He unlocked the door and charged toward Kelsey’s apartment. His heart was racing, and he’d never been so scared before in his life.
Hearing Stink and Sandy hot on his heels, he pushed all of his weight behind his body and shoved the door open. None of the locks had been put in place, which was not like Kelsey. He told her to always put locks on even in the town of Fort Wills. Why wouldn’t Kelsey lock the door?
“Kelsey?” He shouted her name loud enough to be heard throughout the whole apartment. There was no sight of her the moment he walked through the door. Going to her bedroom he saw the bed looked untouched. His stomach was in knots, wondering what he was going to find. The apartment was eerily silent.
Heart in his throat, he entered the bathroom. On the floor was her clothes, and he lifted his gaze up to the bath. The shower curtain was pulled across the bath obscuring his view.
Pulling open the curtain Killer sank to his knees. He pulled Kelsey into his arms. Both of her arms were slit open, the blood leaking out. She was too pale to be normal.
“Kelsey, f**k, what have you done?” He sank his hands into the bath, tugging her close. Reaching for one of the towels he wrapped the cloth around her body.
“Shit, Killer, out of the way,” Sandy said, sinking to her knees. “Stink, get on the phone. We need an ambulance immediately.”
He watched her press two fingers to her neck. “Her pulse is there, but it’s not strong. Fuck, Killer move out of the way.”
“Don’t f**king tell me to move away.” He snarled the words at her. There was no way he’d be leaving his woman again. Fucking shit, she was so pale. There was no way she could survive. The water she’d been in was red.
Baby, what did you do?
Biting his lip, he held onto her, not caring about her na**d state even as he tried to cover her with a towel.
“Pull her out of the bath, Killer. I need to stop the bleeding.”
“The ambulance is over twenty minutes away,” Stink said, cursing.
“She’s not going to make it,” Sandy said, working. “Grab her a robe. I’m going to bind her arms up. We’ll have to take her to the hospital ourselves. We can get there a lot faster without waiting for the ambulance.”
Stink hung up the phone and grabbed a robe. Holding her tight in his arms, Killer took the robe from Stink’s hands and wrapped it around her as Sandy bound up her arms. His heart was pounding and his head throbbing. Her body was lifeless as he held her.
“Come on, that’s going to have to do.” Sandy got to her feet, heading out of the apartment.
Lifting her in his arms, he followed them outside. Stink was in the truck firing up the engine. Another car pulled up, and Tate rushed out of the car.
Tears exploded in her eyes. “What the hell is going on? What did she do?” Tate rushed to his side, touching Kelsey.
“Get out of the way, Tate. She needs the hospital, otherwise she’s not going to make it.” He pushed past her.
“Fine, I’m following. I’m not letting anything happen to my friend.” She stormed off to her car. Murphy was driving, and from the look of it, Simon was strapped into the car as well.
Climbing into the truck, Killer cradled her into his arms. Stink took off the moment the door closed.
“She’s so f**king stupid,” Killer said.
“No, she’d not stupid, Killer. She clearly has a problem. This has nothing to do with her. She’s suffering, and we need to be there for her to help.”
He ignored Sandy, knowing he would never forgive himself if she died. Kelsey was his world.
They were followed by a cop car. Stink didn’t stop.
“When we get to the hospital, you both get out. I’ll deal with this f**ker,” Stink said.
Killer wasn’t going to say anything. The only concern was Kelsey.
The tires squealed as Stink brought the truck to a stop right outside of the hospital.
Opening the door, he climbed out, heading inside. He screamed for help.
“Follow me,” Sandy said, leading him down a long hallway. Nurses tried to stop him, but Sandy barked orders out. She went into a clear room and grabbed a gown. “Put her down on the bed. I need her file.” Sandy started shouting. Placing Kelsey on the bed, he leaned down and kissed her lips.
“You better not leave me, Kels. I f**king love you, and if you die I will never f**king forgive you,” he said, breaking apart inside.
“Killer, I need you to get out,” Sandy said.
“I’m not leaving her.”
“If you don’t leave I won’t work on her. I need you gone so I can work straight,” Sandy said.
“Come on, man, outside,” Stink said, appearing in the doorway.
Reluctantly, Killer allowed himself to be led outside of the room. He followed Stink down the long corridor toward the entrance. Tate held Simon cradled to her chest with Murphy stood behind her. Angel was also walking through the entrance with Lash and her son. The Skulls were turning up to give him the support he needed. They were not here for Kelsey, apart from Tate.
“What the hell happened?” Tate asked. Tears were spilling down her cheeks. Simon wriggled in her arms clearly sensing her distress.
“She slashed her wrists open,” he said. Even as he spoke the words, they felt wrong, poisonous even.
“Kelsey wouldn’t do something so f**king stupid. She’s strong,” Tate said, breaking down.
“Baby, give Simon to me. You’re upsetting him.” Murphy took their son as Tate charged up to him.
“Is this because of you? Did you hurt her? She was fine when she left the clubhouse.” She started to land blows to his chest. Killer didn’t fight her. Her hits didn’t hurt him. He felt torn in two because he hadn’t seen a change inside Kelsey.
He was breaking apart inside. The image of Kelsey’s pale body surrounded in red tinted water would stay with him forever.
Angel walked forward. Tears were in her eyes. She looked so lost and broken.
“Stop hitting him, Tate. It’s not going to help. He’s not to blame for this.”
Suddenly Tate spun and slapped Angel across the face. Before anyone could stop, Lash caught Tate around the neck, holding on tight.
“Lash, no, don’t do it,” Angel said, catching the arm that caught Tate. The whole confrontation was going to shit. “Please, everyone is upset. Think about what you’re doing.” She tried to tug Lash’s arm away.
“Step the f**k away from my woman,” Murphy said.