I closed my eyes and dropped my head forward, squeezing the bridge of my nose with my fingertips. Goddammit. They’d taken him right off club grounds.
That fucking back entrance we’d ignored for years had been breached.
“He was here,” I repeated, opening my eyes again. “Got no clue what the fuck you’ve been up to, but I don’t have time for your shit right now.”
Cecilia winced and wiped her palms over her eyes, a gesture that reminded me how young she still was.
I glanced to the side and went silent as a couple paramedics started picking up the body bags and putting them inside the back of an ambulance. One by one, they took them away.
“Let’s go,” I finally called out to the others. We no longer had reason to stay at the house. “We need to get to the hospital.”
Chapter 14
Trix
My neck snapped back and forth as he shook me, but I didn’t make a sound. He didn’t like it when I was noisy, so I was very, very careful to stay quiet. He was saying something about toothpaste, but I couldn’t understand him.
Where was my mama?
I tried really hard not to look at his angry eyes as he talked to me in the mean voice, and eventually my eyes wandered to the far side of the room, where my door was.
Mama. There she was.
I tried to stop the whimper. I kept my mouth sealed shut, but somehow the sound came out my nose. Oh, no. He didn’t like it when I was noisy. I peed my pants like a little baby as my mama ran into the room.
“Ma’am, are you hurt anywhere?” the EMT asked, pulling me into the present as he crouched down in front of me. “Ma’am?”
“I’m fine,” I replied hoarsely, unable to meet his eyes.
Chapter 15
Cameron
I grabbed Trix’s hand and pulled it to my chest as soon as we’d climbed into her car. She was okay. Thank fuck. If they’d hit only a few minutes earlier, she would’ve been in the yard, directly in their line of sight. I swallowed hard and kissed her fingertips, meeting her eyes for just a second before turning on the car.
Her fingers twitched, then straightened, rubbing softly over my cheek for just a moment. She was there, healthy and safe. I couldn’t consider what-ifs. We had too many absolutes to deal with first.
Rose sat in Tommy’s lap the entire way to the hospital, both of them completely silent. I didn’t have the heart to make her buckle up. The poor kids were wrecked, and Cecilia wasn’t doing much better.
I barely had the headspace to comfort them at all.
I think we were all still in a state of shock. None of us knew what we should be doing.
By the time we got to the hospital, it was already filled with club members.
As soon as we’d hit the waiting room, Grease, Casper and Dragon rushed over to meet us.
“You guys okay?” Grease asked gruffly, grabbing Tommy by the scruff of the neck and Rose by the back of her head, pulling them into his body. Tommy started to sob then, breaking his silence for the first time since Grease had pulled Mick off of him. “Thanks for taking care of them, Cam,” he said softly.
I smiled a little and looked away. He hadn’t called me Cam in years. There hadn’t been much time when they were loading Callie into the ambulance, and I was glad he trusted me enough to leave them with me.
“Ma’s with Lily,” Casper said, wrapping his arms around CeeCee. “They’re not sure what’s wrong with her eyes yet.”
I nodded and glanced over to Dragon, who was holding Trix’s face against his neck. As I watched her, she began to tremble slightly, and his other arm came up to pull her more securely against him.
“Stitchin’ Leo up now,” Dragon murmured. “Plastic surgeon’s workin’ on him, but he’s still gonna have a fuckin’ gnarly scar. They said there might be some nerve damage. Coupla inches to the left—” He cleared his throat and shrugged one shoulder. “He’ll be fine.”
“That’s good news,” I replied. I glanced around the waiting room, taking in the brothers and old ladies filling up the space. “Where’s Will?”
“Surgery,” Casper answered. “Callie, too.”
“What?”
“He was hit twice. Didn’t even slow the crazy motherfucker down.”
“Those steroids musta been good for somethin’,” Dragon joked darkly.
“Jesus. Poet, too?” I noticed he was also absent.
“Nah, they dug his out. Admitted him, though. Should be okay. Amy and Nix are in with him.”
“They’re here already?” I asked in surprise.
“Must’ve fuckin’ flew on that crotch rocket of his.”
I nodded. Then I nodded again.
The pleasantries, if you could even call them that, were out of the way. I had no clue what to say.
“Why don’t you go sit with Tommy—” Casper started to say to CeeCee.