Axel held up his left hand. His cigarette was between his lips. He tapped his ring finger. "I get it, brother. Sometimes I still look for the ring. Like it's resting on my finger or in my nightstand. It's just who we are."
"Let's get you home. I'll stop and hit a burger joint on the way. Stock you up on cheeseburgers and fries. You're going to need it when you come down."
"Fuck that," Axel said. He flicked the cigarette to the gravel. The cigarette sparked like a firecracker. "I'm hardly drunk. The pain eats up the booze, man. I wish I could get good and drunk right now. Try to forget everything like right after my divorce, man. I would try and pick up anything. But on my end, nothing worked for a while. Grief and pain are fucking assholes."
"Amen to that," I said. "Let's go, Axel. I'll get you some cheeseburgers and fries … and then some beer."
"Better just go for the whiskey," he said.
"Whatever it takes to get you in the goddamn truck."
"Let me just ride … "
My phone started to buzz in my pocket. I threw the middle finger to Axel and looked at the screen on the phone.
It was Tate calling.
"Hey," I said. "Don't worry. I've got Axel. Things are … "
"Where are you?" Tate cut me off.
"Little Mikey's. Axel needed … "
"Hospital, brother. Get to the fucking hospital right now."
"Hospital?" I asked, looking at Axel. "What's going on?"
"You're at Little Mikey's? You must have heard the sirens, then."
"Yeah. Why?"
"Shit, brother. Right at the intersection down from the shop. There was an accident."
"What kind of accident?"
My brain scrambled to try to figure out what had happened that afternoon. I wasn't putting the pieces together. And my life suddenly changed with one sentence.
"Lacey was in an accident."
I ran.
Before that, I somehow got Axel into Pecker's truck and got to the hospital. I somehow ignored Axel's drunk guilt as he blamed himself for chasing Lacey out of the bar. I was in no position to argue-not that I would. In reality, I wanted to knock every last tooth out of Axel's mouth.
Instead, I focused.
I got to the hospital.
Tate, Max, and Prick were waiting.
Then I ran.
White tile flashing with the lights overhead.
At the elevators, I punched the up button, pacing like a hungry lion in a cage.
The guys caught up to me.
Someone tried to reach for me, but Tate stopped them. That was a good thing, too. Anyone who got close enough would have gotten a punch to the jaw.
The elevator ride was the slowest of my life.
I looked at Tate. He nodded.
"Tell me," I said.
"She had the right of way," Tate said. "She was just driving and didn't see a damn thing."
"What was it? Car? Truck?"
"Another truck," Tate said. "Fucking thing barely had a scratch on it. Hey, I know this is hard, but she was lucky to be in your truck, River. If she had been in a car, man, fuck … "
The elevator stopped, and the doors opened. I pushed by two eager people trying to get on the elevators. I ran to a nurses' station and asked where she was. I went to the end of a hall and was met with a doctor. He had a hand out and I couldn't read his face.
"Whoa, whoa," he said. "Family?"
"Family," Tate said.
We stood there, arm to arm. Me, Tate, Prick, Max, and Axel.
Last time I looked at Axel, he was damn near in tears.
"Tell me something, Doc," I said. "Please. She's all I got."
"Okay. You can come with me. The rest of you have to stay for right now."
"Where's the other guy?" Axel asked.
"What?" the doctor asked.
"The other guy. Is he okay?"
The doctor just stared.
"Friend," Axel said. "I'm trying to piece this together myself."
I raised an eyebrow at Axel.
"Okay," the doctor said. "Your friend is okay. Just a few bumps and bruises. He'll be released today, but he'll be questioned for drinking and driving."
I felt my heart sink.
Axel shook his head. "Damn. What a fool."
The doctor then looked at me. "Come with me, Mr … "
"Just call me River," I said.
The doctor led me through the set of doors.
"Lacey suffered injuries to her left shoulder, left arm, and her left leg. She was briefly pinned in the truck and that caused some damage to her leg."
"Broken?"
"Yes," the doctor said.