Authors: Ryan Michele
We pull up to the clubhouse, and while there’s relief for being home, there really isn’t much.
The Clayton brothers and Richard are sitting in the courtyard as we pull up. They hop from their seats as I get off my bike.
“Help Buzz get Breaker inside.” Then I give Richard a look but say nothing to him. I have shit that needs to be done. I will deal with him later.
As I enter the clubhouse, the silence is almost deafening. Everyone’s been busy, though, because there’s no blood on the floor, and it doesn’t look as though bullets were flying only hours earlier.
“Pops!” Ma calls as she sets Coop down and runs toward me.
I wrap her in my arms and bury my head in her neck, breathing her in, so damn grateful she’s okay. I feel her body shaking, and I hold her tighter. I want to tell her that everything is going to be just fine, but I can’t do that shit, because I don’t know at this point.
“Comin’ in!” Buzz yells. I move Ma out of the doorway, and he and three other guys carry Breaker into the clubhouse.
I hear a gasp and look over at Bella, whose eyes are filled with tears that spill over. She takes a step forward then back.
“I’m alright. Give me a few,” Buzz says, looking at her, and she nods, covering her mouth.
Buzz is covered in his brother’s blood with visible burns. From the look of Bella, it’s taking everything she has to stay away and not help him.
“Need to go in there and find out what’s goin’ on,” I tell Ma.
“Yeah.”
“Bella needs you,” I tell her, lifting my chin toward the shaken woman across the room.
“Done.”
I give her a kiss on the lips then make my way into church, which is now a makeshift hospital. Rhys is sitting on one end of the table, holding Tanner’s hand, his eyes red, which surprises the shit out of me. Never once have I seen the man actually cry, and no way would I give him an ounce of shit for it.
“Over here,” Doc says to the guys who lay Breaker down while I move to Rhys and nod my head at her.
“Shot twice. Shoulder and leg. It didn’t hit anything too major. Doc found a goose egg on the back of her head. Thinks she hit something hard on the fall down. Can’t do anything more, so I’m waiting for her to wake the fuck up,” Rhys tells me in a rush, clutching his woman’s hand and kissing the top of it.
I look at Princess. “You get checked out?”
“Just a flesh wound,” she says, not answering my fucking question.
I ignore it as I hear a groan from the table and look at Derek.
“He’ll be fine,” she assures me. “Mostly hurt because one of the guys beat the shit out of him then shot him in the leg.”
I want to say I’m surprised they didn’t shoot him in the head like they did the rest of them, but I refrain. This is good.
“Shaina?” I ask, who is now lying next to Breaker as they start working on him.
Her skin is pale, almost with a blue hue. She is lying on her back, which surprises me, considering that’s where she was shot.
“Very close to her spine. Missed her heart and organs, but like I said, way too close to her spine,” Princess answers, shaking her head.
“Paralyzed?” I ask.
“If she’s lucky,” Princess says glumly.
“Looks like you did a pretty good job, Buzz,” Doc says to him, taking a look at Breaker.
Buzz says nothing, only stands there, looking down at his brother, all the while, covered in his blood. Then he calls over to one of the other doctors in the room, “I need O negative.”
My first reaction is to pull each of them aside and beat the living shit out of them for being on Ravage property, but that’s stupid. They’re helping, and that’s what I need to focus on.
One of the doctors scurries out of the room, coming back moments later with three full bags of blood.
“You give him a lot on the way here?” Doc asks Buzz.
“Yeah, they gave me four bags, but I think I need about three more. His heart stopped once, and I brought him back,” Buzz answers, and my heart twists. Fucking hell.
“Let’s see what we’ve got here.” Doc takes a look just as I hear a woman’s moans and the sound of a chair screeching against the tile.
“Tanner?” Rhys says, looking down at his woman.
“Hey,” she croaks, blinking her eyes. “What’s going on?”
“You were shot, but you’re gonna be just fine. Thank fuckin’ Christ,” Rhys says, and I can see the restraint it takes him not to pull Tanner into his arms and hold her. Instead, he turns to Doc. “Can I take her to our room?”
Doc nods. “Keep an eye on her. You can’t sleep, and she needs to be woken up every two hours in case of concussion. If there’s any blood coming out of the dressings, you need to replace them. If it’s a lot, you call me. And you’re going to need to take her very carefully so you don’t tear open the stitches.”
Rhys nods, picks up his woman like she’s glass, and takes her away.
I can hear Dagger yelling something, but then all is quiet.
Derek is the next to get moved over to the side couch, leaving Shaina and Breaker lying on the table next to each other, each with their eyes closed. They look peaceful, which scares the shit out of me.
He’s breathing, and his heart is beating. That’s better than the alternative. Doc stitched him up and checked him out good. He says that right now, there isn’t anything we can do, so we need to wait.
I take a breather and walk out to the clubhouse. Bella runs right to me and throws her arms around my neck and her legs around my hips. I engulf her, burying my face in her hair as I carry her to our room where I slam the door closed while tears fall from my eyes. I can’t stop them. I can’t hide them.
As my body shakes and I sit on the bed, Bella doesn’t let go of me. She holds me without saying a word.
Everything inside me breaks. My strength and determination crack as I let the emotions pour from my heart, a heart that is breaking. I can’t lose my brother. I just fucking can’t.
I feel Bella’s body shake as wetness hits my shirt. I hold on tighter and take her in, allowing myself for the first time in hours to feel. And it hurts.
Finally gaining my composure, I lift my head up to Bella. “Are you okay?”
She sniffles. “My eyes are a bit messed up. One of the doctors said the bright light burned them a bit, but they will heal.”
“What bright light?” I ask, grabbing her cheeks and looking into her beautiful eyes that are watery.
“You’re a blur, but I see something red. Are you hurt?” Bella goes to lift up her hand to the burn on my face. I covered it with a bandage in the truck, but the blood must have come through.
“I’ll be fine. Just a little burn. Now answer my question. What light?”
Bella blows out a breath. “A flash grenade. I have no idea how Angel got her hands on one. Supposedly, she’s the one who set if off, but I’m sketchy on all the details.”
“But your eyes will be okay?”
“That’s what the doctor said. I’m hoping he’s right.”
I crush her to my body. “I love you, Bella. Can’t fucking lose you. I can’t lose my brother, either.”
“Love you, too. He loves you.”
Tears well up, but I fight the fuckers back. “Yeah. I just hope he pulls through. Need to go back in and see him.”
“Let’s go.” She takes my hand, and I lead her to my brother.
I’m light, so light I feel as if I’m floating. The air around me is cool, and the hurt I felt earlier has disappeared. I look down, seeing myself lying on the church meeting table. My body is still, eyes closed, and my coloring isn’t right. I also have burn marks all over my body.
I look to my left, and there she is. Shaina. Damn, she’s beautiful. Even with her complexion so light, she’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. But I don’t understand why she’s lying next to me nor the fact that I’m floating above my body.
I watch in fascination as something white comes from her body and floats up to me, turning into my beautiful woman. The smile on her face is gorgeous.
“Shaina?” I ask.
“Of course. Who else would it be?”
I shake my head in confusion. “Why are we floating?”
Shaina looks down, her eyes growing wide before they come back to me. “I don’t know, Breaker. What’s going on?”
I pull her into my arms, and it’s strange. I can feel her body molding to mine, but my arms go through her and hers through me. It’s like we’re here, but we aren’t here.
“I think we’re dead,” Shaina says, pulling back and looking at me.
“You think?” I ask, puzzled. Life and death; that’s all I know. I don’t have a clue what this floating over my body thing is about, and having Shaina with me is bizarre.
Shaina looks back down at our forms. “I think so. Why else would we be up here while our bodies are down there?”
“I don’t know.” I pause as I look. “You’re too young to die.”
“So are you,” she responds, grabbing my hand and squeezing it. “But I think our time has come.”
“Are you ready to go?” I ask.
“Only if you’re with me,” she says, reaching up and kissing me on the lips. It’s strange because I feel it, but I don’t. Neither do I care. I have my woman, and that’s all that matters.
I kiss her back, loving the feel of her, even if it’s different than before. I am truly in love with this woman.
She pulls away. “Are you coming with me?”
“Is he awake?” I hear Buzz ask, storming through the doors as he looks down at my body.
“Not yet, and his pulse is getting weaker,” Doc tells him as Bella comes up behind my brother and wraps him in her arms.
“Fuck!” Buzz roars, and I feel his pain deep in my chest. He bends down and gets in my face, pulling away from Bella. “Don’t you fucking leave me. Do you hear me, Breaker? Don’t you fucking dare.”
Bella comes up behind him, tears streaming down her face, and her body shakes. She engulfs him again as he reaches for my shoulders. I can feel him squeeze me hard, but it’s just pressure, no pain. Buzz’s body trembles, and the hand on me adds more force.
“You hear me in there? Wake the fuck up!” he screams.
I look back at Shaina as she gazes down at my brother. I try to figure out what she’s thinking, but I come up short.
“I can’t fucking do this,” Buzz says as he turns around and wraps Bella in his arms.