Corps Security, The Series (1)(55)

Begrudgingly, he stops his protest and asks Axel to sign off that no further treatment by the paramedics is preferred. He gets my head cleaned and applies some gauze to my back, telling Axel that he needs to keep pressure on my head until I get to the hospital. I get a few ice packs and hold one to my right eye and the other to my sore neck. After he has done all he can, the paramedics take their leave.

I start nodding off shortly after, listening to the voices around me explain the events leading up to my crying out from the porch. I attempt to answer the questions the officers have for me but my drowsy and confused mind keeps pulling me under. Axel rouses me a few times and I am able to tell them who attacked me, but after falling asleep again, I faintly hear Axel tell them to meet us at the hospital with any further questions. Despite his calm and strong tone, I can hear a small tremor of fear.

He adjusts me in his arms and begins to stand. I don’t hear much after he tells telling someone to get the truck and drive him to the hospital. I let the safety of his strong arms and the comforting scent that only comes with Axel carry me off to the numbing blackness.

I wake up to the annoying sound of beeping and the nauseating smell of antiseptic and cleaner. Death—I’ve always thought the hospital smelled like death. It’s a smell you never forget and one I have always hated.

I try to open my eyes but they don’t obey my commands. I try to open my mouth and demand answers but nothing comes out. It’s like my body has decided to play dead.

“The doctor says there are no internal injuries other than some bruising and a lot of old broken bones badly reset. Home job the best he can tell. I looked at the scans, Reid. It looked like she has had every rib in her body broken at one point. I would gladly kill that motherfucker if I got my hands on him.” Coop. I’ve never heard him sound so pissed. He’s usually the fun-loving one of the group. “Took ten stitches to close up her head, nothing too bad and should be fine. Her neck is swollen. Fucker must have had one hell of a firm grip on her. The biggest concern at this point is her concussion and assessing her vision after she wakes up.”

The warm hand holding mine flexes and tightens a few times during my grocery list of injuries review. Even with my eyes closed and my mind hazy, I can feel the energy in the room grow heavy. It feels alive, making the hairs on my arms and neck stand on end.

“He’s fucking dead, you hear me? I’ll kill that sick fuck myself.” Axel releases my hand and I feel it return, pushing the hair back behind my ear. “It guts me to know she lived like this for so many years. Knowing this wasn’t even close to the worst . . . slices me fucking deep.”

“I know, Reid.”

“Where’s Dee, Greg? Both—either. I don’t care.” He must have his head turned because it’s hard to make out his question. I’m shocked that Dee isn’t already by my side.

“Beck made her go get something to eat, said she wouldn’t stop pacing and was shaking something crazy. Last I saw Greg, he was about to pop some hemorrhoids he was holding it in so tight. You sure there isn’t more there? They seem pretty tight.”

“Just friends,” he says. “Doesn’t matter. He isn’t touching her.”

His hand returns to mine and he brings his lips down for one small kiss to my hand. So tender and unlike the Axel I’ve been dealing with for the last month.

“I feel you. I’m going to step out and see what Locke found.”

A few minutes pass. He has his forehead resting on my hip, his lips resting on our joined hands. I can feel his mouth moving, warm breath caressing my skin, but I can’t make out his whispered words.

“Izzy, please wake up. Please, please, Princess.” I don’t know what shocks me more, his gentle pleading or the single warm tear that hits my hand.

I don’t know how long we pass time just like that. A few of the others come and go asking Axel some questions, asking if he wants to leave and take a break. The cops come to see if I’ve woken up yet. Nurses come and check my IV bags and vitals. All the while, I am struggling to make my body listen, to wake up.

Dee is back in the room, and I think Beck and Greg are too. To my horror, they are discussing the abuse I lived. I can hear Dee explaining to Axel what happened that night she came to save me, telling him how long I was forced to stay in the hospital to heal and how much worse the injuries were then.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” I hear Axel say when she tells him how many broken bones I had then. He starts to speak but stops short when I finally force a whisper past my lips.

“Dee . . .”

“Oh God,” she cries out before rushing over to my side. I crack open my left eye and take in her face. She’s a mess, mascara running down her cheeks, her eyes red rimmed and swollen. With just the sound of my voice, she is a blubbering fool. “Oh, Iz . . . I was so scared!”