Chapter Eighteen
Vivian
“You did good back there, babe.” Falcon stood in front of me so that he was all I could see, not the van that carried James somewhere I couldn’t see, just him.
His big hands cradled my face so gently it was a stark contrast to the warrior I’d seen just minutes ago.
“So fucking good,” he growled and kissed me, hard and intense. “Are you really okay?”
“Physically, yeah,” I nodded and licked my lips. “I think it’ll take me some time for the rest of it.”
His jaw clenched. “I’m sorry, Viv. I fucking promised.”
“Stop,” I insisted, grabbing his chin between my thumb, forefinger, and middle finger.
“I’m here. I’m safe. You did everything you promised you would, so this is where I say thank you, Falcon.
” I pressed my lips to his in a kiss that probably said too much about what I was feeling, but I needed him to know I was relieved and grateful. And falling hard. “Thank you.”
He flashed a grin that I felt all the way down to my toes.
Despite the blood and the carnage, I found myself aroused.
Maybe it was the tenuous nature of life and death, maybe it was that panty-melting smile or maybe it was something else, but my nipples were hard, and my panties were damp. “Anything for you, Viv.”
“Doc, we need some help,” Gio called out in a strained voice that brought me back to the present.
“Coming right now.” I took a step back, reluctant to leave Falcon but I knew I had to. “Be safe. See you later?”
He nodded, watching me with a serious expression that did nothing to tamp down my arousal.
I turned away and took a deep breath, washing away everything else so that I could deal with the blood and chaos that had been heaped onto these men because of me.
I stepped inside the clubhouse and the quiet unsettled me.
This room was always a mix of rock music, laughter, loud conversations, and the distinct sound of children playing.
Now it was quiet like a morgue and that made my legs shake.
Shake it off, I told myself. It was my fault these men were hurt which meant I needed to get past my own shit to take care of them. “Hey, what do we have?”
A man with piercing blue eyes looked up at me with a crooked grin. “Just a flesh wound,” he assured me. “Chloe thinks I need stitches so here I am.” He turned his arm to give me a better view of his triceps.
“Yep,” I nodded. “I think five stitches will have you fixed up. I’m sure you know the deal, but keep it clean and dressed for the first few days and take all your antibiotics.”
“Got it, Doc. Thanks.”
I nodded. “Thank you and… I’m sorry about all of this.”
“Don’t be. We got more of them, and we got that asshole,” he said with a grin and wrapped his arm around a pretty brunette.
I moved on to the next patient, a prospect named Sledge with a long scar down the left side of his face that looked a few years old. “My ribs are bruised or broken. Dr. Katey is looking for an x-ray machine so I’m good.”
I moved on to the next table where Rocky and Vandal sat with their legs elevated on chairs. “Fellas.”
Rocky pointed at Vandal. “Bullet grazed his shoulder.”
I nodded, slapping on a pair of gloves as I got to work, cleaning the wound and then patching him up. Like the last time, the injuries were fairly minor, but the clubhouse looked more like the ER on a Saturday night, than a bar. “And what about you?” I asked Rocky.
He looked a bit embarrassed. “Twisted my knee when I spun around to shoot one of those Russian motherfuckers. Dunno if I got nicked by a bullet but something got me,” he grunted. “Now I’m gonna have knee problems for the rest of my fucking life. Just what I needed.”
I bit back a smile at his dramatics but then realized that once again these men were hurt because of me. “I’m sorry about all of this,” I said to them both. I appreciate everything you did tonight but…” I broke off and shook my head. “I just wish it could’ve gone differently.”
“Don’t apologize,” Rocky growled. “That’s what we do around here. You don’t know it or feel it yet, but you’re one of us.”
“Okay, I won’t apologize, but thank you,” I said and knelt down to roll up the leg of his blood soaked pants. “What’s your pain level?”
“Eight,” he bit out.
“So a ten,” I said to myself, working quickly to clean the wound.
Thankfully, despite all the blood, it was just a graze.
After cleaning the wound and assessing his joint I stood.
“Looks worse than it is, you’ve skinned your knee but the wound is superficial.
There’s a lot of swelling, no dislocation, and I’m pretty sure you haven’t torn the ligament, but I’ll see if we can get a scan ordered.
With rest and targeted PT you should be back to normal in a few weeks. ”
“Weeks?” Rocky shook his head. “Not possible, especially not now.”
“You want to be riding when you’re old and gray?” I asked.
Rocky laughed and pointed to his salt and pepper hair, “Already got some.”
“Older and grayer, then. The knee joint is complex, you can often shake off injuries when you’re in your twenties, but you need to take it seriously if you want to avoid long term trouble.” I folded my arms and stared at him.
He stared back.
“Rocky got a owie.” The little voice belonged to my boy.
I looked down and my heart clenched hard. He was so sweet and innocent, but this was now a regular part of his life that I couldn’t shield him from so I nodded. “Yeah, Rocky got an owie, but he’s going to be just fine if he does what the doctor tells him to do.”
Rocky bit back a wince and nodded. “I’m good kiddo, your mama fixed me up and gave me a lecture to boot.”
TJ giggled.
“Come on up, little man. You can watch your mama work, and you’ll learn why it’s so important to be careful.” Rocky scooped TJ up and held him close with one big arm hooked around his waist.
My heart cracked wide open at those words. This big, gruff biker was so tender with my son, which I really shouldn’t be so surprised by at this point. There were plenty of children running around and despite the hectic nature of their lives, these men were hands-on parents.
TJ was safe with them. Now that James had been stopped, did this mean I no longer needed to run? I wanted to think that my nightmare was over, but I’d been running for so long I was scared to believe that finally, I could have a future without having to look over my shoulder.