by L. Ann Marie
Taylor is moving the rest of the wood on her. “Don’t move her,” he says and I look back. Fuck. There’s a slice in her leg and her foot is wrong. He calls for the board.
I look at her with her eyes closed. She’s breathing. “Babe. Stay with me. We need the board to move you.” Her eyes open and she nods. “Is it just your leg?”
“Yeah. A guy broke my ankle.” She blinks. “You’re here.”
“Yeah. So fuckin’ glad we found you.” I’m pissed that she went off, but I’m so fuckin’ glad she’s okay.
“The radios didn’t work. They took my jewelry.”
I want to yell at her for taking off, but Taylor has the board and we get her on it. “Cloud is dropping Jake.” I nod thank fuck.
We get her up and climb over shit to get her to the chopper. “Where is Sheila?”
I look around. Fuckin’ hell! She’s got a box open and people are walking out shielding their eyes. “Helping some new friends.”
“She’s fuckin’ crazy,” she says and Taylor laughs.
Cloud lowers and Jake jumps onto the deck. He runs to us and helps get her on the chopper. Taylor yells for Sheila and she comes running holding her side. “What about them?” she asks.
“The Coast Guard is coming for them,” Taylor says and pushes her in.
She waves and sits in a seat close to where Jake is working on Eliza. I’m kneeling on the side of her helping cut her pants off. “I’m sorry,” she says and I look at her. She’s got tears in her eyes. What the fuck is up with Sheila and tears? “She wanted to wait with 37 and I told her no. I knew you’d send backup as soon as we started heading to the water.”
“Our helmets and body mics didn’t work and I still pushed her to follow me.” She wipes her face. “I heard her friend scream and I just wanted to get to her before they killed her. I know what they did to Eliza and just wanted her friend away from them.” Her eyes are begging me to understand.
“Stop.” I look at the men. They’re all watching. Fuck. “We’re not talking about this here.” She nods and looks away.
“Fuck. I’m leaving her boot on. I don’t want to do any more damage to her foot. Her ankle is broken,” Jake says.
“She told me a guy broke it.” I look at her with her eyes closed. I hope she isn’t feeling this.
He gets an IV in and talks to the hospital. We’re closer to City than ours so we’re going there. He has someone call Mitch to get a doctor there. All I can do is hold her hand. He’s got her leg bandaged and a sheet over her so I don’t see the foot turned wrong. I thought she went off halfcocked and it was Sheila. My girl tried to do right. She’d be pissed if she knew what I thought. I bend and kiss her lips and her eyes open. “I have a headache.” She smiles.
Fuckin’ Eliza. Jake laughs. She closes her eyes and doesn’t open them again until we land. When they move her to a gurney she moans opening her eyes. I hold her hand and she closes them. They get X-rays and the doctor comes in. They’re going to put a steel ankle joint and bar connecting to the bone. He says a bunch of other shit, but I stop him. “Just do what you need to so she can dance and do her kickboxing. That’s what she loves. Do whatever it takes to give that back to her.”
He nods and looks at Jake. “Do I explain it to you?”
“No, I think he doesn’t need the explanations so much as you doing it. She’s HS like Bob and Rayne. She needs to come out HS. She’ll be assigned to the new shelter Security. It’s her dream.” I’m shocked he knows all this.
The doctor nods. “I’ll get her there.” He turns and walks out.
“Tell me he’s that good.”
He laughs. “Mitch, Kevin, Rayne, Aubrey, and Bob good.”
“Thank fuck. Thanks Jake.”
He man hugs me. “I’m her HS so I’ll be outside the operating room. I’ll get the details, you get Eliza. When you can think straight I’ll tell you what they did. Yeah?”
“Yeah, thanks Brother.”
My dad walks in and goes right to the bed. He bends and kisses her head. He’s pissed when he looks at me. “Where was her Security?”
Shit. “I’ll tell you everything when they take her. The doctor just left. Talk to Jake.” I take Eliza’s hand and tell her what the doctor said. She nods and closes her eyes. A nurse comes in with something for her IV. Jake checks the chart and the medicine. I’m glad he’s here. He nods and Eliza gets the meds that will put her to sleep for the surgery.
They take her out and Jake holds her chart following. “They can’t touch her without the chart. He’s just making sure nothing crazy happens,” my dad says as we walk to surgical waiting. “I asked everyone to wait. They’ll be in the waiting room. What happened with Sheila? Jake said she apologized and Eliza wanted to wait for Ops.”
I stop and watch Jake walk through the doors. When they close I look at him. “Something with the women. She knows what happened to Eliza and heard her friend scream. All she thought about was getting her away. Eliza wanted to wait for the other HS to make the call, but Sheila told her no.”
His eye gets intense. “She’s never had a problem before.”
I shake my head no. “There were seventeen dead pussies on that ship. They took the majority out without a problem. We accounted for three in the wheelhouse. It’s something with women. I’ve seen her cry twice now, both times over Eliza.”
He’s shocked. I don’t know what else to say, so I walk to the waiting room. I’m shocked when I walk in. Ally runs to me with a hug. I throw chin to the Brothers. My mom hugs me and Tiny hands me a water. So many times I’ve been right here with these same people; I feel my throat tighten and thank them.
I walk to the window and just look out. I have nothing to say and can only hope she gets back what she just lost. She’s come to love dancing and worked fuckin’ hard to get HS. She needs to move to the PD. They’ll never let her in if she can’t do the job. Men are such fuckin’ morons. She needs to do better than them to get in.
People come and go. They touch my shoulder and throw chin. Rich hugs me saying he’s on Ops. Tess comes in with Jeremy and Jacob. She holds onto me and I let her. She loves Eliza. If it could have been different she would have made sure we knew. She nods and sits. I pace.
Jeremy stands and takes my hand. I walk to the door and my dad stands with Mom on the other side of me. The doctor comes in surprised but smiling. “It went very well. The foot was broken in two places but she’s strong and if she’s like the men she’ll be fighting to get moving before she’s released. There’s a rod in her foot and about six inches.” I stop him. He smiles. “She’s in recovery. I’ll tell Jake what we did.” I nod and walk out. My dad follows pointing the way then waits by Jake. The doctor comes in, but stays with them.
I kiss my girl and tell her I love her. I pull a chair and hold her hand relieved she’s here. I was going fuckin’ nuts. Brantley pulled from different satellites and found boats leaving the harbor. Once he did that we followed every fuckin’ boat. Dakota flew over and Taylor saw Sheila on the deck shooting. Prez told him to do whatever it took to get them back and he did. I should have thanked him, but I was so focused on getting to her I jumped out and never looked back. Thank fuck we got her back.
My dad puts his hand on my shoulder. “She’s a fighter she’ll get through this no problem.”
“Yeah.” I don’t look at him. “I was pissed at her for going off. She was trying to do right and I was pissed.”
“Now you’re proud. Hold that. Something you need to know. They weren’t touched. They were hung from a bar, but Eliza got down, killed a guard, then got Sheila down. They heard another say they weren’t to be touched.”
My whole body relaxes. It’s the one thing I couldn’t ask with everyone around. Thank God she doesn’t have to work through that too. “Thanks Dad. I couldn’t ask with everyone around.”
“Yeah. Taylor took Sheila into a room to be checked. She told him while they were alone.”
“She okay?”
“Concussion
and a broken rib. She’s pissed, but going to be fine.” He moves over and Jeremy climbs on the bed and holds her arm.
Jacob and Dakota go to the other side. I think, ‘thank you.’ They all nod, but Dakota throws me chin. He understands. Jeremy chants and I close my eyes saying the words in my head.
My hand is squeezed and I open my eyes. “I love that fuckin’ smile.” No one is here I must have fallen asleep.
“Thirsty.”
I look around and see my dad against the wall. “Can you get some water?” He nods and walks out. Since we’re still in recovery he’s back in seconds with a bottle, cup and straw. I pour and put the straw to her lips. “They put steel in your ankle and the doctors says you’ll be good as new.”
She nods. “How long?”
Shit I should have asked that. “I’ll find out. But it’s the doctor that got Rayne walking and Kevin and Aubrey with no limp. He’s good.”
“Thank you.” She has tears in her eyes.
I kiss her head and look for my dad. He’s close to the door against the wall. I motion to him and he comes over. “Did the doctor say how long until she’s walking?”
He laughs. “Fuckin’ women. He said Mitch will have a brace for her soon and she’ll be walking in a few days. Therapy for a month or so until the muscle tightens around the steel. Jeremy says it won’t be that long.”
She looks relieved then closes her eyes. I look at my dad. “Thanks Dad.”
He goes back to the wall until they move her. He takes the chart from the nurse and follows. We’re in the same room we always go to. Maybe the MC paid for it, but this is where every single person ends up. It’s comforting because everyone always leaves this one. My mom should have been brought to this one. I clear it out of my head and pull the chair close so I can hold her hand.
“I’m right outside until three. Chet is my relief then Tiny. I’ll be back tomorrow. Call if you need me.”
“Thanks Dad.” I look at my watch. Fuck it’s almost three. Surgery took forever.
Chapter Fourteen
Two days
Eliza
“I want to go home. We have doctors and shit at home.”
He laughs and I’m pissed. “Babe, it’s not even daylight. When the nurse comes in we’ll break you out okay?”
I look at the window it’s almost daylight. “Okay.” Since he’s awake I figure I can ask about Prez. He was pissed last night when he was here. “Did they find out about the helmets and mics?”
He looks at me and I think he won’t answer then he does. “Kevin thinks they were jammed. Someone got something on you at the PD. It only covered us. Your tracking stayed on from the cuff. Your phone account has no call coming in from there.”
I think about that. We took spare clips not needing anything else. “Did the feeds show us in the PD?”
“Yeah, showed Sheila listening to the call with you.”
“We only got clips. We didn’t need anything else.” I’m trying to think. “Did 37 have radio when he stopped?”
He looks surprised. “He called in on the Ops line, but answered Prez on the radio.” He pulls his phone and talks to Ops. Bull will watch the Ops feed and see when he came back up.
I close my eyes and hope for the nurse to come in and wake me up for the last damn time. I think about Prez being pissed at Sheila, but fall asleep before I can ask.
***
Darren
I call MC Ops and let them know Bull is looking for when the Bluetooth worked for 37. Everyone knows him now and doesn’t question the number. The MC is pissed at him for leaving them even if Sheila told him too. You don’t drop Prez’s order for your lead. Digs said he should have dropped his helmet and called while riding. Not easy, but it would have worked and he wouldn’t have lost sight of them.
I wake up to movement in the room. What the hell? I grab my glasses and stand. What the fuck? Eliza is curled into a ball with her casted leg straight out. “What’s happening?” I ask the nurse that’s trying to get her to lay flat.
“Pains in her abdomen,” she says and calls for another nurse. When Eliza is flat on her back I hold her hand. She’s squeezing mine. The nurse pulls the sheet and there’s blood on the bed. Fuck! This isn’t a little.
My mom died like this. I can’t get past it to think. I let her hand go and she cries. At the door I tell Tiny I need my dad then take her hand again. I can’t lose her like this. She has a bruise on her side and bleeding inside is all I can think. I have no words for her. I wipe her tears and kiss her head. A doctor comes in and wants her moved.
“No!” She won’t come back. They can’t take her. I’m fighting the nurse to hold the bed. Eliza is out. Fuck no. Tiny comes in and holds me back so they can get her. I’m fighting to get my arms free. They’re taking her. “No! They can’t take her! Tiny stop them!” My glasses are gone and I’m fuckin’ pissed doing everything I can to get him off me. They’re gone. I have to get her back. “She won’t come back! Get the fuck off me! I can’t lose her like Mom! Tiny they won’t bring her back! This is why Jeremy and Dakota didn’t smile! Get the fuck off me!” As soon as I get one arm free he’s got me again.
Tess comes running in crying. “No! Don’t you fuckin’ touch me! Fix her Tess! Go fix her!” I’m still fighting his hold on me, but he won’t let me go. “Get them up here and fix her!” I yell.
My dad moves Tess and puts my glasses on. Tiny lets me go and Dad hugs me. “She’s losing the baby. She’s coming back Darren. She loses the baby though. I’m sorry son.”
The baby. “She’s coming back?” I look at Tess. She nods. “There was a lot of blood. You’re sure Tess?” She signs she’s positive.
“Oh my God. Oh my God. She’s going to be okay. Where did they take her? Why did they take her away?”
“It was a lot of blood they took her to surgery,” my dad says. Fuck!
“But she’s coming back.” I look at Tess. “You said she’s coming back for sure.”
She has tears on her face and signs, ‘I would never lie to you. She’s coming back to you Darren. You’ll get past this and be happy. She’s coming back and going home with you.’
I sit and put my head in my hands. She’s coming back. She’s losing a baby. Our baby. “Our baby is gone.” I look at Tess. “Did she know?” She shakes her head no. “Is it better that she didn’t know?”
“Yeah son. It’s better that she didn’t know,” my dad says with a hand on my shoulder.
I put my head down and take off the glasses. I don’t want to see anymore. Our baby. Jeremy and Dakota left yesterday and I knew something was off. They weren’t smiling. They knew. If it’s better that she didn’t, I’m glad they didn’t say anything. Fuck.
My arm is touched and I look up. Mom. I stand up and hold onto her. “She’s coming back, but she lost the baby.” She’s shaking and I know she’s crying. I don’t let go.
My dad touches my arm and holds out my glasses. I shake my head no. He hands them to Tiny and signs, ‘We need to go to surgery waiting. The doctor will go there when he’s done.’
I can’t do it. I shake my head no. ‘We can wait in the hall or one of the rooms for families. We need to be there when the doctor comes out. You can go to recovery right away. She’ll need you there.’
“Fuck!”
‘She’s coming back and will need you. It’s a fuck of a lot easier with the glasses, but we can do this the hard way if you choose. The news will still be the same either way.’ I look at his eye. He’s never lied to me. He wouldn’t now.
I nod and put my hand out to Tiny, then put the glasses on. We walk to the elevator and go to the waiting room. Thank fuck it’s empty. ‘They’re all downstairs,’ my mom signs. I nod and go to the window. She’s coming back is what I keep playing in my head.
I see, “LaPonte-James.” I turn and a doctor is standing at the door. I make the steps, but feel numb. This isn’t a happy look on his face. “Your wife is doing fine. She’s being moved to recovery now. We could not sav
e the fetus, but there is no damage that will prevent her from conceiving or carrying a baby full-term. Do you have any questions?”
I look at my mom. She has tears, but shakes her head no. He tells us of grief counselors, but I walk out. She’s doing fine he said. Chet is walking into recovery and hands the chart to a nurse. I have Eliza’s hand before they finish moving her. I wait forever for her eyes to open. She focuses on me and smiles then stops.
My dad brought water earlier so I get her some before she asks. She drinks half the cup and has questions in her eyes. “You had a miscarriage. The doctor said fetus so it must have been only a few weeks old. You’re able to have more, there’s no damage.”
She cries and I sit and hold her. The nurses leave us alone. I hold her until she’s done. “I don’t know what to say. I didn’t know. I would have told you. All the drugs I’ve been on here. I didn’t know.”
“I know babe. They didn’t either. It must have been too early to tell or something.”
“It wasn’t a baby yet?” Shit.
I look back and sign, ‘Mom?’ My dad walks out. “My mom will know. I don’t know how to answer that. The doctor said fetus not baby. I think they don’t call it a baby until later, but I don’t know.”
She nods but looks relieved. When Mom comes in I sign, ‘fetus.’ She nods and I move so she can sit. I stand at the door with my dad and look away. She needs a mom without an audience. I tell my dad what I said. He nods saying that’s the word Dakota used. “Through all this, thank fuck I got something right.”
He hugs me. “You got all of it right. We didn’t. I had no idea you carry your mom around with you. I’m sorry we didn’t fix that.”
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “I didn’t know either until Eliza was here.”
