MERCS
Pacing the halls of the hospital is making me anxious. Effa’s having a bunch of tests done, and I have to fucking wait. The ride over here with her was torturous, and one I’d rather forget. She crashed again, and they had to shock her with those damn paddle things to get her heart back into a normal rhythm. But it seemed once that happened, everything settled down again.
I’ve never felt tenser in my life. Knowing that at any moment, at any flip of the coin, she could be taken from me and it’s doing my head in. I can’t stand my thoughts, and I feel like I’m not even fucking functioning. My feet are heavy as I pace frantically, my hands running through my hair, tugging and pulling at my strands trying to feel something. Anything. But the constant ache in my chest.
The persistent tapping of running feet down the hall alerts me to people heading my way, but I don’t look up. Instead, I keep my head down and pace trying to keep myself together.
“Mercs,” Alana calls out.
My chest squeezes even tighter at hearing Effa’s step-sister calling my name, her voice sounding as broken as I feel.
Suddenly, a body slams into me. Arms envelop around me tight, warmth encasing me, as I look down to see Alana wrapping herself around me. Her face is tearstained and red from excessive crying. Slumping my body, I wrap my arms around her and hold her with a heavy sigh.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmur tapping her back.
She pulls back looking at me, squeezing her eyebrows together with a sniff.
I watch as the rest of the band and some of the crew arrive.
“Sorry? What for? This is not your fault, Mercs. She’s going to be fine. I just know it.” She gulps, her words not carrying the same tone as the fear in her voice. She’s scared, she just doesn’t want to admit it.
“I should have been with her, protecting her from that fuck head. I swear when I get my hands on him…” I let my words hang in the air as everyone looks at each other with raised brows.
Tank looks to me, and the deep creases in his forehead teamed with the furrowing of his brows show me his concern. He looks me up and down and shakes his head. “You look like shit, brother. Maybe you should sit down, or we could get a coffee?” he offers, and I shake my head.
“I can’t. I need to be here for her.”
Luke sighs and moves in next to me placing his hand on my shoulder. “You are here for her. And having a seat, right there…” he points to the chair, “… won’t stop that. What it will stop is you falling over from exhaustion, and that won’t be good for anyone. So, please, Mercs, sit down. I’ll get you a coffee,” Luke offers.
Taking a deep breath, I weakly nod heeding his advice. I want to be here for Effa, and I will be no good if I can’t function. This is the waiting area and the seat’s right there, so what harm could it do?
I walk with everyone over to the seats, and as I plonk onto the plastic chair, I let out a heavy sigh. Then I lean my elbows on my knees and make an attempt to calm the fuck down.
Kristy sits next to me and runs her hand along my back in a comforting way, and I’m not sure why but somehow it helps.
Wracking my jaw from side to side, I glance to Luke. “Did they find Jett?”
Luke raises his brow and shrugs. “Why would we need to find Jett?”
My muscles tense and I glance around the room.
They don’t know.
None of them know anything.
I stand and begin to pace the waiting room again while my breaths come in short and sharp. I turn back to look at Luke and grit my teeth. “He did this!”
Luke furrows his brows standing in front of me and looks me in the eyes. “You need to be very clear with me now, Mercs. What do you mean?”
I let out a grunt. “I mean… I fucking walked into the foyer, and Effa looked doped out of her fucking mind. She was hanging onto Jett as he was dragging her away to do God only knows what to her. Jett must have done something to her because no shit, I was only away from her for no longer than thirty minutes and when she left me she was fine. She looked like she was smashed, Luke. When I went to call Jett out on it, he’d vanished. Left her there on the fucking… floor.”
Andi stands from her chair and gasps. “He gave her a cocktail. He came to sit with us, and he brought her a drink. He must have spiked it with something.”
“Jesus…” Casey trails off but says no more.
Running footsteps down the hall makes us all look up to see Raoul barreling toward us along with one of Jett’s bandmates. I tense up, my muscles ready for a fight if I need to as they approach us.
Liam’s face is weary. He looks deflated, and I think I even see a bruise on his jaw.
“What the fuck do you want, Liam? And where the hell is Jett?” I yell.
Liam shakes his head. “I don’t know where Jett is, but I do know what’s wrong with Effa.”
My entire body riddles in a cold sweat. I race forward without hesitation grabbing Liam by his collar and thrusting him back into the wall. He doesn’t react or try to fight me off as I stare into his bloodshot eyes.
“What. Did. He. Do. To. Her?”
Raoul places his hand on my back trying to placate me, but I just shove Liam harder, and he grits his teeth as everyone in the waiting room watches the standoff between Jett’s lead guitarist and me.
He swallows and shakes his head. “I tried to stop him. I swear, Mercs. But all it did was start a fight between the other guys and me. When Jett told us what he was planning… I was dead against it. Effa doesn’t deserve that. She’s sweet, and she’s been so good to us.” He looks up to the ceiling and then back down to me and continues, “Jett… he’s become obsessive over her. So damn obsessive it’s creepy. I couldn’t sit back and let him take advantage of her like that. So, I was going to stop him. But then the fight broke out, and Raoul came to stop us which left Effa even more vulnerable to Jett. I feel responsible. If I hadn’t have gotten involved… if I hadn’t have started the fight…” a line appears on his forehead, “… maybe Raoul would have been there to stop Jett. To stop him taking off with her. Maybe, even to stop her from drinking that fucking spiked cocktail.”
My skin prickles as my stomach churns. I want to be sick thinking about what Jett was planning to do with Effa.
Did he plan for her to react to whatever he gave her like she did?
Did he want her to die?
Was that his end game?
“What was he trying to do?” I ask through gritted teeth.
Liam grimaces and shakes his head. “He gave her a massive dose of roofies…” My stomach sinks as I let go of Liam and take in a deep breath. “Jett wanted to get back at you, so he thought what better way to do it than to drug Effa. And in his twisted way of thinking, he thought if he could get Effa alone and inebriated enough to sleep with him, she would finally fall madly in love with him. They would live happily ever after. Become a power couple, and that would skyrocket Swift Division to huge fame. Maybe, he could even be more famous than Effa. He was hell-bent on getting to stardom fast, rather than doing it the right way…” He pauses, then continues, “If it means anything to you, and I know you probably don’t give a flying fuck about me, but honestly, this is not how I work. Anything you need from me, I’m here.”
I turn away from Liam and begin to pace the waiting room floor. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me?” I turn back to Liam and glare at him harshly. “He was going to rape her?” I yell making everyone jump.
He winces cracking his neck to the side and nods. “That’s why I was trying to stop it, Mercs. I’m on your side in this. I would never disrespect a woman like that.”
Bile rises in my throat as I clench my fists together. Pressure builds in me so fucking hot I don’t know how to calm it. A hand on my back makes me flinch away. Turning, I notice Alana has tears in her eyes, and she’s looking right at me. Then I remember her friends and family are here hearing all this for the first time, too.
“You were there to save her, Mercs…” she pauses, “… remember that,” Alana says so softly I almost don’t hear her, and the weight that was holding me down lifts slightly. I look into her glistening eyes and pull her into me for a hug. She wraps herself around me as I look to Luke over her shoulder.
“Luke… someone needs to tell the doctors to look for traces of Rohypnol. It might help them with how to treat her now we know what we’re dealing with.”
Luke nods, turns and races off down the hall.
I glance to Raoul as I let Alana go. He looks terrible. His face is sunken in, there are purple rings under his eyes, and he’s wearing the biggest of fucking frowns on his face. He looks like shit. Raoul failed to protect Effa, and I know he’s hurting right now.
Am I pissed he left his post? Hell yes, but I get it. He was breaking up a fight that could have involved Effa and the band. It’s in his job description to protect at all costs, and Jett took advantage of that. He took advantage of us all. I can’t blame Raoul for doing his job.
“Thank you, Liam, for coming forward. Sorry about getting heavy with you…” I trail off as he waves his hand through the air.
“Emotions are high, I get it. If it were my girl, I probably would have punched me whereas you held off. If it’s any consolation, I am sorry about Jett. I’m sorry for the parts I played in his behavior. And I’m particularly sorry for getting involved that time backstage where I held you back with the rest of the band, and he had words with you. I felt like an ass at the time for playing along. I won’t be a party to Jett’s fucking behavior anymore. He can’t keep doing this shit.”
I nod in answer.
Liam walks off leaving us all to sit and wait for any news from the doctors.
Luke comes back after having a discussion and sits down with us all.
We wait.
And wait.
And wait.
I feel like we’ve been here for hours-days-weeks when finally a doctor appears in the hallway gaining our attention, and I stand rushing toward him along with Luke and Alana.
“So?” I ask.
“We’ve run some blood work to check her electrolyte levels and her serum pH to rule out any damage to the kidneys or any underlying conditions. We inserted some oral activated charcoal to reduce the drug absorption. With how long her brain was starved from oxygen, she’s suffering from not only an overdose of Rohypnol but also an anoxic brain injury. We stabilized her heart and blood pressure and put through a good source of oxygen to the brain, but her core temperature wasn’t cooling enough. So we had to induce hypothermia to help the brain effectively mend itself.”
My face screws up in confusion as I shake my head. “You froze her?” I blurt out as everyone looks from the doctor to me with a frown.
“Not so much froze as cooled her enough to help her body begin to mend. We’ve placed her in a medically induced coma. She’s currently on a ventilator. It looks bad, but she’s actually doing better than I would have expected when she first presented to us…” He purses his lips. “She does have two broken ribs, I would assume from the CPR.”
I cringe and shudder thinking that I did that to her.
“But that’s to be expected in a time of panic, and to be honest, it’s quite normal. They will mend with no hassle. She’ll be here for a couple of weeks, I assume. But given how she’s pulled through so far, how well she’s fighting, I think she’ll be one of the lucky ones. Knowing exactly what the drug was that was given to her, helped immensely. But, we’re not out of the woods yet, so I’ll keep you informed.”
A collective sigh is let out by us all as he goes to walk off.
I stand up and take a step forward. “Can I see her?” I call out.
He turns back. “Soon. I’ll come and get you when it’s time.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I nod and start to pace again as my heart pounds in my chest.
She’s doing okay, but she isn’t out of the woods.
She’s in a coma and on a ventilator.
She can’t even breathe on her own.
Fuck!
I turn to hear footsteps coming down the hall, and look to see Jett sauntering toward us like he owns the fucking hospital. A nurse even turns her head in awe to look at him as he walks past her, but all it does is make my lip turn up in disgust.
My entire body ignites. Sweat beads on my temple as my fists ball at my sides. My nostrils flare as my teeth grind, squeaking with such a loud tone that I’m sure everyone can hear it.
Jett steps up to us. He’s wearing that cocky smirk he always adorns as he looks over us all.
Then stares at Luke, giving him a single nod. “How is she?” he asks.
Just hearing his voice is enough to send me over the edge. My vision blurs as my ears ring. My heart thumps in my chest so rapidly I don’t have time to think before I lunge. Rushing forward, thrusting my hands out in front of me, I take Jett by his throat. My fingers lacing around his thick neck, the slight stubble on his neckline pricking my fingers as they dig into his flesh. His eyes bug out of his head as they glare into mine while I thrust him back against the wall and his face turns red. I can’t hear anything other than my blood pumping in my ears. His hands come up to my arms gripping them, clenching on my biceps trying to pry me off, but I’m like a man fucking possessed and right now I want his blood on my hands for having the audacity to touch and hurt my girl.
The whites of his eyes become more and more apparent as he gasps for air.
Suddenly, he shifts his body, his knee coming up and ramming right into my junk. Pain shoots straight to my balls, and it’s so intense I hunch over feeling like I want to throw up. My hands drop from Jett’s neck and go directly to my balls.
Immediately, Jett’s hands are around my neck pulling me to the floor in a wrestling move. I’m taken by surprise that he’s fighting back as he rolls me onto my back shoving my head hard into the linoleum. I let out an “oomph” sound.
Watching out of the corner of my eyes, everyone’s standing around, including Tank who’s holding himself back letting me have my moment with the fuck head, but he’s ready to step in if he needs to. I look back just in time to see Jett’s fist flying at my face. Ducking my head out of the way, his hand flies past me smacking straight into the floor. His knuckles connect, and he lets out a roar of pain.
Rolling us back over so I’m on top of him. He fights against me, but I’m too strong, pulling his chest up off the floor, then shoving him back down. He thwacks hard into it, his head hitting the floor just like mine had done moments ago, and then I waste no time pulling my fist back and thrusting it hard, fast and unrelenting into his nose. There’s a cracking sound as blood spurts out and slides down his face, but it doesn’t seem to satisfy me. So, I pull back hard and fast, then thrust back down into his face again and again. Blood splashes onto my jeans as I continue to smash into his face.
My fist moves in for another punch, but as I pull back someone grabs my arm halting me. I yank on my arm but turn to see Tank holding me.
I look down to see Jett’s knocked out cold, blood pissing from his face as he lays beneath me.
“You got your vengeance, bro. Let’s not add a manslaughter charge to it. Okay?” Tank adds.
With heavy breaths, I look down to Jett as he slowly wakes up with a long groan.
“Fuuuck!” he moans as he pushes me off him.
I slide off and stand up as Jett rolls onto his side. My anger still rolling off me like a fucking tidal wave. I look down at him covered in blood, and it doesn’t satisfy me. The hurt he’s caused Effa doesn’t nearly compare to the pain I want to cause him.
As he slowly sits up, I take in the sight before me. His eye’s puffy and black, his nose is obviously broken, and there’s a giant gash on the side of his cheek which will fuck up his pretty boy good looks.
He sways on the spot. “Did I…” he spits out a mouthful of blood, “… really deserve that?”
I lunge forward, thrusting my foot right into his guts.
Jett let’s out a grunt falling backward, his back smacking against the floor as gasps fill the room.
Tank grabs me pulling me away from Jett, as I pant fast and heavy trying to keep myself from killing the little fucker.
“Enough! Enough now, Mercs,” Tank warns.
Four security guards run around the corner. Two bolt directly to me, yanking me from Tank and gripping me either side as the other two bend down to pull Jett up off the floor. I don’t resist as they grab me and pull my hands behind my back dragging me up against the wall while everyone watches on in horror.
“Look… I think we can sort something out here,” Luke offers up to the guards.
“I’m not sure what you think there is to sort out? This guy’s clearly beaten this guy… in front of a whole bunch of witnesses. He’s not going anywhere but in the back of a police van,” the security guard currently twisting my arm behind my back tells Luke.
Luke looks at me shaking his head while I try to calm the fuck down. Alana glances at me, her eyes watering like crazy as she holds her arms around herself, and I wince hating that she had to witness that side of me.
I know Effa would have hated it.
Effa detests violence of any kind.
But Jett had to pay for what he’s done to Effa.
So, if getting a little blood on my hands makes me a bad man, then I don’t fucking care right now.
Luke steps up to me taking a deep breath and shakes his head. “Don’t say anything at the police station without me being there. Okay?” he advises.
I just stare at him.
“Okay?” he reiterates again pulling me back into the now.
I nod as the two security guards start walking me off down the hall.
Taking a deep breath, I hate that I’m leaving Effa. I hate that I have no idea what my actions are going to bring about now. I might end up behind bars for this for all I know.
Fuck!
But my only concern is for Effa to be safe from that maniac. At least now Jett knows when it comes to Effa, I will protect her at any cost. Even if it means putting myself on the line. Because there’s no way I’m going to let him get near her again. Ever.
We walk outside, and there is a PSP trooper car waiting for me. I grit my teeth as I’m escorted to the car. The trooper looks me over, and as the security guards basically throw me to the cops, my hands are yanked around in front of me, and my wrists are shackled together in handcuffs.
Shit just got real.
The back door of the squad car opens, and the trooper places his hand on my head and leads me inside the car. I swallow hard looking back toward the hospital to see Luke watching me, while he’s talking on his cell. He curtly nods to me, and I nod back, as I slide in and sit down wondering what the fuck mess I’ve just gotten myself into.
Maybe this was Jett’s plan all along?
Make me retaliate.
Get me out of the way so he can get to Effa more easily.
Have I just played right into his damn hands?
Fuck!