Chapter Eighteen
Sheridan
TWO DAYS HAVE passed since the club had the party for us to celebrate the birth of Leo.
It’s been a clusterfuck if you ask me. That girl who cornered me in the clubhouse was kicked out after the club voted her out.
I don’t know many details, but I know all the guys were pissed as hell at what happened.
The only thing Axel told me was that Hammer is pissed and went off on her.
He said it was the first time in his life he ever saw his dad think about putting his hands on a woman.
Jolene confirmed this when I talked to her about the situation.
I hate that Hammer was that upset about a situation I was in.
He’s normally such a sweet man and I’ve rarely ever heard him raise his voice for any reason.
At least to Jolene and me he’s sweet. Then, he went to the strip club with a few guys and fired Jess.
Apparently, she threw a huge tantrum and the cops ended up coming to drag her away.
She spent the night in jail before being released.
Knowing Axel had to deal with all of that shit because of me is not something I ever wanted to happen.
Axel has reassured me countless times over the last two days that he’s more than happy to deal with situations like that for me.
It’s his responsibility as my man to handle the bullshit so none of it touches me.
That’s not how I view things, but I’m not about to argue with him.
Axel is stubborn as hell when he wants to be and I know this is a time he won’t budge for any reason.
He was raised to believe in protecting his woman no matter what situation she’s in and will never back down from that for any reason.
Now, when I go to the clubhouse, which I’ve only been there once to grab a few things from Jolene yesterday, the girls there for the single guys leave me alone.
In a few of them, there’s a look of respect as they maintain the same distance they give all the ol’ ladies of the club.
My emotions are still all over the place.
Not only from having Leo, but because he should be home with us.
Though, we did get good news when we were visiting him yesterday.
The doctors see him coming home in the next day or so.
They’re happy with his progress and don’t believe he’ll continue to have any issues with his breathing.
Leo’s oxygen levels have seemed to even out and there’s no drop in them at night as he falls asleep.
I’ve been waiting on the call saying he’s getting discharged since we got the news.
Axel is happy as hell. Hammer, Jolene, and my dad are the only other ones who know and their excitement was almost enough to alert everyone else what was going on.
We just don’t want everyone to know we’ve got our hopes up and then have the doctors change their mind.
The second we know we’re bringing him home for sure, we’ll tell everyone else.
Last night Axel had to go to the strip club after it closed.
A few times a year he does inventory to ensure nothing is going on he’s not catching.
It takes him all night long from what he said and one of the Prospects will be the only other person there.
I trust him and know Jess is busy licking her wounds from being fired when she believed for so long she was untouchable.
At least not yet. Once she’s gathered herself, I know she’ll come after me again.
So, I spent the night tossing and turning while having nightmares about the accident and things ending up different for myself and Leo.
It’s the same nightmare I’ve had since everything happened.
Needless to say, sleep didn’t come easy last night and I spent more time awake than I did getting any rest.
I’ve already taken my shower and I’m finishing getting ready for the day to spend it with Leo and Axel when my phone rings on the counter in front of me.
“Hello?” I answer, not sure of who would be calling me right now.
“Is this Sheridan Russell?” a woman asks me as confusion fills me.
“Yes. Can I ask who’s calling?” I return, turning off the water and setting my toothbrush back in the cup on the counter.
“This is Louise from the NICU. I’m calling to let you know that your son Leo is being discharged today.
He’s made it several nights in a row without his oxygen dropping and the doctors are confident there won’t be any more problems,” Louise informs me, her voice full of excitement as it begins to fill me.
“Are you serious? We get to bring our son home today for good?” I question, refusing to get my hopes up only to have them dashed once I show up.
“I’m serious. Once you get here, you can get him ready to bring home.
The doctor will check on him one more time before you leave the hospital and make sure you have a follow-up appointment for him, but Leo is being freed,” she informs me, her voice a soothing balm to my overexcited nerves as I start to tremble in my excited state.
“Thank you so much! We’ll be there as soon as possible,” I say, hanging up the phone and calling Axel.
He answers on the first ring.
“What’s goin’ on, Little Fairy? Is Leo okay?” he asks, concern filling his voice as I pace the bathroom.
“Leo’s perfect. Axel, we get to bring him home today.
He’ll be discharged as soon as we get there.
The doctor will look him over one more time and give us a follow-up appointment but we can bring our son home today,” I tell him, my voice wavering as all of the emotions roaring through me threaten to overtake me.
“Seriously? Our boy is finally comin’ home?” he questions me, disbelief filling his voice and I know he’s feeling the same as me right now.
“I’m serious. I’m leaving the house now. Can you meet me there? Are you done with inventory?” I ask him, not sure what I’ll do if he can’t meet me there now and we have to wait.
“Of course I’ll meet you there now. Leo isn’t gonna wait any longer than he has to before we leave the hospital.
I’m callin’ my dad and mom. He can ride my bike back to the compound while I drive you and Leo home.
I’m sure the entire club will show up because there’s no way in hell my parents are about to keep this shit a secret,” he says and I can hear him moving around on his end of the call as I rush through the house and barely stop long enough to grab my purse, diaper bag, and keys.
Thankfully, the car seat is already in the SUV and that’s one less thing we have to worry about when I can hardly think straight.
“You need someone to drive you there, Little Fairy? I’m worried about you with this news. ”
“I should be okay,” I answer him hesitantly because I’m honestly not sure if I will be okay to drive to the hospital knowing my son is coming home today.
“Not likin’ that answer, Little Fairy,” he says and I can imagine him sending a message to someone to drive me to the hospital. “I’ll be okay. One of the Prospects will be following me so he’ll know if anything happens.”
“You drive very carefully, Sheridan. I mean it,” he warns me, his voice taking a harder edge to it than he typically uses with me.
“Yes, sir,” I tell him, my voice fading as I get in the SUV and wave to Eric as he climbs on his bike.
Axel doesn’t say anything for a minute and I wonder what made him go quiet.
After several seconds, he finally tells me he’s hanging up so I can concentrate on the road and that he’ll meet me at the hospital.
I quickly hang up and put my phone on the passenger seat with my bag.
Axel hates when I do that shit because my phone slides all over the place and it takes time to find it if I need it in an emergency.
Still, I don’t move it to the cup holder like I should.
Starting the engine, I back out of the driveway and head toward the front of the compound.
Eric follows me closely and I’m sure he’s already been called by Axel to ensure I’m careful on the road and that he doesn’t let me out of his sight for any reason.
A smile is on my face as I look in the mirror when I wait for another Prospect to open the gate and let me out.
I have a feeling the smile won’t be leaving my face any time soon because for the first time since the accident happened, I’m truly happy.
My family will all be under one roof and we won’t have to drive to the hospital every single day to spend time with Leo where I feel as if we’re being observed.
The staff doesn’t ever keep their eyes on us when we’re in there, but it feels as if every single move we make is under a microscope.
The Prospect opens the gate and I barely wait for it to be open enough for the SUV to fit through before I’m driving away from the compound and toward my son.
With each passing second, excitement fills me more and more.
I roll down the window and turn up the radio so the music is blaring as loud as I can stand it.
Very soon I won’t be able to play my music loud because I’ll have to be able to hear Leo when he’s with me.
I make my way through town and it’s not long before I see the flash of red and blue lights in my rearview mirror.
Eric pulls over immediately and the cop I never even noticed bypasses him and races up on my ass.
“What the fuck is going on? I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” I murmur to myself as I turn down the music and pull over on the side of the road. Eric doesn’t get too far away as the cop car pulls over behind me.
Keeping my window down, I shut the engine off and wait for the cop to walk up to my window and tell me what I was doing wrong.
I know I wasn’t speeding and there’s no way in hell he could hear my music.
Despite it being loud, I never make it loud enough for a cop on the side of the road with his windows up to hear it.