“That’s nice.”
“It will be, yes. When I saw the kind of condition you were in, I knew Margot would help me. With a little convincing, of course.”
“How much convincing?”
“About thirty seconds’ worth.”
“Not bad,” I said, chuckling.
But that laughter soon turned into coughing.
“That should go away within the week. You’ll be sore when breathing heavily, but the coughing should stop,” Piper said.
“Good,” I said, sighing.
“I knew once Margot saw the kind of pain you were in, she wouldn't be able to say no to helping you. That’s why I called her. And I was right.”
I smiled brightly, because she was exactly right. That was Margot to her fucking core. And it was so refreshing to know that hadn’t changed.
“How are you feeling?” Piper asked.
“Not as swimmy-headed,” I said.
“Wanna try getting up and walking?” she asked.
I looked over at her and found her smile etched into the darkness. I wasn’t one to covet other men’s women, but Rock was a lucky man with her at his side. I nodded as I tried to sit up, but not without wincing. Or groaning. Or generally feeling as if my body was about to fall apart.
“Well, you just go for the gold, don’t you?” Piper asked.
“Generally speaking,” I grinned.
She got her hand around my body and slowly lifted me to my feet. And after walking a few steps with her at my side, I unraveled myself from her. I propped myself up against the doorway, feeling weaker than I had in years. But, slowly—with my arms outstretched to prop myself up on either side of the wall—I walked myself down the hallway. All the way to the living room.
Where the guys sat.
“There’s the big boy,” Diesel said, smiling.
“Nice to see you up and about, Hairy,” Toxin said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Barely, but sure,” I said.
I dropped my hands from the wall and tried steadying myself on my two feet. But Piper slid her hands along my back every once in a while. I wasn’t quite steady on my feet. I still needed support. Help. Guidance.
But it was better than lying in that damn bed all day long.
“Well, since you’re up, how do you feel about church?” Grave asked.
“Grave,” Diesel murmured.
“I mean, it’s worth a shot. Right? We gotta figure out what the hell’s going on,” Knox said.
Diesel looked over at me. “You up for something like that?”
“Can I get a drink first?” I asked.
“I’ll get you some water. You need to sit,” Piper said.
“Then, you need to take a break,” I said.
“No rest for the doctors!” Piper exclaimed.
“Water, then break, doc,” I said.
“‘Atta, boy,” Rock murmured.
I wobbled over to the recliner and practically fell down into it. It groaned and splintered, but that didn’t matter. It got my legs up and kept blood from pooling in my feet. Which was the whole reason I was lying in bed in the first fucking place. Piper came over with a massive glass of ice cold water and instructions to finish the entire thing. Water, included.
Then, I was to try and eat a light dinner.
“Got it, doc. Now, go rest,” I said.
“Sure thing, Bear,” she said, smiling.
And after she placed a kiss to her husband’s cheek, she left us alone to conduct our business.
“Okay, church,” Diesel said.
“Can I just say, I think us prospects need to be involved in this. I think it should be all hands on deck for something like this,” Toxin said.
“He’s right,” Saint said.
“I’m done,” Ryker said.
“As much as I hate to admit it, the youngins’ are right,” Grave said.
“Youngins?” I asked, chuckling.
But, again, that laughter turned into coughing real quick. And I hated the pitiful glances the guys were giving me.
“I’m fine. I’m fine. Keep—keep going,” I said.
Diesel nodded. “Yes, I agree. Prospects, this is your time to stand up for one of your own. Bear’s been brutalized. It’s time we figure out a plan.”
“So, what do we do?” Cage asked.
“That’s why we’re here. To come up with an answer to that question,” Diesel said.
“We need to retaliate. This is insane, and I won’t stand for it. It’s my fault that fucker’s still alive. And it’s my responsibility to put him down,” Cage said.
“If it’s even this Lars guy behind this,” Brewer said.
“Has anything weird happened at the apartment since you guys got moved in? Anything out of the ordinary? Because if this man is alive, I would think he’d try to get to his daughter. After all, she did put some bullets in him, too,” Diesel said.
“Nothing. And I’ve been up at night keeping watch so Sutton can sleep,” Cage said.
“Good man,” I murmured.
“Either way, taking on the mafia or whatever the hell this syndicate is head-on isn’t the best idea. We’re outnumbered, at best. Even with the Black Hornets on our side. We need to do recon. We need to play this from the shadows,” Diesel said.
“I second that,” Knox said.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You mean we aren’t going to put these guys down?” Cage asked.
“After we know what we’re dealing with, we’ll talk about ways to do that,” Diesel said.
“And what if he slaughters us all!? I’m not watching a crew I’ve come to care for go down again at the hands of this asshole!” Cage exclaimed.
“Which is why we’re going to do this the right way,” Grave said.
A fight broke out among the guys as the rest of the prospects stood around my recliner. I looked up at them, watching the old geezers fight to the death over this shit with the newest of the new guy. Toxin looked down at me and grinned that wild grin that never quite reached his eyes. I looked up into Saint’s face and saw him nod down at me. And Ryker? Well, he cleared his throat before yelling in order to get their attention.
“Hey!”
Everyone stopped arguing and looked over at him. The man who barely said a word. Then, Ryker turned his dead eyes down to me and nodded.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
“What?” Cage asked.
“I think I should have a say in this since I’m the one beat to shit, yeah?” I asked.
Rock paused. “He’s right. What’s your take on this, Bear?”
I sighed. “I do think we should retaliate.”
“Thank you,” Cage said.
“But we need to be smart about it. We can’t just go into another shootout scenario. We had the advantage of them not knowing we were coming last time. But we have to assume we won’t have that luxury this time around,” I said.
“Fuck,” Cage grumbled.
“We have to find a way to take out Lars specifically,” I said.
“If it’s even Lars at the helm of this thing,” Grave said.
“Something in my gut tells me he’s still alive. That bastard can weasel his way out of anything. And I think he got out of that diner somehow a couple months back,” I said.
“I’ve got the same feeling. Had it for days,” Brewer said.
“Not gonna lie, same here,” Knox murmured.
“We do recon, we cut the head off this snake, and we put down anyone who gets in our way of that. After the recon,” I said.
Everyone turned their eyes to Diesel and waited for him to nod his head. But instead, he only had more questions.
“Okay. So, let’s say we go with that plan. How the hell do we go about finding a man we thought was dead?” he asked.
Rock shrugged. “We do it the old-fashioned way. I get on my laptop, I run down some traffic cameras. We already know what Lars looks like. I can run facial recognition software through traffic cameras and things of that nature. O
nce I can figure out where these goons are holed up, we can do recon the way we always do. With our bikes on the highway, or our quiet cars on the backroads. We gather as much information as we can, study their movements, figure out their arsenal of weapons simply by watching them.”
“That’ll take too much time. Sutton’s in trouble with all this. If anyone’s in trouble—”
“We’re all in trouble at this point,” Brewer said, cutting Cage off. “Every single one of our families is in jeopardy right now. We all have a stake in this. If you want to learn how to roll with us, Cage, you have to learn how we do things. And this is how we do things. Right, by the book, and slowly.”
Cage murmured underneath his breath, but he finally backed down. However, he wasn’t the only one that was upset. Grave wasn’t happy about any of this, either. And neither was Ryker. I saw a bloodlust in their eyes unlike anything I’d ever seen.
It made me wonder why, too.
“In the meantime, I’m about to do something you guys aren’t gonna like,” Diesel said.
“Fucking really?” Grave asked.
“I think it’s the only way to keep us all safe. I’m also gonna be instilling protective details on the girls, should they need to go out for any reason,” Diesel said.
“This place is gonna get crowded. You know that,” Knox said.
“Which is why I’ve been working with Brewer on finding us a larger place to call home in instances like this,” Diesel said.
“What the fuck are you guys talking about?” Toxin asked.
Diesel grinned. “Until this is all settled, all of us are going to be staying in the lodge. Together. So we can keep a watch on one another. But we also have a new lodge. One that still needs a few loving touches, but will give us more room to maneuver since our clan is growing.”
“You sure it’s ready to house us all?” Brewer asked.
Diesel shrugged. “It’ll have to be. This place is much too small for us now.”
The guys fell silent as our president looked around.
“All in favor?” he asked.
And as our hands slowly inched themselves into the air, Diesel nodded his head.
“All right. Everyone is due at the new location by nightfall. I’m sending the address to everyone’s phones. Pack up your shit, and make sure you’re over there with your bikes, your cars, and with enough time to settle in before family dinner,” he said.
Then, with a clap of his hands, church was dismissed.
10
Margot
“Hello there. My name is Dr. Langley. I’ll be your attending for the next couple of hours. How are you feeling?”
“I’m Dr. Langley. Dr. Moreau had to step out for a while. I’m going to empty your urine catcher and draw some blood, then I’ll be back to read off your test results.”
“Dr. Langley is the name, and healing you up is my game! How ya feeling, bud spud?”
I made my usual rounds after being asked to stay on for a few hours into the day shift. Which wasn’t odd for me to be asked, since I’d been paired with lazy-ass residents. And while the lack of sleep wore me down, I also knew it looked good on me. When the residents called out over stupid shit, I was the one stepping up and filling their positions. More money in my pocket, more shining stars in my record as a resident, and I looked like the most dependable.
Which set me up well with the board. And I hoped to leverage that into a job.
While I had no intentions of staying in Redding after my residency, there was something about home that called me back. Maybe it was the wafting of the ocean waves or the warmth of the sun. Maybe it was the tepid humidity I enjoyed breathing in or the soft caresses of the summer breeze. Whatever it was, it was strong. The pull to stay left me breathless sometimes.
So, I did everything I could to get in the hospital’s good graces.
“Good morning, Miss Tandy. My name is Dr. Langley, and I’m here to tickle those little feet of yours,” I said, smiling.
“No! Don’t tickle my feets,” the girl said, giggling.
“No? No tickling the feet? Well, what am I gonna do with you then?” I asked.
“Dr. Moreau said you were gonna draw blood and give me a sucker,” she said, smiling.
“Oh, really. Blood and a sucker. Sounds like a good time, if you ask me. Let me ask you this, do you like needles?”
The little girl shook her head no.
“That’s okay. No one likes needles. I don’t even like needles,” I said.
“You don’t?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“Nope. I don’t. But, if you can be a really big girl for me and not pull away when I draw this blood, I’ll get you two suckers,” I whispered.
“Yes!” she exclaimed.
I laughed as I made my way for her, reaching for the tray one of the nurses had already brought in. I prepped the little girl for her blood draw, and I saw the fear in her eyes. I tried to get her attention and kept talking with her. I told her about the time I first went swimming in the ocean. I told her about the time I first ate a bug thinking it was candy. I even told her about the first time I fell out of a tree and had to go to the hospital.
It spiraled into the story I always tell people about why I wanted to become a doctor. And by the time I was done with story time, I was bandaging her up.
“Wait, you already did it?” she asked.
“I already did it,” I said, grinning.
“I didn’t even feel it!”
“Good. That was the point. Now, are you ready for those two suckers?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said, giggling.
I pulled them out of my pocket and gave her a choice of colors. I watched her pick yellow and pink, which warmed my heart as she unwrapped them both and held them each in her hands. I saw the worry in her mother’s eyes. I knew why this little girl was here. I walked over to her mother and pulled her off to the side, watching as her daughter ate the suckers.
“You really think she’ll be okay with those?” her mother asked.
“They’re sugar-free. I promise, she’ll be okay,” I said.
She sighed. “You really think my little girl is diabetic?”
“I think all the signs point that way. I’m going to get this blood down to the lab and see what her sugar and protein markers are. We’re going to run a hormone test just to make sure something isn’t off with her thyroid. But, at this point, it’s an elimination game. If it’s nothing else, then yes. She’s more than likely already diabetic.”
I comforted the mother as best as I could, but it was all I could do. It was all I could give her. I hated seeing parents like this. Worried over the health of their children. It hurt deep down in a place I rarely touched. I rubbed the mother’s arm until her daughter called for her. Then, the mother drew in a deep breath and wiped at her tears.
“Thank you for helping us,” she said breathlessly.
“It’s what we’re here for, Mrs. Wyatt,” I said.
I walked out of the room and made some notes in the chart. I handed off the blood samples to a passing nurse, then handed her the sheet of paper denoting the slew of tests needing to be run. I put the finishing touches on the girl’s file and stuck it just outside her door. Then, I closed it behind me to give them both some privacy.
“Morning, Dr. Langley,” Piper said.
“Morning, Dr. Jackson,” I said, smiling.
I watched her pass by, and her smile settled my heart. I hadn’t gotten off my shift yet to get some sleep like she asked, much less go see how Bear was doing. But her smile told me things were at least all right for now. I continued on with my shift, checking on patients and making rounds with Dr. Jackson at the teaching helm. It was hard to focus, though.
Because when two o’clock rolled around, the only thing I could think about was how I should have been at Bear’s side.
I wondered how he was doing. How he was healing. How he was feeling. And the more I wondered about him, the more I wondered about other things.
Like, whether or not the connection I still felt with him was real. Whether or not he felt the same way. Whether or not we could really work something out.
I tried to squash that hope as much as possible.
Hell no, we couldn't work things out.
I mean, even if we could, I had no idea if he felt the same way. For all I knew, he simply wanted one more tumble around in bed. Which he wouldn't get for a very long time. And anyway, it was ridiculous for me to feel the way I felt about him. Sure, it was love at first sight. When we were fucking teenagers! It’d been eight years since either of us had spoken to one another. Or laid eyes on one another. Eight years changed a lot about a person.
For all I knew, he was an even bigger asshole now.
“Dr. Jackson, you’re needed in O.R. Prep. Dr. Jackson, you’re needed in O.R. Prep.”
The intercom came to life and Piper slapped her metal folder closed. She dismissed the residents gathered around her, instructing them to make their rounds before checking in with their advisors. She winked at me before she walked away, headed for the patient room where she was needed.
“Emergency surgery calls,” she said as she sung the words.
I broke off and went to go clock myself out. My long shift and a half at the hospital was done, especially now that two other residents had come in to relieve me. I walked over and clocked out, ready to get my ass back to my apartment so I could catch a few hours of sleep.
But I wanted to find Piper first. If I could. Just to ask her how Bear was doing personally.
“Dr. Jackson?” I called out.
I weaved my way down the hallway of singular rooms. O.R. Prep was essentially a fancy term for a small room where the patient sat until the O.R. was ready for them. Dr. Jackson’s job was to come in and prepare the patient and any family members there of the surgery and what it would entail. And for an emergency surgery, everything was pretty quiet.
“Dr. Jackson, I just wanted to ask you about one of your pat—”
I came around the corner and heard Piper’s muffled voice. I heard her coughing. Choking. And I was instantly on alert. I reached out for the curtain and pulled it back, my eyes widening at the sight.
Dead Souls MC: Prospects Series Books 1-5 Page 21
