CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Ice
“JOHN!” I HEARD her scream into the phone. I bolted up in bed, wondering what the hell was wrong. It was probably another raccoon, or at least, that’s what I assumed until I heard the other voices and her harsh breathing in the phone. I flung the covers off and quickly dressed while my phone was on speaker. “Hang on, Lindsey. I’m coming,” I shouted, but the line went dead. “Shit.” I raced out to my truck, gunning the engine as I tore out of the drive. I pulled out my phone and called Hunter. “What do you want, asshole?” “I need you to meet me at Lindsey’s new house. She just called me and there were other people there. The line went dead. I don’t know if she’s hurt or not,” I said, slightly panicking. I never panicked, but Lindsey was the one person I couldn’t handle losing. She meant so much to me and no matter how angry I was at her choices, the thought of losing her was too much. “I’m on my way.” I hung up and called Chris and Jules, telling them to get their asses over to Lindsey’s. I had no idea what the fuck was going on, but I’d rather have everyone gathered and ready to kick some ass. It took me ten minutes to get to her house and it turns out it was ten minutes too long. When I pulled in the driveway, her front door was standing open and all the lights were off in the house. I pulled my gun out of my glovebox and quietly crept to the front door. Tires squealed as I stood just outside the door. I didn’t want to wait, but I knew it was better to go in with backup. Hunter ran to the other side of the door, nodding that he was ready to enter. I went high and he went low. It was impossible to see anything in the dark, but there was one thing I could clearly see. There was a body at the foot of the stairs. “Shit,” I whispered as I crept closer, seeing that it was Lindsey. I was scared to even get closer, scared that she was dead and I hadn’t been fast enough. Footsteps had Hunter and I spinning around. Chris and Jules were entering, guns raised as they peered into the darkness. Chris saw Lindsey laying on the ground and shook his head slightly. “We’ll clear the rest of the house.” Chris and Jules set out to clear the house while I ran to Lindsey. I knew that Hunter was the one that needed to check her out, but I had to see for myself how she was. I ran my hands over her, my heart in my throat the whole time. The first thing I saw was the blood running down her forehead. The next thing I saw was the blood dripping from her mouth. My breath stalled in my chest as Hunter shoved me out of the way. “Hold this light,” Hunter said as he handed me his phone. I held it above him as I kept my eyes out for anyone that was still hanging around. Hunter lifted her eyelids, checked her pulse, all while I stood there and stared at the love of my life lying broken on the floor. “Is she alive?” I asked hesitantly. “Yeah. We need to get her to a hospital. Call an ambulance.” I quickly called and relayed all the information I could as Chris and Jules came back. “The house is clear. Looks like someone cut the power,” Jules informed us. I knelt down next to Lindsey as we waited for the ambulance. Taking her hand in mine, my chest tightened painfully as I felt her limp hand in mine. She wasn’t moving. She was barely breathing from what I could tell. Someone had come here and hurt her. They had tried to take her from this world. Anger built inside of me until I was shaking with rage. I felt a hand on my shoulder, squeezing in an attempt to calm me down. It wasn’t working. “Calm down, man. Let’s just get her to the hospital and then we’ll figure out the rest from there,” Chris said calmly. I shook my head angrily. “I never should have let her move out here by herself. I was so fucking stupid.” “This isn’t your fault,” Hunter said as he looked up at me. “She was my responsibility,” I said fiercely. “She left you, man. It’s not like you could chain her to your bed” Jules said. I shook my head as tears filled my eyes. “I never should have let her leave. I should have fought harder for her.” The sirens in the distance signaled the ambulance’s arrival. Jules squeezed my shoulder. “She’ll be alright, man. You won’t lose her.” I prayed to God he was right. If she didn’t make it, I would never forgive myself.
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I sat by her side for two days as she laid in that fucking hospital bed. My body hummed with rage the longer I sat there and looked at her bruised body. I couldn’t contain the anger for much longer and if I just sat here watching her, I would go insane. Something had to give. The guys kept coming to check on her and the women all sent flowers and came to sit with her throughout the day, but I never left. I couldn’t. Every time someone told me to go get some coffee, I just moved to the other side of the room and stared out the window. I just couldn’t bring myself to leave her. I passed out sometime during the night with my head resting on her bed next to her hand. The sound of beeping woke me up in the morning and when I looked up, Lindsey was awake and looking at me in confusion. “Lindsey,” I said hoarsely. “How are you feeling?” “I have a headache. What are you doing here?” she asked tersely. It was like a shot of pain to my chest. I didn’t expect her to react so harshly to seeing me. I leaned back in the chair and scrubbed a hand down my face. “I just needed to make sure you were okay.” “Since when do you care?” she snapped, closing her eyes when it obviously caused her pain. “I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake.” I stood from the chair, not looking back at her, not wanting to see the hate in her eyes, and went in search of a nurse. I let them know she was awake and followed the nurse back into the room where I got another strange look from Lindsey. The door opened and the doctor walked in with a smile on his face. “It’s good to see you awake, Lindsey. How are you feeling this morning?” “My head hurts,” she said quietly. The doctor moved to close the blinds. “Better?” She nodded and the doctor moved to her side, shining the light in her eyes. “I need to examine you. Would you like…” The doctor looked up at me, searching for a name. “John,” I supplied. “Would you like John to stay or go?” “Go,” she said without an ounce of hesitation. I nodded as the fight left my body. I walked out the door and leaned heavily against the wall. She didn’t want me around. What did I expect? That because she had called me, she would suddenly want me back in her life? Pushing off the wall, I stalked to the elevator and pressed the button. I wasn’t wanted here and I couldn’t just sit around here anymore pretending to get on with life. It was time I did that. Heading for Reed Security, I walked straight to Cap’s office. He was working at his computer and did a double take when I walked in the room. “How’s Lindsey?” “She’s awake.” His smile dimmed when he saw the look on my face. “I take it things are still tense between you two?” “You could say that. Look, I can’t just work around here anymore. I need a job to go on. Find me something so I don’t lose my fucking mind.” “Cash actually contacted me today for a job, but I didn’t have a team available.” “We’re available,” I said urgently. “Are you sure you’re up for this?” “I need this, Cap. Don’t let me down. I need to focus on something else in my life besides the assholes that did this to her. If I don’t get out of here, I might go looking for answers and I won’t stop at a beating.” “Are you sure you want to leave right now? She’s in the hospital. You should stick around and be with her.” “She doesn’t want me there,” I said, looking away from him. “She told me to leave.” “She’s been out of it. Maybe she was confused.” “You should have seen the way she looked at me. There’s no way I could confuse that look with anything else. So, my choices are to stay around here and wallow in self-pity, look for the assholes that hurt her and kill them, or you can give me a fucking job to go on and I clear my head.” He tossed me a folder and picked up his phone. “I’ll call Cash and let him know you’re coming. This is a long job though, Ice. This isn’t just a few days.” “Perfect.” “You get to tell Chris and Jules,” he said, jerking his head toward the door. “Whatever.” I didn’t give a shit if Chris was pissed. I needed this and I would get out of here no matter what it took. I walked out of the office and called the guys, telling them we needed to meet up to go over our new assignment. After getting shit planned out, I headed home and packed a bag. I was just loading up some gear in the SUV when Cap walked into the supply room. “You sure about this, John? It’s not too late to call Cash. Maybe you want to see how Lindsey is in a few days.” “I got the message loud and clear, Cap. She doesn’t want me around and I have to respect that.” “As long as you’re sure.” “Just do me a favor. Keep an eye on her for me. Have Maggie go check up on her and make sure she’s alright.” “Sure, man.” I shook his hand and walked over to the SUV, grabbing the last of my stuff and loading it. This job was just what I needed to clear my head.