Railed (Courage MC #2) (13 page)

B
ANG
!
I jumped back and hid my body as the sound from the gun ricocheted between the walls of the room. Avery fell forward, against Luke’s body. At first it looked as if Luke had gotten him right in the eye, but as soon as I saw him attempt to grab the pistol in his hand, I realized he was fine. Once again, Luke’s aim was a few millimeters off. Avery was one lucky devil.

The two men wrestled each other onto the balcony outside. I couldn’t do anything but take cover. Avery took one glance at me and yelled, “Go back to Bruce’s! Get to safety and call for back up!” It was what I should have done, but I couldn’t move. I stood paralyzed by shock and fear.

Luke took a swing at Avery and hit him square in the jaw. “Fuck!” he muttered through clenched teeth. Avery dove into his stomach causing Luke to fall into the banister. I almost thought they were about to fall off, but they held their balance, continuing to fight.

Swing after swing, the men’s faces became bloodied and bruised. Avery’s main goal was to get the gun from him. He punched Luke in the nose, effectively stunning him and pushing him onto the ground. Luke attempted to aim the gun at him, but Avery jumped on top of him, grabbing his wrist and forcing it into the air. The gun went off again, shooting wildly into the air. “I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch.” Avery said.

He knocked his wrist into the banister and the gun fell onto the ground below. It was out of reach for now and it seemed that Luke had lost the fight. “GO!” Avery screamed, turning to me again. But as soon as he said this, Luke grabbed a blade from his leg. He wound his arm back and sprang forward. What came next was the worst sound I had ever heard. “NO!!! FUUUUCK!” I tried to close my eyes, but I couldn’t help but see what happened.

Avery held his hands over his face in anguish. His beautiful cheek and forehead, all the way down to his lips, was slashed. The cut was deep and went all the way across. I grabbed the only thing I could, a potted cactus, and smashed the ceramic piece over Luke’s face. He fell backward, over the banister, and fell with a loud thud. In my mind, there was no way he could have lived through that fall, and I didn’t even have time to check whether or not he did. I ran to Avery who was screaming bloody murder and held him in my arms.

“He cut me good!” he cried. “Fuck, he cut me…”

“We need to get you to a doctor, Avery. Let’s go. NOW!” he wrapped his arms around my and limped his way to his bike.

“Is it bad?” he asked. I looked at him, as flesh hung like red drapes over the bones of his face. It was bad. Oh, God, it was bad. But I didn’t want to scare him. I had to stay strong for him like he did for me.

“It’s all my fault, Avery. All of this. I’m so fucking sorry.” I cried.

He grabbed my face. “Listen to me. None of this is your fault. I’m gonna kill the son of a bitch for what he’s done to us. You hear me?” It was hard to look at him. He looked like a…monster. And yet, I still loved him immensely. He leaned against his bike, blood dripping down his face, and asked, “Ever drive a bike before?”

I shook my head nervously and said, “No. But what about my car?”

“Fuck the car. You can move faster with the bike.” He said.

“Fine. I’ll try.” I said, shaking.

He nodded and waited for me to get on. This time he held onto me, barely even conscious. I had seen him start the bike before. I just had to remember the right order of things to do. I turned on the ignition switch and put the bike into neutral. Okay, so far so good. Next, I pulled in the clutch and pressed the starter button on. The engine fired up almost immediately. I released the button and put the bike into first gear.

Avery, I’m going to keep you alive. I’m going to keep you alive. I’m going to. I promise.

A
ll is lost
…

I strained my eyes to see against the light. “Hope?”
I called out.
Where is she?
She is the only real constant in my life.

My face. It feels as if it were ripped into a thousand pieces. Will she ever love me again?

“Lay down, sir. It’s going to be okay. Just lay down.” A woman said to me, adjusting a set of knobs in front of her. “We’re going to need an IV of morphine, stat!” she yelled.

“What … what happened?” I asked, my voice sounding rough and groggy.

“Sir. Just lay down. Please. Everything is going to be okay.” she said. Her face said it all. It was stressed and creased. She had been here all night. I could tell.

“I’m not in good shape, am I?” I laughed, spitting blood out onto my clothes. “Shit…” Bandages rested across my face.
Fuck. My face.

Then it all came flooding back to me. Luke. Hope. My god damn blade. He destroyed my face. I would destroy his life.

We could have settled things. If he just stuck around and trusted in me, we could have made things right. But now, it was all ruined. It was all brought to dust.

Dust.

My whole life, just dust floating in space. I’m nothing. I don’t deserve anything. And what about Hope? I sure as hell don’t deserve her. I used her for my own damn gain. And for what? This? Hell no. I deserve nothing. I deserve what I got. A knife to the face.

“Hope!” I cried out. I picked my body up from the bed. All I could feel was dizziness and despair. I grabbed the tubes that were coming from my arms and chest. I ripped them clean out. “HOPE!”

“Doctor! I need your help!” the woman yelled. I motioned for her to back off, but I immediately fell to the floor.
Can’t see a damn thing. The lights are too bright.
“Someone turn these fucking lights off!” I screamed. All I could see were flashbacks from last night. Luke, the knife, and the love of my life.

He was dead right? I saw him fall. Hope pushed him off, right? He had to have hit his back. The desert floor ain’t too comforting on your body. But what if he wasn’t dead? He could be outside the room right now.
I gotta get out of here.

At that very moment, two doctors came running into the room. “Sir!” they yelled. “We need you to lay back down.” I swung at one of them and fell to the floor.
What the fuck.
One man had a syringe in his hand. He pressed the back end down and a stream of liquid shot out into the air. The bastard stuck me with it. I tried fighting him off, but whatever was in there knocked me back onto the floor.

“Got him!” the bastard yelled. I felt the cool surface of the floor against my cheek.

“Fuck all of you…” I moaned. All I cared about was Hope. All I needed in this life was her. Every single damn day. And as soon as I get out of here, I vow to hold her in my arms and appreciate her. I vowed to love her and treat her with respect. She deserved that much.

The light was slowly going dim. All around me were nurses and doctors, and people looking through the window. I was a fucking spectacle. A part of their little circus. I didn’t mind it. Just wished my face looked a little better.

All is lost. But I’ll find a way to get it all back.

“
I
want
everyone to check the compound for Luke’s body! There’s a chance he’s still out there and, if he is, I want him dead!” Bruce announced. The crowd of bikers grabbed their guns and dispersed outside. They had a mission and they were excited to see it through. I, however, was praying to the dear lord above that I’d get my Avery back safely.

We had already been through a lot, but just as we had gotten close, this happened? I could believe it. By now, I could believe anything. I just didn’t want to.

Bruce walked up to me and sighed, “You okay?” he asked me.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I think. Thank you, Bruce.” I said, wiping the tears from my eyes. It had been a long night and I was exhausted. It felt like there was a lot more for me to do.

“You’re tired. You should go home and rest.” he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “He’s going to be alright. I promise ya.”

“I can’t sleep, Bruce. I just keep thinking about Luke. I keep thinking about him taking that shot at Avery. And then the knife…my God, I can’t believe it. I can’t believe he almost got him.” I began sobbing again uncontrollably. I couldn’t help it. My love.

“The key word in that sentence is almost. He almost got him. You’re probably right though. You need to stay out of sight for a while. Better you with me than at Avery’s. I just feel for your state of mind right now. I don’t want you worryin’ too much.” he sighed, squeezing my shoulders.

“It’s the worrying that will get him through this. He needs someone worrying about him. He needs all the thoughts and prayers he can get.” I found myself saying. I was in no way a religious woman, but I felt like what I said was true. Any good thought was important right now. He needed all the good he could get in this world.

“You know,” Bruce began speaking thoughtfully, “when I first met you, I didn’t know you’d play such an important role in Avery’s life. I thought you were just some star. Some entertainment. You know, we get a lot of girls to host parties and such. But that night felt more important than usual. Not because Luke was let out of prison or nothing, but because the spirits were high. You get it?” I nodded my head. “I told Avery that he should find a good woman. I think he just shrugged it off. But I think that sentiment eventually got in the guy’s head. And then you two started talkin’. Look, I know we kind of met in weird circumstances, but I see that you’re a light in Avery’s life. You want to take care of him. And I s’ppose he wants to do the same for you. That’s a good thing, Hope. It’s important.” He looked away. Did I see tears forming in his eyes?

“I know you two go way back.” I said. “He showed me the house. He showed me all the pictures he’s kept of you two and Adam. You’re important to him as well.” I smiled.

“He kept those? Now that brings a smile to my face. You know what? You need to meet Adam someday. He’s a good kid, when it comes down to it. A bit left of the path, but good nonetheless. He was here for a second. Helped us with old Bobby Farole. But as soon as he came back, he disappeared again. Yeah, Avery was sort of the son I never had. Don’t tell anyone I said that now. But he is and was. A damn fine soldier, he is.” He nodded in an almost dreamlike trance, to himself.

I looked at the empty strip club. It looked hollow and desolate. There was no music, no dancing, just the sound of the wind coming in from the outside world. Silence used to be mildly comforting. Now it took on a new meaning for me. Evil was lurking in the darkness. On the horizon, the sun ducked its beautiful head under the mountains. What was there left to hold onto if love was punished?

But they would not win. We would not give up. I would stay strong for my man. I had to now more than ever. The darkness is always conquered by the light. That much I knew. As long as we stood up and fought back, we would lead the way to a certain kind of victory: love. I was sure of it. I was positive it was the answer.

“Bruce?” I looked at the man, a born leader now faced-to-face with a big dilemma.

“Yeah, Hope?” He grabbed at a cigarette, but he lost it. It fell onto the hard wood floor.

“Are we at war?” I asked him.

He bent over and picked up the cigarette, carefully lighting the end. These were the times smoking felt the best. It felt right in heated moments such as these.

“I believe we are.” He muttered, taking in a long hard drag.

“What do we do?” I asked him. I needed to help in any way I could. For Avery. I missed his smell, I missed his touch. I missed the cold, hard way he viewed the world. But most of all I missed his presence and drive.

“First things first. We get him out of that hospital. It was a bad move to keep him there. Even with one of our guards watching over him, it's still not enough. So that's what we’re gonna do. We’re going to get him out. And then we’re going to find Angelo. He’ll take us to Luke. I have no doubt about that.” he said.

“What makes you so sure of yourself?” I asked. “Angelo might rather go out in a firefight of glory than give up Luke. Are you prepared for that?” It was worth asking. From what I gathered, these guys were willing to risk everything for a chance at their own type of glory. They were so caught up in their pride that a bullet to the head meant nothing to them.

“Angelo’s not the kind of guy to do that. He's angry because he felt deserted by us. That's all. If he is tricked into feeling like he has respect again amongst his old brothers, he’ll give us what we need.” He threw the cigarette across the room and watched it slowly burn out.

“I hope you're right.” I whispered. “I really do.”

Bruce motioned for me to follow him outside. “Come on.” he said. “Let's get Avery out of that hospital and back into safety.”

I
woke
up with the moon shining onto my hospital bed. I was so groggy. I almost fell back into dreamin’ but somebody pushed me to stay awake.

“Hey baby. I'm right here.” the voice said. I could hardly see. My one eye was taped shut with gauze. The other one was a blurry mess.

“Are you an angel?” I said. Clearly the morphine was doing the trick. I was messed up, feelin’ a little woozy and unsure about everything.

A man stepped forward suddenly, “Yeah, she's an angel alright.”

“Bruce?” I called out. “Hope?”

Bruce leaned over me and whispered, “You gotta stay quiet, brother. We’re bustin’ you out of this place. It ain't safe. Luke’s somewhere out there, waiting for us. You ready to go into hiding?” he asked.

“Shit, I ain't ever hide from anything.” I whispered, coughing from the mixture of pain and all the damn drugs they had me on.

Bruce laughed, “Truest thing I've heard all day. But you’ve got a worried woman waiting for you. Look at her, Avery. She needs you to stay alive.”

“Hope.” I reached out to her and grabbed her hand. She smiled and knelt down in front of me. “I'm sorry. I let you down. I let everyone down.” I said.

She simply smiled and rubbed my hand. “Stop it. It's not true, Avery. You mean the world to me. I'm just so grateful that you're alive. Just promise me that you’ll keep on living. I don't know what I'd do without you.” she began sobbing against my limp body.

“Alright. I guess I can agree to that.” I have my best smile, but I wasn’t feelin’ too hot at this point. I had one thing on my mind: revenge.

“Let's go.” Bruce said. He unplugged my machines and I took out all the wires. They both rolled my sad ass out of that hospital and put me in the van. There would be hell to pay. But first, I had to get the drugs out of my system.

We agreed to stay in a new hideout spot. Apparently The Sapo Boys valued our business ventures together enough to help us out. We had guards, cameras, and a gate that surrounded the compound. Yep. This was beginning to look like a war alright. I braced for the incoming threat.

Luke, I'm coming for you.