Page 11 of Filthy Secret

ATOMIC

Pushing myself up to a seated position, I try not to puke. I drank way too fucking much last night… this morning… whenever it was that I actually stopped.

My phone dances on the nightstand. I reach for it, but it takes me a moment for my eyes to adjust to the numbers on the screen. When I can focus, I don’t recognize the numbers at all. As my eyes make out the letters above the numbers, I frown as I read the word HOSPITAL at the end of said name.

The fuck?

I slide my thumb across the screen, my heart racing as I bring the phone to my ear.

“Hello?” My greeting is cautious. I’m not sure what the fuck is going on. Who could be at the hospital, any hospital?

“Hello, I’m looking for a Mr. Atomic?”

The voice on the other end of the line sounds like maybe it’s a lady in her seventies. Her words come out a bit shaky, but she also sounds kind. I get a grandmotherly vibe from her, although not my grandmother because she wasn’t like the ones you see in movies. She was hard and harsh.

“You got him,” I grunt, shaking away thoughts of my grandmother.

There is a moment of hesitation before I hear her let out a trembling breath, a sigh really, and I don’t feel any fucking better than I did when I slid my thumb across the phone after reading the word hospital flash across the screen.

In fact, my anxiety is through the goddamn roof right now, wondering what the fuck is going on.

“I’m here in Harmony Springs Hospital, and there’s been an accident.”

I rack my brain, trying to figure out who the fuck I know who lives in a place called Harmony Springs. I’ve never even heard of it before, and I wonder if it’s even in Texas and if this is some kind of spam scamming call.

Then I wonder if one of the guys went on a run and got in an accident somewhere. There wasn’t supposed to be a load going anywhere last night, but fuck if I know what they do sometimes. Maybe it’s just one of the guys. If that’s the case, I would be the person to call since I’m president of the club.

“What’s happened?” I demand when she hasn’t said anything else.

Again, there is a moment of silence before she speaks. “It’s Ryan Turner,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper. “You were on her list to call as an emergency contact.”

I’m silent this time.

She doesn’t know why I’m quiet, so she continues to speak. “She’s been admitted and is still unconscious.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Ending the call, I start to head toward the closet to put some clothes on, but then decide I should probably shower, so I turn and head toward the bathroom. I’ve forgotten about the whore lying naked in the bed. I don’t give a fuck about her anyway. Ryan is in the hospital,

Unconscious.

What the actual fuck has happened?

I take the quickest shower in the history of showers and use the towel to dry off as much as I can as fast as I can. My hair and beard are still dripping wet when I walk out of the bathroom and into my bedroom.

Vixen is no longer naked and spread across my bed. She’s already dismissed herself, and I can’t help but wonder how much of that phone conversation she heard. I don’t know that it matters. She wasn’t around when Ryan was here.

She doesn’t know what that bitch did. Doesn’t know that she betrayed me. But she also doesn’t know just how much I fucking wanted her. And how much I fucking fell apart when she walked away. Although, I can’t say that I was innocent of any of that. I wasn’t. I fucked up, too, just not as badly as her.

Packing a small bag, I get dressed and head down to the bar area. There are a few people walking around, and I jerk my chin toward Gnaw. He does the same back to me, then frowns and moves in my direction.

When he’s standing in front of me, he opens his mouth, no doubt to ask me if I’m okay, but I don’t let him. I’m in too much of a hurry.

“Ryan is in the hospital. I’m her emergency contact, which I don’t fucking understand, but I’m leaving right now to find out what happened.”

Gnaw’s smile turns into a frown. “Want me to go with you?” he asks.

“No. I need to do this on my own. Let King know where I am if he asks. I’ll call when I get to wherever I’m going.”