Chapter5
1315 Words
***Bear***
Bash got Molly to sit down. She had finally calmed down enough to start talking.
"Do you remember me telling you about my friend in college, the one I kept warning her about her boyfriend? We had to stop talking."
He nodded. "Yeah, Pepper or Piper, I think her name was."
"Piper, yeah, her."
"Yeah. You said that during your last year there."
"I haven't talked to her in years; it was my last year, as was hers. I saw her around campus a few times, but then she seemed to disappear. I don't think she even graduated."
She paused to take a breath.
"I tried to warn her. I told her he was no good, but she didn't believe me. He knew how to play her, and she fell for it, and now look what happened."
"Molly, love, I'm trying to follow, but I'm not understanding. What does that have to do with what's happening now?"
She sniffed but looked up at him.
The door opened, and a nurse walked out. "Family of Piper Reed?" she called out.
"Right here," Molly said as she got on her feet, and we followed her as well. Standing behind her.
The nurse looked at her, then her eyes moved to us.
"Um, you are all her family?"
"Yes, I am her sister, and this is my husband and her cousin," Molly said, pointing to us.
"Oh, okay. Well, follow me, please. The doctor would like to speak with you."
She led us back through the hall with rooms on both sides; she turned, going into one room and pulling the curtain back. I halted in my steps as I took notice of the woman lying in the bed. She was hooked up to different machines, with a tube down her throat. She was bruised all over her face, and one arm was in a cast. She looked like someone had used her as a punching bag.
"Ah, Molly." A man's voice snapped me out of my trance. Looking over, I saw an older man standing there.
"Doctor Arnold." Molly held her hand out, and he took it.
"You are all family?" he asked, looking at us.
Bash moved up behind Molly, sliding an arm around her waist. He did not say anything, just stared at the man.
"Yes, this is my husband, Bash, and that is her cousin."
He nodded his head, but I could see from his face he did not believe it; he wasn't about to ask, though.
"Well, as you can see, she is in rough shape. She has major bruising on her face. Her cheekbone is fractured, and her eye socket is ruptured. She has three broken ribs on the left side, and her arm is broken in two places. I reset it before putting the cast on. She has more bruising on her back and legs as well."
He trailed off.
"Um, I'm not sure if they should hear the rest." He gestured to Bash and me, and we both raised a brow at him.
"It's okay, Doctor," Molly told him.
He hesitated for a minute.
"She had signs of s****l assault, so I ran a rape kit on her as well; she had some internal bleeding that I was able to stop. I collected three different DNA samples."
I felt sick hearing his words. Molly all but collapsed, but Bash caught her, holding her up as she broke down crying.
"I'm so sorry, Molly. She will heal, but she needs care and a lot of help. I also found old injuries, like the one on the back of her head. It's healed, but it is old. I do not know what this woman has been through, but it is clear she has been abused for quite some time."
I stepped forward, making him take a step back. I wanted to smirk; I know my size can be intimidating.
"Thank you, Doctor, for all you have done. We appreciate your help."
"You're welcome," he said, looking up at me. "I have to ask, how exactly are you related? I mean, you are as big as, um, well, a house, and she is so small." He held his hand out toward the woman in the bed.
"We are distant cousins."
"Ah." He nodded his head. "Well, if you don't have any questions, I will step out; we are waiting for her to be moved to a room."
When he stepped out, I pulled the curtain. I did not want anyone to see her; I had a sudden urge to protect this little woman who lay here broken.
"I can't believe he did this to her," Molly sobbed out as Bash helped her sit in the chair next to the bed.
"Who, Molly? Who did this?" I asked her. I don't agree with hitting women or children. Sure, we are bikers, but we have lines we won't cross, and this is one of them.
Molly wiped her eyes. "Peter," She took in a small breath, "Peter Holden," she said, and you could hear the dislike in her voice.
"I've heard that name. Isn't he that big-time broker who lost his ass?" I asked Bash.
"I think so. We would have to look into it."
"Molly, how did they know to contact you?" Bash asked her.
"She never changed her emergency contact. Even though my last name changed, it's in the system, so when they saw my maiden name, they paged me."
"Why wouldn't she change that information? And why are you listed?"
"Piper has no family, so she listed me, but if she hasn't changed it, she hasn't been to any doctors in a while. It's been at least four years since I last saw her on campus."
Molly reached out, moving hair from the woman's forehead.
"And you are sure it was this Peter guy?" I asked.
She nodded her head.
"I know it was. He was so obsessed with her; he would always try to keep her away from everyone."
"Love, why did you stop talking to each other?" Bash asked as he rubbed a hand down her back.
She let out a sigh, placing her hand on Piper's.
"He threatened me. He even went as far as messing with my grades in the system, making it look like I was failing my classes. He said if I didn't cut ties with Piper, he would kill my career before it even began. I loved Piper like a sister, but I was also mad at her for not listening to me when I warned her about him. So I did what he wanted and cut her out of my life. I hated myself for it, but I did not know what else to do back then; I couldn't afford for my career not to take off, and he was going to make sure it wouldn't. I worked hard to get to where I am."
Bash placed a kiss on her head.
"No one would blame you."
"I just abandoned her, and now look at her, she is lying in a hospital bed, knocking on death's door."
Looking at the tiny woman lying there, I saw that she had long, auburn-colored hair. Her petite frame was drowning in that bed, and the bed wasn't even that big. She couldn't be more than five feet tall and, I would guess, pushing it, maybe a hundred and ten pounds. She was tiny, like a mouse.
"Well, she has turned back up in your life, so you can make things right with her," he told her.
She nodded her head. "I will. I'm going to do anything and everything to get her to forgive me."
"I'm sure she will. She will need someone to help her through this," Bash rubbed her back.
Molly looked so broken as she looked at her friend lying in this bed.
- Writer
