Page 33 of Hounds Ascend
Before I drift off, I open my phone and send a text to Cass.
Lilly: I’m at the hospital with Mindy. Will be here all night. Getting some sleep. Please be safe. I love you.
I don’t sleep much in Mindy’s hospital room between Linc and the nurses constantly going in and out, checking Mindy’s vitals. Finally, after the tenth time I get woken up in four hours, I sit up and decide against trying to sleep because it’s just going to keep pissing me off.
I walk quietly into the bathroom and splash some cold water on my face. I toss my hair into a messy bun. Not a cute one, either. Once I’m mostly put together, I venture down the hall to a waiting room. I fill a cup of coffee halfway before pouring a ton of sugar into it then adding in multiple packets of creamer. Coffee never has done anything for me, but I have to try something, so coffee it is.
I sit down in one of the chairs and take slow sips of the steaming liquid in my small Styrofoam cup. I’m shocked that it’s delicious, for being hospital coffee. I guess I’m not well-versed in coffee. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought it was midday judging by all of the people walking through the halls. Doctors and nurses, patients and their families, everyone is going somewhere this morning. I chance a peek at the clock that tells me it’s just after seven-thirty in the morning. I guess the world is usually more awake than I am in the morning, and I’ve forgotten that not everyone lives for the night.
“Shit, I need to check my phone,” I mutter to myself as I stand up and head back to Mindy’s room. Even with all the people scurrying about, the hospital still makes me uncomfortable. Fucking white walled hell hole.
Mindy’s room is quiet aside from the low volume comingfrom the speakers on her bed. She’s sitting up with a tray of food over her bed while Linc is now curled up on the small, stiff, and highly uncomfortable couch. Mindy raises a finger to her lips. “Shh,” she whispers. I close the door and slowly tiptoe until I ease onto the bed next to Mindy.
“I need my phone,” I whisper and point to the small bedside table that’s next to the couch.
“Don’t wake the sleeping bear,” she whispers back, fighting back a laugh.
Again, I tiptoe through the room, snag my phone, and tiptoe back to the other side of the bed. I unlock my phone and find nothing. No response from Cass. No phone call. Nothing. My heart sinks and I’m not sure if I’m more worried or hurt, or both.
He could be hurt. Or dead. Or sleeping. Or…well he could fucking be anything right now and I wouldn’t know it. I wrestle internally with the multitude of emotions swirling around inside my chest. It’s a little easier to breath, though, when I read a text from Raven saying she made it home and Micah isn’t “too upset” with her.
Being a club ol’ lady is beginning to take its toll on me. What more will I have to go through? Why can’t I be more included, especially when this shit is so fucking personal for me? I understand it, to an extent, but on the other hand, I’m almost to the point of tracking down the Moccasin druggies myself and putting a bullet in their heads.
I shake my head to clear the ridiculous thoughts, garneringme Mindy’s attention.
“What’s going on in that brain of yours? I can feel you thinking hard,” she whispers.
I sigh and lay back on the bed, my head resting near Mindy’s. “All this shit going on. I’m worried about Cass.”
Mindy rubs my arm compassionately, giving me a sympathetic stare.
“I’m sure he’s just fine. He didn’t get to be a club president by being a weak pussy.”
Leave it to my best friend to say something fucked up and still make me feel better.
A light bulb instantly dings in my head at the thought of a best friend. I open my phone and type out a text to Scott.
Lilly: Hey, if you’re with Cass, can you just send back some kind of response and at least let me know y’all are okay.
I press send and hold my breath. I don’t give two fucks what they’re doing, so long as they’re okay. My phone buzzes almost immediately with a text back.
Scott: Safe.
One word. That was all I needed. Confirmation that they were safe. I can now breathe easily. Now it’s time to focus on getting Mindy better and figuring out what my part in this messy war is.
I’m sleep deprived and beginning to get antsy the longer I sit cooped up in this hospital room. While Linc catnaps and Mindy dozes off, I take the opportunity to slip out of the roomunnoticed. I’m not sure where I’m headed but I have to get out of this hospital. Now that I know Mindy is going to be okay, there isn’t a need for me here. She has Linc and the nurses and doctors.
Besides, the Moccasins have already kidnapped me. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to do something like that again, especially since Asher made it a point that this wasn’t how they did business. No matter what Cass said, something in me believes that Asher was genuine.
I wind my way through the sea of people in the hospital until I make it to the parking garage. I feel like I can breathe again once I’m out of the building. As usual, I forgot which row I parked in. I roll my eyes at myself and begin walking through the rows of trucks and cars. Finally at the end of the third row, I spot Betty. I decide after I get on the road that I’m heading to the clubhouse first. Maybe some of the guys would be there by now.
Upon my arrival, I realize I was right. There are two motorcycles parked out front. One is Scott’s and the other looks like Old School’s. I walk in and find Old School sitting at the bar alone. Scott is nowhere to be found. Old School’s head whips in my direction.
“You better be careful sneaking up on us old men,” he says with a hearty laugh.
“I figured you’d look before you shot,” I counter, hugging his neck before sitting in the barstool next to him.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were a state away?”he asks.
