“That sounds like her,” I grinned. “So, what’s the verdict?”
“Well, the poison has been out of your system for a while now. Your organs are still recovering. I had to give you some anti-rejection meds to stop the decay of your liver. So far, they’re working for the injection site. I wouldn’t count on running anytime soon. Some of the skin turned necrotic, and I had to remove it. It’s not pretty, but you’ll survive.”
“When can I get out of here?”
“Oh, I think you’ll want to stay when Kitty finds out your awake. She’s been busting everyone’s balls since you returned. It hasn’t been pretty.”
I chuckled at that. Yeah, Kitty did have a mouth on her when she was pissed. It was then I remembered.
Holy fuck.
Grabbing Healer’s cut, I said. “I need to speak to Ghost. Go get him.”
“He’s not speaking to anyone.”
“It’s about Ari. I have to tell him.”
Healer sighed, then looked away. Something was wrong. I could tell. Typically, Healer wasn’t so emotional. What happened? “Ari’s dead, Bullseye. Ghost and a few of the others watched the plane she was on as it exploded. There were no survivors. We had a funeral for her and everything. Since then, he’s been in his room mourning her. It’s bad man. He won’t leave.”
He had to be lying. She wasn’t dead. She was alive. I just saw her. She was standing a few feet away from me. “She was standing there. I saw her. She can’t be dead.”
“Bullseye. You’ve been in a coma for two months.”
“What?”
“Look, man, a lot of shit has gone down. Best rest while you can. I’ll let Reaper and Kitty know you're awake.”
I said nothing more as Healer left, leaving me to absorb everything he just said. A coma? Two months? No fucking way. I just saw her.
It was just a few hours ago.
It had to be.
She couldn’t be dead.
He had to be lying.
Had to be.
I still couldn’t believe who I saw with her. I would never have guessed it. Not in a million years. I must have been delirious. Maybe the poison made me see the wrong person. But I know I didn’t. I saw him clearly. He even smiled at me. I watched him put the needle in her neck. I know I did.
Thundering footsteps pounded down the stairs as several of my brothers all came to see that I was indeed awake. Some were smiling, others looked relieved, yet all of them looked off. I couldn’t explain it. They didn’t look like their usual selves. When Reaper walked over, I could tell his shoulders were heavy. He was dealing with something big.
“Reaper?”
The next thing I knew, he grabbed the back of my neck, laid his head down on mine, and whispered, “Thank fuck. Brother, you scared the shit out of me.”
“What is going on?”
Standing back up, he shook his head. “A shit show. That’s what. After you got hit with that fucking poisonous dart, Digger and Trout followed your tracks back to the clearing. They figure someone saw you and started chasing you. Whoever the fuck that was, shot you with that damn dart.”
“Jekyll. It was Jekyll.”
“Man, they said you walked, crawled, and dragged yourself over five miles to get back to the clubhouse. How you fucking did that, with that shit running through your veins, I will never know.”
“I saw her. She was there.”
“Who?”