Page 81 of Ruptured

“Tabitha called me,” Easton admitted. “Tío doesn’t have a lot of money. He’s just starting out in life. He has no connections. Nothing.”

“What. Do. You. Need. From. Me?”

“We need you to take responsibility for him,” Johnnie answered. “He’s Tabitha’s friend and she feels so guilty abouthis condition. Once he’s stable, we need you to have him moved somewhere out of Diesel’s reach.”

As well as Christopher’s. How very convenient. “You two think I’m an idiot, don’t you? If I take responsibility for him, then that automatically saves his life. After all, I won’t pay for someone’s medical bills and not care if Diesel or Christopher is after him.”

Johnnie scowled. “No—”

“Hey, Mom!” Axel called, skipping next to CJ with Christopher, Diesel, Ransom and Ryder trooping toward the private wing.

Christopher halted and glared between Johnnie and Easton, then pinned her with a glower as Mortician, Val, and Digger stopped next to him. The boys continued on, probably to the room to see Rebel. “What the fuck you doin’ talkin’ to these two motherfuckers, Megan?”

“I’ll explain in a minute, but I need–”

Turning, Christopher started to walk away, still upset.

Mortician caught her eye and lifted a brow, silently asking if she needed him. She nodded, then looked at her husband. “You told the boys about Rebel, right?”

A guilty expression crossed his face just as the cries and curses of her boys reached her.

February 27th

Chaos. Mayhem. Madness.

Insanity.

Mortician couldn’t find the right word to describe the fallout from Diesel, CJ, Ryder, Ransom, and Axel walking into Rebel’s room, unaware of her sedation and treatment for her collapsed lung. Fuck, they hadn’t even known she fucking had a collapsedlung.

After Diesel’s yelled, “what the fuck?”, CJ’s, “Reb!”, and Axel’s scream, mass fucking confusion ensued. Bishop, Narci, Torrin, Potter, Huck, and Pike drew their guns and ran to the room. Val, Johnnie, Stretch, and Mort surrounded Meggie. Digger jumped in front of Prez. The nurses panicked and pressed the emergency alert for security.

Goddamn motherfucking chaos.

Scowling, Mortician tossed his cigarette into the early morning dampness and leaned against the railing on the back porch—the one facing his mama-in-law’s house. He’d gotten home just a couple of hours ago and hadn’t been able to sleep. Outlaw’s behavior alarmed him. But seeing Rebel jolted Mortician. She looked so pale and fragile in her bed and her image kept morphing into Harley’s because his mind played fucked-up tricks on him.

Mortician wasn’t in Prez’s shoes, so it was easy to say what heshoulddo. Had it been Harley? Mort would’ve walked around, filled with stupid motherfuckery, and wilding out, too. Outlaw’s quandary made it so much worse. He wanted Rule to pay, but he remembered the kid was his son in need of help. He wanted someone to blame, and he forgot Meggie didn’t deserve to have fingers pointed at her.

Which was why Mort was most concerned for her.

If Rory and Mattie hadn’t wanted to come to the hospital, Mort couldn’t have handled the fucking lunacy. Red saved the day.

Diesel had to be physically restrained. Motherfucker was on edge on a good day. CJ, Ryder and Ransom had been sobbing uncontrollably. Axel repeatedly screamed, “wake up, Reb! Wake up.”

Outlaw had leaned against the wall and tipped his head back, on the verge of a breakdown, the commotion, screams, and shouts not moving him to action or word.

Kendall directed Bishop, Rory, and Mattie to bring CJ and the other boys to whatever room they were sleeping in. Then, she ordered her husband to talk Diesel down, sent security away, promising compensation, and stormed to the nurses’ station.

“You are vetted and hand-selected for this unit with pay to match your discretion. If you ever fucking call in security before a club member orders you, you’re fired, and I’ll personally see to it you never get another goddamn job again.”

Kendall was right. That unit was specifically designed for the club members, but most especiallyMeggie. Hospital administration received big bucks for that privilege. Mort knew becausehehelped to pay the yearly fees out of his personal fucking funds to compensate for all Sharper had put the club through.

Still, Mort understood the nurses’ position. They’d agreed to discretion in theory. Chaos in action was quite fucking different. Motherfuckers running through the doors after the reaction of the boys would panic the untested. They’d think their fucking lives were in danger.

Terrifying the nurses completed, Kendall marched to Diesel and kicked him since he’d been ranting, raving, and arguing with Johnnie, promising violent retribution to Rule.

Johnniehad listened to the motherfucker.Kendallhad acted.

The kick quieted Diesel. Her slap startled him.