“Yeah, man. You’ll ruin our rep,” I heard Kit joke. His hand gripped my shoulder and he squeezed.

“She could be brain dead,” I choked.

“Doctor said she’ll be in surgery for at least a couple hours,” Harmony said, her hand on my leg.

“Optimus.” I looked up. Deacon stood behind Harmony, his cap back on his head and a hard expression on his face. “I’m going to need you to come down and make a statement and also pick up your boys.”

“Yeah,” I growled. I eyed Harmony and Kit.

She reached out to touch her Old Man’s arm. “Go with him. I’ll wait for news on Chelsea.”

He drew her close and pressed his lips to hers. I had to look away, the pain in my chest beginning to elevate.

I stood up and my eyes met with Deacon. We may be on different sides, but we had one thing in common that brought us together—we wanted revenge for Chelsea.

“I’ll find a way to give you your shot at Marco. But you can’t kill him,” he said as we walked out the doors.

There were a few bikes lined up outside—Kit’s men. They dipped their heads and I acknowledged their show of support. I cleared my throat, these may not have been my boys, but they were my brothers and having them at my back filled me with strength.

“No, but I’m gonna make him wish he was dead.”

Beep.

Argh, that noise.

Beep.

Stop it, God damn. Somebody turn it off!

Beep.

My eyes were heavy and my mouth felt like it was filled with cotton balls. I stuck my tongue out, trying to get rid of the foul taste on my tongue.

I gagged.

Why wouldn’t it go away? I needed a drink. Suddenly craving water.

“Chelsea?” The voice sounded familiar. They were important. My mind was alert. I wanted to open my eyes, I wanted to see them. “Chelsea it’s okay. I’m going to call the doctor.”

Harmony, it was Harmony.

I tried to say her name, but my mouth wouldn’t form the sound.

I fought against the weight that hung on my eyelids, keeping them closed.

Light slowly shone in and I blinked furiously, trying to adjust to the glare. Everything was so white but it was all blurry, I could only make out shapes.

“Ha…” I tried for Harmony’s name again, but it just wouldn’t come.

Why couldn’t I say it? What was wrong with my mouth?

I felt a soft hand on my forehead and I could make out a face above me. “Shh. It’s okay, the doctor’s coming.”

Doc was here? Why was Doc here? Did I get hurt?

The blur began to clear and I could finally make out Harmony’s features as she stood above me. Mascara streaked her cheeks from fresh tears. I wanted to ask why she was crying, but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t.

A man appeared next to Harmony, he was wearing a white coat and had a stethoscope hanging loosely around his neck.

That wasn’t Doc.

“Hi Chelsea, welcome back.” He smiled down at me.

Where had I been?

“Don’t worry, don’t try to talk. I’m just going to check a few things. I want you to follow the light with your eyes.” He held a small light up. I cringed away from it at first but slowly was able to watch it as he moved it back and forth. “That’s great, really great.”

I turned my head, Harmony stood just behind him, her face lit up as she held a phone to her ear.

“I…” I attempted again to speak, but it was just noise. I could hear it and it didn’t make sense. “Ha…”

The doctor cleared his throat and drew my attention back to him. “Just give it time, I know it’s hard right now, but it should come back to you eventually.”

“What do you mean?” Harmony asked, pushing in beside me and placing her hand back on my head. It felt good.

“Her brain has been severely affected. It seems she’s struggling a little with her speech which could mean there’s some damage there,” he explained, making notes on his clipboard. “I’m going to do a few more tests if that’s okay? I just want you to nod or shake your head when I ask you a question.”

I nodded and he smiled.

He went through the motions, testing the feeling in my arms, legs and feet. I struggled to move some things, but he said the little movement I had was promising. He asked me about people’s names and whether I remembered how I had got there.

I didn’t. As much as I racked my brain I just couldn’t remember.

After a few minutes, he told me he’d come back later and see if things had improved.

Harmony pulled a chair up next to my bed and took my hand in hers, I squeezed it and she smiled. “Op will be here soon. He had to be at church this morning. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have left.”

Optimus.

Yes, Optimus. I needed him.

I sniffled, feeling tears well in my eyes.

“We were so worried, Chel.” Her expression reflected that of my own. “They said you might not come out, that you’d been deprived of oxygen for too long.”

I didn’t know what had happened, but apparently I was lucky to be alive.

“Ha-happ-ened.” It took me a moment, but I finally managed to force the word out. It was hard and both my body and mind were becoming quickly exhausted.

She looked at me with sad eyes. “Rose. She was one of them. She took you to her dad, Marco DePalma. He hurt you.”

I shook my head. No. Rose was my friend. I remember taking her to the hospital because her dad had hurt her.

Blizzard was there. I could see them standing outside.

“I’m sorry, honey. I know you tried to help her, but she was behind it all. Your car, the gym.”

It hurt to breathe, but the pain was nothing compared to the stabbing in my heart. She had been my friend.

“Shh,” Harmony soothed, sensing my distress. “It doesn’t matter right now.”

The door to the room flew open and I jumped. A sharp pain shot through my torso and I cried out, squeezing my eyes shut tightly and trying to breathe.

I felt his hands on my face, one on each side. He tickled my nose as he touched it with his and the smell of leather hit my senses.

This was something I remembered.

I remembered him, his touch, his smell, his aura. It all filled my body, making me feel warm.

“Thought I’d fucking lost you.” The pain in his voice sent shivers through me, and I pushed my head up. My stomach ached, but I needed him, I needed to make the both of us feel relief.

I touched my lips to his. They were soft against mine which were course and chapped. He used his hands to support my head as we kissed. It was light, almost just a brush, but it was everything, everything we both needed right then and there.

I wasn’t sure what had happened to put me here, but I knew that Optimus had been through hell because of it and I hated that. I wanted to reassure him and right now, without my speech, this was the only way I was able to do that.

I could feel the tension leave his body. He pulled back. “Thought I had lost you,” he whispered again, agony and emotion thick in his words. He lowered me back on the pillow.

I opened my eyes again. I didn’t have to see him to make me feel better, just feeling him there was enough. But I was greedy. When my eyes finally focused, I realized he was just how I remembered. A gentle smile on his face. He used his thumbs to brush away the wetness on my cheeks. We stared at each other even as Harmony explained what the doctor had just told us. His face looked pained as she explained about my speech and limited movement.

“I…I…m ok...ay.”

He softened. “Yeah, Blackbird. You are.”

The doctor came in a few hours later, his eyes a little wider this time as he took in the room filled with Brothers by Blood members. He carried out the tests again, all as Optimus stood at my side and held my hand. He also checked the wound in my side where a chest tube had been placed to repair my lung.