“I’m going to get Tiny and Batta to help,” Splint said and took off down a hallway.
Judge led me to the room Bronze had been staying in since they arrived. I didn’t bother knocking before I flung the door open and let myself in.
Bronze was on his feet instantly. “The fuck are you doing?” he growled.
I held my hands up to show him I didn’t come to fight with him. “Bronze, I need you to listen to me, as my blood brother, my best friend, right now. The boys said you’ve been acting strange since the explosion, and I just witnessed it myself. I called Patch, and he said we need to get you to the hospital right now. He said there’s a good chance something is wrong, and they can fix it if we get there before it’s too late. Please don’t fight me on this. Let me help you, little brother.”
He stood unmoving for a few beats. Then, I saw a flicker of fear in his eyes before he masked it with a neutral look. He shrugged, “Fine, I’ll go let the doctors have a looksee, but, for the record, I think this is a complete waste of time and money.”
“If it is, I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Let’s go,” I replied and left the room. Thankfully, he followed without protest.
We piled into my truck, and Judge drove us to the closest hospital. The ride was silent for the majority of the trip, but Bronze started talking when we were five minutes away. “I’ve been having headaches. Well, I’ve had a constant headache since the explosion, and it’s been progressively getting worse. I thought it would go away over time.” He sighed and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. I knew by that action alone he had more to say. “I knew I was acting like an ass, but I couldn’t stop it. The smallest things were setting me off. I would suddenly be consumed with rage, and when it was over, I couldn’t remember why I was mad. Like with you this afternoon; I know we argued, and I was pissed at you, but I don’t remember why.” Then, he tore my heart out when he asked, “What’s going to happen to me, Copper?”
“We’re going to get you to the hospital, and we’re going to find out what’s wrong. Then, we’re going to fix it,” I assured him, even though I had no clue if my words were true.
When we arrived, we were taken back to a room immediately. Judge and I were told to wait in the exam room while Bronze was whisked away to have some kind of scan done. Before Bronze returned, Patch came barreling through the door followed by Phoenix.
“Where is he?” Patch asked as he tried to catch his breath.
“They took him for a brain scan about an hour ago,” I replied, rising to my feet to greet them.
“Good. I’ll go find out what’s going on,” Patch said and left the room.
“You should have called me,” Phoenix grumbled.
“I’m sorry, Phoenix. Everything happened so fast, and I—”
“There’s no need to apologize. Just know you can call me any time for any reason, especially for something like this. I know I wasn’t around a lot when you two were growing up, but I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“Thanks, man. How’d you manage to get here so fast? The roads were a mess when Layla and I drove up from Devil Springs.”
He chuckled, “Shaker used his family’s name and money to have a helicopter fly us here. I don’t know how he did it, but we landed on the hospital’s launch pad and were escorted inside.”
“Be sure to thank him for me. I hate that you had to leave Annabelle and Ember. How are they doing?”
He smiled like a proud peacock. “They’re getting bigger by the day, but I will deny saying that if you repeat it. Dash is staying with them at my house until I get back.” He snorted, “Annabelle told me she would shove her foot so far up my ass her toes would tickle my throat if I didn’t get my ass up here to be with you and Bronze.”
I laughed, “That sounds like her. Sounds like Layla, too. Fuck! Layla…” Caught up in the mess with Bronze, I had forgotten all about Layla.
“She’s fine, Prez. She’s with Mom, and she knows what’s going on,” Judge added, looking up from the phone in his hand. “She said to call her when you had a chance, but to let you know she’s fine and she understands.”
My lips involuntarily curled into a shy smile. That woman was something else. Phoenix elbowed me in the ribs, “You’re always trying to be like me.”
I shoved him back and chuckled. He was right. Growing up, I had a bad case of hero worship for Phoenix. He was my badass older cousin, and I wanted to be just like him. In some ways, I still did, but I would never tell him that.
Patch came through the door; the look on his face causing my gut to twist. “Copper, I need you to come with me. They’re taking him straight to surgery. We can meet them outside the operating room so you can see him before they take him in. Sorry, Phoenix, I can only take one person back.”
“Not a problem, man. Go. Tell him I’m here, and I love him,” Phoenix said. “We’ll be here when you get back.”
Patch all but sprinted through the hospital, which alarmed me even more. He hadn’t said what was wrong with Bronze. It had to be something with his head, which meant my brother was being rushed to emergency brain surgery. The thought nearly sent me to my knees. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not to Bronze.
Patch skidded to a halt as a rapidly moving stretcher rounded the corner. White coats were flapping, machines beeping, voices shouting orders as they closed the distance between us. Patch leaned closer to me, “You’ll have to make it quick.”
They stopped in front of us, and I stepped closer, grabbing Bronze’s hand. “I’ll be here when you wake up, little brother. Phoenix is here, too. Told me to tell you he loves you.” I took a deep breath and choked back the emotion clogging my throat. “I love you, brother.”
I wasn’t seeing the badass biker my brother had grown up to be. To me, he looked like the same scared little boy he was when he was being wheeled into the operating room to have his appendix removed many years ago. “Love you, too, Copper. And I’m sorry, for whatever we were arguing about. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, man. I know it wasn’t you talking.” I squeezed his hand, “Go get better. I’ll see you soon.” He squeezed my hand in return, and then he was gone.