Fighting Back (Mercy's Angels) Read Online Free PDF

hospitals, I hated them—the smell, the sounds, the sights. I hadn’t stepped foot in a hospital since the night my grandma died, but I knew my injuries really did require professional medical attention. I had to suck it up and stop being such a baby.
    “I’ll be there with you,” Charlie hesitated, “or Mercy, if you would prefer. The doctors are going to check you over, then you can come home and get some rest, okay?”
    I shook my head as panic began to flood my body. I couldn’t control it; it simply washed over me like a tsunami. “I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be in that room,” I whispered. The thought of stepping a foot back in my bedroom flooded my body with fear.
    “Okay, no problem. You can stay with me, or even Mercy. You know she’d be happy to have you.”
    Right now the thought of not being with Charlie filled me with a peculiar sense of dread and the thought confused me. I haven’t even spoken to Charlie in a year, and now I felt completely reliant on him all of the sudden. I had been sitting on the floor of this fucking bathroom for God knows how long, scared out of my mind and it had been Charlie’s whispered voice from the other side of the door that had calmed me. His presence alone settled me, made me believe that everything might be okay. But there was also a hint of fear at being alone with a man—any man. Even though I knew Charlie wouldn’t hurt me, even though I felt safe in his arms, the thought of spending the night alone with him was unsettling.
    “You think Mercy wouldn’t mind if I stayed with her?” I whispered. I felt so weak and pathetic, and if I didn’t hurt so much, I would kick my own ass. But no matter how much I wanted to feel strong, I couldn’t, I was terrified.
    “You know she wouldn’t mind,” Charlie said easily.
    “Dave is away, she’s all alone in her house,” I whispered, realizing that too made me a little uncomfortable.
    “If it makes you feel better, I’ll crash there too. You, me, and Mercy, we’ll have one big happy sleepover. For me it will be like old times, except Jax won’t be there breaking wind every five minutes.” I tried to smile but my lip stung like a bitch. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Mercy’s going to sit with you while I get some materials from my truck and leave it with Frank to secure the broken window. Then you can pack a bag and we’ll go to the hospital, all three of us together.” I nodded, grateful that he was doing the thinking for me. I didn’t want to think, I didn’t want to feel for that matter. Then the thought of packing a bag sent a jolt of panic through my veins once more.
    “I can’t,” I whimpered.
    “Can’t what, baby? he asked, still sitting beside me, his arms around me, holding me, protecting me.
    “I can’t go in my room, I can’t pack my bag.” I started crying again and it pissed me off. I haven’t cried since my grandma died over nine years ago.
    Charlie pulled away to look me straight in the eye. He cupped my cheeks gently. “Not a problem, Betty Boop. I’ll pack your bag while Mercy sits with you, okay?” I nodded. “Anyway, I’m dying to see what else you’ve got in that top drawer with those pretty red lacey things you wore the last time I was here.”
    A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth and my stinging lip made me wince. A tear slipped free again, a reminder of how quickly my life had descended from peaceful to chaotic.
    “I’m sorry, honey, it really isn’t the time for jokes. I’m a prick.”
    I pulled him closer and held onto him for dear life until I finally found some control again. “Just don’t open the drawer beside my bed, please.” Somewhere in the panic and fear, embarrassment over Charlie finding Big Red seemed about as bad as it could get.
    “I’m intrigued, but I promise I won’t go near it,” he whispered.
    I could hear the smile in his voice, and as much as I wanted to give him a playful punch and make him pinky