Chapter 6
Alexander
The nurse just checked the monitors and walked out of the hospital room when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
I turned my head to watch the door.
And then... she stepped through.
Then I held in a breath as the monitors started beeping.
Well, shit.
Creedence’s widened eyes went to them, and then I opened my mouth and said, “It’s been doing that. Everything is okay.”
She seemed to think about it for a moment and then nodded.
Thank fuck.
I didn’t want the girl I was insanely attracted to to know how attracted to her I was.
“How are you?” she asked as she walked over to the side of my bed.
I shrugged, “Okay. Be alright in a few days.”
She nodded, “Have you heard?”
I shook my head, “Heard what?”
She grinned, then, without a second thought, sat down on the side of my bed.
I shifted my body to make room, and then she said, “So, a lot of commotion on the floor below this one. Cops and everything. Apparently, someone died who shouldn’t have.”
I lifted my brows in surprise, “Really?”
She nodded, “Yeah. But Dad and Ms. Strickland told me to come in here. I’ll try to get more out of my dad later tonight and then tell you the rest.”
I nodded even though I didn’t need the rest. I knew what she was talking about.
Outside, I revealed nothing.
Inside... that sick son of a bitch wouldn’t be hurting anyone ever again.
She took me out of that thought without even trying, as she started swaying her legs back and forth, causing the mattress to shift slightly with each swing.
She was a tiny thing. Standing at maybe five-foot-four or so, I knew that compared to me, I was a giant to her. Yes, at eighteen, I was already over six feet tall. It was funny as fuck seeing her standing next to Garret, though.
He was about two feet taller than I was and almost seventy-five pounds or so heavier.
But I was still growing. I had a feeling I would be as big as he was in a year or two, if not bigger.
I was through being the boy who was a punching bag.
Speaking of Garret, just then he and Ms. Strickland walked into the room.
I nodded at Ms. Strickland and then looked at Garret.
His eyes were already on me, then he lifted his chin in a silent question.
I did nothing.
I knew what he was silently asking.
He took in my face, read what I wasn’t saying, then he smirked, nodded, and mouthed, “Nice.”
A quick smirk played across my lips.
Creedence stood up and stretched.
Garret and Valerie started talking.
It was about half an hour later when Garret and Valerie left to get coffee.
Something else happened.
Something inside of me seemed to click.
But I was still in too much pain to analyze it.
And then, like a moth to a flame, Creedence walked over to me, sat down on the side of the bed again, and started talking.
I wouldn’t know it for years to come... but that was the moment the light to my darkness was revealed to me.
***
After three days, they released me from the hospital. In those three days, if it wasn’t night and Creedence wasn’t in school, she was there.
We talked.
She told me about a series she was rereading called Twilight.
And I made a mental note to read it too.
We laughed.
She told me her hopes and dreams.
And then she made me think of a hope and a dream.
My hope? I wanted to be happy.
My dream? The same. I wanted to be happy.
And in that hospital room, Creedence made me a promise.
She would make it her life mission to make sure I was always happy.
***
They drove me to the cemetery where they laid Annabelle to rest.
A little hand found its way into mine, and I squeezed.
Creedence.
I inhaled deeply, taking in a certain scent that was all hers.
And let it do its thing.
Like it had been doing.
Washing through me and calming me.
And in a silent vow to Annabelle, I said, I’ll live for both of us.
***
Garret told me I had a place with his MC if I wanted it, and after meeting a few brothers and talking with them, I knew I wanted to belong.
So that was how I became a prospect.
It was also how I earned my new road name—Ripper.
The moment we walked into the clubhouse, Valerie followed Creedence over to an older lady, and then Cotton and York walked over.
Cotton lifted his chin, “Good to see you out of there.”
I nodded, “Good to be out of there.”
Then I held out my hand to him, “Thank you for taking a chance on me.”
And that was when I learned that it hadn’t really been Garret’s idea to make me a prospect.
No, it had been Creedence who had seen something in me and talked to him.
Cotton placed his hand in mine and shook it, “Just one thing left to do to prove yourself.”
I followed him as he signaled to the brothers with Garret at my back.
We walked out of the clubhouse, to the backyard, and entered a shed.
Knox was already in there with a pair of pliers in his hands, and a chained, bloodied man. Two other men were also in there, both handcuffed to metal chairs.
Their faces were black and blue.
Cotton shared with me what the men had done.
Gang raped a sixteen-year-old girl who was walking home from work.
Hearing the term rape, I momentarily blacked out.
And when I came to, one of the men’s throats was ripped out.
“His road name is Ripper,” Knox said as he wiped his bloodied hands on a rag and then handed me another rag.
I followed suit and wiped my hands.
For some reason, seeing the blood and bits of the man on my hands didn’t faze me.
No, it lit something up inside of me that I didn’t even know I had.
“Ripper,” Cotton said and nodded.
Garret smirked.
Cooper grinned.
Xavier slapped me on the back.
York nodded.
I lifted my chin.
***
I graduated from high school with my new family in the stands.
And the one smiling the biggest was Valerie.
And the one with tears in her eyes because she was proud of me was Creedence.
***
That wasn’t the first time I watched tears form in her eyes.
I watched them as I wrapped her in my arms and held on tight.