After returning, I made the decision to give things with Nick a serious try. We moved in together not long after my return. He is stable. Things are good. However, the one thing left of my old life I can’t seem to let go of is Tank.

He is in the hospital because of the Delatorre situation, and the coma he hasn’t come out of in almost eight months weighs heavily on my heart. There is so much I never got to say to him. I have actually said a lot of it now, but does he really know I am here and I am talking to him? The doctors say he can hear me. They tell me the last thing a person loses is their ability to hear, so I should keep talking to him every chance I can. Therefore, each morning, after Nick leaves for work, I spend an hour at Tank’s bedside before I go off to my job. A job where I once saw Tank every day he wasn’t on a transport.

The whole thing started when Doll and I were sent on a ride across the country with Tripp and Rex. It was to keep us safe since Felix Delatorre threatened Doll. While we were on the road, the Hellions back home handled Delatorre and his crew. I don’t know all of the details of what happened in the warehouse that day, only that Bull, Perry, Pearl and Coach were all killed. I know that Roundman eliminated Delatorre, but the specifics have not been discussed. Tank, Bandit and Jag were all injured, but while they have since recovered, Tank has not.

They don’t know why he isn’t waking up, either. His body has completely healed. However, his mind has not.

The majority of our trip was relatively easy compared to what everyone back home was facing trying to eliminate Delatorre and the threat he posed. Rex and Tripp took care of keeping Doll and I safe. We only had one major incident, though it’s one that will forever be ingrained in my soul.

Doll and I have been inseparable since childhood, my survival sister in this crazy life. The instant Tripp’s arm comes up to signal he will be turning off and Rex is to continue on forward then circle back around, my heart skips a beat. Watching my best friend pull off at the exit while we have to continue on crushes me. The millions of ‘what ifs’ are playing on a loop in my mind.

Rex and I continue on and circle back around as instructed, and when we finally pull up to a rundown gas station, my heart drops. I can see the Hellions cuts on the back of the men as they are guiding a group of Hispanic men at gunpoint behind the restrooms. What I don’t see is Tripp or Doll. Rex taps my thigh, a signal for me to get off the bike, as he removes his helmet. Rex is not the serious type. He takes life as a ride; simple, carefree, face what comes when it comes. At this moment, however, he is stern and unsmiling as he looks at me.