“Is she hurt?” I asked and hurried after him.
“Yes,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’ve already called an ambulance. Did you call Game?”
“Yeah, he’s on his way. How bad is she hurt?”
“I don’t know. She’s not completely conscious,” he said and hesitated at the door to the apartment. “I don’t know what happened, but there’s a dead body in there. And it’s pretty gruesome. So, try not to look to the right.”
“I don’t care. Just let me see my B,” I said and pushed past him.
Right inside the door, my best friend was crumpled on the ground. Her face was covered in bruises, and her clothes were splattered with blood. “Oh, B,” I cried and dropped to the floor beside her. “You’re going to be okay. We’re here and help is on the way.”
“I’ll take him,” Lance said softly and reached for Kalen.
I scooted as close as I could to Blakely and took her hand in mine while I continued to talk to her with reassuring words. I didn’t know how to help her, and I desperately wished she would wake up and tell me that she was going to be okay.
As I stared at my best friend, watching for any signs of consciousness from her and waiting for help to arrive, I had to know who hurt her. Despite Lance’s warning, I turned to look at the body on the floor. He was right. The sight was gruesome, but it didn’t bother me like I thought it would. If anything, seeing what Blakely did to him provided me with a bit of satisfaction. She’d used the makeshift mace her grandfather made with an old shovel handle and some drywall screws and hit her attacker in the head. He’d fallen to the ground with the weapon still stuck to the side of his face.
“You did good, B,” I said proudly, hoping she could hear me.
We heard the sirens and the sound of motorcycles at the same time, and we both sagged with relief. Moments later, the place was filled with bikers, first responders, and police officers.
Blakely came to as they were moving her onto a stretcher. Her eyes popped open and frantically darted around the room as she tried to sit up. “Kalen!” she shouted.
“He’s right here,” I said and moved to her side so she could see him. “He’s okay.”
She exhaled in relief as a few tears spilled down her cheeks. “He needs to eat and probably needs his diaper changed,” she said and let her head drop back onto the pillow.
“I’ll take care of him,” I promised. “And then I’ll bring him to the hospital. We’ll be right behind you.”
“You’ll need the car seat base. It’s in my car.”
“Where is your car?” Game asked.
Her forehead wrinkled as she thought. “I guess it’s still at the grocery store. Well, I hope it is.”
“Don’t worry about it right now. Let them take you to the hospital. There are plenty of people here to handle everything else. And I’ll be there as soon as I get Kalen situated,” I promised.
“Thank you,” she said softly and reached out to squeeze my hand.
I leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Anytime, B. I’ll see you soon.”
19
BLAKELY
I’m not sure what they gave me in the ambulance, but it knocked me out. When I woke up several hours later, I was in a hospital room with Grant on one side and Landon on the other.
“He’s asleep in his seat,” Grant said and pointed across the room where Kalen was situated between Spazz and Copper before I had a chance to ask.
“How are you feeling?” Grant and Landon asked at the same time.
“Sore,” I said and tried to sit up but stopped immediately when a sharp pain shot through my chest. “Okay, really sore,” I admitted. “How much damage did he do?”
Grant grimaced and looked down at his hands. “You have two fractured ribs. Nothing in your face is broken, but you’ve got some significant bruising and swelling that’s going to take a while to go away, as well as a concussion. They didn’t find any internal bleeding but want to keep you overnight as a precaution,” he said and inhaled deeply. “I’m so fucking sorry, Blakely.”
“What? Why? This isn’t your fault,” I said vehemently and reached for his hand.
“I know. I just—”
