Severed Angel (14 page)

Gabe

What the fuck is that beeping noise?

It's starting to piss me off. I can feel something warm in my hand and my throat fucking kills. I try and open my eyes, but it's a fight. I'm not a quitter so I finally manage to get them open. After my eyes have adjusted and I'm no longer squinting, I get my first look around.

Everything is white. Where the fuck am I?

I'm laid in a bed and my shoulder hurts like fuck. I struggle to
find a memory to tell me how I got here. I start to remember, seeing the look on Satan's face as he lifted his gun, aiming it right at me. The fucker.

I hear a sigh next to me and it reminds me of the warm feeling in my hand. My body's a little sore and weak, so I struggle to move my head. Shit that hurt, every movement sends a shock to my shoulder. When I see Eve in the chair that's pulled up close to the side of the bed, I relax. Her head is laid on the
covers, her hand grasping mine and she's fast asleep.

I wiggle my
fingers in her hand and feel her body tense. Her eyes shoot open, her gaze fixing straight on me. Fuck, she's the most beautiful sight in the world. It takes her a couple of seconds to react, when she does she immediately sits upright. "Gabe?" She's looking at me in awe. "Oh my God, Gabe, I thought I'd lost you!"

Shit, now she's crying and I can't move to comfort her. I grasp her hand tightly, trying to talk but I can't, there's something in my throat. What the fuck is that?

"Wait, don't try and talk yet. I'll get a nurse."

Nurse? Eve quickly runs to the door, shouting for a nurse. A matronly looking figure walks in and approaches the bed at a measured pace. Eve doesn't seem to appreciate her slow gait and shouts at her again, rushing her along. If I could I would laugh. Fucking cute. The nurse talks calmly to me. I find out that I've been here for nearly twenty-four hours
between my surgery and sleeping. I'm fucking shocked! Apparently I've got a tube shoved down my throat, she explains everything as she removes it.

After it's removed I glare at her. Sharp fucking scratch? Bitch, that fucking hurt.

My throat feels raw. The nurse places an ice chip on my tongue and I gratefully suck on it, cooling the burning sensation. She reminds me not to talk too much for the rest of the day and most of tomorrow; apparently it can damage my voice box. I see Eve pacing up and down the small room, fussing with her hands whilst the nurse carries out the rest of her checks, telling me the doctor will be in soon. As soon as she leaves, Eve's back at my side. She takes hold of my hand, turning it in her own. There are tears rolling down her face. Before we can talk we're interrupted by the door opening, it's Prez. His face lights up when he sees I'm awake.&

"You scared the fucking shit out of us, you fucker!" Relief washes across his face, "I'm so glad you're okay mate!"

I try and talk but nothing comes out. Eve places another ice cube in my mouth, telling me off for trying to talk. When it's cooled my throat I manage to rasp "What the fuck happened?" looking to Prez for answers.

He looks a little shocked at the sound of my voice. "You got yourself shot you stupid shit." he laughs. He knows I was asking for more of an answer than that, so he continues. "It's all good, Disney got word the raid went ahead and they've got Satan in custody. Cops found everything and managed to find some other shit they wanted him for. Dragon managed to shoot the fucker
. He's got a flesh wound but he'll survive. Fucking shame."

He sounds disappointed at that last bit of news. I manage to smile at him. "Casualties?"

"We lost one of the prospects. Carnal fuckers shot him in the back."

Eve gasps, she's sitting listening to Prez talk. Obviously this is all news to her. "Everyone else is
fine.", Prez reassures me.

I grasp Eve's hand more tightly. "It's okay Princess." I falter on the last part, due to a combination of pain and emotion. As if sensing my pain Eve reaches over, placing another cube of ice onto my tongue. It worked. The plan worked. Eve should be safe now, and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from me at the thought. Now all I have to figure out is how
to persuade Eve to get her daughter out here and make them stay. Eve has to stay here, with me.

***

The doctor checks the dressing on my wound and seems happy enough. "Looking good. I'll have another look tomorrow and, if all goes well, you could be home in a couple of days."

He smiles at me before he goes, leaving me pissed. I don't know what he's so happy about. I want to get the fuck out of this place, but he's just told me I've got to stay here. That isn't good fucking news.

I'm propped up in the bed, trying to get comfortable on this hard as shit bed, when Eve walks back in. One of the nurses took pity on her, and showed her where she could grab a shower and freshen up. She looks a lot more comfortable now, even if she is wearing yesterday's clothes. I told her to go back to the clubhouse and get herself sorted, but she gave me a dirty look and told me no. I didn't mention it again.

"Hey Princess." I pat the bed beside me and she comes and sits down, leaning over and giving me a
slow, sensual kiss. Shit, I'm hard for her already. It never takes long with Eve, if I'm honest; my dick's always semi hard when she's near me. Before I can do anything to take care of it the door opens, Dragon and Prez walking in. It's like Central fucking station in here this morning.

"Morning fucker." Dragon greets me. "You scared the shit out of me yesterday brother!"

I can imagine. I still see Elvis's face staring at me covered in blood when I close my eyes. I'd hate Dragon to have memories like that.

"What's the news?" I ask as Prez shuts the door before moving closer to the bed.

"They've denied him bail. Looks like the plan worked. They're moving him to the detention centre later today. Lot of fuckers in there can't wait to get their hands on him."

I should feel something shouldn't I? After all he's my blood, my twin, but instead I just feel relief that it's over. Eve's going to be safe now. I can claim her as my old lady. We can finally get out of the clubhouse, I can have her on the back of my bike. I look to Eve
and see she's looking shocked and pale. I'm not sure how much of this the guys have explained to her.

"You're safe now Princess." I rub the back of her hand. "It's all going to be okay now baby."

***

Eve

I sit there, my head switching between Prez and Angel as they're talking. I'm struggling to take in what they're saying. I can hear Angel telling me it's over, but he's lying in a hospital bed because of me. He almost died because of me. I'm a fucking curse to the people around me. Ever since I got here I've brought nothing but trouble and grief to everyone.

It registers that somehow Satan has been arrested, yet I don't feel the relief that I should. Something just doesn't feel right about all of this. I look back to Angel and realize that somewhere along this mad journey I fell in love with him. When I thought I was going to lose him last night it almost destroyed me. I know that being with Angel will never be sweetness and roses. I'd almost convinced myself that I could settle for the hot and hard sex with him, but then I let my fucking emotions get in the way.

I start to panic, I need to get out of here. "I need to go
find Teresa." I mumble, not sure if they've even stopped talking. I snatch my hand from Angel and ignore his questions as I hurry from the room.

I need my best friend right now. I need her to talk to me and make sense of all this mess in my head because I sure as fuck can't do it on my own. "I'll be back later, I'm glad you're going to be okay." I throw over my shoulder without looking back. I can't look back.

***

Gabe

What the fuck just happened?

Eve freaked out and shot out of here like a bat out of hell. I'll never understand women. I look to Prez and Dragon, they just shrug their shoulders, they've not got a fucking clue either.

"When are they letting you out of here?" Dragon's picked up my chart from the end of the bed and is
squinting at it. As if he understands a word that's written on there. I barely understand half of what the doctors say to me, never mind the shit they've written down about me. Prez snatches it from him and shakes his head as he puts it back.

"Doctor said a couple of days." I grumble. Fuck that, I want to get out now. Dragon and Prez exchange an odd look. What's that about? "What's up guys?"

Dragon looks uncomfortable as he answers. "Eve's flying home tomorrow, remember? With Satan inside there's no reason for her not to go home. You told her how you feel about her yet?"

Dragon knows me too well. Of course he knows I haven't told her how I feel.

"Shit!" I curse. "Get me a fucking Doctor, I need to get out of this place now."

Dragon goes off to find one. I don't care if I have to crawl out of this place on my fucking hands and knees, I'm getting out of here. I need to go tell Eve that she's not going anywhere.

Eve

I'm sitting in the bedroom back at the clubhouse, feeling guilty as hell. I can't believe I ran out of the hospital like that. Teresa looked surprised to see me when I walked through the clubhouse door. She'd expected me to stay at the hospital with Angel. It's where I should be, but I can't bring myself to do it. I gave her some feeble excuse about needing a quick nap, rushing off to hide in my room.

The closer it gets to my time to leave, the harder it's going to be to let him go. I have to let him go. My flight home is booked for tomorrow. Whilst Satan was a threat I'd understood I couldn't go home on my scheduled flight, but now he's been arrested there's no longer a reason to stay.

I can't afford to swap my ticket, and I'm missing Elizabeth too much. Hot sex with Angel just isn't a good enough reason to stay. Taking a chance on Angel, hoping that something might come of this relationship isn't a gamble I can take as a mother. Since he claimed me, we've hardly spoken about it, I don't know where I stand. It's understandable that he wanted to claim me for my stay here, I don't like to share either.

Angel's going to be in the hospital for a couple of more days, so I'll need to go back and say my goodbye to him this evening. I'll need some
Dutch courage before I go so I leave the sanctuary of my room. I head straight for the bar, hoping a couple of shots will make this easier.

Most of the guys are in the bar, celebrating now that Angel has pulled through. It's not quite a full blown party, they're still in mourning over Elvis, but they need to kick back and celebrate yesterday's success.

I'm greeted warmly by everyone I pass. These guys really do make me feel like I'm part of this family, it's a great feeling. One I could get used to and I'm going to miss, but how will it feel when Angel grows tired of me?

The longer I stay here the more it will hurt. I can justify leaving as often as I want, but the thought of it still makes me feel like shit.

My place is back home in England with my daughter. Why the fuck did I have to fall in love with a man thousands of miles away and in a different fucking time zone? There's no way of making this work. I wish I'd just had longer to work out how I felt, to know that I'm making the right decision rather than gambling and possibly giving up my only chance at happiness. This situation is shit.

One of the
prospects is behind the bar and I ask for a shot of vodka. The neat alcohol burns my throat as it makes it way down, but I welcome it. I turn and survey the room behind me as he pours a second shot. Diane and Dragon are cuddled up together in the far corner. I know yesterday she went through hell not knowing if it was her husband who'd been shot. It looks like she's keeping her man close. From the way her hands are all over his body I'm not sure if she's checking for injuries or just good old fashioned groping. Who am I kidding? She'll definitely be having a good grope, they enjoy their public displays. I can't help smiling at these two, it's obvious they love each other deeply, and they're good for each other. Their personalities fit and I envy them.

Growing up I never got to see relationships that worked. The only example I had was Elvis and Babs, but they weren't into PDA's.

Teresa is nestled on
Prez's lap. She looks blissful. I'm so happy for my friend. Now all of this shit is over and I'm going home they'll be able to go on their delayed honeymoon. She'd refused to go and leave me here by myself. I feel good that I'm going home knowing she's happy and safe. Although she lost Elvis, she's got a man who loves her and a family who'll fight for her. I'm going to miss her so much again.

I see Cowboy dancing with one of the club whores. He winks at me when he sees me watching. The guys all look so much more relaxed after the stress of the last few weeks. I didn't realize at first that from the moment I came here things changed for the worse for them. Now the danger is over it's great to see them being themselves.

Doc is sitting with Sue at one of the tables and beckons me over. "How's Angel doing?"

I sit with them and relate as much as I can remember from the nurses
’ visits while I was at the hospital.

"He's still in a lot of pain." I laugh as I recall how much of a baby he can be over having an injection, yet how much of a grizzly he is when it comes to hiding the pain he's feeling. "They've told him if he behaves he could be home in a couple of days."

"That's great news." Doc says. "I really thought we were going to lose him yesterday you know." His face falls at the memory. I pat his hand reassuringly.

"You did a great job Doc, you kept him alive 'till you got to the hospital." Angel owes his life to this man. I'm not sure anyone's told Angel just how badly injured he was.

Sue looks over at me. "I thought you'd have been at the hospital with him?" She sounds surprised that I'm not.

"I was so drained I needed a nap. There was nowhere I could get comfortable at the hospital. Angel told me to get back here and rest. I'm going to head back shortly."

Did that sound believable? They seem to buy it. I wonder if Prez and Dragon said anything about my sudden departure.

"Are you still planning on flying home tomorrow?" she asks.

I nod and she looks disappointed. I can't seem to get any words out so mutter something about a drink and make a move, dashing back to the bar.

I'm downing my second shot of Vodka, resigning myself to heading back to the hospital to say my farewell when the front door opens. Angel walks in, causing me to start choking on my drink as it goes down the wrong way. He looks over to me, his warm smile swiftly changing to a look of concern as I choke. Before he can reach me, Cowboy's already there, patting me on my back.

"Take it easy babe." He laughs. "You Brits can't handle your drink."

Once he sees I'm okay he gives me a quick hug before heading back to his dance partner, laughing at me all the way. I see Angel try and make his way towards me but before he can he's quickly surrounded by his brothers. All happy to see him but concerned over his early release and his state of health. Doc guides him over to the table he's sharing with Sue, helping him
to sit down. I see Angel is now deathly pale and in a lot of pain I'm guessing. Stubborn man won't say he's in pain though.

His eyes search me out, and I move towards him slowly. "What the fuck are you doing back here Angel?" Doc doesn't sound happy at all. "Not that I'm not pleased to see you, but shit, you're in no
fit state to be released."

All eyes turn to Angel. "I couldn't stay in that place Doc." He whines. "They didn't have any decent whiskey." Typical Angel, everyone breaks out laughing at his reply. Doc still looks concerned though and Angel takes pity on him. "I signed myself out against medical advice. We both know I'll heal better here and it's not like I don't have my own Doc on call." He cheekily smirks.

He reaches for me. "Eve can take care of me." He pulls me closer. He can sense that I'm scared of hurting him so reassures me. "It's okay Princess, you won't hurt me. Seeing you makes me feel better."

Sue laughs. "You high VP?"

Doc turns to me. "You got a minute Eve?" Angel is reluctant to let me go, but I follow him anyway as Angel slowly releases me.

Doc and I move to a quieter corner of the room where we can talk without shouting. "He's too bloody stubborn for his own good." He mutters, not looking happy at all. I simply nod in agreement, I'm not sure what Doc needs me for. "Do you think you could persuade him to go back to his room and rest?" He asks.

"Of course I will, do you need me to stay with him?"

"I think that would help keep him calm." He looks over at Angel for a second before returning his gaze to mine. "I'm going to give him a sedative, I'll tell him it's just a strong painkiller, but he needs knocking out if he's going to get any sleep tonight. He'd refuse point blank if he knew what it was. Do you think you could give him it with some water once you've got him in bed?"

"Sure" I agree. "But won't he be able to tell the difference?"

"Nah, once he's taken it he'll be out fairly quickly and sleep for hours, he'll never be any the wiser. He needs the rest to heal."

Doc goes off to his room, bringing back the medication for me. I head back to the table to separate Angel from his buddies and get him into bed.

"Come on Angel, let's get you into bed." No sooner have I uttered the words than the catcalls and innuendo start being thrown around by the guys. Honestly.

I give them a look that silences them. Angel doesn't look like he has the energy to make it back to the room at all. I'm not sure how the fuck he even made it here from the hospital. I spot Dragon and call him over.

"Give me a hand Dragon?" I gesture over to Angel and he immediately understands what I'm asking. He moves to stand at Angel's side as I help him rise from the chair, then allows Angel to lean on him as we head back to his room.

I walk in ahead of them, pulling the sheets back from the bed so Angel can lie down. Dragon gets him settled then kisses me on the forehead before leaving the room. "Look after him sweetie."

I smile,
giving him a nod in return. Angel just lies on the bed, watching me as I start to remove his boots. When I move higher and start to loosen the waistband on his jeans I can feel him getting hard underneath me, a predatory look on his face.

"Careful what you're doing there Princess." his voice is breaking. He should be resting that throat of his.

I pull his jeans down, removing them and placing them on the chair behind me. I look back up at him, it's obvious how turned on he is: he's sporting a huge erection. It's having an effect on me as well, how could it not, looking at that hard cock?

Holy shit, how the fuck am I supposed to survive this last night sharing his bed?

It's going to break my heart for sure.