22
I had learned, after leaving the hospital and getting back to my apartment, that the Brotherhood had tried to seek me out. Ricky was especially persistent about finding out that I was okay. The only officers that had checked on me were Tara and Captain, the latter wanting to make sure that I didn’t have any viable information on what happened.
I didn’t realize how little friends I had outside of the force and the Brotherhood. My family, my parents, were on the other side of the country. Any contact I had with them was just a beckon to come home. Not something I wanted to do. I just entertained my mother and reassured her I was fine; I left out the details of what happened.
Physical therapy started while I was still in the cast. I didn’t like the idea of scooting around in a wheelchair, and I demanded a better way to get around. I was taught how to get around on crutches and still manage a light workout routine with a cast. The girl working with me put a lot of emphasis on what she meant by light.
“You’re not just getting your leg to heal. Your ribs also need time to heal. They’re around vital organs, not really something you want to splinter and break into a lung or worse.”
“I was in bed for too long,” I grumbled. “I’ll take it easy, but I still need to be active when I can.”
“I can only tell you what to do,” she frowned at me. “You either listen and do it or you end up worse off. The choice is up to you.”
After hearing that I opted for lighter workouts that I could manage with my leg in a cast.
I didn’t think there would be an opportunity to see anyone from the Brotherhood again. That was, until I was making my way out to wait for Tara to pick me up that I finally saw one of my brothers. Sid was limping into the gym, and he spotted me immediately.
“Chase!” He intercepted me before I could get to the bench. “Where the fuck have you been?”
I floundered since I didn’t have a good answer. I just stood there staring at him dumbly. Out of all the guys in the Brotherhood Sid was one that had been easy to get along with and seemed to be taken care of by everyone. Something about being confronted by him left me disarmed.
“Shit happened,” was all I could come up with.
He stood there just looking at me; I knew I looked rough. I hadn’t bothered with a haircut, not yet when it wasn’t a complete requirement. I still had two weeks in this cast so I figured until I could let the hair go wild. I saw him take in my leg and he immediately gestured to the bench just outside the door.
“There was a rumor going around about an accident, but why disappear after it? You know we’d take care of ya, right?” He sat down heavily first. “I know you’re not blind to what the guys do for me. What makes you think you have to suffer this alone?”
He didn’t know. After me being gone for weeks no one outed me.
“I’m a cop,” I said without thought or care.
Sid just stared at me, there wasn’t anger in his expression. There was no look of betrayal, just a little raise of his eyebrows.
“That explains a little bit,” he said after a beat. “I assume Wilson and Teddy know?” I nodded. “Cole, too?”
“He put a gun to my head,” I rubbed the back of my head like I could still feel the barrel of a gun at it. “I think the only thing that kept him from pulling the trigger was Wilson.”
“Sounds about right,” Sid shifted over and motioned for me to sit. “I’m guessing since no one was arrested that you didn’t find anything incriminating?”
I shook my head, “I didn’t make a real effort to.”
“Can’t say that I’m sad to hear that,” Sid laughed a little. “I guess that means you joined the Brotherhood then you got won over by who we are and what we do for one another.” I shrugged a little because he wasn’t wrong. “It’s what happens,” he released a breath. “What happens from here? Are you still in the Boneyard?”
“Would they let a cop stay in their club?”
“Honestly, I don’t know,” he didn’t look like he thought they would. “I think after all of this, probably, you would be the exception.” He drug his hand through his beard as he considered it, “We both know appearances are deceiving. They’re not exactly innocent men.”
“Do you know what kind of shit they are into?”
He shrugged a little, “I don’t get to know that shit. I know I got arrested. I know I was probably the reason why they put you in our group. But I don’t get to know what it is they do outside of the support group front.” He gave me a hard look, “They don’t hurt people though. We are protection for the community we’re in. We keep gangs out of the area, we keep violence down.”
“If you ignore the drive by,” I pointed out.
“That,” he paused for a beat. “That has something to do with the illegal shit they’re into. Plus, when you get assholes moving into your territory you gotta show them who’s boss. They just didn’t get the hint.” He looked away, his expression sober. “Where do you go from here?”
Tara’s car pulled up in front of us, and I looked away from him. I saw the concern on her face through the window. The car remained running, but she opened the door and got out.
“Everything okay, Chase?” she rested on the roof of her little car.
Seeing her concern, I knew what I wanted. But I didn’t know how to get there. I hadn’t figured it out yet.
“I don’t know,” I answered Sid’s question as I looked back at him and offered him my hand. “I hope it leads me back to the Boneyard.”
He smiled in response and took my hand, giving it a squeeze. “Once a brother always a brother.”
I let him go, and I maneuvered myself to my good foot with the help of my crutches. I hobbled to Tara’s car and opened the door.
“Everything’s okay,” I told her as I turned and sat down, shifting my crutches so that I could close the door and buckle up and they would still be within reach when I got home. “Take me home, I’d love to finally give you a chance at that rain check I owe you, but,” I gestured to the cast. “My throwing game is gonna be off.”
“You don’t always have to be on top,” she sat back down and put the car in gear. “But I’m okay to wait. I wouldn’t want you to feel obligated to sex me up.”
“I’m tempted, but I’m just going to have owe you one with interest,” I said as I relax back into the seat. “I got too much shit to figure out before I try to do any impressive feats in the bedroom.”
We drove the rest of the way to my apartment in silence. Once we arrived, Tara helped me out. I gritted through it because I hadn't gotten used to the stairs, yet.
“Two weeks,” I huffed. “Just two more weeks of this cast.”
“I don’t mind waiting,” she unlocked my door for me. “It doesn’t matter if you’re one hundred percent or not, I’ll want you either way. But, I’m waiting for you to get your head straight.”
I looked at her, carefully standing in my doorway watching me with affection.
“Remember when I told you I loved you?” I asked.
Her face went pink, but she didn’t look away from me. “I do.”
“Kind of making it hard to feel anything but that right now,” I told her and shifted around her carefully into my living room. “You’ve done nothing but help me, and I can’t help but love you more.” I paused, so there was only a little bit of space between us. “We’re not going to have to hide this. As long as you want me, you can have me, and it can be as real as you want it.”
“I can’t give up what I worked for,” she whispered, but she closed the space between us and wrapped an arm around my middle. “I think I’ll just take what I can get from you until you decide it's not enough.”
“I don’t want you to give anything up,” I kissed the top of her head. “Just love me like I love you.”
She tilted upward and kissed me lightly, “Consider it done.”