Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Reaper
Speeding down the road, I head in the opposite direction of the house.
I know my woman. We might not have been together for long, but I know without a doubt she wouldn’t have gone home.
No, she’ll head to either one of her friends’ houses or somewhere where she can be alone in the woods without being bothered.
I’ve come to realize my woman loves nature and enjoys it any chance she can get, from sitting outside on her deck listening to the cricket’s chirp to her lounging in her beanbag chair in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows while reading. The woman only wears shoes when she needs to.
Clearing my thoughts, I focus on the road needing to catch up to Ivy. My gut tightens with dread, and I’m unsure of what to expect.
Coming closer to the curve of the road, I slow when I catch sight of a Mac truck stopped in the middle of the road.
What the fuck?
Glancing around the truck, my chest constricts, and I come to a stop. I barely get the kickstand down, and before I’m heading in the direction at the same time, the fucker with the Mac truck takes off. I don’t have time to worry about the truck right now. I need to get to Ivy.
“Call an ambulance,” I call out over my shoulder as I jump the ditch and start across the field.
I don’t bother to look at who I’m speaking to.
I know my brothers had followed me. How many?
I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find all of them, considering the roar of motors that had followed me out of the lot.
Please be okay. Don’t take her from me.
I make it to the driver’s side of the upside-down Jeep.
The plumes of smoke are filling the air.
Bending down to the side of the Jeep, I find my woman’s blood coating the side of her face, her eyes closed.
“Ivy, baby, come on. Open your eyes for me.” I check the side of her neck to find her pulse is still there, but faint.
“Ambulance is coming,” Tombstone announces, coming to kneel next to me. “Pulse?” My brother’s voice is raspier than normal.
“It’s there, but faint. I need someone to get behind her and hold her steady while I cut her out of the seat.”
“I’ll do it,” Tombstone says.
“Prez, we gotta get her out. This Jeep’s going to catch fire any minute,” Angel growls, examining the Jeep.
Nodding, I suck in a harsh breath and reach for my knife. With it being the summer, Ivy’s got a soft top on, and I can cut through the material to get her out.
Fuck if she makes it through this, I’m never letting her get another fuckin’ Jeep again. I’m putting her ass in a tank if I have to.
Ripping the top open, I work quickly to make enough room for Tombstone to get behind Ivy.
“I’ve got her. Get the seatbelt cut, and we’ll get her out of here,” Tombstone coughs. The smoke is getting stronger.
Clenching my teeth together, I slice through the seatbelt.
Sirens can be heard coming down the road.
I finally get through the material and toss the knife down on the ground, not caring that it was the one that my dad gave me a long time ago.
All that matters is getting my woman out of here.
With Tombstone’s help, I pull her from the wreckage.
Angel comes over and holds Ivy’s head at the base to stabilize her neck as I take my woman fully into my arms. Several of my other brothers are waiting for us.
With the Jeep being so small, not everyone could be close.
Ghost is at the road waving a hand toward what I’m assuming could only be the ambulance coming down the road.
“Get down,” Daemon yells, right before the Jeep explodes. Covering Ivy’s body with mine, I shield her from the debris as I fall to my knees.
My heart is racing, blood pumping loud enough to roar in my ears.
Everything seems to go in slow motion when the EMS show, putting Ivy on a gurney.
“Sir, you’re going to have to step back,” one of the paramedics says.
“She’s my wife, I’m going,” I snarl.
“We need to be able to work on her,” the paramedic stammers.
“You can, but I’m going with her,” I declare, not backing down. One of the other paramedics steps in, pushing the one talking to me aside.
“If you’re coming, then come on. Let’s get going. Your wife needs help, and we need to get her to the hospital,” he proclaims, already heading for the ambulance at the road instead of fighting with me.
I nod and follow right behind them.
The paramedics get Ivy loaded into the back of the ambulance, and I jump in right behind them.
I feel as if my life were ending, seeing them work on my woman.
IVs are started, and one of the paramedics starts asking me questions about Ivy.
I answer them all, considering I knew what to say.
Yes, my woman is allergic to morphine. She doesn’t take any medication.
She is on the shot for birth control, so she isn’t pregnant.
Then I look at her lying on that gurney motionless while doing the math in my head. I’ve known her a month now, and other than the first night at the motel, I’ve gone ungloved inside her.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
What if she is?
No.
I can’t think like this right now. I can’t. Ivy and I haven’t been together long enough. Fuck me. I need to quick fuckin’ thinkin’.
Focus. Get it together. Ivy’s gonna need you.
Closing my eyes, I bow my head and pray that my woman will be okay. That she won’t be taken from me like everyone else in my life has been.
Angel
Pulling up behind the ambulance at the hospital, I jump off my bike, barely getting the kickstand down in time.
I know what’s about to happen, and if I’m going to keep my Prez, my brother, my best friend at bay, it’s going to take several of us to keep him from following behind the doors leading to the back.
We’ve lost so much as it is. I get where his mind is at.
He doesn’t want to lose Ivy. Shit, I don’t want to lose Ivy.
She’s a great woman for my brother, and he’s finally letting go of the guilt of not being there for our sisters or Mia when they needed it most. It couldn’t be helped, but that doesn’t stop my brother from feeling the pain and guilt for what they’ve been through.
I make it to my brother’s side as the back of the ambulance opens and my brother hops out first to give the paramedics room. Nurses flood out of the emergency room doors to assist.
Tombstone, Daemon, and I all hold onto my brother. Me getting in front of him while they grab his arms. “Let them work on her. They’ll let us know she’s okay when they have answers. She’ll be okay, Reaper. She will,” I say calmly. Hoping to calm my brother.
Reaper got the name from our dad when he was eighteen and killed several men who had attacked us in the club. He earned his name just as he earned his seat. He holds no remorse for taking a life when it needs to be taken.
The look he gives me now shows near the same look I’ve seen him give countless others. Reaper would never kill me, though.
I step back as the doors leading into the ER close, and my brother somewhat regains control of his emotions. “Come on, let’s go to the waiting room. They’ll come out with news as soon as they can.”
Reaper gives me a murderous glare, nods.
I can see his mind is working a mile a minute right now.
He starts for the entrance to the waiting room and the rest of us follow behind.
I shoot a look at Tombstone, and he shakes his head.
He knows whatever’s going through our Prez’s head isn’t good.
Nothing good comes when someone my brother loves gets hurt. Death always follows at his hands.
Tombstone
After they took Ivy, I thought we would have to lock Reaper down more than we did, but Angel’s words seemed to penetrate through his mind, and he started planning. I can see it in his eyes. The way he paces the waiting room waiting for answers on his woman.
Ivy has been good for Reaper. She might not have been in his life long, but shit, we don’t live forever. Reaper’s mom, my mother-in-law, before she passed, used to say, ‘You boys find the one, you know. You don’t let them slip through your fingers. You hold on tight and keep them close.’
I knew Reaper’s sister wasn’t my one. Still, it didn’t mean I didn’t love her.
Ronaele was a beautiful woman. A great friend.
The best. She and I, we made it work because when we were still kids, I’d knocked her up.
I thought her dad was gonna kill me, but I told him I was gonna do right, marry her and be there for her and our child, he let me live.
At sixteen, I didn’t expect to be a dad, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I had a wife and a daughter until one day, they were both taken from me.
I gave my daughter up by choice only because I wanted to protect her.
Keep anything from happening to her. Now, Bethany, my beautiful girl, is a mom herself and married to a man I can respect.
Sighing, I scan the waiting room. It’s been hours since we got here without a word from the doctors in the back. We’ve been keeping Reaper at bay, but there is only so much we can do before he blows.
I’ve been sitting here contemplating calling Ivy’s friends.
They would want to know she’s been in an accident.
I want to wait until we know something, but the way Ivy spoke of them, they were all the family she had left.
Well, that was before the club came into the picture.
Ivy now has a bunch of big brothers who would do anything for her and her ol’ man.
Pulling up the list of numbers I had Scythe send me, I slide my finger along one of the names. Sutton. It’s different. I decide to give her a call, because out of all of Ivy’s friends, I know she’s spoken of her more than the others.
I put the phone to my ear and wait for her to answer.
“Hello,” a sultry voice fills the line, almost seeming distracted as she answers.
“This Sutton?” I ask.
“Yes, who is this?” Sutton demands becoming alert.
“It’s Tombstone. Look, I don’t have time to be on the phone, but thought you and your friends would like to know Ivy’s been in an accident,” I inform her calmly.
“What? When? What happened? Oh, God. Don’t answer that.
Just tell me what hospital, and I’ll be on my way.
” The sound of movement and her panic comes through the line and hits me in the gut.
This woman is dropping whatever she’s doing that has her distracted and coming to her friend.
That’s something I can respect. I give her the name of the hospital and hang up just as the doors to the back open.
The doctor steps through and comes directly toward us. They don’t need to call out for who is with her. It was made known she was one of ours when we first got here. Plus, this doctor is on our payroll.
“Reaper,” she greets, and I don’t miss her scanning the rest of the group looking for my brother.
She does this every time she’s near Hellhound.
They don’t talk. They never have. Not in years.
I get why, but that doesn’t mean siblings won’t look out for each other.
My brother doesn’t talk to many people. He prefers to stick to the shadows, because of the scar marring his face.
But I know he loves his sister. He just doesn’t want to see the guilt in her eyes constantly.
“Stella,” Reaper mutters.
“I’m guessing from the expression on your face, my patient means something to you,” Stella assumes.
“Ivy’s my ol’ lady,” he grinds out, doing his best to hold it together.
Nodding, Stella sticks her hands in her pockets.
“Ivy took an extensive blow to the head. We’ve had to heavily sedate her as a precaution due to the possibility of there being swelling around her brain.
She also has a broken nose and wrist. Her cheek is fractured, and her rib cage is bruised.
Honestly, she’s lucky that’s the extent of her injuries. This could have been a lot worse.”
Something in her eyes tells me she’s not done.
“When can I see her?” Reaper demands.
“They’re moving her now, but Reaper, there is something else.”
“What?” my Prez is about to blow.
“The CBC lab results showed Ivy’s Hgb is elevated slightly, showing she’s pregnant though it’s still early. No more than four weeks.”
Holy shit.
Reaper
Pregnant.
Ivy’s pregnant.
Shit.
My woman’s going to have my kid. This means I would have knocked her up the first night we were together, and she was supposed to be a one-nighter. Guess that means from the beginning, she’s always been meant to be mine.
Thanking Stella, I ask her what room Ivy’s being placed in. Once she gives me the answer, I turn, heading for the doors leading from the emergency department. I need to see my woman. To touch her and make sure she’s breathing.
Once I know she is, I’ll make my play on what to do next. I want whoever did this to her, and I want their blood on my hands as I take their life. They nearly took my woman away from me as well as my child she’s carrying.
Fuck.
For what they had tried to take from me, they will pay.