The last time Chibs pushed his bike this hard was when he was following Jax to the docks to get Abel back. But, his Dyna was built for speed, and she could fly when she wanted to. Right now, he needed her more than ever. He didn't once glance at his speedometer, not needing to know how fast he was going, only knowing that it wasn't fast enough to get to Charlotte.
The road was mainly straight, a couple of cars in the distance becoming increasingly nearer as he pushed his Harley harder. Up ahead the road curved to the right slightly, and just beyond that curve was The Monty Motel Inn where she was. Hale's phone call had been vague; he'd said Charlotte was 'in trouble' and with her been missing in action all day, alarm bells were ringing.
He saw an ambulance before they heard the wail of it's siren above the roar of the pack of bikes. It was on the other side of the road, lights flashing, increasingly heading towards them.
A feeling of dread bubbled in the pit of Chibs' stomach before he quickly pushed it aside. Just because they were in the middle of nowhere and the ambulance was racing back to Charming it didn't mean that Charlotte was necessarily in the back.
Did it?
As the ambulance came closer, Chibs made out Hale's jeep following behind. He braked hard and pulled his bike to the left, cutting across three lanes of traffic, emerging on the other side of the road, and sped up following the ambulance and police vehicle convoy.
"Chibs!" Jax yelled to him, stopping his bike too, letting the few cars behind them pass, horns blaring loudly and earning looks of bewilderment and anger at the sudden stop of eleven bikes in the middle of the road. He had the same hunch as Chibs, but wanted someone there at the motel to check things over too.
"We'll check out the motel, you stick with him!" Clay yelled over the roar of the bikes. Jax nodded fiercely and pulled an illegal U-turn, joining his brother. Clay revved his bike and motioned for the rest to follow him.
Chibs was seconds behind the ambulance the whole way back, but by the time he killed his engine and threw his helmet off his head Charlotte was already taken inside by the ambulance crew on a gurney and met by the hospital staff.
As he ran across the parking lot through the glass sliding automatic doors Jax pulled up.
Inside the crowd of people was overwhelming and he lost track of her. Pushing through the crowd of elderly and sick children in the waiting room he saw her being wheeled around a corner and into a waiting lift.
"Charlie!" He shouted to her, and her head turned to him. As she entered the lift she reached out a hand to him but the paramedic took her hand and put it back down on her chest, wheeling her inside the lift and the automatic doors seperated them once more.
"No!" Chibs shouted banging on the elevator doors, but a quick glance upward indicated that it was already on the floor above him.
"She's on floor six, I checked with Tara, we gotta go."
He heard Jax's muted voice in his ears a hand guiding him away from the doors as his other hand pressed the call button. It seemed like hours before a free elevator came and Chibs punched the button number 6 so hard the panel nearly came off.
The elevator was deathly silent, and only when a loud piercing beeper went off towards the back of the elevator that belonged to a scared intern did they realise they weren't alone. The petite blonde intern who had buried herself in the corner of theelevator shaft gave them a weary smile.
Jax chewed on his bottom lip nervously, hoping that Clay and the others had caught Aaron and were bringing him back to the Clubhouse right now. No matter what condition Charlotte was in, Aaron was going to get seriously hurt.
The soft ping of the door came and then the silver grey doors opened out onto another floor, this time much quieter and not half as many people as down below.
"Where is she?" Chibs asked nobody in particular, scouring the hallway before reaching a small circular desk in the middle of the floor. Somehow Tara had gotten there before they had, talking in hushed tones with a dark skinned Doctor. Her face was glum, but as she noticed the pair of them approaching her she put on a small professional smile.
"What's happening?" Jax asked.
"She's being assessed, you won't be able to go in," she added sympathetically turning to Chibs.
