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The doctor chuckled and turned his attention on me. “Hi, Gracie, I’m Dr. Robertson. I’m sure Hawk and the other Hannigans have mentioned me.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard a few things.” Only in passing, though. Usually it was from accidently overhearing something that Bash said to Raven or one of the club brothers. I knew that Dr. Robertson, or Doc as they all referred to him, was the club’s private physician. He took care of things that needed to be kept off the books, or so I’d come to assume.
His eyes twinkled a little as he chuckled. He wasn’t as old as Jack was; I’d say he was in his mid-to-late forties. His eyes were a mixture of blue and green and his face was covered in a graying beard. He looked tough, stern. As if he didn’t take crap from anyone. I figured that since he was the MC’s doctor, that would be a trait he would need in abundance. “I can only imagine. How are you feeling this morning? Your chart says you have a severe concussion, so that head of yours must be throbbing.”
I didn’t nod because I knew if I did it would cause pain to blast through my head again. “It’s not as bad as it was last night, but yeah, it’s throbbing pretty good.”
“You’re going to have a headache for a while. At least a few more days, but it should start to fade by day three and be gone soon after.” He pulled a pen light from his coat pocket and shined it in first my right eye and then the left. I was so glad I hadn’t tried to eat any of the breakfast on my tray. If I had I would have emptied it all over him for sure. Nausea rolled in my stomach and I sucked in deep breath after deep breath in hopes of calming my stomach.
Something strong and pungent was waved under my nose and the nausea faded quickly. I jerked back and Doc showed me an alcohol swab he’d used. “I’m going to let you go home, but you need to go straight to bed when you get there. Don’t get out of bed unless it’s for the bathroom, and then I want you to have someone helping you in case you get dizzy.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “When can I go back to work?” I just started both my jobs. I couldn’t afford to call in sick after only a few days.
His eyes were serious as he met my gaze. “I think you need at least a week to get back on your feet, and even then I think you should take it easy. Concussions are tricky, Gracie. You might think you’re feeling better, but if you don’t rest there could be some dire consequences.” He turned to Hawk. “Make sure she goes straight to bed and doesn’t do a lot of moving around. I’m going to prescribe some painkillers to help her rest easier through most of this next week. Tomorrow I’ll stop by and check in on her, see how she’s progressing. But I’m warning you. If I think she’s not getting any better, I’m readmitting her.”
Hawk nodded his head solemnly. “I’ll make sure she gets plenty of rest, Doc.”
“Good. I’ll let the nurse know you can go and get the paperwork started.” He shook Hawk’s hand again and then smiled down at me. “See you tomorrow, Gracie.”
I gave him a small smile and watched him leave my room. When the door shut behind him I blew out a frustrated breath. “Aggie is going to replace me, I just know it.”
“Aggie won’t do that to you. She likes you too much. If you really want to keep that damn job I’ll talk to her and let her know what’s going on. It’s no big deal, baby.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
Relief was so keen that I would have felt lightheaded if I hadn’t been lying back. “Would you?” He nodded and I could have kissed him if I’d been able to reach for him just then. “Thanks, Hawk. You don’t know how much I appreciate it.”
He didn’t return my smile. “I’m still not happy about you working there, Gracie. I’d rather you didn’t work at all and only concentrated on school. And if I knew you wouldn’t try to kick my ass from that bed I would tell you what I really wanted. For you to let me pay for law school and take care of everything else you need or want.” When I glared at him his lips twitched with wary amusement. “As I said, if I knew you wouldn’t kick my ass I would totally be offering that. So I’m not going to. For the moment.”
“I don’t want you to take care of me. I need to be able to do this on my own.” I know he didn’t understand that, but it was important to me.
The situation with my mother… I felt like the only reason she had never left my father was because she wanted the money that went with the Morgan name. Not for her; I doubted that was the reason. No, I was pretty sure she’d wanted it for me. I wish I could have told her that the money had never been important to me, then or now. All I’d ever wanted, all that had ever made me happy growing up was getting to be with her. Now she was gone, and I needed to prove—if only to her memory if nothing else—that I could take care of myself without having a man doing it for me.
I hoped I could one day make him understand that.
“Gracie.” He sighed and shook his head. “Baby, being mine means that I’m allowed to take care of you. It doesn’t mean you’re weak. It isn’t like that at all, sweetheart. You are taking care of me too. It’s like a partnership. We share everything: the joys, the pains, the burdens, and the ecstasies. So letting me help you with school is nothing to be ashamed of.”
I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth. His words made my heart twist with so much love for him, but I still couldn’t take his money. “I want all of those things, Hawk. I just can’t let you pay for law school. I’m sorry.”
Chapter 11
Hawk
Trying to keep Gracie in bed and happy was not an easy job. She bored easily just lying in bed with only television to keep her company. By Friday she was chomping at the bit and Doc was still making her stay in bed. I spent all my free time just lying beside her. We talked, getting to know one another even better, while I spoiled her with back rubs and sweets. If it had been anyone else I would have been climbing the walls with my own boredom, but this was Gracie—my female. I enjoyed our quiet time together.
Because I’d promised her I would, I called Aggie and told her what was going on. She knew all about it before I even opened my mouth. Uncle Jack had told her the majority of it, obviously leaving out the part where Harley had met the angel of death and was now a tub of liquid goo that had been disposed of who knew where thanks to a few of the guys that knew all about acids.
I didn’t regret lying to Gracie about what had happened with Harley. That had been club business, a club decision to end him. Everyone had voted, and when it came to ending a brother it had to be all or nothing. After Westcliffe had tore the club upside down when he’d gone rogue and hurt Flick so badly, making her lose my older brother’s baby, the club didn’t give second chances anymore. It only led to regrets later down the road, like having Jet locked up in prison for beating his VP to death.
Aggie had been concerned for Gracie, asking if there was anything she could do. All I’d wanted was for her to promise
to keep my girl’s job open for her when she got back on her feet. Aggie being Aggie, she assured me that it would be. I didn’t like it, but for the time being I wasn’t going to say anything else about Gracie working two jobs.
I was hoping Uncle Jack would take care of that for me. He’s been coming into the bar every night to ask about her, and tonight I wanted to run something by him and Bash. When I saw him walk through the door with our club president I waved them both over to the end of the bar.
Both took a stool and I set a beer in front of each of them. “I have something I want to run by you guys.”
Bash narrowed his eyes before taking a long pull from the brown bottle. When he sat it down he lifted a brow, waiting for me to talk. “I want the club to pay for Gracie’s law school tuition.” Neither man blinked, so I went on. “I know she’s all about paying her own way, and she will. When she’s got her degree.”
“I’m listening, boy.” Jack took a drink, his eyes intent on my face.
