Page 12 of Knuckle's Dispute

“Where are they?”I ask, needing to do something as crazy thoughts about Janessa fill my head and I can’t make them stop.

The urge to climb in the ring or push my bike to its limits fill me as I follow Rooster and Marie over to the seats in the waiting room.Choosing a seat in the corner of the room, I don’t give anyone else a chance to sit next to me.I prop my head in my hands and stare at the floor not truly seeing anything as my leg bounces and shakes with the fear filling me.

“She’s gonna be okay, Micah,” I barely register Tease’s voice as he steps in front of me and I only see the tips of his boots.

“You don’t know that.No one knows anythin’.Not even if her family is on their way or will show up.Do we really know anythin’ about them?”I return, not looking up at my best friend as conversation sounds off around us.

“If I know anythin’ about Janessa, it’s that her family will show up.At least one of them.I’ve overheard her sayin’ her brothers are extremely overprotective of her and they won’t let her be in the hospital alone if they know somethin’ has happened to her,” Tease informs me, his voice low so no one else can hear what’s being said between the two of us.

“We’ll see.I’ve never seen anyone around her with the exception of that one girl.Don’t even know her name.Has anyone called her?”I ask, knowing Janessa doesn’t have a lot of friends and only hangs out with one person when she’s not working.I don’t know anything else about the girl, but Janessa and her seemed really close to one another.

Tease leaves me alone because he knows I’m getting lost in my head and won’t answer him or listen to what he has to say moving forward.Janessa is consuming me and very few people will recognize what’s happening with me as one horrible scenario after another plays in my mind.No matter how hard I resist the temptation to think of what could’ve gone wrong tonight, I can’t push the thoughts out of my head.I picture her body badly burned from the fire started in her house.Of the Prospects not being able to protect her from whoever is out to get her.People I know nothing about and can’t protect her from because of this reason.

I’m so completely fucked and don’t know what the hell to do about it!

***

“Where the fuck is JanessaBurns!”I hear yelled as something frantic fills the waiting room.

I look up to find three guys rushing in with a wild look in their eyes.I’ve seen that look before.It’s the same one I’ve witnessed on the members of my club when their woman is in trouble.These three men are Janessa’s family members and will get answers to how she’s doing.I immediately perk up and pay attention to what’s being said at the desk along with everyone else from the club who isn’t currently with Kurt or Seth.

“I’m not gonna ask again.Where the fuck is Janessa Burns?I want to know what’s going on with her right this second,” a second man yells, his voice sounding over everyone in the waiting room as I watch several people shrink lower in their seats while the men and women of the club sit up straighter with smiles on their faces because this is exactly how every single one of us would act in their position.

“Are you family?”the nurse asks, her voice trembling in fear.

“We’re her brothers.Where the fuck is our sister?”the last guy questions the nurse, slamming his hands on the counter in front of him.

“She’s currently in a room being prepared for emergency surgery.They should be taking her back any second now,” the nurse says after pressing some buttons on her computer.“I can grab the doctor quickly to find out if she can have a word with you before the surgery begins, but there’s no guarantee.”

“Go!”the first man yells again, making the nurse and several others jump in response to his harsh tone.

I watch as the nurse disappears through the door leading to the back where the exam rooms are.Her steps are hurried as she disappears and the three guys huddle together and whisper to one another.They’re not about to let anyone overhear their conversation while also closing themselves off from anyone else around them.My attention is only taken from them when the fire chief shows up and stands by the end of the counter.

The four of them talk so low I doubt anyone close by can hear what’s going on.What I do notice is the anger and rage filling the faces of the three men here for Janessa.One of them is about to explode and I don’t know if this waiting room will survive his outburst.I completely get where he’s coming from because I want to explode for the pain caused to Janessa and I haven’t claimed her as my ol’ lady.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”one of the brothers bursts out, rage filling his voice as he clenches his fists at his side.“Someone locked her door and jammed something under the handle so she couldn’t get out of her bedroom?I want to know every fucking detail you have on the stupid fucker who did this.”

“We can’t give out the details of an ongoing investigation.Not only are we still going through the scene of the fire, but I know the police are also completing their own investigation,” I hear the chief say just loud enough for some of us who are paying attention to them to listen in.“We can give you some details once our investigations are done, but we really should wait to talk to Miss Burns.Do you know when I’ll be able to see her?”

“We don’t know anything other than they’re prepping her for an emergency surgery right now.The nurse went to get the doctor to see if they’ll take a second to talk to us,” the same man growls out, his voice low and lethal.

“Aaron, you need to calm down.You can’t explode here around everyone else,” one of the other guys says, his voice holding that hint of calm very few guys can pull off in the face of serious situations like this.

“I don’t give a fuck!Did you not hear what the fuck was done to our sister?How easily we could’ve lost her in the blink of an eye without knowing anything about it,” Aaron questions his brothers as he glares at them and I watch the doors behind him open to reveal the nurse and doctor walking toward the four men.

“How’s Janessa?”one of the guys questions, stepping forward to talk to Dr.Matthews.

“We’re rushing her into surgery now to deliver the baby.She seems to be doing somewhat okay other than the smoke inhalation.We don’t know the extent of the damage from that at this point, but we’ve got her on oxygen.Our concern is the baby because their heart rate keeps dropping.It just happened again so there’s no option other than to deliver him or her through an emergency cesarean section,” Dr.Matthews informs her brothers and my heart about stops in my chest with the knowledge that Janessa’s baby is in jeopardy.

I drop my head in my hands once again and stare at the floor, torn to go in there with Janessa or remain out here in the waiting room.A large part of me wants to rush to her side and be there for her and the child she’s about to have.The part that doesn’t want to be around her and put faith in her words about the baby being mine, is getting smaller every fucking day.I have no clue what the hell I’m supposed to do in this situation.

“Can one of us go in the operating room with her?”Aaron questions Dr.Matthews, his voice faltering.

“No, we can’t allow anyone to go in.I must get back there with Miss Burns so we can get the baby delivered before something happens.A nurse will be out to get you when we transfer her back to her room and she’s more alert.Until then, please take a seat and wait for the nurse to come back out to get you,” Dr.Matthews responds before turning and heading back through the doors.

The three brothers don’t bother sitting as the fire chief leaves the hospital.I keep my eyes on the men here for Janessa as one of them starts pacing the waiting room.The other two take up spots to lean against the wall and watch the third one, Aaron.He’s like a caged animal and I definitely understand how he feels right now.Janessa is completely alone right now and I can’t imagine she’s not terrified with everything going on.She’s strong as fuck, but there’s a limit for everyone to hit and this will push her past her tolerance level for sure.Now all we can do is wait for news on her condition and what’s going on with the baby.

“I want to be back there with Janessa,” Marie says, her voice laced with the tears she’s trying to hold back.

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