“I can’t move her brother. You can see the state she’s in. I don’t know what kind of injuries she has that I can’t see. If we move her, we risk doing more damage, I need the proper equipment. You all need to leave.”
“ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?” I bellow out. I hear a tiny moan, and my eyes shoot to Marissa as she tries to open her eyes, and then I see her body tense the moment she realises she's not alone. Nitro moves back, giving me space to get closer to her.
“Shh, I’ve got you baby, you’re safe now, ok? We’re gonna get you out of here.”
A tear falls from her left eye, and I swipe at it with my thumb. “Wr… Wrath?” she croaks out.
“Yeah, baby. I’m here.”
“I…I.” She struggles to breathe as she tries to tell me something. I lean forward, resting my forehead gently on hers. “It’s ok. Please don’t say anything. Let’s get you fixed first, ok?”
She heaves out every word, but she continues. “I… I knew… he… was ly… lying. Thank… you.”
I have no idea what she’s thanking me for, and I can’t find out. I’m being pulled to my feet and dragged away from her. I kick and shove, trying to get back to her.
“Brother, we have to go,” Knuckles tells me as he pulls me out of the room.
“No. I can’t leave her. I need to be there for her. I need to be with her. “
He continues to pull me out of the warehouse, more brothers jumping forward to help him. I know my strength when I'm angry, and they know they need more men to control me.
“STOP.” Everyone stops and turns to Tongue. He barely speaks and never raises his voice, so it shocks the shit out of us when he does.
He shakes his head at me and then nods towards my bike. He doesn’t need words; I know he’s telling me to pull myself together and meet them at the hospital.
We make it out of the grounds of the warehouse and around the corner less than a minute before the ambulance arrives. We wait, my eyes fixed on that building for forty minutes before they finally bring her out and load her into the ambulance. Nitro jumps on his bike as Doc climbs into the back with her. Knuckles gives me a look, letting me know I need to wait it out for a little bit longer, but I'm itching to follow. I need to get there. I try to steady my breathing, giving me something to focus on other than my need to be with her and the need to find whoever did that to her and tear him limb from limb. The rumble of my former Prez’s bike brings me back to the moment; he gives me the nod, and I start my bike pulling out in front. With thestrength of my brothers behind me I ride to the hospital, to my woman.
Chapter
Forty-Seven
Six hours. We’ve been sat in this waiting room for six fucking hours without any news. Nitro was waiting for us outside when we got here. He’d hung back as they raced into the emergency room with her. He’d watched as they swung open the doors and a nurse jumped into the back, straight onto the trolley. He’d watched that nurse pump up and down on my woman's chest as they wheeled her straight through a set of double doors where he couldn’t follow.
He sat me down when I got here and said that Doc had told him to pre-warn me. It wasn’t looking good for her.
I look around the waiting room; brothers from London, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham and Glasgow, ol’ ladies, girlfriends. There must be nearly a hundred people in this room, sitting in complete silence waiting for news on my girl.
I’d tried so hard to push her away, but she’s made such a huge impact in these people's lives. Some of them are here for her and her alone, others are here for me. They know how I really feel about her. Despite me denying it at every opportunity, they all knew. They all knew that she was mine. Even when she wasn’t.
I lean forward, resting my arms on my legs and scrubbing my hands over my face. The wait is killing me. I need to know what's going on, I need to know if she’s ok.I see a pair of black boots stop in front of me, I lift my head to see my Prez looking down at me. “Let’s go grab a smoke.” I nod. I don’t smoke anymore but fuck do I need one.
He passes me his packet, and I stare at it for a minute contemplating the hit it will give me. Knowing how much Marissa hates smoking, I shake my head. I don’t want her waking up to me smelling of the stuff. Hearing a noise, I turn to see Knucklers and Juggler, followed by my brothers from the London Chapter. We stand around in silence while most of the brother’s smoke. They are here for me; their support means everything to me right now. Nitro steps closer to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“The prospect called. The police have left the warehouse. They’ve trampled over every inch of the place but found nothing. Data and Brick are headed back over there to see if they can find anything that the cops may have missed.” I look over at Knuckles who gives me a chin lift in acknowledgement.
“Brot…”
“I need to head back to Manchester tomorrow, I can’t leave our clubhouse unattended for too long. Brick is gonna stay and help you guys’ figure this shit out.”
“No.” Shaking my head I look at Nitro then back to Knuckles. “I appreciate it, the fact that you all rode down here when I needed you the most, when she needed you, but I can’t ask you to leave any of the brothers here. You?—”
“It's done. You didn’t ask. You need help, Wrath. You need to be with your woman. Let the boys do the hard work. You can get your revenge when we find out who’s responsible.
A few minutes later we’re headed back into the waiting area. As I step into the room Maria rushes over to me and wraps herarms around me sobbing. I pull her into me and let her cry, Doc her ol’ man is back there with my girl, so she is out here alone. As I let Maria cry into my chest, I look around the room, every person is sat in silence, the only noise is coming from Maria sobbing into my chest and Georgia-Rae crying into her knees as her brother Ice sits with his arm around her. I glance over and see Nitro watching them, there may be nothing going on between him and Georgia but its fucking crystal clear from the look on his face that he wishes it was him with his arm around her.
Footsteps bring me back to the room and I see Doc walking toward us with another Doctor in scrubs. As he enters the room, I step toward him and Maria, realising he’s there, runs to him. He doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around and that one action has jealousy bubbling away inside me.
I hear everyone begin to stand around me as I step closer to Doc. He turns to his colleague who gives us a weary glance. His grey hair and lines around his eyes making him appear even more tired and for a brief minute I feel for him. He isn’t young so this must be a heavy day for him. He glances around the room and then looks directly at me.
