Chapter 55

Candice
Familiar voices wake me from my deep slumber. My whole body feels hot and my back is extremely tight. I try to move around but am met with intense pain on my side. I take a deep breath and wait for the pain to subside. Right off the back I know my ribs are at a minimal bruised. Ben comes into my view and I've never been so relieved to see him.
"Hey you." His calm voice says.
"He..." I clear my throat and try again. "Hey. What happened?"
"Was hoping you could tell me. You were brought in yesterday, a broken rib, fractured orbital bone, back is covered in slashes and you have quite a rainbow of bruises all over your body."
I close my eyes at the description of my injuries. Psych and Jesse really did a number on me, but I know that Austin and the rest of the Warriors rescued me. It would have been a lot worse if they hadn't come when they did, but part of me is still very angry with Austin. If he hadn't treated me the way he did when he found out about my father, I would have still been under his protection.
Ben must see my hesitation on saying anything. Whether he believes I don't know what happened or not, I don't plan on saying anything. Ben gives up asking after the third time I close my eyes and tears roll down my cheeks. I know he is only doing his job, but I really don't feel like reliving that nightmare. I will most likely always have the scars on my back and that puts me in both an angry and depressed state. I just want to wake up and pretend the fast few months hadn't happened.
When a detective comes in to question me I give him the typical "I don't remember" story. I may be angry with Austin but I'm not angry with the Warriors. I won't let them take them away when they were simply trying to look out for me. My conflicting and confusing thoughts are just making my head ache even more so Ben leaves when the detective does, to get me some pain medicine. He isn't gone for more than a few minutes when Lyla sticker her head into the room.
"Hey baby girl, how ya feeling honey?" She says, her Texas drawl a little stronger indicating to me that she is up to something. Lyla's accent only gets strong when she is either lying or hiding something and I have a feeling what that is.
"I'm alright. The pain is coming in pretty strong right now. Ben went to go get me something, so I'd make whatever you are about to do quick." I say to her giving her a knowing look.
Lyla's eyes bug out of her head and if I weren't in so much pain, I would laugh my ass off at her face.
"Baby cakes, I do not even know to what you are referring to." Did I mention her pet names get worse when she is up to something too? She once called a patient that she tried to hook me up with, an easy bake oven.
I hear a deep chuckle coming from behind her and since she still has the door partially open and just her head popping in I can guess that deep chuckle is Shane, I shake my head at how disgustingly cute they are together.
"Just let us come inside Ly, you suck at this."
Lyla huff but opens the door wide. Four guys walk past her, each giving her a pat on the back as they do. They must see the severity of the situation of sneaking in here. Lyla could lose her job doing this. Austin walks to the side of the bed. Max, Shane and Chance scoot in closer so they are all surrounding the bed. I feel so extremely small lying here on a hospital bed while these giants circle me.
"I'm just gonna go hide your chart form Ben, see if I can keep him away a little longer." Lyla winks and heads to the door.
"And if that doesn't work?" I say with my eyes closed. I don't want to see any of them especially the one that has snuck his way into my heart and crushed it.
"Then I'll show him the melons, if that don't stop him honey, nothing in this world will." She laughs at Shane's expression then dodges his attempt to reel her into him.
Max makes a whipping sound and Shane smacks him in the back of his head.
"Ouch fucker. Ain't my fault you can't stop your girl from showing men the goods."
I roll my eyes at Max. Even though I hate Austin right now, I do miss being around these guys. Max and I had actually grown close in the short time we were around each other and when Austin had that bitch on top of him it was Max that reached out to me.
"Candice." I hate the way my name sounds so good coming from his full lips.
"We'll give you guys some space." Chance says walking towards the door. Max and Shane right behind him. They each pat where my leg is on the bed and Max lingers for a few seconds staring between me and Austin. Once I nod my head towards him he gives me a chin lift then walks out.
"Candice I…." Austin starts but I'm quick to cut him off.
"You should make this quick Austin. Ben will be back soon.
He looks down, then back up at me. I see him swallow hard and when I take a deeper look at his face I see he hasn't been sleeping well. His eyes are bloodshot, clothes wrinkled. He looks awful. Good. The asshole.
"What do you want me to say to the cops?" I ask closing my eyes at him. I don't want to see him looking haggard and forgive him so easily and I know if I continue to look at his dejected face I will.
"Whatever you want babe. I won't make you do something you're not comfortable with."
"What happened out there Austin?"
"Got word from Psych's ex that he has been doing drugs, heavy shit. Said that Jesse was his old lady and that he tends to stay with her. Knew that I needed to keep you safe since they both know about you. By the time we made it to the hospital we got confirmation that you had taken off early. Camera showed you took a coworker with you. Lyla told us who she was, and we pulled up her files to get her address."
I just stare at him. His stubble showing more hair than usual, indicating he hasn't shaved. Maybe hasn't even showered since I arrived.
"What happened after that?"
"Got to her house, saw your car." He shrugs but I can tell it's killing him to continue the story. I almost stop him, but he continues with a shaky voice. "I busted in, saw Jesse clutching her head, Psych had you in a headlock and was making you his fucking shield. I've never been so fucking scared in all my life. You were bleeding everywhere; your scrubs were soaked. I thought… for a second I thought…."
Austin looks away and I struggle not to try and go to him. I'm upset with the way he treated me weeks ago, but I know if I found out something happened to him in the time we were apart it would have killed me. Austin went through that. Not only does he feel guilty that I was almost killed but he had to live with nearly watching it happen.
"Max got to Psych before he could do anymore damage. Bullet to the head. The girl, Melissa. She was gone by the time we got in there. We think she attacked Jesse to save us some time and then Psych shot her. He just kept saying 'look what you made me do.' Can't believe the fucker would kill his own sister."
I can't believe Melissa is gone. She dragged me to that house but in the end, she saved my life. I can tell she was conflicted between what they planned on doing to me and staying loyal to her brother. This is all such a mess and I just want to crawl under the blankets and cry.
"They video tapped me Austin. I think they wanted to send that to you to get you to send them money or something. They were pretty messed up." I say while holding back tears.
"I know darlin'. Snake called me late last night and told me he destroyed their equipment. Candy, I'm so fuckin' sorry babe. I'm sorry they took you and hurt you because of club shit."
"What do I tell the cops Austin. A detective has already come in and I told him I don't remember much but, he's going to keep at it until he gets something."
"Told them that you were kidnapped. Went in to see if you were at Melissa's house since Lyla last saw you with her. Pulled up and they started firing at us. Max's gun is registered, and he is allowed to carry it in the state of New York. Neighbors confirmed with the cops that Psych fired first. As for Jesse, we threatened her within an inch of her life and made her skip town. No one even knows she was there. Just that Psych and Melissa were out to get us for money."
That's not too bad. It's actually pretty close to the truth. I don't remember much after Psych knocked me out the last time. Certain fragments are here and there, but I can't really tell if they are dreams or clips of what happened. It's like my mind can't calm down from everything that has happened.
I nod my head at him. I want him to know I would never intentionally turn the guys who have saved my life more times than I can count in.
"Candice, I'm so fuckin sorry I didn't believe you babe. I should have. That day that you came to the compound and Jesse was all over me… I didn't want her, I threw her trashy ass off me as soon as she was on." His jaw tenses as he speaks about Jesse. I can tell he is having a hard time digesting the fact that he had two traitors in his club.
"Doesn't matter anymore Austin. I owe you a thank you for once again coming to my rescue. All of you really, but I can't continue what you and I had again. I told you about my past with my father. I may not have mentioned who he was, but it was all the same to me. I always told myself that I was never worth it, never worth a man's time, never worth my mother's love, nothing. You only proved me right when the first time something pops up you don't even listen to me." I take a deep breath and continue.
"I know I should have told you about Nicholas. I was ashamed. I thought if I told you who he was to me you would see me differently. I only just found him about two years ago and then I realized who he really was. When he showed me his true colors, it just clarified that my mother made the right choice for never bringing him into my life." I try and swallow my cry, but it escapes my mouth as tears roll down my face. "Austin, I never want to feel unworthy of a man in my life again. You built up my self-esteem, made me feel worthy, and then you tore me down, made me feel like my father did when I first met him. When I went to talk to you, give you another chance, I see you with another woman. I know it wasn't intentional, but I can't get that image out of my head. I'm sorry Austin, but there is no us. Never will be."
I am hiccupping by the time I finish speaking. Austin is just about to say something when the door opens and in walks a very flustered looking Ben.
"Look, guys, you don't need to use Lyla's boobs to try and distract me. Candice is a nurse here, if you guys want to come and see her I have no problem with that, just one at a time. By the way Candice, your family is here."
Shit, I totally forgot about my family. Mom must be so worried about everything and now I have to explain everything to her.
"Don't worry, I told her and your grandmother everything this morning. They were pretty worried when they didn't hear from you all day yesterday, so they came here this morning."
"You stayed here all this time?"
"I wasn't leaving you babe."
"I'll let them know that you are resting." Ben says quietly while looking between me and Austin.
I give him a gratifying look as he sets up my pain meds into my IV then heads out. I look over to Austin and as much as I want to tell him to hold me. As much as I want him to tell me everything is going to be okay. To forgive him, I know I can't. I'm not ready to forgive him just yet. I'm not ready to fight for us. I've done enough fighting for now.
"I'll let you get some rest." Austin says pulling my gaze from the door. "I wish I could spend every day making it all up to you, but I know you need space. So I'll give that to you, but I'm not giving up on you Candice. You're it for me. I just need to prove it to you." With that Austin leaves and I spend the next hour crying over what we had lost.