Chapter Thirty-Seven
Declan
The sound of his breathing evening out is the only thing that keeps my sanity intact right now. Broken ribs and at least one clavicle. The metatarsals on his dominant foot are more than likely shattered. Contusions and lacerations mark almost every inch of his otherwise perfect skin. I’m getting every scan I can think of done when this shit is over, and she’s so far disposed of that they won’t be able to identify her.
I knew she was crazy, but I honestly never thought she’d go this far. Hell, even thinking that now sounds so ignorant. She had me beat and then let her men jerk off above my half-conscious body regularly for five years. I know it doesn’t make sense to so many people, but it didn’t start so extreme. We ended our little arrangement the night Jakob walkedin on us kissing, but we had been friends for years.
She went into hiding for a while and she’d text me when she got too lonely. That’s when the mental shit started. It started with her drilling into my head that there’s no way my family wouldn’t have hell to pay if everyone found out about Jake and I. She’d take her shots so sneakily that I’d miss them most of the time until I was so used to it that I didn’t know how to stop it.
That’s when she started coming into New York to test her boundaries. She offered me a deal: I fight for her, and she leaves Jake and my brothers alone. She wouldn’t speak a word of what she knew as long as I did her bidding, but that was clearly bullshit.
I rode Kieran’s ass so hard when he was fighting underground, but the entire time I was doing the same shit. My guilt has eaten me alive ever since, but I couldn’t have him doing it. Not with the chance that someone could take advantage of him like they did me.
We roll up to the estate way faster than is advised, but the kids are all up in the movie room with the women, so we know we won’t hit anyone. The second the SUV stops, we’re getting Jakob out and carrying him downstairs past the gym and into the makeshift doctor’s office that I have set up. No one besides me and whoever needs to be stitched up ever comes in here. So much so that no one else has a key.
It looks just like a hospital room, only bigger. It was mygiftfor coming to work for the family. It’s equipped with anything I could ever need, from a portable CT machine to the Swoop MRI portable scanner. Hell, there’s overhead lighting and tools for me to perform major surgery if it ever came to that. Thankfully it hasn’t, because reading about it and doing it arenowhere near the same thing.
“Put him on the bed, then you all need to get out.” I tell them without even looking at them.
I move over to the sink and start scrubbing my hands. When I’m done and satisfied that they’re thoroughly clean, I turn around to see both men standing with arms crossed on either side of the door. They look like they aren’t going anywhere, but they have to so I can do what I need to.
“I’m not joking. You guys have to go.”
“I’m not leaving my brother. I’ll stay right here, thanks.” Dieter smarts.
“And I’m not leaving you. You aren’t working on a soldier right now, Dec. You’re working on your soulmate. I couldn’t do it if I were you. Especially not without support.”
“Well I’m not you, am I?”
Rowan adjusts his position so he’s more comfortable. Wordlessly conveying to me that he isn’t going anywhere.
I huff out in annoyance but turn my back on them. Jakob’s awake when I face him and he’s grinning in amusement. “Brothers, huh?”
“Yeah, I’m beginning to think Mac and Lee had it figured out. Let’s run away after all this shit.” I smile gently at him as I get the CT scan ready for him.
“I’ll go anywhere with you, Beast.”
“Yeah? And when we inevitably fight like dogs?” My voice is lined with amusement.
“We’ll call a truce.” The smile in his voice is palpable even with my back to him.
“How long are we realistically going to be calling truces, Chaos?”
“Forever works for me.” He says it just as casually as if I’dasked him his opinion on dinner.
“Yeah, forever sounds good to me, too.” I turn and give him my most charming smirk. “Now let me help you get your big ass in this machine so we can see what we’re working with.”
* * *
After all my scans and exams are done I breathe out a sigh of relief. He’s going to be hurting for a while, but his brain isn’t swelling or bleeding, and he doesn’t have any damage to his organs. Now that doesn’t mean three of his ribs along with his clavicle and metatarsals in his right foot aren’t broken,called that shit,or that his bar is nothing but ash in a parking lot, but he’s going to be fine, and for now that’s enough for me.
Rowan has one of the doctors we have in our pocket at Corey Heights Memorial bringing by an air boot. While we wait for that I situate his arm in a sling that immobilizes his left arm then straps around his torso to hold it to his body. In true Jake form, he groans about it the entire time.
“I don’t need this shit.” He pants out like a fucking dog in heat because he’s in pain but also a stubborn mule.
“Stop bitching, please. Does it feel okay? Your parents are going to bust through this door along with your siblings in about five minutes if I don’t get you up to my room first. We can move you once the boot is on, but I’m not doing shit if you’re struggling to breathe because the sling is too tight.”
Some of the fight leaves him and he uses his good hand to motion me to stand in front of him. Standing between his legs that are dangling off the side of the bed, he hooks my shirt with his good hand and brings my lips down to his. Hekisses me gently, and I kiss him right back. Slowly pulling away, my eyes flutter open just in time to catch the smile on his face.
