Two weeks of bullshit. That’s what I’ve gotten from Nicole. Two complete weeks of bullshit. She won’t see me, she won’t talk to me, and except for when we get to visit our son together, I get zero emotion from her. How do I go about fixing things with her if she’s not even going to try? Did I kill her love? Why can’t she understand that what I did, I did for all of us?

Today, Nicole gets to come home from the hospital. She doesn’t really want to. She wants to stay at the hospital with our child, but they are making her. Carrie finally got her to agree to stay at the hospital until the last visitation with Chase, and then come home to rest before going back.

Of course, I didn’t get any of that from Nicole. I hear everything second-hand these days. She even named our child without telling me. Chasin Donovan West. Kid will hate it. Fuck, I hate it. It doesn’t matter, he’ll get a road name when he’s old enough. The fact that I walked into the room to find he had been named pisses me off more than anything else. I let it slide, figuring she was just getting her own back, but I’m getting pretty sick of being shut out. Tonight, I’ll finally bring her home, and we’ll start getting this lined out. It can’t happen soon enough for me.

I miss having her in my arms and talking to her. I miss just being able to see her every day. Having her away from me, leaves everything feeling… empty.

I walk into her hospital room holding her favorite flowers, Peruvian Lilies. She’s standing up, putting her stuff in her overnight bag, when I walk in. She freezes, looks at me and back to the flowers. She sighs, and gives me a look like I kicked her dog or something, and then goes back to packing.

“All packed up to come home, Mama?”

“All packed,” she whispers, not bothering to look up.

“Do you like your flowers?” I finally ask, because I feel stupid holding them.

“You shouldn’t have.”

I’m tired. It’s been too long since I’ve had her lips. Maybe I need to remind her what we have together? I place the flowers on the bed and pull her gently to me. She holds herself stiff, but she comes. I wrap one arm around her and use my other to pull her chin up, so she looks at me. There’s such sadness in her blue eyes. I want to take it away.

“Mama…” I whisper, staring into her shimmering eyes, getting lost in their depths.

“Dragon, we need to…”

I press my lips against hers, stopping the sentence before she can finish it. My tongue slides into her open mouth. I taste her and groan at the burst of flavor. It’s been too fucking long since I’ve had this. I forcefully explore the depths of her mouth, owning it. She holds stiff against me for the space of a minute, and then slowly melts in my arms. Her arms go around me to hold me close. God, I’ve missed that. Her nails dig into my back, and I groan at the pleasure. Six weeks until I can have her. Fuck, I’ll never survive.

“Mama, I have missed your taste,” I say, when we finally break apart. She keeps her head down, resting her forehead on my chest. We stand like that for a minute, I’m hoping to hear something from her. One small sign of encouragement. I get nothing but silence. “Talk to me, Mama. Please, talk to me.”

“That shouldn’t have happened.”

“It definitely should have. It will happen—a fuck of a lot more.”

She looks up at me then, and I wish she hadn’t. The tears are there, hiding in the depths of those blue eyes.

“It can’t happen again.”

“Whose mark do you have on you, Nicole?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she whispers, and it pisses me off.

“Whose mark, Mama?”

“Yours.”

“Do you love me?”

“Dragon…”

“Do you love me, woman?”

“I always will.”

“Then this isn’t over,” I tell her, and she better fucking get that through her head. We will never be over.

“I can’t survive loving you again, Dragon.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“When I thought you died, my world went dark again. Only it was worse than it had ever been in my past, because now, I know what it’s like to have love, to feel a part of someone. When you left, you took it all away and left me alone. I can’t survive that again.”

“I’m right here, Mama. I’m not going anywhere.”

“But you did, Dragon. You tore up my world so easily, and you didn’t even stop to think what this plan you made would do. How it would affect me and our child. You made the decision, solo, and you left me alone.”

“Mama…”

“You want us to go back, to be what we were. We can’t do that, Dragon. I can’t be that person with you again.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“Because I don’t trust you!” she cries. “I don’t trust me with you. What if a year down the road something else happens, and you, once again, make a decision for the good of the club, to protect everyone, and it leaves me and our child hanging in the wind? How do I know you aren’t going to hurt me again? How do I know your decision won’t destroy me? Or worse, destroy our child.”

“Damn it, Nicole, you make it sound like I wasn’t even thinking of you. Part of the fucking reason I did all of this was to protect you and our child. Doing this allowed me to kill that son of a bitch.”

“Doing this caused our son to be in a neonatal unit fighting for his life. Did you take into consideration, Dragon, what kind of stress you were putting me under? How you were ripping apart our family, for the good of your club?”

“Damn it, Nicole, I told you the decisions I made were for you, our child and the club.”

“And I told you I don’t trust that.”

“So, where does that leave us?”

“Over,” she whispers, pulling away from me.

I grab her arm and pull her back to me.

“Don’t you say that Nicole, don’t you fucking dare say that to me.”

“Dragon…”

“You’re hurt. I get that, woman. I made the decision, and I should have thought it through more, but it’s done. I can’t go back. I did what I had to do so you and our son didn’t end up like Frog. I did what I had to do to protect what’s mine, and that means you and Chase.”

“His name is Chasin.”

“How the hell would I know? You named him without even talking to me, damn it!”

“Gee Dragon, you died without consulting me!”

“Then be a pissy-ass-bitch, but don’t cut me out of your lives! Don’t pull us apart, when we don’t have to be. You thought you lost me and I was there! I know it sucked. God Mama, don’t you think it was as bad for me, not being able to be with you?”

“That right there! You see!”

“What the hell are you talking about now?”

“It wasn’t as bad for you, Dragon! It was nowhere near as bad! Do you know why? Because your dumb ass knew I was alive. You knew you would see me again! You knew where I was! You have no idea the hell I went through. You never once put yourself in my shoes.”

I pull away and rake my hand over my head.

Fuck this.

“So, you’d rather tear us apart than to even try? What kind of weak-ass shit is that, Nicole? That’s not the woman I fell in love with.”

She just stands there looking at me. She says nothing. Nothing.

I sigh. I’m so tired. I’m tired as hell. I grab the flowers and throw them in the garbage, because apparently, that’s what I am to her at this point.

“Let’s go see our son and get you back to the club.”

“I…I’m not going to the club, I…”

“You’re fucking what, Nicole?” I ask, my voice sounds as resigned and tired as I feel.

“I’m staying with Carrie and Dancer.”

I stare at her. I just stare. Yet another fucking decision made without me. Yet another motherfucking moment in which Nicole shows me I don’t factor into her world. Why do I keep fighting it?

“Fine. We’ll go see our son and then I’ll take you to Dance’s.”

“Carrie’s picking me up…”

“Of course she is. Tell me, is it fun, Mama?”

“What… what are you talking about?”

“Is it fun where you’re at? Cutting me up into little pieces and throwing me out with the garbage?”

Her face goes white, but I don’t ease up.

“Are you getting some of your own back? Is that what you’re doing? Cause, whatever this is, I hope you’re getting what you need from it. I get it. I hurt you. I wronged you, so you feel it gives you the right to get back at me. You want me out of your life, Nicole? Fine. You want to do this to us. What-the-fuck-ever. You can have it. I am fucking done. I’m going to see my son. I’m going to go have a fucking drink—maybe the fucking bottle—and I’ll leave you the fuck alone, like you seem to be wanting. So, have fun on your fucking high horse.”

I slam the door as I leave. I spend a few moments with Chase. When Nicole walks in, I don’t even look at her.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, C. Keep fighting,” I tell my son, and then I leave. I don’t look back. Apparently, there’s nothing there for me anyway.