Chapter Ten

Rhea

Soft beeping drags me into consciousness. I slowly open my eyes and groan at the pain in my skull. It takes a moment for me to blink away the haze before I see a nurse standing at the monitors beside my bed. I touch the side of my head where I held the gun, and I feel a bandage.

“Hi,” she says with a soft smile. “It’s good to see you awake, Rachel.”

“No,” I say, realizing I survived. “No, I shouldn’t be here.”

I force myself to sit up as she calls for someone. “Rachel, let’s get the doctor in here and…”

“Why did you save me?!” I scream at her. “Why am I here? I don’t want to be here!”

“Sweetie, I need for you to-”

“No!” I scream again. “I don’t want to be here. I have no one left. Don’t you fucking get it? I didn’t want to survive. I wanted to be with them, and you fucking took that from me.”

I grab my pillow and sling it across the room before realizing I have leads attached to my body. I start ripping at the cords, wanting to get the fuck out of this hospital. The nurse is trying to calm me down, but every time she comes near me, I grab some thing and sling it at her. She hits a button on the wall, and it prompts other nurses and doctors to come in.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” I yell.

“Rhea,” the doctor says with a stern voice. “Stop and listen to me. Please.”

“What?” I seethe. “I don’t want to fucking be here.”

“I understand. Your father is here. A nurse called him and he is on his way up. Let’s talk to him for a moment and then we can discuss what’s next, okay? Can we take this one step at a time?” he asks.

“My father?” I ask. Guilt washes over me when I realize I tried to kill myself and would have made him grieve my loss all over again. I was so wrapped up in my sadness that I failed to remember that I’m not alone. I have my dad.

“Yes,” he says. “Can I look at your IV? It’s bleeding.”

I looked down and see that my arm is covered in blood, so I nodded and drop my head in shame. He comes over and he dons gloves and works to make my arm stop bleeding.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I…”

“I know this is scary,” he says.

I look up and see Dad rush into the room. When he gets to me, he wraps me in a hug, and I start crying. “They’re gone,” I whimper. “I lost them. It’s all my fault.”

“Rhea, what are you talking about?” Dad asks, pulling back to wipe away my tears.

“Theo. Quinn. Jace. They died. He shot them,” I whimper.

“Baby,” he says softly. “They’re fine.”

“What? I saw them. I saw their bodies…” I start to explain.

“No, baby. No, you didn’t,” he says. “Marvin hit you with the butt of his gun and it knocked you out. You were in and out of it for a little while, but they gave you a mild sedative so that you would sleep through the night.”

“But I… I saw Theo get shot. He was right in front of me,” I say, confused.

“It was a dream, sweetie,” he says. “You screamed for Quinn before getting hit. Everyone came around the corner and Marvin shot himself when he realized you were not alone. He is dead and everyone is fine. Annoying, but fine.”

“Oh my God,” I say as I start sobbing. It felt so fucking real. Emotion racks from my body as Dad takes me into his arms. He gently rubs my back and reminds me that I survived. Everyone survived.

“How about you go get the others and Rhea and I can talk,” the doctor says to Dad when he pulls back.

“Yeah. They will be happy to see you awake,” Dad says. He gently kisses my forehead before standing. “I love you, baby girl. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“I love you too, Dad. Me too,” I say softly.

When he leaves the room and the nurses are done picking up what I destroyed, the doctor sits with me. “How are you feeling?” he asks.

“My head hurts,” I say.

“You have a concussion, but no fractures and no bleeding on your brain,” he says. “We gave you something to sleep because your blood pressure was a bit high, but we have no real need to keep you too much longer.”

“Can I… can someone take this catheter out and let me get dressed before they come back?” I ask.

“I brought some scrubs,” the nurse at the door says. “Let me help you really quick before you two discuss things.”

“Okay,” I say.

The doctor steps back and the nurse has me lie down. She works to take the catheter out before helping me stand. She helps me dress in to simple blue scrubs before I sit back on the bed.

“Alright, so we did some bloodwork. Were you aware that you are pregnant?” he asks.

“What?” I ask. “No, I have birth control in my arm.”

“Well, you are definitely pregnant. Your HCG levels put you at around ten weeks,” he says. “The birth control removal is pretty simple. I can take that out for you.”

“Are you sure? Because I regularly have sex with five men that I’m dating,” I say bluntly.

“They’re a lively group of people,” he chuckles. “I’m sure.”

“Well… shit,” I say. “Okay.”

“Care if I feel for the implant?” he asks.

“Go ahead,” I say as I extend my arm.

The doctor feels the inside of my arm until he locates the implant. He cocks his head to the side and looks confused. “When did you have this placed?”

“When I was eighteen,” I say. “It was replaced a few times.”

“By who?” he asks.

“My ex was… very abusive. I was trafficked. He had some doctor friend of his place it,” I say.

“Okay… Yeah, this should come out,” he says before turning to the nurse and telling her what he needs. She gathers the items, and they get things set up before he numbs my arm. The door opens and everyone walks in.

“Hey,” Quinn says as he leans down and kisses me.

“Hi,” I say softly.

“I heard you were throwing things?” Theo asks.

“Yeah… I had a dream Marvin murdered all of you in front of me and then I killed myself. When I woke up with my head bandaged, I was a little confused,” I say. “I’m okay.”

“We can go into it later when we can sit down,” he says before looking at the doctor. “What exactly are you doing?”

“You want to say it?” the doctor asks me with a smile.

“Well…” I say looking at dad. “I know you didn’t get to watch me grow up but… how do you feel about watching your grandchild grow up?”

“Oh, Rachel,” he says as tears well up. “Are you?”

“Hold on,” Quinn says.

“You know how babies are made, right Quinny?” Jace asks.

“He said I’m around ten weeks,” I say. “He’s taking the birth control out of my arm.”

“Anika,” Mia says. “Say it.”

“I uh… I’m eight weeks,” she says. “I was planning on telling everyone at the club but…”

“That’s amazing!” I say.

“Amanda, call those detective in here, please,” the doctor says.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“That is not birth control,” he says as he uses surgical glue to close the small cut.

“What is it?” I ask.

“A tracker, I think,” he says.

“Oh God,” I say. “That means…”

“That’s how he knew where to find you,” Theo says. “He figured out you were going to the club every week but didn’t know who was with you.”

“What the fuck,” I say.

“Hey,” Casey says. “What’s going on?”

“May I?” the doctor asks.

“Mhmm.”

“Rhea is pregnant. I was removing her birth control implant, only it’s not birth control. It’s a tracker,” he says, pointing to the device on the gauze. Casey dons gloves and picks it up to examine it and sighs.

“Logan,” she says, waving him over. “I need an evidence bag.”

“Is this really a tracker?” I ask.

“It is,” she says.

“Is Marvin really dead?” I ask.

“Yes, ma’am,” she says. “He shot himself. I also have news for you. I was planning on calling you tomorrow.”

“What?” I ask with a sigh.

“Marcus Langston was killed in prison,” she says.

“How?” I ask.

“He was in the showers. The guard had to step out to take a call. Some other inmates on work duty found him,” she explains.

“You can do better than that,” I say, and she laughs.

“He was raped with a mop handle, stabbed twenty-seven times, beaten severely, and drowned. Guards found him face down in a toilet,” Logan says.

“Oh dark,” I say flatly. “What a shame.”

“I know. A real loss,” Casey says with a smirk.

“So… I can go home?” I ask the doctor.

“Yeah. You have enough people around you that I feel comfortable letting you rest at home,” he says. “You need to follow up with your primary care doctor and an OBGYN. I’ll give you a list of things to watch out for, but just take it easy. You have a cut on the side of your head, but it has glue instead of stitches. Just keep it covered for a few days so it can heal.”

“Thank you,” I say.

“You’re welcome,” he says warmly.

It took a while for them to discharge me but as soon as I was out, we went and got fast food and went home. I am tired, but I’m not sleepy. I just want to lie down and rest.

Quinn scooped me up the moment we got in the door and took me downstairs. Everyone else followed so we could talk before I take a shower. “Here,” Theo says, handing me a pain pill and a bottle of water.

“Thanks,” I say.

“Tell us about the dream,” Quinn says. “Your dad said you were not doing too well.”

“Well,” I say. “I got hit and kinda fell back but turned to find y’all. I ran into Theo first. He went to pull me behind him, but Marvin shot him in the head. I was trying to wake him up, but… he was gone. Marvin went to the care room and just mowed everyone down. I got in there right as he shot you. He then turned it on himself and basically said he wanted to take everything from me like I did to him. I pulled Theo into the room with everyone else and got us all into one area, then I laid down between you and Jace. When I shot myself, I woke up in the hospital. I had a bandage on my head, and I just freaked out. I thought everyone was dead and I survived.”

“That’s fucking pitiful,” Anika says. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m just glad it was a dream,” I say.

“I won’t push it right now, but I do want us to talk about that,” Theo says.

“I know. I think it’s best I do talk about it. Just not right now,” I say.

“Right now, you need to rest,” Quinn says.

“Shower first, then rest,” I say. “I’m sorry the night was ruined.”

“Don’t apologize for things beyond your control,” Theo says. “We will be here no matter what.”

“I know,” I say.

“Go take a shower. We can all talk later,” he says, and he comes over and hugs me. “I love you, Rhea.”

“I love you too, Theo,” I say as he softly kisses me. Rowan and Max kiss me before joining Theo on the stairs. Anika, Mia, and Emma give me a hug and they all go upstairs.

I get up and we go to the bathroom before Quinn and Jace help me undress. “You guys okay?” I ask.

“Yeah,” Quinn smiles. “Once you got to the hospital and it was confirmed that you were okay, we all felt better. We knew you were okay because you were awake a few times, but they wanted to make sure you didn’t have a brain bleed.

“I woke up?” I ask.

“Yeah. You didn’t say much. You would just respond to the paramedics if they asked you something, but you were pretty out of it,” Jace explains.

“I’m glad Marvin is dead,” I remark as we step into the shower together.

“I wish he hadn’t shot himself so I could have killed him,” Quinn says.

“That’s why he shot himself,” I laugh. “He saw five big ass men coming at him and decided a bullet was better than getting beat to death.”

“You’ve got a point,” he laughs.

“I feel bad,” I say while they take to washing my body.

“Why?” Jace asks.

“You guys waited six weeks to have sex, and then I got knocked the fuck out by a psycho,” I say.

“It’s okay,” Jace says. “I promise.”

“How easy do I actually have to take it?” I ask with a grin.

“We are not the ones to ask, Little Star. You have pain meds, and I am horny as hell,” Quinn says.

“Then fuck me,” I say.

“Girl, don’t tempt me,” Jace says.

“Just don’t throw me around. Probably avoid throat fucking me for a while,” I say. “Oh, and no hitting me in the head.”

“Are you sure?" Quinn asks, shutting the water off.

“Very sure,” I say. “Please.”

Quinn steps out of the shower and wraps me in a towel before scooping me up. I giggle when he takes me straight to the bed. “Excited?” I ask him.

“You tell me,” he remarks as he sits on the edge of the bed and pulls me into his lap. I groan deeply when he pushes his cock into me.

“Shit, that’s good,” I mutter. “Oh my God.”

“Fuck, Rhea. I’ve missed this tight little cunt,” he rumbles as he lies back and pulls me down with him. He immediately starts to fuck me and each bar in his cock is like heaven. Jace wastes no time applying a generous amount of lube and pushing into my ass. They both start to move in sync with each other and I’m transported to another dimension. It feels so amazing and I don’t have the words to explain it.

They slowly increase their pace until they’re pounding into me. I stay relaxed on Quinn’s chest to cause as least amount of stress to my head as possible, but the pleasure is overwhelmingly amazing. As I start to fall, they fall with me. Our orgasms harmonize and desperate moans fill the room as they push in deep to come.

Once they have me cleaned up and dressed, I am laying with my head on Quinn’s chest and Jace moves close to wrap his arm around my body. “We love you, Little Star,” Jace says as he kisses my shoulder.

“I love y’all too,” I say. “I’m glad you saved me.”

“Us too, Rhea,” Quinn says. “We’d go to the ends of the earth for you.”

I finally feel free. There are no dark clouds looming over us or a fear lurking in the background, waiting to take over. Under their watch I found my freedom, and now I choose to more than just survive. I choose to live.