“Yeah, it won’t be easy to watch. Anytime you want me to stop, I will.” Henley sits down. Our parents are hunkering in behind us. Mom’s hand holds to my sister’s, Dad’s arm is wrapped around Mom’s shoulders, and my own hand clamps down on Henley’s frail shoulder. Fuck, she’s lost too much damn weight.
“Okay, just because my body is delicate doesn’t mean my mind is. Turn this shit on so we can maybe figure out who took my future sister-in-law.” Henley’s spunk makes a rare appearance.
“Damn, I don’t know who talks more around here, the women or the men,” I grumble underneath my breath. The three of them chuckle, yet no one responds. We’re all watching the video, how some random guy walks up behind Sailor and her not picking up the fact she’s bein’ tailed until it’s too late. I make a mental note to get her fitted with a gun and maybe teach her some self-defense moves, too.
“I’ve never seen that guy before. I’m sorry, Jackson.” Henley looks up at me over her shoulder, tears brimming in her eyes after we all see what the guy does to Sailor. It’s seared into my mind, a memory I’ll never forget.
“It’s alright, honey. It’s good you even wanted to watch,” Mom tells her, tears leaking down her face. I know she’s feeling the weight of what happened to Sailor much like everyone else. For me, though, it hits me in every way possible, a fuckin’ idiot who never told his woman what she meant to him, attemptin’ to shield her from this shit but apparently throwin’ her in the fryin’ pan to get burned without protection.
“Yeah, thanks for lookin’. Why don’t you go on home, Henley, get some rest? Mom or Dad will tell you what’s goin’ on as soon as we know. No sense in you tryin’ to hold your head up when you’re tired.” I lean down and kiss the side of her head.
“Fine, but only for a quick nap.” Henley moved back home from New York, where she was living and working at an attorney’s law firm, making six figures a year, when her life went to shit.
“Alright.” We all make our way out of Dad’s office. I’ll probably pace, Dad will sit at the bar, and who knows what else while we wait on a call. My mind is a million miles away when I practically collide with Doc.
“Just the man I wanna see. Mount up. We need to get to the hospital. Monroe called and said someone dropped Sailor off in a wheelchair at their doorstep,” Doc says. A part of me wants to get on my knees and thank my lucky stars; the other part wants to find out who this dumb fuck is and rip him to pieces limb by limb.
“Let’s go,” Dad says. I nod. My feet are already takin’ me to my bike knowing it’ll be the fastest way to get to my woman.
CHAPTER 14
SAILOR
“Sailor, open your eyes for me, honey.” I’m getting really tired of waking up and not being home, I will say that. Though, I already know I’m at a hospital from the antiseptic smell alone; add the non-stop beeping, the poking and prodding, well, the writing was on the wall.
“Hey.” My eyes open slowly, squinting at the overhead light that’s shining brightly. You always hear about that on television shows, part of you thinking they’re being dramatic until you’re in their shoes.
“You gave us all quite a scare. I’m pretty sure you have about five minutes until the cavalry arrives and the hospital will be swarmed by the club. Not only that, because of the way you were brought in, it puts you on the hospital’s radar, and a caseworker will be here to question you to death. So, make sure you and the club are on the same page, okay?”
“Oh God, what a mess. Alright, before they come in, can you tell me,”—I swallow around the thickness clogging my throat; this time, it’s not from the need to vomit, although that could be the IVs pumping something through my body—“is my baby okay?” Monroe’s eyes open widely, making fear run through my body.
“Hmm…let me look.” She walks to the tablet that’s on the wall, puts in her password, and a soft smile graces her face, thankfully. “You’re good, Sailor, though it’s safe to say no one knows?”
“Yes, I’d like to tell Jackson face to face, but life has been rough. Can you tell me what’s going on before they all swoop in and I won’t get a word in edgewise?” I ask. She laughs softly and sweet like.
“You aren’t wrong, are you? First, your secret is safe with me. The on-call doctor has you charted as extremely dehydrated with an iron deficiency anemia, which both are being combated with the intravenous fluids. An elevated HCG level shows you’re still pregnant, but why don’t I get the tech in here and we go ahead and do a vaginal ultrasound, okay?” I take my first deep breath, then let it go and do it again. I’m not sure what day or time it is, and honestly, it doesn’t matter as long as we’re both okay. That’s all that matters.