“No easy way to say this. Bailey’s at the ER. In a pretty bad way. They need someone to come so they can talk about her… injuries.”
He said nothing, but I could hear his wife bashing pans about in the background, all of a sudden, he exploded, “Kerry, stop being a fucking bitch and quieten down before I use one of those pans on you!” The banging ceased instantly. “What’s happened?” His voice was now lethally calm, so it boded well for Kerry that she complied with his rage filled outburst.
“Don’t know details, I’m not family, so they won’t talk to me. They need you here so they can talk to you. She’s… ah… sedated at the moment.” The more I said the worse it got; I’d be lucky if the fucker didn’t strut in here with a loaded machine gun at this rate.
“Why haven’t they called me?”
My next words were going to be the ones that tipped the scale if I got them wrong. “She apparently didn’t want anyone called. Uh… Bella is on duty.”
I practically heard him swallow, and I knew he’d be kicking himself for treating her the way he did and then cutting her dead by pretending she didn’t exist, but he’d made his choice, married another woman and then had to live with it. “On route.”
After he’d hung up, I finally pulled a chair closer to her bed and nervously, I reached for her hand. I’d had no contact with her since her surprise engagement party, which begged the question of where was the man of the moment? There was no way I was calling him, I’d sit there until hell froze over before I rang that guy and told him about her condition, that could be Jameson’s choice.
When her skin touched mine, it was like connecting a plug to the mains. If she was aware of anything, I hoped she’d sensed that, sensed that I was there for her. If I could give her anything else, apart from the head of the person responsible, it would be our connection, so she could feel that she was not alone.
“Bailey, baby,” I whispered, feeling self-conscious of my own voice, it sounded so loud. I might have spent a lot of time alone, but it wasn’t like I talked to myself. “I’m here.”
Nothing. No recognition. Not like in the movies where the bedridden love interest squeezed the fingers on hearing the voice of their one true love.
I rubbed a thumb along the back of her hand, seeing a ring of bruises poking out from her hospital gown, just above her elbow. That was definitely from a hand that had grabbed her. Whoever did this, she’d faced them, which meant she could name them and save me the trouble of getting Ted, our tech guy, to hack into security cameras and street CCTV.
Leaning forward on an elbow, not daring to let go of that connection with her, I willed myself to really look at her, still failing to see how this was my Bailey.
I don’t know how much time had passed but when the door burst open, I jumped and Jameson strode into the room, closely followed by Bella who was trying to calm him down. “Don’t, Bel,” he hissed. “Just fucking don’t.”
Bella’s face dropped, the nurse in her wanted to be here to support the victim’s family, the woman who loved him wanted to be here for him, but that hadn’t turned out so well last time. Seeing her willing to do it again just showed how much she really did love him, despite how he’d burned her. Had we have not been in the hospital then I would have reamed his ass for it. Had Bishop have seen it, we would have real problems.
“I’ll tell the doctor you’re here.” Her voice was sad and disappointed as she walked off.
When she’d gone, he finally looked at his twin, the horror of it all ramming its way home, as he threaded his fingers into his hair and bent double, deep breathing, like he felt her pain physically too.
“If he did this, I’ll kill him,” he whispered.
“Who?”
“Fucking Thorn,” he hissed. “She told me things haven’t been going well.”
I’d kill him too but knew I should probably leave that honor to her brother. I’d avenge her in another way. Destroy him and his entire family financially, see them all on the streets then let Jameson slice him up.
He didn’t sit down, he paced and as I was about to tell him to quit the hunting tiger impression, the doctor walked in followed by Bella. He introduced himself to Jameson, and then looked at me, waiting for me to leave. When I glared at him, he got the message. I was going fucking nowhere.
“Alright. Bailey is currently sedated because when we tried to clean some of her injuries, she became excessively agitated.”
“You hurt her more?” Jameson asked incredulously, letting the doc know that if he did, he was going to need a bed in a room just like this one equipped with similar breathing apparatus.
Deadpan the doctor looked him squarely in the face, he wasn’t scared of anything and was keen to get his job done. “Actually, no. We administered Lidocaine and due to other drugs in her system, it caused additional convulsions. Convulsions and fractured ribs do not mix, they tend to lead to punctured lungs.”
Under different circumstances I would have been impressed by this guy.
“As you can see, she has some bruising to the face, which are largely the result of blunt trauma, she has a fractured cheek bone and left eye socket. As I mentioned before she has multiple fractured ribs and some swelling and tenderness around other internal organs, we need to let her ride that out for a day or so, at the moment, surgery would be too risky.”
“She needs surgery?” Jameson looked terrified.
“Maybe, scans show she might, but we can’t risk that at the moment,” he repeated.
“Why? She’s already out,” I asked.
“Abdominal surgery is never straightforward, there are drugs in her system and other complications we need to discuss with her when she wakes up. We only usually take family consent for surgery when it’s life or death. She’s not there yet.” He looked back at his notes, bored of our questions and carried on.
“We’ve taken pictures of all her injuries for the police, should she decide to press charges. The bruising and trauma to her abdomen is consistent with being kicked repeatedly.”
Fuck.
“Is Ms. Roach in a relationship?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked, and again, it was probably not my place to do so, but as I was still sat by the bed holding her hand, I figured I could get away with it.
“The police are likely to ask.” He moved on quickly, but I knew he was fucking lying, he was good. But not that good. “Now, the sedative we’ve given her will wear off over the next ten to twelve hours, but we really need to talk about her recovery, it will be best if she has some support. The ribs will take some time to heal and I’d usually prescribe Percocet to assist with pain relief, but where there are potential signs of substance use and we don’t understand the scale of that, I’m not prepared to do that.”
“My sister isn’t a drug addict,” Jameson ground out.
“Even so, her blood tests hinted at some kind of recent drug use, and I won’t be responsible for doubling down on that by prescribing more narcotics, so she’s gonna be really sore for the next six weeks.”
The room fell silent, Jameson looked at Bailey, Bella looked at Jameson and there we were, two fucked-up couples who should probably never be in the confines of a small room together.
“Mr. Roach, your sister is going to need to talk to the police when they come back tomorrow. I’d recommend she press charges, next time she might not be so lucky.” He turned and left while Bella hesitated, only to be ignored by Jameson. I gave her a nod and she walked off too.
My friend wiped his face, looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. “He’s talking about her like she’s a battered fucking wife.”
“I suspect he sees a lot of similar stuff.”
Jameson completely ignored that, looked at me and I knew his next request did not come easy to him. He’d spent most of our life together as friends trying to keep us apart.
“I need you to stay with her until she wakes up.” I imagine it was only through shock and sit
uation that he hadn’t tried to take her hand from mine for fear of it turning into something more for both of us.
If only he knew.
“Of course, I will, but where are you going?”
“Gonna drop by Thorn’s place, see why he’s not concerned about his wife to be.” That had disaster written all over it, especially if he came to the hospital and found me tending to an injured Bailey.
Jameson leaned forward, ran the gentlest finger over the less battered side of his sister’s face and left abruptly.
When the room fell quiet and the only thing that I could hear was Bailey’s labored breathing and beeping of machines, it was too much of a reminder of when my mom was checking out and I hated it.
I settled back in the chair and got comfy. Never taking my eyes off her, vowing that things would be different after we’d talked.
This nonsense between us had to stop, she wanted me, and I wanted her.
We’d wasted enough time.
I might have been head of a criminal organization, but if she was with me, no one would ever touch a fucking hair on her head and if they did, they’d be praying that Jameson got to them first instead of me.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The sun was just coming up and I hadn’t moved from where I sat. Every time Bailey moved a muscle she hissed in pain, even under sedation she hurt, and that pain haunted me. Everything about Bailey had always brought the most primal of responses out in me. Her stomach and ribs seemed to cause her the most pain though, and when she tried to shift position, her arms would naturally react in an attempt to hug herself to soothe the trauma. The more I focused on it, the more I could see she was swollen. It cut me to the quick that her place of comfort was with her hand at her belly.
Over my family’s tattoo, the one she’d got in secret because she loved me from afar.
Cradling the words that meant as much to her as they did me and her brother.
Loyalty. Respect, Family.
The ice that had hardened around my heart of late was thawing.
Fast.
She lashed out again, more violently this time.
“Hey… hey… calm down, it’s okay. You’re okay.”
I took her hand in mine and it was like pouring warm water through my system. Comforting, like a hot bath on a stormy day.
“Zane?”
“I’m here.” Her body relaxed almost instantly, before she lifted her other hand to rub her eyes. “Go careful, you’re pretty banged up, don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
Bailey lowered her hand and sat blinking away the drowsy sleep of medicated sedation. “I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.”
I could have said she looked like that, but she didn’t need that pointing out just yet, god help her when she came across a mirror. “I’ll let them know you’re awake.”
“No. Not yet, give me a minute.”
The room fell silent as she slowly focused on me. “You look like hell.”
I imagined I did. I’d been pulling my hair in all different directions, and my shirt and pants looked like they’d never been pressed once.
“So, an improvement on usual?”
She smiled and attempted a laugh which cracked her split lips and hurt her ribs. The laughter died as quickly as it came and was replaced with a grunt and some hissed breathing.
I was going to kill that motherfucker if he’d done this.
And enjoy it.
“Bailey, I need you to tell me what happened, all of it.”
Her head lulled to the side, cushioned by a starch white hospital pillow and she looked at me again. “What’s to say?”
“Was it him? Has he… has he done this before?” It hurt to breathe around those words, and I felt the tremor in my hand, instinct telling me to make a fist and punch something hard. I worked hard to keep my voice calm and measured. She knew what I was capable of and knew that if I didn’t like what she told me they’d be finding pieces of Thorn Mottram scattered about the city like he was part of a treasure quest.
“He’s not such a bad guy, he’s just got a bit of a wild side.”
The look I got confirmed that I knew what kind of wild she was referring to. It was the kind of wild side that ended up with her starring in a fucking sex tape and me blowing people’s brains out on plastic sheeting at the back of a hotel.
“Not to state the obvious, but there’s wild and rough and then there’s beaten to a pulp. And most people don’t do that to women who say they have a headache.” I didn’t want to frustrate her, but right now she was frustrating me, and I was already stood on the ledge of destruction, she had to know that. “Were you coked up when this argument happened?”
“Don’t fucking judge me. Of all people, you, do not judge me if I like to let loose.” Her expression at odds with the venom in her words. She looked… ashamed.
“No judgment here, just wondering if you’ve got a handle on it.” Whatever it was in my head, I already knew the answer to this, it had been given to me by Jameson’s easy brush off. If it was a problem, he wouldn’t leave her side, or she’d have been checked into a facility somewhere. I just hoped he wasn’t keeping it all a secret. Then I remembered I wasn’t exactly Snow White in the secret keeping department, especially where Bailey was concerned. “Who’s been supplying you? Can’t believe anyone would give J’s sister anything.”
“Thorn gets it from some ass who works for him. I just needed to escape for one damned night, the blow isn’t important, and anyway, you caused this,” she spat back, spinning between shame and spitefulness.
The conversation was going the way all conversations between us went. She fucked up somewhere along the line, and it was either my fault or someone else’s.
“If you tell me what happened, maybe I can be the judge of whether your blame is appropriate.”
Her eyes teared up, “How are you here, looking at me, all calm and not tearing up the streets in a fit of controlled destruction?”
“It wouldn’t be controlled,” I murmured. “I have the barest grip on my sanity right now, and if you won’t tell me what happened then I’ll be forced to go ask him.”
She began, “That night of the engagement party, you hurt him.”
I wanted to laugh, but it wasn’t appropriate, if that registered on his scale of hurt, then he was in for a massive wakeup call soon. If I didn’t get the chance to toy with him before I ended him, there’d be some serious disappointment to get over. “It was just a little cut, and anyway he started it.”
“Are you five?” she grunted and made a sound from the back of her throat, like she was in pain.
I panicked, “Need a doctor?”
“No. I groaned because you’re acting like a five-year-old. He found my panties.”
I thought back to that night and how I ceremoniously dumped them in full view after she’d used me. Was it childish? yes. Did it feel good at the time? Not really, I was struggling with the hurt. Did it feel good now? Not even slightly.
“I’m sorry. But that isn’t just on me. You were there too, and you said some really shitty things.”
“I didn’t mean them.”
My heart pumped fast. That was what I’d wanted to hear from the moment those hurtful, spiteful admissions left her mouth. I’d wanted her to take them back, and there could be no healing between us until she did. “Then why are you marrying him?”
“You know why. He’s the safer option.”
Smirking, I pierced her with a look. “Doesn’t look too safe to me. So, not because you love him, or he rocks your world, or any of that shit bitches usually demand when they shackle a victim? He’s safer than me. That’s it. Well, let me tell you, this would not have happened on my fucking watch.”
“Exactly, that’s what I’d be doing to you. Shackling you. You’re not meant to be tied down, Zane. I’d be a burden.”
“So, this martyrdom is what, you saving me?”
Her voice quietened to a whisper. “That’s exactly what this is. I’
m saving you from ever having to choose between me and your family business. I’m saving you for having to disappoint me when you don’t make the right choice. I was saving me, protecting myself from a life of destruction. I couldn’t bear it if I grew to resent you. I want to be number one in your world and that’s not possible.”
I knew it hurt her to make that choice, but it didn’t hurt her as much as me. “What if I promised you that nothing would ever be more important than you?”
“You can’t promise that, and I wouldn’t ask.”
I was one step away from sinking to my knees, but I hit the chair instead. “Look at what being apart has done to you. I would rather die than hurt you like he did. All over a pair of fucking panties. If he was the right guy for you, you wouldn’t even look my way.”
“That’s impossible, she whispered. “When you’re around, all I see is you.”
Taking her hand, I noticed her engagement ring was missing but didn’t mention it, instead I leaned forward and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “Even like this you are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.” Bailey needed to see that I regretted every part I’d played that ended with her here, like this, in this fucking place. I felt so damn guilty that she felt he was her only option. I hadn’t breathed properly since she’d left me in Hawaii. I couldn’t remember the last time my lungs had been full and complete. Every day, I unraveled a little more, battling over the loss of her and the decision I’d made to let her end us. All of it churning in my stomach until I couldn’t stand it.
“You have no idea how much I hate myself. I’ll take all the blame for what he’s done to you. I deserve that fucking pain, and I’ll take it with me forever, but I need you to tell me you love me.” The breath I’d just sucked in stilted in my throat, stuck there, my lungs rejecting it, my body needing it. “I need you to forgive me for this. I choose you over everything and I’ll keep choosing you again and again, without hesitation. It’s always been you.”
“I do forgive you.”
“And love me?”
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