Page 47 of Lost King

"Is there a problem, Krasivaya Beautiful ?" Demetri says appearing from behind Alexei with his heated gaze aimed directly at Glory.

"Speak of the devil," Glory sasses back. "Hello, asshole. Mind clueing us in on what's going on and why we're being held hostage?"

With predatory movements, Demetri strides up to Glory and leans in close to her face. "Careful, Krasivaya," he warns, "you keep opening that smart mouth of yours, and I'll be inclined to fill it with something and show you the true meaning of hostage," Demetri's smooth Russian accent rumbles in a low tone, but not low enough I couldn't hear what he said.

What's even more shocking is Glory doesn't say a word back. I don't know her well, but one thing I do know is she is fierce and very opinionated. She has no qualms telling anyone exactly what's on her mind. Glory has no brain to mouth filter. However, it appears the promise in Demetri's tone has her keeping her words on lockdown. Steering his attention away from Glory, Demetri continues, "as you can hear, Jake and the men have made it back, and before leaving, he informed you to stay upstairs. I ask that you please heed his request."

"We want some answers. Have they found Quinn? Are the rest of our men okay?" This coming from a worried looking Mila.

When I glance at all my friends standing in the hall looking scared, I realize that I haven't given much thought to how they must be feeling. It may not be their husbands who are missing, but it is their men who have been working day and night placing their own lives on the line to bring Quinn home. At any moment while they are out hunting down the enemy, something can go wrong, and Jake, Logan, Gabriel, and Reid all have wives and children that count on them to make it home safe every night.

Just when Demetri is about to open his mouth again the sound of the cubhouse door slamming open, and a slew of male voices coming from downstairs vibrates off the walls. "Move! move! move!" we hear Jake holler.

Next, we hear Bennett. "Let's get him downstairs!"

With my breath getting caught in my throat, I rush up to Demetri and fist his shirt. "Is it him? Do they have Quinn?" I choke out. "Quinn!" both Vicky and I holler out. A second later we hear Quinn's agonizing roar, "I don't want to see them!" Demetri gives us a look of sympathy. That along with Quinn's outburst has all the air leaving my body and my knees buckle. It's my brother who catches me before I hit the floor. I don't even remember seeing him come out of the room.

Moments later, Jake appears before us. "I'm sure you all have heard by now, that we have Quinn."

I shrug out of my brother's arms and step up to Jake. "Let me see him." Thinning his lips, Jake shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart, but Quinn was adamant you and his parents are not to be allowed to see him in his current state."

"I'm a doctor, Jake. I've seen it all. Plus, I can help," I plead.

"Look, I don't agree with Quinn's orders, but he is my brother, and I respect his decision. He doesn't want you to see him."

I'm about to protest once again when Jake gently grabs me by my shoulders. "Emerson, I get it. I really do, but Quinn's head is a hell of a mess right now. Give it some time. Doc is with him now, and I'll come back with another update soon."

Kissing the top of my head, Jake turns on his heel to leave when Quinten calls out. "Jake."

Turning Jake regards Quinn's father.

"You know I respect you and your club, and I have always done as you asked without question, but this I will not do. That is my son downstairs, so I'm telling you, man to man; father to father, nothing is keeping me from seeing my son," he declares.

Tipping his head, Jake motions for Quinten to follow him. Quinten turns to his wife and mutters something into her ear, before kissing her and following Jake back downstairs.

A couple of hours later I still can't get the devastated look Quinten wore on his face when he came back from seeing his son. After nearly wearing a hole in the floor from pacing, I decide I've had enough of this waiting around bullshit. "Fuck it." Walking over to the door, I open it and peek out into the hall. Noticing our guard is no longer standing at his perch, I totter across the hallway to Vicky's door and give it a couple of taps. It only takes her a second to answer. When she does, I ask. "You coming?" Without a word Vicky, closes the door behind her and the two of us march downstairs. When we come upon the room we know Quinn is in Vicky is the first to burst through the door with me trailing behind her. We don't bother with knocking, and our sudden appearance has the guy known as Kiwi jumping to his feet. Both of us want to run to Quinn's side, but we stand firm and square off with the man standing between my man and us. Kiwi stands there stunned. He's looking at us as if he hasn't a clue how to handle the two very pissed off women standing in front of him.

Placing her hands on her hips, Vicky says in her best mom voice. "Are we going to have a problem here, young man?"

"Uh—no, ma'am. I'm not one to stand in the way of a mum and her boy," he says, and steps aside and strides out the door. "I give it two minutes before he snitches on us," Vicky huffs.

A second later, we both turn, and I'm not at all prepared for what I see. Quinn is laying on a bed hooked up to an IV. His skin is pale, and his cheeks are flushed. He's unconscious, with visible jerking movements. Quinn's entire body is dripping in sweat, and he looks like he's lost a few pounds as well.

The doctor in me is making a mental check-list of all the things that could be wrong with him and what course of action needs to be taken, while the girlfriend in me wants to climb into his bed and hold him. Knowing Quinn needs immediate help, the doctor in me overrules. Spotting Bennett's bag beside the bed, I grab it and begin rummaging through it until I find what I am looking for. Just then, the door opens and Jake along with Bennett enter the room.

"Whatever you're about to say you can save it," I tell them while continuing the task at hand. Using an alcohol swab, I sterilize the inside of Quinn's arm. I don't miss the visible track marks either. My stomach clenches knowing what that means. I take a 21-gauge needle along with a blood specimen vile and collect a blood sample. "I need to find out if he has any drugs in his system." Without missing a beat, I place the vile in the front pocket of my shirt. I pull the blanket from his body. Quinn has been stripped down to his boxers, and it only takes me two seconds to find a bandage. Peeling it back, I see that he has an infected stab wound, and the area is extremely swollen and inflamed.

"I was on my way to come get ya, Sweetheart," Jake confesses. "But when I got to your room, I saw that you had already given us the slip."

Shocked, I turn to face Jake to see he has a slightly amused looked on his face. I was fully expecting him to be angry I disobeyed his order to stay upstairs and away from Quinn. Though, his amused expression quickly replaced with one of concern. "Doc, checked Quinn over and came to the same conclusion as I'm sure you have. We can confirm he has been injected with drugs repeatedly over the last seven days, though we don't know what kind. Doc cleaned and examined the wound to his thigh and concluded it is infected. We felt we needed to bring you in to help."

"So that's what these marks on Quinn's arm are?" Vicky asks pointing to the apparent track marks on the inside of both arms.

"Yes," I answer. "The withdraw from the drugs is most likely what's causing the involuntary twitching. The cold sweats are from both the withdrawals and infection." I turn towards Jake. "I need to get to the hospital. I'm going to have a toxicology test done, and I'll bring back the proper antibiotics as well. If we can't get a handle on his infection over the next twenty-four hours, he's going to need to be admitted to the hospital."

"I agree with Emerson," Bennett adds.

"Alright then," Jake pokes his head out the door and hollers for Kiwi. "Kiwi will take you to the hospital." Without wasting any more time, I lean over Quinn's bed, palm his cheek, and place a gentle kiss on his lips. The moment my mouth touches his, his twitching body relaxes, and his eyelids flutter open. "Sunshine?" he rasps.