Page 2 of Wrench
I fight harder to wake fully. Opening my eyes, I instantly close them again as the bright light blinds me.
“Shut the lights off” Carrie demands to someone.
I hear shuffling around and then Carrie is back to stroking my head.
“Okay Wrench, open your eyes for me” she pleads
Slowly I open them, testing the brightness. Blinking a few times to clear, I finally see Carries smiling but worried face.
“Hey Doll” I groan out, my throat drier than the Nevada desert.
“Here, take a sip” she says placing a straw to my dry mouth.
I take a few sips to easy my throat and mouth
“Better” she asks as she places the cup back on the table.
I take a moment to look around, clearly, I’m in a hospital and it takes me a few minutes to relax enough to ask.
“What happened?”
Joker comes into view and the strain on his face is clearly to see. Tank is the chair next to bed, looking worse than Joker. His arms are resting on his spread legs as his head hangs down. He looks defeated.
“Brother” I ask, reaching out to him.
“Fuck Bro, I am so sorry” Tank replies, finally lifting his head but he can barely look at me.
I turn to Joker with a raised eyebrow, wanting him to explain this crap to me.
“How much do you remember?” He asks me.
I think for a second before answering. I remember going on the run, but I don’t remember much after we set off to meet the transport. It’s all a little hazy but I remember the feeling of unease I tell Joker.
“Yeah, that feeling was spot on brother.” he grunts at me.
I focus on the feeling of unease and let it flow through me. I close my eyes, relaxing as much as possible to see if the feeling will help me remember. Like bolt of lightning, it all starts to flash back. I remember the run, Dog behaving strangely, the black van, being shot and going down.
My eyes quickly flick to Joker.
“You remember now” he asks and goes on to fill in the blanks for what happened after I went down and it seems have been out of it for a few days.
Nodding, a pained groan comes from the other side of me. I quickly look at a devastated Tank.
“Dude, why did you say sorry earlier?” I ask concerned.
“I’m SAA, it is my job to protect the club and my brothers. I failed.” he says, sounding so broken.
“Tank, brother. No one knew what was going to happen. But this is not on you. This is on Dog and fuckers he was working with against the club. Don’t you fucking dare take this on your shoulders.”
His shoulders drop as if he’s relived I don’t blame him.
“You saved his life. He is still here Tank because you dropped to your knees in the middle of the road and put pressure on his wound. You kept him with us until help arrived. He’s here now because of you.” Carrie says as she wraps her arms around Tank and he hugs her back.
I look at Joker who is watching his girl comfort his best friend with so much love written across his face. He catches me watching and gives me a nod, confirming what she said is true. My brother saved me.
“Thank you brother” I say with a lump in my throat. Thank you doesn’t really seem like enough.
He nods back as if he is finally getting it. I don’t blame him.
