Chapter 16 Margot
MARGOT
“Dr. Langley.”
I looked up from the clipboard I was writing on with incredibly tired eyes.
The Chief of Surgery came for me, and I straightened up quickly.
He had a narrow look in his eyes and a determined scowl on his face as he approached me with his hands clasped behind his back.
He had on his blue scrubs and a wrap around his head.
He looked as if he was supposed to be preparing for surgery right now. At four in the morning.
So, what was he doing chasing me down the hallway?
“Yes, Dr. Wright?” I asked.
“With Dr. Jackson gone, I’ve been the one overseeing the residency applicants. You’ve been doing an exceptional job. Especially with the hours you’ve been keeping,” he said.
I nodded. “Thank you, sir. I really appreciate it.”
“I’ve never had a residency applicant that actually wanted the night shift.”
I smiled. “Normally, I thrive better at night than I do during the day.”
“It’s funny you should at that ‘normally’ to it.”
I paused. “Why, sir?”
“Because you’ve been looking very tired lately.”
“I suppose it comes with the territory. Residency schedules aren’t easy.”
“No, they’re not. Especially when you’re the only one filling in for the other residents whenever they need to call out. I looked at your file, Dr. Langley. I’ve clocked the hours you’ve been working. You know residents don’t get paid overtime pay, right?”
I nodded. “Yes. But someone has to man the stations, so to speak. And if my fellow residents—”
“Your fellow residents are lazy, at best.”
I wanted to defend them, but I didn’t have a defense. Because he was right. I worked with a bunch of lazy-ass applicants.
“Yes, sir,” I said.
He grinned. “Take the rest of your shift off. I’ll find someone to cover your shift tomorrow. You’ve clocked enough hours for this week already. Anymore you work, you won’t get paid for. And there’s no use in overworking my best resident.”
“Dr. Wright, that isn’t—”
“I wasn’t asking, Dr. Langley,” he said.
He turned and walked away from me, and I sighed.
Mostly, with relief. But, partially out of exasperation.
The residents did take advantage of me. I knew they did.
And while it was nice to see that upper management, so to speak, recognized that, I also knew my fellow applicants would now make my life a living nightmare.
They’d figure I ratted them out to the Chief of Surgery myself, which would make for a very long two more months in this damn program.
But hell, I needed sleep.
I finished filling out the clipboard of information, then filed it away. I clocked out, then jotted down a note on the schedule saying that Dr. Wright himself gave me tomorrow night off. Then, I grabbed my things and lumbered out of the hospital with nothing but my bed on my mind.
Until I heard someone coming up behind me.
“Whoever you are, you can fuck off,” I grumbled.
And as I whipped out my pepper spray, turning around, someone grabbed my wrist and backed me into a post. A figure came out of the shadows and into the flickering lights above us.
I stared into Bear’s eyes for the first time in weeks, and my knees shook.
“Bear,” I whispered.
“No need for the pepper spray. Though, we don’t have much time,” he said.
He released my wrist and I quickly put it back in my purse.
“Not much time? What are you talking—”
“They’re looking for you now,” he said.
I paused. “Shit.”
“And it’s my fault.”
“Bear, I’m sure it’s not—”
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
I drew in a sharp breath. “Do I really have a choice right now?”
“You always have a choice, Margot. I’ll always make sure you have a choice.”
His word choice fluttered my heart. It warmed me inside and made me feel like a special little angel. Almost special enough to erase our last encounter, but not quite enough. I shook my head as I slipped away from him, only to feel him grip my arm and pull me back to the post he pinned me against.
“Bear, let me go,” I said calmly.
“If I let you go, I’ll have to follow you. Keep watch. Make sure you’re safe. I did what I did the first time because you were safe without us. Now, you’re not anymore. I need you to trust that I know that, at least,” he said.
With a heavy sigh, I nodded. And together, we made our way for my car.
I slipped in and struck up my engine, then watched him get in front of me.
I figured the point was to follow him, though I remembered the trek.
Even though I’d only made it once, the route to the warehouse was forever seared into my memory.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into the garage, his head on a continuous swivel the entire time.
I slipped out of my car and Bear took my hand. I heard skittering on the roof as we made our way up the steps. We walked inside and strode down the winding hallways, heading for the bedroom.
But before we got there, a massive man stepped in front of us.
“Bear,” the man said.
“Knox, not now,” he said.
“The fuck were you thinking?”
So, that’s his name.
“I’ve been doing it for the past two weeks. I have information. But I need to talk to Margot first. Privately. Please,” Bear said.”
“Doing what?” I asked.
“Holy fuck, are you out of your mind? I almost sniped through Margot’s fucking window!”
“I had to tell Brewer to stand the fuck down because I recognized the sound of your bike approaching. Figured whoever was coming was with you,” Knox said.
Brewer and Knox. Got it.
The two men stared one another down as a third came into view.
He was leaner than the rest of the men I’d seen walking around here, and he approached Bear’s side with a massive gun in his hand.
I tucked myself tightly against Bear’s side.
The three men looked positively irate with one another.
And as Bear laced his fingers with mine, I closed my eyes. Wishing for all of this to be over.
“Two weeks?” Knox asked.
“What’s two weeks?” Brewer asked.
“Give me an hour and I’ll explain to everyone. Okay?” Bear asked.
“Or you can explain now,” Knox demanded.
“The fuck’s going on out here?” Rock asked groggily as he came out of his room.
“Not now,” Bear said curtly.
Rock came up next to us and his eyes cleared the second he saw me. I nuzzled my cheek into Bear’s arm as he stepped between us and the three guys.
“Let’s give them some time,” Rock said.
“We need answers and we need them now,” Knox said.
“And you can have them after he deals with Margot,” Rock said curtly.
Then, together, the four of them finally dispersed. Leaving us to head to the bedroom where Bear locked us in. Caging us into a prison with the tension growing just beyond the door.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked breathlessly.
Bear sighed. “I’ve been coming to the hospital for the past two weeks to check up on you. Make sure you were doing okay.”
“Well, I’ve been trying to call your old cell number. But you haven’t been picking up.”
He paused. “The one from high school?”
I nodded. “Mhm.”
He chuckled. “I haven’t had that number for years.”
I shrugged. “Figured it was worth a shot anyway.”
“Wait, you were trying to call me? When?”
“I stopped trying about three weeks ago.”
“Why were you calling?”
“I don’t know. I guess to see how you were doing. How everyone was doing. I got Piper on the phone a few times, but she wouldn't talk about anything.”
“She couldn't. We were all ordered by Diesel to not say a word to anyone. We weren’t even supposed to be getting on our phones.”
“Or leaving in the middle of the night to stalk out hospitals?” I asked, grinning.
And when that grin spread across Bear’s face, the tension alleviated itself a bit.
“I was coming by the hospital to make sure you were okay. To make sure those guys hadn’t gotten to you.
Then, they cornered me tonight in the middle of the road.
They know I’ve been going to see you. Going to check in on you.
So, I headed straight there after the encounter and now we’re here,” he said.
I nodded slowly. “Uh huh. And you wanted to check in on me because…?”
“Because I care about you, Margot.”
“You have a funny way of showing it.”
“Look, I know. I pushed you away last time and I was harsh about it. But I didn’t want to. I wanted to pull you close. I wanted you to stay. But there was no reason for me to get you involved in all this if you were already safe.”
“And now, I’m not. So, here you are,” I said.
“I’m trying to protect you, Margot. I know how you feel about all this. I know how much you hate me right now—”
I scoffed. “I never hated you, Bear. I never could.”
He paused. “But you hate what we do. What I do.”
“No, I’m not happy about it. I wished better for you. But you seem happy. You guys seem close. I’ve seen how you protect one another. And that’s a good thing. It’s more than I’ve got in my life, at least. And you found it all without that college education. I can admire that.”
“I went to college, you know.”
I paused. “Wait, what?”
He sighed. “I went to college. I mean, community college, sure. But, the one across town. I made that promise to you, and I kept it. Got a technical degree in mechanics, and when we aren’t being contracted out for our protection, I run a shop we own in the middle of Redding.
I work on bikes, soccer mom vans, sports cars. The works.”
“You—you went to college?”
“I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want to create more tension at the time with correcting you. You've never taken lightly to being corrected.”
I snickered. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
The two of us stared at one another before I took a small step closer.
“There any other lie you want to clear up for me?” I asked.
“Not a lie. Just an inability to correct you on something you already assumed,” Bear said.
“Fine. I’ll give you that one. Anything else you failed to correct me on?”
“No, but I suppose I should come clean about something else. Since we’re on the truth train and all.”
I took another step toward him. “And... what would that be?”
He closed the distance between us, wrapping his arm around me.
He pulled me close, causing me to gasp as I tilted my head back.
My hands sank into his massive upper arms. I clung to him, feeling his girthy strength pushing against my curves.
His head dipped to mine. I felt his breath softly against my lips.
My eyes danced between his as I longed for him to kiss me.
Longed for him to touch me. Longed for him to toss me onto this bed and have his way with me.
“Bear?” I asked softly.
“I should probably tell you I never stopped loving you. And I never will,” he said.
Then, without another word, I reached up and captured his lips with mine.
Because I hadn’t stopped loving him, either.