He looked toward Rip and Bud. “Take him to the fucking doctors. Get him out of my sight.”
His men went to Grant, and his brother was wise to not throw them off.
Bull turned toward Pat, who was on his cell phone. He wiped the blood from his lip. Grant had clocked him in the jaw. He’d been hit so many times that there was no pain.
“Bull, we’ve got to get to the hospital. Maddie was badly beaten at the animal shelter. That was Hellen.”
The club tensed up, and Bull didn’t think. He went to his bike, and without looking back, he headed toward the hospital.
Chapter Nine
Maddie was in a coma.
Bull sat in the hospital chair in the sterile room and watched as his woman lay in the bed, unmoving. Her face was badly bruised. She had a swollen eye, along with a few cuts to her face. One of her legs was broken, as was her arm. The wrist on another hand had also been broken.
She’d been in surgery, where they had reset the bones. She had suffered cracked ribs. The doctor had said everything was fixable. Maddie would eventually make a full recovery. The biggest concern was the coma.
Bull couldn’t believe he had sent her to the animal shelter for her own safety only for her to get hurt. He was so fucking pissed off.
A knock sounded on the hospital room door. He had her moved to a private room. Maddie’s insurance wouldn’t have been able to pay for it, but he’d been the one to settle all the bills. She wouldn’t have to worry about her recovery. Grant stood outside of the door, looking a little worse for wear.
Bull glared at him. “You can leave.”
“Bull, don’t be like that.”
“Do you see her?” Bull asked. He leaned forward as he looked at her. It broke his heart to see her like this. “You know there is a chance she won’t ever wake up.” He rubbed at his face. The reality was just too much. He snorted. “She was supposed to be safe. This wasn’t supposed to happen to her.”
“You can’t blame yourself.”
He shook his head. “There’s no one else to blame but me.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She looked so bruised. So helpless. Bull would have given anything for it to be him in that damn bed than Maddie. She was way too precious.
“You didn’t know.”
“I know something shitty is going on. I met that piece-of-shit George. The moment I met him I knew there was something off about him.” He figured it was just because he showed an interest in Maddie, but now he knew differently. There was a reason he needed to trust his gut.
Grant closed the door. “We got him.”
Bull turned toward his brother. He felt absolutely no remorse at the bruises that covered his brother’s face. Grant had it coming.
“Good.”
“He’s not saying anything.”
“I don’t doubt for a second he will.”
“Dylan wants to talk to you,” Grant said.
The very thought of talking to the sheriff didn’t exactly leave him feeling comforted. “Not right now.”
“He needs to talk to you.”
“Grant, seriously, man, back the fuck off. I don’t want him or anyone else coming near me, got it?” He wasn’t in a very forgiving mood.
His brother nodded his head. “Fine. I’ll leave you alone.”
Bull didn’t argue with him.
At the door, Grant paused. “I am sorry.”
“You can keep your apologies and shove them up your ass, Grant. There’s going to come a time when your mouth is going to get you in trouble, and I ain’t going to be there to get you out. It’s time to start using your fucking head. Get the fuck out of my sight.”
Grant left.
Bull reached out and took the tips of Maddie’s fingers that weren’t broken. “Sorry about that, babe. As you know, my brother isn’t a fine gentleman.” He laughed. “Not that I can say I am. I’ve done a lot of bad things in my time. Lots of stuff you’re never going to find out. Running the club, you’ve got to learn to keep your conscience at the door. There’s no room for it. There’s not a whole lot of room for anything else.”
The machines in the room beeped as they had been doing since he sat down. “I don’t like this. How is it you were able to find trouble, huh? You were only taking care of a couple of dogs.” He blew out a breath. His throat felt tight, and he stared up at the sterile ceiling. “The truth is, I hate hospitals. Always have. Nothing good ever came out of them. Not even Grant. He was the only one of us born in the hospital. I was born at the clubhouse. On the dirty floor. Couldn’t even be bothered to go to the hospital.”
He stroked her fingers, hating the feeling that surrounded him. His chest felt like it was crushing from the inside.