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“We know,” Blade said. “Kodiak hooked back up with Crawlers.”
“It wasn’t a love story,” Jazzy said.
“The Brunos have Dizzy and Jester.” Bullet’s gaze circled this group of brothers, and a sister, standing around my bed. Then he turned to me. “Noose got off lucky. He was in the house with you. Skye told us what happened. Kodiak put a bullet between his eyes to save you.”
“It won’t save him from the Brunos when they find him,” Jazzy said.
“And it won’t save him if Hellers find him first.” Blade shifted his gaze to Rogue. “Although, we’re not looking for trouble.”
Rogue smiled. “But trouble seems to find us.”
Jazzy smirked. “All you need to worry about is getting better.”
The doctor came in and glared at the room full of Hellers. “Two visitors at a time.” He approached my bed.
The nurse tilted her head toward the door.
“We’ll be out in the waiting room,” Bullet said. “Clover will want back in here.”
The doctor listened to my chest. “I’m going to switch you from a steady drip to a PCA pump. That means you control how often you dispense pain relief. I’m going to need you to keep breathing deeply and coughing. It’s going to hurt. The machine is programmed with a max dosage, so hit the button when you need it, but understand its limits. Our goal is to make the pain tolerable. You’re not going to be able to knock it out completely.”
“Keep using your voice,” the nurse said as she cleaned up my puke bowl. “I’ll bring you ice chips.” She left for less than a minute and returned with a cup of ice. She dropped an ice nugget into my mouth with a plastic spoon. The cool water slipped down my throat. I couldn’t stop the groan of relief. She smiled.
“I’ll let your friends back in,” she said. “But let’s limit visitors to two at a time until you’re in the clear with your lungs.”
I nodded, and she stepped out, leaving me alone.
Where the fuck was my phone? I didn’t give a fuck if the mafia wanted Kodiak. I’d spit on Noose’s corpse. Fuck. I wasn’t an asshole, but I didn’t want Clover at my bedside. She wasn’t the woman I needed with me.
“Hi.” Clover poked her head in. “Can I come in?”
She pulled her chair over to my bedside again. “The doctor said you’re doing great.”
“Jaymi,” I croaked out.
Clover’s smile fell from her mouth. “Jaymi? I…ah…” She let out a long, slow exhale. “You and Jaymi broke up weeks ago. Don’t you remember?”
Because we were private. Because we didn’t need the MC. We didn’t need validation. Or judgment. We were enough.
“Phone.” I could only eek out one word at a time.
“You didn’t have it when you were brought to the hospital.”
I closed my eyes and filtered through the memories of Friday night. My phone. My cut. Both had been burned.
“Jaymi,” I repeated.
Her hand rested on my arm. “Are you still seeing her?”
I nodded.
“Oh my god. This whole time?”
I nodded again.
“Jesus, Steele, she must be worried.” She licked her lips, and I could see her mind working. “She needs to know you’re okay. God, if she’s tried to reach you…”
Yeah, she’d think I ghosted her. My phone was gone. No one had her number. No one knew about us. No one knew about the baby. She’d asked me to give her space. I could only imagine what she must be thinking. I hadn’t left her. I wasn’t going to abandon her or our baby.