I cradled Brielle against my chest. “Let’s get this bus back to our workshop. It could be useful to us.”
“Oh, hell yeah,” Blaze said, eyeballing the driver’s seat, “a new project.”
“I’ll go with him, just in case,” Dante said as he cocked his gun.
I nodded. “Good idea. Mav?”
He completed my thought process. “Check in on the clean-up crew. I got ya. And Doc should be inside the clubhouse waiting. He sent me a text.”
I drew in a deep breath before walking past him. “Thanks, appreciate it.”
“Anytime.”
With one last nod of my head, I carried Brielle off that bus. She didn’t say a word as we headed for the porch. There wasn’t a sniffle or a sob. No words were exchanged, and no whimpers were heard. Her spent body laid there in my arms, completely vulnerable to me when at one point in time, she couldn’t even stand to look at me.
I made myself a silent vow at that moment.
You’ll never be scared of me again.
“Is that my patient I hear?” Doc called out as I walked us through the front door.
“Come with me upstairs, she needs to lie down.”
I heard him shuffling quickly down the hallway. “Lead the way, then.”
I carried her up the steps and made my way toward her room. Well, in my mind, it was her room. She had found a home within it. It brought her comfort and solace. I mean, she had christened the bathroom for herself, anyway. As far as I was concerned, that would always be her bedroom.
“Here we go,” I grunted as I laid her down in her bed, “safe and sound.”
She just laid there, though. Immobile. Unwavering.
As if she were frozen in time.
“Guess that’s my cue,” Doc said, placing his massive medical bag down at the foot of the bed. “Miss Brielle?”
She didn’t respond, though.
“Miss Brielle, if I could get you to sit up for me, I’m going to check you for a concussion. You’ve got a pretty good-sized knot on your head, and it’s deeply bruised.”
It killed me, watching her stare at the wall like that. Her gaze, blank. Her face, immobile. Her body, refusing to even acknowledge the fact that someone was talking.
What had we done to her?
I cleared my throat and backed toward the bedroom door. “Doc’s gonna look you over, Brielle. But, in the meantime, if you need any—”
“Get in bed with me.”
Doc chuckled, but her command whipped me around in my spot.
“What was that?”
She sniffled. “Please. Just—for the appointment. Doctors have always made me so fucking nervous. I won’t keep you long. Just until he’s done. I swear.”
How could I say no to such a request? “Fair enough.”
“You’re good to go anytime, Doc. Just don’t make me sit up if I don’t have to. My head hurts so bad,” she said softly.
“Of course,” Doc said as he crouched down to her level, “we can do the exam from this angle.”
