by A. J. Downey
“Oh Honey, yeah, a week or two on some crutches and probably a couple of months in physical therapy. It might pain you some when it gets cold but yeah, you should make a full recovery.” He smiled and she sucked in several breaths. I leaned over her and let her have her melt down.
She had herself a deep ugly cry, weeping out all that pent of fear and negativity onto my cut and I smoothed a hand through her hair and let her do it. I was just glad she as here, I was just glad she was alive, not like my mom… not like my mom. Doc went away while she worked through things and came back as she was finishing up.
“Better?” he asked. She nodded.
“Sorry I gotta do this. Dray you may want to lay over her and hold her some. This shot for the local is a bitch.” I nodded and did what I needed to.
“You scream you cry, you do whatever you need to do to let me get this done Everett. I’ve heard it all before from people a lot less pretty ‘n you.” He said and she nodded a little too rapidly. God it broke my heart. You’d like to think Doc was killing her with that shot. He waited about five minutes. She couldn’t see him, her face buried in my chest as I held onto her.
“You feel that Evy?” he asked and she shook her head.
“No.” I answered for her.
“Okay good.” He said a minute later there was a metallic on plastic clack as he dropped the bullet into one of those disposable kidney shaped pink dish things.
“Almost done.” He said. He said something to a nurse standing beside him, he cleaned, stitched and bandaged my girl’s leg.
“Okay Hon relax. You’re all done. Dray I’ma talk to your old man.” He said.
“Yeah, thanks Doc.” I said. I pulled back slowly from her and looked into her dazed blue eyes.
“I don’t understand…” she started.
“Shhhh, we’ll get it all sorted out later Baby.” I kissed her forehead and her eyes drifted shut. The sound of the curtain on the rails had me turning around. A man, late forties early fifties, stood there holding my old pack and my spare helmet. I glared at him.
“Who the fuck are you?” I demanded.
“I’m Eddie.” He said and my frown deepened.
“He’s my boss.” Everett whispered and closed her eyes.
“You want him here Babe?” I asked.
“It’s okay.” She murmured.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I just wanted to bring Everett her things.” He held up the pack and helmet and set them aside on a chair against the wall.
“She going to be okay?” he asked concerned.
“The fucking lying twat you had her working with had her shot trying to rob the place with her boyfriend! What do you think?” I demanded. We’d already had the cops come by. The man who’d shot Everett was in custody down the hall. They’d gotten the full story from him after he’d woken up. They’d had to bring his ass to the hospital after I’d knocked his ass out. The man flinched.
“Please don’t call her that. She may have behaved that way but she’s still my niece.” He gave me a pleading look and I snorted. I didn’t give two shits who she was at that point. All I kept seeing was the glint of neon off the fucking gun in the dude’s hand… I saw it from almost two blocks away. I was half a block away when he shot her, the crack of the gun and the most god awful wounded animal scream… I gritted my teeth. Her screaming was the only thing that had held my shit together. If she was screaming it had meant she was alive. Meant that I’d had time…
“Dray I know you’re mad. I’m okay. Really.” Everett’s voice was gentle, and wavered with her drug induced high, snapping me out of reliving the nightmare… I looked from her boss down into her eyes. Her pupils dilated to the point there almost wasn’t any blue. I smiled down at her.
“Doc gave you some good shit.” I said and she smiled tremulously.
“Nothing hurts anymore… I’m fine.” She half said, half sang. Eddie looked stricken.
“Yeah she quits, fuck your two weeks’ notice.” I told him and the look on my face was enough to make him shit himself. He nodded a little too rapidly.
“Yeah, no, I understand. Thank you. You may not believe it but I like Everett. I’m glad you were there, that she’s okay. Have her call me, if she wants to…” he said, backing out of the curtained area. I gave him a chin lift. Everett was sound asleep. I had a nurse tuck some warm blankets around her and went out to give everyone the news. Mandy stood up as I entered the waiting room.
“How is she?” she demanded.
“Easy Red.” I told her, adopting Zander’s pretty fucking unoriginal tag for her.
“Doc says she’s gonna be on crutches for a couple of weeks and then physical therapy for a couple of months but after that she’ll be just fine. Dancing shouldn’t be affected.” I said, shoulders slumping. Mandy came up and hugged me. I stiffened. I wasn’t really one for this kind of crap.
“Thank you so much for getting there when you did.” She sobbed and I softened, patting her back awkwardly.
“Yeah, no problem.” I said, capturing my dad’s gaze. I’d told him what made me go back and I was more than a little bit surprised that he actually believed me. He nodded and I nodded back. Mandy went and sat down, Ashton hugged her and said something to her in her too-quiet ethereal tone.
“So what happened? For those of us late to the party…” Reaver asked.
“Look, they’re going to keep her for a few hours and then let her go. I want to take her back to the club house for now. Easier to get around than the house. More open. We need to have a club meeting about this anyways.” I said. “Dude that shot her was wearing a cut. Colors I’ve never seen before.” I said. Trigger’s eyebrows went up.
“Get a name?” he asked.
“Yeah, Suicide Kings. King like on a playing card as their emblem, colors look to be yellow and red. I want to get back with Em. Sadie wouldn’t start this morning, I left Matilda near her coffee stand.” I looked at my Dad.
“Keys.” He grunted, I tossed them to him.
“I’ll give you a ride.” Ashton murmured. She rose and a bleary eyed Mandy rose with her.
“Can I go back with you?” she asked me. I nodded.
“I’ll hang out here if you need anything.” Zander said and gave her a crooked smile. She looked him over and nodded slowly.
“Okay…” she trailed off, “Thanks.” She went with me back to Em’s room. My girl was still out cold.
“She looks so exhausted.” Mandy said and took the stool by the bed. I leaned back against the wall. I knew the feeling.
Chapter 15
Everett…
Whatever pain medicine they had given me at the hospital had worked a little too well. When I woke up it was only for a little bit, I had a vague memory of Ashton’s Jeep and then nothing, when I woke it was in Dray’s bed at the clubhouse, a pair of crutches leaning against the wall by the head of the bed.
I blinked and tried to sit up. My leg was raised on a pile of pillows and I couldn’t get my arms under me to push myself up without pain tearing through it. I closed my eyes. I was alone in the room but the door stood wide open. My mouth felt full of cotton and I tried to work up some spit to lubricate it. It wasn’t happening.
“Dray!” I called out and Ashton ducked into the room a moment later, just as I opened my mouth to call again.
“He’s in the Chapel with the others.” She said softly. I struggled into a sitting position despite the searing pain in my leg. Mandy bounced into the room and around Ashton.
“Woah, woah woah! Easy!” Mandy said. The two club hang-arounds and the prospect looked in. The prospect, Loyal came in and put one arm behind my back and the other behind my knees and slid me carefully, wrestling me so I could sit up. I gasped out a thank you.
“Time to take one of these.” Mandy put a white round tablet into my hand. Ashton handed me a glass of water.
“Prospect!” I heard bellowed from somewhere out into the club. The three men disappeared. Mandy sat dow
n on the edge of the bed by my knee and watched me, a worried crease between her brows. I obediently swallowed the pain pill.
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked.
“It’s around ten o’clock.” Ashton said.
“At night.” Mandy clarified. I closed my eyes and my shoulders sank.
“I’m sorry…” I said.
“For what!?” Mandy asked, “Evy you got shot.” She said and crossed her arms. I blinked and shook my head to clear the lingering confusion.
“I want to press charges!” I said and Ashton laughed, a high musical sound.
“Honey, when somebody shoots someone, the police do that for you. Some detectives want to talk to you when you feel up to it though.” She took the empty glass of water from my hand and I realized I really had to pee… I sighed.
“Crutches?” Mandy asked, figuring out my predicament. Dray appeared in the doorway when I finally got to my feet the crutches under my arms.
“Bathroom?” he asked and I nodded, he stood aside but kept pace with my slow going. My leg hurt abominably. I managed to take care of business on my own, getting up and down no small thing.
I wore a sexy satin nightgown. Black, so I know it had been chosen by Dray, it clung to my body, held up by thin spaghetti straps and only hung to just below where it would be considered completely indecent. My left mid-thigh was wrapped in a snowy white bandage that was stark against my peaches and cream skin, made even more so by the fringe of black satin above it. I sighed and used the crutches to get back to the door. I reached for the handle and the door opened. Dray’s dark eyes raked over me assessing.
“You go shopping?” I asked and he smiled faintly.
“Yeah. I wanted you in something that would make getting to your leg easy. Something you didn’t have to keep running over it with every time you needed to use the bathroom.” He said keeping pace, spotting me on my return to the bedroom. I smiled.
“An oversized tee shirt would have done the same.” I pointed out gently. He shook his head.
“You deserved something beautiful.” He said and I smiled even more. Most girls get hurt, their boyfriend brings them some flowers, I get hurt and Dray gets me sexy lingerie. I let him help me back into bed. Mandy elevated my leg with the pillows, careful of me.
“You guys, really, you don’t need to fuss!” I said.
“Let us. You were shot Evy… Shot! Okay?” Mandy’s eyes misted, the green becoming luminous and she sniffed. Dray looked grimmer than I’d ever seen him. So still, so quiet… Ashton took Mandy’s hand.
“We need to go.” She told my friend pointedly. Mandy looked at her confused, but whatever she saw in Ashton’s golden eyes convinced her. They slipped out of the room leaving me and Dray alone, the door shutting softly but resolutely behind them.
Dray seemed to fold in on himself. He sat on the edge of the bed by my hip and closed his eyes bending forward at the waist. His hair fell into his face, curtaining his anguished expression, his shoulders shook and he sobbed.
“Oh my god! Here!” I said and reached for him, he collapsed into my arms, careful of my leg and sobbed into my chest. His arms went around me and he held me tight as if at any moment I might disappear.
“It’s okay…” I soothed, “Shhhh I’m here. It’s okay…”
He wept his fill and looked up at me, his deep dark eyes full of sorrow mixed with relief and tinged with a bit of grateful. He covered my mouth with his own and I welcomed his kiss, drank him down. I was so incredibly grateful to be alive, to be here with him. Our lips parted and I asked him, “How did you know?” I sniffed. I hadn’t realized I’d been crying with him.
“My mom. I swear to god Em, my mom told me to turn around. Sadie breaking down was the first sign. When I got to the garage the bay door jammed and it was the damnedest thing I swear I heard her tell me to go.” I smoothed the tears from his cheeks with my hands.
“I believe you,” I said. He captured my wrists with his hands and pulled them away from his face.
“You don’t understand Em, my mom was shot, she died right in front of me… Em she knew, she knew it was going to happen I had a bad feeling all morning. Baby I’m so sorry I didn’t get the message sooner.” Fresh tears tracked down his cheeks.
“I heard my da’.” I confessed. Dray kicked off his boots and stretched out next to me. I laid my head on his shoulder and we stared at the ceiling and the blank television screen bolted there.
We traded our stories and marveled that our parents, both of them, had come together and guided us both. That they were instrumental in rescuing me that morning.
“Should we keep this between us?” I asked after a long silence.
“I told my pops. I had to… He believed me but I think we should keep it on the down low with the rest of the club.” He said.
“I might tell Mandy.” I said, I felt him nod.
“You know her better than I do Babe.” He turned his head and kissed mine.
“I guess this means your mom approves?” I tentatively ventured.
“Baby I know she does.” He said and smoothed his hand down my arm. I closed my eyes. The pain meds starting to take effect.
“What was the meeting about?” I asked. Dray had told me about the club and how it operated, just not about what the closed door meetings were always about. He’d said in the interest of there being no secrets between us, seeing as what Jerry had done, that he would always tell me what he could and if he couldn’t he would simply tell me so.
“The man who attacked you was twenty-three. His name is Ronald Fortin and the meeting was about the colors he was flying.” He said.
“You mean the patches on the back of his cut?” I asked.
“Yeah, you see ‘em?” he asked.
“Yeah when you slammed him against the window by the door.” He gave me a little squeeze.
“Yeah I beat the fucking brakes off that fucker.” He said, savagery in his tone.
“I know, thank you.” I said.
“Not bothered by the fact I fucked him up?” he asked.
I snorted. “Hell no! He shot me!” I exclaimed and he chuckled.
“Do you remember the patches?” He asked.
“Yeah, the top one said Suicide Kings and the middle one was the King of Hearts, from the playing card. The bottom one was the one that confused me, it said Nomad.” I rolled my head back and to the side so I could look at him. He looked down at me.
“Nomad patch on an individual might mean that they lead a solitary life and don’t want to claim allegiance to any particular chapter within a club. Or it could mean that the club sporting the nomad patch doesn’t have territorial roots, or that they don’t have enough members in a particular area to put down roots for a chapter. In any case, the boy in question seriously pissed in Sacred Hearts Wheaties doin’ what he did on Sacred Hearts turf.” He cuddled me close and sighed.
“How do you know it was the King of Hearts specifically?” he asked, frowning.
“My da’ was a bit of a card shark. The King of Hearts is known as the Suicide King because it looks like he’s driving his own sword into his head on the card, same as the image of the King on the back of his cut, well that and the name ‘Suicide Kings.’” I explained.
“Oh, good to know… Trigger’s gonna reach out. See about having a meet and greet with some of their guys. Lay down the law, see what their about.” He shifted.
“What if they don’t care?” I asked.
“They’re going to want to care. If they’re smart, they’ll care a lot.” Dray said, an underlying threat to his words. A long silence ensued while I lay in his arms.
“Hungry?” he asked when my stomach let out a very audible weal of displeasure.
“Yeah.” I said, laughing.
“Let me slide out from under you and I’ll fix you somethin’.” I sat up as best I could and he got out from under me. He opened the door, his father on the other side, poised to knock.
“Got food out here Boy.�
�� He said.
“Yeah I’m gonna get her something.” Dray said and slipped by him. Dragon leveled me with his gaze so like his son’s and I smiled.
“I’m glad my wife likes you.” He said. I smiled wanly.
“I am too.” I said and he grinned and stepped into the room.
“You need anything?” he asked and it touched me that he would ask.
“To heal and to get back out on the dance floor.” I said smiling.
“Yeah.” He agreed.
“Thank you.” I murmured.
“You bet.” He said and sat down in the chair that had been brought in.
“Dray tell you how Tilly died?” he asked.
“Yes, just now.” I said.
“Good.” He grunted. A long moment of silence. “You know, since he met you he’s been a different person. More the way my son was before his momma died…” The big man swallowed and I stayed silent, letting him speak. “He was so angry when she went. He turned inside of himself. I’ve heard Tilly a time or two before but never heard Dray speak on it. I was beginning to think he never would.” He sighed and smiled a little sadly, but then the smile brightened.
“Then there was you.” He leaned forward in his seat and kissed my forehead. “Thank you for bringing me back my boy.” He whispered and I sniffed, tears running into my hair at my temples. “I know yours is lookin’ out for you, but this daddy is too.” He said and got up, moving out of the room, the heavy tread of his boots echoing further away as he moved back towards the common room. I blinked and rolled my eyes heavenward.
“Thank you.” I whispered, grateful for the blessings that had been heaped upon me. Mandy spoke up from the door.
“Yeah sure, Dray told me to tell you there’s an emergency club meeting.” I looked over.
Ashton closed the door behind them, turning to me to say, “Women folk are banished back here for the time being.” with a soft smile. They helped me sit up so I could eat. Ashton opened the DVD player and turned on the television on the ceiling. She put on a movie for us and she and Mandy flanked me on the Queen sized bed.
“What are we watching?” Mandy asked, curious.
