AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Blade, just a warning. Cassia is worried about what this meeting was about. She said you have been acting odd since you got home. She’s worried it’s something about her family or that so-called husband of hers.”
“Shit! Okay, I’m on my way to tell her. I expect Thorn and Tiger will tell you too. It’s not terrible, just not what we were expecting or wanting to hear. Thanks, Neriah.”
I gave her a quick peck on the cheek, which got me a glare from her approaching men. I waved at them as I rushed down the hall. I was too anxious to take the elevator, so I bounded up the stairs two at a time. At the door, I didn’t slow down. I walked right in.
The first thing I saw was that she wasn’t in the living room, which left our bedroom or the other bedroom. I kept moving toward ours. There was no reason for her to be in the other one. Inside, I saw her clothes were on the floor but the bed was empty. The bathroom door was closed. Walking to it, I tried the knob. It was locked. That was weird. She didn’t usually lock it. I knocked twice and called out.
“Cassia, Boo, open up. I need to talk to you. I need to tell you about church. Sorry I didn’t earlier.”
There was no reply. I listened with my ear to the door, but I didn’t hear anything. I knocked harder and talked louder. Repeated myself. Still the same thing. A sense of unease was coming over me. Stepping back, I raised my booted foot and kicked the door right by the latch. It flew inward, almost coming off the hinges.
Pushing inside, that’s when I saw her. She was hanging with one arm and her head over the edge of the tub. The rest of her was in the tub. My breath stilled in me when I saw blood on the floor underneath her head. I ran to her.
A moment before I touched her, I remembered you shouldn’t move someone unconscious. What if she hurt her neck or spine? Had she fallen? It seemed likely with the blood on the floor. With my hand shaking, I gently touched her hair.
“Baby, can you hear me? Say something.”
She never moved or made a sound. I almost dropped my phone, getting it out of my pocket. I dialed the first person I could think of to help. Two rings and it was answered. I could hear the noise of the common room in the background.
“Regan, I need you quick. Cassia is unconscious in the tub and there’s blood on the floor. I think she hit her head. I don’t know if I should move her or not.”
“Don’t move her. I’ll be right there. Hang on,” was her hurried response before the phone went dead. I laid it on the floor and crouched next to her. I tried to see if I could see where the blood was coming from, but her hair and the way she was laying, prevented me. She was partially face-down on the edge of the tub. Needing something to do, I pulled the plug to let out the water. As it drained, I picked up the towel that was lying on the floor. I laid it over her shoulders, out of the receding water.
The pounding of several pairs of feet filled my ears. I got up to shield her from their eyes. You couldn’t see much of anything, but I knew Cassia wouldn’t like my brothers getting an eyeful of her naked body. She’d be unhappy about the ladies, but I’d risk it. Besides, Regan and Janessa were nurses and Ghost had been a Navy Corpsman and was a certified paramedic.
The three of them were in the lead. The others had enough good senses to stay in the living room. I saw worry on all their faces. I led the three with the medical training into the bathroom. I pushed the door closed as far as it could go. It wouldn’t latch. I’d broken that with my kick.
I stood out of the way, even though it was killing me and let them get to work. They were muttering and checking her over. I saw Janessa with her phone out. I watched to be sure they were gentle. Deep down I knew they would be, but this was my Boo. Anything hurting her would drive me insane. After I don’t know how many agonizing minutes, Ghost was the one to approach me. He laid a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.
“Blade, Janessa had Menace call for an ambulance. She has an open wound on her forehead. She’s still not responding. It looks like she slipped and hit her head. Her left wrist looks swollen. She might have hurt it too. I need you to pack her a bag to take with us. A change of clothes would be good and anything personal care-wise she uses. When the squad gets here, I’ll drive you to the hospital. They’re not going to let you ride with them and before you argue, you’re in no shape to ride or drive.”
As I packed while he stayed with me as the others watched me in silence, I asked the question I dreaded the answer to.
“What if it’s serious, like she doesn’t wake up? She should’ve opened her eyes by now. I have no idea how long she’s been out. Why the hell did I tell her to stay up here? If she’d been down in the common room, she wouldn’t have fallen.”
“Don’t do that. You couldn’t know and accidents happen. Here they are. Let them in.” He gestured. I saw the mass of people in the room part down the middle and Jake came through, leading the paramedics in. It took some maneuvering with me hanging there trying to maintain her dignity as they got her out of the tub onto the gurney and covered.
Ghost escorted me to the common room then outside. We watched them load her in the ambulance. It took everything in me not to threaten them if they didn’t let me ride with her. The one thing I did was kiss her softly on the lips and tell her, “Boo, I’ll meet you at the hospital. Hang in there. You’re gonna be alright.”
Ghost pulled me back, so they could close the doors. The siren and lights came on and they roared out of there. Lance had the gate open and was waiting for them to go through. Ghost tugged me toward one of the club’s SUVs. I was walking through a haze as he shoved me into the backseat. Someone got in beside me while someone else got up front with Ghost. I didn’t even bother to find out who. All I did was sit there, with my head down, eyes closed, praying and asking God not to take her away from us, from me.
You hear so many scary stories about people falling and having traumatic brain injuries or even dying. How long had she been like that? Had she been upset that I hadn’t been willing to tell her what was bothering me and slipped?
The ride to the hospital seemed to take hours, but it really was only about fifteen minutes or so. When we pulled into the parking lot, the ambulance had just stopped and the paramedics were opening the doors to take out the gurney. Again, Ghost made sure I stayed back far enough so they could work. She was still not moving and the bandage they placed on her head was red with blood. She’d hit her head up near her left temple.
Inside, staff greeted them at the door to the treatment area. I know I wasn’t allowed back there. As more of the club started to arrive, Ghost took me to the desk, and we worked together to register her. I had no idea if she had insurance or not, so I put myself down as the financially responsible party.
After we were done, I took a seat in the waiting room. It wasn’t that busy. In fact, outside the Warriors and their ladies, there were only a handful of people waiting. They gave us wide-eyed stares and looked nervous. The typical scared to death for no reason shit. I ignored them. Sometimes, it was fun to stare back and see if they would leave, but this was a hospital. I planned to behave.
The time dragged by as I waited to find out if she was going to be okay. I didn’t know what I’d do if she wasn’t. I couldn’t think about it. If I did, I’d tear this place apart. I now knew what so many of my brothers felt when something happened to their ladies.
Cassia:
The pounding in my head was making it impossible to think. What in the world was wrong with me? Had I gotten drunk and this was a monster of a hangover? I’d been drunk a time or two, but the aftereffects had never been this bad. I tried to open my eyes, but they wouldn’t move. I could make out noise all around me, but nothing I recognized. Everything sounded like it was distorted. I gave up and sank back under. Maybe if I slept a few more hours, this hangover would be better.
I don’t know how long I was under, when the sounds got louder again and I was rising to the surface. You know how you feel when you’re beginning to wake up. That was what I was doing. The ache in my head was a little better, although still pretty harsh. This time, I fought harder to open my eyes. I couldn’t lie around all day. I had stuff to do. I concentrated on my eyelids. They slowly began to open.
At first, it was barely a slit. Enough to let in a bit of light. The light sent a stabbing pain through my head. A whimper escaped me. As it did, my hand was squeezed and I heard a voice I did recognize.
