Breaking the Chain

by Golden Angel

  "Adam," Ellie said smoothly, before Leigh could reply. "I heard he doesn't like your shirts."

  Angel pouted. She'd had several drinks already, enough that she didn't even question Ellie's statement. Leigh snapped her mouth shut. If Ellie was going to confide in her, she wasn't going to break that confidence. "Not all my shirts, just my shirts that say things."

  "What?" Maria asked, sliding into the conversational circle with her drink, Sharon and Kate right behind her.

  "Adam really doesn't like my t-shirts that say things," Angel replied, still pouting.

  "I bet he'd like a t-shirt that says 'Hey Adam, Want a Blowjob?'" Sharon said, making them all laugh. Well, except Angel. She smiled but then sighed and shook her head with a resigned air.

  "He'd probably like the concept and still hate the shirt."

  "Patrick would like that," Lexie said. She cocked her head, a thoughtful look on her face. "Although, maybe not as much if it said 'Hey Adam.'"

  All of them laughed at that, including Angel. Grinning, Leigh was lifting her hurricane up for a sip when someone bumped into her from behind, making her body jerk.

  "Crap!" The frozen drink sloshed, her feet stumbling for balance, her free hand reaching out to grab Lexie and throwing her off balance too. Icy slush dripping onto her fingers, so cold it burned, but she managed to hang onto the glass anyway.

  "What the fuck?" Angel's voice was a snarl, making the hairs on Leigh's neck stand up, an instinctive response - something is wrong. "What the hell are you doing here?"

  "It's a public bar, dumbass," said a drawling nasal voice that made Leigh groan as she turned around. Standing with her hands on her hips, a small group of glaring women arrayed behind her, was Marissa in all her glory. She was dressed in black leather leggings and a loose, sparkling top that dipped low in front, making the most of her cleavage and hinting that she was better endowed than she appeared.

  "I think she meant what the hell are you doing bumping into Leigh on purpose like that," Kate said in a bored tone, stepping up beside Leigh. She didn't have to look behind her to know that all of her friends were arraying themselves in positions of support, just like Marissa's friends. She only recognized two of them from Stronghold, the others were completely unknown, but obviously they believed whatever bullshit story Marissa had told them. Which probably meant they thought she was a homewrecker, the 'other woman.' The looks of disgusted enmity in their eyes backed up that theory, which made her feel a little sick. She shouldn't care what strangers thought of her, but she did.

  "She didn't mean to," the brunette Leigh had seen at Stronghold said. "She's just drunk, she stumbled." She stepped up next to Marissa, putting her arm around Marissa's waist and throwing her a worried look. On the other side of Marissa, the nasty blonde from Stronghold just glared.

  "Right," Lexie said, sneering. "Such a coincidence. And what the hell are you doing here, Amy? You're better than this crazy bullshit."

  "I didn't realize she'd want to come here," Amy said. "It's just that when she found out that Jared wants to collar Leigh-"

  "He doesn't!" Marissa shrieked, drawing the attention of some of the other bar patrons. "He can't! We'll get back together, we always do!"

  "I don't understand your specific brand of crazy, but I do admire your total commitment to it," Sharon snapped. "You two broke up, he doesn't want you. You're being pathetic. Have some pride, woman."

  "Only because of her!" Marissa said, pointing at Leigh, wobbling precariously on her high heels. Amy's arm around her tightened. The women behind her looked a little confused, one of them looking around the bar as if realizing all the attention they were garnering. Obviously something that had been said didn't add up to whatever cock and bull story Marissa had told them. "She stole my boyfriend!"

  "Oh my god!" Leigh said, exasperated, her hand tightening on the glass. "No I didn't! You two weren't together! Ugh." She shook her head, turning her back on the drunken mess and looking at her friends. "Let's move, she can have this side of the bar."

  Leigh had no idea what happened next, because it all happened in a blur of movement and noise. There was an incoherent shriek from behind her, something slammed into her back, and then she was falling and people were yelling and glass was shattering... her hand burned hot and then her head slammed against something and everything went black.

  ******

  When Patrick's phone started buzzing, none of them realized right away that something was wrong. After all, it wasn't like a phone call meant anything. Not even when he frowned at the Caller ID and glanced at them as he lifted it to his ear.

  "It's Lexie. Hey-" He cut off abruptly, a look of surprise, then fear and anxiety crossing his face. Suddenly, Jared's heart started thumping loudly, harshly, in his chest. All of them focused in on Patrick, staring at him intently, as if that would help be able to hear the words that Lexie was pouring into his ear... "Pixie... slow down... I can't..."

  Growling, Jared dug into his pocket to check his own phone. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Adam and Rick doing the same, while Jake and Michael exchanged tense looks. Nothing. No one had called him. So what the fuck was going on?

  "We're coming," Patrick said, his voice tight. Hard. "Just stay there and don't move. We're coming."

  "Where are we going?" Adam asked, before Patrick had even finished hanging up the phone.

  His response had all of them moving like their lives depended on it.

  "The hospital."

  None of them bothered to ask any questions until they were all piled into Jake's SUV. Despite the size of it, the backseat was still cramped with Adam, Rick, and Michael all sitting there. As the most slender, Michael was in the middle, but he still had broad enough shoulders that they were all pressed up against each other. Jared had gotten into the very back, where there were no seats, so he was feeling pretty roomy.

  "So what happened?" Jake asked, his knuckles white around the steering wheel as he peeled out of the parking spot.

  "I'm not entirely sure." Patrick's voice was tight with anxiety, his shoulders tensed and ready to take on the world, but there was nothing any of them could do but sit in the car. Which did not make for a comfortable atmosphere since every one of them preferred to have as much control over their worlds as possible and right now they were not only lacking it, they didn't even have all the information they needed. "There was a lot of background noise and Lexie was talking really fast. The general gist that I got was that Marissa showed up at some point, there was some kind of accident, and she, Leigh, and Angel were all loaded into an ambulance."

  A barrage of responses exploded as they all leaned forward, towards Patrick. Except for Jake, who just pressed harder on the gas. Of course Rick and Michael wanted to know if Patrick had any information about Maria and Ellie, while Adam pounded his fist against the car door as he demanded to know what was wrong with Angel. Jared closed his eyes, trying to take deep, calming breaths.

  Accident? What kind of accident? And was it really an accident?

  Almost on cue, his phone started to vibrate in his pocket and he scrambled for it, yelling as he did. "I have a phone call!"

  The silence was abrupt.

  "Hello?"

  "Hello, is this Jared Hersom?"

  "Yes, that's me."

  "Hello, my name is Mary, I'm calling from St. Mary's Hospital. We have you on file as the emergency contact number for Marissa Dubois, who-."

  "I heard there was an accident and I'm on my way there now, is she okay?" Jared didn't even care that Marissa still had him down as her emergency contact, right now he was glad for it. She'd need to change it in the future, but the chance to get information - any information - had his heart racing. Now everyone in the car was leaning back, their heads turned as they watched him on the phone, straining to hear the other side of the conversation.

  "She's fine, Mr. Hersom, just a bit bruised and she has a minor concussion." Mary coughed delicately. "She's also quite intoxicated. We'll be able to release her as
soon as someone's able to pick her up."

  "Oh thank god," he said, sagging in relief, before tensing again. "What about the women who came in with her? Leigh Douglas and Angel Jones?"

  "I'm sorry, Mr. Hersom, but as you aren't either of their emergency-" Dammit. He was going to have Leigh update her information asap.

  "What about Angel? I have her boyfriend, Adam Rawn, here in the car with me, you can tell him about her, can't you?"

  The woman's voice was sympathetic but firm. "I'm sorry, but I can't give out any information to anyone who is not a family member or an emergency contact." Her voice lowered. "I do believe you'll be able to receive more information once you arrive, as calls have already been made."

  "Thank you," he said, restraining his temper, even though he felt like yelling at the woman. It wasn't her fault.

  "They couldn't tell you anything?" Adam asked, his blue eyes stormy as he looked over the seat at Jared. He shook his head and Adam's fist banged into the side of the door again.

  "I'm going to call Lexie back," Patrick said.

  "Maria's not picking up," said Rick, whose phone was pressed to his ear. "She's not going to sit for a week when I get done with her."

  "How the hell did we miss fucking ambulances?" Jared asked, trying to contain the restless energy that was filling him.

  "They probably came from the other end of the street," Michael said. Poor guy, Jared reflected, he was obviously just as worried as the rest of them, but he didn't have the right of a relationship to Ellie and he would have to cede to Adam and Jared when it came to checking on Angel and Leigh, whom he'd been friends with for the longest. "Although, even if they had passed by, would we have really thought they were for the girls?"

  Silence descended again as they all grimly went back to their phones. Adam was cursing under his breath as he dug out his phone to try and get in touch with Angel's family, to see if they knew anything yet, while Rick muttered dire threats and imprecations as he continued to get Maria's voicemail. Patrick just kept taking the phone away from his ear, hitting the redial button, and lifting it back up.

  Frustration swept through Jared, and then he realized there was something he could do. He pulled out his phone and texted Caroline to let her know where Marissa was and that she needed someone to pick her up - because he may be her emergency contact number, but he wasn't going to take care of her while he didn't know what was going on with Leigh. The text he got back made him sit up.

  I know, I'm already here.

  But when he called, Caroline didn't pick up. Dammit. There was nothing more frustrating to a Dom than helpless waiting.

  By the time they got to the hospital, it was an explosion of movement. Several people in the main lobby took one look at the group of large, furious looking men, and immediately skittered out of their way. Adam charged right up to the desk, with Jared and the others right on his heels. The sterile, astringent smell of the hospital filled Jared's nose, making his skin crawl. Or maybe that was just his imagination, but hospitals always smelled unwelcoming to him.

  "My girlfriend is somewhere in here, Angel Jones, and her friend-"

  "Leigh Douglas," Jared interrupted. Not that Adam had been talking slowly, Jared just had too much pent up energy to expend. He shifted back and forth on his feet.

  "Rick!" Maria's voice had all of them wheeling around to spot her, hurrying down the hall on the left towards them. Her heels clacked against the floor in a rushed staccato. She looked flushed, but not distressed, and some of the tightness in Jared's chest eased. "Oh thank goodness, I was just coming out to call you."

  "Why the hell haven't you been picking up your phone?" Rick roared as he rushed to meet her, swinging her up into his arms as soon as he reached her. The rest of them held back, just a touch, letting him have his moment to see his girlfriend, even though they were practically dancing with impatience.

  "It's a hospital, you're not supposed to have your phones on," Maria said tartly as Rick loosened his grip and started immediately checking her over. She smacked him as he tried to lift the hem of her shirt to check her stomach. "Stop that, I'm fine." Her dark eyes moved to Adam and Jared and the others, and immediately filled with sympathy. "We're all fine, mostly. Angel's parents just got here. They got in touch with Leigh's parents and they gave the hospital permission to have Angel's parents act in her stead, which is why I hadn't called you guys before. They wouldn't tell us anything at first since none of us are family members." She scowled.

  "Let's walk and talk," Adam said, already moving towards the direction Maria had come from. "Are they okay?"

  "Lexie, Sharon, Ellie, Kate, and I didn't even get a scratch. Well, technically Lexie got scratched, by that bitch Caroline, but I don't think it was on purpose, she was just trying to get to Marissa-"

  "Maria, what about Leigh and Angel?" Rick interrupted her, his tone gentle as he pulled her in tightly against him, obviously wanting her as close as possible.

  She sighed, shooting a nervous glance at Adam, who was walking slightly ahead of them even though he didn't know where he was going, and at Jared, who had come up next to her. The rest of them were trailing behind.

  "Leigh had to get some stitches, the glass in her hand broke when she fell down and cut her pretty badly, and she was knocked out, but they're pretty sure she's okay… but she's going to need to be watched for the next twenty-four hours because she might have dizzy spells and stuff. Angel... well, we're not sure what's wrong with Angel," she said, looking apologetically towards Adam, who was getting even stiffer as he walked. "She's the one who threw Marissa off of Leigh, and then she just... kinda passed out."

  "Walk faster," Adam snapped. Rick glared at him, but didn't say anything, and all of them lengthened their strides.

  "They're just down here," Maria said, pointing. "Angel's in 126 and Leigh is in 128."

  Chapter 17

  "We're lucky it was a slow night," Ellie said, patting Leigh's uninjured left hand. "Otherwise they never would have been able to see you so quickly."

  "Oh yeah, I'm feeling super lucky." Leigh said, making a face as she looked down at the white bandage that had been wrapped around her hand, hiding the slice across her palm. Lexie said it had been gushing blood. Thankfully, Leigh hadn't regained consciousness until they'd managed to get most of the bleeding stopped. Yes, she was thankful for that. "What the hell was Marissa thinking?"

  "I'm pretty sure she wasn't," Sharon said tartly. She, Kate, and Ellie were all in the room with her, Angel was with her parents next door. Maria had gone to call the guys and Lexie had taken a bathroom break. "That would require being sober, first of all, and having brain cells, second of all."

  Leigh cracked a smile, shifting uncomfortably on the bed she was on. Which was apparently required because of the head injury. There was a huge knot on her forehead - at least, it felt huge. She hadn't seen it yet. The whole area throbbed, although at least it distracted her from the pain in her hand and her knees. Fortunately her knees were just bruised from when she'd been knocked down; no serious damage there.

  Out in the hallway, they could hear Lexie's voice, followed by a low rumble. The men were here. Relief swept over Leigh, and then surprise as multiple bodies were suddenly crowding into her room. Not just Jared and Patrick, but Mike, Rick, and Jake too. Maria smiled reassuringly at her.

  "Uh, hi guys," she said, blushing and wishing she could sink into the floor. The presence of so many dominant males made the room seem even smaller than it was. They just took up so much space!

  She smiled as Jared came forward, his eyes sweeping over her from head to toe and back up again, concern in every line of his body. "Are you okay?"

  "A little banged up, but nothing terrible," she said with a small smile. "I'm more worried about Angel, honestly. I probably could have left already but I want to know what's going on with her. Is Adam here?"

  "Yep, already in the other room," Maria confirmed, her lips twitching slightly. Leigh grinned. She could only imagine that Adam ha
d rushed right in, like a crusading knight. Not that he could save Angel from anything right now, but that was just how he was.

  "How did you guys all get here at the same time?" she wondered aloud, looking up at Jared as he very gently brushed her hair back from her face, his eyes trained on her bruised forehead.

  "We were hanging out together," Patrick said, in his blandest voice.

  Tucked underneath his arm, Lexie rolled her eyes. "He means they were commiserating about being alone and miserable without our glorious presences."

  Ignoring them, Leigh was still looking up at Jared, concern growing at the anguish and remorse in his eyes, and especially the way he avoided her gaze. "Hey, are you okay?"

  "I am so, so sorry," he murmured, his expression pained, his eyes still glued to her forehead, despite her attempt to lean back and meet his eyes.

  "Okay, so, everybody out of here," Sharon said, standing up from the chair she'd been sitting in. The diminutive brunette pointed at the door. "Move it, people, and give them some space. Hallway or Angel's room, now."

  Although Patrick gave her a sardonic look, no one countered the little general's orders. The expression on Jake's face was one of pure bemusement as Sharon actually attempted to shove him out the door when he moved too slowly for her.

  Leigh called out after them. "Thank you for coming! I'll be out as soon as I can."

  "Take your time," Sharon said, right before she shut the door firmly behind her.

  Despite the closed door, Leigh could still hear the muffled voices of her friends - going by the tense tones of the deeper ones, she assumed they were demanding to know what had happened. In the quiet, she reached out to touch Jared's hand, as he continued avoiding her gaze.

  "Hey, you," she said, scolding. "What do you think you have to be sorry for?"

  Jared finally met her gaze, his eyebrows rising as if he was confused by her ignorance. "My completely insane ex? Although, I swear to god, I didn't know how insane she actually-"