Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
River
I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the back of the uncomfortable hospital chair as I held Axel’s sleeping form in my arms. Adelaide was passed out on the hospital bed, where she’d been for the past several hours. She had gone into premature labor, and the doctor had to give her a shot to stop her contractions.
I wanted to fucking drop bodies for the hell that she was going through, for making us almost lose our son. Losing our baby, especially this late in her pregnancy, would destroy her. I’d never be able to save her.
Axel yawned as he came awake, his blue eyes locking onto my own instantly. “Hey, kid,” I murmured.
He gave me an adorable, toothless smile at me in response. Adelaide whimpered, her features twisting with pain. I instantly got up from the chair and strode over to her. “No,” she whimpered before I gently shook her awake. Her beautiful, dark eyes snapped open, locking on my own. Then, they immediately welled with tears. My heart twisted. “You’re okay,” she breathed.
I cupped her cheek and gently swiped my thumb along her collarbone. “I’m alright, darlin’,” I gently assured her. “You okay?”
She nodded. “I just had a nightmare.” Obviously not wanting to talk about it, she held her arms out for Axel. I handed him over, watching with soft eyes as she lifted Axel and blew on his belly, making him giggle.
She was a fucking incredible mom.
“How’s Zyla and Reina?” Adelaide asked me, not taking her eyes off of Axel as he smiled up at her, his hands reaching for her long, dark hair.
“Zyla woke up for a little while,” I told her. A tiny bit of tension left her shoulders. “She took a damn good beating, but she’ll be alright. Her doctor is keeping her overnight for observation, but she’ll be released sometime tomorrow morning, most likely. Reina is awake, and she did fine in surgery. Sam is with her.”
Adelaide’s lips twitched with a smile as all of the tension finally left her shoulders, making her look so much more relaxed. “Think Sam will come around finally?” she asked me, not having missed the way my VP was with her friend.
I snorted. “The way he’s ready to fucking bury Ink in a shallow grave for Reina being hurt? Pretty sure he’s already come around, darlin’.”
She nodded. Silence rang in the room for a moment, apart from Axel’s adorable little gurgles.
“Tell me what happened at Tristan’s,” she finally requested as she finally drew those beautiful, brown eyes over to me.
I sighed. “Tank saw everything go down. Dray and Wren met up with a man named Calhoun a couple of nights ago, the same night the clubhouse was attached. Tank caught them. They threatened you if Tank told anyone, so Tank kept his mouth shut. He wanted to protect you the best that he could.”
A little smile tilted her lips. “He’s always had a soft spot for me.”
I nodded in agreement. “I know, darlin’. Tank is back at the clubhouse doing some clean up with some of my other men. I’m patching him over.” She smiled up at me for a moment before she suddenly frowned.
“What’s going to happen to Tristan’s club?”
I grunted. “Not much of a club anymore,” I admitted. Her frown deepened. “So, we’ll see what happens.”
Someone knocked on the door, and I walked over to open it, a scowl settling on my features as my eyes met Tristan’s. Hadn’t he done enough shit to her as it was? Couldn’t my woman have one goddamn moment of peace before he came and destroyed it all?
“If I let you in this room, you need to watch what the fuck comes out of your mouth,” I warned him. “She’s going through enough shit without you adding onto it.”
I wanted to send him away. Fuck, I didn’t want him anywhere around her, but Adelaide would want to talk to him, especially after he’d just had his entire world flipped upside down. She would want to comfort him. I hated that she wanted to when she was the least of his concerns anymore.
Tristan nodded in understanding, but I knew him well enough to know that he was going to do something fucking stupid, just like he always seemed to do around her.
Nonetheless, I allowed him into the room, shutting the door behind him. Adelaide watched him with guarded eyes as she held Axel against her chest a little tighter. I stepped next to her bed on instinct. She was uneasy around him, and that had bells ringing in my head. Alarms were sounding. She knew something was wrong.
It was both an advantage and a disadvantage of her knowing him so well.
“What do you want, Tristan?” Adelaide asked him, her voice cold and curt.
“I’ve fucking lost everything,” Tristan told her. I growled softly. I knew he wouldn’t keep his fucking word. “I’ve lost you, the club… every fucking thing. I don’t even have my fucking sister anymore.”
Adelaide swallowed thickly, flinching at the mention of his sister—her best friend. Axel whimpered, picking up on her stress instantly. She bounced him gently in her arms, quieting him almost immediately. “Tristan…” she trailed off, her tone revealing how nervous she was.
“I’ve got nothing to live for, Adelaide.”
She snapped her eyes up to his, fear shining in their depths, fear that she was going to lose him, too. “Tristan, don’t do anything stupid,” she hoarsely snapped as she clutched Axel to her, her breathing quickening as she began to panic. I gripped her shoulder, hoping to calm her. Her wild eyes swung to me. “River, don’t let him do anything stupid,” she desperately choked out.
I ran my eyes over Tristan, watching as his fingers twitched. “Tristan, if you touch that fucking gun in your cut, I’ll beat your fucking ass,” I snarled at him as I stepped toward him, watching his hands for more movement.
“You’ve got her, River. What fucking more do you want from me?!” Tristan roared at me, completely losing his composure.
If Joey and I had our way, he’d no longer be a part of her life. But goddammit, she wanted him here with her, so he had to stay alive. He’d been selfish enough with her. I wouldn’t allow him to do this, too.
“I want you alive because you fucking mean something to her, dammit!” I snapped at him. “If you fucking kill yourself, Tristan, it’ll fucking destroy her. She lost your sister. Don’t you fucking dare make her lose you, too.”
He barked out a humorless laugh as he threw his hands up in the air before letting them drop back to his sides. “Doesn’t matter how I go out,” Tristan snapped at me. “I’ve got the same fucking cancer my sister had.” Adelaide sobbed, and my heart broke for her. She was going to lose him, no matter how hard she tried to keep him alive. “I’ve got fucking cross hairs on my back. I’m going out soon, no matter what.”
“I can give you fucking protection in my club, Tristan,” I told him, no matter how much I didn’t fucking like it. “I can pay for your treatments. Shit doesn’t have to end like this,” I tried reasoning with him.
Tristan shook his head at me. “I wish it were that easy. I caught it too late. I’m on borrowed time. The cancer wasn’t detected until I got shot. With something that sensitive and since the chances of me surviving were already slim to none, the doctor didn’t inform anyone, though he did make note of what he found. I’m in stage five. It won’t be long before my lungs collapse.”
“No…” Adelaide choked out.
We both turned to look at her, and my heart fucking shattered. Her expression was completely broken, tears pouring down her beautiful face. “I’m sorry, Addy baby,” Tristan whispered, his voice cracking. “I’m so fucking sorry. I fucked up everything between us. You’ve been trying to hold me with you, and I’ve destroyed all of that. I’m so fucking sorry.”
A sob ripped from her lips. The machine that was monitoring our baby and her belly began to print out lines indicating a contraction, and the baby’s heart rate spiked dangerously high. Adelaide cried out in pain, and I instantly rushed forward and took Axel from her. “River—” she gasped, fear filling her eyes.
I was lost. I didn’t know what to do.
I didn’t know how the fuck to help her.
“We need you gentleman to leave the room,” the doctor stated as he rushed into the room to help her.
Adelaide cried out in pain again. Axel wailed, and I quickly bounced him. I pressed a kiss to Adelaide’s forehead. “Live for me, darlin’,” I whispered. “Hold Joey with you.”
She only screamed for me as I was shoved out of the room.
I cradled Axel in my arms as I paced the floor outside of Adelaide’s hospital room. I’d never been a religious man, but at that moment, with her wails sounding out of the room through the closed door, I found myself praying for a fucking miracle.
God, please, don’t take her from me.
Tristan was sitting on the floor beside the door, his head back against the wall. Joey was standing against the wall across from her room, his arms crossed over his chest. His jaw was clenched as he stared at the door, almost as if he were trying to will her pain away.
I only wished it were that fucking easy.
After what felt like an eternity, the door finally fucking opened, and the doctor stepped out. “Mr. Boris?” he asked.
“Is she okay?” I asked him, so fucking nervous that I was actually sweating. I needed to know that she and Jaxon were both alive. If she lost him but survived, I would lose her. Joey wouldn’t be able to breathe life back into her. She would be lost to both of us.
He smiled at me and nodded. “She’s going to be just fine, Mr. Boris.” I breathed a sigh of relief. Joey stood up from his leaning position and scrubbed his hands down his face, his shoulders deflating. “She’s asleep right now, but she should be waking up in a little while. She went into premature labor again, and I’m assuming she had an anxiety attack because she was saying that her chest was hurting, that she couldn’t breathe, but we were able to stop her contractions and place an oxygen mask over her face. She’s fine now,” He assured me when I shot him a worried look. “I just ask that you keep visitors out of her room until we feel that her blood pressure won’t spike again, which I’m inclined to think are causing the contractions.”
I pointed to Joey. “Can he see her for a few minutes?” I asked the doctor. “You don’t have to worry about him. I promise.”
“Only for a few minutes,” the doctor agreed. “If she wakes up while he’s in there, try to keep it light-hearted. She’s been under way too much stress.”
Joey nodded his head at the doctor before he quicky slipped into the room. I stepped into Adelaide’s hospital room with him, leaving Tristan on the floor in the hallway. If he had just fucking listened to me, this shit wouldn’t have happened to her again.
My eyes instantly landed on Adelaide’s pale form. I could tell that she had been crying before she passed out, and her hair was an absolute mess.
“Mommy’s okay,” I whispered to Axel. “Fucking hell, she’s okay.”
Joey’s hands shook as he reached down to grab her face in his hands. I knew he was going to kiss her, but I only gritted my teeth. Adelaide needed this.
“Breathe,” Joey whispered. Then, he soothed his lips over hers, barely letting them touch.
She slowly woke up, her eyes locking on his. He cupped her cheek, letting his other hand drop. “I need you to breathe, so you can live for River. Can you do that for me, pretty girl?”
She nodded, her bottom lip trembling. “He’s leaving me,” she choked out, referring to Tristan.
“ Easy ,” Joey coaxed, smoothing his thumb over her tear-stained, pale cheek. “I know it’s hard, but try not to think about it. Just focus on staying healthy for your family. River and I will do whatever we can to try to keep him here with you. We can’t make promises, but we will try,” he promised her. “Just hold me with you.”
She nodded. He pressed his lips to her forehead. “The doc doesn’t want you to have any visitors except for River, so I have to go, but I’ll come to see you soon. I promise.”
She nodded at him again. He pressed his lips to her temple. “Live for him,” he whispered.
I dragged a chair over to her bed as Joey quietly slipped out of the room. Holding Axel in one arm, I held Adelaide’s hand in the other, pressing my lips to the back of her hand. “Hold him with you,” I whispered to her.
She sniffled. “I’m sorry he kissed me again.”
I shrugged. “He does it to remind you that you can breathe,” I told her. “When shit gets this bad for you, darlin’, you start dying inside. We both just want you to fucking live.”
“I’ll always live for you,” she swore.
I pressed my lips to the back of her hand again as I slouched down in my chair, getting comfortable. “That’s all I’ll ever ask of you, darlin’.”
I finally allowed my eyes to shut for a little while, holding Axel tighter against my chest.
Thank you, God.