Ricky
Swelling to the brain?
Induced coma?
I’m lucky?
They didn’t think I would recover?
I hear everything the doctor is saying but I can’t take it all in. I look at him standing in his white coat as he writes down notes on the clipboard in his hand and over his shoulder, Jake is hovering around near the door. Where are my brothers? Where is Kyla?
“Can you tell me what month we are in?”
I go to answer and frown when nothing comes out. It’s…O…October. Yes, I’ve got it.
“October.”
The doc smiles and continues, “Can you count back from ten to one, please.”
I do as he asks and pleased with my answers, he hooks the clipboard on the end of my bed and slips his pen into his top pocket.
“I’ll be back later, I’ve been holding off the sheriff all day, if you’re not up to it I can send him away.”
I’ve been answering the doctor’s questions for a while and getting no answers myself, at least if I let Jake in I will find out what happened. Although, I won’t be answering any of his questions and I’m sure he has many he wants to ask.
“Let him in.”
Jake, the fucker, must’ve been listening in as he shoots through the door and stops beside my bed waiting for the doctor to leave. He closes the door behind him and Jake jumps straight in.
“The doctors are impressed with you, they say you’re looking at a full recovery,” he begins, pulling up a chair and taking a seat.
“I’m lucky apparently,” I mutter.
He looks up at me and I put my game face on.
“Do you know how you ended up here?” he asks.
“The doc said I was in an explosion, I don’t remember anything.”
I don’t like telling him this much but if I act like a dick he won’t give me anything, and without anyone from the club here I haven’t got a clue what’s happened.
“What was the last thing you remember?”
“I was running an errand in town.”
He writes it down in his little black book and says, “Not that anyone is talking to me. From what I’ve seen you returned to the old Johnson place and a van followed you in and tried blowing the place up.”
I close my eyes trying to envision what he is telling me but I draw a blank. I don’t remember anything. I don’t remember being in town but I remember that’s my go-to excuse for anything when talking with cops.
My mouth dries when I go to ask the one question I really need an answer to and open my mouth.
“Is…I mean…did anyone…”
Before I can finish, a surge of relief washes over me when the door swings open and Alannah pushes Cas in, in a wheelchair. I’ve never been so fucking happy to see my president.
“Get the fuck out of here, Jake.”
Cas sounds hard and on closer look, his eyes are cold and calculating as he stares down the sheriff.
He doesn’t need to be told twice and after a heavy sigh, he warns, “I’ll be back,” and leaves the room.
Alannah firmly closes the door after he’s gone and wheels Cas to my bedside.
“How are you?” he asks.
I go to tell him I’m good but it takes a second for the words to leave my mouth.
“I’m good. Where’s Ky?”
“She’s on her way. Pope dragged her home last night, she needed a good night’s sleep. I sat with you until the doc said they were waking you up,” Alannah tells me.
“How…long have I been out?”
I think the doc told me this but I can’t remember.
“Two and a half days.”
“What happened, Cas?” I dare to ask, “I don’t remember anything.”
“I’m not surprised,” Alannah murmurs.
Cas frowns at her and I’m hoping it doesn’t mean he’s going to hold back the truth.
“You went with Sparky and Pope to collect Oak’s boy from his graveside. You called me to say someone was following you on the way back to the club. They pulled in after you when you came through the gates, and the next thing we knew, there’s an explosion and we’re all on the deck.”
“What’s happening back home?”
“Everyone is cleaning up and regrouping. We’ll be out of here soon and join them,” Cas tells me.
“Did…did anyone…die?” I can barely get the words out of my mouth to ask.
Cas hangs his head and my heart furiously beats against my chest. Is that why Kyla isn’t here? Was she in the blast?
“John, Shellie’s boy, he died. He was the only one, you, Sparky and Pope are all alive.”
It sounds cruel, inhuman, but I’m glad it wasn’t one of us. I didn’t know the kid and it’s not like Oak is still around or knew him.
“So? Ky is all good?”
“Yeah, I told you, she’s on her way here,” Alannah reminds me.
“Why him?”
Cas shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders, “I don’t know.”
From what I’m being told, the four of us were in the car yet we survived and John didn’t. I’m starting to think the doc was right, I am lucky.
“A lot of brothers were banged up, but it was only you and I who ended up here,” he tells me.
“What happened to you?”
“Internal bleeding.”
He doesn’t elaborate any further and to be honest, I don’t have the energy to keep asking questions, apart from one.
“Where’s Ky?”
I want her here with me. I need to feel her hand in mine and hear her tell me she is okay. Cas and Alannah exchange quick worried looks between each other.
“What aren’t you telling me? Where is she? Is she okay?” I ask all in a rush to find out what they’re keeping from me.
I pull out the tube stuck in my hand and Alannah is quick to lean over the bed and stop me. I try pushing her away but one word from Cas and I stop.
“Ricky,” he warns, rendering me motionless.
“She’s on her way, she’ll be here soon. We’ve already told you that,” he says.
“Oh? You did?”
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to get a grip on myself. Flashes of the cemetery hit me and I blurt out, “I was at the cemetery, Pope was pouring whiskey on Oak’s grave…something about talking to people beyond the grave…Sparky laughed…”
That’s it. That’s all I’ve got for now. The bland, sterile hospital room comes back to me.
“Let’s not talk about it now, you need to take it slow. Try and get some sleep and when you wake up, Kyla will be here.”
“But, we should get back to the club.”
“Sleep, it’s a fuckin’ order.”
It’s like being in a pack of wolves, when the alpha orders you, his word is final. My heart is walking out of the room, I’m taking my girl home and I’m on my way to defend the club from everyone who wants to destroy us. However, my body isn’t moving and my mind is shutting down. My thoughts become a blur apart from Ky’s face, she will never be a blur to me.