“Do you know anything?”I asked Bigfoot as I waited for my motorcycle to get to the gas station.
“Brady, and some woman we don’t know, found Nell.They came across Nell’s cell phone at the RV shop and got worried.Thank fuck they did.They were driving over to the clubhouse to hand it back to her when they discovered Nell on the ground near the entrance to the Morton’s property just off the highway.She’d been hit by a motorcycle.Some asshole apparently tried to run her over.From what I gathered, your wife fucking went David and Goliath on his ass and threw a rock at his noggin.Your woman is a badass and managed to knock him off his Sportster and the fucker died from head injuries.Not sure if it was from the hit she gave him or the one he took when he fell.Either way, he’s fucking gone.”
I was silent for a minute, trying to process everything my best friend threw at me.
“Sammy and Jester took your wife to the hospital.She passed out shortly after Brady found her, so they didn’t want to chance waiting around for an ambulance to arrive.Sammy drove so Jester could tend to her on the way.She has a broken leg and some serious bruising up and down one side of her body, man.Brady mentioned to Sammy that she had walked from the shop down to the highway and was maybe on her way to the clubhouse on foot when she encountered the asshole.”
“Anyone check his ID?”I asked.At the mention of the Sportster, I already had a good inkling of who it was.
“Nah, and the cops showed up shortly after they got your woman in the van.From what I’ve been able to find out, they are calling it a motor vehicle accident.”Bigfoot sighed.“Look, I need to deal with this shit that just walked through the door.Hell of a welcome back here.We were literally thrown into the middle of a shit storm from multiple sides.Knuckles has to give me an update on Flagstaff.Grease and Glitch are on their way in with Roxy and Lila.Sammy’s sticking by Nell’s side and she’ll send more news as she has it.As soon as you get that tire, head on out and ride safe, brother.You can’t be there for her if you’re laid up in another hospital or worse.”
I grunted my acknowledgment and hung up.Every bit of this fucked up day hinged on that call from Roxy and she was not going to get away unscathed.I vowed that to myself as I waited for the tire and worried over my wife.
BAFFLE: Had a bit of an accident on the way to you, but as soon as I get my Harley up and running again, I will be by your side.
I wasn’t going to send another text, but I kept coming back to Bigfoot’s David and Goliath comment in my mind.
BAFFLE: Heard you took a fucker out with a rock.That’s my beautiful warrior.I’ll see you soon, I promise.
By the timeI was back on the road, my phone was dead.Six and a half hours after I left Truth or Consequences, I finally made my way through the doors of the hospital in Springerville.I was dog-ass tired, sore from the bail out I’d made, and frustrated beyond belief because my phone died along the way and I wasn’t able to get anymore updates on my wife’s condition.All I knew was that she had been hit by a motorcycle, passed out, and was taken to the hospital.Bigfoot said she had a broken leg and other minor injuries.I didn’t fucking know if that was the extent of her what happened to her or not, and it was killing me.
“My wife was brought in earlier today,” I said to the woman at the reception desk when I made my way inside.
“Visiting hours are over.It is almost two in the morning.”She gave me a look like I should have known better.Then again, she saw my cut and probably assumed I’d been partying instead of being there for my woman.
“I was in an accident and got here as quickly as I could.”I held up my arm to show her the fucked up sleeve of my hoodie.It was shredded at the elbow and a bit bloody.My leg didn’t look much better, but I knew that it was all superficial shit and I cleaned the wounds at the gas station before heading out.That didn’t mean there was a way to repair or replace my clothes that were shredded during that slide.
“I’m sorry to hear that, but it doesn’t change the fact that visiting hours are over.”
“Look woman, my wife was assaulted today, run down my a motorcycle, and last I heard she was unconscious when she was brought in, now someone here needs to tell me what the fuck happened to her and how she’s doing.”
“Baffle?”
I turned to see Jimmy, the older security guard who worked the graveyard shift at the hospital.“Jimmy.”
“Your wife’s name Nell, by any chance?”
“It is.”
He nodded for me to follow him off to the side away from the nosy receptionist who refused to help me.“She’s already been discharged but Brenda takes her oaths seriously.”The man rolled his eyes as if it was all bullshit.“Nell left with a casted leg, so I’m assuming it was broken.Don’t know what else happened, but I do know another lady took her home.”
“Thanks, Jimmy.I laid my bike down hours away and had to wait for parts, then my phone died, so last I heard from anyone she was still here.Appreciate you looking out.”
“Anytime.Tell the boys I said hello and I hope your wife heals up real soon.”He tipped his chin toward my battered hoodie.“You too, for that matter.”
“I’m good.Just a little road rash.”
It was almostthree in the morning before I made it back to the clubhouse.I was dragging ass and ready to collapse.The only thing keeping me going was that I needed to see Nell with my own two eyes.As soon as I made my way through the door, a glassy-eyed Knuckles shot a lopsided grin my way as one of the club girls danced in his lap.He’d gone a little nuts lately with the club women after finding Simone, his wife, cheating on him with some suit from Albuquerque.
“The fuck you doin’ here?”
“Came to check on my wife since the hospital sent her home.”
Knuckles cringed and pushed his hair back out of his face.“Man, she’s not here.”
“What the fuck?Where is she?”
“Brady put her up,” a woman responded from over by the bar.I turned to see Sammy giving me the stink-eye.I left Knuckles to his new vice and headed toward my president’s ol’ lady.
