The Hastings Series

by Vanessa Siena

  I knew it wasn’t right to think all that. She had a miserable life too. She wasn’t treated right as a child and she had to battle for a better life. But the thing is, she had someone who loved her now. She didn’t need another man in her life who would probably just mess up and make it worse again. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to be that man. No fucking way.

  But still, here I was, sitting next to the hospital bed she was lying in, attached to a machine which helped her breathe.

  The car hit her right in her upper body, crushing her thorax and smashing her lungs. I waited two hours in the waiting room before the doctors came out of the emergency room, telling me she would be okay.

  I called Jagger to let him know about his baby sister getting hit by a fucking car right in front of my eyes and he rushed here. The terror in his eyes as he arrived in the waiting room was enough for me to hit rock bottom and feel like the last piece of shit on this planet.

  Jagger sat on the other side of the bed, holding her hand tightly in his and letting tears roll down his face. Seeing him cry was a first. Jagger was always in a good mood. Mostly cheerful when he was around me and he never failed to make his sister smile. His sister who was lying in a hospital bed, with a mask over her face to help her breathe and a bandage around her upper body to stabilize her broken ribs. Two of them were broken. Luckily, her head wasn’t injured. She wasn’t in a coma. She received strong pain meds to help her sleep and I wasn’t sure when she was going to wake up.

  Yet, I didn’t have any intention of leaving. The night had come and it started raining once again, as if the skies were crying too. But then, in Hastings, it always rained.

  I knew that talking wasn’t going to make him feel better but I needed him to know it would be okay. That his sister would make it through.

  “She’s strong. She’ll make it through this,” I said in a low voice, not to startle him. He was in deep thought, looking at Harlow’s face. He reached up to her head with his right hand and caressed the side of her head carefully.

  “I know,” Jagger muttered with a shaky voice. “It’s just the thought of losing her that scares the shit outta me.”

  I nodded, not being able to fully understand what it would feel like to have my sister lying here like this. Technically, Bliss wasn’t my sister. She was adopted, just like me. We grew up in the same house but that didn’t mean we had that connection that siblings had.

  “I’m sorry, man.”

  He nodded, keeping his eyes on Low and running his fingers through her hair. “Yeah,” he said slowly without giving me any attention. “Yeah, you should be.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Hunter

  Jagger wasn’t stupid. He knew Low was at the T.P. before being hit by that damn car. He knew she came to visit me and there was no way he would ever forgive me for not looking after his baby sister. His sister which he loved so much you could see it in his eyes. Just watching the way he looked at her with so much pride and never-ending love almost triggered jealousy at my end. I never looked at someone the way Jagger looked at her. And no one has ever looked at me that way, either.

  I took full responsibility for what happened and I cursed myself for not being able to save her from this accident. I hated myself. She did not deserve this. Jagger didn’t deserve it either. It was my fault and once again, I was the one who messed up.

  My past was full of missteps and things I did wrong. Even at a young age, I was able to make people angry or frustrated with my actions. I’ve always been on the lookout to hit, break, or misuse something or someone. I didn’t care what others felt after I treated them like the last piece of shit, and I sure as hell didn’t apologize for my maniac behavior. All of it felt right. The power I had in those moments was incredible and I craved it daily.

  The way I treated Low was disrespectful, not only toward her but also her brother who I considered my best friend—if not brother. Watching him suffer from something I was responsible for hurt like hell.

  I studied Jagger for a moment, waiting for him to say more, but after a few long minutes of silence, I got up from my chair and ran my hands through my already messy hair. “I’ll get you some coffee and something to eat.”

  That was not going to make it better, but I figured if he wasn’t going to leave his sister’s side, the least I could do was bring him some food. I didn’t even expect a thank you from him.

  Taking one last look at Harlow, I sighed and walked out of the room. Closing the door silently behind me, I looked around to find an empty hallway. This hospital always made me feel sick. I’d spent some nights here getting stitches after fistfights and even got operated on once after being shot by some drug dealer from out of town who thought he could get more blow from me than he had paid for. Luckily, that bastard missed several times, but one bullet got stuck in my collarbone. He ran off after realizing that he had messed with the wrong guy and I was quick enough to let one of my guys know he was on the run. They caught him some blocks down the road and didn’t think letting him live was the most appropriate thing to do. They shot him. No mercy. Just pure cruelty. And that cruelty lived inside of me too. Sweet Harlow had gotten a taste of it before and I was stupid enough to let her get too close.

  I let out a curse and headed toward the elevators at the end of the hall. Before reaching them, a door opened and I turned to watch Jagger exit the room his sister was lying in and come toward me with so much determination it almost scared me. His fists were tight and the deep crease between his eyebrows was enough warning for me to brace myself for what was coming next.

  “Forgive me, brother,” he said in a shaky voice before his fist landed in my face. I stumbled back against the elevator, hitting my back against it with a loud thud. I knew this was coming. He was angry at me and I wasn’t going to fight back. He could take as many hits at me as he thought were necessary to get back at me for what I let happen to his sister.

  Another fist hit me right in the stomach and for a second I wasn’t able to breathe. Damn, that was the worst feeling ever.

  He didn’t stop there. My face was his target and another fist hit my nose, right where he had punched me yesterday. I felt blood come out of the fresh wound, and before I could look up to see what his next punch was, his hard knuckles met my left eye. I felt it turn black instantly and I fell back against the elevator once more before hitting the ground and closing my eyes, now breathing heavily.

  “Break it off, boys.” A deep voice came our direction and I relaxed a bit, knowing there was nothing more coming from Jagger’s outburst. “This is a goddamn hospital,” the man said.

  Jagger muttered, “No shit,” before turning and walking back to Harlow’s room.

  I looked up, seeing the doctor who took care of Low when we arrived here standing in front of me. He held out his hand for me to take and I took it, letting him help me up. I wiped off some of the blood that ran down my nose and lips with the back of my hand.

  “Did you deserve this?” he asked in an amused tone. He put his hand on my jaw, turning my head to look at my nose.

  I let out a hard laugh. “Fuck, yeah, I did.” He nodded, then touched my nose with his finger and thumb. “Let me stitch that up. You’re lucky it’s not broken.” He then started walking toward a door and I followed him.

  Hell, I deserved more than this and I know that if we wouldn’t have been in a hospital, Jagger would’ve turned me into some sort of dead, lacerated pig. I was lucky today. Not sure he had let out all of his anger, but I knew I had to brace myself for more to come when we were out of here.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Harlow

  Everything hurt. My body felt numb, yet the pain was rushing through my body in a way I’d never felt before. I tried to remember what happened. Why there was a mask over my mouth and nose pushing air into my lungs. My lungs hurt the most. Every breath I took was like a punch to my stomach, and each time I breathed out it felt like I wasn’t going to be able to take in any air ever again. Lucki
ly, the machine helped.

  I kept my eyes closed, wondering if I was dreaming. I was too scared to look so I tried to think about what had put me in such pain.

  My name being called was what came to mind first, then a sharp pain from something heavy hitting me. A car. I got hit by a car. And it happened because I was walking away from something. My brows furrowed, remembering what the reason was why I wasn’t careful while walking on the side of the road.

  Then, Hunter’s face was in front of me. I went to the trailer park to see him. I wanted to make sure he was okay, but the closer I got to his home, the more I realized what I was doing was stupid. So I turned and left without looking back. Without seeing him.

  I felt something on my left hand, squeezing gently. You can open your eyes now, I thought. This was real. I was awake and alive. Taking in another painful breath, I slowly opened my heavy eyes and looked up to the ceiling. It was dark in this room and the beeping of the machines told me I was lying in a hospital bed. I was safe.

  “Hey, sweet girl,” I heard my brother’s voice whisper before I turned to look at him. He was sitting next to the bed, one of his hands holding mine tightly and the other coming up to brush over my head. His tired smile and red eyes said it all. He had been crying and hadn’t slept in a while.

  I closed my eyes again for a second, adjusting to the moonlight beaming through the window behind Jagger. When I opened them again, I tried to squeeze his hand back, but I just didn’t have enough strength in my body.

  “Are you okay?” I asked quietly through the mask, which just made my voice sound muffled. I regretted speaking, though, because my lungs tightened at my attempt to use words.

  Jagger let out a small laugh, shaking head. “You’re the one in a damn hospital bed and you ask me if I’m okay? Hell, Low, you fascinate me each damn day.”

  I tried to smile but I knew he wasn’t okay. I accepted pain fast and I didn’t like other people being hurt. I reached up to touch the mask, trying to figure out if I could take it off. It wasn’t comfortable and the sound it made wasn’t that nice either.

  “Don’t,” Jagger said, grabbing my hand and laying it back to my side. “I’ll call the doc. Tell him you’re awake.” I slowly nodded, closing my eyes again and trying to inhale as slowly as possible. I heard Jagger move, then something clicked and he sat back down, taking my hand in his once again.

  “You’re incredibly strong, you know that?” he asked, caressing the back of my hand with his thumb. I tried to smile but nodded instead. I knew I was. But so was he. He taught me strength and how to live.

  “I was hoping you would let me sleep through the night, but I guess you waking up already is good too.” The unfamiliar voice came closer after a door closed. The humor and amusement in it told me I could trust him.

  “Told you she’s a fighter.” Jagger chuckled and I finally opened my eyes again. A man, probably in his fifties, stood on the other side of the bed and looked down at me with a hint of relief in his eyes. I couldn’t quite read the name on his white coat but I thought it wasn’t necessary to know his name for now.

  “Glad you’re awake. I’ll go through some check-ups.” He handed me some sort of clicker. “Click if something hurts when I touch it, all right?” he said and I nodded. I looked back at Jagger, who looked a bit more relaxed. He was still holding my hand to reassure me that he wasn’t going anywhere. I knew he wouldn’t, but I knew he felt better if he could let me know he was here.

  The doc switched on a dimmed light and started checking the machines first, and once in a while more air than needed pushed into my lungs. It didn’t hurt, it was just a weird feeling. I looked back at him, now being able to read his name. Dr. Sullivan. That sounded nice. And he seemed to be good at his job. So I closed my eyes and let him do his thing, without clicking once.

  “All looks good so far. I want to keep you here for another two days, just to make sure everything heals perfectly and your lungs won’t give in without that mask.” He wrote something onto his clipboard, then looked back at me.

  “This is totally up to you,” he then said, giving me a smile. “But there’s someone waiting for you outside who wants to see you. Now, I know your brother already handled his part of this, but I think this is your call now.” He looked over at Jagger and I did the same.

  Handled what?

  Jagger let go of my hand, rubbing his right hand with his left. That’s when I saw the bruises on his knuckles and I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes. He punched Hunter. Again.

  I raised an eyebrow at him, letting him know I disapproved of that kind of behavior. Jagger shrugged, looking down at his hands. “He owed me for this, Low. I wasn’t that hard on him.” Dr. Sullivan let out a laugh and put the clipboard with my medical notes into the little holder at the end of my bed. “He looks worse than you think. That boy let you hit him without fighting back.” He then looked at me. “That’s something to think about if you ask me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Hunter

  My face was burning from Jagger’s punches and I told myself to just accept all the pain I had right at that moment. I deserved it. All of it. But not just the pain Jagger caused but also the one I triggered myself by being a fucking idiot. I should’ve just texted her. I was stupid, forgetting about her when I damn well knew she’d probably come looking for me. Because that’s what sweet Harlow did. She checked on people. She cared about people. Even me. And I sure as hell didn’t deserve any of it.

  I was staring at my phone, still sitting in the waiting room of the hospital for any news on Harlow. On the screen, it said “7 missed calls from Harlow.” She had tried to call me seven fucking times yesterday. Four times in the morning and three times in the afternoon. And I had ignored her calls. Well, in the morning I did. For my defense, I had turned my phone to “do not disturb” after eleven a.m. I had been getting other texts from some people I didn’t want to hear from. But that was a shit move.

  I started reading her texts.

  Harlow: Do you still want to see me today? The other text was simply my name with a question mark. I hated how unsure she was, asking me if I still wanted to see her. She thought she was to the reason I didn’t answer her. That she was the one who did something wrong. Hell, she thought it was her fault that I didn’t answer.

  Selfless. That’s one way to describe sweet Harlow. So fucking selfless. Combine that with her striking beauty and you will not be able to keep your eyes and mind off her.

  That day I told her she was beautiful inside and out, she had even questioned that. She was a smart girl, but seeing her clueless and unsure about what I had said made me think. Had no one ever told her how amazing she was? Guys surely didn’t look away when she passed them. They’d be stupid not to want to get to know her. Fuck, I knew I wanted to get close to her the second I laid eyes on her. But that was years ago. She wasn’t even eighteen yet and the thought of an underage Harlow was just wrong. She was older now. She had turned into a stunning young woman with legs that could make any girl jealous and a body that made every guy want a taste. No, let me rephrase that. A body that every guy would want a taste of if they had fucking functional eyeballs in their heads. Turns out no one ever tried to get close to her. Or she was just good at turning men down. Either way, I was closer than I should’ve ever allowed myself to be but I wasn’t going to back away now. Not after what happened. I had to make it up to her.

  “Apologize to her, then go home.” Jagger’s voice broke through my thoughts and I looked up, seeing him standing in the doorway to the waiting room.

  “Damn.” He let out a chuckle that didn’t sound genuine. “Maybe I should get back to fighting.” He was studying my face and the way he disfigured my nose. I was pretty sure my nose was crooked from the two times he punched it. I didn’t fight much, but when I did, I was mostly the one who got away without any bruises or bloody wounds. Jagger was a pro. He did some underground fighting some years ago to earn some money, but he stopped as soon
as Harlow started worrying about him. She saw her brother’s face all red and blue and started asking questions. He told me he couldn’t take her concerned frowns and tears when he got back home all beaten up. He stopped because of her and that was the first time I realized how much he loved his sister. And how much she cared about her brother’s health.

  “Don’t think she would like that,” I said, standing up from my seat and shoving my phone into my pocket. He knew I was talking about Harlow.

  He nodded. “I know.” He sat down in the nearest seat and ran his hands through his hair.

  “She’ll be okay. Doc wants to keep her here for a couple of days but she’ll be up on her feet again.” I wasn’t sure why he was telling me all this. He should be hating me. Hell, he should be telling me not to see his sister ever again or even end our friendship. But then I thought about the way Harlow treats people. Jagger was just like her. Forgiving. Good. Selfless.

  I nodded slowly, not sure if I should say something. It felt wrong to talk or try to make him feel better. He didn’t need me to crawl up his ass to show him I was sorry. So I started toward the hallway.

  “Hey, man,” Jagger said and I turned to look back at him. “Yeah?”

  He looked up at me, his eyes were dark and tired from too little sleep. “Whatever she sees in you, and whatever you two have…” he started. I braced myself for the worst. He was going to tell me not to see her ever again. To basically fuck off and not even think about Harlow again. In the end, I deserved it. So whatever he was going to say, I would accept it. I would walk into that hospital room, apologize to sweet Harlow, and then leave. Not sure how I would cope with that but I would at least try. For Jagger. And fuck, for Harlow’s sake too.

  “Don’t fuck it up. Don’t break her. She’s the only one I got, and the next time you fuck up I’m not gonna hold back.”