Chapter 17 ~ That’s Pretty Much It

Venom ~

It’s been four days. Four interminable days of not seeing her smile. Not hearing her laugh. Not looking into her gorgeous green eyes. I have cried. I have prayed. I have begged. Thank Goddess for Iris. She kept her alive.. her body had been riddled with shrapnel from the Jeep’s body.. she had a fractured skull from impacting the asphalt. Her kidneys were damaged from the explosion.. and a collapsed lung.

Today, the doctor is weaning her off the medication keeping her in a coma. He wanted Iris to heal her as much as she could before we woke her up.

I look over at Maddox.. asleep on the cot we had brought in her room. Neither of us wanted to leave her for a second. He and I had deeply bonded over these four days. Torin imprinted. Maddox is ours now.

He told me what he could remember about the men who attacked them.. which wasn’t much. The man Delaney threw her dagger into, hasn’t woken yet.. Like her.. they are keeping him in a medically induced coma. The doctors say he’s paralyzed from the waist down. Good! Wish it was from his neck down!

The man had absolutely no identification on him.. no marks, or tattoos.. Nothing to point to who he is. I have to wait until my baby can tell me what she knows. If she remembers. She had a traumatic brain injury. We don’t know what she will be waking up to.

Maddox walked away with four scratches.. one deep enough for butterfly stitches. And a broken clavicle. Delaney saved him.. protected him.

I have learned the most valuable lesson of my life. Never take a single moment for granted. Never miss a chance to say I love you.. an opportunity to steal a kiss. Never let her walk away without telling her how much she matters to me. I love this woman with every fiber of my being. I want her with every beat of my heart. I need her like the air that I breathe. That’s what I have spent these past four days learning.

I have been sitting here for five hours. On the side of her bed. Holding her hand.. talking to her. Like I have for four days.. reminding her of her life before me.. and our lives together. I doubt she heard me.. but it helped me maintain my sanity.

I heard a croak of a voice.. asking for water. I grabbed her water cup and a straw.. she sipped it.. thanking me. She gasped and tried to look around.. she whispered “Maddox” and her eyes filled with tears. I said “No.. baby. No. He’s fine. I promise. He’s sleeping.. right over there.. She craned her neck.. trying to see again.

I took my phone out and snapped a picture of him sleeping beside her bed. I held the phone up.. and she grabbed it.. pulling it to her chest.. holding the picture of him close to her heart, as she began to sob.

I am so relieved. I am relieved she is awake. I am relieved she remembers Maddox. I am relieved she’s still with us. My poor angel girl has been through it.. but now that she’s awake, Iris will be able to heal her faster.

Her crying had eased and she reached for me.. I gently hugged her and kissed her forehead. She whispered “Collateral damage. He said I was collateral damage.” And she fell asleep.

While I sat frozen. Taking my phone from her hands, I called Snake. He answered on the fourth ring.. asking “How is she?” Without even a hello. I said “She woke up.. and seems to have her memories. Worried about Maddie. I had to take a picture of him to calm her down.”

He said “That’s great, Captain! What a relief. I will let the club know in the morning.” I was barely keeping it together.. I snarled into the phone “She said something about the bombing, Snake. She said he told her she was collateral damage.”

The line went silent.. I could hear him rustling around.. probably getting clothes on. When he responded he growled “We will find the mother fucker, brother. We still have his kid!”

I replied “His kid isn’t collateral, bro. He may be innocent. We will find out .. I’m heading to the clubhouse.. have the photos of Delaney’s injuries printed out. We are going to play truth or dare with that kid! Send Axe to me here.”

While I waited for Axe, I went down to the nurse’s station for some coffee.. noticing a new nurse on duty. I hadn’t seen her before and any new faces right now didn’t sit well, with me.

I asked “Where’s Helen? She’s supposed to be on duty.” The nurse.. her name tag read Pam.. replied “She called out.. so I was brought in from emergency triage to care for your wife.” I shook my head “No. No.. I don’t know you.. my enforcer will care for her until morning.”

She said “Sir.. only immediate family are allowed on this floor. Your enforcer isn’t allowed.” I chuckled and sneered “You tell Him that.. MmKkk?”

I walked back into Delaney’s room and her eyes popped open.. “Coffee?” I laughed.. my baby’s back! I handed her my coffee and went to get another cup.. only to hear Axe say “Kiss my rosy red ass, lady. Try and stop me from being with my sister.” And I laughed again.. Finally.. It feels good to breathe again!

I got my coffee and walked Axe back to Delaney’s room. I told him “That woman out there is not Delaney’s nurse. Helen told me she would be here tonight for the graveyard shift.. Now I’ve been told she called out. Trust no one. Allow only Dr. Williams in.. He won’t be here before eight in the morning. I will try to be back by then.”

Axe nodded “Got it.. Nobody allowed in. I can handle that. How is she?” I smiled “She’s in pain.. groggy.. but she’s awake.. and that means she’s healing. And she has her memory. Life is good again, brother. Life is good!”

I reached the clubhouse to be met by Snake at my truck door. I grinned “Eager to let somebody bleed on you?” He growled “Fuck yeah I am! We need answers.. and I will get them.. by hook or by crook!”

I groaned “I don’t want the kid dead.. unless he knows what that fucker is planning.. Then.. we kill him. In front of his father!”

We walked in the cells and I yelled “Wake up young Slate! Time to play a little game..” He sat up on his cot and asked what time it was. Snake asked “Why? You got a date?”

I jerked him out of the cell and slammed him into a chair in interrogation.. I sat opposite him and rested my elbows on the table.

He kept his eyes on Snake.. darting back to me every few seconds.. I said “Hard way? Or easy? Your choice.”

His shoulders slumped and he said “I don’t want to die. I’m only nineteen. I didn’t even really do anything wrong. Just what my dad told me to do. He actually expected you to show up the day after we boxed your wife.”

I asked why he ordered the box… the kid.. I think his name is Dave.. yreplied “To scare her enough to call you. To piss you off. Instead.. it pissed him off that you didn’t react. He had a whole ambush set up.. ready to take you out. But you didn’t show.. and you didn’t show.. for over two months. And caught us off guard.”

Snake snarled “Tell us about his munitions expert.. and the bomb.” Dave looked confused for a second and asked “What bomb?” I slapped him “Don’t play with me, Dave.”

He said “Drake”I asked what? He responded “My name is Drake. You know.. like a boy duck? It used to be the old man’s favorite joke.” Well, Fuck. I had the D part right, at least.

Snake slammed the photos down on the table.. one by one.. saying “Take a good look.. This.. and Here.. See this one? Or how about here. This is our Queen. This is what your father did to her. He blew her body to bits! Called her collateral damage. How about you start talking.. before your body looks like hers did!”

Drake gulped and shook his head “I don’t know anything.. not about that. He bought me a motorcycle.. he rented the building we were at.. and told me I was now a biker and to recruit members. So I did! That’s pretty much it.”