Chapter Thirty-Six

Wrath

One minute, Flame"s talking to me, and the next, he passed out. I have tried everything possible to get out of this fucking chair and get to him. I refuse to believe I"m going to sit here and watch my husband die on the first fucking day we"re married. That"s not going to fucking happen; I refuse to believe that.

I hear a noise, and then the door opens, and I"m totally taken by surprise when the goddamn Police Chief walks in the room. What the actual fuck?

"Hello, Wrath."He says while walking towards me.

"What the fuck is going on!?"I shout at him while still trying to get loose.

"What do you think is going on Wrath? We"re just waiting for Claire to get back, and then we can begin the fun. She"s been waiting a very long time for this. Actually, we both have."

"Why are you in on this? Why risk everything? You"ve got to know you aren"t going to get away with this."I fire off question after question.

"Because she"s my niece, and I"d do anything for her. You're the reason my brother"s dead, and we both deserve the revenge we're going to get. Don"t worry; she"ll be here shortly, and we can begin. Hopefully, by then, your little friend will be awake."He laughs and then turns and exits, locking the door behind him.

How the fuck did we not know the Police Chief was Ian McGivens' brother?

"I"m already awake."I hear whispered next to me. "How long was I out?"

"About thirty minutes; don't scare me like that again."I manage to say through the fear lodged in my throat.

"I'm sorry. How long do you think we"ve been here?"He asks me quietly, not wanting to alert anyone that he"s awake yet.

"I'd guess it"s been nearly two hours since we were taken,"I tell him.

Suddenly, we hear pounding footsteps above us.

"I"m just going to take a wild guess and say the cavalry has arrived."I laugh out loud.

The door slams back open, and the Police Chief runs in with one of his goons. From the look of pure hatred on Flame's face, I"m guessing it"s the guy who ran us off the road. They both come up behind us, pull their guns, and point them at our heads. As soon as they are in position behind us, masked figures step into the room.

"Drop the weapons."The one who enters first says, and I"d know that voice anywhere: it"s Eagle.

Yeah, the cavalry has certainly arrived if my SAA is here. I feel immediate relief, even though there are guns currently pointing at my and my husband"s heads.

"No! Back away and leave, or we"ll blow their heads off."The Police Chief shouts back; his full attention is on Eagle, meaning he hasn"t noticed the other figures slowly moving into the room right against the walls and making their way behind us.

"You shoot them, and we"ll shoot you. Do you want to live or die today?"Eagle shouts back. Not taking his eyes off the Police Chief, trusting his guys to do what they have to.

As the Police Chief goes to reply, I feel the gun move from my head. Quickly turning, I see him now on the floor with someone on top of him. It can only be Behemoth because of his size. Looking around, I see someone on top of the other guy too, but I can"t tell who it is.

"Get Flame untied; he needs Doc now. He hasn"t been conscious for long. He"s passed out twice that I know of."I shout, and everyone moves into action.

They quickly get Flame untied, and he lies on the floor. Then I"m untied, and I drop next to him.

"Are you okay to get out of here?"I ask him gently.

He just nods his head and holds his hand out. I grab his hand and help him stand. When I turn around to check on the Police Chief and his accomplice, I see they"re now tied to the chairs we were in. Well, won"t that be a nice surprise for Claire? I can"t help but laugh. Once Flame"s standing, Behemoth comes up on one side of him and Eagle on the other, helping him walk out of here. I walk slowly behind them. Yeah, I hurt, but I"m pretty sure I just have a minor concussion and road rash. Flame"s definitely worse off. I"m guessing he has some sort of internal injury.

Once we"re outside at the SUVs, they"d obviously used to travel here knowing they"d be quieter than arriving on their bikes. Flame starts coughing violently, bringing up blood, before passing back out. Luckily, Behemoth manages to catch him before he hits the floor, as he"s still next to him. Behemoth quickly places Flame in the SUV. I slide in right next to Flame while Behemoth gets in the passenger seat and Eagle gets in the driver's seat. I check Flame's pulse and feel it beating under my finger. Fuck, there"s got to be something wrong internally. He needs the fucking hospital.

"Get us to the hospital now!"I shout before muttering under my breath. "Come on, babe, stay with me; I can't lose you."

We"re pulling up at the hospital in no time. Pulling open the door, Behemoth lifts Flame into his arms once more before taking off running into the emergency room with me directly behind him.

"Need some help over here."He shouts as he enters.

There"s quick movement from the staff as they bring over a gurney, having him place Flame on it, before they"re wheeling him away. I just stand there and watch as my injured husband"s taken further and further away from me.

"Excuse me."I hear behind me and see the young nurse at the desk trying to get our attention.

"Yes,"I reply.

"I need one of you to fill this out for your friend, and any information you could give me now on what happened to him will no doubt be a great help."She says softly.

"His bike was run off the road, and he went over the bars. He was relatively okay after that, other than passing out a few times, but then he started coughing violently and brought up blood before he passed out. Also, he"s not my friend; he"s my husband."As soon as the words leave my mouth, Behemoth and Eagle turn and look at me with wide eyes.

"Yeah, we got married earlier today; we were on the way back to celebrate with you all when the accident happened,"I inform them.

Walking off, I go and take a seat to fill out the forms. I need to do something before I lose my mind with worry. I have no idea if Flame"s going to be okay. I need him to be okay. I can"t lose him, not now.

I have no idea how much time has passed while I"ve been lost in my own head, but suddenly Shadow"s crouching in front of me, placing both hands on my shoulders in comfort.

"He"s going to be okay, bro; he"s strong. Just focus on that."He says quietly.

I just nod my head. I can"t focus until I know what"s going on with Flame.

"Family of Mr Jacobson."A doctor shouts into the waiting room from the doors Flame went through when we arrived.

I shoot up off my seat, knocking Shadow on his ass in the process, in my haste to get to the doctor and hear the answers he holds about my husband.

"That"s me!"I shout to the doctor as I step closer and closer.

"Good news! He"s alive. He had an intra-abdominal hemorrhage; we took him in for emergency surgery and repaired the damage. As long as he stays stable for the next twenty-four hours, we believe he will be fine and make a full recovery. He"s just waiting for a room in the ICU right now, as a precaution. Once he"s been moved, you can see him."He explains to me in a caring tone.

"Thank you, Doc."I say and shake his hand.

Turning around, I shout, "He"s okay!"

The room erupts in cheers. I had no idea that so many members of Devil"s Inferno had arrived at the hospital, and I can"t help the tears that fall. My husband is alive; that"s all that matters. He"s alive. That"s all that matters. I keep repeating the same thoughts in my head, hoping they will stick.

An hour later, I"m walking through the ICU to Flame"s room. I need to see him with my own eyes. I don"t think I"ve ever been as scared as when he coughed up that blood and then collapsed. I honestly thought I was about to lose him. Taking a fortifying breath, I open the door and enter his room. As soon as I see him lying there, looking so pale, with machines hooked up all over him, I can"t help the tears. He looks so fucking broken. I just about manage to make it to the chair next to his bed before my legs give out, I grab his hand tight. Dropping my head, I just continue to cry. God, this was far too close.

I can feel something on the back of my head after God knows how much time has passed with me just holding onto Flame with my head on his bed. What the hell? Slowly raising my head from where it"s resting on Flame"s hospital bed, looking behind me, I see my Dad standing there, stroking my hair.

"He"s okay, son. He"s alive."He tells me sympathetically.

"I know, Dad, but fuck, what a way to end our wedding day."

"It"s not the wedding that matters; it"s the joining between you two. You know this; I know this isn"t how you imagined today ending, but he"s alive, and that"s the main thing. Let"s focus on getting him better, yeah. Everything else can wait until he's recovered."

He"s right I know he is, but it doesn"t make the situation any better.

"Yeah, you're right, Dad. How"s Cam?"I ask, worried about my son after everything that has happened to me and his Papa.

"Worried about his Dad and Papa. He knows you"re okay, and he knows Flame is in here. I told him I"d bring him to visit as soon as Flame was moved out of the ICU. Cam doesn"t need to see him hooked up to so many machines like this."

"I agree. Who"s with him now?"

"Shadow and his bodyguards." My Dad tells me while laughing.

"Bodyguards?"I query.

What the hell is that about?

"Wreck and Blade are currently acting as Shadow"s bodyguards. They have been since you were first taken. You probably didn"t notice when they were all in the waiting room earlier. It was Eagles" idea, and he was right. Shadow was all Claire was missing, and he needed to be kept safe."

"Oh, that makes sense. I can"t think about the club and everything that"s been happening right now, Dad. All I can focus on is Flame. Can you help Shadow with the everyday running of things while I'm here, or does that make me a bad President?"I ask worriedly.

"No. It makes you human. It makes you a husband. Right now, all you need to worry about is getting him back on his feet and home. Everything else can be handled by others. I"m going to head back and get some sleep; you need to try and get some rest too. I doubt he"ll be waking up tonight. I'll help your brother keep everything running smoothly with the club until you get home. No need to worry about that."Dad tells me before leaning down and dropping a kiss on my head. He takes one last look at Flame, his eyes flashing with sadness, then turns and leaves.

I didn"t realize how much I needed to hear all of what my Dad just said. My mind has been running a million miles an hour since Flame first collapsed. Now I feel like I can finally take a breath, knowing everything"s handled everywhere else while I focus on my husband.

I must"ve fallen asleep at some point during the night. Fuck, my neck"s killing me after sleeping in an uncomfortable position on this chair. It"s not like I care about my discomfort, though; I wasn"t going to leave him here alone. Not a chance in hell. I feel it then—a hand squeezing mine. My eyes fly open to see Flame's bright blue eyes staring back at me. Fucking hell, now that"s a sight for sore eyes.

"W-water."He whispers out to me.

Quickly grabbing him a cup filled with water and a straw, I place it in his mouth, and he takes a couple of sips before I pull it away, not wanting him to have too much and make himself sick.

"You ever scare me like that again, and I"ll kill you myself. I"ve never been so fucking terrified in my life, Hunter."I quickly say before I start fucking crying again. I need to get a grip on my emotions.

"I"m sorry. What did the doctors say?"He asks.

"Intra-abdominal hemorrhage, you"re really lucky it wasn"t worse; they had to do emergency surgery. They"re hopeful you"ll make a full recovery. You"re in the ICU right now but should be moved to a normal room today as long as you seem to be recovering and stable."

"Okay, that"s good. Hopefully, I"ll only be here a few days. I fucking hate hospitals."

"You"ll stay until they say you can leave. End of. I"m not having you leave early and risk anything happening to you. I can"t go through watching you collapse and then waiting to find out if you"re still alive again."I tell him seriously, but my eyes are starting to water again thinking about what happened.

He"s saved from me lecturing him by his doctor entering.

"Ah, Mr Jacobson, good to see you"re awake. Any pain anywhere we need to be aware of?"He asks as he moves closer to the bed.

"No, Doc, I feel rather good, all things considered."He replies.

"That"s good; you"re a very lucky man; your injuries could have been fatal. Luckily, you got here in time for us to repair the intra-abdominal hemorrhage we found during your CT scans. We'll get you moved to a normal room soon. As long as you continue to improve, you should be able to go home tomorrow, but what you can do will be restricted for quite a while. You need to make sure you listen to your body."

Flame doesn"t say anything; he just nods his head in agreement. He might not realize it yet, but he"ll be following the doctor"s orders to a tee. I"m going to make fucking sure of it. If he tries to disobey and do shit too fast, I swear I"ll fucking tie him to the bed. I"m not fucking about after almost losing him.

"Right then, I"ll get the order in for you to be moved. It should happen fairly quickly, the ICU beds are always in demand."He nods at us, then spins and leaves.