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Chapter Twenty-Three

Ruben

We didn’t have to wait long when we reached the hospital. The triage nurse directed us straight through to the accident & emergency ward, where Lucas was apparently being ‘stitched up’.

“Shouldn’t he need an operation or something?” Lydia whispered and we walked through the curtain.

I shrugged because I’d never even been around a gun, let alone been shot by one, so I didn’t know the answer.

“Ow! Motherfucker, be careful!” We heard as soon as we reached the ward. I heard Lydia sigh and I bit back my laughter. Definitely sounded like Luc was going to be fine.

“Mr Romero, I will not tell you again. Please mind your language, you are not the only patient on this ward.” The nurse said.

“Well fuck them! You’re stabbing me! I don’t care about my language when I’m being stabbed.”

We walked in just as she rolled her eyes and patted his arm, like she’d already done it a few times.

“You are not being stabbed, sir. I’m just finishing your stitches and if you could stop fidgeting for just two more minutes, I’ll be out of your hair. Ok?”

He scowled but nodded.

Then his face lit up when he seen Lydia.

“Hey! It’s my baby sister!” He sang.

Lydia looked to the nurse with a question in her eyes.

“Are you family?” After receiving confirmation, she explained. “He’s having a slight reaction to the painkillers. For some reason, they’ve put him in this, shall we say, inebriated state. He’ll be fine after a short while when they start to wear off.”

I looked him over for his injuries and almost laughed out loud at the small gash on his upper-calf.

“Oh I was so worried about you!” Lydia cried.

Lucas made a ‘pfftt’ noise. “I’m fine! Just a scratch, see!”

He lifted his ‘injured’ leg in the air and the nurse scowled at him. He grinned like a naughty school boy.

“Sorry! Forgot the rules.”

Lydia notice the stitches and looked back and forth between them and Lucas’s face.

“Are you freaking kidding me? I’ve been going half out of my mind worrying about you! Really, you mean to tell me that you passed out and had to go in an ambulance...because of a cut?!”

It was the nurse who filled us in.

“The bullet grazed his calf, but didn’t actually embed itself into his flesh so he’s fine. He’ll have a nice scar but nothing more than that.”

“Hey! Nurse! Did they tell you I was a hero today?”

She looked up at us for confirmation but Lydia just shook her head like ‘you don’t want to know’.

“Right, let me just wrap this up and you can be on your way.”

Ten minutes later, we were leading Lucas out of the hospital in a wheelchair. He didn’t need the chair but it was hospital procedure apparently.

“She was a pretty nurse. Don’t you think she’s pretty? I wonder if she’d give me her number. I think she would. Don’t you?” He ranted as we left.

“Jesus Luc, shut up! You have a lot of explaining to do when we get you home.” Lydia said, sounding exhausted.

In the blink of an eye, just a few feet from the car, Luc jumped up from the chair and ran across the carpark, to a grass bank on the other side.

I sighed.

“I’ll get him, you just get in the car.”

I chased after Luc, only to find him with his face inches away from the pretty nurse who had done his stitches. She was blushing and he had a wicked grin on his face that told me all I needed to know about the things he was saying to her.

“I’m so sorry!” I apologised, on behalf of Luc. “Come on, Luc. Leave the lady to her coffee, I’m sure she doesn’t want to spend her break being harassed by you.”

I dragged him away and he limped back. Figures, he could actually sprint across the car-park when he wanted to flirt with the nurse - but could hardly walk when he had to leave her.

He was asleep on the sofa within seconds of getting him back to Jax’s house.

I’d never seen him like that. Lucas had an edge, even as a kid I’d always known that. I thought prison would make him darker somehow. I figured we’d find out when he slept off the painkillers.

*~*~*

Lydia

“So that’s it? He’ll be locked up again? And nothing is going to happen to Luc?” I asked, not believing it could be that easy.

Jax shrugged.

“As far as the police are concerned, Freddy was automatically going back to jail anyway because he had drugs on him and he was on probation. Add to that the fact that he was carrying a firearm, attempted kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon - he really will be put away for a long while this time.” He explained.

“But what about Lucas? He had a weapon too.”

Jax winked and gave me a gentle squeeze on my shoulder as he walked passed. “You’re right, little sister. He did...but the police don’t know that.”

I stood speechless.

He’d called me little sister.

And
they’d lied to the police to protect my brother.

I grinned. I really was one of the family.

Finally!

I sat alone in the kitchen, staring off into space and wondering how my life had done yet another complete turn in the space of a few days.

Honestly, part of me was waiting for the next thing to blow up in my face and there were still a hundred and one things I needed to know, questions that needed to be asked. But in that moment, I felt nothing but peace.

“Morning, baby sister.” I heard behind me, so I swivelled on my stool to face Lucas.

I told him to ‘sit’ and he did, but with a scowl on his face.

“What are you doing here? Not that I’m not grateful of course, but you stopped writing months ago and you were supposed to get five years minimum.”

He lifted the leg of his jeans. Thankfully, it was the opposite leg to the one that was ‘injured’, because he had an
attractive
grey contraption locked around his ankle.

“I’m on tag,” he said, then explained. “I can’t be out past ten pm. I can’t go certain places. I have to check in with my probation guy twice a week and if I’m caught with any drugs on me in the next
five years
, I’m straight back inside. I can barely take a piss without them checking up on me. I think I actually had more freedom being locked up.”

He sounded so put out about all of it. I thought about pointing out the fact that he wouldn’t have had to do
any
of it if he hadn’t have gotten himself involved in that mess. Probably not the wisest decision though, so I shut up about that.

“But why didn’t you tell me you were out?”

He closed his eyes like he was in pain. He was a bit of a fuck-up and he made bad decisions, but he was still my brother and I hated that look on his face.

“I wasn’t sure I was ever going to tell you,” He admitted and I gasped at the pain of his words. “I got out just three days after Freddy did. I followed him, tracked him and kept an eye on his every move. You’re my baby sister, I had to know what he was planning when it came to you.”

“Ok, but that still doesn’t tell me why you couldn’t tell
me
that.”

He licked his lips nervously.

“Because I didn’t plan to get him sent back to prison, Lydia,” He paused, making me brace. “I planned to kill him.”

My mouth dropped open and my eyebrows shot to my forehead. He had to be joking, he just had to be…But he didn’t look like he was going to laugh.

“Are you crazy?!”

His face darkened and I took a step back. Realistically, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, but that look was so dangerous, my body reacted on instinct.

“I’m not crazy. That fucker doesn’t deserve to breathe. He’ll be out again one day and what’s going to happen then? Even if he doesn’t come back for you, he’ll go after someone else just for one of his sick games. The world will be a better place when he’s dead.”

“Um, you sound a little bit like you’re still planning on doing something stupid.” I replied.

He just stared at me, no words came out of his mouth.

I took the opportunity to really look at him. His face had lost all of that youthful innocence he used to have and his body had filled out so much that it was hard to believe he was still the same guy.

He looked more like Jax. His muscles had muscles. I had to admit, he looked good and I was happy that he’d clearly looked after himself in prison.

But it was the inside that had me worried. Normal people didn’t plan murders.

“Lucas, please don’t do anything stupid. You’ve been given a second chance now. We are
not
those people anymore and you have no reason to go back to that.”

He scoffed, “Second chance? People like me don’t get second chances Lydia. You’re fooling yourself. All this,” he gestured to the house around us. “Is not real life. People with money, they don’t mix with the likes of us.”

I actually laughed in his face.

“I hate to break it to you Lucas, but those brothers had the exact same upbringing
we
did. I’m not sure where all this is coming from, but you’re just pissing me off now. And I’m telling you right now, Jackson won’t put up with you being disrespectful in his house.”

He stood from the stool.

“I’m not staying anyway…”

He didn’t get to finish.

*~*~*

Ruben

I’d left them to talk, thinking maybe it would be good for them to reconnect on their own. But when I heard Lydia start to get worked up over the stupid shit that was pouring out of Luc’s mouth, I had to interrupt.

“Morning baby,” I smiled at Lydia, then turned and gave Luc a nod. “Luc.”

Sliding my arm around Lydia’s waist, I pulled her into my side and watched Luc’s eyes fall to watch the move. He knew, just as I did, that I’d claimed her.

And he wasn’t happy about it.

“That’s just fucking weird. Can you not at least wait until I’ve gone?”

“If you’re going to be around at all, you’re probably going to have to get used to it.” Lydia advised, but he didn’t listen.

“When did you get so fucking bossy, huh? I’m sick of this shit already. I fucking saved your ass yesterday and all I’ve heard out of your mouth this morning is bitching and whining.” He went to continue but there was no way I was going to let him.

“Hey!” I snapped. “Don’t ever speak to her like that again. She’s my fiancé and I won’t stand by and let you do that. More importantly, she’s
your sister
. For someone who claims to have done everything in their power to protect her, you’re sure doing a pretty shit job of showing her you care.”

“Care? I care. Why do you think I don’t want her anywhere near you? You won’t stick around. She’ll get all comfortable in this bullshit world you’ve landed yourself in and then you’ll fuck off and leave her with nothing. She’s already clearly too comfortable because the Lydia I knew would never have allowed herself to get fat.” He nodded his head at her tiny baby bump. Lydia gasped and I jumped in to defend her but she beat me to it.

“You’re right, Lucas. You do need to leave. I don’t know you now, and I definitely don’t like you. When you decide that you’re going to drop this hard-guy act and be the brother I know and love – then you know I’ll welcome you back with open arms…” she looked like she might cry, so I stroked her waist with my thumb in a comforting gesture. “Oh, and I’m not fat, you utter bloody idiot. I’m pregnant.”

I was too busy looking down at her with pride in my eyes…

That I didn’t see the first punch coming.

*~*~*

Lydia

“You’re both ridiculous.” I stated.

“He started it!”

“You knocked up my sister!”

“I fucking love her and we’re getting married! Why do you even care?”

“You knocked up my sister.” Lucas repeated.

“Oh my God! Would you listen to yourselves?!”
I screeched, having heard differing versions of the same argument constantly for ten minutes after Jax had finally ran down the stairs to split the two idiots up.

Fighting.

Seriously. Rolling around on the kitchen floor taking swings at each other. It was horrific to watch, but it was all I could do.

Well, that and scream for Jax at the top of my lungs.

Then he’d
literally
picked Lucas up and dropped him like a sack of potatoes, on the sofa. I’ll be honest, considering Lucas’s size, I was pretty impressed with Jax’s strength.

Yummy.

Ruben followed, wincing when he touched his split lip.

Then the arguing had started and it seemed like it would go on forever. They both sat at opposite ends of the sofa like sulking, naughty school boys.