Page 54 of Invisible Scars
JONAH
The world around me ignites into an inferno of rage.
“Get him out of here, now.” The buzzing in my ears drowns out Isaiah’s order, and I barely register Elijah hauling me outside and practically throwing me into his car.
“Seatbelt.” It’s the only word spoken from the moment we leave the hospital room until we get back to HQ.
I suspect Eli’s too scared to set me off. And he should be. Because when I let my rage out of check, God help anyone who stands in my way of getting to Harlow.
It takes a while, but eventually, all my brothers pile into the meeting room where Elijah is sitting across from me, staring as if waiting for me to explode.
“Effie’s asleep,” Isaiah says first thing when he walks in, making a beeline to his favorite spot by the tall window overlooking the field behind our building. “Milly’s with her, and most of Elijah’s team is hanging around the waiting room.”
I glare at him, still pissed that he ordered me away from Effie.
“You aren’t helping her, Joe,” Micah says.
“What are you talking about?” I ask with a low growl. “Aren’t we going to figure out how to destroy that bastard Harlow? Because I’m pretty sure that’ll help.”
“We will,” Elijah reassures me. “After you take care of your girl.”
“She’s not—”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Micah interrupts with an exasperated groan. “We all know about your not-so-secret out-of-office activities with Effie, Joe.” He releases a long breath and shakes his head. “Whatever it is that’s going on between you two, she needs you now. And not this crazy, ready-to-blow version of you. So, calm the fuck down.”
I open my mouth to answer, but Isaiah speaks before I have a chance.
“You aren’t good for anything like this, Joe.” He turns to look at me. “Effie’s still here, but she’s going to need a lot of help after what happened. Are you the kind of man who’s going to abandon her to go on a vigilante rage mission, or are you the kind of man who steps up and supports her when she needs you the most?”
“Can’t I be both?” I ask, some of the fight leaving me. I know Zee’s thinking about Rina and how much he wishes she would have survived. As levelheaded as he seems, I have no doubt he’d have gone on a vengeful rampage if Levi wasn’t a consideration.
“Maybe in the future.” Zee shrugs. “But now isn’t the time.”
I think about the look on Effie’s face when I walked into her hospital room. The fear in her eyes when I burst in like an idiot followed by relief. And the way she clutched my shirt, her fist twisting into the fabric like she was never going to let go.
“Fuck.” Not only did I let someone hurt her, but I also let her down when she needed me the most.
“Does that mean you’re relieving Milly?” Micah asks with a teasing smile, though his eyes are full of compassion and understanding. It wasn’t too long ago that he was sitting next to the hospital bed of the woman he loves after she was attacked by Harlow’s goons.
“Yeah,” I say with a sigh. “I’ll break every bone in Harlow’s body another day.”
“Atta boy.” Elijah thumps my back. “I’ll drop you off, then swing by Effie’s house to make sure it’s in the clear and take Calgary out for a stroll.”
When I’m back at the hospital, I quietly walk into Effie’s room, sure she’ll be asleep. What I find when I enter punches me straight in the gut. Milly’s sitting on the bed, holding a shaking Effie. When Effie looks up, her gorgeous, intelligent, sapphire eyes are bloodshot and haunted.
“Hey,” Milly says with a small smile, then turns to Effie. “You want me to stay?”
Effie shakes her head no and gives Milly a tight hug. On her way out, Milly squeezes my shoulder.
“Thank you,” I say, and she nods before leaving.
Effie pats the space next to her on the bed, and I hurry to sit there, wrapping her in my arms.
“I don’t know what I would have done if…” I can’t say the words out loud.
“I’m here,” Effie says in a quiet, chaffed voice.
“Your voice is back.” She nods, plucking a piece of paper from the table that explains the doctors told her not to speak too much since it’ll take longer to heal. “Perfect. That means you won’t be able to interrupt.” Effie scowls and opens her mouth, but I shush her. “No, no, Doll. Youmustrest your vocal cords.”
