Chapter 3
Two Bit
I knew better. The warning signs were there, and I ignored them all. I couldn’t explain it if I tried. One look at her, and I was willing to lay it all on the line. I almost lost it when she offered herself up to that asshole for my freedom. There was no way in hell I was gonna let that happen. I’d rather take my chances with the brass knuckles. Maybe it was the whole damsel-in-distress thing, but there was no way I was walking out that door until I knew she was okay—especially after I saw the way she looked at me. Her cheeks flushed a bright pink and a hungry look filled her eyes as they skirted over my body. I won’t deny it. I liked that she was into me, and I wanted nothing more than to throw her over my shoulder and carry her the hell out of that place to spend the entire night exploring every curve and every inch of her body.
I would’ve done just that if that asshole hadn’t been in the fucking way. It just didn’t make sense. I couldn’t understand what a girl like her was doing in a place like Nudie’s, much less how she got herself mixed up with a guy like Slider. I had every intention of finding out until I found myself almost dead in the alley behind the strip club.
At least three of my ribs were broken along with my jaw and possibly my shoulder, and I’m pretty sure I had a concussion, if not worse. Everything around me was spinning in circles, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. I’m not sure how long I’d been lying there when I heard a car pull up beside me. The car door opened, but my eyes were too swollen shut for me to see. I heard footsteps coming towards me, and then I heard a woman cry, “Oh, shit. He looks awful. We’ve got to get him to the hospital now!”
I wanted to tell them to leave me and go get Clutch and Stitch. I needed to warn them of the heist, but I was only able to let out a loud groan. I was becoming frustrated when I felt a cool hand rest across my cheek. A woman whispered softly, “We’re going to get you some help. I just need you to hang on a little longer.”
“You’ve seen this guy, right? He’s gotta weigh three hundred pounds! There’s no way we’re going to be able to get him into your car!”
“We’ll figure it out.”
I was too out of it to help as one of them reached under my arms and the other grabbed my feet. They tried to pull me forward, but only made it a few inches. Again, I groaned, hoping they would stop.
“Oh my God. We’re never going to be able to do this.”
“We have to! Come over on this side, and we’ll pull together.”
They each took a hold of an arm and started to tug. This time they made it several feet before they stopped. “Quick. Open the back door.”
I heard the door creak open, and then I was being pulled once more. I thought my head would burst open like a fucking cantaloupe with the way it was pounding, and them pulling me across the gravel wasn’t helping. I could barely breathe from the pain in my side, and I had to hold my breath as they tried to yank me into that damned car. I’m not sure how they managed it, but with only a few bumps and knocks, they wedged me in the backseat. My head was spinning, making me even more nauseated, but thankfully, I was distracted when I heard the engine start. As soon as the car started moving, they began talking back and forth. “Do you think he’s going to be okay?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. He’s pretty out of it, and his face looks like minced meat.”
“I hate them so much for hurting him like this. It’s so stupid. None of it would’ve happened if Slider would have just left me the hell alone.” I thought I had recognized her voice, but it wasn’t until then that I finally realized she was the girl from the strip club. I wanted to tell her that none of it was her fault, but the words just wouldn’t come.
“Slider is an asshole, and he’s had an eye for you from the start. He was bound to screw up sooner or later. Besides, it’s only a matter of time before Tank gets wind of it. He’ll take care of Slider.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“What are we going to tell the doctors?”
“What do you mean?”
“We can’t tell them the truth. We have to have a story, something that won’t have the cops sniffing around the club.”
“Maybe it’s best that we tell them we found him somewhere else, like a gas station or behind our apartment complex,” she suggested.
“Or we could just drop him off at the front door and get the hell out of there.”
“I’m not leaving him.”
“Zoe.”
“This all happened because of me. I can’t just dump him off. I just can’t.”
“It’s not like it’s going to matter. Sooner or later, this guy is gonna find out you’re tied up with the club.” I was trying to make sense of what they were saying, but they were talking too fast. I couldn’t understand. “And when he does, he’s going to hit the ground running.”
“Maybe so, but I’m still staying.”
“Fine. You do what you gotta do, but as soon as we get him to the hospital, I’m outta there. I need my job. I can’t—”
“I get it, Kat. I don’t expect you to do any more than you already have.”
The car came to a quick stop, and one of them said, “Wait here. I’ll go in and get somebody to help.”
After that, everything was a blur. I heard the familiar sounds of heart monitors beeping next to me, so I could only assume I’m in some fucking hospital room. I tried to move, to call out to someone, but I couldn’t. I was too far into the haze to break free. Even when I felt the soft caress of fingertips trailing down my arm and the soft whimper of someone crying, I could only lie there and listen. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
I could hear the pain in her voice, and I wanted to reach out to her, comfort her in some way. “Why didn’t you listen to me? Why didn’t you just leave while you still had the chance? Now, you’re stuck in here fighting for your life. You were just too stubborn to listen. I don’t know what I would’ve done if… Anyway, the doctor said you were lucky. One of your broken ribs pierced your lung, and it could’ve killed you if we hadn’t gotten you here when we did. He’s worried about your concussion. It was pretty bad…”
Her voice faded as she started to cry. It took her several minutes to collect herself and finally continue talking. “I’m not really supposed to be in here. My Aunt Janet is the chief nurse over the night shift. She’s the one that let me back here. I’m kind of surprised. She’s usually such a stickler for the rules.”
She was rambling, but I liked the sound of her voice. It was relaxing and helped me forget about the throbbing pain in my head. “I’m not crazy about hospitals. They make me a little nervous, and when I get nervous, I talk too much. I probably need to give you a break.”
When she stopped talking, the room became eerily quiet. I didn’t like it. Without the distraction, the ache in my side started to intensify, and the pounding in my head became damned near unbearable. The pain continued to increase, and it felt like my skull was splitting in half. I felt the palm of her hand on my chest as she asked, “Hey… what’s wrong? Are you okay? Should I call a nurse?”
Seconds later, I heard the door open and a voice call out into the hallway. “We need a nurse or a doctor in here! Now!”
She came back over to me and placed her hand on mine, giving it a light squeeze. “Hold on. They’re coming.”
My breathing became more strained, the pain hit a new level of excruciating, and I was falling deeper into the darkness. I tried to hold on, tried to listen as the doctors attempted to find the problem, but it was just too hard. Suddenly, the pain began to ease and my breathing became less difficult, but the need to let go was even more powerful. It was like descending through the air with no end in sight. The noise in the room faded, and I felt miles away from anyone. I tried to call out for help, but the words wouldn’t come. I was trapped, drowning in the pits of darkness, and there was nothing I could do to pull myself free. My fight was gone. I could only lay there and submit to my circumstance.
I was just about to give up hope when I heard the faint sound of music playing. I tried to concentrate on the rhythm, hoping I might remember the name of the song, but it was nothing I’d heard before. Like a moth to a flame, I found myself drawn to the soothing melody. The tension in my body began to diminish, and as my breathing steadied, I started to relax.
“You’re going to be okay.” Her voice seemed so far away, but I could still hear everything she said. “You scared me for a minute. The doctor is worried about the swelling in your brain, so they’ve put you in a medically induced coma. It’s supposed to help give your brain a chance to heal so you can get better faster. The breathing tube will help…” Her voice trailed off, and I had to strain even harder to hear her. “I can’t stay much longer. I’ve got to get a few hours of sleep before work, but I’ll be back when my shift is over. Try to get some rest.”
I was in a heavy fog, but there was still something gnawing at me. There was something I needed to remember, something important, but the memory was too far in the back of my mind. No matter how hard it tried, it just wouldn’t come to me. Instead, I was bombarded with other memories—memories long forgotten. I was just a kid, maybe twelve years old, when my oldest brother Jax decided to give me his old dirt bike. He’d had it for years and never once let me come near it, so when he told me I could actually have it, I was skeptical.
“What?”
He stood by his red and white Yamaha BW200 smiling like he was up to something. “It’s yours.”
“Huh?” It just didn’t make sense. My brother had always been overprotective where I was concerned. He was always trying to keep me out of trouble, and when it came to his bike, he wouldn’t even let me ride with him, much less alone. Now he was handing it over, and I couldn’t help but think there had to be a catch. “You’re giving it to me?”
“You want it, don’t ya?” He offered me the keys as he shook his head. “I thought you’d be excited about it.”
Still feeling doubtful, I took the keys from him as I looked at the bike. “You’re being for real?”
“Yeah. It’s not like I can ride it anymore, and Eric and Hunter could care less about it.”
“Seriously?” I was excited beyond words. It was my first bike, and even then, I knew it wouldn’t be my last.
“Yeah. Seriously. Just be careful. Dad will have my ass if you break your neck.”
“This is so freaking cool.” I rushed over to him and gave him a big hug. “Thanks, Jax.”
“Start out slow until you get used to it, and then give her the gas.” He started walking to the house as he shouted, “And stay around here.”
My hands were shaking with excitement as I climbed on and started the engine. I gave it a good rev, and then I was off. The sun was beating down on my neck and shoulders as I headed to the fields behind our house. I couldn’t get enough of that feeling. I rode for hours. It was like I was soaring through the air as the wind whipped around me. There was no better feeling in the world.
I wanted to hold onto that memory, but the low rumble of the doctors talking at my side pulled me from my thoughts. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but the tone in their voices told me it wasn’t good.