Chapter Sixteen
Violet
I don’t remember the trip to the hospital. It was a blur. And I barely remembered everything that Dev, one of the brothers had said to us as he delivered the outcome of Luke’s rescue mission. But certain words had stuck in my mind and were playing over and over on a loop. Stabbed. Twice. Unconscious. Alive. Barely.
Andrea had fallen to the floor in a heap and her sobs had turned into wails. She had cried all the way to the hospital and was still crying as our party made our way down the hospital corridors heading for the ER.
I don’t know who spoke to the nurse on duty, but we were informed that Luke was in surgery and that the doctors were doing all they could to save his life.
There was nothing we could do but wait.
So wait we did.
Libby, Andrea, and Faith sat beside me on the row of seats along one of the walls. Andrea had finally stopped crying and taken to staring straight ahead of herself in a zombie-like trance. Someone placed a cup of coffee in my hand, but I didn’t drink it. In fact, I don’t remember even lifting it to my lips once. After a while, it was gone again. I guess someone had taken it away, but I don’t know who or when.
More and more people arrived.
The corridor was filled with Luke’s club brothers, all wearing their cuts and all standing around looking grim. Luke’s mother had turned up and, after shouting at Luke’s father and blaming him for getting Luke involved in the MC club in the first place, she sought out Andrea and hadn’t moved from her side since.
I don’t know how long we waited there. It felt like an eternity, but couldn’t have been longer than a couple of hours, three at most.
Eventually, the doctor that had been working on Luke came out to talk to us. I wasn’t able to comprehend much of what he told us, but I got the gist of it. The knife hadn’t hit any major organs. He’d lost a lot of blood and had to have a transfusion. There didn’t appear to be any internal bleeding and he’d been stitched up. They needed to watch for infection. That was all good news, right? So why did I feel like my heart was breaking? He was going to be alright.
Andrea fell to her knees again, but this time her mother helped her up and held her until she stopped crying.
Luke was allowed visitors, but only close family and only a couple at a time. He was sleeping and would likely be out for a while. I retook my seat and went back to staring at the floor. A little while later Andrea and her mom returned and her father, Dean, headed for the room. Coop stopped him midway then whispered something in his ear. Dean nodded then turned to me.
“Violet, would you like to come in with me?”
A lump rose in my throat as I stared at him open-mouthed. I got to my feet. “Yes, sir. I would.”
He nodded, reaching out for my hand.
I didn’t hesitate to take it and let him lead me into the room.
The sight that greeted us made my breath catch in my throat. The man lying in the hospital bed did not look like Luke Chase. His skin was so white it seemed translucent and he was covered in wires hooked up to all kinds of machines. His face was so swollen it was hardly recognizable. Luke was a tall man with wide shoulders and every inch of him was corded with muscle. Usually, he was so full of life, his presence could fill up an empty room. But lying there in the bed like that, he seemed so much smaller. And fragile.
He was as still as a corpse.
I’d held it in since I’d first learned what had happened to him, but I couldn’t hold it in any longer.
I started to cry.
“This is all my fault,” I sobbed. “He nearly died. He could have died. He’s in her because of me. I did this to him.”
Dean turned to me with a scowl. “How do you figure that?”
“They were at my house! They were there for me. And at Bucks, Luke punched John because he was defending me. We were safe at the clubhouse. I should have insisted he stay there. But I made him go to my house to get my laptop…”
“Now listen here, young lady,” Dean said sternly. “This is not even close to being your fault. These are bad men who will do whatever it takes to get what they want. You and Luke just happened to get caught in the crossfire, that’s all.
“It could have easily been any one of the brothers out for dinner with their old lady who got caught up in this mess, ya hear me? So put that silly notion out of your head.”
I lowered my gaze and took in a broken breath as I attempted to stem my tears.
“For Luke to get better, he’s gonna need you to be strong. He’s gonna need all of us to be strong. Can you do that for him, Violet? Can you be strong?”
The only answer I could have given him was, “Yes, sir. I can be strong. For Luke.”
Dean nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer before reaching out and touching Luke’s arm. “You hurry up and get better, Luke. We’re all waiting on ya, son.”
He turned from the bed and headed for the door, stopping only to place a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“I’ll give ya a moment alone with him.”
And then he was gone.
And I was alone in the room with Luke.
As I stared at him, there was nothing to break the silence but the incessant beeping of the machine he was hooked up to and the ticking of the overly loud clock on the wall which reminded me of how limited my time with him was.
The doctors would be back soon, demanding that I leave him alone to rest.
I pulled a chair up next to his bed and sat down heavily in it.
I was exhausted, physically and emotionally, but I would get no rest until I knew that he was going to be okay.
He had to be okay.
My parents had never brought me up to attend church regularly and I didn’t consider myself to be overly religious. But sitting in that hospital room looking at Luke’s bruised and battered body, I felt utterly powerless. And so small, in the grand scheme of things.
There was nothing for me to do but take hold of Luke’s hand, close my eyes, and pray.