Page 45 of Knuckle's Dispute

“Let’s get me dressed so I can get out of here.I need to know what’s going on with Micah and be there for Tease,” I say, pulling the blankets off of me and reaching for the clothes I had on earlier for work.

“Not gonna happen, Nessa.Marie brought you a pair of sweats and one of Knuckles’ hoodies.It’s going to be cold in here and we want you to be comfortable.Wearing those clothes for work won’t allow you to relax.We’ve also got a blanket for ya to wrap up in.Daniel grabbed the one out of his truck he keeps in there for you,” Aaron says, reaching toward the floor at his feet and handing me over a bag.

My brother leaves the room so I can get dressed in the clothing Marie thoughtfully brought me.He doesn’t go far in case I need him, but I’m grateful for the privacy and a minute to myself.I’m never really alone these days and I understand why, but every now and then I just need a minute or two without anyone else around to judge me for what’s going on in my life.Right now, the fear filling me about how Micah will react to the news of a new baby is threatening to overwhelm me.This time, I won’t keep it from him, but I won’t be telling him immediately either.He has to focus on his recovery and healing from all the damage that’s been done to him while being held hostage.

***

We’ve been waitingin the surgical waiting area for hours.There hasn’t been any news on Knuckles at all.Tease is pacing the waiting room like a caged tiger and no one can get close to him.The only time he’s taken a seat is when Rooster handed Kaden to him.He spent a full hour holding him and staring at his little face.I know he was having a silent conversation with my son because I could just hear him speaking.Now, he’s back to pacing and demanding why we haven’t been given an update on his cousin.Or why he’s still in surgery.No one will tell him anything and I’m honestly starting to get worried he’s going to explode if the next person to walk through the door can’t tell him something.

Rooster, Omen, and Homicide are sticking pretty close to Tease in case he does something he’ll end up regretting.I’m surrounded by my brothers who are helping me take care of Kaden while Marie and the other ol’ ladies sit across from us.Marie has made sure we all have food, drinks, and anything else we’ll need to be comfortable while waiting.Everyone is pretty quiet and there aren’t a million different conversations going on like I’m used to hearing from the club members.Everyone is too worried about Knuckles and what’s going on with him to worry about keeping up a conversation they have no interest in having.

“You really need to eat something,” Aaron randomly says after another hour has passed and we’ve still not heard anything.

“I’m not hungry, Aaron.I’ll eat when I feel the need to,” I answer him, pulling the blanket tighter around Kaden and me.

“Nessa, don’t make me share what I know,” he whispers, his voice almost a growl because he’s trying to take care of me and knows I wasn’t able to eat anything for lunch and I haven’t had anything in the following hours since everything happened.

“Fine,” I return, my voice showing how pissed I’m getting with his need to take care of me.

“I’ll go somewhere and get you a hot meal.Something that will fill you up,” he says, standing from his seat and stretching his back out before turning to leave.

“Aaron, sit back down,” Marie says, a smile on her face.“Eric, Seth, and Kurt are making a run for food.They’re going to one of the diners for burgers, fries, and anything else everyone wants.”

“Good deal,” he replies, walking over to talk to the Prospects.

I already know I’m about to have more food than I could ever eat placed in front of me when they return.Aaron is going to go overboard once again and I don’t need to be a genius to know that’s a fact.

“Family of Mr.Coleson,” a doctor says as we all look up toward the door.

My eyes take in the white lab coat covering a set of bloodied scrubs.As I go to stand up, my body has other ideas and I sink back into the chair with a loud thud.Tease is at my side in a second with my brothers, checking to make sure I’m okay.Daniel takes Kaden from my arms as Joseph and Tease help me stand up and wrap their arms around me while slowly walking me over in front of the doctor.

“I’m his cousin and this is his wife,” Tease says, his voice confident and strong despite his trembling body letting me know how scared he is right now.“How’s he doin’?When can we see him?”

“Mr.Coleson is very lucky.He lost a lot of blood from the accident, gunshot wound, and the beatings he suffered through.He’s had a blood transfusion and we’ll monitor his levels closely while he’s in the hospital to determine if he needs anymore.He’s sustained several injuries.There’s road rash on the right side of his body that’s caused an infection to set in because it wasn’t treated properly when it happened.We’ve got him on IV antibiotics to get rid of it.There’s been damage to both of his wrists that will need rehabilitation to help improve the use of his hands moving forward.He’s also going to need it for his shoulder that was dislocated.

“One of Mr.Coleson’s ankles was broken and we fixed the break before putting him in a cast.He also has a head injury that won’t cause him any long-term damage, but he’ll have headaches for a while and we’ll monitor the situation.The rest of his injuries are essentially superficial.He does have stitches in his torso for a few of the deeper wounds.Those need to be kept dry and clean until the stitches are removed.Right now, the plan is to keep him in the hospital for at least a week to ensure there’s no damage we aren’t seeing right now.From there, he'll be sent to a rehab center for his ankle, wrists, and shoulder.How long he’s there depends completely on him,” the doctor informs us as my mind whirls with everything he’s just told us.

Knuckles suffered through so much and still didn’t immediately go to the hospital.He chose to be taken to the diner to ensure I was safe and nothing happened to me.The stubborn asshole could have honestly done more damage to himself by delaying receiving medical treatment.Stupid man!

“When can we see him?”Tease questions the doctor again, agitation evident in his voice as he pulls me tighter to his side.

Right now, I think we both need comfort as we both try to start processing all of Micah’s injuries.

“You can go in once he’s been moved to a regular room.Right now he’s still in recovery.Only two of you can go in at a time for tonight.Tomorrow we’ll re-evaluate the situation and go from there.I already know you’ll be posting guards outside of his door and on the floor he gets a room on,” the doctor says, already knowing how the club works and how they protect their own.

“Thank you,” I finally manage to get out as the doctor nods in response before turning to leave us alone in the waiting area once more.

“Homicide, Omen, Carbon, and Brick will remain at the hospital tonight on guard duty.You’ll switch out in the mornin’.I want everyone else to go home and get some rest.We’re gonna have to all be strong and at our absolute best for Knuckles movin’ forward.It sounds like he’s gonna have a rough recovery and we’ll need our strength to help him.I already know Tease and Janessa aren’t leavin’ the hospital anytime soon.Janessa, Marie and I will take Kaden home with us so you can focus on Knuckles.I’m sure your brothers will remain here with you.Don’t worry about your boy.We’ll bring him back in the mornin’ so he can see you and his daddy,” Rooster says, giving us all orders.

Tease and I sit with my brothers surrounding us.None of us speak or do much of anything as we wait to be taken in to see Micah.I’m happy none of his injuries are life threatening, but I don’t believe I’m ready to see him in person with everything we’ve been told about his injuries.Everything I’m imagining is hopefully much worse than what we’ll see when we enter his hospital room.I’m not sure what I’ll do if it’s not.Knuckles doesn’t deserve to be treated the way he was and I hope they make the assholes who did this to him suffer a million times worse than he did.