Colton's Salvation: A Demented Sons MC Novel

by Kristine Allen

  Huh?

  I reached my right hand over to brush back the long, dark hair that had fallen over the man’s face. Even that little movement made me gasp with the pain and effort. Jesus. Yeah, pain meds would be nice, ’cause whatever they may have given me felt like it must have worn off hours ago.

  At my touch, sky blue eyes popped open, momentarily disoriented. He raised his head in surprise, his mouth slightly open. His other hand shot out and touched my face in a tender caress.

  “Stephanie? You’re awake! Oh God, baby, you’re fucking awake!”

  Colton… it was Colton. Here with me in a hospital. What the hell was going on?

  “Colton? What happened? Why are you here? For that matter, why am I here?” I knew I hurt everywhere, but I was so confused. I didn’t understand why I was in the hospital and why he was here. Truth be told, there was no one I would rather have as my first sight in the morning, but I didn’t understand what was going on.

  “The nurse said you’re my… husband? Colton. What is going on? What happened? Why are we here?” I needed answers because I was starting to seriously freak out.

  “Baby, it’s okay. Don’t get upset. You’re making your heart rate shoot through the fucking ceiling, and you’ll have everyone running in here again.” He pushed his hair back with one hand, refusing to let go of my hand. “I lied. It was the only way they would let me in here with you at first and the only way they would tell me anything. Your parents backed me so they wouldn’t kick me out.”

  “My parents are here? And again? What do you mean again?”

  “Jesus, baby, you’ve had us so fucking worried. You crashed right after they brought you here after you came out of surgery. They said they were afraid, between the damage done to your body and the shock to it from surgery, you may not make it. They tried to kick me out because I lost my shit then. I told them you were not going to die and leave me.” I watched as his eyes filled with tears before he looked away and tried to wipe them away before they fell. “You’ve been in a medically induced coma for four days, baby. They brought you out of it this morning, but you hadn’t woke up yet. Your parents are here with Remi. They’ve been taking turns with her at your apartment because none of us wanted her to see you like this. Your mom just went down to the cafeteria for some coffee.”

  He had stayed with me here for four days? My heart began to flutter in hope. Did he still care about me then? Oh please, God, I loved this man. Please let him feel the same way about me. I didn’t know why I was here, but I needed to tell him how I felt. I couldn’t take a chance that I may die without him ever knowing. But just then, the nurse came in and gave me something in my IV for pain until they could get whatever she said hooked up. I felt so tired and my head was still killing me. My smile was weak as I squeezed his hand.

  “Rest, baby. We can talk later.” He kissed my hand clasped in his as my eyelids became too heavy to hold open anymore. I love you, I thought to myself.

  THANK FUCKING CHRIST! JESUS, my baby was awake. I had damn near given up hope on her waking up ever again, but my stubborn heart refused to believe she would leave Remi and me behind. I prayed to a God I still wasn’t sure existed that she would make it through all this. She obviously didn’t remember what had happened. The doctors and nurses had said she may not. They explained that sometimes the mind closed off traumatic events and the memories sometimes returned, sometimes didn’t. After seeing the state she was in when I found her, I fucking hoped she didn’t remember. Jesus Fucking Christ, my heart would never be the same after that.

  I had no idea what all had happened, but she had been covered in blood and I saw cuts and bruises all over her body when I found her. The nurses had helped me wash her as best we could yesterday, and I washed her hair over a basin, finger combing all the tangles from her hair as she remained unconscious. The nurse said she may hear me even though she was heavily sedated so I had sat and held her hand, talking to her about Remi and trivial nonsense, anything just to hear myself talk. The silence in the room was nearly unbearable.

  My anger exploded and I had refused to believe them when they said she may not make it. Fuck them. I knew my girl, and she was tough. She had gone through a fucking pregnancy and delivery by herself as a single mom and had been raising our little girl all by herself, not knowing where the fuck I was. She was tenacious and loving with an amazing heart. She loved our little girl, and I fucking knew, if anything, she wouldn’t leave her.

  Yeah, I lied to the staff when I told them I was her husband, and I had zero fucking remorse for that shit. In fact, it felt so fucking right when I said it. I wanted this woman for my own. She didn’t know it, and I didn’t know if she would agree just yet, but fuck if she wasn’t mine. Mine.

  The relief I felt was profound when the doctor told me she had made it through surgery and that, despite the condition in which she was found, there were no signs of her being raped. Maybe not in the classic sense, but the rest he told me had me seeing red. She had been tortured. Cut, stabbed, and beaten, all before the final stabbing I witnessed. He told me there was evidence of semen in her hair that had been collected and sent to the lab, but with the suspect dead, it was just a technicality. It would at least rule out the involvement of others.

  If I hadn’t already killed him, I would have tortured his ass and then killed him. That piece of shit motherfucker. The rest of what they told me had stunned me, and I was a little nervous to tell her. I didn’t know how it had happened, but it did and I prayed she wasn’t going to flip her shit when she found out. I knew I would have to tell her.

  The guys had made the drop off without me, and I felt like shit for letting them down, but I couldn’t leave her. Snow had understood, and they had all come by the hospital this morning to see if there were any changes before they headed back. Hollywood and Hacker had stayed with me, bringing me food I had little appetite for and trying to get me to let them take over so I could get some sleep and shower. I couldn’t fucking leave her. Never again, if I could fucking help it.

  Speak of the devil… They both came barreling through the door trying to squeeze through at the same time. I glared at them for being so fucking noisy. The cute brunette nurse came rushing over with a don’t-fuck-with-me look on her face as she confronted them both, telling them if they disturbed her patient, their “sister,” which the nurse looked like she sure as shit doubted was the truth, they would be without their visitation for the rest of her stay. The two big bad bikers had the balls to look sheepish. I almost laughed. I watched the two of them gawking at her ass in her scrub pants as she walked back out to the nurses’ station. Shaking my head, I smirked at the two of them.

  “She woke up,” I said in a soft tone, trying not to wake her as she rested peacefully. “If you two assholes are done staring at her nurse’s ass, I’ll take y’all up on your offer to sit with her and use her shower. I feel like I’m nasty as fuck, and I smell like a bag of smashed assholes.” When Hacker took my seat next to her at the side of the bed, I shot a quick text off to her mom, dad, and brothers, letting them know she had awaken briefly and was resting again. They had both already been by once today, and had returned to the apartment to help their dad with Remi and to get some sleep.

  The hot water in the shower felt fucking amazing on my back, which was sore as shit from sitting in that uncomfortable-ass chair for four damn days. My leg wasn’t feeling much better, and I knew I was going to suffer with it for a while for sitting so long and letting it get stiff. Fucking A, but I would do it all over again for Stephanie.

  I quickly finished showering and dried off with the tiny fucking hospital towel. Jesus, as much money as hospital’s charged, you would think they could get better towels. I wiped the condensation off the mirror with my forearm and looked at my reflection. I had dark circles under my eyes. Fuck, I hadn’t really slept in days though, so go figure. I needed to trim my beard; it was getting a little long and was starting to itch like hell. I may rebel against shaving, but I didn’t lik
e having a big old bushy beard either. Shit, I needed to shave down the sides and back of my head too. I slicked back the hair on the top and dressed in the only change of clothes I had shoved in my saddlebags before I left home.

  Stephanie had her eyes open and was talking to her mom and Hacker when I walked out of the bathroom. The sight of his hand holding hers had me gritting my teeth. I had turned into a jealous, greedy fuck when it came to Stephanie.

  “Quit trying to steal my woman, you fuck.” I tried to make it sound teasing, but fuck if I wasn’t a selfish bastard when it came to her affections.

  “Man, what the fuck ever! Like my little Stephie would want anything to do with your ugly ass anyway.” Hacker laughed at my scowl. “Easy. Down, boy, she’s like my baby sister, dickhead.”

  “Language, boys!” her mom chastised us from her seat at Stephanie’s bedside. Hacker winked at Steph but vacated the spare chair next to the bed so I could sit by her again. I noticed Hollywood was not in the room and asked where the hell he ran off to.

  “He’s chasing Steph’s poor nurse around the hospital.” He laughed. “She went on break, and he insisted on escorting her down to the cafeteria. Horny little fuck. That girl isn’t going to want a damn thing to do with his ass, but hell if he can figure that out.”

  “My mom is right, you guys have terrible language, you know. I don’t know if I should let my little girl hang out around you. You may teach her bad habits.” It was good to hear Stephanie teasing and joking, even if she did sound raspy and weak.

  “Hey, my little princess doesn’t have any bad habits, and she is above picking any up,” I said with mock growly disdain. Everyone laughed at that, and I couldn’t keep a smile from breaking out on my face.

  “There’re those dimples I love.” Stephanie reached out and touched my face as I sat in the chair Hacker had vacated. I grabbed her hand, holding it to my face. Her smile faltered for a second before her face flamed and she gave a nervous laugh.

  “Okayyyyyyy, then. I’m gonna go see if I can rescue that cute nurse from Hollywood’s dumb ass. I’ll leave you two for now. See ya!” Hacker quickly exited the room. I was surprised he didn’t stick around to give me more shit.

  “Stephanie, do you remember anything about what happened?” I was hesitant to ask her, but I needed to know where she was with all this.

  “I remember going out for my going-away party and getting home and the door not wanting to shut. I remember falling over and hitting my head, but that doesn’t explain why I hurt all over and all these bandages. And you said I had surgery. Colton, what the heck happened?” She bit her lower lip, looking worried and confused.

  I didn’t know what all I should tell her. The doctor said I shouldn’t push her to remember and to be careful with what I told her if she seemed to be getting upset. I decided to gloss over the events until she could remember on her own.

  “Michael took you, Stephanie. He kept you tied up in an old construction trailer. He… uh… he hurt you, baby, and I’m so sorry for that. I should have been here. I should have protected you. I feel like I let you down.” My shame for failing her weighed heavy on me. On top of everything that had happened, she had died twice, and that gutted me.

  She was quiet for quite some time before she spoke again.

  “He took me? And he hurt me? God, did he… did he…?” Tears welled in her eyes, and she had a hard time finishing her question. I watched her twist the blanket in her fingers. I had to have mercy on her and save her from having to ask it.

  “The doctor’s said there were no signs of rape, in that way, but we aren’t sure exactly what he did to you other than beat you up pretty bad, cut you… and he stabbed you.” I had a hard time meeting her eyes as I told her of the assault she suffered. This was killing me. I wished I didn’t have to tell her.

  “I want a mirror.”

  “Uhhh, I don’t think there is one in here.” I hesitated. I knew she wouldn’t want to see her face right now. It was swollen on one side, she had two black eyes that were still slightly swollen, bruises all over, and she had a cut along the side of her face in front of her ear.

  “Get me a mirror, Reaper!” She was angry, her use of my road name a sure sign. I went rifling through the small bag her mother had brought and found a small compact in her toiletries bag. Reluctantly, I handed it to her.

  “The doctors said it will all heal. It’ll just take some time and the scar will fade. That I know from experience.” I tried to tell her quickly before she saw her reflection. I knew how devastating scars on your face could feel, and I hated that she was going to feel that way.

  “Oh my God, Reaper… I was so stupid. I should have listened to you when you were worried about him. I feel so disgusting. Filthy. I wouldn’t blame you for hating me. The things he must have done. I’m ruined now. You don’t deserve that.” Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, and she dropped the mirror to her lap as she averted her face from me. “Please leave. I don’t want you to look at me. Good God, I’m hideous.”

  “No! Don’t you do this to yourself! This was not your fault. You are beautiful to me, and I do not hate you, nor could I hate you for something some stupid-ass fucker did to you!” She was pissing me off. She was fucking beautiful, and I hated that she was feeling like this because of that asshole.

  “Go!” she screamed. Of course that got the nurse running in here in a blur of turquoise scrubs with Hollywood and Hacker on her heels.

  “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave if you’re going to upset your wife. She needs to stay calm so she doesn’t tear any of her sutures.” The nurse was trying so hard to look like a badass. She was cute. Yeah, no fucking nurse was going to kick me out of my girl’s room.

  “I want him to leave,” I heard Stephanie say in a muffled voice. She had her hands over her face as she lay in her bed crying. Her mom looked at us with sympathy as she tried to console her baby girl.

  “Sir, I need you to leave for a while. Just give her some time to calm down and rest,” the nurse said quietly as she stepped between me and Stephanie. Hollywood and Hacker came closer, and Hollywood placed his arm around my shoulder.

  “Come on, bro, let’s go grab a bite to eat and let your girl chill. We can check on her in a bit. She’ll probably be better then. Okay?” He was trying to talk quietly so Stephanie couldn’t hear him and argue with him, I knew. I shook off his arm and turned to the bed.

  “I’ll be back, baby. Fucking wild horses couldn’t keep me away from you. You are beautiful. Always.” I took a fortifying breath. “You. Are. Mine. Please, don’t make me stay away.” My voice fucking cracked as I begged her not to shut me out, and my heart was breaking for her and for the rift I felt building between us. When she didn’t answer, I stuffed my hands in my pockets and stalked out of the room. I needed some wind therapy. Fuck.

  OH MY GOD. I looked like total hell. How could I look like this and not remember what had happened to me? How could Reaper look at me and not think I was disgusting? The nurse was checking the machines hooked up to me. I looked at her and hesitated before asking her, but I needed to know. Desperately, I fought back more tears as I spoke.

  “Kristina? Can you please tell me what happened to me? I need to know exactly what’s wrong. I can’t remember any of it.” I was so confused, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember anything that happened. That made me angry and frustrated. My head was pounding by then.

  She looked at me then at the floor before she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Grabbing the chair, she sat down beside me. She made me feel better by doing that. Somehow I didn’t feel like she was looking down her nose at me then.

  “You went into hypovolemic shock from blood loss and dehydration, suffered abrasions to both wrists and ankles, your cheekbone is fractured, and you have several severely bruised ribs and suffered from a collapsed lung on arrival. You have multiple lacerations to the side of your face, abdomen, and legs, and significant stab wounds to your left breast and a
bdomen. You also had been… umm… bitten several times.” I watched her face blanche as she tried to maintain a professional demeanor. “The stab wound to your abdomen was what required surgery. Because you had lost so much blood, you received two pints of blood. Thankfully, and fortunately for your recovery, it didn’t severely damage any major organs. It did nick your intestines, but the integrity of the intestinal wall was preserved. In other words, it didn’t go through the intestine. The doctors decided to keep you in a medically induced coma due to the trauma to your head, with a slight brain bleed noted, combined with your cardiac arrest after surgery. You have a fairly long road to recovery, but not as long as it could have been. Oh, but don’t worry, the baby is fine. You were lucky you were so early in your pregnancy, or it could have been much worse.” She finished with a smile.

  I knew I was staring at her like she had just sprouted a third eye. I couldn’t close my mouth and I couldn’t find words.

  “Excuse me?” Surely I heard her wrong because I was so shocked by all the things that had happened to me, despite my having no memory of it. Perhaps she had looked at someone else’s chart. “I am not pregnant. You must have the wrong information. I have not had unprotected sex, and that was only maybe a few of weeks ago! There is clearly a mistake.” I know I had not had sex with Reaper without a condom. I was sure we didn’t. No way.

  “Well, Mrs. Quinn, umm, the hormones don’t lie, but if you want I can have the doctor check again. Of course, the results were blood results, which are usually extremely accurate, but it’s up to you.” She looked a little nervous now, and I felt bad for her. She had no way of knowing. She thought Reaper was my husband after all. Shit. Oh my God, did they tell him? They thought he was my husband! They would have thought he knew. I groaned and covered my face with my hands.