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“I-I-It’s n-n-not t-t-that,” she stammers out, her voice trembling and filling with more emotion. “H-H-Hartley. H-H-Hospital.”
My heart stops in my chest and my breath catches. For a minute, I can’t say a word as Sabotage and Zeus make their way over to us. Honestly, we’re surrounded by every single man here. Including Cal as he walks over to hand Jae a bottled of water. Seeing the prospect, I wonder where the hell Austin is.
“Where’s Austin, Jae?” I ask her, running my hands up and down her arms in an attempt to get her to calm down.
“H-H-He went to the hospital,” she informs me. “Hartley called me. She’s in the hospital. She said something about being run off the road and not knowing what her injuries were. Or how long they were going to keep her in the hospital. Lash, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know sweetheart. I’ll find out though. Is she at the local hospital?” I ask her, needing to go see her as soon as possible. “I’ll head over there now and get to the bottom of this.”
“No! You can’t go there. She didn’t want me to tell any of you she was there. I even told Austin not to let her know he’s there,” she tells me, her voice raising as she looks around the common room at everyone.
“Why would she say that?”
“I don’t know, Lash. All I know is she doesn’t want you there. Any of you. I’m not sure if she’s embarrassed, doesn’t want you to see her in the hospital, or what her reason is,” Jae says, her voice going back to normal. “Lash, what am I supposed to do? I can’t lose my sister.”
“I know you can’t Jae. I’m not goin’ to let anythin’ happen to her. I promise you that. Head over there and I’m goin’ with you. I don’t care if she doesn’t want us there. If she’s been run off the road, there is no way in hell I’m not goin’ to do somethin’ about it. I just need to know what happened and where we go from here. From now on, I don’t want you leavin’ anywhere on your own. Austin, Cal, or someone else is to be on you at all times. Can you do that for me?” I question her, my voice low and gentle even though I want to rage right now.
“Yeah, I’ll do that. Austin was with me until we got to the hospital. I came here on my own. Am I really not on the list to get in here?”
“No, sweetheart. You are on a permanent list to get in here as soon as you pull up. Hartley too. Let’s get to the hospital. Are you okay to drive?”
“Yeah. I’ll be okay. I’ve got clothes for her in my car and a few other things so she’s comfortable. I’m not sure how long she’ll have to be there.”
“Okay. Let’s head out. We’ll follow you there.”
Every single man with the exception of Cal and Evan remains here. Rifle also stays behind so someone can keep eyes on Evan while he’s at the gate. I’m dead serious about him not being left alone. He’s lucky as fuck he’s not out on his ass right now after hearing Jaelyn was here to tell us about Hartley being run off the damn road.
Pulling out my phone, I place a quick call to Talon to let him know what’s going on. He agrees to meet us at the hospital but not let Hartley see him right yet. We don’t want to piss her off or upset her in any way, but I’m not staying away from her. Not anymore. I might not know or understand where the hell this is going between the two of us, but I know I want to explore it and see what happens between the two of us. Hopefully she does too.
Starting my bike after hanging up with Talon, I pull from my spot in line in front of the clubhouse. Jaelyn pulls out and we follow behind her. I was expecting her to drive the speed limit and not travel fast in my haste to get to her sister so I’m pleasantly surprised when she flies through town and heads straight for the building her sister is currently being held in. We park in the front parking lots and rush inside to the front desk.
“We’re looking for Hartley Kincaid. I’m her sister. Can you please tell me what room she’s in?” Jaelyn asks, plastering on a fake as hell smile and using a soft sweet voice.
The older woman sitting behind the desk, hits a few keys on the keyboard in front of her. She leans extremely close to the screen and then finally tells us she’s on the second floor of the hospital and it’s one of the last rooms on the left side of the hall. Jae takes a second to thank her before we practically run to the elevators so we can get upstairs and get eyes on Hartley. My heart is racing, my breath is coming out in harsh pants, and my body is getting covered in a fine sheen of sweat. This is a feeling I never want to have again in my life if I can help it. And one of the reasons I don’t want an ol’ lady. I already care more about Hartley than I’ve ever cared about any other female in my life with the exception of my mom.
Time seems to stand still as the elevator moves up to the second floor of the hospital. We’re not in the basement or anything; we’re on the first damn floor. It seems to take us forever to get upstairs. Next time, I’ll take the damn stairs to get up to Hartley or anyone else who’s in the hospital. This is why we’ve been working so hard on cleaning up the club and taking things in a more legit way instead of continuing on the path my father and Sniper did so long ago when they began the club. I’m tired of seeing people I care about in the hospital or worse.
Jaelyn and I make our way in the room Hartley’s in. We both stop just inside the door. The curtains are pulled closed, there’s barely any sound coming from the TV hanging on the wall, and Hartley has her eyes closed. She’s either sleeping or just resting her eyes right now. When the shock finally wears off and we make our way toward the bed where Hartley is resting. She looks even smaller in the bed with the blankets pulled up around her so only her face and one arm are showing. It’s her arm with the IV and blood pressure cuff on it. What we can see of her is covered in bruising and cuts from the accident she was in. There’s also slight bruising on her face and I’m wondering if it’s from the steering wheel or an air bag. I’m not sure if her car has them or not. Her next one will and that’s all I’m gonna say about it.
“Should we wake her up?” Jae whispers to me.
“No, we shouldn’t. Let’s let her rest. I’m goin’ to see if a doctor will tell me any information. I’ll stop back in before I head out,” I tell her, leaning over the bed and placing a soft kiss against her forehead where I see a large goose egg just past her hairline.
“Thank you, Lash. I’m not sure if I’d have the nerve to walk in here on my own. I’m sorry I was going to keep this from you,” Jaelyn says, wrapping an arm around me in a one-armed hug.
“It’s okay little one. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Leaving the room, I try to find someone to answer some questions for me. The first person I see is Doc. Walking straight up to her, I ask about Hartley. What her injuries are, how long she’ll be in the hospital, and anything else she can tell me. Unfortunately, she can’t tell me anything. It’s against the law unless she has permission from the patient and Hartley hasn’t given her permission to talk to anyone. Including Jaelyn. Anger fills me. I know she’s just doing her job, but it’s not making me feel any better. I’m smart enough to know I can’t be in here right now. Not with how I’m feeling. So, I walk back and tell Jaelyn goodbye. My next stop is going to be the garage so I can look over her car. It might give me some clues about what’s going on. Other than that, I’m at a complete loss of what to do. Unless it’s beating the shit out of someone and that’s not going to solve any of my problems right now.
Sabotage and Zeus remain behind at the hospital with Austin and Jaelyn. They’ll make sure nothing happens to her as long as she’s here. Just before leaving, I told Austin to stay with Jae. Knowing her sister is here in the hospital with Doc working, I’ll send Cal over in a little bit. Doc won’t let anything happen to her. Not just because she’s a patient either; because she gave me that same damn look all the guys and my own mom gave me. Hartley means something to me. More than she should.
WHEN I WOKE up yesterday, my sister was sitting beside my bed. I expected her to have her phone in her hand or a book or magazine at least. My sister gets bored easily and is always doing something. She’s either reading, playing a game on her phone, or something. Sitting with nothing to occupy herself isn’t something Jaelyn can do. Still, she sat in the uncomfortable chair with nothing to occupy herself as she stares holes through me just waiting for me to wake up. Her eyes were red rimmed and watery with her hair up in a messy knot on the top of her head. Instead of being dressed in an outfit worthy of her being seen in outside the house, Jae was wearing sweats and an oversized tee-shirt. Nothing she’d be caught dead in outside the walls of our house. So, I know how worried she is about me.
“Thank God you’re okay,” she told me, her voice filled with unshed tears.
“I’m okay sis. They just want to keep me for a day or two and then I’ll be back home,” I replied. “The only shitty thing is Tamara fired me via a text message because I wasn’t there for my shift. So, I’m jobless and I’m not sure what we’re gonna do from now on.”
“We’ll figure it out. We always do, Hart.”
