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“Presley.” Her voice. It’s hoarse and broken. Am I still dreaming? This isn’t a dream, it’s a nightmare. “Pres, please. I can’t get out of bed.”
“Would you lay back, woman?”
“Fuck off.”Raven.
My eyes snap open, and I look to my right. Raven lays in the bed not even five feet from me. Stone is hovering over her, attempting to keep her in the bed as she tries to sit up. I struggle to break free of the arms around me, but they tighten. I look to my left and see Jackson holding onto me.
“I know you want to be close to her, but you need to stay in bed. You have to rest.”
My hands move up to cup his face. He has bags under his eyes, his hair is tangled and messy, his beard has grown out more, and he looks pale, like he has barely been eating.
“Jackson,” I whisper as tears fill my eyes.
He closes his eyes and rests his much larger hands on top of mine. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t—” He clears his throat. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
His eyes open again and lock on mine. I slowly lean into him, and he meets me halfway. Our lips meet, cracked, dry, broken. But the kiss is anything but broken. It’s everything we both needed right now. The reassurance that we will be okay. That I forgive him. That he forgives me. We can and will get through this together.
He breaks the kiss and rests his forehead against mine. Nothing is said as we just take a moment together. He releases me after a minute and stands up, pulling his boots off before climbing into the bed with me.
I glance to my left and see Raven watching us with tears in her eyes. She gives me a watery smile and lays back down, shutting her eyes.
I curl up with Jackson and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Chapter Seventeen
Axe (Jackson)
MyeyesshutasPresley’s breathing evens out and she falls back asleep. I can hear Stone and Raven bickering quietly, but I don’t listen to what it’s about. I just hold my woman and hope she doesn’t have another nightmare.
Doc checks her pulse again before nodding at me. “Hopefully that helps.”
“Thanks,” I say as he goes over to check on Raven.
Stone texted him when Presley started freaking out and he came in right away and gave her a sedative to help her rest more and hopefully not have anymore nightmares. I lay here with her for a while, listening to the sound of her breathing and running my hand up and down her back.
She scared the shit out of me when she left, and I have so many questions. But I also can feel the anger simmering inside me. I thought we agreed she wouldn’t leave again.
I don’t want to be mad at her; she just needs to put this all behind her and find ways to keep going forward and never have to go through these things again.
After laying here for hours listening to Presley sleep soundly, I decide to get up. I need to work some of these feelings out of me, and I happen to have the perfect person to take it all out on close by.
“Keep an eye on her?” I ask Stone. He gives me a head tilt. “Call or text me the second she wakes up.”
“Will do.”
I leave the room and head over to the hall where the offices are. I was planning on just checking in with Nerds since it is pretty late and most everyone should be sleeping, but Nerds is usually always up. On the way, I see Rage’s office light on, however, so I tap on the door and walk in.
“Why are you still awake?” I question as I take in my president sitting behind his desk looking exhausted. He has bags under his eyes, and his hair is a ruffled mess.
“I just talked with Vance. He was just checking back in with us and letting us know he is making some changes with how things are run, but nothing will change with us still doing the jobs we do. I was also trying to figure out what to do for the charity ride. It is two weeks away, and we aren’t prepared for it. We need to have church soon and sit down and go over a lot of things that pertain to the club.”
“That’s a good idea. Maybe in a few days, when things calm down with Presley and Raven.”
He sighs, nodding. “Yeah. Speaking of, are you really planning on keeping him alive for that long? Axe, why drag it out so much?”
That anger, the one that was simmering just below the surface, works its way up fast. I squeeze the back of the chair that my hands were resting on. “Because,” I hiss, “he deserves everything coming to him. Every single drawn-out moment. I want to watch him struggle with each and every breath he takes. I want to see him grow weaker and weaker. That pride and arrogance he holds will wilt away until all that is left is misery. I want the fucker miserable. I want him to pay for every single thing he did to Presley and more.”
Rage raises an eyebrow at me. Leaning back in his chair, he crosses his arms. “Are you able to handle this with a level head? You haven’t been like this since your sister died and we lost you for days. Is Ben really worth losing yourself to your grief? Grief that there isn’t a need for. Presley lived. Raven will live. Will they have scars? Yes. But they get to keep going and we all get to be there with them, guiding them through it.”
