Sharing Freedom

by Harley McRide

  After fighting their way inside the warehouse the Diablos were running out of, the Warriors MC would have thought the hardest part was over. They couldn’t have been more wrong, because what they were seeing, made them sick. The few men that were unlucky enough not to have gotten out were easily taken care of by the Warriors and just as the fights were ending, heard "Freedom" as it echoed off the walls. Easy and Poke had found her lying on the table, barely alive, her clothes in shredded opened and she was covered in blood from the wounds she had. The sight before them, broke their hearts.

  Easy and Poke completely lost it, taking eight men, four each to hold the them back.

  "No one touch her, I am calling and ambulance," Creed said, cell phone already in hand making the call. Freedom looked so broken, he didn’t want anyone moving her and making it worse.

  Creed hung up the phone and looked around, his crew was good, they were already taking care of business. He could hear the sirens in the distance, wouldn't be long now.

  The MC had been fast moving. They found the trucks that were already loaded with guns they had stolen and moved them quickly. They left the drugs, not wanting anything to do with meth. The women who were in the cages were in a bad way. All of them had been there for more than a few days, and the effects of the drug they were instantly addicted to had varied.

  The local police had never seen anything like it. Authorities were called in to help the police cope with the devastation surrounding them. It was not going to be an easy case for them to rap up.

  The ambulance pulled up and the EMTs went in to action, closely watched by the Warriors as they worked on Freedom. In less than twenty minutes she was being loaded on the stretcher and placed in the ambulance for transport to the hospital.

  The ambulance lights and siren blared as it pulled back onto the road and the men from the Warriors MC watched it until its tail lights were specks in the distance.

  *****

  Shady followed by the other Bitches entered the emergency room just as the doctor stepped out to inform the group that was gathered on Freedom's condition. They were told the trauma to her body had been extensive, she had gone into shock from the blood loss and would be watched closely for the next forty-eight hours, those would be the critical time on whether she was strong enough to pull through or not. They had performed surgery on her and removed her spleen, then repaired the damage done to her hand. The other wounds had been brutal as well but on the outside. She didn't have an inch of skin that was not bruised, cut, or burned by the sadistic bastards. The doctors had been shocked she survived, Twice in the first twenty-four hours the group watched as the medical team rushed into Freedom's room as she flat lined. Each time it happened the eight men jumped up to hold on to Easy and Poke as they became enraged, trying to get to Freedom. Their Freedom.

  Pill had received a broken leg, and his bike had been trashed, but he was alive and pissed off he had let Freedom be taken from him. His old lady and the older members of the club were taking care of him and letting him know what was going on. All of the Warriors had been up to see him except for Poke and Easy who refused to move from outside the room in ICU where Freedom had been taken to when she was finished in the ER.

  The two day passed and Easy and Poke were stilling waiting on Freedom to wake up. They had a lot of explaining to do and no idea how to go about it. Each still trying to wrap their head around the fact that three day ago they had gone to their friends, ready to claim Freedom as their own. Both men knew the guys weren’t sure if she was strong enough for their life, and neither were they, which is why they came to the decision they had, she needed more time. Yes, she was a Bitch, but she was going to be their old lady too. Shady had planned to take her to get the tat for the Bitches for weeks, but they had put her off. They wanted her to have the club tat as well as their mark like the other old ladies had. They wanted her to get them at the same time. However, until she proved to them she understood exactly what this life entailed, they waited. They were going to explain all of this to her, Easy and Poke talked late into the night about how they would explain.

  Then shit had fallen apart. Fork had discovered the Devils were pissed, Freedom had been promised to their VP as payment, and they wanted to collect. They also found out that Trick was involved with a lot more shit than they had originally thought, but it wasn’t until the morning they traced Trick’s call they discovered just how deep she was.

  Trick had opened the gates for the Diablos to put the head of Freedom’s father on display, she even had told them about the mining business and the best time they could hit the shipments of gold coming out.

  They were planning to blow up the Warrior’s clubhouse the following day when Trick had called them, in one of the trucks had been enough C-4 to blow the town up and leave a crater. However, Trick had called so they postponed their attack until they had Freedom in their grasp, the fucking greedy asshole wasn’t going to tell his boss about the mine.

  The other people Freedom’s father owed money to had been paid off and silently faded back into the woodwork, so the only thing they had to deal with was the Diablos and the Devils.

  The Devils’ problem sorted itself out since one of the women they had discovered in the cages had belonged to them. They had taken her back and agreed to allow Easy and Poke to pay the money they were owed. They were having problems with the Diablos as well, and in the next few weeks they were talking about having a meeting and hashing out the bad blood between the clubs. They were going to have to work together, because the word on the street was the Diablos were preparing to come after them full force, they were pissed about losing the men and product in the raid. They blamed the Warriors for their loss.

  The Devils were still losing shipments, which is what led to the tentative peace between the clubs. They lived too close together not to help each other because one way or another, the Diablos were coming into the area, and both of them stood to lose if that happened.

  Shady and the other Bitches had locked up Trick in the shed on the property and were planning to deal with her later. Shady wanted to keep her alive and let her sit around to wonder what they were going to do to her and when. Mental torture before the good stuff started is what Shady told them. As soon as the women heard about Freedom they had rushed to the hospital to be there for her. None of the Warriors had left the waiting room, other than to get food, or visit Pill since they had arrived. The Prospects had been in charge of making sure Trick was fed and hosed down three times a day.

  So here the men sat on the ending to the forty-hours critical period and still Freedom had not woken.

  Finally, on the third day she woke up, the only reason the club knew was when suddenly the hallway was filled with doctors and nurses rushing around. Easy and Poke stood and ran into the room, only to be pushed back out when Freedom caught sight of them and became hysterical.

  Once again, security was called when it took eight men to hold the two men back from getting in the room. After an hour, one of the doctors came out of the room and addressed the group who was all pacing.

  He walked out and held up his hand when Shady almost jumped at him. “I am assuming you are all here for Freedom Stands? Wait, that must be a typo.”

  Shady rolled her eyes and said, “Nope not a typo that’s her name, its old news move on.”

  “Oh well,” the doctor said a little flustered.

  “Yeah, about Freedom—your patient,” Shady said slowly.

  “Yes, Freedom. She is awake, and in a lot of pain right now. She is also suffering from extreme PTSD, she had to be sedated after seeing these men,” the doctor announced.

  “She needs to know we are here, she needs to know we came for her,” Poke yelled.

  “Uh,” the doctor said and then backed up a step when he saw the intense look on Easy’s face.

  “Doc,” Creed stepped up calmly, and glared at Easy and Poke until they got it under control. “We understand PTSD. We know what she is going through. But the situation i
s a bit difficult to explain. Freedom is alone in this world and we are her only family. She is going to push us away; we know that, because we all did the same thing when we got out of the military. We had the same issues. But none of us are going to give up on her, and she needs to hear that.”

  “While I appreciate what you are saying, none of you are legal family members of Freedom, and she is an adult. She has expressed to the staff that no visitors be allowed unless it is the police and they have questions. Anyone else, she had declined to put on the list. This is the ICU and a locked ward, and so unless you have permission to be in a patient’s room or on this floor, I am going to have to ask you to leave and let her heal. We have a therapist who will be seeing her when she is well enough, but considering her wounds, it will be at least a week before she is removed from the floor. Then we will have to see what the plan will be, she woke up frightened and scared. Freedom is my priority,” he said firmly.

  “That is where you are wrong,” Shady said calmly, obviously trying to bluff the doctor. “She is my sister.”

  “What?” the doctor said. “According to the records she doesn’t have a sister. Unless I have proof, you can’t go in. Now, please go quietly.”

  “I am not leaving,” Easy roared.

  *****

  Freedom heard Easy’s roar and she flinched and cried. They sent her away, took everything away from her that she fought and cared for. Now, even though she was alive—she didn’t want to be. Her heart hurt too bad to think.

  Chapter Twenty

  Three weeks Freedom had been in the hospital, and three weeks it had been since any of the Warriors saw her. After waking up the morning after coming out of her coma, she allowed the police department to come in. She explained what happened that she knew of, and asked for help keeping the MC out of her room. They had agreed, mostly because the threat wasn’t gone.

  Freedom had to be sedated once again when she heard the men who tortured her were dead, but not the leaders of the group. They put guards on her door in order to protect her while they were building a case against the Diablos. And when the time came to leave the hospital, they arranged for her protection through the District Attorney’s office. They were putting her up in a hotel until she found a place. With little or no money, they declared her indigent.

  Not that she cared, these days she didn’t care about anything. The therapist she had spoken to tried to get her to open up about what happened but Freedom didn’t talk to her, she couldn’t. It didn’t matter, none of it did. She just wanted to go to her hotel, lie on the bed, and block everything out. If she didn’t think, she wouldn’t feel. Maybe someday she would move on—alone. It had been her biggest hurdle in the hospital—remembering she was on her own now, with no one to lean on.

  She walked out the door with her head bent down, not looking around, she didn’t care if the Diablos were waiting for her. Let them end her; it would probably be for the best anyway.

  “Ma’am,” the guard said and held his hand out to the large SUV that was waiting for her. Freedom nodded and got in the vehicle, put her head back on the seat and closed her eyes. She would not cry, she thought, she had no more tears.

  *****

  She felt the SUV stop and she opened her eyes. This wasn’t where she was supposed to be, she thought frantically and looked at the men in the car.

  “Take me to the hotel,” she screeched.

  The man sitting in the front seat frowned and turned. “The District Attorney is right there, ma’am,” he said and pointed out the side window to the man she had met only once.

  Freedom was pissed, she didn’t want to be here, and damn it she was here. She had told them specifically that she wanted no contact with these people or she would leave and not testify. This was fucked up, Freedom moved as quickly as her still sore body would allow and flung open the door. Apparently, it shocked the man because he jumped forward to help her.

  “Ms. Stands,” he said and grabbed her arm as she flung herself out of the car. She didn’t look at the bikers who were also standing there watching because if she would have, she would have seen Easy and Poke start to move forward and Shady grab their arms and hold them back.

  “Mr. Fuckhead D.A. or whatever your name is, it seems we are having a communication issue. I told you specifically I did not want to have any contact whatsoever with anyone from this group of people,” she yelled.

  “I know, but…” he stuttered.

  “Oh hell no, there is no but involved in this conversation. Take me back to the hospital, I will call a cab, because I am so out of here,” she yelled and turned back to get into the SUV when the arm came around her waist, halting her.

  “Don’t think so, baby girl,” Poke whispered in her ear. “You are right where you belong—home.”

  “Fuck you,” she screeched and fought him as he lifted her up and cradled her against his chest.

  “That will happen soon enough,” Poke murmured but she heard him and began to yell louder.

  “This is kidnapping. I thought you were a man of the law. This is illegal. I am calling the police and reporting you right now. Give me a damn-fucking phone. I will not stay here,” she yelled, thrashing her legs.

  The DA looked a little worried as he stared at Freedom fighting, and then Creed stepped up. “Fish,” he said, addressing the DA. “Thank you for bringing her home.”

  “Just make sure she doesn’t actually call the cops, I like the job I have.” The man laughed and shook Creed’s hand.

  “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Freedom screamed. “You bought the DA?”

  “Nah,” Creed laughed. “Fish is a member from way back, we just don’t broadcast it.”

  “You muther fuckers,” Freedom said and she felt a hand on her ass.

  “Babe, settle down. You are here and there's nothing you can do about it, so just let Poke carry you inside, then we will calmly sit down and talk about everything,” Easy said.

  “Go to hell, Easy,” she said but stopped moving and crossed her arms.

  “Been there, babe. When you were laying in the hospital not talking to any of us, we were all there,” he whispered and Freedom felt the tears in her eyes. She would not respond to him, or feel sorry for not letting them come in even though the staff told her at least ten of the members of the club were in the lounge downstairs at any given time. They refused to leave. Tough shit, they kicked her out, and she was staying the fuck out.

  *****

  Freedom was silent while Poke carried her into the clubhouse and sat her down on the sectional closest to their stairs. She refused to look at any of them and Poke refused to let her ignore them, he sat down next to her, and smiled.

  “You look good, baby girl,” Poke said quietly.

  Freedom flinched but didn’t respond. He hadn’t lied, she did look good, even if she still had some fading bruises and he could see the marks that would probably turn to scars on her arms and legs. His lips tightened when he saw the round cigarette burns on the top of her breasts that were showing. They knew what she had gone through, and if he could, Poke would raise the bastard who did this from the dead, then kill him again.

  Easy sat on her other side and tried to take her hand but Freedom refused to allow him to do so. The two struggled silently until Easy was left holding her fist in his large hand.

  “Babe, you are going to have to talk to us sometime,” Easy teased and Freedom just stared at the table in front of them.

  “We just want to explain,” Poke tried to talk to her. The rest of the club was sitting back and watching their interaction. All of them felt like shit because they had sent her away that day. The leaders all acknowledged they should have sent more people than just Meat and Pill, they had only thought about getting her out of town.

  However, Shady finally came and plopped down on the table in front of Freedom. Of course, she was wearing her leather pants and leather halter top today, which made her look a little menacing with her long black hair. She straddled Fre
edom's legs with her own and frowned. She had struggled a lot over the last few weeks, she and Freedom had a bond, and Shady didn’t bond with anyone, but she had been drawn to Freedom.

  Shady just stared at the top of Freedom’s head and waited. Freedom shifted a little, but Shady closed her legs a little and halted the movement.

  “You can be pissed all you fucking want to, Free,” Shady said firmly. “The decision was made because they thought you would be safer away from here. They didn’t know one of the Bitches was betraying them or they wouldn’t have done it. People fuck up.”

  Freedom's head raised and she stared into Shady’s eyes, her face blank with no emotion at all and she said flatly, “Yeah, well that fuck up didn’t fucking hurt you.”

  “The hell you say,” Shady yelled. “It hurt all of us, you are our sister, and when you are hurt we all are.”

  Freedom snorted. “I didn’t know families could throw away their sisters so easily when you are done with them. Must be nice to be able to do that, especially for pathetic little people who thought they found something they never had before. I bet it was easy since I wasn’t a member for long.”

  “Damn it, Free,” Shady growled. “We weren’t getting rid of you. The guys wanted you out of the way so they could deal with the fuck up your dad made. He owed a bunch of people money. One of them was an MC club in the next town over, the ones who wanted to claim you. So Easy and Poke did what they thought was best and sent you away.”

  Freedom stiffened and then a flash of anger passed through her eyes and she said, “Sent me away, fuck you, Shady, they said they were done with me. You all did. Don’t make it sound like they had some ulterior motive that was filled with good intentions and shit. All they had to do was fucking ask, I would have done whatever the fuck they wanted, instead they told me they were done with me, and Creed said I didn’t fit in. I don’t give a shit what their intentions were, they fucking sent me away like a piece of fucking dirt they needed to clean up. What I don’t get, is why the fuck any of you really care now. Is it because it all backfired and poor little Freedom is hurt with nowhere to go, so you will take her back in until she is well enough to live on her own and then we can kick her out again,” Freedom yelled and stood, pushing and moving so no one was touching her. “I don’t need your fucking pity, and I don’t need you. I am leaving this fucking shit behind.”