Page 5 of Raven (Sinners Revenge MC- Rapid City, SD #6)

Sydney

I shouldn’t have agreed to let Raven take me to the doctor for multiple reasons.

One, I really couldn’t afford it. With more than twenty thousand left owing on the debt, I had to make every penny count.

Second, I wasn’t sure I could trust Raven, not that he’d ever done anything to make me think he wasn’t a man of his word.

It was my inability to trust anyone’s word that made me hesitate when I was around him.

Third, and most importantly, I knew if I let myself, I could fall in love with him. And I wouldn’t survive losing someone else I loved. As much as I hated my mother for how she abandoned me, I still missed her every day. And I was sure a therapist would have a field day with that.

A coughing fit overtook me, and I covered my mouth as I fought to get it under control. I felt a hand reach over and touch my arm, and I turned as the scratch in my throat subsided. Raven was giving me a worried look as I sat back and wiped under my nose.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he slowed down at a stop light.

I nodded, clearing my throat and wiping my runny nose again. “I think it’s just a cold. You really can take me back home. I’ll be fine in a day or two.”

I hoped he would take me back home, but when he shook his head and accelerated through the light as it turned green, I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

His hand was still resting against my forearm, and I looked down and then slowly lifted my eyes to him.

Usually, I didn’t want to be touched, but for months, I had to catch myself from staring as I fantasized about what his strong hands could do to me.

I tried to resist the attraction I had to him from the minute I saw him, so I used some perceived shame of where I lived to ignore him.

I hoped I wouldn’t reveal how much I wanted him, but being so close, I knew deep down that I was going to cave in.

Feeling his strong, warm hand holding onto me made the ice around my heart crack.

Raven didn’t look back at me as he maneuvered through the morning traffic. “I don’t want you to get sicker than you already are. I wish you had called me so I could’ve taken you to the doctor when you first started feeling bad.”

I was going to respond that the cost of a doctor’s appointment and medication was going to set me back at least a week on my debt, but I didn’t want to bring him, or his club, into my problems. So, instead of saying something that could cause trouble, I remained silent.

Raven sighed as he slowed down at another light. Finally, he released his hold on my arm and turned to look at me. I lifted my eyes to him, expecting him to be mad. The kindness in his eyes was unexpected, and when he lifted his hand to my face, softly stroking my cheek, I knew I was a goner.

“You have to let me take care of you, Sydney.”

“Why?” I asked, not understanding his softness or his desire to help. “You hardly know me.”

He lifted one cheek in a half-smile as he turned to face the road and replied, “I know enough.”

The last few blocks to the hospital were traveled in silence, and as he turned into the parking lot, I cleared my throat, needing to shove the heavy stuff back into the closet where it needed to stay.

“I’ll pay you back whatever it costs. You can take it out of my paychecks, or I can work overtime until it’s paid. ”

Raven pulled into one of the spaces along the building and put the truck into park before he shifted in his seat. “I don’t want you to pay me back. I want you to let me in.”

“Raven . . .” I started to say, and he shook his head.

“Call me Caleb,” he stated.

“Caleb, I—” I couldn’t finish the words as another coughing fit overtook me. I covered my mouth and turned away from him.

I didn’t even know he had gotten out of the truck until he was opening the passenger door and reaching in to unhook my seatbelt. He took my free hand as the cough stopped again and helped me from the truck. I tried to take my hand back as he closed the door, but he intertwined our fingers.

I looked up at his handsome face, and he smiled down at me as he gently tugged my hand, urging me to walk with him.

The emergency room doors were just down the short sidewalk, and he remained connected to me as we approached.

The automatic doors opened and we stepped inside the sterile looking room.

I glanced around and didn’t see anyone in the waiting room as we walked to the desk.

A lady smiled up at him and sat straighter as she asked, “Can I help you?”

Caleb looked down at me as he responded, “Is Dr. Marcie working this morning?”

The lady nodded and asked, “She is. Can I get your name?”

He looked worriedly at me as he answered, “Tell her Caleb Asher is here.”

The lady behind the desk nodded and picked up a phone. She spoke to someone, letting them know who was here, then hung up the phone before saying, “Have a seat, please.”

Caleb guided me to some chairs a few feet away and helped me sit before taking the seat next to me. He turned to face me, and I blurted out, “Who’s Dr. Marcie?”

He offered a kind smile as he replied, “Someone I trust to take care of my woman.”

My eyes grew wide, and my heart rate increased at his declaration of me being his, when a woman’s voice broke through my shock. “I didn’t know you’d finally claimed someone.”

We both turned to see a woman approaching, wearing blue scrubs and a white lab coat. The smile on her face as she saw our connected hands was huge, but a cough broke out and her smile dropped as she got closer.

“You were right to bring her in, Caleb. Let’s get her fixed up so you can take her home to rest.”

I wanted to say I don’t live with him, but all I could do was try to catch my breath and clear the scratch in my throat. Caleb helped me stand as he released my hand, placed his arm around my waist, and helped me walk as we followed Dr. Marcie.

There were a few other medical people moving around as we walked into an open room and the doctor closed the door behind us. Caleb helped me up onto a table as Dr. Marcie pulled out a stethoscope and put the pieces in her ears. She pressed it against my chest and asked me to inhale deeply.

Caleb stood directly next to the bed, keeping one hand of mine in his as Dr. Marcie listened to my chest, my back, took my blood pressure and temperature, and looked into my ears, nose, throat, and eyes. Stepping back, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a notepad.

“I believe you have a sinus infection. You don’t have a fever, but your throat is a little red from sinus drainage, which is causing your cough. But if you take this,” she tore off a piece of paper and handed it to me, “you should feel better in a day or two.”

She turned to Caleb and continued. “Warm fluids, soup, bedrest. I stress the word ‘rest’, and if she gets worse, call me and I’ll come by your house to check her out.”

“Thanks. I owe you for seeing us so quickly.”

Dr. Marcie turned to look at me and said, “It’s nice to meet you, and I hope to see you again when you’re feeling better.” She went to step away as she said, “And since he sucks at introductions, I’m his older sister, Darla.”

“Sydney,” I replied, and she offered a big smile.

“It’s nice to meet you. I hope you feel better.” She looked at him and said, “Bring her to Sunday lunch so the family can meet her.”

“Nope,” Caleb replied, and I looked up at him. “When she meets Mom and Dad, it’ll be at our place.”

“That works too,” Darla said and winked at me as she opened the door and walked out, leaving me confused and a little worried.

How did we get here? I wasn’t his woman—at least I didn’t think I was—and here he was talking about meeting his parents. Everything was moving fast, and as I tried to stand from the table, I grew dizzy. Caleb caught me and held me against him as I regained my balance.

When the room stopped spinning, I pushed back from him and said, “Caleb, I’m not your woman.”

He leaned over and brought his face close to mine as he whispered, “Of course, you are. You just have to get over the independent streak you’ve got and trust me.”

Without giving me a chance to reply, or argue, he took my hand, grabbed a box of tissue from the counter and handed them to me, then guided me out the door.

We walked through the small emergency room and out into the lobby.

The woman behind the counter sat up straighter as she saw him, and a jealous streak I didn’t know I possessed shot across my chest.

Pulling myself closer to Caleb, I didn’t bother to look back at her as we walked out of the building. He walked us to the truck and opened the door before helping me inside and hooking my seatbelt. Feeling his warmth across me as he made sure I was safe was reassuring, and something I missed.

I watched as he closed my door and jogged around the front of the truck before getting inside and closing the door. He smiled over at me as he cranked the engine.

“Let’s get your prescription filled and get you home so you can rest,” he said as he backed out of the parking space.

When he pulled into the parking lot of a national chain box store, telling me he was going to run inside and fill my scripts, I nodded without replying. What could I say? The last two hours felt like a whirlwind of emotion that made me question if I had been dreaming.

Resting against the headrest, I closed my eyes and wiped under my nose as I waited for him to come back. I was going to have to tell him that his fictional claim on me to get me treated faster was sweet but not something I would hold him to.

He had to be like the rest of the men in MCs that I’d known over the years. They would say whatever they needed to achieve what they wanted. Raven had to be like them, right?

My head was stuffy as sleep began to take me under, and as I fell into a peaceful slumber in the front seat of his truck, for a brief moment, I wished his words were true.

Just once in my life, I wanted someone to choose me for me and not for what I could do for them.