“Summer!” I hear Dozer’s pain filled voice. “What the fuck happened to you?”
“D-Dozer? I can’t see you,” I whisper as the pain threatens to overtake me once again.
“Baby, your eyes are swollen shut. I don’t even know where to touch you. Your entire body is covered in bruises and cuts,” he tells me as I hear the pain in his voice. “Someone call for a fuckin’ ambulance!”
The raw emotion in Dozer’s voice fills me as the blackness begins to seep in once more. Knowing he’s by my side, the fear and panic slides away slowly while the adrenaline it took to lift whatever I had in my hand ebbs away. On top of the pain and blackness, now I’m extremely exhausted and can feel my body trembling.
“Summer, stay with me,” Dozer pleads with me as his voice begins to fade away into nothing.
This time, I don’t see his smiling, sexy face. Cal and Storm are the only ones I see as everything else fades away. They’re calling to me, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. All I know is I’d rather be with them to make sure they’re happy and safe instead of feeling the pain I do every second of every day since losing them both. That’s not something I’ll ever get over no matter how long I live.
4
Dozer
WAKING UP THE bed next to me is empty. Summer isn’t in our room anywhere. However, the bathroom still has the remnants of steam and fog covering the mirror from her shower. Getting dressed, I make my way out to the common room. My only thought is getting eyes on her to find out how she’s doing today. Blaze is sitting at a table with KO, Whiskey, and Skull as I enter the large room. My President is on the phone with a large smile on his face. That means he’s talking to one person: Addison.
Bypassing them, I make my way to the kitchen where coffee and food are. One woman stands by the stove, fear is covering her face when she sees me enter. I’m not sure if she’s one of the club girls or simply someone who comes in to clean and prepare meals. Some clubs do that from what I hear. None I’ve ever been to, but lots of clubs meet at different rallies and we talk. So, I know certain clubs hire these women.
“Have you seen Summer? She came in with me last night?” I question her, not even sure if she was in the common room last night.
She nods her head slowly while looking around the room.
“She was here. Made a cup of coffee and plate of food,” she whispers, still looking around with fear filling her entire body. “I left quickly and when I came back in, she was gone. Her plate of food and coffee are still sitting there.”
Following her finger as she points at the table behind me, I see her plate and cup still sitting on the table. Her coffee cup is tipped over with coffee spilling over the table and her plate of food. It coats the floor beneath the table and seat as well. My gut tightens as a new level of fear and rage fill me. Something happened to my ol’ lady and it’s not good. Someone did something to hurt her or took her from the Renegade Outlaws clubhouse. There isn’t a doubt in my mind about it as I look around for clues.
“Blaze!” I shout for my President, not knowing what to do.
Several men fill the kitchen as Blaze races to my side. He looks from me to the table, to the young woman standing in the corner, back to me.
“What’s goin’ on, Dozer?” he questions me.
“Someone has Summer. She was here eatin’ breakfast and now she’s gone. That girl told me she was in here. Summer wouldn’t leave a mess like this. My ol’ lady takes care of any messes she creates. Especially, when we’re somewhere new,” I inform him, not giving him new information he doesn’t already know.
Summer always shows the utmost respect to every single club she steps foot in. Her ties will always remain with the Wild Kings in Clifton Falls. That’s where she started and where she always goes back to when she’s not on the road with me. Well, it was until this last year. Now, she tends to head to where the women she works with stay. And she’s been spending more time there than even with me. Something is going on with her, yet she won’t open up to me about it.
“Are you sure she’s not out front or somethin’?” Skull asks.
“She’s not. When she gets done with a job, she stays inside her head for a while. These jobs she does takes a piece of her soul. Besides, she knows we were headin’ out early. We have to get to the rally,” I inform him, not bothering to keep the rage from my voice as I turn my glare on the President of this club.
“Dozer, calm down. We’ll find her,” Blaze tells me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
He knows I’m about to go off and destroy everything in the way of me finding my woman. No one will get in my way. I don’t give a shit if we’re in someone else’s clubhouse or not as I walk over toward the door leading out back. Placing my hand on the frame of the door, I quickly remove it as something sticky coats my fingers. Looking down at my hand, blood coats my fingers. My insides freeze when I see the blood has been on the doorframe long enough for most of it to be wet and not dry as if it’s been placed there recently.
Turning my head back toward the men standing in the kitchen, I raise my hand showing them the blood. Fear for my woman and rage against whoever did this to her war within my body as I stalk across the kitchen and stop directly in front of Skull.
“I want the camera feed from in here. Now!” I order, not backing down when KO and Blaze flank my sides.
Anger is radiating from both men as we realize my woman should have been safe here and she wasn’t. Summer came in, broke her own rules to complete a job for this club, and now she’s missing and injured. Yes, I’m jumping straight to the conclusion this is her blood and no one else’s. She’s smart and wouldn’t hesitate to yell out for help in any other clubhouse. Not one she doesn’t know though. One none of us have ever been in before. Except for maybe Blaze.
“Skull, this is how you repay us? You let my brother’s woman get taken or hurt? This is not good for business or continuin’ any sort of truce or friendship,” Blaze states, his voice steeled as he doesn’t back down from this man.
“I had no idea anythin’ would happen to her,” Skull says. “My men would never lay a hand on her. It has to be one of the other men here.”
“So, take us to wherever we can see the footage to find out where my ol’ lady is. I want her found. Now!” I demand, losing my patience.
Skull leads us to his office where I crowd in behind him as he turns it on. He rewinds the footage until I see Summer walk in. She grabs food and a cup of coffee before taking a seat at a table alone. I watch on as she woodenly eats her food and absently drinks her coffee. A man walks in, not paying any attention to the food, coffee, or other woman in the room. He stalks to the table my woman is sitting at and takes a seat. Skull turns up the volume as he tells her good morning, calling my woman sexy. Summer doesn’t say a word as she stares at him. She’s taking in every detail of his appearance.
When he gets aggressive with her, the blood flowing through my veins boils with rage. I watch as she tries to get away from him only to have him grab onto her wrist. Pure fear fills her eyes as her face contorts in pain. This motherfucker is going to die a slow, painful death at my fucking hands.
I continue to watch on as he suddenly picks her up and tosses her over his shoulder. Her head bounces off the door frame. When she looks up, lifting her head slightly as blood pours down her face, there’s a dazed look filling her eyes.
“Motherfucker!” I roar out, her own pain filling my body, trying to compete with the rage. “I want this asshole. Now, Skull. Who the fuck is he?”
“He’s a member of the mother chapter. His name is Rancid. He’s the Vice President and almost untouchable. However, we have this footage and can use that to take him down. The thing we need to concentrate on right now is findin’ Summer. She’s gotta be out back somewhere,” Skull says, making sense as my mind fills with a desperation to find my woman. “Malice, go find Rancid and make sure he doesn’t leave the clubhouse. I want eyes on him at all times.”
I race f
rom the room and make my way back toward the kitchen. Everyone quickly gets out of my way as I storm past them. I’m not sure if it’s my quickness or the fury covering my face causing them to get out of my way. As I enter the kitchen, I hear Skull calling out for everyone to spread out and search for Summer. Blaze, KO, and Whiskey are on my heels as I storm through the door and begin calling her name.
It feels as if hours pass with walking the yard and calling out for Summer when I hear something banging against a piece of metal or cement. I yell out for everyone to shut up so I can figure out what the sound is. Hearing it again, I look to the small shed that’s standing off to the side of me. That’s where the sound is coming from.
“Shut the fuck up!” I yell out to the men searching out back. “Do you hear that? Open this fuckin’ door. Now!”
Skull races over to me, he pulls keys from his pocket and undoes the lock. We pull the doors open, almost ripping them from the hinges. The sight before me causes me to race to Summer’s side and drop to my knees next to her. Summer has been beaten to hell. Her eyes are swollen shut with cuts and bruising already filling her face. Summer’s jaw is swollen, her clothes are ripped to shreds, covering the ground next to her body, as more bruises and cuts cover her body. Looking closer at her, I see bruising around her throat. Finger marks are clearly outlined. My heart is shattering into a million pieces.
“D-Dozer? I can’t see you,” she whispers, her voice raw and painful sounding.
“Baby, your eyes are swollen shut. I don’t even know where to touch you. Your entire body is covered in bruises and cuts,” I tell her, not keeping my emotion from filling my voice as I look down at her. “Someone call for a fuckin’ ambulance!”
Summer begins to drift away from me. I can tell as her hand drops whatever she was using to get our attention. Her head falls to the side and I know I’m losing her.
“Summer, stay with me,” I plead, shouting out for her.
“Dozer, the ambulance will be here in a minute. You need to move out of the way so they can work on her,” Blaze tells me, kneeling by my side.
“You keep this fucker here. I’m goin’ with my woman. No one is to touch the fucker until I know what’s goin’ on and that she’ll be okay. Even then it won’t be a long, drawn out process. I’m not leavin’ her side for longer than maybe an hour,” I tell my President and friend.
We back out of the small shed so the EMTs can make their way in to help Summer. They’re asking us all sorts of questions. Questions we can’t answer because none of us were here when she got attacked. I should’ve been by her side. Hanging my head, I realize I didn’t wake up as normal when Summer gets out of bed. For some reason, I slept through it. If I had been at her side this wouldn’t be happening to her.
“Dozer, stop. This isn’t your fault,” KO tells me, placing a hand on my shoulder as I keep my eyes on everything these people are doing to Summer.
“Yeah, it is,” I answer, my voice barely a whisper. “I should’ve been awake and by her side.”
“You couldn’t have known,” he tells me as Skull comes to stand next to us.
“I should’ve woken up. We’re in a strange clubhouse and don’t know jack shit about this club. With other clubs here, there’s no way I shouldn’t have been by her side,” I state, my voice broken as they finally load her up on the gurney to get to the ambulance.
I walk behind them as they carefully wheel her around the side of the clubhouse to the waiting ambulance. When they load her inside, I climb up with them and carefully hold her hand in my own. I’m begging with anyone I can think of to spare her life and ensure she makes it out of this in one piece.
Bikes fire up and follow us to the hospital as we speed through the streets. Time slows down as I watch the EMT in the back continue to work on Summer. Finally, after what feels like hours, we slow down and pull into the hospital. I remain seated until the backdoors open. Jumping out, I carefully watch them as they lower the stretcher to the ground. The EMTs race inside as I follow them. As soon as we get inside, I’m ushered to the waiting room where I immediately begin pacing.
Blaze and several other guys file in the entrance and take seats, causing the other patients and family members to side eye us and move farther away. A woman walks out, calling for the family member of the Jane Doe just brought in by ambulance.
“Her name’s Summer,” I state, walking over to her.
“I’m sorry, sir. Are you family of her?” she asks, a hitch to her voice.
“I’m her husband,” I declare, staring down at the woman dressed in scrubs.
“Can you fill these out, please?” she questions, trying to keep her voice firm and failing.
“Where is she?” I question her.
“They’re taking her to get images done so we know what damage is done to her. They aren’t sure if she’ll need surgery or not. With her not being awake and alert, we have no way to tell what’s going on,” she answers me. “I’ll be out and let you know whatever is going on as soon as I know.”
Nodding my head, I take the clipboard and stare down at the paperwork. All the words float and swim before my eyes. I don’t give a shit about all this shit. The only thing I want is Summer in my arms. To hear she’s fine and nothing is wrong with her. That this is all just a nightmare I’m living in right now. That’s not going to happen though. Summer is back there getting tests and whatever else done so they know if she needs surgery.
We’ve been sitting at the hospital for hours. Summer ended up needing surgery to repair her right arm and her left leg. She has broken bones in each that need to be set and held in place with rods or pins, I’m not sure what they said. Several cuts fill her body, some of which need to be stitched closed they’re so deep. Her jaw is severely bruised but not broken, the same with her eye sockets. Still, all of this is too much damage for my woman to suffer through. No one should have touched a hair on her head.
The nurse moved us up to a separate waiting room. Away from the other patients and family members waiting to hear news of their loved ones. I haven’t stopped pacing since getting here. No one is trying to make me either. Blaze and the other Nomads know better than to get in my way. Skull and his guys keep an eye on me as if I’m going to jump them at any second. While I’d love to, there is only one man responsible for my woman being in here.
As the sun begins to set and the sky grows dark, finally a man in scrubs with blood covering him enters the room. I’m immediately in front of him.
“How is my wife?” I question him, not bothering to let him get a word in.
“She’s in stable condition right now. We’ve fixed her leg and arm. She’s going to be sore for a very long time and will need physical therapy on her arm and leg as well. I’m not sure if she’ll ever walk without a limp again, only time will tell that. Right now, we’re monitoring her and the baby. I can’t assure you at all if the baby will survive the trauma caused to your wife,” the doctor tells me, continuing to talk as his words fade out to nothing.
Summer is pregnant. I’m going to be a dad. This might all be taken away from us because of a man who beat her for no reason whatsoever.
“How long until I can see her?” I question the doctor.
“It will be a little while. She’s in recovery now. They’ll monitor her for a little while before finding her a room to stay in. She’ll be here for a while,” he tells me.
Turning on my heel, I don’t watch the doctor leave. Blaze knows what I’m about to say before I even open my mouth. We’re heading back to the clubhouse so I can kill this motherfucker. He’s going to know every single pain my woman is feeling right now. Nothing will stop me. I only hope our baby survives this because I’ll kill every single member of Renegade Outlaws if our little one doesn’t make it. Summer deserves more than waking up to find out we lost our child.
“Let’s roll,” Blaze says, leading me from the waiting room with everyone else following us.
When we get outside, I see my bike parked with the re
st of them. I don’t stop as I make my way to it so I can get to the clubhouse as quick as possible. Revenge is the only thing on my mind until I can get back to Summer’s side.
We head back to Skull’s clubhouse. Parking my bike in the middle of the lot, I don’t wait for anyone else to follow me. I’m going to kill the dumbfuck who thought it was okay to hurt my woman to the point of her almost losing not only her life, but the life of our unborn child.
“Where the fuck is Rancid?” I bellow out as soon as I step inside the clubhouse.
There are several men sitting around the common room either at the tables or along the bar. One of them turns to me as if he’s sizing me up. I don’t give a fuck about anyone here. The only thought running through my head is taking out this fucker who touched my woman and getting back to her side. Still, not a single person answers my question. Not until one man, Malice, I believe his name is, stands from the bar.
“Follow me,” he states as I walk behind him.
“Stop right there!” an older man yells out as I turn my attention toward him. “I want to know what the fuck is goin’ on with my man and why he’s bein’ held.”
“Who the fuck are you?” I grate out, my rage boiling over.
“I’m Slash, the national President of this club,” he states as if I give a fuck who he is.
“Yeah. And I’m Dozer. Your pussy of a bitch put his hands on my woman and almost killed her. We didn’t know she was pregnant and there’s still a chance she may lose our baby. So, you’re gonna be down one man and I don’t give a fuck what you have to say about it. Skull has his treatment of her from the camera feed this mornin’.”
Twisted Steel: An MC Anthology: Second Edition Page 58