Chapter 6
The past two days since I made an utter fool of myself at the hospital and unfairly treated Paige had been hard ones.
After getting a hold of myself in Tiago’s room, I went to find Mr.
Gill.
I wanted to let him know that I didn’t want them to do anything to Paige. My doubts were growing. We’d leave her alone until we knew she was a danger to Tiago. Diablo promised to make sure Micro was working on her background and, if he needed help, to ask others to dive in.
Unfortunately, Gill was gone, so I had to wait to speak to him.
It seemed that his being at the hospital on a Saturday was a fluke.
I went back on Sunday and visited with Tiago.
We’d discussed my guilt all these years. We didn’t get too far into it, but the conversation was started. It was too raw for me to go in-depth, yet.
Today, I had to go to work first to take care of things there, so I didn’t make it to the hospital until around lunchtime.
I went to Mr.
Gill’s office but was told he was at a lunch meeting.
I asked his assistant to let him know I was there and needed to speak to him immediately. She assured me that she would.
When I went to see Tiago, he was in a new room.
He had texted me earlier to let me know they had moved him from the ICU to a regular room late last night.
“Hi there, brother.
I’m glad you’re here.
Did you talk to the administrator?” he asked after we fist-bumped.
I shook my head.
“No, he’s out of the office at a lunch meeting.
I talked to his assistant, though, and she’ll let him know when he gets back that I’m here and need to speak to him urgently.
I swear, I’ll get this squared away.”
“Good.
The longer it takes, the more antsy I get,” T admitted.
“I know.
But Gill said it would take a few days to get the okay from his HR and legal departments to terminate her.
They wouldn’t have been working over the weekend, so that leaves a few hours this morning that they had to work on anything.
I’ll get him to drop it and reinstate Paige to work. After that happens, I’ll speak to her and apologize for how I acted and what I did. I’ll make this right. I promise.”
He smiled.
“Thanks.
I know you will.
Oh hey, I got good news this morning.”
“What was that?”
“I’m being sent home tomorrow or the next day.
The doctor wanted to wait a few days until the staff set up home health, but I can’t stand it that long.
I told them we’d find someone to do my wound care and help me until I healed.
I know I should stay until we have a person, but I can’t fucking stand it here, Scorpion.”
“I understand.
If your nurse will show me how to do the wound care today, I’ll do it until you get someone.”
“Thanks.
How was work this morning? Did you do anything fun, or was it all paperwork?”
Tiago knew how much I loved to work with my hands and disliked that I couldn’t always do it.
However, the needs of the club outweighed personal ones.
I still got to mess with my personal shit and some of the brothers.
A while later, after his nurse had been in and she’d shown me how to do his wound care, we were mid-conversation when there was a knock at his door.
Glancing over since it wasn’t shut, I was glad to see Mr.
Gill standing there.
He was wringing his hands and giving both of us nervous looks. I smiled, hoping to ease his distress, and stood.
“Come in, Mr.
Gill.
We can talk here.
This is my friend, Santiago Luna. He said that the two of you haven’t met,” I said.
Gill entered and shut the door behind himself.
He walked over and offered his hand to me first, then to Tiago.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen.
I’m sorry I wasn’t available when you arrived.
I assume you want to talk about Paige Worthy.”
“Yes, that’s right.
I don’t think this will take long, but won’t you have a seat?” I added, gesturing to the empty chair.
He eased down on it.
“I want to assure you that we take your concerns and the egregious disregard Ms.
Worthy paid to your wishes very seriously, which is why I’m happy to be able to tell you that she’s no longer a concern for Mr.
Luna or anyone else here,” he said with a proud smile.
A sick feeling hit me.
I had to ask, although I knew what he meant.
“What do you mean she’s no longer a concern?”
“She’s been terminated.
And if she knows what’s good for her, she won’t try to get her job back.
I warned her again that any attempt to do so would result in turning her case over to the licensing board.
You and I know it’s unlikely they’d suspend or revoke her license, but she’ll be too afraid to risk it,” Gill added with a smirk.
“How the hell did you do that so fast? You said it would take a few days!” I hollered.
Gill jumped as if slapped.
His eyes widened, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.
“I-I-I don’t understand.
You wanted her gone and away from your friend.
I spoke to legal and HR on Saturday.
They knew the urgency of the matter and what had happened, so they pushed it over the weekend. I informed Ms. Worthy first thing this morning.”
“Fuck,” Tiago muttered.
“Are you fucking kidding me!? Christ, how did you complete your investigation and speak to her supervisor and everyone that fast?” I barked.
“I didn’t.
Both departments agreed that we had grounds based on her violating the directive.
We didn’t need more, they felt.
I don’t understand. Why are you so upset? Her termination is what you wanted.”
“It was, but then new information came to light, which, if you’d done your due diligence, might’ve done the same with you.
I wanted to see you when I got here to tell you to stop the suspension and termination.
Ms.
Worthy should be allowed to work. Well, you’ll just have to call her back and let her know you made a terrible mistake. She’s being reinstated to her prior position without any disciplinary action,” I snapped.
Gill was on his feet and blustered, “I, uhm, you, we can’t do that.
If we do, admitting we were wrong will leave us open to a wrongful termination case that she could win.
No, I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.”
“Are you serious?” I shouted.
“Yes.
I don’t understand.
I did what you wanted.
We don’t want trouble from any of the Horsemen. Now, there’s no worry about her being around your friend or anyone else you know.”
“Get out.
Get out before I punch you in the face.
I can’t believe it.
At least if you’re wrong, you should admit it. This is bullshit. I’ll let Paige know when I talk to her that she can have her job back. And when she asks for it, you’d better give it to her, or you’ll have a problem with me,” I snarled.
Gill was sweating and appeared sickly pale.
He cast his gaze back and forth between me and Tiago.
Seeing we weren’t smiling, he gave a strangled, whimpering sound and then rushed to the door.
I didn’t know the fat pig could move that fast. He disappeared out the door at almost a run.
I glanced over at Tiago.
“I swear, I’ll get her back here.
I’ll make it right.
I hate to bail, but I need to see her and explain.
I have her address. Micro gave that to me.”
“Go.
Tell Paige we’re both sorry.
I want to talk to her, too.
Call me after you get done with her. Or call me while you’re with her if you need me to help back you up. She might not be inclined to believe you,” he said ruefully.
“True.
Okay, I’ll talk to you one way or the other.
See ya later.”
“Later, ride safe,” he advised as I hurried out of his room.
I threw up my hand so he knew I’d heard him and was acknowledging him.
I caught several people’s attention as I raced out of the hospital.
Getting on my bike, I fired it up and brought up Paige’s address on my phone.
Seeing the route, I knew where she lived, so I closed it out.
I was impatient with the traffic, which made the ride take longer than it should have.
But then again, anything over instantaneous was too long for me at the moment.
Paige lived in a small community of nice townhomes that were only a few years old.
After parking my bike, I got off and hurried to check out how they were numbered. I found I was in luck and started at the right end. Her townhome was number six.
Walking to her door, I found I was nervous.
My stomach was rolling.
I wasn’t looking forward to admitting what an asshole I was and that I was sorry for the embarrassment and pain she went through because of me.
However, she deserved my apology and a chance to chew my ass out. I knocked on her door three times and then waited for her to answer. When there wasn’t one, I did it again. After a second time of nothing, I had a decision to make. I could hang around and wait for her to come home or return later. A tiny part of me wondered if she was there and not opening up because she knew it was me. There was a peephole in the door.
In case she was, I called out, “Paige, I’m not here to cause trouble.
I’m here to apologize.
I need to make things right.”
After waiting without a response for another minute, I decided to come back later.
Back at my bike, I thought over what to do until then.
I wasn’t in the mood to return to the garage and work.
I’d never be able to keep my mind on the job. I wasn’t the best company, so there was no revisiting Tiago, though I messaged him so he knew there was a delay. Taking my cell phone out of my cut pocket, I typed a quick message.
Me: She’s not home.
Will have to come back later.
Will talk to her tonight, no matter if I have to do it at midnight.
I’ll let you know after I do.
Tiago’s response was swift.
Tiago: Shit.
OK.
Let me know and call if you need my help to smooth it over.
Me: I doubt I will.
I’m much more charming.
Tiago: In your fucking dreams.
At least that made me chuckle.
I sent off another text.
This one went to Turbo.
Me: Won’t be back today.
Something came up.
Turbo: Got it.
Are you ok?
Me: Just something I have to do. TTYL
Turbo: TTYL
Putting my phone away, I got my bike started.
I didn’t want to go to the compound and then have to return to town, so I decided to ride around and run a couple of errands.
It was almost three in the afternoon.
Hopefully, by evening, she’d be home.
***
After hanging around town for hours and two more unsuccessful attempts to speak to Paige at her place, I knew I had to call it for the night.
However, I wasn’t done.
I knew I needed to update Diablo on the situation.
It was late, and I hated disrupting his family time, but I knew he’d want to know. Before heading back to the compound, I messaged and asked to talk to him for a few minutes when I got back. His response was to come to the house and knock on the front door.
That wasn’t hard for me.
My house sat behind his.
Our houses faced each other across a street, for lack of a better word.
I parked my bike and then walked across to his house. It was nine o’clock. Jaycee and Chasin would be asleep unless the baby was awake to feed. I knocked as quietly as I could. When Diablo opened the door, I stepped inside.
“Sorry for disturbing you, Pres.
I promise not to take long,” I whispered.
“It’s okay.
Jauhnna is feeding Chasin.
Let’s go to my office.”
His office was on the first floor, away from the bedrooms.
I went to slip off my boots, but he shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it.
The house cleaner will be here tomorrow.”
Since they were hardwood floors, I didn’t feel too bad.
In no time, we were seated in his office.
He’d offered me a drink, but I refused.
Diablo was studying me. Not wanting to waste time, I got to the point.
“Pres, I’ve got to tell you what happened with the whole Paige situation today.
It didn’t go as intended.” He’d known what I had planned to do.
He frowned.
“What the hell happened?” he asked.
I concisely explained what had happened, then explained that I hadn’t been able to find her to apologize and assure her that it would be made right.
When I was done, he swore.
“Jesus Christ, this whole situation just keeps getting worse.
And that shithead Gill doesn’t want to give her job back? If he doesn’t, I’ll be the one to kick his ass.
The one time someone actually does something right away.
I figured we had a good week or more to get this done. Son of a bitch. How is Tiago taking it? Is he doing alright?”
“He’s anxious to have this fixed for Paige, but then, we both are.
As for him, physically, he might come home tomorrow or the next day.
They want him to stay until they get him set up with home health, but he wants out.
I had his nurse show me how to care for his wounds. She also instructed me on what to watch for and report to his doctor. I’d rather we find someone to care for him than take their recommendations.”
“I’ll see if Micro can get a list together, and we’ll make calls.
We only want the best, someone competent.
Maybe someone twenty-four-seven.”
“He thinks if they’re there during the day, he can handle the nights, but I’m not sure.
He still needs to turn every couple of hours, and getting fully into a different position without help is hard.
The pillow tucking is key.”
“We’ll see.
Back to Paige.
Are you returning to her place tomorrow?”
“I’m going there first thing in the morning.
I’ll get Turbo to cover for me at the garage in the morning.”
“Good.
Maybe we should go together.”
“No offense, Diablo, but this is something I need to do alone.
I caused this mess.
It’s mine to clean up.”
He smiled.
“Glad to hear it.
You know, if you need to talk, I’m here.
I know Saturday was hard on you.
Butcher and I hope you believe what the three of us said. You have nothing to feel guilty about. You aren’t responsible for what happened to Tiago.”
“It’ll take time.
I thought it was for thirteen years.
It’s not something I can change overnight.”
“True.
Is there anything else we need to talk about?”
“Has Micro said if he’s discovered what we wanted to know about Paige and her family?” I asked.
“He said he was pretty close to done, and then he’d give us a full report.
You know he hates to say anything until he has all the facts.
He swore he’d message both of us as soon as he did.”
As much as I might want to go and question Micro, I wouldn’t.
It was late, and everyone deserved to relax.
I stood up.
“That’s it.
I’ll let you know after I speak to Paige.
Thanks.
Tell Jauhnna I’m sorry and goodnight.”
Diablo got up and walked me to the door.
After saying goodnight, we shook hands, and then he shut the door.
Not ready to go inside, I wandered around the compound for a bit.
We had enough outdoor lighting that it wasn’t pitch dark unless you wandered further back on our land. After a while, I went inside. I hadn’t eaten dinner. I would find something to eat and then take a shower. Maybe I’d get lucky and sleep, though I wasn’t betting on it.
Paige:
After leaving the hospital on Saturday and having my breakdown along the road, I got home and went into survival mode.
I wasn’t confident that anything would prevent the hospital from firing me.
Not when they thought I’d violated their orders, and how Scorpion lost it.
In order to prepare for the worst, I sat down and got to work.
Returning to St.
Augustine had been a terrible mistake.
My reasons for doing it were no longer a consideration.
I’d have to pick up and move again. Uprooting my life should be easy by now. I’d done it enough times over the years. However, I’d fooled myself into believing this would be the last time.
In the years away, I’d missed St.
Augustine terribly.
I loved it growing up here.
The whole feel of it was incredible. You still got the smaller-town vibe, yet you had everything you could want, in my opinion. Nowhere else I’d lived had come close to here. It was where I felt the happiest and safest, except for the last six months I lived here before we moved. I thought enough time had passed that no one would recall who I was. And the odds of my running into the Horsemen had been tiny, I thought.
The first order of business was to find a new job.
Sure, I could stay and find one somewhere else in the area, but the last thing I wanted was to do that and risk being fired again or chased out of town by the Horsemen.
My gut told me that Scorpion wouldn’t rest until my life was destroyed, just like he thought I destroyed Santiago’s.
And if I were in his shoes and believed what he did, I don’t think I’d probably be much different. It was amazing and cruel how one decision could fuck up your life.
I spent the remainder of Saturday and a portion of Sunday combing the want ads and putting out my resume with headhunters who worked in the medical field.
There was typically such a demand for nurses and therapists, in particular, that it didn’t take long to find a job.
It might not be where you wanted or in the department, but I could work anywhere.
My experience made that easy.
By Sunday afternoon, I knew I couldn’t remain cooped up in my home any longer, but going out in public carried a risk with it.
I dreaded running into any of the Horsemen.
It was this fear that had me packing a bag, along with Fenrir’s things, and heading out Sunday evening.
I didn’t have a destination in mind. I only wanted to get out of St. Augustine for a few days. Heading south along the eastern coast, I drove an hour and a half and stopped for the night in Titusville. I’d always wanted to explore more of Florida. This was my chance.
I was woken up this morning after another terrible night of sleep by the ringing of my phone.
Looking at the time through bleary eyes, I saw it was nine a.m.
I grabbed my cell phone and saw it was the hospital’s main number.
Nausea hit me, but I knew I had to answer it. Maybe I was wrong, and it was good news: They were calling me to come back to work.
“Hello, Paige speaking,” I said.
“Ms.
Worthy, this is Trista, Administrator Gill’s assistant.
Please hold,” a female voice said nasally.
She didn’t give me a chance to say anything more before I was on hold.
I sat on the side of my bed, chewing on my thumbnail as I waited.
Fenrir nuzzled my back.
The phone had woken him up. He’d be ready to go out soon to use the bathroom. I was about to scream when Mr. Gill’s voice came over the line.
“Ms.
Worthy, this is Administrator Gill at St.
Augustine General.
I need you to come in to see me within the next half hour,” he said coldly.
“Mr.
Gill, I’m sorry, but I’m not in town.
It’ll take me a bit to get back to St.
Augustine. I can be there before noon.” I wanted time to get home and fix myself up before going in.
“That won’t work.
I have a very busy day, and I can’t just move everything around for your convenience,” he snidely said as he huffed in frustration.
I wanted to say it wouldn’t be an issue if he had called more than half an hour before he wanted to see me, the fat prick.
“Sir, I’m not asking you to do that.
I might be able to be there by eleven.
As I said, I’m out of town.”
He sighed dramatically before answering.
“It doesn’t matter.
I wanted to do this in person, but I’ll do it over the phone since you can’t accommodate me.
I’m calling to inform you that your employment at St.
Augustine General has been terminated. We need you to come into the hospital and return any company property today, including your access card and identification. You’ll need to stop in HR and sign some paperwork. Failure to do so will result in deducting those items from your last paycheck. I hope this is a lesson for you, Ms. Worthy. Don’t hide your past. And when directed by your superiors to do or not do something, listen. I wish it hadn’t come to this, but you left us no other option. Good luck and goodbye,” he said, then hung up without allowing me to ask a question or voice my disbelief. I sat there stunned until the beeping of my phone aroused me. I pressed the end button.
Tears burned my eyes.
I took several shuddering breaths.
Who knows how long I might’ve sat there if Fenrir’s whine didn’t snap me out of my fog.
I knew that sound. He needed to go outside. Stumbling off the bed, I got dressed like a zombie. It wasn’t far to a spot where he could do his business. I stood there, lost in thought as he did.
By the time we returned to our room, I’d begun to function.
Along with my brain coming back online, my anger kicked in.
Who did he think he was to call me, demand I show up, and then callously tell me over the phone that I was fired? Then, to demand, I bring things back right now.
Fuck him. I’d return them when I was ready. Let him deduct the measly cost. The only things I had that belonged to them were my access card and badge. As for signing paperwork, they could email it to me. No way was I returning to town today. The way I felt, I might just punch Mr. Gill in the face and then find Scorpion and tear his head off.
I fed Fenrir, and while he ate, I packed our stuff and got myself ready.
Fifteen minutes later, we were back on the road.
Next stop, I had no idea.
I’d drive until I decided to stop. Maybe if I moved to the southern part of the state, I’d be far enough away from the Horsemen that they wouldn’t cause me issues, and I’d be able to stay in Florida.
As I drove, I kept going over this latest development.
When you added it to what had already been my life these past thirteen years, one had to wonder if, at some point, it was better to accept fate and just stop fighting.
I dashed away tears on and off the entire drive.
Finally, I had no choice but to stop. Fenrir kept whining and nudging me. He was trying to make me feel better. I rubbed his head.
“It’s alright, buddy.
All I need is you.
Why don’t we stop and see what Fort Lauderdale is like? Maybe we’ll love it, and this can be our new home.”