Page 32

Rachel

How I managed to drive to the hospital without killing us both was beyond me. At one point, I was sure the car went on two wheels as we took a corner at a speed only light should be travelling at.

It was a fucking miracle I didn’t cause anyone else on the road to have a crash, because I had no consideration at all for other drivers.

There was only one thought on my mind, and that was getting Bee to the hospital as quick as humanly possible.

Her small whimpers of pain had me biting my lip, so she didn’t hear me sobbing.

Only when Bee was settled, given pain relief, her burns assessed, cleaned and dressed, did I allow them to focus even a fraction of their attention on me.

I apologised to the doctor, who laughed that it wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last. Nothing excused my behaviour, but I couldn’t stand the thought of them keeping me away from her when she needed me.

Bee’s burns had looked worse than they were, and luckily, she wouldn’t need a skin graft.

But they were going to hurt like a motherfucker, and she was currently sedated and resting up.

They said it was superficial epidermal burns.

The epidermis and part of the dermis were damaged, which had caused the blisters.

But they were not deep burns. Her skin hadn’t been charred, and no damage had been done to the blood capillaries, nerve endings or sweat glands.

It seemed that a lot of Bee’s injuries were down to being hit by something in the initial blast. I vaguely remembered seeing a door laying on the floor near her.

My only guess at this stage was that it had come off its hinges during the explosion and had hit Bee in her back.

The door was on fire, so no doubt that had caused some of the burns.

There was talk of an investigation to find out the true depths of what had happened to her, but I knew Dante and the club wouldn’t let it get that far.

An investigation meant the police. We already knew who was behind the attack.

They wouldn’t be interested in details about what had caused the damage.

The only thing they would be interested in was retribution for those responsible.

Dante arrived at the hospital just as they were dressing up the burns on my arms. Mine were superficial burns.

The epidermis was damaged. My skin was slightly swollen, but I had no blisters.

I was the lucky one. Dante’s arms were covered in huge yellow blisters that made me cringe.

He shrugged it off when the nurses mentioned it and hurried to sit next to me.

I was sitting in front of Bee’s bed, still holding her hand.

“How’s she doing?” He asked, crouching down next to me since there wasn’t another seat, and placed a small kiss on my bare shoulder. My top had been lost somewhere in the fire, and so the nurses had given me a sheet to wrap around me.

Dante shrugged out of his leather cut and wrapped it around my shoulders. I couldn’t put my arms through the sleeves just yet as I was waiting for more dressings on my arms, but I was grateful for the warmth the jacket offered.

“Thank you,” I murmured back. “She’s okay. It’ll scar, but that’s the worst of it. They don’t think the burns were deep enough to cause any lasting damage.”

My voice sounded hoarse and painful. I thought escaping my mother’s house had done damage to my lungs, but this was something else entirely.

“Should I be wearing this?” I asked him, shrugging my shoulders to show him I meant my jacket.

“Technically… no. Never. Don’t put your arms in it, and it doesn’t count,” he said, attempting a smile. “Rachel… You just saved my daughter – our daughter. If you want to wear my cut, you can wear it. Crash can take it up with me. ”

“Thank you,” I repeated, breathing a sigh of relief. I’d never admit it to him, but having his jacket and therefore his scent wrapped around me comforted me.

“Have you been looked over?” Dante said quietly, his hand stroking my leg.

“I had some oxygen, and they’re coming back soon to take some bloods.”

“And Bee?”

“Same,” I said, gesturing to the oxygen mask she was still wearing. “They’re going to keep her on that overnight. They’ll be taking her bloods, too, and then they’ll move us onto the children’s ward. She’s been cleaned up and given painkillers. They asked if she was allergic to anything…”

“She isn’t.”

“I didn’t think so. But I told them to check with you anyway,” I said, my voice cracking.

“Hey, hey,” Dante said, gently grabbing my thighs and spinning me around so I was facing him, a thigh on either side of his body. “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t even know what she’s allergic to,” I sobbed, finally breaking down. “What sort of mother am I?”

“You listen to me, Rachel,” he said, taking both my hands in his.

“You did fucking amazing. Bee could have been much worse if it wasn’t for your bravery.

You are the best mother she could ask for.

She’s not even your blood, and yet what you did for her, some birth mothers wouldn’t even dream of doing.

You are her mother, Rachel. You are. What you don’t know, you can learn.

There’s a lifetime to learn all about Bee’s likes, dislikes, allergies.

You name it, you can learn it. You are her mother.

” He said firmly, his thumb rubbing over the top of my hand.

“We never should have left her,” I whispered, feeling like a complete failure.

“No one could have predicted this, Rachel. Stop looking for ways to lay the blame at your feet. You are not responsible for the explosion, so you’re not to blame.”

“Mr King?” Came a voice that had us both looking up as a doctor entered, looking at a clipboard. Dante got to his feet and turned to face the doctor, folding his arms.

“That’s me.”

“Wonderful. And you’re Amy’s father?”

“I am. She prefers being called Bee. ”

“I think we can manage that,” he smiled kindly, jotting that down. “It’s just some questions at this stage whilst we wait for the nurses to take her blood work. I believe Miss Brooks has answered some of them, but if you could fill in the blanks for us.”

“Fire away.”

“Do you know Am.. Bee’s blood type?”

“O negative.”

“And does she have any allergies?”

“Not that we know of.”

“And she’s normally fit and well? No illnesses? Asthma? Anything like that?”

“Nothing outside the common cold.”

“And she’s up to date with her vaccinations?”

“She is.”

“Perfect,” he said, finally looking up from his clipboard. “We should be ready to take her up in around ten minutes. You can both go with her, but I’m sorry to say that only one of you will be able to stay with her once she’s settled.”

“Her mother will be staying,” Dante said firmly.

“That’s absolutely fine. I take it that’s you, Miss Brooks?” He said, raising his feet slightly to look over Dante’s shoulder. I nodded my response.

“And have you had your bloods done yet?”

“Not yet,” I said, coughing to clear my throat.

“We can get those done at the same time as Bee has hers then,” he said, smiling a kind smile. “I’ll leave you two alone for a minute. The nurse will be in shortly to take you to the ward.”

We said our thanks and waited until he left before speaking again.

“You don’t want to stay with her?” I asked, as Dante turned back around to face me.

“I do,” he replied, tapping my arm, indicating for me to stand up.

I got to my feet, and he took the seat, pulling me down onto his knees.

I wrapped an arm around his neck, hissing slightly as the movement stretched my burnt skin, and settled in nestled against his chest. “But it’s best if you stay.

I don’t know what the situation with the club is, and I want you both here where you’re safe.

Trent and Chris are going to stay in the lobby keeping guard, and Ant and Sunshine are going to stay outside the ward. ”

“You can spare four people?”

“We didn’t have much choice,” he chuckled softly. “It took Crash threatening to murder the entire club to stop them all from turning up here and standing guard.”

“I don’t blame them,” I smiled back and turned my head to look at Bee. “She’s a very special girl.”

“She is, but they’re not just here for her, Rachel. No one will forget what you did for her tonight. Regardless of what happens between me and you, the club will forever be in your debt.”

“I only did what anyone else would do.”

“But it was you that did it. Don’t sell yourself short. You saved her life, and if I lived a thousand lives, it would never be long enough to thank you properly.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I love her.”

“I know you do,” he said softly, resting his head against my shoulder, his face nuzzling into my neck.

“Dante?”

“Hmm?”

“Is your surname really King?”

He raised his head to grin at me. “We’ve only slept with each other a million times, Rachel. You’ve been here for over a month, and you still haven’t figured out my surname?”

“There’s been a lot going on.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Well, fuck me,” I said, whistling softly. “It’s no wonder your ego is through the fucking roof with a surname like that. What a ridiculous bloody name.”

“You can call me ‘Sir’ if you like,” he laughed, his head going back to nuzzle into my neck.

“Aye, right. It’ll be a cold day in hell before—”

“Miss Brooks?” A nurse called, opening the curtain to the cubical. “We’re ready to take you onto the ward now.”

“Okay,” I nodded, blushing slightly as I climbed off Dante’s knee. We moved out of the way as two nurses came over to move Bee onto the stretcher to wheel her onto the ward.

Dante gently pulled on my arm, leading me outside the cubical.

“Listen, I’m not going to come onto the ward with you,” he said, scanning my face to judge my reaction .

I had seen this coming.

He knew Bee was in safe hands with me. We didn’t both need to be here, and the beast in him would not settle until he made those responsible pay for their crimes.

“Okay,” I nodded, immediately getting on my tiptoes and placing a soft kiss to his lips so that he could be in no doubt about my response. “You make sure they pay for what they did to our daughter.”