AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He gives me a look of understanding before sighing, “Let’s get to the hospital. We need to check on her and figure out what happened. The guys are gonna lock up, so no one touches anything. You, me, and Sugar will ride out now.”
Right. Going to the hospital. I fucking hate hospitals. I feel numb the whole ride over. Not even really remembering how I got here or what path I took. Rage walks ahead of me and goes to the counter to ask about Presley. He says he’s her brother so we can get back in the room. The nurse said she’s out of surgery and resting. She hasn’t woken up yet.
We head to the room and meet the doctor at the door. He gives us a hesitant smile, which has me even more on edge. “Gentlemen. I’m glad you’re here. Mrs. Wyatts is going to need people around her.”
“What can you tell us?” Rage asks, which I’m thankful for, as I’m finding my voice not wanting to work right now.
“As of right now, not much. We need her to wake up, which could take anywhere from an hour to a few days. Her body is healing itself and may need time,” he sighs. “I was able to repair the damage from the stab wounds—”
The rest of his words fade as I turn and find my fist through the wall. Mentally picturing whoever did this to her in place of the wall. Someone grabs my shoulders and pulls me back. “Knock it off! They’ll kick you out, brother. You don’t want that,” Sugar hisses in my ear.
I take some deep breaths, trying to calm the raging storm within me.
It’s not working. Not when my heart is laying in that room. But I know what will. I shake off Sugar’s hold and walk around the doctor and Rage to go into the room. The second I step inside, I feel tears threaten to leak. I quickly blink them away. I haven’t cried since… well, it’s been a long time.
But my angel… She looks so pale and tiny. Her face is bruised, and there’s a bump on the side of her head. She has handprint bruises on her neck.
I inhale sharply and clench my fists, walking over to her and taking her hand in mine. It’s then I glimpse the bandages around both of her wrists and more going up her arms. They have her on monitors and a bunch of cords and things that go under the blanket and hook to her belly, I’m guessing. I let go of her hand and drag the blanket down.
There are stitches on both sides of her small, round belly. It looks like they are monitoring the baby, which is good. I hear the door open behind me, but I can’t pull my eyes away from her. I place both my palms on her belly and drop my head on her chest as I listen to my brother.
“Brother, it looks like she was tied down. Her ankles and wrists have marks on them, they assume, from her trying to get free. She has cuts from a knife all over her body. She was choked and hit. It also looks like she hit her head on something. She has six stab wounds. Three in her thighs and three in her stomach area. Paramedics arrived and got her here on time. The baby is struggling but still alive. I’m so sorry, man. We are going to look into this and destroy whoever hurt your woman,” Rage says with venom in his voice.
One thing he said doesn’t make sense, though. I lift my head to look at my prez. “If paramedics brought her here, why is her apartment not a crime scene? Where the fuck are the cops?”
Before we can discuss it more, the door opens, and a sobbing Raven comes in with Stone right behind her.
“Oh god!” she cries.
She rushes to the other side of the bed and gently takes Presley’s hand. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” She drops her head, repeating it over and over, adding in, “It’s all my fault.”
I look at the other guys. Specifically Stone, seeing if he’ll step in, but the poor man looks pained watching this. So I walk around the bed. Knowing how much Raven means to Presley, I need to make sure she’s okay, too.
I squat down next to the chair she’s sitting in and gently turn her towards me. Her eyes meet mine, and the pain in them is unmistakable.
“Raven, why would you think this is your fault?”
“I was supposed to go home with her. But I didn’t. I was so selfish, Axe. If I had just gone home with her instead of thinking about only myself—”
“Then you could also be in a hospital bed right now. I’ll bet if anything, Presley is glad you didn’t go home with her last night. This isn’t your fault.”
She drops her eyes to the ground and sniffles.
I use my finger to raise her chin again. “Raven, you need to say it. This isn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. The fucker who did this will pay tenfold for it. And you will be here to support Presley through healing from it.”
“It’s not my fault,” she whispers on a broken sob.
“He’s right,” a croaked, dry voice says next to us, causing our heads to snap toward Presley. She has her eyes closed, but she’s awake. Barely.
“Oh, Presley!” Raven gasps, her voice wavering with tears.
I stand and walk around to the other side, taking her hand. “Hey, angel, didn’t expect you to wake up yet.”
She cracks her eyelids, but before they can fully open; her face twists with pain and she cries out, squeezing my hand harder than I thought possible for a tiny woman. The machines beep erratically. And I stand frozen, watching as she screams in pain. The room suddenly fills with nurses and doctors. I watch as they nudge Raven out of the room, but no one touches me. Until Rage is in front of me.
“Come on, brother. We aren’t helping by being in the way. Let’s take a walk.”
I shake my head. “No. Wha-what’s happening?”
