Maddog (Black Reign MC #10)

Chapter Twelve

Holly

The next three months were the happiest of my life. Not only did Jax and Dad take care of Chris and Andrea, but I didn’t have to do anything. All anyone would tell me was that I didn’t have to worry about either of them anymore.

Some of the women stayed in the Black Reign compound because they had nowhere else to go. Seemed Chris had a whole thing going where he’d preyed on homeless women. Of the eight young women who’d stayed, all but one had been homeless for a few weeks when they’d met Chris. He’d given them a place to live and, after a while, convinced each of them that there was “just something about you I can’t live without.” Then he’d taken them all to Columbia. That’s where the whole thing kind of went off the rails. I didn’t know where Andrea fit in with it all, but El Diablo finally put his foot down.

“I’ve never denied you anything you wanted, Holly Sweetness.” He tried to look contrite, but I could tell he wasn’t a bit sorry to keep this from me. “But I will not budge on this. It’s over. Neither of them will ever hurt you again.” I tried to watch the news for any indication that Chris had gone back home, but Jax had kept me so busy having sex I decided it didn’t really matter. Nothing was going to interrupt my happiness.

Until I woke up this morning. I hadn’t felt bad, exactly. Just… off. Jax was already up. I remember him kissing me awake and letting me know he had some business to take care of outside the compound. I thought he said something about ExFil, which meant he wouldn’t be back until later in the evening.

I glanced at the clock. It was after eleven, but I was beat. I’d have blamed it on Jax keeping me up all night for sex, like he did most nights, but he hadn’t. I’d slept through the night.

“Fuuuuck.” I groaned and turned over onto my back. I shivered and groaned again. My whole body ached. And I was sweating.

A memory flashed through my mind. The day in Blade’s office when he’d told me my leukemia had returned, but we’d caught it early. I’d felt just like this. Only, we’d all thought I was just sick. A cold or something.

I sat bolt upright in the bed, instantly wide awake. My heart pounded and my breath came in sharp pants. “No,” I sobbed out. “Please no.”

With trembling hands, I reached for my phone. I didn’t even think about calling anyone but Jax. He answered on the first ring.

“Hey, Maddog. You sleep in today?” His voice was cheerful, like he was happy to hear from me and maybe a little amused that I’d slept late. He loved it when he wore me out enough to keep me in bed half the morning and normally I did too.

“Jax?” My voice was soft and shaky. It was easy to tell something was wrong.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Gone was the easygoing lover I’d grown obsessed with and in his place was my fierce protector.

“I’m sick.” My voice broke on the last word.

“I’ll call Blade and Doc.”

“NO!” I took several deep breaths to calm myself. “I can do it. I just panicked.”

“Because of the last time.”

“It feels the same, Jax.” I started crying then. “I don’t want to do this again! Chemo sucks ass!”

“Call your mother, Holly. I’ll get Blade to come to you now. I’ll be with there in an hour. Less if I can catch Cain before he leaves. And, baby?”

I took in a shuddering breath. “Yes?”

“No matter what happens, I’m gonna be right by your side. Every step of the way. You hear me?”

Closing my eyes I took another deep breath and let it out. I pictured Jax’s face and let his warmth fill me. “Yes, Jax. I hear you.”

“That’s my girl. I’m coming. Hold it together until I get there. We’ll figure this out together.”

“OK. I can do that.”

“I know you can. Call me back when Blade gets there. If I don’t answer it means I’ll be there in less than twenty minutes. If I answer, I’m still close to an hour away.”

Not that I understood that, but I didn’t have to. I had to know he was on the way. Which meant, I really hoped he didn’t answer when I called him back.

I got up and dressed after unlocking the door for when Mom got there. She and Dad arrived five minutes later. I sat on the couch, my forearms on my knees with my phone clenched tightly in my hands. The second Mom hurried through the door, I was up on my feet and in her arms shaking and sobbing.

“It’s going to be all right, honey,” Mom said, though she was crying as hard as I was. “We’ll figure it out and get through it together. Blade will do everything he can to help us. You know he will.”

“I’m scared, Mom.”

“I know, sweetheart. Me too. Me too.”

I sat with my mother on the couch. She had her arms around me while we both cried silently. My dad stood guard at the door, watching for Blade to approach. Fifteen minutes later, the man in question skidded to a stop in a big, black Bronco in front of my house. He’d obviously hurried over the second Jax had called him.

I dialed Jax’s number, attempting to get him on a video chat instead of a call. I needed to see his face and look into his eyes. He didn’t answer so I glanced at the time. He better be here in less than twenty minutes like he said, or I was gonna kick his ass.

“What happened?” That was Blade. Dr. Donovan Muse. He was a member of Salvation’s Bane MC in Palm Beach, but his office was about halfway between there and Lake Worth where Black Reign was located. He must have hurried straight over. I recognized his medical bag immediately and a fresh flood of tears started.

“I’m sick.” I sounded as miserable as I felt. “Like last time.”

“When did it start?” He sat next to me and reached for my face, his fingers immediately seeking the lymph nodes in my neck.

“I woke up like this. Uh, achy. I woke up in a sweat, and I have no energy. I went to bed early and slept through the night. I shouldn’t be this tired.”

He pulled out his stethoscope and put it in his ears before warming the bell between his hands. “Raise your shirt for me, honey. You know the drill.”

I did. Thankfully I’d dressed and at least had a bra covering me.

Blade listened to my heart and lungs, then took my temperature, blood pressure, and oxygen level. “Your temperature is slightly elevated, but not horribly. Did you eat a good supper last night before bed?”

“I wasn’t that hungry. I had some grapes and a banana, though. And water.”

“How about during the night?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I didn’t wake at all until Jax told me he was leaving and wouldn’t be back until this evening. Something to do with ExFil but I was too sleepy to really process much more.”

“Any abnormal bleeding? Nose bleeds or anything?”

“No.”

“OK.” He stopped, smiling kindly at me. “You know I have to take blood, right?”

“Yes.” I gave a miserable sniff. I really wanted Jax here for this. I don’t know why. This wasn’t anything compared to what would come next if the leukemia had returned. I met Blade’s gaze. “Why would this happen now? Why?”

“First of all, sweetheart, we don’t know that anything’s happened. All we know for certain is that you have a slight fever and body aches. Which could be any number of things other than leukemia.”

“Yes, but the last time --”

He cut me off. “The last time you’d been feeling bad for a month and a half. Let’s not borrow trouble. OK?” Blade was firm but gentle. “First thing we need to do is get some testing started. Some of it I can get started now, some of it I’ll have to take to my pathologist. But I promise you, in twenty-four hours, I’ll have a definite diagnosis.”

I nodded and was about to surrender my arm for him to draw blood when there was a deep rumble in the background that intensified to a bone-jarring roar.

I put my hands over my ears and looked at my dad. Wrath had been leaning against the wall, looking out the front storm door. Which was when the windows on the house started to rattle. It felt like I was in the middle of the biggest, hardest, rock festival in the history of the world.

“What’s going on?” My mom had to yell to be heard over the horrible noise.

Wrath chuckled. At least that’s what it looked like. I couldn’t hear a fucking thing. He held out his hand to me, beckoning me over beside him. As I stood and made my way around the couch to the door, he pointed out the window. There, in the courtyard just beyond the houses, a huge-ass military style helicopter was slowly touching down in the grass.

“What the hell is that?” I tried to ask my dad, but he just shook his head and pointed to his ears. He couldn’t hear me.

A couple minutes later, the thing settled for a brief moment, then lifted off again. The helicopter went straight up, then banked as it turned and left the way it had come. Off in the distance, I saw a lone figure jogging from the courtyard toward the house. And I’d recognize that wonderful figure anywhere. “Jax,” I breathed.

“Yeah, baby girl. Looks like your boyfriend knows how to make an entrance.”

“He got a ride on a freaking Black Hawk?” I wanted to lash out at Jax even though I knew it was unreasonable. But it felt like Jax had been out having fun while I was scared out of my fucking mind. On the other hand, he’d definitely made an entrance. As well as gotten here in the fastest way possible. “I guess this is why he said if he couldn’t answer when I called, he’d be on the way.” I sounded disgruntled when I was really happy to see Jax. I was falling back on old patterns, needing to deflect my fear by being angry at Jax.

Wrath chuckled. My dad had an odd sense of humor because I didn’t see anything funny about the situation.

Dad held open the door when Jax approached. The man was focused on one thing and one thing only. Me . “Holly!”

The second Jax reached me, I struck, smacking at his chest. “You left me!”

He looked like I’d slapped him. “I just went to work for the day, baby. I was comin’ right back.”

“ Work ? You were joyriding in a freaking helicopter!”

“Honey, I bullied my boss into having a teammate bring me home ASAP. We had to file all kinds of flight plans and pull strings that didn’t exist to get permission. Hell, I’m not even sure Cain got permission so much as he got some higher up somewhere to ignore the big ass military bird flying in civilian airspace.” He looked panicked as he looked from me to Wrath and back.

“That’s some… creative maneuvering there, boy.” Wrath grinned and scrubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He shook his head and chuckled. “You hijacked a Black Hawk to come to your girl when she needed you. Color me officially impressed.”

I sniffled and Jax scooped me up, sitting on the couch with me in his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Hush.” He kissed my temple and hugged me tight. “Don’t apologize. You’ve got nothing to apologize for.” He held me like that for several minutes while Blade filled him in on what was happening. I didn’t pay much attention because I was too busy soaking up Jax’s strength. I was going to need it to get through this.

“Listen to me, Holly.” Blade pried my hand loose where I’d curled my fingers in Jax’s shirt. He gripped my hand in both of his and leveled a look on me. “You’re gettin’ way ahead of yourself. I’ve got a bunch of tests to do, but, like I said, I’ll have an answer for you in a day. Maybe less. Can you give me that long? Can you keep it together? You’re scaring Jax. I’m not dealing with that pussy when he goes all caveman on me because I have to draw your blood.” I knew it was nonsense to get so worked up, but I think I was having PTSD or something because all the memories from my childhood came rushing back.

I sniffed and wiped my nose on the back of my wrist. “He is a shade overprotective.” I took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly, doing my best to drive down the panic I knew wasn’t logical. Later. Once we knew what we were dealing with, then I could panic if necessary.

“That he is. Now. I know it’s uncomfortable, but let’s get this done so I can start testing your blood.”

I nodded. “OK.”

Blade took several different vials of blood and a couple nasal swabs, which I didn’t understand but didn’t protest. He’d just finished when his phone buzzed from his back pocket. “Good,” he said as he glanced at the text. “I may have results for you quicker than expected.” He smiled. “I wasn’t sure she’d be available right away, but she’s waiting at the office.” He packed away the samples in a biohazard bag and put everything in what looked like a small lunch bag. “I’ll be in touch the second I have something.” That last he addressed to Jax.

Jax looked down at me. “I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere.”