Oak watched Melody pass out before he stepped back and took a deep breath. What he had walked in on had made him want to kill Greg right then and there. Looking around the room, he saw her clothing and went over to grab them before laying it all on the bed. He took in her back crisscrossed with marks from a belt and the new wounds on her face. His fists clenched as he heard footsteps behind him.
     "How's she doing?" Ash asked as he stepped in the bedroom.
     "She's out. But her back needs to be taken care of, that fucker didn't hold back." Oak growled as he looked down at her.
     "I have Felicity coming over. Wyatt's a mess and being checked out and Tank took Greg back to the warehouse. I'll grab Coal and your truck if you want to ride mine back or send over a prospect". Ash paused as he looked between Oak and Melody, his face darkening as he saw her back.
      "We need to keep him alive until we find out how much of a threat that drug lord is. Keep that in mind. After that, he's all yours." Oak nodded as he rubbed his hand over his face.
      "Thanks, brother. I'll wait here for Felicity, go on and head back. I'll see you later." Ash bumped his shoulder before heading out.
      Oak sat on the bed next to Melody, his hands wanting to reach out but afraid to hurt her. He watched her face scrunch with discomfort and her breathing hitched before he was surprised by her eyes flying open in panic.
    "Easy, your safe." Oak placed his hand softly on her neck to keep her from rearing back. Her eyes focused on his, unshed tears threatening to spill out but she sniffed them away.
      She seemed to be taking stock of her body as her hands flexed at her sides. Relief seemed to loosen her body as he removed his hand and sat back.
    "Someone's coming to take care of your back, she's a nurse and helps us out. Are you hurt anywhere else?" She had been naked when he had come crashing into the room and he was afraid he had been too late.
       She shook her head as she looked up at him with silent gratitude, her swollen face pinched with discomfort.

             "My side hurts and my face but you came before..." Melody trailed off.

           Oak nodded in understanding, not needing her to finish her sentence.  She started to push herself up but Oak automatically placed his hand on her arm making her pause. "Take it easy, we have to wait until your back gets looked at." Oak rubbed her arm reassuringly as she focused her gaze on him.
          Nodding, she licked her lips before moving her gaze around the room. She seemed to be in slight shock but her color was returning and her breathing was evening out. He stepped back as he heard the front door open and close.

          Footsteps came up the stairs and into the bedroom, belonging to Garrett's wife who was a nurse at the local emergency room. Sweet and funny, she was the perfect person for her job and had volunteered from the start to help out with situations like this for the club.

         "Hey Oak, heard you needed some help." Felicity was dressed in sweats with a small bag in hand that she placed on the bed.

            "Felicity, this is Melody, my new bar manager. Melody this is Felicity, Garrett's wife." Oak smiled at Melody as she looked over at Felicity who was smiling warmly at her.

         "It's nice to meet you Melody, do you mind if I take a look at you?" Felicity pulled her blonde hair up into a bun as she waited.

     "Yes, thank you. I'm sorry we aren't meeting under better circumstances", Melody joked as she bent her arms beside her.
             "Don't worry about that, let's take a look and get you fixed up." Felicity's green eyes widened at seeing her back, but she kept herself quiet.
      "It looks worse than it feels, but I don't know about my side, it's still hurts to breath." Melody bit her lip as she looked over at Oak. He had yet to talk to Wyatt who had been forced to watch everything and knew now was not the time to ask her what had happened. He felt useless just standing there and wished he could do something. As if reading his mind, Felicity spoke up as she rolled the sheet down before stopping.
            "Oak, can you grab some clean towels from the bathroom and ice from the kitchen. Knock before you come back in." Wordlessly, Oak blew out a breath and moved to do just that. He closed the door behind him as he saw Melody flinch slightly when Felicity touched her back.
             Angrily, he stalked around the house and grabbed the towels and ice but stopped before heading back up. He couldn't wait to get his hands on that fucking detective. Grabbing his phone, he pulled up his brother's number and waited for him to answer.
        "Everything okay, Oak?" Ash asked when he picked up.
            "No, make sure that piece of shit is strung up tonight. I'll be back there in a few and we'll see what he has to stay." Oak felt his rage deepening and started to question why he felt so strongly. What Melody had gone through, no one should and he was going to make sure Greg understood that before he died. He was done playing games with cowards like him and he couldn't wait to give him a taste of his own medicine.
         "Don't worry brother, I'll make sure he's ready but remember, information first." Ash's voice brooked no argument and Oak knew he was right, he'd cool down and be more level headed when he showed up.
             They hung up and Oak headed back upstairs, knocking before hearing Felicity say to wait a minute. He leaned his forehead against the door as his arms hung limply by his side, bath towels in one hand and ice in a bag in the other. With so many questions pinging around his mind, he stored it all away for later before zeroing in on his thoughts toward Melody.
It made no sense that Greg or Bryce would mark her up if what Bryce at least said was true. Bryce had seemed to be fueled by pride and anger while Greg appeared deranged and obsessive. How did she fit into a plan to be handed over as a sex slave for a drug lord. Something wasn't adding up and he knew he wouldn't sleep until he found out what that was.
Slowly, he felt the door give way as he stumbled back and looked down at Felicity. She had a finger to her lips as she grabbed the towels and ice from him before letting him in. He left the door ajar and took in her back covered in antiseptic and ointment.
                  "She's in a lot of pain, so I gave her a sleep aid and some ibuprofen. She needs this ice on her side and face, she most likely has a cracked rib. Otherwise, she needs lots of rest and time to heal. She got lucky and none of the lacerations are too deep so they'll heal without needing stitches. I already plan to come see her in a few days but she needs to clean and change her bandages daily to avoid infection. Also, she needs to make sure she stays mobile and focus on deep breathing to avoid complications." As Felicity whispered this to him, he felt a little overwhelmed and it apparently showed on his face.
            She quietly laughed before holding up her hand. "I already told Melody all of this who unfortunately knows how to treat the back wounds. It may take a few months before she completely heals physically." Oak nodded before moving towards the bed.
               "I'm going to check in with Garrett, there's nothing left to do besides let her sleep." Felicity cleaned up the supplies before stepping over to Oak and squeezing his arm.
"She's a tough cookie but whoever did that to her I hope is paying for it." His expression gave her all the answer she needed before Felicity let herself out.
         She had loose sweatpants and a button up shirt put on backwards, leaving her back exposed. The sun shining in through the bedroom windows lit up her freckled back and his eyes narrowed on the pale, purple-red scars. Had Bryce or Greg given her those? What scars couldn't he see?
         Stopping his thoughts from going further, he looked around the room before seeing her gun and phone on the bureau. With it close to noon, he had to go back to the bar and see how the painting guys were doing.
              Texting a message to her phone in case she woke up, he left them both next to the bed on her nightstand. She'd probably be sleeping for most of the day but all she had to do was call and he'd have someone there to help her if not himself. She had no one to help her out here which made him feel slightly guilty for leaving her. Despite knowing this had happened before didn't make things easier and only fueled his desire to pound Greg into the ground.
                 Giving her one last glance, he locked her in the house and hopped on his brother's bike. With his bar manager out, he had to go back to running the show solo again. He throttled out of her driveway and not once during all this did he regret hiring her into his life.

                                                                        ———————————————
"Mell-oddyyyy", his singsong voice creepily floated in the dark as she hid beneath her mother's clothes. Her tiny fists covered her ears as she focused on breathing quietly, afraid he would hear her.
               "Come out, there's no need to hide." His voice became forceful and she shook in fear. She put her hand over her mouth when the light flicked on in the bedroom, holding super still. He checked the closet and under the bed, his drunken ramblings were low and confused as he bypassed her in the mound of clothes in the corner.
                  Closing her eyes in relief as he moved back towards the door, she waited for it to close. Only it never did as she screamed in terror, his hands plucking her easily up from the laundry pile.
         "So sneaky, little Melody." He hissed in warning as he brought her over to the bed. Her nightgown became clutched tightly in her fists as he sat her on his lap.
             "Now, are you going to be a good girl?" He stroked her back and legs with his hands, making her hope that tonight it wouldn't hurt. Fat tears fell down her chubby cheeks as she nodded and looked at her lap. His fingers were crawling closer and closer and closer...

                  Melody gasped as she opened her eyes and let the memories wash away. It had been a while since those nightmares had affected her sleep. She squeezed her eyes tight as she felt her back burning with fire. Focusing on her breathing, she made her breathes slow and deep as her face throbbed. Opening her eyes again, she slowly pushed herself up and took a look at the time on her phone. She saw a few missed messages before her gaze moved to the pills and water next to her gun. Shuddering at the reminder of what had happened, she cleared her head and slowly rose to sit off the side of the bed.
                Her room was empty and she heard no noise downstairs. Gulping back half the water bottle with some ibuprofen, she wondered where Felicity and Oak had gone. Foolishly, she knew it was ridiculous to have someone wait around for her to wake up and felt better knowing she wasn't being too much of a burden.
                Grabbing her phone, she saw the messages from Wyatt and Oak, smiling slightly at them.   Wyatt asked how she was doing and knew she would have to talk to him about what had happened. She wanted to make sure he didn't blame himself in any way. He was still young and impressionable, and she had seen the look on his face when Greg had been attacking her.
The message from Oak was short and to the point but it gave her some answers. She knew the importance of his bar and felt frustrated knowing she'd be out of work even longer. She wouldn't blame him if he felt the need to hire someone else. Felicity had told her no work for at at least three weeks to give her rib a fighting chance if not at least six. She'd make it happen in two, this was nothing compared to last time.
           Feeling silly in the backwards, button up, Melody shrugged out of it before finding her open back tank top and pulling it on. She twisted and cursed at the pain but felt better once it was on.

              She wanted to see Coal so bad, feeling lonely in the empty house and not able to do much. It was almost dinner time and her stomach rumbled just as lights hit the house. Sleeping the day away was what she had needed and she moved slowly down the stairs to see who was pulling up.

           Oak's blue Ford pickup shut off as she made it into the kitchen and turned on the light over the table. She heard the front door unlock and open, forgetting she had given a key to Wyatt and figured Oak had snagged it from him. When a pattering of feet greeted her with a bark, she spun around and almost fell as the stretching of her skin made her see double with pain. She hid the pain on her face as she bent down and nuzzled Coal, feeling some tears escape as she fought between happiness and pain.

               "Hey, should you be up?" Oak's deep voice came through the doorway as she looked over Coal at him.
      "I'm fine. Sucks to say but I've had worse and Felicity said I had to stay moving." Melody stood up while stroking Coal's head, seeing the bags in his hands.
     "Well, I brought dinner. Fish and chips, hope you like that?" He seemed so uncertain that she quickly nodded her head and smiled, appreciating his thoughtfulness.
     "Yes, I'm excited to see how it compares to back home. Thank you." Melody turned to grab some plates and sucked in a breath as shooting pain shot up from her side. She didn't realize a cracked rib would hurt so bad.
          "Let me get that, go sit." Oak had come up behind her and gently grabbed the plates from her hand. His smell invaded her senses and she felt the urge to lean into him. What the fuck was wrong with her?
           Shaking her head, she sat down at the table and leaned forward before finding some minor relief. Deep breathing, deep breathing. She kept repeating it over and over as she watched Oak set everything out and make her a plate.
          "Thank you. So, I uh wanted to let you know that if you needed to hire someone for my position I completely get that." Melody let it all out in a rush as she carefully forked a flaky piece of fish.
             Chewing slowly, he looked at her before moving his gaze out the window. Swallowing, he took a drink of water and looked back at her.
            "I wasn't planning on that to be honest. I had hoped in a month or two you'd want to come back. That's nothing I can't handle alone, no different than what I was already doing." He leaned back in his chair, his arms loosely propped on the table top with his silverware in hand.
      Feeling so useless, she figured he would start looking for someone else since she wouldn't be able to do much for a few weeks.
     "Yes...Can I still help with the ride this weekend?" It was the least she could do, volunteer her time until she was more able bodied for the bar.
          "Sounds like a plan then. Easy task, you can collect the donations and hand shit out." He grinned before diving back into his food. 
        Maybe this would turn out better than expected, Melody thought as she enjoyed the rest of her dinner.