Page 18 of Jax

“You know,” the doctor starts. She has small wrinkles around her lips that puckers when she talks. “If someone is doing this to you, there are programs that can get you help. It’s scary and you could be worried but—”

“Everything’s fine,” I cut her off. “Really. It was some jackass on the street. Probably trying to rob me but obviously he picked the wrong person because I don’t have anything.”

Her tongue darts between her lips. She’s not an idiot. It’s obvious she knows what’s going on, whether she figured it out or whether Jax, Finn, and Leenie helped fill her in, I have no idea. They’re long gone by now, I’m sure. “If that’s the case, I’m glad to hear it. I do need to talk to you about your diet though. You’re underweight and lacking in many vitamins and nutrients that the body needs to be healthy. If it’s at all possible, I’d like to see you eating some nutrient-dense foods. Meat, vegetables, fruit. You know, the good stuff.”

“I’ll try,” I tell her but my heart’s not in it.

She looks weary, as if she has to have this spiel with a lot of people in the Heights. At least I don’t have track marks so she knows I’m not a druggie who’d rather spend money on getting high than food.

“So, when can I get out of here?”

“About another hour or so,” she says. “There’s someone in the waiting room who wants to visit. She says she’s your cousin? She was there when you were attacked?”

My stomach clenches. It must be Leenie. Does that mean Jax is still here somewhere? The only thing I remember about getting here is being wheeled into the emergency room. All the blood must have scared the people at the front desk because they brought me right back. It must be one of those slow nights in the ER where nothing else major is going on. No gunshot wounds or stabbings. Honestly, with the Dragons taking over control, I haven’t heard much going down in the Heights. Not like when the Crew ran it.

“She wants to come back?” I ask as the doctor checks my IV and only makes a small sound of acknowledgment. “Sure,” I tell her, panic fluttering my chest. I figured the three of them would be long gone by now. “She can.”

“I’ll tell the nurse.” The doctor gives me a broad smile and leaves the room.

A few minutes later, heeled boots approach the curtain and hesitate a few moments. It is sort of an awkward situation because there’s nothing to knock on or announce her presence, so instead she calls out, “Um, Sadie, can I come in?”

“Yeah,” I croak out before attempting to clear my throat. The IV is giving me a weird taste in my mouth.

Leenie sidesteps the long drape and locks gazes with me. She gives me a cursory once over before exploring the small area I’m in. She takes in everything, eyes roaming all over the room before sitting in the small plastic chair next to the bed.

When she doesn’t say anything for several moments, I sigh. “Not to be rude but why are you still here?”

She chuckles to herself. “I think we’re all asking ourselves that same question, to be honest. What’s the IV for?”

“Malnourished. Guess I’m not eating well enough.”

I say it in jest but she doesn’t take it that way. She frowns. “Jax said you felt like skin and bones when he picked you up.”

I blink at her. I’m not sure which surprises me more, the fact that he felt that or the fact that he said anything about it. Why would he care?

“Do you want to talk about the situation you’re in?”

I laugh. I can’t help it. Finny’s little girlfriend is asking me about my shit. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious, actually,” she says, pinning me with a concentrated gaze. “Listen, you and Jax have history. Fucked up history I might add.” She leans back and crosses her arms. “But I guess we’re good people who aren’t going to let someone run back to a dick who beats them.”

“He doesn’t beat me,” I protest, and I don’t even know why. What he does is far worse than punishing me physically.

She pulls her chair closer, the legs scraping over the floor. “I get gang shit,” she whispers harshly. “Finn filled me in on what happened, and call me crazy, but I’m betting you’re a fighter. Not in the literal sense, obviously. The Heights can chew you up and spit you out. Jax got caught in the crossfire, didn’t he? You needed to save your ass so you did what you had to do.”

The fact that she clearly hit the nail on the head surprises me. Instead of showing her, I revert to my defense mechanism. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“Maybe not, but you and I both know Jax would never rape someone, so there was a reason you lied. Finn says you and Jax were the real deal.”

“Maybe I’m just a cunt like that.”

She sits back in her chair, appraising me. “The Heights breeds cunts like wildflowers. There’s no doubt. But why did you come back?”

I roll my eyes, stifling a smile. I knew I liked this girl. In another life, our bestie status would’ve been solid. “I told you guys already. My—”

“Colleagues?” She scoffs. “Were those the assholes that called them out tonight? The same one that gave you all those bruises?”

Her questions are like a yipping dog at my heels. I flex my fingers in frustration. “Is Jax still out there?”

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