As still as I tried to be, I couldn’t hold on to anything or control my movements. My shoulder and head slammed into the door when he flew around the next curve, and I nearly fell into his lap at the one after that. He was still holding the gun in one hand on the steering wheel, as he needed both of them to control the car. I was afraid he would shoot me by mistake, as wildly as he was spinning the wheel. I pulled at the seat belt and tried to get it fastened, but it was impossible. I grabbed at the hanging handle as best I could with my bound hands, and fought to stay upright.

Even scarier was Joker’s behavior. He was talking to himself, muttering and cursing as if reciting a children’s poem.

“Shoot ‘em up, fuck ‘em up, Jo-ker man. Make ‘em bleed as fast as you can.”

He jerked around a hairpin turn and I felt the car slide, tires squealing in protest. I must have uttered a sound, because Joker screamed at me, spit flying from his mouth. “Shut the fuck up!”

He spun the steering wheel again and the car lurched, making a horrible grinding noise. He kept talking. “Fuckers think they can get away with anything. Took away my old man’s pride. Left him broken. Turned pussy. I’ll fuckin’ show them. I’ll fuckin’ show them all!”

We flew around another curve, leaving rubber behind. I’d been on the Tail before on the back of a bike, and knew it was only a matter of time before we would wreck. At this speed, on these curves, we’d never survive. I was going to die today. I was sure of it. I wished I could tell Mute one more time that I loved him.

“Fuck me up the ass!” Joker hissed. I risked a glance at him. His eyes were darting between the road and the rearview mirror. “Looks like pussy man has decided to show up.”

I craned my neck as far as I was able and spotted a couple of motorcycles chasing us. I recognized the one in front, and my heart skipped a beat. Mute was racing toward us, twisting in and out of sight through the wild curves. He was gaining ground fast, and I prayed he wouldn’t end up smeared on the road while trying to rescue me. I tried to reason with Joker, even though I knew it was futile.

“Joker, just pull over real quick and let me out. They’ll stop for me, and you can get away clean.”

“Fuck, goddamn fucking motherfucker!” Joker screamed, and slammed his hands against the steering wheel. I flinched, fully expecting the gun to go off in my face.

“I gotta get away. I gotta get away.” His mood flipped again as he chanted in a singsong voice, “Save it for another day. Gonna make ‘em all pay.”

I glanced back again at Mute and the rider behind him. He wasn’t close enough for me to see his face, but I could imagine it. His dark eyes burning with intensity, his jaw tight enough to crack. I closed my eyes and sent my love out to him.

We were on a long, tight curve, and inertia was pressing me hard against the door. Joker cackled. “Great idea, Pussy Kat! You get out there and stop them.” He reached across my lap, opened the door, and shoved me out. I couldn’t stop him. My only thought before I hit the ground was “this is going to hurt.”

And it did.

I held my arms in front of my face as best as I could. I bounced and rolled along the hard asphalt, leaving behind torn clothes, skin, and blood. My head hit front and then back. I felt a rib or two break, and something in my arm popped. Or was it my leg? I couldn’t tell. The pain hit me hard, and I suddenly couldn’t breathe right.

I came to rest in the middle of the road, on my side. Something was choking me, filling my throat with a coppery taste. Blood, maybe? I gasped, and bright red liquid sprayed from my mouth. Had a rib punctured a lung?

The pain was incredible as I struggled for breath. I opened my eyes to see the taillights of the car spin out of control as it flew into a hairpin turn up ahead. It hit the flimsy guardrail hard, flipped over it, and disappeared from sight, taking several trees with it. I heard crash after crash as I imagined the car rolling down the mountain and the sound went on for a long time. Joker hadn’t been wearing his seat belt either, and nursing school had taught me what happens to the human body as it is uncontrollably whipped around in a violently car wreck. The chances of Joker’s survival were less than none.

I was dying. There was no way I was going to make it. This was the bad part about being a nurse, in that I knew I was too injured, drowning in my own blood, and the hospital was too far away. Mute drove up to me in a screeching halt. One moment later he was down on the ground next to me, his eyes blazing with concern and fear. I heard more vehicles pull up. It was getting hard to tell, as I felt myself fading. My hands were numb, and I was so cold. Tears were pouring from Mute’s dark eyes, and I could hear his thoughts as he stroked my bloodied cheek with his fingers.

“Don’t die, Kat! Please don’t leave me! Please don’t go!”

I smiled at him as best I could. “I’m sorry, baby. I love you,” I whispered with the breath I had left. My vision went black; my last sight was Mute’s tears.

* * *

Mute paced up and down the waiting room. He didn’t like hospitals, but being a part of a biker club meant you became intimately acquainted with them. Accidents happened, sometimes little, sometimes more, but eventually, someone had to make a trip here. He stopped and breathed in the disinfectant smell in the air. Fuck! He hated that stink!

“Mute, sit down for a bit, son,” Betsey called from one of the uniform chairs. Tambre was on one side, her hands flying with a set of knitting needles. The multicolored yarn had been getting steadily longer as the hours went by.

Mute blinked at it, thinking he could measure time by that scarf, or whatever it was. When they first arrived at the hospital, Kat’s still body was swarmed with people shouting orders, taking vitals, putting stick patches on her chest, needles, tubes, and IV bags. The nurse that had treated Kat before wasn’t on duty, but someone else who knew Kat as a nursing student recognized her.

“Oh, Lord in heaven, it’s Katwoman! What happened? How did she get like this?”

Taz had driven the van to the hospital, and gave the details to her as well as taking care of the paperwork. Kat was quickly whisked away, presumably into emergency surgery. Once she had been rushed past the emergency room doors, the place got still and quiet. Brick and the some of the other brothers had stayed behind at the accident site to deal with the sheriff and the fire department. Joker was dead, but Mute wished he could go back and kill him again.

Stud had found Mackie, and had already brought him here earlier. The old man was stable, but still admitted for the night and was resting in a room. Stud had volunteered to stay with him, giving Mute the freedom to pace and worry. Betsey and Tambre had showed up and settled in like waiting room veterans, Betsey with her e-reader, and Tambre with her knitting. The brightly colored scarf was only a few rows when Tambre had arrived. Now, it was at least a foot and a half long.

“You doin’ okay, Mute? Need somethin’?” Betsey looked up from her e-reader, a pair of multicolored reading glasses perched on her nose.

Mute shook his head. I can’t sit. If I sit, I’ll think. If I think, I’ll lose it.

He resumed his pacing. Damage, so much damage. So much blood. Fuck! His thoughts exploded anyway. He had seen other people who had tangled with the Tail and lost. Ones that didn’t have nearly the injuries that Kat did. Her breathing on the frantic ride to the hospital had gotten shallower and shallower, and was undetectable when they pulled up to the emergency bay. Mute was searching for a pulse when the trauma team took over.

Night had fallen. Mute, feeling the need for what privacy he could get, turned away from everyone and went over to the large windows that made up one end of the waiting room. During the day, the view through these windows would be spectacular, showing off the beauty of the Smoky Mountains. Now, in the full dark of night, only a shadow of the mountains could be seen. The sky was clear and black, full of stars. Mute spread his arms and gripped the metal frame of the window, gazing upward. The gentle sparkle was solemn and calming. The noises of the hospital faded as he watched.

Diamonds, he thought. Diamonds in the sky. Pure beauty. Kat should have diamonds. She needs to wear mine. Every day, my Kat should have my diamonds on her. I need to get her some. I need to put my diamond on her finger. I need…. His mangled throat closed up and he nearly choked from the emotion. I need my Kat! His grip on the frame tightened as tears flowed freely down his face. He closed his streaming eyes to the glittering view, and for the first time in his life he prayed to a God he’d never really believed in.

I don’t know if you’re there. If you’re real, or just something people use as an excuse. I never really got into the church thing. Never tried, but I hope you won’t hold that against me. But if what they say is true and you’re all about grace and mercy, please, I’m begging you, please, don’t take my Kat away! She don’t deserve it! She’s been through enough hell in her life and don’t need to die in one! I ain’t a good man. I can’t promise to ever be one, and I ain’t gonna lie to you about it.

He lowered his head. But what I can promise is I will do whatever it takes to make her happy, and I will always protect her and put her life before mine. I will love her with every cell in my body until the last breath I take on this earth, and if needed, I will take her place and die for her!

He pressed his forehead against the glass. Please, please, please, don’t take my Kat away!

“Family for Katrina Vega?” a weary voice called out. Mute heard Betsey jump up, the vinyl of the chair squeaking as she did.

“Family’s right here, Doctor. How’s my girl?” Betsey’s voice was hoarse with fatigue and worry, but she still sounded like the strong matriarch she was.

Mute didn’t turn around. He opened his eyes and looked up once again at the perfect night sky. The glittering stars winked at him, and their serenity washed over him. He felt their light touch his face and a sense of calmness surrounded him. He relaxed his death grip on the window frame, already knowing the answer.

“She was touch and go for a bit, but she’s one tough lady. She’ll be fine.”

The rest of the doctor’s words blurred in Mute’s ears. His legs buckled, and he went to his knees, hands on the floor. He was full. Too full. Loud garbled noises came from his ruined throat as he let it all out in great sobs.

“Oh, my God! Mute!” he vaguely heard Tambre say. A moment later, he felt both women’s arms around him. Betsey crooned in his ear, her own voice breaking as she cried with him. “She’s gonna be all right, baby, she’s gonna be just fine!”

Mute stayed still, his mouth forming the words over and over again. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”