I didn't mean to hurt you.

TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️: Injury detail, brief mentions of sexual assault and rape, and heavy emotional scenes are consistent in this chapter. If you feel uncomfortable with any of these points, either comment here ---> or private message me and I shall be happy to give a summary of this chapter that skims over these points.

Isaac:

Not gonna lie, I was scared when the West-Browns told me they had Arya.

I thought for sure they were the ones who'd kidnapped her. I began formulating a plan- well, more like a suicide mission- to get her back.

But then they explained and told me she was in the hospital.

I think Ethan broke about twenty traffic driving regulations to get there and nearly killed several people.

When we reached the hospital, we marched up to the receptionist and demanded she tell us where Arya was.

"I cannot tell you where she is until you show me some sort of identification." She said firmly.

"Lady, if you don't tell me where she is, I'll-" Ethan started furiously.

"-You'll what? Kill me?" She laughed, a slightly maniacal sound that scared even me. "Sir, I have worked for ten hours and had nothing to eat but a small breakfast bar and ten cups of coffee. You really don't scare me. Now lower your voice- this is a hospital for heaven's sake!"

"It's okay Martha," My head snapped to the side and I straightened upon seeing Mrs. West-Brown, "they're with us."

Martha looked at us and shrugged, sipping from a cup, "alright then. Go ahead."

"Thank you," Caleb- the only nice one in our group- smiled and we followed Mrs. West-Brown to the elevator. She held the door open for us and pressed the number two button and turned orange.

After ten seconds of listening to the cheesy elevator music, Nick snapped.

"How is she?" He asked with a soft gruffness, tilting his head back and closing his eyes- as if he feared the answer.

She hesitated and exhaled very slowly, "I think I should let the doctor tell you."

The doors opened with a quiet ding! and we followed her down the endless corridor, passed the crying people and the stoic and exhausted doctors until we reached Room 205. Mrs. West-Brown knocked softly and a quiet 'come in!' responded.

"You guys go in," Mrs. West-Brown said, "I have to head home anyways. Contact me if you need anything."

I nodded and thanked her, taking a deep breath in and holding it as I opened the door.

My gaze landed on Arya and all the air was knocked out my lungs.

Her frail body was hooked to many tubes and drips. I could see her bones sharply press against her skin, as if they were trying to break through. She was sleeping, her chest rising and falling with each ragged breath that steamed the oxygen mask.

I leaned against the wall, tears making my vision blurry and rage shook my body.

"Are you her family?" The doctor- a woman in her thirties- asked. We nodded and she continued. "My name is Doctor Green. Could we talk outside? I do not want to wake the patient."

I forced my legs to move and heard the door click shut behind me, but nothing really registered in my brain.

"What- what happened- what happened to- to her?" Nick questioned.

Doctor Green explained, "she has several broken ribs and severe bruises that will take a while to heal. According to Lisa, she collapsed at their home and was unconscious for several hours due to lack of nutrition and the physical strain this has had on her body. Her vocal chords have been completely destroyed and there is some scarred tissues around her mouth which I suspect might be infected. Her chords might repair itself, but there is no way for saying for sure. And um," She hesitated and briefly closed her eyes, "there are signs that she was sexually assaulted while in captivity."

A cold numbness wound itself around my body. I was aware of my every breath. A high-pitched buzzing rang in my ears and I realised I was on the floor. I closed my eyes tightly shut and an ugly sob pushed past my lips.

"Did they-? I mean- I mean," Ethan swallowed, "was she-?"

"No, she was not raped," Doctor Green assured. A tiny chip of the crushing weight was lifted off my chest. "There were some fibres under her fingernails. They can be tested to find out the people who did this-"

"People?" Nick looked up, eyes wide, "as- as in more than one?"

The doctor hesitated and gave a tiny, almost imperceptible, nod, "judging by the fingerprints, I would say it was more than one... I will give you some time before we discuss what to do next." With an empathetic smile, she left us to our self-destructive thoughts.

"More than one," Nick repeated quietly, resting his loosely curled fists in his lap.

"More than one," My voice sounded hoarse even to my own ears.

"We should've stopped her," Caleb hugged his knees tightly to his chest, his usually cheerful countenance was scrunched up in despair.

"We didn't know-" I started.

"Yeah, that's part of the problem, isn't it?" Ethan laughed coldly, "we didn't know. But we should've been smart enough to think 'wait a damn minute, we run a dangerous gang and have lots of enemies. Why don't we place security measures on the one person who can be used against all of us, hmm?'"

"You think- you think Arya was taken because of our jobs?" Caleb asked in a very small voice.

"Well what other explanation is there?"

We went silent at Ethan's brutally honest words.

"I want out," Chris said softly- the first words he'd spoken since we found out that Arya was in the hospital, "I can't do this anymore. The stakes are way too high."

I tipped my head back so it lightly hit the wall, "you're right."

When we first started 'Hell's Angels'- the name was a regrettable moment of idiocy- it was supposed to simply be a friendship group. But then my father found out about it and was delighted. He thought that his disappointment of a son had finally decided to create his own empire and wasted no time gathering resources and training us in the illegal arts.

We didn't want it. It was a constant strain on our physical and mental capacity. Always looking over our shoulder, bribing government officials, worrying about family and friends.

And now, we almost lost our sister.

"I'll talk to Valencio." I mumbled, standing up and wiping my hands on my trousers, "Let's go..."

I pushed down the tarnished silver handle and walked in, my heart thudding painfully as I looked at Arya.

She was awake. Her bright green eyes that were usually so full of life had dulled as she stared intently at the ceiling.

"Hey Skittle," Chris choked out, taking the seat to her right, "how- how are you feeling? Wait, sorry- I, um, I forgot you can't speak right now."

He reached for her hand, but she pulled it away. Fear flickered across her expression.

Chris stilled and sucked in a sharp breath. He forced a weak smile, "I'm sorry... it's fine, though. We'll just sit here, is um, is that okay?"

A tiny nod.

We pulled out some chairs and sat around the small bed. I sent a quick text to Marigold, Jacob and Lucas, informing them that Arya had been found and the name of the hospital.

We didn't talk.

Just sat there in a suffocating silence as we watched Arya slowly slip into unconsciousness.

X

I hope you guys liked it!

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)