Chapter 7 Tank
SEVEN
TANK
When I woke up the next day, I found Gunner sitting on a chair beside my bed.
“Brother!” Gunner got up and came over to thump my shoulder as I sat up.
“The nurses told me that you’re healing well,” Gunner said, and I nodded my head.
“I think so. I don’t feel any pain, but that could be because of all the pills I’m popping,” I said, and Gunner smiled and nodded his head.
“And Glock told me the official story you guys told the authorities,” he continued, and I grunted a response. He went back and sat down on the chair, and I watched as he ran a hand through his hair.
“Axel sends his regards and wishes he could come,” he told me, and I nodded.
I didn’t expect Aecel to be here, because he was the president of our MC, and having him out and about in a public place like this could be dangerous, especially now that they Dragon Knights were starting to fight back.
There would have to be additional security around him.
“How are the others? Was anyone else injured?” I asked, and Gunner shook his head.
“Only you got shot. That’s another reason why I’m here. I need your side of the story for Church. Axel wants your full report,” Gunner said, and I clenched my jaw as I tried to think. Even though my memory of that night had returned, I couldn’t be sure of all the details.
“Has Sniper given his account?” I asked, and Gunner nodded.
“Yeah, but Axel wants your version as well,” he said, and I ran a hand through my hair. It was long, and I hadn’t tied it up now so it fell on my shoulders.
“We heard a bullet fire in the dark - it missed us - and we walked towards it. Then, two guys, I guess that were Dragon Knights, started firing full throttle, and Sniper and I tried to take cover behind the wooden crates,” I related, and Gunner was watching me with narrowed eyes.
“Is that when you got shot?” he asked and tipped his head in the direction of the wound in my stomach.
“I guess so. I didn’t feel it then. I didn’t feel it till you pointed it out to me,” I told him, and Gunner took in a deep breath.
“You started shooting from behind the wooden crates?” he asked, and I clenched my jaw. I knew what Gunner was getting at. I should have stayed behind cover, but instead, I was putting my life in danger by getting up and shooting.
“I had to do something. I couldn’t just cower behind a crate like a pussy,” I snapped, and Gunner stood up from his chair and walked over to me again.
“I know why you did it, brother. Maybe I would have done the same. Our first instinct is to shoot. I’m just trying to establish the facts for Axel and Church,” he told me, holding my glare, and I grunted and dropped my head back on the pillow.
“There were definitely two of them, but there could have been more,” I said, and Gunner pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“Those motherfuckers ambushed us. How did we miss it?” Gunner was mumbling under his breath while I stared up at the ceiling.
Gunner was right. We were caught completely off guard.
I hated that we weren’t more prepared. Sniper and I should have been making rounds through the warehouse rather than shooting the shit smoking cigarettes.
I felt like I let the Bad Disciples down.
“We underestimated them. That’s what happened,” I said through gritted teeth, and Gunner reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“You’re right, brother. We did underestimate them, and they got us for that,” he said, and when I looked at him, I could see that his gaze had dimmed. “You could have been killed,” he added, and I took in a deep breath.
“They’re not going to kill me this easily,” I said, and even though I wasn’t smiling, Gunner was. Then he nodded his head and took his hand away from my shoulder.
“Yeah. Those motherfuckers can try as much as they want. We’ll get them the next fucking time,” he said.
The smile still lingered on his face, and a magical sparkle had entered his eyes.
I smiled back at him. My thoughts shifted back to that night to see if there was something I missed.
I felt my blood drain from my face when I remembered about the shipment from the Fallen Idols.
The guys were unloading it while Sniper and I were taking the heat from the Dragon Knights.
“Is the shipment secure?”
Gunner smiled brightly and nodded. “We had everything in crates and put away by the time the shootout happened. The police sirens must have scared them off, so they weren’t able to take anything.
Axel had a team pick it up and move it to another location yesterday, so if the fuckers come back, they will find nothing but empty boxes.
” I let out a sigh of relief. At least our shipment was safe.
“We need to retaliate. We need to get them first,” I said quickly, and Gunner was looking at me again.
“You mean we need to ambush them?” he asked, and I nodded as I straightened myself on the bed.
“You need to speak to Axel, and you need to convince him that we need to retaliate as quickly as possible,” I continued, and Gunner was slowly nodding his head.
“Okay, yes, you’re right. We need to nip this in the bud,” he agreed.
“Just give me a few days. I’m going to be discharged from this place soon, and when I’m out, we need to plan something fast,” I said.
“Yeah, we can’t let the Dragon Knights think that they got away with this,” he growled under his breath just as the door of my hospital room opened, and Noelle stepped in.
Her eyes fell on Gunner and me immediately, and she looked startled for a moment.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had visitors,” she said, and Gunner turned to her. I could see him scanning her body till his eyes fell on her nametag. A look of realization seemed to enter his eyes, and I had a feeling that Glock had told him about Noelle and the way I’d been staring at her.
“No worries, Nurse. Come in, come in,” Gunner was beaming at her now as she nervously tucked hair behind her ears.
I could feel my body physically reacting to her presence in the room as she walked over and looked at my charts. Gunner and I were both staring at her.
“I’ve been asked to help you get up and walk to stretch your legs a little,” she looked up at me suddenly, her blue eyes wide with embarrassment and determination to do her job at the same time.
“I’ll leave you two alone. This is my cue. Take care of yourself, brother,” Gunner was quick to move, and I didn’t even bother responding to him. I had eyes for only one thing in the room, and we were finally alone again.
Noelle placed a hand on my arm as I swung my legs off the bed and stood up. Even though I had stood up to go to the bathroom since I got shot, it was still a struggle each time.
“Don’t be alarmed if you’re a little unsteady on your feet at first,” she said to me.
Noelle had refused to meet my eyes, but that didn’t mean that I could stop staring at her.
She was in her scrubs again, and her hair was tied up in a bun today.
I knew what her pussy felt like, how tight she was, how naive she was too.
Everything about her made me want to explode into pieces.
I stood up and could feel a sudden numbness in my ankles for the first few moments, but that quickly went away. Noelle didn’t let go of my arm as I straightened up and took my first step.
“That’s good. That’s very good,” she said, and I took a second step. I wasn’t in pain; it was a sudden tiredness that had taken over my body.
“The more you exercise those muscles, the better you’ll feel,” she said and looked up at me.
Our eyes finally met. Hers were dark blue and stormy, and I clenched my jaw to drive away the desire to pick her up and take her on my hospital bed.
She had no idea how desperate I was for her.
She thought she had taken advantage of me in some way.
Just as I was about to say something, she looked away from me. With one hand still on my arm, she used her other to open the door.
“Let’s go for a walk down the corridor?” she asked, throwing me a forced nervous smile.
I grunted and walked out of the room slowly.
She was right: the strength in my legs was returning quickly.
Even though I could feel numbness and a tugging sensation in my stomach, my legs had started to work just fine.
With Noelle right beside me, I took slow steps into the corridor. I knew I should have been focusing more on the walking aspect of this exercise, but with Noelle there right beside me, it was hard to concentrate on anything other than her.
I could smell her, she touched my arm from time to time and I noticed the way her scrubs stretched over those enormous breasts that I hadn’t seen yet. She was driving me crazy.
We had walked a few feet down the corridor, which was relatively empty. With each step, my body started to feel like itself again. A few nurses had walked passed us, all of whom had smiled at Noelle when they crossed her.
I stopped abruptly in my tracks, and Noelle turned to me with concern in her eyes.
“What’s wrong? Are you in pain?” she asked, and I stared at her. She was searching my eyes for an answer, and I was trying to think of what to say.
“I can’t do this,” I grunted, and she placed her hand on my arm again.
“Okay, you don’t need to push yourself. You’re getting much stronger, Tank. You don’t have to lose heart,” she said in a soft, kindly voice, but I clenched my jaw.
“I’m not talking about this walking thing.
This is stupid. I can jog down the corridor now if I want to.
I’m talking about you and me. I can’t pretend like nothing happened,” I said through gritted teeth, and Noelle drew away from me.
Her eyes darted around her, and I knew she was checking that no one overheard our conversation.
“What happened was a mistake, and I apologized to you for it,” she said. I leaned towards her, bringing my mouth close to her ears.