Chapter 42
The waiting room at the hospital was melancholy. Acid had been rushed to emergency surgery and there had been no news yet from the doctor.
Brothers of the Tarnished Angels Motorcycle Club had congregated to keep vigil. Savage had left me with Willa and Duke while he spoke to Colt and Zip.
Most of the Old Ladies had stayed home—it was the middle of the night—and they had children.
I could feel eyes on me, silently asking questions people knew I had answers to.
“I need to walk,” Willa murmured.
“I’ll go with you,” Duke said.
She shook her head. “Evie? You want to walk with me?”
“Yes,” I said, desperate to escape the cloying guilt.
The two of us wandered down the hallway, away from the waiting room.
“Cafeteria?” I asked.
“I’m not really hungry, but yeah, that works.”
We went to the elevator and waited for it. We didn’t speak again until we got to the cafeteria. We took a seat at one of the tables, facing each other.
It was like neither of us knew what to say to one another. I hadn’t seen her since the club barbecue two days ago, when the brothers had learned about my past. Did the Old Ladies know about it too?
Willa shattered the silence when she spoke. “Duke told me Savage used to fight in an illegal ring but that he quit.”
“Yes,” I concurred.
“Just tell me, Evie. I feel like I know pieces of the story, but I don’t have the full picture. And it’s driving me crazy.”
“Did Duke tell you anything . . . anything about me?”
She paused and then she nodded. “Yes. He told me.”
“How much?” I asked.
She bit her lip and met my gaze. “That you grew up in a cult. That you were married to a bad man, and that you . . . handled it. And then you came to Waco and met Savage.”
Before I could reply, she reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “I only know because you’re Savage’s Old Lady. The other Old Ladies . . . they only know about the cult. And that you came here to start over after your husband died. They don’t know details. But Colt had to tell them some of it, because if there’s trouble . . .”
“I see,” I murmured. I looked at the table.
“I’ll never mention it again, Evie. I just want you to know that I’m happy you’re with Savage and I’m so glad you’re safe. You and the babies.”
“Thank you, Willa.” I squeezed her hand. “You don’t—you’re not completely horrified by what I’ve done?”
“My husband is a biker. My best friend is too. Do you think life is black and white? I don’t. Not even a little bit.”
I paused for a moment and then I told her the truth about how I met Savage and why Acid was in the ring tonight instead of him.
Why Acid was in emergency surgery.
“I’m scared for Savage,” I said softly. “He lied to Colt. He lied to the club. I hope—they’re not going to kick him out, are they?”
“I don’t know, Evie. I really don’t. That’s part of club business that I’m not privy to.”
Willa squirmed in her chair and pressed a hand to her lower back.
“You okay?” I asked.
Nodding, she grimaced in pain and closed her eyes.
“Willa,” I asked calmly. “Are you having contractions?”
“Yeah.” She sighed and opened her eyes. “Since this morning, actually. They’re picking up steam. They’ve been getting stronger this last hour.”
“Let’s get back upstairs and get you checked in,” I said. I remained calm even though I was secretly panicking.
“This is the worst possible time for this,” she muttered as she riffled through her purse for her phone. “I need to call Waverly and Sailor.”
“They don’t know you’re at the hospital?”
“They do. They’re on their way back from the lake house.” She rubbed her third eye. “They went with Dylan—Waverly’s boyfriend—and some friends. They should be here in a few hours.”
We returned to the waiting room. Savage’s eyes found mine.
“Duke,” Willa called to her husband. “I need to be admitted.”
“Are you okay?” Duke asked, rising from his chair and coming to her.
“Fine,” she said. “But I’m definitely going into labor, like right now.”
Duke’s eyes widened and the anxiety set in. He gathered his wife and ushered her toward the nurse’s station.
I took the seat next to Savage and he laced his fingers through mine. “Any word on Acid?”
Savage shook his head.
“Is Colt really mad?”
“Putting it mildly,” he said. “Gotta have Church to discuss what’s going to be done. That won’t happen until after Acid . . . What did you guys talk about?”
“Stuff,” I said evasively. I rested my head on his shoulder and before I knew it, I was dozing off.
I only woke up because I heard Waverly and Sailor enter the waiting room. Dylan wasn’t far behind them.
“Savage,” Waverly said. “Where’s Willa?”
I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
“She’s in labor,” Savage said.
“Why didn’t you text me?” she demanded.
“Kind of a lot going on here, Little Punk,” he said.
Her eyes softened.
“Any news about Acid?” Sailor asked. Her voice sounded thin and far away. Fear was etched across her face.
“Not yet.”
“I need coffee,” Dylan said.
“Me too,” Waverly added. She grasped Sailor’s elbow and steered her out of the waiting room.
“What was that about?” I asked Savage once they were gone. “Sailor, I mean. She seemed really upset about Acid. I didn’t even think they knew each other.”
Savage ran a thumb across his jaw. “Acid saved Sailor from a really bad situation. Sailor’s been sort of in love with him ever since. Hero worship, you know?”
“I see.”
“Can we go for a drive?” he asked. “I can’t sit here.”
“Sure,” I said. “You good to drive?”
He nodded. “I’m jacked up on energy drinks.”
We didn’t speak again until we were in the elevator.
“It’s my fault,” Savage said. “It’s my fault he’s in surgery.”
“No.” I shook my head emphatically. “It’s not. He went behind your back to get into the ring. You didn’t ask him to do this.”
“He wouldn’t have been there if I hadn’t gotten involved in fighting in the first place.”
“You want to play the blame game?” I swallowed, my throat tight. “It’s my fault. He never would’ve volunteered if you hadn’t met me.”
He sighed. “I guess we both have a lot of misplaced guilt, huh?”
The guilt would be a million times worse if there was bad news. If Acid didn’t recover.
The lobby of the hospital was empty and quiet, the only sound being Savage’s heavy motorcycle boots across the pristine floor.
I didn’t understand hospitals. Sterile yet frenetic energy, people dying in the same place other people were being born.
My hand went to my belly. I wasn’t sure I wanted my babies to come into the world with all of that around them.
But there was plenty of time to talk about it with Savage.
Everything was a mess. Just when I thought we were able to move forward, something dragged us down into the muck.
We walked side by side in the dark parking lot, heading toward the car.
“I think I lied about not being hungry,” I said. “But cafeteria food sounds horrible.”
“Yeah. Let’s get you something to eat. Something good.”
“I want a strawberry milkshake.”
He hit the clicker, and my car beeped and the lights flashed. “I hope Prez calls soon with news. The waiting is fucking killing me.”
I kept walking toward the passenger side, but Savage fell behind me. I turned to look at him. He was reaching into his cut pocket for his phone.
A dark blur moved through the night; I let out a scream.
Savage’s head whipped up, but he wasn’t fast enough.
The bat crashed against his skull. Savage hit the ground, his body thunking against the pavement. He was still.
Fear caked my tongue as I recognized the man who loomed over him.
I turned and ran, scrambling for the handle of the passenger door as footsteps dashed behind me. Just as I managed to get the door open, he was on me, pressing his large muscular body against mine, effectively slamming the door shut and pinning me against it.
Trapped. Like an animal.
He grabbed my shoulder, turned me to face him and then smiled; a slow, sinister grin revealing the demon within.
“Hello, Evie.”