by Amy Davies
“Let Bull check her over. An ambulance is on its way. Horton has been called. He’ll back us up. He knows the story, okay?” I nod, forcing my head from his hand, and crawl over to Ana. She looks so broken.
“She’s alive, Ace. She’s a strong girl; she will pull through this. She has a shit load of injuries, but it’s her head injury I’m worried about,” Bull explains.
I brush back the hair from her forehead and kiss her face.
“You have to stay with me, baby. I can't live without you. You’re my life, my air. I need you, Ana. Flourish, baby. Always.” I cry, not giving a fuck if my brothers are around me. I’m man enough to admit my feelings, especially where Ana is concerned.
“Baby, please?” I sob, resting my head on top of hers. I hear the sirens, but I don’t move. I need to be close to her, touching her. I keep my eyes on her beaten face, remembering how she looks, because I know this will fuel my anger when I find that cocksucker Gary. I kiss her lips when I hear a flurry of footsteps.
“Sir, step aside so we can get ready to transport her the hospital. What’s her name?” I slide to the side, but not too far away.
“Ana. I’m staying here. She’s my woman,” I grumble. I wipe the tears away, then place my hand on her head again, keeping one of her hands locked in mine.
“Son, let them work,” Suede says from behind me, clutching my shoulder. I take a deep breath and nod. I watch as they check her over, trying to get a response out of her but getting nothing. My hope of her pulling through this is fading. They put a needle in her hand, for fuck knows what, but I have to trust they know what they’re doing. Bull is just as close as I am, making sure they’re treating her the right way. Bull is an ex-army medic.
“Let’s move,” one of the paramedics says—I have no clue which one. I watch as they lift her onto the stretcher before checking over more things on her body, then we are moving outside. I see each of my brothers lining a path to the ambulance. My heart feels full of love for my brothers for always having my back, and at the same time it aches for my girl.
“We’ll follow behind you,” Dyson says, and I give him a nod. They load Ana into the back of the ambulance and I climb in after them. Suede gives me a sympathetic smile before he closes the door and taps it for good measure.
The drive to the hospital drags like you wouldn't believe. Ana seems stable, according to her heart monitor. The guy in the back with us ask questions about Ana which I answer, but I scowl at him when he asks about what happened
We arrive at the hospital and the first thing I hear are the sounds of my brothers’ bikes parking up. I climb out of the ambulance and they unload Ana and rush her through the double doors, but I’m stopped by a nurse.
“You can’t go back there, honey. Someone will come and get you when they have news.”
“But she’s my woman; I need to be with her,” I half growl, half sob. She pats my arms, offering some sort of comfort.
“I know, hun. I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?” I have no choice but to nod.
I fall against the wall and slide down to the floor, the emotion taking over. I sob like a fucking baby. I feel like a failure for letting her down, for letting her get taken by that cunt.
Arms come around my shoulders, pulling me into a hard body. I don’t need to look up to know it’s Dyson. He sits with me on the floor for fuck knows how long. Time passes in a blur.
Suede pops in to tell me all the brothers and some of the old ladies are in the waiting room, with Zarah. Oh fuck—Zarah… I had completely forgotten about her.
I climb to my feet and make my way to the other important person is Ana’s life. When I push the door open, Zarah runs at me. I hold her tight, whispering words of comfort that I hope like fuck come true.
I hold her to my chest and lift my head to look around the room. Every one of my brothers are here, including my blood brother, Solar. My resolve breaks again seeing him here. Zarah steps back and Solar grips me in a bear hug, holding me tight to him. I cry, letting it all out again. My brother, who drove fucking hours to be here with me while I wait to find out what is happening to my girl.
“I thought you would want him here,” EC speaks up. I nod in gratitude.
“Thanks, brother.”
“Any news?” Solar asks. I shake my head.
“Nothing.”
“She’s strong, Ace. She will pull through,” Zarah adds. I wrap my arms around her shoulders, holding her to me. She needs me as much as I need her. We both love Ana.
The door opens and a doctor walks in, followed by the nurse who stopped me earlier. I still have no idea how much time has passed, but it must be hours if Solar is here.
“Family of Ana Molloy?”
“Dawkins,” I growl out.
“She’s divorced. Changed her name,” Zarah explains when the doctor looks at the file in his hand. He nods his understanding as Sully walks in through the door. Sully is the second-generation club doctor.
“Ana is stable—that is the good news. She’s suffered a dislocated shoulder and three broken ribs. They will heal, so will the cuts and bruises she sustained from the attack. Our main concern is her head injury. Ana suffered an injury to her frontal lobe, which will affect her movement, behaviour, and memory.”
“So she won’t remember me—us?” I question. He sighs and goes to speak, but Sully speaks first.
“We won’t know anything until she wakes up, Ace. At the moment, Ana is in an induced coma to help her heal. Rest is the best thing for her. We’ll give her a few days to recover before we bring her out of the coma, okay.”
“Not okay, Sul. I need her to be okay. I can’t fucking lose her.”
“And you won’t,” Solar says from my side.
“Let her heal, and we will go from there,” the doc says. I nod, again the option taken from me.
“You can go and see her, but one at a time.”
“No, me and her sister need to see her together,” I demand.
The doctor doesn’t look happy, but Sully whispers in his ear. His cheeks flush a little and he nods. Sully winks at me, and then we are led down the hall. I make sure I keep Zarah’s hand tight in mine.
The first thing I see are the machines. They’re everywhere. I drop my gaze to Ana sleeping in the bed, looking tiny. Zarah leaves my side and goes to her sister. I pinch my lips together to stop the sob that’s trying to break free. I need to stay strong for my woman.
“Oh, Ace.” Zarah whimpers my name. I walk over to the bed and take one of Ana’s hands in mine, being careful of the medical line in the back of her hand. The breathing tube covers most of her face. The soft cushion patch of the strap stopping her skin from marking even more. The bruises look so dark against her unusually pale skin. The blood has been cleaned off, but she still doesn’t look like my baby.
“Will she get better, Ace? Will she remember us? Oh God. He did a number on her.”
“She’ll remember us, Z. The connection is too strong for her to forget.”
“Did you kill that twat?” she asks, anger lacing her voice. I shake my head, failure settling in again. I clench my fist, refusing to meet her disappointed eyes.
“You will. I believe in you and the club. Just make him hurt before you end him.” My head snaps up at her words.
No other words are spoken between us for the rest of the night. I go out to tell the boys how she’s doing and that they should go home, but they all refuse. Lola and the other old ladies come back with food for everyone. The club has taken over the waiting room, but not excluding other family members of other patients.
Solar pops in to see Ana before he sends a text to Jasmine to give her an update. Each of the boys come into the room one at a time to give Ana their love and wishes. This… this is why I fucking love my club; the Unforgiven Riders.
Zarah is sleeping in the chair in the corner, resting her head on her arm, looking uncomfortable. But she refused to go home. We’ve been here for seven days, and no changes from Ana. Well, the
y took her off the breathing machine and she has been coping great on her own, but the doc told us that with the brain injury, it may take a while for her to actually wake up.
I’m still holding Ana’s hand, too scared to let go.
“I hope you can hear me, babe. I miss you. I need you to come back to us, to come back to me. I love you, Ana. I love you so fucking much. We are so fucking scared you won’t remember us, but I have to believe our connection is strong enough for you to know everything about us.” I kiss her hand and rest my head on the bed, falling into a nightmare.
I see the events of that night happening all over again, but this time Ana is screaming, telling me to protect our little girl crying in the corner. I’m torn about who to save, because we don’t have a daughter. I run at the little girl when I hear a gunshot, and I turn just in time to see Ana falling to the floor.
“ANA!” I scream.
I startle awake, looking around the room, trying to focus. I look towards Ana and see that she’s looking at me with a frown on her face.
My heart sinks.
Oh fuck, no...
She doesn’t know who I am.
Ana
The beeping of a machine wakes me up. I blink a few times, trying to clear the sleepy fog in my eyes. Where am I? My eyes clear and I look around the room. A hospital.
What happened?
Movement from my left startles me. I look down at the man lying there, clearly having a nightmare. In a flash, he’s sitting upright, screaming my name.
“ANA!” I jump, then watch as he takes in the room before his gaze lands on me. He frowns and then smiles at me. It seems forced, but it’s handsome.
“Ana, baby. You’re awake. Oh, thank fuck.” That voice sends shivers through my body. Why does his voice sound so familiar? We stare at each other like we’re trying to communicate silently.
“Ana?” A voice I do know comes from behind the man. My sister, Zarah. “Oh God, you’re awake. Ace, she’s awake.” I watch as he nods sadly. My eyes flicker between the two of them. Why does my heart hurt to see the sadness on his face? He steps back, letting my sister come closer.
“Ana?” My gaze snaps to hers, and I offer her a smile. I swallow, and it hurts. My hand goes to my throat. The man jumps and gets me a cup of water.
“I’ll get the doc,” he says sadly, and leaves the room. My eyes follow him out.
“Ana. Do you remember him.” I shake my head. Her eyes fill with tears, and she cups my jaw. I wince, and she pulls her hands back. “That’s Ace, Smallie. He’s your boyfriend. You love him, and he loves you.” My eyes shoot back to the door as the man walks back in, a doctor following close behind.
“Hello, Ana, my name is Doctor Sullivan, but you can call me Sully.” I nod slowly. I sit there and answer the questions he asks. He checks my eyes and eye movement. I get a little annoyed at the light in my eyes, and I pull my head back.
My eyes find Ace again as he leans against the wall. He looks so sad. His gaze meets mine, and he smiles at me, his teeth breaking through his beard. The beard that feels amazing between my thighs. The beard that scratches my chin when he kisses me. I raise my hand to my mouth, and he licks his lips.
Wham!
Everything comes flooding back. A heart-breaking sob breaks free from my mouth. He’s at my side in a second.
“Baby?”
“Ace. I remember you. Oh God, how could I forget?” I cry.
“Oh baby, it was going to take time. I would have been here no matter how long it took. God, I fucking love you, Ana.” He kisses me gently, making sure not to hurt my face any more than it is. Now his eyes are beaming with happiness, which is far better than the sadness I saw just now.
“I’m here. What happened?” I cup his cheek, and wince when the IV pulls in my hand. “Tell me.” I have no clue how I got here.
“What do you remember?” Sully asks. I close my eyes and the images flick through my brain.
“The cafe and the club, Nancy dying. Things start getting blurry after that.” I gasp and look at Ace. He must see the hurt in my eyes as I remember him and Clover.
“Don’t. That is done, and we moved past it,” he admits. I look to Zarah, and she’s nodding in agreement with Ace.
“Okay. I don’t remember things after that, Doctor…?” I look at the doctor standing next to my bed.
“Sullivan, but you can call me Sully.” Why does that sound familiar?
By the look on his face and Ace’s, he has already told me that.
“You told me that just now, didn’t you?” I bite my lip to keep the emotion under control.
“I did, Ana, but this is to be expected. Recovery for this type of injury has no limits. Things will get better in time; you just have to be patient. All of you.” He turns and looks at Ace and Zarah.
“Got it. Not sure Ace knows what the word means.” Zarah winks at me and Ace gives her the middle finger. I chuckle and then wince when my face hurts.
Sully explains my injuries, but thank God Ace will remember, because by the looks of it, I have some short-term memory loss. That will affect my day to day life, the cafe, my friends.
The doctor leaves and so does Zarah. She said she was going to fill in the club on what was happening, and then going home to rest up and shower.
“Can I have a mirror, please?”
“You don’t need to see the damage, babe.”
“Ace?” I plead. He nods and walks out of the room, only to return a few seconds later with a small compact mirror. I take a deep breath and gasp when the pain hits. I frown and look down.
“Broken ribs, baby,” Ace tells me—again most probably. I nod. He holds the mirror in front of my face, and I gasp again. My face is black and blue with some purple and red patches.
Holy bloody hell.
They told me Gary and his men kidnapped and beat me, but no rape was performed, thank God. They did explain my injuries, but I can’t seem to retain the information. I touch my face gingerly, careful not to add too much pressure on the bruises. I’m glad I can open my eyes because Ace told me one of them was swollen shut.
“Still beautiful, sweetheart,” Ace tells me, kissing the side of my head.
I shake my head, causing the room to spin a little. Ace stops my head movement, cupping both my cheeks. “Always.”
I suck in a breath at that word. That one word he always mutters to me. It’s either ‘always’ or ‘always last’. I touch my cheek, my cheekbone, my nose. I look like I went ten rounds with Anthony Joshua and lost miserably.
Tears fill my eyes. I don’t bother stropping them; they need to fall. I need to let it all out and not let that sick man win. He will never control me again.
I am me; Ana Dawkins. The Sergeant-at-Arms of the Unforgiven Riders’ old lady.
“Did you get him?” I ask Ace. He shakes his head.
“No, babe. He got away, but we are looking for him, so is Horton. We know Gary has connections, so his people may just hide him away for a while, but we will find the fucker.” I give him a small smile. I believe every word he says. I know he will protect me no matter what, and so will the club.
I tap the bed next to me, indicating for Ace to join me. He doesn't waste any time climbing on and settling next to me. We snuggle in and watch football on the small TV on the wall. My body relaxes into his and I fall asleep, feeling safe and content.
Can anyone ever get irritated with being waited on hand and foot? I’ve been home from the hospital for two weeks, and I haven’t been able to do anything for myself. I am not lying. If I need to pee, Ace is there to carry me to the bathroom. If I want a drink, Ace is there getting it for me.
Okay, so maybe I do need his help some of the time, like when I forgot where the bathroom was at his place, or when I went to drink cranberry juice because it looked nice, but it turns out I don’t like the stuff.
My temper flairs more than it did before. I called Zarah a bitch the other day because she stood a little close to Ace. I accused her of trying t
o steal him from me.
We said a few choice words and she walked out. Ace didn’t talk to me for a few hours, but I refused to apologize. Then I took a nap and woke up and made them some dinner. They were giving me strange looks, like I had done something wrong. So I asked them.
“What? What’s with the looks?” I ask them both.
“What do you mean, what? You called your sister a bitch earlier and accused her of trying to steal me from you. You were a bitch to her.” My gaze bounces between them both, Zarah looking at me with sad eyes.
“What? Why would I do that? I know she would never do that to me.” My nose starts to sting with tears. I take a deep breath, thanking God my ribs don’t hurt so bad now.
“You tell me?” Ace mutters.
“Z?”
“I really hope you recover quickly, Ana. The way you were today… it really hurt my feelings.”
“I’m sorry.” I got up from the table and locked myself in my room. I cried myself to sleep, glad they let me be.
* * *
Which brings me to now, two days later. Ace brings in my drink and sets it on the coffee table. He sits next to me, carefully bringing me to his side, as we settle into watch more flipping TV. I need to get out of the house. I’ve been cooped up for long enough.
“I need to leave. I need to get out of here,” I demand.
“You aren’t ready to go anywhere yet,” Ace mutters.
“Take me out,” I demand again, knowing I’m acting like a brat. I climb to my feet. I place my good hand on my hip and look down at the man who has been keeping me locked away from the world.
Ace looks up at me and sighs. He rubs his hands over his face, looking more tired than normal. I know he misses going on runs for the club and being there.
“Let’s go to the clubhouse. You can sit with the boys and I can sit with—” I frown because I can't think of her name. I can see her face in my head, but her name is escaping me. My fists clench and my heartrate picks up, frustration building inside me.
“FUCK,” I growl. I never used to swear, but lately it’s all I do. The doctors told us there would be some behavioural changes in me, and that my memory would come back. I was just happy that my injury hasn’t affected my movement. Everything may go back to normal, but there’s no time limit on a brain injury recovery.