She gave me a startled look then scurried out, saying she’d be back. We waited for her to return. It was a good twenty minutes before I saw Joker stick his head in the door and smile. I motioned for him to come in. He came straight to Madisen’s other side and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
“How you feelin’, momma? If you need anything, let us know. I’ll be right outside your door. Don’t worry. No one’s getting in here. Relax so we can get you and that baby home.” She smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. I growled which made her laugh. It was good to hear. I jabbed Joker in the side so he’d move. He grinned and made kissy faces at her as he left. She chuckled the whole time.
“You’re terrible, Ronan. You know we’re only friends.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why he isn’t dead. I don’t want any other lips on you besides mine, Firecracker. All that fire and sexiness is mine.” She shook her head and grinned.
“I was so worried, Ronan. I want this baby so much. The thought of losing it terrifies me. All this shit going on with my stepdad, the cartel, and those two other MCs is only making things worse. I never would have thought it would come down to this. I need you to tell me the truth. Can the Warriors handle this kind of trouble? I don’t want to lose you or any of the guys. What if they target the other chapters helping us? Some have women and children at their compounds. I can’t be responsible for endangering them.”
I could see her anxiety escalating. I needed to calm her down now. It would only add to the stress she is under. “Baby, we can handle it. I can’t tell you a lot, but I can tell you we have not only the help of our other chapters and affiliate clubs but also an ex-special ops group and even some government contacts. We are going about this smartly and equipped with enough people. What I need is for you to remain as calm as possible. Your job is to follow our instructions so we can keep you safe. And, of course, to bake that baby in there to perfection. I can’t wait to find out what we’re having. What do you think it is?”
I wanted to get her mind off the trouble and onto the baby—happier thoughts and all that. She rubbed her stomach and smiled. She barely had a tiny pooch starting. If you didn’t know she was pregnant, you’d never know she was.
“I think you’re going to be cursed, Ronan, with a daughter first. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure she can protect her younger brothers and sisters. My daughters will be kickass girls who won’t take shit off anyone.”
I laughed. If they were anything like their mother, that would be true. I gave her a soft, lingering kiss. “I have no doubt you will. But if it’s a girl, I’m going out to get more guns. You can never be too safe.” She rolled her eyes. Before I could tease her more, there was a knock at the door. It was Bull and Jocelyn. I waved for them to come in. Jocelyn went straight to the other side of the bed and hugged Madisen. Bull stopped to talk to me first.
“How is she doing? She looks better.”
“Well, the drugs they’re giving her are controlling the pain, thankfully. She’s battling the cyst and it will either burst or resolve on its own. We didn’t want to take a chance with surgery, even though the risk to the baby is small. Hopefully, we’re here for a day or two, then she can come home. Seems like the hospital isn’t giving us grief about the guards.”
“No, they aren’t. Scarelli talked to them more. He’s backing us on this. I told him off the record about the cartel and the two outlaw MCs. He unofficially gave us the green light to deal with it as we see fit. Just keep the innocent bystanders out of it. I assured him we would. Officer Talbot may be an issue. He showed up in the waiting room, wanting to talk to Madisen. Some bullshit about follow-up questions. Scarelli caught him and sent him back to the office. That boy has a hard-on for us. We’ll have to keep an eye on him too.”
“That’s all we need. I want to get her back to the compound. Even with guards, she’s too exposed here. Remember what happened in Dublin Falls when one of their women was in the hospital? I am vetting everyone who comes in this room that I don’t know.” Bull nodded in agreement. Jocelyn was now sitting beside the bed. Bull went over to Madisen. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. I found I didn’t want to growl at him like I did Joker.
“Hey, sweetheart. Were things too calm, you thought you’d give us some excitement? You know I don’t like to have to visit my girls in this place. You make sure you get better and get back home fast.”
She smiled and patted his hand. “I’ll see what I can do. Yeah, I thought you guys needed something to do. How’s the bakery? Anyone checking in on Trudie and Jessica?” She couldn’t let it go. Even when she wasn’t there, she thought about it.
Jocelyn answered her questions. “They are doing great. Jessica said to tell you she’d stop by after work and update you so you wouldn’t worry. From what I gather, she’s baking up a storm, using your recipes. They’re busy. The guys are keeping an eye on them.”
Madisen grinned. “I bet I know who one of her guards is.” Jocelyn laughed.
“Oh yeah, Ajax is on bakery duty as much as possible. I heard one of the guys from the Punishers was paying a little too much attention to Jessica. Ajax took him off for a conversation.” This made me and Bull laugh. Our brother Ajax had it bad. We could understand. When you found the one, it was like being hit by lightning. He would be going crazy until he officially claimed her and got his property cut on her back and probably a ring on her finger. Even then, he’d watch for other guys coming onto his woman. I know I did.
My thoughts were interrupted by Dr. Foreman and a man in a white lab coat entering the room after a brief tap on the door. The other guy looked like he was in his thirties, clean cut and good looking. I disliked him immediately, especially when I saw the way he looked at Madisen and Jocelyn. I saw Bull stiffen.
“Hello, Madisen. I wanted to introduce our newest doctor in the department. This is Dr. Morgan. He’ll be keeping an eye on you when I’m not here. Dr. Morgan, this is Madisen and the other lovely lady is also one of my patients, Jocelyn Williams. This is Jocelyn’s husband, Bull, and Rebel is—”
“I’m Madisen’s fiancée,” I added abruptly. I saw the smile tugging at the corner of Dr. Foreman’s mouth. His eyes were twinkling. He knew how we felt about other men around our women. Especially one who was not hiding how much he was appreciating them. Dr. Morgan nodded to Bull and me, but shook hands with Jocelyn and Madisen. I thought he held their hands too long.
“Lovely to meet you. I’ll be sure to take good care of her,” he told me. “There’s no reason you need to stay here all the time. Take a break. I see one of your men is outside the door. Not sure why, but we need to be sure to keep the hall clear.” I wanted to punch him in the face. A condescending asshole is what he was. Before I could say anything, Dr. Foreman did.
“They are here for her protection. Club business and they cleared it with the hospital administrator. They know to stay out of the way. Now, Madisen, the baby’s heartbeat sounds good. How is the pain? On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the worst.”
“It’s maybe a three. Not anything I can’t handle.”
“Well, I don’t want you to push it. Get ahead of it. If it starts to increase even a little, let the nurses know so they can give you more meds. An ovarian cyst can be extremely painful. You let us know if you need anything. Jocelyn, I’ll see you and Devyn in the office next week. Good to see you again, Bull and Rebel.” Dr. Foreman was totally at ease with us. I liked his demeanor and how he interacted with Madisen. I could see Bull did as well. The other one could stay the hell out.
As soon as they left, Madisen turned to me. “You about ground your teeth to nubs, Rebel. Don’t tell me Dr. Morgan was flirting with me or something.”
“Or something. He was eating you up with his eyes, the smarmy bastard. The same way he was looking at Jocelyn. He won’t be the one to treat you or deliver our baby. If he’s around, we’ll find Dr. Foreman,” I decreed. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. Jocelyn chuckled and Bull grunted in agreement. He knew what the hell was going on.
The rest of the afternoon was filled with visitors checking in on how she was doing. No one stayed long since they didn’t want to tire her out. It was around seven o’clock when Jessica came through the door. Right on her heels were Ajax and another brother, Lash, from the Iron Punishers in Virginia. I could tell Ajax was pissed about something by the look on his face.
As Jessica and Madisen greeted each other and chatted about the bakery, he stood rigid and looking pissed. Lash seemed more relaxed. I pulled Ajax to the side. “What’s up, Ajax? You look like you want to kill someone?”
“I’d like to fucking kill half the damn customers at the bakery,” he growled.