Page 5

5. WAKING MOMENTS

BIGFOOT

Everything was quiet when I woke, and the lights were all turned down low. It must have been late. When I turned my head as far as I could before white-hot pain shot up my neck to the base of my brain, I saw her there - the woman who stopped to help me. She was slumped in an uncomfortable-looking chair. Her hair had been thrown up on top of her head in some messy up-do that looked like it would wobble all over the place if she moved in the slightest. A couple reddish-brown tendrils escaped the knot, and one fell across the bridge of her nose. Either the lighting played tricks on my eyes, or she had freckles dotting her nose and cheeks. It wasn’t something I remembered from before, but she could have been wearing makeup, or I might have been in too much pain to see the details.

I wanted to see her eyes. I needed to know if they were really as mesmerizing as I thought or if I’d been imagining shit. The way she was slumped to the side and curled up into a ball on that chair, I didn’t have high hopes for her feeling great when she woke up. I glanced around to see if anyone else was in the room because I wanted to know why my brothers hadn’t been looking out for her. She should have been given a pullout bed or something. As I scanned the room, my eyes met with my best friend’s.

“Hey, man. Sammy told me you woke up for a few minutes earlier.”

“I did?” I questioned, then wondered who the hell Sammy was. “Sammy?”

Baffle flicked his eyes to the woman in the chair. “Do you remember her?”

“She was there, but I didn’t know her name.”

“You don’t remember waking up before?” My VP asked.

“No.”

“She wouldn’t leave,” he informed me as I continued to stare at the woman. She was beautiful in that girl-next-door way I never really found attractive before. Obviously, she was beautiful, but if we had met under any other circumstances, I might not have given her a second glance. I would have written her off as a civilian who would never fit into my world. She wore jeans that were a little dirty-maybe stained- at the knees and a club sweatshirt that swamped her frame.

“Whose shirt?”

Baffle laughed, though he made sure to do it quietly. “Jester. You might have some competition there.”

“Fucker has an ol’ lady.”

“We both know she hasn’t been around in more than a year.”

I turned my attention back to my club brother. “Fuck that.”

Baffle laughed again and then shook his head at me. “Fucking hell, you’re both smitten with the little crack shot.”

“Crack shot?” That was confusing. What in the hell had she done to earn that nickname? Baffle got up, picked his chair up, and moved it as close to my bed as he could get, on the opposite side from where Sammy remained asleep.

“Do you remember anything about the accident?”

“Her. I remember her.”

“Do you remember anything besides the girl?”

I shook my head, and my VP sat back for a minute and assessed me. “An eighteen-wheeler passed both of you, Sammy was behind you. One of the truck’s tires blew and took you and your bike out. From what we gathered after seeing the dash cam video from Sammy’s truck and what she had to say, that tire didn’t blow. It was shot out.”

“Who the fuck was shooting?”

“Mojave Devils MC. According to his cut, he was their Road Captain.”

“Who the fuck are the Mojave Devils?”

“They have settled here in eastern Arizona, a little too close to the New Mexico border for my taste.” Baffle glanced up at Sammy again before he turned his attention back to me. “She doesn’t know it was another club yet. From what we’ve gathered, they’re working with Rivera Cartel and looking for a better way to get shipments through from Mexico.”

“Shipments of what?”

“Don’t know yet,” he answered.

“Fuck.” I glanced over at Sammy again. Her chest still rose and fell steadily. She was down for the count, but what would they do when she woke up? “The shooter?” I finally remembered that someone had to have been there with us if a tire was shot out.

“Our girl here was packing, and she took him out just before he could pop another shot off at you.”

“Son of a…” My eyes darted from Baffle to Sammy. “She needs to be protected. Saved my life,” I got out before a dry patch in the back of my throat made me cough. The cough pulled at my sore ribs and sent pain lancing through my chest. “Motherfucker!” I hissed.

“I’ll get the nurse to get you some more pain meds.” Baffle stood, but I reached out and stopped him.

“No, wait. Don’t want that shit to take me down again. Water,” I demanded. He moved around to get me some water which I sucked back slowly. I didn’t trust my stomach to hold anything. After I finally quenched my thirst and Baffle set my cup back on the little table that was rolled off to the side, I made sure to get his full attention. “She saved me.”

“She did.”

“Called you, not the cops.” Baffle nodded in agreement. “Shot that fucker before he killed me.” Again, he simply nodded and waited to see where I was going with everything.

“She also didn’t tell the cops anything when they were here.”

“She’s mine,” I informed my VP. “Claiming her.”

His soft laugh made me turn back his way. “Serious. She’s mine.”

“She refused to leave your side until you are fully awake, so as long as you don’t wake up, I guess she’s yours too.”

“Fucker.”

“Seriously, you should have a conversation with her when she wakes. Let her know where your head is and that she has our protection. I’ve already told her as much, but I don’t think she understands what it means. Pretty sure she’s planning to haul ass out of here as soon as she’s sure you’re going to be okay.”

“No. She has to stay.”

“Okay, well, Melissa is bringing Hawk by tomorrow to see you, so you should probably find the time to explain who they are before they get here.”

“You couldn’t get Hawk and bring him here without her?” I asked, knowing that if Melissa showed up, she would cause a big scene somehow. She wasn’t the worst woman I could have knocked up over the years. Lis took care of our son really well, but she could be high maintenance and territorial when she thought another woman was getting too close to me. It wasn’t that she was deluded enough to think we would ever be a couple, but I think she couldn’t imagine what it would be like if another woman stepped in and made a family with her son’s father. She didn’t want to be the odd woman on the outside of a family unit looking in.

“You know Melissa. She refused to allow it. Said if her son had to visit you in the hospital, he would have his mom there.” Baffle rolled his eyes. “She’s going to coddle Hawk right into being a little pussy momma’s boy.”

“That’s my son you’re talking about.”

“I know that, fucker. Warning you about what’s gonna happen if you don’t put your foot down with his mom about shit.”

“What if she gets spooked by Lis and Hawk?” I asked, knowing my club brother would give it to me straight.

“She’s still here when she could have walked away. Killed a man to save your life.”

“Probably to save her own skin, not that I blame her for that.”

“Still, she’s crashed out in your hospital room. Refuses to leave. Prospect had to bring her some food earlier. Same clothes she’s had on since we got to the hospital.”

“How’d she end up in Jester’s hoodie?”

“She gave you her sweater and her jacket. Both were ruined, poor thing was shaking and shivering in the waiting room while they took you for an MRI. Sent the prospect to go grab something out of the cage we brought you here in. Cage is Jester’s territory, since he keeps the vans running for club business.”

“Tell him she’s mine.” I growled. My eyes drooped as warmth flushed through my body.

“Looks like meds kicked back in. Sleep tight, brother.” Baffle sounded like he was a hundred miles away and then there was nothing but fucking peace and quiet.