King (Grit Chapter Book 2) (11 page)

“No. I’m not going to back down from this.” Vicky moved to stand beside him. “What is
your
problem?”

“My problem? What about you? You fuck a guy who is using you. Before you start judging someone else, take a look at your own life.” Clara was wiping the tears away as she spoke.

“This isn’t good,” Bridget said. “What are you doing, Clara?”

King saw the conflict in Clara’s eyes. He didn’t get it, nor did he understand it.

She shook her head. “No, I’m done. I’m gone.” She spun around and started walking.

“Clara, no!” Vicky called out.

King saw the car coming toward Clara, but she clearly didn’t notice it because her head was downcast. He ran toward her but didn’t know if he was going to make it in time. He rushed as fast as he could, but the person driving clearly wasn’t paying attention.

He watched as the car hit Clara.

Everything froze while his entire world crashed around him as he watched the woman he loved roll across the top of the hood of the car before falling to the asphalt.

King rushed to her side, wanting to pick her up but afraid in case he caused her any lasting damage. “Call a fucking ambulance,” he roared out to whomever was listening. The car that hit her was parked to the side, and the guy that got out looked panic, afraid. King wanted to beat the shit out of the guy, but he stayed by Clara’s side instead.

“Clara, Clara, oh God, I’m so sorry,” Vicky said, now beside her. “That car hit her so hard. Is she breathing?”

He pressed his fingers against her neck, finding a faint pulse. “She’s alive, but her pulse is faint.”

“Ambulance is on the way,” Payne said. “This is fucking crazy shit.”

“Not now,” King said. Clara had clearly been through a lot and obviously had a lot on her mind. It was clear she was afraid of commitment, but he couldn’t let her go. “I love her, Payne. I’m not going to let her go.”

“It’s hard for her to let people in, to let love in,” Vicky said and looked at King. “I think that’s why she’s so resistant to admitting she loves you.”

“I’m not walking away from her. I promise you. I will be with her for the whole of my life.”

He grabbed Clara’s hand and pressed a kiss to her fingers. In the distance he heard the ambulance siren. Clara was going to make him fight to keep her, well, she had just met the stubbornest man in the Grit Chapter of Soldiers of Wrath. He was going to get her and keep her.

K
ing was a fucking mess. He hadn’t left Clara’s side for the last two days, and although he wanted to scream at her to wake up, shake her to open her eyes, he was gentle with her, barely touching her for fear he’d hurt her further.

Vicky was sound asleep in Payne’s arms in the corner of the hospital room. She’d refused to leave Clara, and he couldn’t blame her, because he was the same way. He loved Clara, and her being hurt was eating him up alive. He wanted to just take her home ... to his home, to be the one to make sure she was on the mend. But the doctors had her in a sedative-induced coma to help lessen the swelling in her head. They’d started lowering the meds bit by bit to allow her to wake up on her own, but fuck, this was hell.

He leaned back in the uncomfortable as fuck chair, ran a hand through his hair, and breathed out. Even unconscious Clara looked so damn beautiful. All he could think about was their last conversation. What if she didn’t wake up? What if he never got to see her beautiful eyes open again? What if he never got to tell her he loved her and hoped like hell she’d say it back?

Fuck.

He stood and started pacing, feeling like a caged animal.

“Why don’t you go get some coffee, man?” Payne said, his voice thick with sleep.

King looked at the other man, knowing he was losing it but afraid to leave Clara.

“She’ll be okay. We aren’t going anywhere. Walk off the energy, King. You’re strung tight and have barely left her side. You won’t be any help to her when she wakes up if you’re about to tear through your skin.”

Aside from going to the bathroom and taking a five-minute shower in the bathroom attached to the room, King hadn’t been away from Clara’s side. This situation had made him realize he truly did love this woman, and he hoped like hell she came around so he could tell her that again.

T
he pain was the first thing she felt. It controlled her entire body ... her mind and very soul. But Clara couldn’t move, didn’t even want to for fear it would hurt too much. As she tried to think of what happened, the darkness took over, hiding what she wanted to know, what she needed to understand.

Her heart was racing, and she felt sweat line her forehead. Was it because she was in so much pain, or because she was scared as hell? Clara couldn’t even catch her breath. Slowly opening her eyes, it took a second before her vision focused. At first she was staring at a white wall, but as she turned her head she realized she was in a hospital room. Shifting on the bed had her wincing and stilling instantly.

She lifted her arm to rub her eyes but realized she had an IV in the crook of it and a bandage wrapped around the entire length of her forearm. She could see a little bit of blood on the stark white bandage. Closing her eyes, she tried to think of what in the hell happened, and then like a flash of light behind her eyes, it rushed back to her.

The club.

The fight with King and Vicky.

The pain of getting hit by the car.

Groaning, she tried pushing herself up on the bed a bit more, and through the pain managed to prop herself up. Sitting in the corner was Vicky. She was curled up on a chair with a blanket wrapped around her. She rubbed her hand over her face but stilled when she felt another bandaged wrapped around her head. Sweat coated her skin, and she breathed out. Everything rushed through her mind, but it was still slightly hazy.

Her face throbbed and her ribs ached. After pushing away the blanket that covered her, she glanced down at herself. She was dressed in a hospital gown, and her leg was wrapped in a bandage as well. It hurt to even try to move it, so getting out of bed was a no-go. Scanning the rest of her body, she saw she was covered in bruises. Clara grabbed the edge of her gown and pulled it up as a tightening pain filled her. She had black and blue bruises that covered one whole side of her body.

Dropping the material back over her body, she looked around the room again. The door was shut, and the sound of the IV pump filled the small space. And then the sound of the door opening came through and King and Payne walked in. They spoke low and held cups. King was the first to see her awake and when Payne did as well, they both stopped. A moment of silence filled the room before King spoke.

“You’re up.” He was by her side a second later, having set the cup down to grab her hands. She stared at him, emotion rising up as she realized how close she’d come to dying. “You’ve been out for almost a week,” King said, his voice tight. “After the first couple of days they took you off the meds you were in and out, hallucinating.” He looked and sounded so damn happy right now.

Another second later and Vicky was on her other side, crying.

She looked between the two of them, the people she loved so damn much it hurt.

“I’m sorry,” Clara wheezed out, her throat sore, her mouth dry. And then she started crying because the rush of emotions was too much to hold in.

“D
on’t cry. There’s no need to cry,” King said. The relief was instant at finally seeing her awake. He’d faced guns and a shit load of problems because of the club. None of that crap had scared him like this. The thought of losing Clara...he never wanted to go through that. Fuck, he loved her so much.

Other people had died from being hit by a car, and she’d looked so fragile and delicate that he’d only been able to see her gone from his life. He hated that. He hated being helpless while she was lying unconscious in a hospital bed. There was no one for him to fight to get his anger out. He could only watch and hope she pulled through.

“I’m so sorry. I was so stupid.” She kept on sobbing, and he looked over at Vicky to see she was also a little startled by Clara’s outburst, tears streaming down her cheeks as well. “I was such a horrible bitch to all of you, and I was so wrong.”

“You need to calm down, Clara. You were hurt, and you also need to rest,” Vicky said.

“I’m so scared.”

King grabbed her hand. “What are you afraid of?”

“Being hurt, being left behind. The moment you start to love someone, it takes you, changes you and when you lose that person, you’re never the same. I don’t want to lose myself because I’m madly in love with you. I’ve lost people before. I can’t handle losing anyone else.”

She loved him. Clara fucking loved him.

“Oh Clara,” Vicky said, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“I love you so much, King.”

His heart swelled with the fact this woman was his, that she was willing to give him a chance. “I love you too, baby.” Fuck, now he was getting all emotional.

“I love you, King. I don’t know what you did, and I wish I could hate, because that would make things so much easier. But I can’t. I love you so damn much, and it scares me. I’m not some young plaything. What if another woman comes along and excites you more than I do?”

He laughed and shook his head. Cupping her cheeks gently, mindful of her wounds, he smiled at the love of his fucking life. “You’re a crazy woman if you think there is anyone else I could ever want. You’re all I want, Clara. Do you think I’m not scared? I’m part of an MC. My life is not easy, and you deserve so much better than me, someone that isn’t a criminal and a motherfucker.” He leaned down to kiss her lips. “I fucking love you, and seeing you get hit by that car has put a lot of shit in perspective for me. I can’t lose you.”

“I love you,” she said, again, crying and smiling at the same time.

“I love you too.”

Pressing a kiss to her lips, King tried to be gentle.

“Okay, can we step back and give the doctor some room?” the nurse said from behind him, and he moved away, smiling at Clara.

Squeezing her hand, King smiled. “I’m just stepping out. We’ll talk more as soon as the doctor leaves.”

He stepped out, staring at her through the window as the doctor started to talk to her. His heart was racing. With how long it had taken her to wake up, he was starting to think she never would.

“I’ve never seen her cry like that,” Vicky said. “It was kind of scary.” She gave a little chuckle. “She’s awake, and she’s not going anywhere.”

“Do you really think I’d have let her leave?” King asked.

“She can be stubborn.”

“Babe, you’ve not been paying attention to King. He’s worse than stubborn. He can be a big old pain in the ass,” Payne said.

She chuckled, and he glanced back to see her resting a head on Payne’s chest. “Thank you for staying with me.”

“Always, Vicky,” Payne said.

Staring back in the room, King looked at Clara as she nodded and talked with the doctor. Minutes passed, and he was finally able to go in.

Taking a seat on the bed, he took her hand once again.

“So I hurt myself, broke my leg in two places, my arm is broken, and I left some skin on the tarmac. Oh I also have a concussion. All in all, I’m peachy.” She looked worried. “I have no insurance—”