by Rae B. Lake
“So where does that leave us?” Wire asked from his chair at the table. As VP, he had his finger on the pulse of everything that was going on in this place.
“We need more information. Clean, that’s on you. It may take some time so don’t try to do all this by yourself. Get help from whoever you need.”
“You got it, Prez.”
“Wire, if we can get one of the mystery folks, maybe you can extract some information straight from one of them.”
Wire nodded, “You get me one of them, I’ll get them to talk.”
“I know you will.” Prez let out a sigh, he was clearly agitated, “They still haven’t approached us about the shooting of Cleve so I’m going to assume that they are trying to keep whatever they are doing under wraps. We can use this to our advantage. We will continue to move through our days as we would normally. Parties, no lockdowns but we will find out as much information as possible. We’ll keep tabs on all of our brothers, so if you’re called and don’t respond we are going to think something is up and will send the entire fucking cavalry to break down your door. So, answer your damn phones. Stay safe and keep an eye out.” He hit the gavel on the table and ended church. We all knew what we needed to do but it felt like we were walking on eggshells.
I walked over to Mick who was at his usual spot behind the bar. Of all things, he was reading a book. Not something that I saw a lot of here in the clubhouse. “What you got there old man?”
“Oh, nothing you’d know anything about.” Mick closed the book and stood up straighter behind the bar. “Well, you look better.”
“Yeah, I found out some information that I needed to know. My mind doesn’t do well with uncertainty.”
“If we were meant to know everything, there would be no unpaved roads,” Mick said in his own way. Not that anyone ever understood what the hell his old ass was talking about when he started to talk, but we let him impart his strange nuggets of wisdom whenever he wanted to.
“Yeah, if you say so. Let me get a water please.”
“Just water?” Mick asked, clearly referencing the fact that I hadn’t reached for the bottle for a few days.
“Yeah, I’m going to stay away from the bottle for a few.”
“That’s what I like to hear son.” He smiled and handed me the bottle of water.
Clean walked by me heading out of the clubhouse, I couldn’t get the image of that young woman running for her life out of my mind. I was sure that he couldn’t either. I wanted to make sure that if he found out any information I was as available as soon as possible. I didn’t want him running into a situation that he couldn’t handle. Besides I wanted to teach those bastards some fucking manners.
“Clean, wait up.” I rushed so that I could walk beside him.
“What’s up?”
“You going back to that farm?”
“No, Prez knows there are other women there, but right now there is nothing we can do without giving away our position. I’m going to run up a lead about the two dudes in suits that we saw.” He looked over his shoulder to see if there was anyone else behind us and turned back to me, clear mischief in his eyes. “Have you gone by to see about your little mistake?”
Daria? I could go to her, maybe she’s awake.
As soon as he brought her up, she was all I could fucking think about. The fact that I had yet to see her open her eyes was still plaguing my thoughts and dreams. Right now, the boys didn’t need me. I could sneak over there and check on her. It would be good information especially if the Cobras were planning on taking her once she got better. It was a long shot but it was at least an idea.
“Nah, not today. I’m going to check on her. You think you gonna need me?” I asked Clean, almost desperate now to get away.
“Not at all, but make sure you answer the jack if I call, the last thing we need is a whole crew parked up on their bikes outside the hospital of the woman who got shot at our enemy clubhouse. That wouldn’t look suspicious at all.” Clean laughed a bit and began to walk in the opposite direction.
I grabbed my jacket and hustled over to my truck. This was a good idea.
This was a bad idea. I sat in my parked truck for at least ten minutes just trying to talk myself out of going upstairs. There was no reason for me to keep trying to see this woman, but I just could not stop trying to picture what her eyes would look like if they were opened. To erase that horrible image of her dying due to my fuck up from my head.
Eventually, I figured I was more conspicuous sitting in my truck than I would have been if I just walked upstairs for a second to see if she was mobile. I walked straight past the information station and pressed for the elevator. I made my way up to the third floor and walked slowly toward her room. My nerves were all over the place, but I was sure that if I could just once see her eyes, I would be able to get on with my fucking life.
I stopped in front of the door that went into her room, it was open but her eyes were still closed. I let out the breath I had no idea I was holding and just stared at her for a moment.
“Either you tell me what you’re doing outside my door right now or I will call security.” She spoke and I was stuck. I hadn’t expected her to know I was here and now that she did, I didn’t know what to do. The last thing I needed was for security to come up.
“You were here yesterday too.” Finally, her eyes popped open and even though I should have been more concerned about how I was going to get away, all I could think about was how gorgeous she was. Even angry she was breathtaking.
Her eyes were a mix between the clearest ocean blue and the deepest forest green as if a painter had dumped those two colors into a bowl and let them mix how they please. I was so grateful to finally have her looking at me.
“Excuse me, did you hear me?” Now she looked a bit contrite almost as if she had offended me in some way.
“Uh, yes, I’m here… actually I was just looking in on you…the hospital.” I couldn’t get the right words out. First, I wanted to just lie and say that she wasn’t who I was looking for, but if she had already seen me the day before there was no way that she was going to believe that. She didn’t know me so there was no reason for me to be checking in on her. I was officially up shit creek.
“Oh that’s right, I know who you are, sorry about that.” She gave me a shy smile and waved me in.
“You do?” I wasn’t sure how she did, maybe someone else from my club had stopped by to see her?
“Yeah, the doctor told me that she was going to look into some options for me.”
“Doctor?”
Holy crap, she thinks I work here.
“Yeah, you’re from the PTSD group right?”
I couldn’t have asked for a better excuse if I wanted to.
“Yeah, I was just up here checking on you, to find out if you wanted to join in on the group.” The lies just flowed out of my mouth like it was the most natural thing I ever did, “So have you had any chance to think about it. Every time I came up here to check you were asleep and I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to put you through so much trouble. I would love to join the group, but the doctors refuse to let me walk anywhere as of yet.” She motioned with her hand at all the tubes that were still attached to her person.
“That’s ok, I can come up and we can discuss just one on one if you would like. I do that sometimes too.”
“I would really like that. Thank you so much.”
“Don’t mention it.” I put my hands in my pockets and walked closer to her, “So you must be having a bit of difficulty with your injury?”
“It’s not the injury that I’m having an issue with, it’s the circumstance of how I got the injury. Now everything scares me, anyone walking toward me too fast, every loud sound, even my god damn dreams scare me. I don’t know how to relax, I just feel wound up all day. It’s exhausting.” She let out a trembling breath. I had a feeling that she had never spoken to anyone about the extent of her fear. It could be quite liber
ating to get all that off your chest at one time.
“I completely understand how you feel.”
“You do?” She asked.
“Yeah, I was in the military for a long time and even though I signed up knowing that eventually someone would shoot at me, I was always caught off guard when the bullets started to fly. It took time for me not to jump at the sound of a shot or anything loud for that matter.” At least I wasn’t lying about that, during my first tour, four of my platoon mates were killed in action. They were all taken out by an ambush after we had made camp for the night. One minute we were crowded around a fire talking about life back home, next thing we knew insurgents were running through our little powwow with AK-47’s. It was pure luck I survived that night.
“So how did you cope?” Her eyes were large and hopeful in her face, looking for a magic pill or spell that would make the anxiety go away. Sorry, but that shit didn’t exist.
“Honestly, it was more desensitization than anything. Soon instead of fearing the gunshot, I just began to expect it.”
“Well, I’m not going to be around any more gunshots if I can help it so that doesn’t really help me.” She looked down at her hands as her fingers released and contracted into fists over and over again.
“No, I guess it doesn’t.”
Her head popped up at the sound of my voice, “I’m so sorry, that was so rude. Here you are trying to help me and I’m over here acting like a brat.”
A small flicker of anger sparked to life inside my chest and I wasn’t sure why. “It’s ok, you are just trying to get through your experience. I understand.”
“Thanks. Do you have any other patients to see? I wouldn’t want to keep you from anything with my whining.” She smiled up at me.
“No, you’re the only person I’m here to see.” Again, not a lie.
“Oh lucky me! So do you want to chat some more or do you have to go? My roommates left earlier and I haven’t really had anyone to just chop it up with. Of course, if you have to go I understand.” She sounded hopeful but still a bit hesitant as if she knew that I was going to say that I had to leave.
“I can stay.”
“Really, you want to?”
The fire in my chest burned a bit hotter, “Yeah, of course I do.”
“Awesome! So tell me about yourself. You know for starters, what’s your name?” She gave out a small giggle. I wanted to make her giggle some more. I wanted to make her moan, and laugh and scream and… Oh, the things I wanted to do to this woman.
I blinked a few times in surprise, I thought she was attractive but it was rare that my thoughts turned to carnal desires so quickly, just the thought of her moaning was enough to get my dick halfway hard. I subtly readjusted myself and tried to focus on what she had just asked me.
What did she ask me?
“Uh, I’m sorry, what was the question again. My mind got away from me.”
“Oh, that’s ok. I asked your name.”
“Archer, that is what everyone calls me.” I never gave out my given name, I just didn’t feel like a Luke anymore. I was a sniper through and through, so Archer was more fitting.
“Archer. That is a unique name, is there any meaning behind it?” She was sitting up now in bed completely involved in our little conversation.
“Well yeah, like I told you I was in the military but I’m also a trained marksman.”
“Marksman?” She asked tilting her head to the side letting the soft curls at the bottom of her dark hair fall to one side of her neck. I just wanted to smell her hair, wrap the strands around my hand and pull back as she bounced off my cock.
I shook my head again, I would never be able to stand up without embarrassing myself again if I kept thinking like this.
“Uh, yeah. A marksman is someone skilled in precision shooting. I’m a fully trained with any type of firearm and was a sniper back when I was serving. I always hit my target, like an arrow on the bullseye.”
“Hence the name Archer got it. Makes a lot of sense actually.” She laughed a bit more, “Do you like working with PTSD patients?”
Back to the lying it is, “Yeah, I like the thought of giving back.”
“That’s wonderful, I wish I could do something to give back to the community. I’m barely worth the air I breathe, so I really don’t have anything to offer.” She shrugged and plucked at a piece of lint that was on her sheet.
The fire in my chest roared, and now I knew what the cause was. How dare she talk about herself like that. It was as if she was her own whipping boy, maybe she was in an abusive relationship. That was the only time I had ever seen anyone with such low self-esteem.
“Why do you do that?” I asked my anger peeking through in the tone of my voice.
“Do what?” She looked back up, clearly confused.
“Talk about yourself like you’re shit on my boot?”
She sucked in a breath, “I do not-”
“You do, are you in an abusive relationship or something. Someone beating you down?” I asked straight out, I didn’t have the time to sugar coat it. If someone was hurting her, I was going to have to blow their defective brains out.
“What, no. What would make you think that?” She crossed her arms in a huff but the wound caused her to wince in pain.
“Shit, that’s my fault. I shouldn’t make you upset.” I tentatively reached for her but dropped my hand not knowing how to soothe the pain away.
“I’m sorry too, you were only asking me a question, I shouldn’t have become so defensive.” She let out a breath and continued, “I don’t have a boyfriend or anything like that. I just don’t like it when people are mad at me. I tend to just give in or give up control very easily, as long as everyone is happy, I get by.”
She likes to give up control, I closed my eyes and pictured her hanging from the St. Andrew’s Cross that was stowed away in my house, I would take all the control she would give me and she would love it.
Fuck, Archer get a grip!
“I can understand wanting people to be happy, but don’t let them walk all over you to do it. You are worth more than that.” I said as forcefully as I could without upsetting her again.
She didn’t respond, just smiled and looked down at her hands.
“So, tell me more about you.” She asked getting more comfortable in her bed.
We spent the next two hours just talking to each other, mostly about where we were from and what we did for fun. I told her about me growing up in Louisiana and she got a kick out of me talking in my Cajun dialect and accent. An accent I had dropped long ago, but I would start using it again if it meant that I would get her to keep laughing. She told me that she grew up in a small town with her mother but that they didn’t really get along too well.
The longer I sat here talking to her, the more I was starting to find a reason to come back and see her. Yeah, this was a really bad idea.
Chapter 12
Of course I went back the next day. Between all the unanswered questions and the constant hard-on I got every time I thought about her, there was no way that I wasn’t going to go back. I thought that she would be a bit apprehensive about me coming back again but it was as if she was waiting for me.
“Ma chérie, may I sit with you today?”
Daria turned toward me, a bright smile lighting up her face, “But of course kind sir. I was hoping you would stop by today.”
“Really, well even though I’m happy to hear that, why are you hoping to see my ugly mug?” I took the seat next to the head of her bed and angled it closer to her. I could already tell that I was going to be here for a while.
“Well my roommates stopped by a bit this morning but besides that, I really haven’t spoken to anyone, I’m so bored I could rip my hair out.”
“Oh well, I’m glad I could help.” I turned to look at the TV that was shut off on the wall, “Didn’t you get your TV turned on, don’t you have any shows you like to watch?”
She looked away a bit shyly, “No, I
haven’t gotten it turned on yet. I will though.”
“Why not, you’ve been here for more than a week.”
“Well, you need to put down a credit card for the man to start up the service but my roommate keeps forgetting to bring my wallet. She promised she would bring it tomorrow.”
I looked at her like she was about to sprout a new head right next to the one she already had. She was sitting here in the hospital with no money and no company? What kind of roommates did she have?
“What? Can’t you call them or any other friend and have them pick it up. Have them bring some books, magazines, something?”
“No, that’s ok. I don’t want to be a burden.”
“How is that a burden, you fucking live with them, you don’t have any money and they come to see you every day. How hard is it to pick up a wallet and bring it? Your roommates sound like selfish bitches.”
Her bottom jaw dropped open at my outburst but she didn’t tell me I was wrong, “They have a lot of things on their plate. It’s not their fault that I’m stuck in the hospital.”
“It’s not your fault either.”
It’s mine, it’s all my fault.
“Jesus fucking christ woman…” I reached over to the phone and dialed the number for patient services. “Hello, I’d like to turn the TV on for room 317.”
“What are you doing? No, you can’t do that! I’ll get the money tomorrow.” Daria tried to reach over and grab the phone from me but the more she did the more pain she was causing herself.
I moved the receiver from my mouth, “Stop that shit! If you hurt yourself trying to stop me from helping you by god I will put you over my knee.” I snapped my mouth shut, wary that I’d let the threat slip out. I had been thinking about her submitting to me since the day before but I didn’t think she would be down for anything like that, especially since she didn’t even know who I was. To my surprise, she didn’t even bat an eyelash at the threat. In fact, it looked like she was blushing a bit. The thought that my perfect little girl had a naughty side; I shook my head trying to get my thoughts out of the gutter.
