Page 13 of Freeing Souls

“He had a rod through his chest. They took him straight into the OR, but they ended up having to leave him open and put him in the ICU. He was losing too much blood and kept crashing during surgery. They were able to remove the rod, and he went back into surgery where they were able to finish fixing him up. They ended up putting him into an induced coma, so we just have to wait,” she says as more tears fall down her face.

“Come here,” I say, moving slowly to scoot over. I wince but try to hide it and pull on her hand until she climbs onto the bed and curls up next to me.

Pressing my lips to her forehead, I glance up at Noah as he speaks. “He hasn’t crashed in the last six hours, which is the longest stretch so far. We are trying to be hopeful.” Walking up to my side, he places a hand on my head and leans down so our faces are only an inch apart. “I’m fucking glad you’re awake. Stay awake so we can get you the fuck out of here and then I can kick your ass for—” He shakes his head and straightens as he ruffles my hair. He may not have finished his sentence, but I can see it in his eyes and the creases on his face. He was scared.

“I’m going to go update the others. They are only allowing two of us at a time in here. I’m sure someone else will want to come in.” He gives Harley’s shoulder a squeeze and then walks out, pulling the door shut behind him.

“How are you holding up, little flame?”

Harley sighs and tilts her head so she can look at my face. “I should be asking you that.”

I smile and tap her nose. “I’m alive. The pain meds are helping a lot right now, so I don’t feel much. I just wish I could remember everything.”

“Maybe it’ll come back,” she says, and then shuts her eyes. “We’ve all been stressed. Colton had his construction crew come out and help get everything stabilized so we don’t have to worry about the upstairs collapsing, although all the rooms above the garages are off-limits for now. The guys have all been rotating being here or at the club helping clean up.”

“Do they know what caused the explosion?” I ask her.

“No. I think Rage has suspicions, but he is being tight lipped. Everyone has been going nonstop, so I don’t think they’ve had church or any time to discuss it all. That, and Grayson hasn’t been helping them. They allow one of us to stay overnight, and it’s been him every night. He leaves in the morning to go sleep and shower and come back, and if others are in here, then he sits in the waiting room.”

She opens her eyes and turns so her chin is resting on my chest. “It’s been hard on all of us, but Grayson has struggled the most, I think.”

The frown on her perfect face and the terrified looks tells me she isn’t being fully truthful. She struggled as much as he did, but she isn’t going to admit it, my stubborn girl.

“I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve been up and supporting everyone.”

She furrows her brows. “Ry, you have nothing to apologize for. All that matters is you are okay and you take the time to heal so we can all stop worrying about you.”

Laying my head back, I run my hand up and down her back. I know I need to give myself time to heal, but fuck, that’s the last thing I want to do.

The door opening wakes me, and I slowly crack my eyes open to find Grayson quietly entering. When he notices I’m awake, his shoulders drop. “Hi.”

“Hey,” I whisper back. He walks around to the opposite side where Harley is still laying sound asleep and pulls a chair up close. The second he takes a seat, I wiggle my fingers on my bad arm and gesture for him to take my hand. After hesitating for a second, he places his hand in mine and I squeeze.

He lets out a sigh as his eyes fall shut and a single tear trails down his cheek. After he takes a moment, he glances at me again. “How are you feeling?”

“Heavy. My body just feels tired and heavy. But otherwise, I honestly feel fine, which I’m sure when these pain meds wear off, I won’t be feeling as fine. What about you?” I ask, taking in the bags under his eyes.

“I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Narrowing my eyes at him, I say, “That’s not what I asked.”

“I’m fine. Or I will be, once we figure out what happened.” He scrubs his free hand down his face.

“Well you’re going to have to start working again in order to figure it out,” I say and notice how he tenses and glances away. “Grayson?” I question, his eyes shooting up to mine. “I know this was a bump in the road, and I don’t know how it felt to experience everything the last few days, but we are still a team. Cade, Harley, you, and me. The four of us do this shit together. Always.”

“I know. I just… I’ll explain everything to you guys soon. Can we just focus on getting you out of here and making sure Atlas lives?”

I nod, but I don’t like it. I plan to tell him that, but a light knock on the door interrupts us as a nurse pops her head in. “Hey, how are we feeling?”

“Perfect. I think I’m good to go home now.” I grin at her when she rolls her eyes.

“You don’t want to go home yet. If you did, I would be overbearing and up your ass all day and night,” Harley grumbles as she sits up and rubs her eyes.

“Oh, that sounds perfect. As long as it’s me up your—”

A hand covers my mouth as Harley glares at me. “Stop talking, Ryker.”

I mumble, “Yes, ma’am,” from under her hand and then stick my tongue out to lick her palm. She yanks her hand away and wipes it on my lovely hospital gown.

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