1. Jane Blackmoor #3
Moose and Kong nodded and remained in position until they were told where to find Mozzi and Coast in recovery.
Both were allowed back, and the staff was smart enough to have them moved side by side.
The curtain beside Mozzi was pulled around his bed for privacy.
He sat up on the edge, slumped over, panting heavily.
When he tried to slip into the button-up shirt one of the nurses had provided from lost and found, he winced.
His wound was freshly bandaged, and his arms still felt like they were full of lead when he moved them, but he was determined to get the fuck out of there.
“Bro, take it easy.” Kong moved closer to him while Moose hovered at the foot of Coast’s bed.
Cloaked in that dingy, thin hospital gown, head turned into her pillow, she slept, breathing lightly as the steady rhythm of the machine beside her bed climbed up and down with numbers.
It struck something familiar in his chest. Jane.
Coast reminded not only Mozzi, but Moose as well of their late mother.
Full of fire. When she was laid out like this, it was a disservice to the world. She brought the party wherever she was.
“We gotta get the fuck out of here.” Mozzi had already yanked his IV out.
He reached into the plastic hospital bag with his belongings and found his jacket. Kong helped him into it, and Moose grabbed Coast’s bag.
“What the doctors say about the baby?” Mozzi queried.
“The OBGYN checked her out, said her and the baby are stable,” Kong responded.
The news gave Mozzi slight relief amid the chaos. He took a minute once he had his jacket on and caught his breath. Losing that baby was not an option. He was as attached to the thought of him or her being born as he was Coast.
“Brim’s downstairs. Audiemar got them on the discharge paperwork.” Moose informed him.
“Fuck some paperwork!” Mozzi bellowed. “Get me a fucking wheelchair for my girl!”
Coast’s soft groans filled the room. She didn’t open her eyes at first. Instead, they rolled around in her head as her face balled up in pain.
Jumping to his feet, Mozzi immediately paused at her side.
He reached for her hand with the IV stuck in her vein.
Her soft fingertips brushed against his before that faint, antiseptic fragrance drifted into her nostrils.
The steady beat of the monitor caused her eyes to flutter open.
Moose and Kong waited on the opposite side of her bed when she came to.
Disoriented, Coast’s eyes fixated on her hand gripping Mozzi’s before looking up into his red, hooded eyes.
Something was wrong. Her stomach knotted up before turning altogether in nausea.
Images of being at the clinic and walking out with Mozzi before what sounded like fireworks shot off flickered through her brain.
The ache in her shoulder tore through her entire arm, tightening her muscles and leaving her breathless before wincing.
“Mozzi, what happened?” Coast croaked, eyes widening when she realized he was hurt, and they were in a hospital setting.
She scrambled in the small bed to a sitting position, hands falling against her stomach with tears stinging her eyes.
“The baby?”
“The baby’s fine.” He gripped her hand and brought her to his chest.
Kissing the top of her forehead, he smelled her hair and took a minute to be thankful for her life. He wasn’t sure what type of terms he was on with God, but he was over praising him for pulling her through this.
“How you feeling?” He swept some of her hair off her shoulder and cupped one side of her face.
“Like I got hit by a truck.” She reached out, noticing his bandage through his half-buttoned shirt and brushing her fingertips across his wound.
Worry crowded her features before her gaze drifted to his.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m good. We getting out of here,” Mozzi told her when two nurses approached with a wheelchair.
A scowl darkened his face before his thick brows bunched together.
“The fuck is that for?”
“Hospital policy when being discharged,” the nurse disclosed, gripping both handles.
“Nah, I don’t need that. Just make sure she’s good.” He nodded to Coast and backed up so that she could be helped into a chair.
“Are you sure I should be leaving?”
“Don’t trip. Bee is downstairs with my Pops. We’re heading to his house, and his private doctor will meet us there to handle any aftercare for you and the baby,” Mozzi assured her.
Coast lacked the energy to refute him. She didn’t want to spend any more time in the hospital than she had to.
She hated this place. So when the nurse stepped in to help take the IV out of her arm and get her settled in the chair, she took deep breaths.
The pain in her arm and shoulder was one she wasn’t used to.
“These are your post op care instructions.” The nurse handed her a folder full of paperwork.
“Dr. Williams advised you to follow up with your OBGYN with any pregnancy concerns. If your wound becomes infected or surpasses a pain level of ten, she wants you brought back in asap. If you have any other questions or concerns, there’s a number at the bottom for the twenty-four-hour nurses’ hotline. ”
“Thank you.” Coast forced a smile on her lips.
“You earned your stripes with this one, Coast. Not that you wasn’t already clearly with the shit before,” Moose jested, stepping behind her to push her toward the exit.
Kong and Mozzi trailed them past the other beds of patients recovering, Mozzi grimacing in pain the whole time. He needed to smoke a blunt in the worst way. The elevator ride seemed to take forever, which made him dizzy, so he had to rest his head against the wall inside the car.
“They told yo’ stubborn ass to get a wheelchair.” Kong sucked his teeth but remained nearby in case he had to catch him if he fell.
“Fuck that. I just need some water and a blunt.”
“Doc gave you a script for percs.” Moose studied the papers in his hand.
“Hell nah. I’d rather be in fucking pain,” Mozzi griped.
They knew he didn’t like taking pills. It was always a last solution type of situation with him. Smoking and drinking was one thing. Unlike Moose, he couldn’t afford another vice in his life because he was already taking medication for his bipolar disorder.
“That’s ridiculous,” Coast chimed in. “Look at you. You’re obviously hurting.”
“I can take it.” Mozzi sucked in a deep breath through his nose and turned to press his back against the wall.
“Why can’t you just take a pill?”
“Not now, Trouble. Aight.”
“His mama was an addict. She told him she used to get high with his pops all the time. That’s how Mozzi was conceived.
Lost a couple of homies to overdoes too.
So, he has a thing about taking pills aside from the mandatory ones,” Kong volunteered, snatching his phone out of his pocket when he received a message.
“There are mandatory ones?” Coast queried, one brow lifting as Mozzi lowered his head and sucked in a breath this time.
“For my bipolar shit,” he told her.
“Oh,” Coast whispered, looking straight ahead.
Mozzi couldn’t tell what that was about, and he was in so much pain that he didn’t have the energy for it right now anyway.
He would check her temp at another time.
Coast, on the other hand, struggled with the way her heart thrummed anxiously.
To her, Mozzi was the most confident, self-assured man she’d ever met.
He was only twenty-four and carried that type of presence.
So, to know he waged some type of war with his mental left her not only curious but impressed with his creed.
He was unorthodox, that was for sure, right along with his brothers, but she had to admit that was what she liked most about him.
“So, have you been off your meds this whole time?” She lifted her eyes to his.
Moose tittered. “Fuck nah. You got him during his regularly scheduled programming.”
“Shit!” Kong hissed.
“What’s up?” Moose and Mozzi straightened up.
“It’s Ayla. She’s worried about Inari.”
“What happened?” Coast queried as the elevator doors opened.
Brim and another one of their armed men met up with them on the other side.
“I’ll go check on her,” Moose offered, nudging Coast’s chair out of the tight elevator space and into the underground parking garage.
A black Denali waited for them with the engine running. Bee immediately hopped out to check on her niece.
“Are you okay?” she asked, grabbing Coast’s hand and kneeling in front of her.
“I’m fine. Tired as hell,” Coast grumbled, her slanted eyes looking past Bee at Audiemar rounding the back of the truck.
He didn’t have to utter a word. Coast knew exactly who he was.
Sharp eyes, salt and pepper beard and goatee with a tapered fade and hair about the same fine texture as Mozzi’s on top.
She knew that none of them were blood related, but the similarities between him and his sons were damn sure eerie.
A diamond earring flickered off the fluorescent lights of the garage, and she admired the flashy pinky ring and ink on his hands when he crossed them in front of him.
The casual Brioni slacks and button up shirt hung off him like a custom, and she had a feeling he could see himself in the patent leather of his loafers.
Mozzi swayed dizzily, and Moose stepped up so he could lean on him.
“So, you’re the young lady who got my son wide open out here?” A half smile toyed with Audiemar’s lips. “Audiemar Blackmoor,” he introduced himself. She admired the Patek on his wrist with the Cuban link bracelet.
“Coast,” she replied timidly, shaking his hand and glimpsing Mozzi over her shoulder with sweat gathering at his forehead.
“Get him to the car.” Audiemar nodded, indicating for Moose to help Mozzi to the car.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Coast. I hope you don’t mind, but to ensure you and Mozzi’s safety, I’ve made arrangements to keep you comfortable at my estate.
There will be a doctor there to manage you and your child’s health in the meantime.
Bee has agreed to come as well, just to make sure you’re settled.
Although I did offer her a room as well.
” Audiemar cut a glance in her aunt’s direction.
Coast couldn’t say for sure, but the annoyance that Bee rolled her eyes with was out of familiarity. She and Audiemar clearly knew each other.
“And I said no. I just want to make sure Coast and the baby are good,” Bee argued. “I’m not trying to make that commute to Haven House.”
“Fair enough. You ready?” Audiemar checked with Coast, the hardened expression on his face diminishing as Brim appeared at her side.
She nodded, and Brim knelt to scoop her from the wheelchair. Mozzi was already in the back seat, head pressed against the headrest, pistol in his lap with his face wrinkled in pain and taking in deep breaths. Brim eased Coast gently in beside him and backed away.
“Take it easy, ace. I’m right behind y’all,” Brim noted, stepping back to give Audiemar a path.
“Get some rest,” Audiemar advised, eyes fixed on Mozzi first before shifting to Coast. “Both of you. I have to stay behind and check on something.”
Bee eased into the empty space beside Coast.
“I’ll see you all back at the house later.” Audiemar backed away, closing the door and slapping the side of the SUV so the driver would pull off.
Once they were gone, he turned to Kong and Moose, both with their heads down in their devices.
“Tell me this situation with Nay doesn’t have shit to do with the move you made on Donahue?” Audiemar pinched the bridge of his nose and held his breath.
“Something had to have gone wrong,” Kong concluded.
“You think?” his father belted, shaking his head. “This is why I tell you to do the dirt yourself. Niggas ain’t cut the same no more. Somebody always has a price or some type of hidden fucking agenda.”
Kong sighed, knowing he’d fucked up. He sent a crew after Donahue, and his team was ready for it.
Nay was merely an innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong fucking time.
There was always collateral damage when it came to revenge.
He might not fuck with her like that, but he didn’t want to see no harm come her way.
“Pops, I gotta go.” Moose shoved his phone into his jeans pocket.
“Now, Moose?”
“Yeah. It can’t wait. I’ll check in a little later. I gotta take care of something.” His concern was for Inari.
Ayla couldn’t leave the house, and Dane didn’t have a license, so she was in Kong’s phone, panicking about her sister and wanted someone to go check on her.
Once Kong relayed all that to Moose, he knew he had to go.
Returning to the scene of the crime had his stomach knotted up, but he couldn’t leave her on stuck like that by herself after tonight’s events. He owed her.