Page 5 of Won't Let Go
Tipping my head back, I thread my fingers behind my neck and heave a sigh.
That’s when I let myself feel. To let it sink in. My heart aches. It’s heavy and painful in my chest, twisting and boxing against my sternum. I almost lost her. Hunter almost lost his mom because I wasn’t paying attention. I wasn’t vigilant. I didn’t push her to try different medications. I didn’t force her into more therapy. I did this. I let my best friend suffer, and I couldn’t fix it.
A knot lodges in my throat.
Fuck.
I swallow hard, and it doesn’t move.
My mom carries on like a madwoman with Blimp, swapping between sobbing and fighting him to let her see Jade. The brothers give me space to breathe and don’t do the shit women do—ask too many fucking questions.
Where do we go from here?
How do I fix something like this?
Jade was raped. Repeatedly. They broke her.
I’ve been giving her time to put the pieces back together. To glue the broken bits where they belong. But it didn’t work, did it? She almost died.
Fuck!
Tears burn my eyes.
She almost died.
Jade.
My best fucking friend.
The woman who gave me money when I mowed her yard as a teenager. The woman who watched me learn to ride a Harleyon the road in front of our houses. In case you were wondering, it was a shitshow. I was a wobbly, knee-knocking mess of a teen back then, and Blimp was too chill when he was attempting to teach me. In hindsight, I should have asked Dallas or Tripper, or someone other than him, for help.
Jade was the second person to ink me.
When Pixie, one of my brother’s old ladies, moved to the mother chapter and opened her tattoo shop, Jade went from working with douchebag men I couldn’t stand to an all-woman-run parlor. Watching her art grow has been incredible.
And she almost took all of it away.
From Hunter. Me. The sisters. My mom.
Scrubbing a hand down my face, I blow out a breath and look at Blimp, hugging my mom as she strokes his long, gray beard to calm down.
“Take her home.” I notch my chin at them.
Mom’s back goes rigid. I know she’s about to argue, but Big steps up, towering over all of us. “We’ll address this tomorrow,” Prez says, speaking to them before he turns to me. “You gonna handle all this?” He gestures to the hospital doors.
“Yes.”
Big hums. “We’ll keep Hunter in your room for the time being.”
“Thanks,” I reply. “He’s at his friend’s tonight. Can someone pick him up tomorrow? But don’t tell him what happened. I’ll do it.”
Big clasps me on the shoulder and squeezes before letting go. “Whatever you need, brother.”
I offer him a tight smile—grateful for his support, but the guilt… damn… It’s a bitch.
How do you tell a teenager their mom doesn’t want to be here anymore?
Hunter has grown up so much since his mom was kidnapped and shaped into this new person. The old her is gone.
