CHAPTER 13
Dash
Fuck. Duke was missing and there I was, making out with my president’s daughter, when I was supposed to be watching over her and her friend. What the fuck was I thinking? Actually, I wasn’t thinking. I had wanted to fuck her from the moment I first saw her. Spending time with her had only increased that desire. I had her under me, I saw an opportunity, and I took it.
I hated to do it, but I had to send her back to her room, or really, anywhere away from me so I could get my dick under control before Phoenix got here and strung me up by my balls for having my hands on his baby girl.
I couldn’t help myself though. She was so damn beautiful. The way she was looking up at me with those big blue eyes, her mouth slightly parted in surprise from me pulling her down to the mat, but it was the way she took me down time and time again today that completely obliterated the last little bit of self-restraint that I had.
Fuck, thinking about her wasn’t helping my dick behave.
Trying to focus on anything other than her, I made my way into the clubhouse. I met a fuming Phoenix and a group of disgruntled brothers in the common room. “You find him?”
“Fuck no! It’s like he just vanished. Byte is going to try to ping his cell phone. If that doesn’t give us anything, I’m going to have to call his sister.”
Shit. Duke didn’t like for his sister to be upset. He went out of his way to keep her from worrying about anything. I’m not sure what it was, but something happened in the past that resulted in her emotional stability being fragile at best and Duke becoming über protective of her.
“Everything okay here while we were out?” Phoenix asked.
“Yep. Reese is hanging out with Carbon and Ember is in her room. Prospects didn’t find anything when they were searching the grounds. I sent them to make some food. Figured you would be hungry when you got back.”
“Thanks, brother. I’m going to my office for a bit. Byte, try to locate the cell phone and get back to me ASAP.”
“Already on it, Prez.”
***
It was early, really early, but most of the brothers were up. With Duke missing, I couldn’t sleep; I’m guessing the same was true for the others as well. I had just swallowed the last of my breakfast when Phoenix rounded the corner, “Church now!”
We all dutifully followed him into the room and took our seats. Phoenix didn’t even bother to sit down. “After Byte was unable to get a location from Duke’s cell phone, I called Duke’s sister late last night. She hadn’t heard from him, but said she would call if she did hear anything.” He paused and looked to the floor. “She called just now. She got a call from Cedar Valley Regional Hospital a few minutes ago. Duke’s there and he’s in bad shape. Before you ask, I don’t know how bad or what happened. She’s a mess of course. She asked that only Dash and I come to the hospital right now. We’re going to take a cage, pick her up, and go now. Until I know more, travel in pairs and stay vigilant. Badger, watch over Ember and her friend.”
Two hours later, the three of us were sitting in a private waiting room in the bowels of the hospital.
Harper was barely holding herself together. “They only take you in these private rooms if it’s really bad. He’s either dead or they think he is going to be very soon.”
She was right, but I didn’t want to believe it. Denial was the name of my game. “You don’t know that, Harper. There are a number of reasons they would bring us back here. Let’s try to not jump to any conclusions before we talk to someone who knows what’s going on.”
Easier said than done. Three torturously long hours later, two people in blue scrubs walked into the waiting room. “Are you the family of John Wayne Jackson?” Any other time I would have laughed my ass off. The fucker better pull through because I couldn’t wait to give him shit about his name. John fucking Wayne. The Duke. Ha!
Harper’s pleading voice brought me back to the present, “...just tell me if my brother is alive. You can explain it all after. Just tell me if he is alive!”
Phoenix had his arm around her shoulder for comfort and I’m sure to help hold her up. The older doctor looked to Harper with kind eyes, “I’m sorry, ma’am. Yes, your brother is still alive. The next 24 hours will be very critical, but if he makes it through that, his chance of survival significantly increases.”
She visibly sagged with relief, “What happened to him?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know the details of what happened or how his injuries came to be, but I can go over his injuries with you and what we did to treat them. May I speak freely in front of these two gentlemen?”
“Yes, of course, they’re his family, too. Please tell us.”
He cleared his throat, “Mr. Jackson was brought into the ED unconscious. He incurred significant trauma to his head which caused intracranial bleeding and swelling. To prevent irreparable damage to the brain tissues, we took him into emergency surgery to stop the bleeding, remove the blood, and relieve the pressure. He is currently in a medically induced coma which we will attempt to bring him out of sometime in the next few days, barring any unforeseen complications. He has a tube down his throat to help him breathe and it will stay there until we wake him.”
“When can I see him?”
“He’ll be moved from the recovery room to the ICU within the next hour. As soon as he is in his new room, you can go see him. First, my colleague will go over the rest of his injuries.”
Harper fell against Phoenix and wailed, “There’s more?”
The other physician began to speak, “I’m Dr. Glassman, a trauma surgeon here at Cedar Valley. Mr. Jackson also had eight stab wounds, four on each side of his torso. Both of his lungs were punctured. We repaired a laceration to his liver and his colon, removed his spleen, and closed the other three stab wounds that miraculously managed to miss anything vital. I will be monitoring him closely for the next 24 hours to watch for any signs of further bleeding. We have him on strong antibiotics and will be giving him some blood to help replenish what he lost.”
