“On it,” Smokey told him as they quickly began disposing of the body.
Guardrail had managed to wrestle the other man to the ground, and quickly bound his hands behind his back with zip ties. When he was finished, Guardrail grabbed his arm, tugging him upright. He looked over to Cotton and said, “I’ll get this one over to the club. Stitch is already getting things prepared for our guest.” The guy could barely see as Guardrail led him out of the apartment, and I knew his night of hell had just begun. Stitch would have him wishing he was dead in a matter of minutes.
I took a cloth from the counter and gently pressed it against Henley’s head. She was so still, almost lifeless. I was watching her slip away, and I couldn’t stand the thought of losing her.
“Henley… baby, wake up,” I pleaded, but I got no response. She didn’t open her eyes. She didn’t give me any sign that she was still with me. “I need you to wake up, Henley. You’ve got to wake up!”
Cotton walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Maverick, you’ve got to keep it together, brother. She’s going to need you when she comes around,” he explained.
“Why did she do this? Why would she risk her life like this? It doesn’t making any sense,” I asked as I took her hand in mine.
“You know why she did it. She did it for you, brother. She did it for the Club. And she was able to accomplish something we haven’t. Because of her, we might finally get some answers. She’s one hell of a girl,” Cotton said as he looked over to Henley. “She’ll be alright, Maverick. She’s a lot stronger than you think.”
There was a knock on the front door, and the room fell silent. Cotton glanced around one final time, before he let the medics in. They rushed over to Henley and one of them asked, “Can you tell us what happened?”
“There was a break-in. We don’t know much more than that,” Cotton explained. “We walked in and found her like this.”
After checking all of her stats, they carefully lifted her up onto the gurney. They were about to take her down to the ambulance when I asked, “Is she going to be okay?”
“It’s hard to say. She’s suffered a blunt force trauma to the head. We won’t know how serious it is until we get her over to the hospital.” He continued to talk as he pushed her towards the elevator. “The doctors will probably do a CT Scan and maybe an MRI. That will tell them how severe the injury really is.”
“I’m riding with her,” I told him.
“Are you a relative?” he asked.
“Yes,” I lied, but there was no way that I was going to leave her side.
“Okay, we’ve got room.” The ambulance was waiting for us at the front door, and once they had her loaded up in the back, I crawled in behind them. When the doors slammed shut and the sirens roared above me, I had never been so terrified in my life. Looking at Henley so hurt and helpless, I felt lost. I felt powerless. I had no control as I watched the medics continue to work on her. Nothing before had ever frightened me like this. My heart ached when I thought about losing her. I loved her. I couldn’t imagine my life without her. Her smile, the sound of her voice, the way she felt when I held her in my arms. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t lose her.
When things finally settled down in the back of the ambulance, I asked again, “Is she going to be okay? You’ve got to give me something.”
“Her vitals are improving, but I still don’t know about her head injury. It could be a simple concussion, or something much more involved. We really won’t know anything until we get the results from that CT scan,” he explained.
While they carried Henley upstairs for testing, a nurse escorted me to the main waiting room. My brothers were already there waiting with Cassidy when I walked in. She came running towards me with tears streaming down her face. When she reached me, she wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly.
“I’m so sorry, Maverick. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Henley promised that we’d have time to get away!” she cried hysterically.
“What the hell were you thinking, Cass? Henley’s back there fighting for her life,” I snapped.
“She was just so determined. She thought if she used herself as bait, you’d be able to catch the men that killed Skidrow,” she explained as she wiped the tears from her face. Her story sounded too fucking familiar.
“Where did she get the idea? Had she been talking to anyone?” I asked.