Page 52 of Has-Been
Me:I’m trying, but he needs to try too. I won’t disturb you too much, Has, I know you’re all working on this serial killer thing. So… about that dick pic…
I pictured him reading that and throwing his head back as he laughed, even wondered if there were others around him to witness it. I wished I could witness it. I wished he hadn’t had to leave this room.
H:Have I created a monster, babe? You just want me for my dick, don’t you? Feeling kinda cheap here…
Before I could reply, he sent another message, and no it wasn’t a dick pic, unfortunately.
H:Sorry babe, shit’s happening here. I’ll check in as soon as I can but please please stay locked in your room. Don’t let in anyone outside of the ones who know about us.
I knew what he meant by that. He meant the few he knew were safe, because they all knew now, didn’t they?
Thirty-Three
WhenMicroranintothe bar, just as we were grabbing more coffee, and told us there had been an accident, we just knew it was Torch. It was too much of a coincidence, knowing someone had been at his bike. Micro was pissed because he and Torch were tight, and he ran back out just as fast to get to the hospital, because Torch was already on his way there by ambulance.
We hadn’t heard yet by any other means, but thank fuck we knew, so we could get there to see if he was okay. We didn’t have to wait for the police or the hospital to call his next of kin, which would be Reacher.
“You two get up there and see what’s going on, and how he’s doing. We’ll follow as soon as we know this place is locked down safe.” Stitch marched off with Reacher, and Ry nodded at me as we both headed out to our bikes.
“You think this is because someone tampered with his bike?” We watched the gates open as Micro tore out of the place like his ass was on fire. I hoped to fuck that nobody else’s bike had been messed with, because we couldn’t even warn Micro, what with him not being in the loop yet.
“I don’t know why else he’d suddenly have an accident. This is Torch, man. He’s a twisted bastard, but he doesn’t take risks on his bike.”
We got on the road, and headed for the hospital, and the whole time we were riding there, I had two mantras in my head. One praying that Torch would be okay, because he was like a real brother to me, and secondly praying that nothing would happen to Elise while I was gone.
When we reached the hospital, and were directed through to the ward, and not intensive care, I felt relief lifting that crushing weight from my chest, because that meant it wasn’t so bad, right?
We could hear him as we approached the ward, and that wasn’t a good sign.
“I said I’m fucking fine. Can you get me out of here now? I need to check on my bike.”
We exchanged a grin as we approached the curtained off area, and without touching it, Ry cleared his throat.
“Torch, you wanna settle your ass down and let them do their job?”
“Oh thank fuck. Ry! Have you seen my bike yet? Is she okay?”
A nurse pulled the curtain open and nodded to us to enter. He was having a bad cut stitched up on his forehead, and grumbling about it like a real bitch.
“What the hell happened, man?” I was so fucking relieved to see him being the ornery bastard we all knew he could be, because that meant he wasn’t that badly injured at all.
“Fucking brakes failed, is what happened. Seriously, babe, are you done with that yet? It’s just a flesh wound.”
The female doctor tutted at Torch, and lowered her hands briefly, before she went back with a dressing to cover it up.
“Call me ‘babe’ again, and I’ll stitch up another part of you, got it?”
Ry grinned at me, and walked around the bed, so he could catch the doctor’s eye.
“He been giving you trouble, darlin’?”
The doctor huffed a sigh and stood up, removing her surgical gloves with a snapping sound, as she fixed us all with a fierce glare.
“I’m a doctor, I’m not ‘babe’ or ‘love’ or ‘darling’, okay? Now since I’m guessing you’re going to relieve this pain in my ass, I’ll tell you what I told him. He’s taken a knock to the head, and I suspect he’s concussed, but he’s not going to rest, so the best I can hope for is that he stays off a motorbike for the next twenty-four hours at least.” She turned to Torch then, who winked at her as he straightened his cut, after checking it for blood or damage.
“You, my most frustrating patient of the day, I don’t want to see you in here again tomorrow, because you disregarded my advice and hurt yourself again. Are we clear?”Wow, feisty mama, that one.
Torch smirked as he stood up, towering over the diminutive woman.
