“Want me to do it for you or put your hand on the button so you can stop it when you’re ready?”
“Just do it for now.I’ll figure out the controls soon enough.”
The top of the bed slowly tilted upward.Then the pain got worse.
“That’s enough,” he said when the bed hit about a forty-five-degree angle.The weight on his chest seemed to be heavier, but he could still breathe, and he could see who else was there.Fletch sat sideways on the bench seat under the window, his legs stretched out in front of him as if he’d been there for a while and he didn’t plan to go anywhere.Seeing his best friend, he didn’t know if he should be grateful or worried.It had to be bad to have pulled Fletch away from Craven’s Creek for this long.He usually couldn’t be gone more than a day or two without planning weeks in advance.Spider thought it was stifling but Fletch just shrugged and said it was the price of being one of only a couple of attorneys in the area.
“Fuck.It’s got to be bad if you’re here.”
Fletch pressed his lips together, glanced around the room then focused on Raven as he tilted the top of his head toward the door.
“Taylynn and I are going to go down to the cafeteria and get some coffee.I need to call Jersey and let everyone at home know you’re awake.Anyone in particular you want me to reach out to or anything you want me to tell someone?”
Spider started to shake his head but remembered the collar around his neck.“No.Not that I can think of.”
Raven put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed then released him.Taylynn squeezed his hand, then leaned down and kissed his cheek.
“So glad to see you awake,” she said before she released his hand.She met her old man at the foot of the bed and together they left.
Spider waited until the door swung shut to look back to Fletch.
“Tell me.”
Fletch sighed, then swung his legs off the bench seat and stood.
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Leaving the clubhouse for a ride.I was headed to West Yellowstone.Next thing I remember was waking up hurting.I wasn’t awake long, though, then I woke a little bit ago.”
“I don’t have a lot of information, but from what we’ve been able to find out there was some road construction.Somewhere in there, someone’s accelerator got stuck, they hit the car in front of them, pushing them into the one in front of them and so on.There were more than ten vehicles involved and you had the misfortune of being somewhere in the middle.”Fletch shook his head slowly.“Three people were killed, a dozen more injured.You’re lucky to be alive.”
Spider blinked a couple times, then a yawn surprised him.Suddenly he was so tired he could barely hold his eyes open.But why?He’d been awake for all of ten, maybe fifteen minutes.How could he be sleepy again already?
“Sleep.You’ve got a lot to heal.I’ll be here when you wake up again,” Fletch said, laying his hand on Spider’s right leg over the thin blanket that covered him.
Spider wanted to argue.He wanted to tell him that he wanted answers, not sleep, but the darkness overtook him again.
****
The next time Spiderwoke, Fletch sat next to his bed while Delilah lay curled in the window seat where Fletch had been before, Hawkeye in a chair not far from his girl.He didn’t say anything but scanned the room and wondered how long he would have to be there.How long this accident would mess with the lives of all the Angels.He reached for the remote, wanting to sit up a little more.The movement must have caught Fletch’s attention because he stood and set one hand on Spider’s shoulder.
“How are you feeling?Can I get you anything?”
“I want to sit up more,” Spider said, his dry throat making his voice rough.He reached toward the table extended over the foot of the bed, then winced as something in his chest sent a sharp pain through his entire torso.He grimaced and let his head fall back against the mattress.
“Tell me when,” Fletch said, hitting the button to lift the head of the bed.
“When,” Spider said when the pain increased.He wasn’t upright but he was closer, and right now, that mattered.It gave him a better view of what was going on around him, at least.“How long was I out?”
“A couple hours.”
“Did I miss the doctor?I want someone to tell me all of it.”The stiff foam collar was still on his neck, so if he had, they hadn’t removed it.Maybe they’d been waiting until he woke?
“No, he usually makes rounds sometime in the next hour or so.”
“Tell me what you know.”Spider trusted all of the Angels, or he wouldn’t be one of them, but Fletch was his closest friend, both in the club and out of it.
“Are you sure?It’s a lot.Stop me when it gets to be too much.”
