His (Hers #5) (23 page)

Present

Ryker

Everyone runs to the hospital and leaves Lyric alone. The poor girl is traumatized and no one gives a fuck. No one except for me and I am still pretty confused as to why I care. It’s not like she means anything to me. She is a stranger. She was a mission, an order from my boss. Nothing more.

The more I tell myself that, the more I hope I can convince myself it is true. But it’s not and I have no idea where along the way my lines got crossed. Internally, I argue with myself, but the desire to protect this girl grows by the second. They all left her and that creates this rage within me. One minute the world revolves around saving her, and the next minute she is chucked to the side for Princess Seven.

Fuckin’ Seven. I just don’t get it. I don’t see what all the rage is about. Call me a dick, but she’s a bitch. That doesn’t do it for me and it shouldn’t do it for most of the guys we run with. Now, I am inside her house babysitting her little sister while she lays in a hospital bed with the world by her side. I’m willing to bet she has no one to blame but herself for whatever the fuck happened this time. Just like every time before.

A scream carries through the first floor of Seven and Levi’s house, coming from the guest bedroom Lyric has been held up in for the past two days. Another nightmare for sure. Every time this poor girl sleeps, she wakes up in a panic. I move in the direction of the screams. They get louder with every step I make. Her words cut me like a knife and I don’t want to care. I want to be numb like the rest of the world. I want to be cold and callous. I want to go on with my life and leave this girl to deal with her own shit. This isn’t my problem. I don’t need more fucked up women creating unnecessary drama in my life.

Pushing the door open, I can see her curled up into a ball in the middle of the giant bed. I’ve tried everything to talk her down when she gets like this, but still, nothing works. Her body looks tiny and her screams turn into hushed cries. The sniffles and tears fill the room and I just stand there and watch. I am probably the most useful fuck on Earth. I just don’t know how the fuck to process this all. I don’t do emotional women. I don’t do broken. I can’t.

I take a few steps in the direction of the bed, and realize Lyric is awake. She isn’t dreaming anymore. Her blue eyes glance up at me and all the shit I’ve been talking in my head begins to melt away. I’m a sucker for this girl.

Everything about her mirrors Seven, except her eyes. Those eyes. She doesn’t even need to say a word, just look at me and I am done for. I’m such a pussy and I can’t handle it. She frowns when she sees the pained look on my face.

“Are you okay?” She asks me. She is quiet and broken yet she asks me about my own well being. What kind of person who has been through the bullshit she has would even care about another human or what they were feeling? Who was this girl and why was she thrown at me like this?

“I’m good, you?” I don’t want to know how she is. I already know the answer is going to be bad. But she doesn’t let on to her hurt.

“I’m okay, I guess.” But she’s not okay and we all know it. Maybe not we, maybe just me.

“You’re not, Lyric.” I counter. My mouth speaks before my brain has the opportunity to catch up. “Why don’t you let it all out? Lean on me…” I say. Fuck, I am opening Pandora’s box.

“I’m good, I promise. I just…” she lays back down in the bed and pulls the covers up. “Would you lay with me?” She asks me with an embarrassed look. “It’s okay if you say no. Sometimes, I sleep better with someone here with me…” she quickly makes excuses for her request.

The thought of someone else lying in this bed with her sends my mind into a tailspin. I don’t want anyone else near her. I don’t want to think about another person touching her. I want to stake my claim to her and I don’t even know her. But this feeling she has sparked inside of me is something completely foreign and I want to grab onto it and never let go.

“If that will make you feel better, of course I will, Lyric.” I sit on the edge of the bed and unlace my boots. They each fall to the ground with a loud thud, one after the other and then I lie next to her. A notable space lingers between our bodies. I don’t want to touch her. I can’t touch her. No good would come of that.

I think about the whore Judge and I fucked and it strengthens my resolve. There is no way I could be the kind of man a woman like this deserves. We are too different, and we come from different worlds. I would turn her world upside down and leave her in worse shape than she is right now. And there is no way I would be able to live with myself in the wake of that.

Fuck Chrome for leaving me in this position. Fuck Levi and his wife for pulling me into all of this shit. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be in bed with this innocent girl who needs me like no one ever has before.

“Thank you.” She whispers as her body nears mine. Crossing the invisible line I drew down the middle to keep our distance. “I thought I could get through this alone. But, Ryker… thank you for being here for me.” She says. Her voice is so fucking beautiful, sweet, and innocent, and so broken all at the same time.

“Anything you need, Darlin’. Anything you need.” I whisper to her as I pull her back close to my body and wrap my tattooed arms around her pale white skin. The contrast is astonishing and I am caught in the beauty of our differences. Her finger begins to trail the tattoos on my hands and up my arms, without turning around.

“Tell me about these…” her voice trails off while her finger continues to run along my skin. The sea of ink tells a story. Lots of stories; some good and some downright disgusting. Shit I am not proud of when I look at someone like her. Someone I could never have or keep. FUCK! Why do I keep thinking about this shit? She is driving me right off the deep end!

“They are just tattoos.” I lie and instantly feel bad about.

“Just tattoos…” She says and I can tell she doesn’t believe me.

“Thank you Ryker. For saving me. For caring…” Lyric says. She is quiet and eventually her breathing evens out and she falls asleep. I know I can get up and flee. Leave her and this idea of what I could have with her behind in this bed. But, I don't move for hours.

And when the sun starts to come up, I take my boots and hit the road because the longer I prolong leaving, the worse it is going to be for both of us in the long run.

Seven

Present

My body aches and Mumford and Sons plays in my ears. I can’t open my eyes, but I can hear everything going on around me. Shit beeps and this loud woosh keeps annoying the fuck out of me. Someone is by my side, speaking to me or maybe it is about me? I don’t know the voice though and I want to give them a smart ass remark but I can’t speak. Something is in my mouth, and my throat fucking burns.

“If she regains consciousness we will have to remove the tubes to see if she will be able to breathe on her own. The damage that was done when she was struck by the car caused one of her lungs to collapse. She also has some internal bleeding because going through childbirth and then that kind of trauma isn’t good for the body. There are a lot of issues for her to overcome and it isn’t going to be easy. It is going to be a long road if she ever wakes up.” This fucker. Who does he think he is? I am awake! I try and lift my left arm to grab at whatever is hurting my throat, but my hand just doesn’t work. Fuck!

MOVE you fucker! I am screaming at my body inside my head. I go for my right arm and it doesn’t take me long to grab onto the plastic tube. Why the hell is this shoved down my throat? Get this shit out!

“Whoa! NURSE!” The man yells as Star and Levi’s voices begin to fill the air. I can’t concentrate on everyone’s words because my goal is to get this stupid thing out of my throat. Hands wrap around my wrists and pin me to the bed. My grip on the tube is broken and that douchebag starts talking to me. I want to yell at him to let me go and fuckin’ get this thing out of my goddamn mouth. My body is failing me and it is driving me crazy.

“Seven, I am Dr. Cooper. I need you to calm down for a minute until we can safely remove the intubation tube in your throat. We don’t want you to hurt yourself anymore than you are already hurt. Can you open your eyes for me?” He asks. His simple request feels like I am trying to climb a mountain. I blink my eyes rapidly and close them again. The light of the room hurts, and my head pounds.

“Come on, Seven. Please open your eyes.” Levi says and I feel a renewed sense of hope. He is there. He is waiting for me. He didn’t back away and leave when I got myself into this mess. Another mess. Another one of my fucked up plans that only ended up backfiring in my face. I take all of the energy and strength within me to open my eyes, and when I do, and the world finally comes into focus… Levi is there, right within my view waiting for me.

“Those beautiful brown eyes I love so much.” He says while he takes my hand that is now resting on the bed while I patiently wait for the hospital staff to tend to me. I blink back a couple tears and he starts to talk again.

“Don’t cry my love. Don’t cry. It is all going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

“This sucks.” I say to Star as she brushes my hair. “Who would have thought that fucker would run me over. Who does that? Really? Who runs someone over with a car?” That is exactly what Vince did. Ran me the fuck over with his shitty Ford SUV. Three broken ribs, a collapsed lung, lost my damn uterus and broke a wrist. I can tell you something… if I ever see that fucker again he will have worse fate than Zane did.

“Seven there is something I want to talk to you about.” Star’s mood goes from content to downright bleak. I want to ask her if it has anything to do with all the confessions she made to me while she thought I couldn’t hear. A lot of people did that: Star, Paisley, Chrome, Ryker, and even my own husband. No one thought I could hear them and the funny thing about being in a coma is that the doctors will insist everything you heard was an elaborate dream. But, they’re all liars. I heard every last word. I heard about how Chrome is grateful I drove Star away from Manhattan and into his arms in Woodstock. Or how Ryker is sorry for leaving Lyric the way he did. Whatever the hell that means.

Levi went on and on about how much of a fool he was when he threw divorce papers at me. The reality of it all was he was backed into a corner and was out of moves. I don’t blame him and looking back at it now, I should have known better. But, I wasn’t in my right mind. I still am getting there, but I can tell you one thing… the peace and quiet the sleep brought me was unlike anything I’ve ever felt.

You think they would offer those coma things as mental vacations away from life? Yeah, only I would come up with some bullshit like that… right?

“Star, I remember everything you told me. There is no need to go through it again and cause yourself more hurt than you have already.” I take her off guard.

“They said you couldn’t hear us. Hell, they all told us you may not wake up because of all the blood you lost.” Her words shake as her voice gives out and cracks.

“I don’t blame you. It may make me heartless, but it is for the best, Star. Magnolia doesn’t need someone like that creeping in the shadows. You don’t need that constant reminder. You need to heal and I can only hope that in the time after this all happened, it finally brought you the peace and clarity you’ve needed for so long.” I don’t want to do this whole emotional heart-to-heart, but I have no choice since I am still stuck in this bed. It is an opportunity I usually wouldn’t take up, because I am not that open and honest person with anyone.