36
“You have to take your hand away so I can see.” Addy’s tone was worried yet calm. “I can’t assess the damage otherwise.” I was reluctant to tear my fingers from the wound. Right now, I was fine, but if she did in fact determine I’d been shot in the fuckin’ head, my diagnosis could be more detrimental. Maybe it was the effect of the injury or simply my irrational way of thinking, but I kept my hand frozen in place, shielding the damage from her inspection. “Do I have to ask Cutter to help me convince you?” My hand was at my side in the next second. “Thought so.”
There was no way I was letting that man anywhere near me. His loyalty to the club was fierce, but I didn’t need his intensity around me right now.
“So?”
“Give me a second.”
“I gotta go. I gotta get Chelsea. So, if I’m not dying, you need to step back.” If Stone heard the way I talked to his wife, he’d put me on my ass, head injury or not. But I needed her to finish up so I could make sure my woman wasn’t in harm’s way. What was she gonna do once I told her I’d been hurt again? Would she still want to be with me, knowing the danger surrounding our club was gonna continue? Or would she walk away? And would I blame her if she did?
Someone shouted Addy’s name and her movements hurried, parting a section of my hair before gently tilting my head forward. “Tripp went to the salon to get her, Braylen, and Zoe.” I didn’t bother to ask how she knew who was at Transform, too many other things plaguing my mind. “It looks like a bullet grazed the base of your skull but didn’t penetrate. I don’t think….” She stopped speaking, her fingers moving along the back of my head. She applied pressure and I barely held back the noise of my discomfort. “Yeah, you’ll be okay. You’re one lucky sonofabitch, Ace. You’ll need a couple stitches to close this up, though.” She removed her fingers and moved in front of me. “How’s your other wound?” she asked, pointing to my side.
“It’s fine.”
“Good.” She glanced around the room quickly before looking back at me. “I need to tend to the others right now. Don’t go anywhere. I don’t want you to move off this stool. Do you hear me?” She handed me a clean towel to press against the affected area and I gave her my silent response with a nod.
Ryder was stretched out on the couch ten feet from me, several blankets placed beneath him to soak up most of the blood trickling from his body. Addy did a quick check of his vitals, and although his color had paled, she decided Brick needed more attention right now.
She rushed toward Chambers where the big guy was laid out on our meeting table. The surface was the only viable option where Addy could work on him comfortably, given the man’s size.
The only reason Addy had tended to me first was because Linc told her I’d been shot in the head, and even though I was walking and talking, I could’ve keeled over in the next second. Thankfully, all I needed was a quick patch when she was finished with everyone else.
Tag sat two stools down from me at the bar, his injured leg dangling while his other rested on the rung of his seat. He’d brushed off Addy’s attentions earlier, telling her he could wait.
While all of us were still breathing, things could go south at any time. Blood loss was a factor. Undiagnosed internal bleeding another. Then there was infection, after the fact.
Drowning in worst-case scenarios for Brick, for our club, for my own damn relationship, I was relieved when Linc announced that Tripp was back.
I slowly got to my feet, but a wave of dizziness prompted me to clutch on to the edge of the bar. Wanting to appear as intact as possible for when I saw Chelsea, I hadn’t been able to move one foot in front of the other before I heard Addy shout at me from the other room.
“Sit down!” I looked over and saw her glare at me before going back to work on Brick. The woman didn’t miss a trick. Stone and Marek hovered over her as she worked, taking a step back now and again to talk.
Planting my ass back on my seat, it took everything in me not to run toward Chelsea the second I saw her push past Tripp and head straight for me, Tripp disappearing inside Chambers.
“Oh my God!” she cried. “Are you okay?” Her hands were all over me, checking for injuries, until she saw the placement of my hand. “Did you hurt your head?”
“He got shot in the head,” Tag answered for me, although I wouldn’t have put it quite like that. Yes, a bullet grazed the area, but like Addy told me, it didn’t penetrate, only sliced through the skin.
Tears flowed down Chelsea’s face, and it was all I could do not to throw something at Tag for his bluntness. She tried to speak, but all her words came out in a jumbled mess.
While keeping the towel pressed firmly to my injury, I wrapped my free arm around her waist and pulled her close, trying to show her I was alright.
“Don’t cry, babe. I’m fine. The bullet only grazed me.”
“The… bul… bullet,” she hiccupped, her words choppy yet coherent. More tears trailed her reddened cheeks.
“Addy assured me I’ll be fine. Nothin’ for you to worry about. I promise.” I couldn’t assure her of anything anymore, but I needed to say something in order to get her to calm down. Her sadness and worry wouldn’t do me any good, especially considering I was restricted to this damn stool until Addy stitched me up.
While Chelsea continued to cry in my arms, I watched Braylen and Zoe crouch over Ryder, their own worry amping mine more than before they arrived. There was something uneasy about watching his wife and daughter’s worry penetrate the thick air of disbelief surrounding all of us. Their appearance hadn’t changed his state of injury by any means, obviously, but their added stress and fear seemed to catapult the seriousness of what happened to another level. At least, to me.
Chelsea was still clutching me, her face buried in the crook of my neck when I saw Marek and Tripp walk out of Chambers, and they were headed straight for me, Stone staying behind to help his wife with Brick. They briefly glanced at Ryder, then Tag before crowding around me. I didn’t have to ask what they wanted. It was obvious.
I gently pushed Chelsea back so I could see her. “Babe, can you give us a minute?”
“I don’t wanna leave you,” she whispered, looking to the men standing in front of her before her eyes landed back on mine.
“Just for a bit. Riley’s over there. Why don’t you go see how she’s doin’?” She didn’t protest again, but her steps were heavy, her shoulders slumped as her feet propelled her to cross the room toward her best friend.
I kept my voice low because Ryder’s family was nearby. Zoe had tried to check on Brick, but Addy wouldn’t permit her inside Chambers while she worked, so she stayed by her dad’s side.
Tripp raked his fingers through his hair, his hand resting on the top of his head before finally dropping to his side. “I don’t understand.”
I dove right in. “We went by to check on Erin, same as we’d done several times before, but she wasn’t at her job. So we—”
“Who’s Erin?” Tripp’s tone was sharp and deep when he interrupted me.
“Pike’s sister.” At the sight of his raised brows, I clarified with, “Reaper prospect who died at the safe house.” Recollection softened his expression, although his features were still twisted with ridges.