Page 41 of When It Reins (Three Rivers Trevors Ranch #5)

mitch

The last time I was in a hospital, one of my best friends was shot and nearly killed by my father.

I remember standing there in the waiting room, helpless for my little brother, whose life was nearly taken from him that day. I remember the devastation he was feeling, the way his mind wasn’t in control of his body, the way he broke down and let everyone come around him then.

I also remember how, when his infant son was brought in, no longer okay with being apart from his parents, Jax had stepped up and handled it with ease.

I think about that now as I sit in a useless, hard chair and rub soot from my hands. I could get up, go wash them. I could use a splash of water on my face. But I don’t. I keep rubbing at the dirt on my hands.

I refused to be seen by anyone until I knew that Juniper was all right. I still don’t know. They are treating her for smoke inhalation and possibly some broken bones from being thrown by the blast.

The sheriff came in and asked me questions, ones that were pointless at this time, given that I wasn’t even home when the explosion happened, and I couldn’t tell him jack shit about it.

“Mitch!” I glance up, seeing Thea and Logan rush in. Thea’s expression is taut with worry, and I get it. It is her baby sister, basically someone she helped raise.

“She’s getting checked out.”

“What did they say? What happened? Is she injured?” Thea’s rapid-fire questions only make my head swim, and I wish I had more answers for her, but I don’t.

“I’m not family.” I swallow the bitter truth of what I was told. “They wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“I’ll go talk to them,” Logan tells her, marching over to the desk with authority.

“Mitch, are you okay?” Thea’s eyes look over me, probably seeing what a mess I am. “Did you get hurt?”

I shake my head, looking down at the ash covering my body. “No.”

I’m not particularly close to Thea. She is my boss and my sister-in-law, but we never really sat and chatted, never got to know each other.

But she is always nice, and Juniper never had anything bad to say about her older sister, making me wish I’d taken the time so that I could lean on her right now.

Maybe she needed to lean on me, though. This is her sister. She is just my…girlfriend. If that.

Fuck.

I wish we’d gotten a chance to have a conversation. I wish I hadn’t left yesterday. If I’d stayed, none of this would have happened at all.

“Mitch.” Thea’s voice is muffled to my ears, and I feel my shoulders sway. “Mitch? Are you okay?”

I nod, or I think I do, as I stumble back for a chair, hoping I hit one and not the hard floor.

“Logan!” I feel Thea’s hands on my arm and resistance when she pulls, but feel my ass hit the chair before she can keep me upright.

“Mitch.” Logan’s voice cuts through the fog that has my head swimming, and I feel my heart rate tick up as something makes it hard to breathe. Hands grab my face, and Logan’s face comes into view. “Did you get hurt when you went in the house?”

I try to shake my head, but the movement hurts enough that I wince and close my eyes.

“Grab a doctor, Thea.” Logan’s stern but calm voice reaches me, and I try to shake my head again. I don’t want a doctor. I don’t want to get seen. I want to be here when Juniper is done so we can go home and talk.

I need to talk to her.

I need…I need…

I wake in a hospital room and immediately know that I’m going to regret looking down at my body, knowing someone put a gown on my body when I wasn’t aware.

But, before I can harp on that, a hand in mine has my attention shooting to it and relief coursing through me when I see Juniper sitting there smiling at me.

“Hey there, Hero. Seems you’ve been earning your nickname overtime.

” She teases me, even though there’s an underlying worry to her tone.

Every tense muscle in my body relaxes, my hand tightening around hers in relief.

She is sitting in a chair and has on oxygen with an IV bag on a pole next to her.

I frown at it, wondering how bad she is.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” she says, blushing furiously. “I guess after you left yesterday, I forgot to do some things. Like eating or drinking. So, I’m being treated for light dehydration along with everything else.”

I pull her hand and sit up, pulling the oxygen mask off of my face. My headache is nearly gone, and I can feel the way my lungs open up for me when I take a deep breath. I lift her hand to my mouth, pressing kisses to it before I look at her. “I’m so sorry, Starling.”

Immediately, her head shakes in denial, and she stands, coming to sit on the edge of the bed. I move to make room for her beside me, because there’s no place else I want her to be than right here.

“No, I’m sorry.” She shakes her head, lifting her arm with the IV to her forehead. “I feel so stupid. I let my emotions control how I reacted, and I guess…” Pausing, she bites her lip before continuing. “I love you so stupid much, Mitch.”

I smirk, unable to help myself, and pull the oxygen mask off of my neck before reaching forward and tangling my hand into her hair, pulling her closely and finally, finally kissing the woman who makes my world flip on its axis.

She kisses me back with just as much passion, holding herself to me and showing me how much I mean to her. I know that I want her to know how much I love her, how I can’t stand the thought of living without her.

I pull her to me, and she rests her head on my chest as I breathe deeply, knowing that no matter what, she and I are going to be just fine.

Finally, it feels like I can breathe easy, that peace has settled over me.

Hours later, Juniper is sleeping next to me when Logan and Mick walk in, side by side. I frown at the sight. Logan and Mick have known each other for years, but somehow, seeing them together like this unnerves me.

“Hey, Hero. You doing okay?” Mick notes Juniper’s sleeping form and whispers the words.

“I’ll be fine,” I say, wishing we could get released. This hospital’s policy for release is apparently twenty-four hours, but I am aching to get home. Or to Juniper’s apartment.

My home is officially no more.

“Any updates?” I ask, looking between the two.

They look at each other with wary expressions, and I frown, wishing I could read minds. “What is it?”

“Well, the police took all of your weapons in the basement,” Logan says, flinching when I let out a whispered curse.

“You can get them back eventually,” Mick says. “I got in there before they could find anything too damning.”

“Luckily, everything in there was registered.”

Mick and I exchange a glance, fully knowing what I was saying. He gives a subtle nod before continuing. “Did you get to talk to her about what she saw?”

I frown. “What she saw?”

Logan sighs. “Man, this is going to piss you off, so I need you to stay calm.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Juniper gave a statement to the sheriff before she saw you,” Mick starts, shifting on his feet.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I apparently don’t keep my voice level enough, and Juniper stirs awake, glancing around to see where she’s at. When she sees me, her body relaxes, and she smiles. “Sorry, Starling. Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine.” She then notices Logan and Mick. “Oh, hi. I didn’t know you were here.”

“How are you feeling, honey?” Mick’s tone softens to a level I’ve never heard before as he looks over Juniper. Thankfully, the blast didn’t break any ribs, but she was left with some pretty bad bruising from where she hit the floor.

“I’m okay, Mick.” She smiles politely and sits up in the bed. I tightened my grip around her waist, holding her to me.

“Junie, we were just telling Mitch about what happened before the fire,” Logan says, using the nickname her sisters frequently use.

“Oh, right.”

“Tell me.” I squeeze her, my eyes latching onto her face. She blushes with the attention, but I don’t look away, and neither do the other two.

“Well, I went to your house and used the spare key, and I was waiting for you to get there.”

My heart pounds in my chest just hearing those words, hearing that she was comfortable enough to waltz into my house like it was her own.

It may as well have been. Everything I have is hers for the taking.

“Tori called me to chat, and we were on video chat.” She flinches. “Shoot, I should call her.”

Logan reaches out and pats her hand. “Thea talked with her, honey. She’s the one who called us and made us call 9-1-1.”

“Oh, right. That’s good then.” Juniper shakes her head.

“Anyway, we were on the phone when I heard something shatter in the kitchen, and when I got there, there was this can on the ground and this hissing sound.” She takes a deep breath and says, “I turned and ran, but I wasn’t fast enough to get completely out of the house in time. ”

My entire body goes rigid, and anger pulses at my temples. My skin turns to ice as I realize what she’s saying to me.

Someone lit my house on fire.

With Juniper inside.

“Anyway, I was glad to find out no one else got hurt. They say you ran in after me and hauled me down the driveway.” Juniper smiles at me, and I can tell from the way she’s forcing herself to be calm that she’s doing that for my benefit.

Likely, she feels the way my muscles have tightened and that I have a very slim grasp on my temper.

Mick speaks then, “Yeah, so we’re doing some recon to see what’s going on.”

I turn my gaze at him, glaring at him, but I don’t give a shit. He knows what I’m thinking already. Whoever did this is going to pay.

I run through a list in my head of who could be responsible. It could be a rival club, but how did they know where I live? It could have been someone I tossed out of the bar one night while working, but again, it was rare that anyone knew where I was living.

There is another thought, one I don’t want to entertain, or even think about doing again. But it lives there.

What if…what if he came back? What if he was stupid enough to venture back to our part of town and send a message, or just do something to get back at me for being a part of the group that shut down his little project?

“Mick, send a couple of guys over to Juniper’s apartment.” There is something stirring in my gut, something that tells me my thoughts are on the right track, that I am thinking the right thing when it comes to who is responsible.

He nods his head as if he is already thinking what I am.

Juniper frowns at me. “Why?”

I try to soften my gaze and look back at her. “I think Aaron is back.”

Her frown turns more confused, and she asks, “Who the hell is Aaron?”