfield family. He saw her brothers first, then turned when Simon called his name. Beside Ben Hatfield was Jackson Hand. He approached the family, wondering if they blamed him as much as he blamed himself.
“Walker, I’m glad you’re okay, son.” He hugged him hard. Walker was surprised by this reaction. How could they not see that this was his fault?
Rachel hugged him next. “She’s in x-ray,” Danni’s mother told him. “We can see her when she comes out,” she informed Walker.
He nodded but hadn’t said anything yet.
“How can you all be so nice to him?” Jackson snapped. “He’s the reason she’s in here.”
Rachel and Simon turned together and looked at Jackson. “Lower your voice, Jackson. He’s not responsible,” Rachel declared. “We can’t jump to conclusions about who is.”
Even Walker knew who was responsible. “Rachel, you know it was Jesse sending me a message. I’ll take care of my brother. I just wanted to be sure that Danni was all right.”
She gazed at him for a moment. Then she took his hand in hers. “Don’t take care of Jesse, Walker. You’ve paid enough for Jesse’s mistakes. Don’t make it worse by going after your brother. Let the sheriff do his investigation.”
Jackson snorted. In this instance, Walker agreed with him. In his mind, Jesse was responsible for hurting Danni which made him responsible for her injuries too.
“He is responsible. If he had stayed away from her, Jesse wouldn’t have hurt her. He didn’t see her bloody and bruised, lying on her floor, unconscious. I did.”
“Asking for him,” Ben said to Jackson. Walker watched him turn to his friend. He wanted to say something, he could see it, but Jackson was speechless.
The Hatfield family was standing up for him. He didn’t deserve this. He started to say something, but Jackson turned and shoved him.
“You are nothing but scum,” he snarled at Walker. “You don’t deserve her.” He shoved him again, this time, he took a step backwards into Matt. Walker glanced over his shoulder at his friend.
Prison had taught him many things. Watch your back. Keep your cool. Never start a fight but he wasn’t starting this one and Matt wanted him to keep it under control no matter how hard Jackson was pushing him. His friend laid his hand on his shoulder. It was about Danni right now, not how Jackson felt about Walker or him about Jackson.
Jackson advanced on him. He had more to say. Walker turned his head towards him, but Simon stepped between them. “Enough, Jackson,” he warned him.
They were interrupted by the doctor who came out to the emergency room to let them know how Danni was doing. A concussion that would keep her in the hospital overnight for observation. Nothing was broken.
Walker half listened to what was being said. He just wanted to see her. The doctor informed them that not all of them could go back but once she got to her room, the rest of them could see her.
Danni’s mom and dad started to follow the doctor then Simon turned and told Walker to come with them. He was grateful to Simon Hatfield. Jackson made some noise about it. He heard it in the back of his head, but he tuned it out keeping his thoughts on Danni.
At the door, he couldn’t see her at first, because her dad blocked his view. Then Simon stepped further into the room and Walker could see the damage that had been done to her and he felt his knees give. The sound that escaped him was raw and intense. Jesse had done this to her because of him.
