Unfortunately, getting in hurt a lot more than lying in the ditch. At one point, I cried out in pain, but Cy whispered in an attempt to soothe me. The plastic crap the bench seat was made of squeaked and complained when Cy tried to help me settle comfortably on it. Then he moved in beside me. There was no way we were both going to fit, but Cy didn't seem to care.
A moment later, the other door opened up by my head. Luke leaned in and set something on the floorboard. "Which hospital?" he asked.
"Bonham is closest," Dan replied as he settled into the driver seat. "Luke, you take Violet. If you want to keep up with me, that's fine. Cy? Are you good back there?"
"Please tell me he's going to make it?" Violet begged from down by my feet.
"We found him in time," Cy told her. "That's really all that matters. Now close that, and let's get him to the hospital."
The door by my feet closed, and the one by my head did the same a second later. It felt like my head exploded at the air pressure change, but right now that was the least of my worries. Cy shifted around, finding a place where he was leaning over me but kneeling on the floorboard. Then his hands continued to roam, clearly checking to see just how messed up I really was.
In the front, Dan was talking to someone. I heard all those beeps and squelches that came with the police radio, and I heard something about an injured male. It took me a second to realize that was me. The car started moving, everything shifted, and the sound of the gravel kept getting faster and faster. It didn't take long before it felt like the car was sliding around on ice.
"We really do not need to die before we reach the hospital," Cy grumbled.
"Yeah, but lucky for you, I was trained to drive on this stuff," Dan told him. "I'm leaving Luke behind, but he knows where we're going. How long do you think before Ash can tell me what happened?"
"They jumped me at the gas station," I croaked out.
"Considering he's hyped up on some pretty potent painkillers right now," Cy told Dan, "I'm not sure anything he says would be admissible."
"Right now, I really don't care about admissible," Dan told him. "Someone attacked one of my friends, the rest of my department didn't care, and I want to know what the fuck happened. I'll get an official statement later, but I have a feeling that Ash is going to be in the hospital for a while, and that's time for these assholes to cover their tracks, and I'm sick and tired of this bullshit. If no one else in this town is gonna do anything, then I will. Fuck my job. Fuck doing the right thing. Fuck sitting around and waiting until discipline makes it down the chain of command and my captain pulls his head out of his goddamn ass."
So Cy palmed the side of my face. "Hey, do you think you can remember it?"
I tried to nod, and immediately regretted it. "I was going to meet Scott because the account got screwed up. They wanted me to sign something and to check my ID. I took Violet's car, got all the way to the four-way stop, and realized that the thing was almost out of gas. Those pumps don't even have a card reader. Can you believe that shit?"
My voice was weak and raspy. Talking made my entire throat hurt - both inside and out. That meant I had to stop and swallow, trying to keep it from getting too dry so the words would continue to flow.
"Can't say I've ever really bought a lot of gas in this town," Cy told me. "Ash, Maisie called Violet. She said she was in the back, so she didn't see anything, but the car was still there and she got worried. That's how we knew you were gone."
"Seven dollars," I said. "I bought fifty, but the pump was only at seven dollars when a pickup pulled up in front of the car. I thought about taking the nozzle out, then they came at me. I went to jump into the car, hoping that locking the door would give me enough time to get away."
"What color was the truck?" Dan asked.
"White," I said before sucking in a breath because of something Cy was doing. That was my stomach, and it fucking hurt. Trying to ignore it, I kept going. "I managed to get the door open, but the big guy kicked it closed. The fucker whose balls Billy grabbed at the Grill."
"Nathan Ray," Cy said, knowing exactly who I was talking about.
"I also saw the guy who's the new cow feeder," I said. "He got out of the back seat. There was another guy on the other side, but I didn't get a good look at him. But that was when the other truck pulled in behind the car, blocking me and..."
"Tell me about that truck, Ash," Dan said.
"Silver, new. A Ford, I think. Whichever one has that real square nose in the front. That was the one the cop was driving. The guy with him was also a cop. They were the same two who came out to take the report about the gate. Charlie, and I can't remember the other guy's name."
"Charlie and Tim," Dan said, showing he was keeping up.
"Then there was some guy with a mustache. I don't think I've ever seen him before, but he definitely stood out. Missing a tooth at the front. Eye tooth, maybe the one next to it, but not the center teeth."
"Sounds like Austin Wallace," Dan said. "What did they want, Ash? Did they say anything to you?"
"I don't remember the words exactly," I admitted, pausing to swallow again, because I refused to give up now. "But it was basically the same shit we always get. I'm gay, they don't want me to be gay, and gay men aren't allowed here. They said something about making sure I left. No, wait, it was that they'd tried to convince me to leave, but since I hadn't, they were going to make sure of it."
"Yeah, sounds like the shit they've been saying around the station. Also sounds like the kind of thing I need to tell that IA officer." Then the car started slowing down. Dan reached for something on his dash, and the tone of his voice changed. "Yeah, pulling up into the ER right now. I have an injured male in the backseat, attacked by multiple assailants. Injuries unknown, but a medical professional made the trip with us."
"And I'm not leaving your side," Cy told me. "I promised I would never leave you, Ash. That means I'm not gonna let you leave me either."
"I tried," I told him. "The first thing I tried to do was run. Just tell them to make sure I stay pretty?"
