Chapter Eighteen
Jake
As happy as I was about my engagement to Dana, I knew that my troubles were not over yet. I was stuck in this hospital for God knows how long, and Mack and Tom were still on the loose. I knew that I was in no shape to go anywhere, but not being involved was excruciating. I tapped my fingers on the railings of my bed before flexing my arms and stretching my body. Every muscle felt tight and sore, and I cringed as pain shot up through my back. I still couldn’t believe Mack had actually shot me. It was one thing to dislike a club member, but to actually attempt to murder them…well that would not be tolerated.
Dana had fallen asleep, and was curled up so delicately by my side. This bed was certainly not built for two, and I was feeling a bit cramped. I decided I need to get up and move a bit, but I was unsure if my legs were steady enough to support my weight. One single bullet had wreaked havoc on my body, and my energy levels were next to non-existent. As slowly as I could, I inched myself away from Dana and moved my legs to the edge of the bed. Heaving myself up, I steadied myself with a hand on the wall, patiently waiting for the dizziness to subside. Nausea overtook, and I was retching into the floor. What a fucking mess I was, I thought. What kind of a grown man vomits onto his own feet? I slowly sat myself back down and groaned. I felt weak and pathetic, and I prayed Dana didn’t wake up and see me in this sad state. I wanted her to always view me as her protector, and there was no way she would respect this mess of a man.
I looked over and watched Dana sleeping so soundly. I felt a pang in my heart. Somehow we were going to turn this mess into a positive thing, it just was going to take longer than I wanted.
Dana stirred slightly and I held my breath, not wanting her to wake up quite yet. Right now, she needed as much sleep as she could get, and I wasn’t going to let anything disturb her.
I attempted to stand once more. Breathing slowly, I took my time and delicately rose from the bed. The dizziness returned, but I focused on my goal and breathed through it. Ever so slightly it started to subside, and I kept at it until I was feeling steadier. I grinned onto my IV pole, inching myself towards the door. Dana might need rest now, but I craved something completely opposite. I knew Billy was still at the hospital, and he would have the answers I needed. No matter what the doctor said, there was no chance I was going to sit idly by while my attempted killer was running wild. Like hell I was going to give him the opportunity to do any more damage, and I couldn’t be certain of Dana’s safety until he was officially apprehended. I knew Billy was going to try to fight me on this one, and I needed to appear like I was able to fight.
I looked down at my vomit-splattered gown and my shaking legs and sighed. How was I going to pull myself together enough to get out there?
As I shuffled my way slowly down the hallway, I heard someone call my name. I paused for a moment before slowly shuffling to turn myself around. There was Mitch, on his wheelchair, staring at me. I shook my head and mentally prepared myself for the verbal ass-kicking I knew I was about to receive.
“What you doing out of bed already?” Mitch began. “I sure as shit know that no doctor authorized this little field trip you’re taking.”
“I’m off to talk to my boys,” I explained. “There’s no way I’m sitting in that room while Mack and Tom are out there whooping it up and living free. They almost killed me last night, and more importantly, they could have gotten to Dana and hurt her. No doctor in this world is going to stop me from setting things right and handling my business, especially when it comes to my fiancée.”
Mitch stared at me hard and I quickly realized what I had said. I knew Dana hadn’t told him yet and I cursed myself for just throwing the word out there so casually. I didn’t mean to spill the announcement, but the engagement just felt so natural and calling her my fiancée felt so right.
“Fiancée?” Mitch chuckled. “You got my sis as a side chick? Or are you trying to tell me that you’re making an honest woman out of my sister?”
I smiled and nodded at Mitch. “After all that we’ve been through, I thought it only right that I make that woman my wife. Ain’t nobody ever going to compare to her, and I can’t imagine waking up another day without her by my side. I know she’s your sister, and I know how protective you are of her, but I swear to you Mitch. I will lay down my life to protect her. No one will love her as fiercely as I do, and all I’m asking you is let me prove that to you.”
Mitch’s face gave nothing away as he stared at me right in the eye. For a moment, I was worried he might be pissed, but then he reached out his hand. “Welcome to the family,” Mitch said, firmly shaking my hand. “I believe you’ll take care of her properly, and if you don’t, I’ll kill you myself. Promise I will do a more thorough job than Mack!”
I let out a laugh and agreed. I had no doubt that when it came to Dana that Mitch was not kidding and I loved the fact that he was as protective as I was.
“If I ever hurt Dana, I’d help you off me!” I replied, and we both shared a laugh before turning serious once more.
“As much as I love a good celebration, now is not the time. We still got some major shit to take care of, and I don’t know how useful two cripples are gonna be.” Mitch looked frustrated as he stared down at his wheelchair-bound body.
“Yeah, I’ve been wondering the same thing,” I replied, leaning onto my IV pole for support. “But regardless of what condition we’re in, I need to get to Billy and get an update. If there’s something I can do to help, anything at all, then I should know.”
Together, Mitch and I started the slow trek down the hall, heading for the waiting room where both our clubs were stationed and waiting. Who knows what was being said between the two sides, but spending the last god knows how many hours together, it was certain that at least some words had been exchanged. Neither club was in the clear and both had to own up to the fact that they had men in the hospital as well as traitors on the inside. “This had to be a first in biker history,” I thought. “Teaming up because of double traitors, what are the chances?”
As we got closer to the waiting room, my anxiety started to increase. Injured or not, I had made some pretty big mistakes and I wasn’t sure I was ready to face everyone behind those doors. Although I had my own personal reasons for doing what I did, I could understand how that looked like a massive betrayal, and even though it wasn’t personal, I had put everyone’s lives at risk. Choosing Dana over the Flaming Dragons had never taken more than a second to decide, but I never intended for that choice to have such far-reaching consequences. My ideal world included both my family and my fiancée, and I hoped that I would be given a fair chance to explain that.
“You ready to face everyone?” Mitch asked, looking as anxious as I felt. “We’re both in a heap of shit right now, but I’m praying they’ll put that aside until after Mack and Tom have been dealt with.”
“Yeah,” I nodded in agreement, “I know I’m in for some shit, but we gotta man up and face the music if we wanted to ever move past this point.”
Holding the door open for Mitch, I watched him wheel himself in and slowly I followed suit. As we came into the waiting area, all eyes turned and landed on us, taking in what I’m sure was a mightily pathetic sight. I started to feel extremely self-conscious, and wished I had cleaned up a bit before trekking out this way. The vomit on my flimsy hospital gown showed exactly what kind of shape I was in and I hated the fact that I was so vulnerable in front of all these tough and strong individuals.
It was apparent that no one knew what to say, and Mitch and I stood still like statues as we waited for someone to speak first. Neither side seemed eager to speak the first word, so I looked over and made eye contact with Billy. We had been brothers for so long, and friends even longer, so I hoped he would read my mind and speak.
Billy rose from his chair, cleared his throat, and then finally spoke.
“You two idiots are supposed to be lying in your beds. What the hell you doing moseying about and making your way out here?”
A low chuckle rippled throughout the waiting room, and a smile slowly spread across my face. Billy might not be the softest-hearted man on the planet, but damn did he know how to diffuse a tense situation.
“You know why we’re here. You think a bullet is going to keep me down? There are two assholes on the loose that I’d very much like to get my hands on and have a little chit chat with.”
Billy smirked and nodded. “You think you’re in any shape to be having a chit chat with anyone? Let alone the boy who tried to kill you? That bullet must have rattled your brain as well, because even a blind man could see that you ain’t doing shit but heading right back to your bed and staying there.”
I grimaced and turned to look down at Mitch. I didn’t have any good argument to retort with, so I hoped Mitch could come in at this point and lay down the perfect argument.
“Hey now, don’t be lookin’ at me, Jake. You’re on your own in this one” Mitch laughed. “We can’t all heal as quickly as me.”
“Have you lost your damn mind as well, boy?” It was Mitch’s road warrior, and he was making his way over to us looking sour and mean. The intensity of this man was palpable, and I started to worry he was going to single-handedly finish Mitch and I off.
“Talkin’ about healing up all quick, you’re in a damn chair and you think you’re gonna just go from that chair to a bike? Ha!”
Mitch rolled his eyes and smirked. Clearly they had a similar relationship to Billy and I. I realized this man wasn’t nearly as mean as he looked, and I breathed a little easier realizing that the Wild Wolves paralleled the Flaming Dragons to some degree. At the end of the day, we were all bikers who lived and breathed our clubs—if that couldn’t unite us then nothing could.
“While you two have been sleeping away nice and cozy, the rest of us have been up in this here room putting together our little action plan. Take a seat and we will fill you in on what’s next, but don’t start getting some stupid idea that we’ve included you two in our plot. You wanna help, then you’re going to need to keep your asses here and heal up so we aren’t permanently down a man each. I know this mission is a personal one for each of you, but you’re going to have to just trust in the people you call family that we will take care of this for you. Am I clear? You either tell me you understand or I won’t say another damn word about any of it.”
Damn that man was tough as nails, I thought, watching as Mitch stared with a mixture of frustration and admiration. I was starting to be a lot more thankful that I had Billy instead; I don’t know if I could handle how intense this man was every day of my life.
“We got it, now fill us in! What we gonna do to wrap this up and finish Mack and Tom once and for all?” Mitch had a twinkle in his eye, and I smiled to myself realizing that he loved a good hunt as much as I did. Sitting this out was going to be hard, but the thrill of at least knowing would have to sustain our lust for fun.
***
Midway through the conversation we were all yapping away when the doors were suddenly thrown open and a wild-haired woman stood glaring in the doorway.
“Jake Handleman!” Her voice was stone cold and deadly serious. “How dare you saunter out of that room without even giving me the decency of letting me know where you were? Did you happen to think I might wake up and wonder where the hell you’ve gone!? Of every day to up and disappear on me, today was not the day!”
Every mouth in the room stopped moving, and eyes darted back and forth between Dana and me. I stood up and stared at her, moving my mouth without making a sound. Who the hell was this woman? Not once in my life had I ever been called out by a broad in front of the gang.
“I, uh, I, well, you see, I was just, y’know, I…” No matter how I tried I just sounded like a blubbering fool.
“Oh, do not go trying to give me some excuse, Mr. Handleman, I do not want to hear it. You damn near scared me half to death, and I was left thinking the worst. I ran out here so fast and what do I find? You laughing it up with your friends. Well, we shall see how much you’re laughing now!”
Damn, she was worked up, and the fire in her eyes was starting to arouse me. I had never seen her so impassioned before, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it was a huge turn on.
I cocked my head to the side and eyed her up, trying to tell her with my eyes how much I wanted her. I licked my lips and smiled, but she refused to crack.
Still stern as a school teacher, Dana walked over and threw her arms around me. “You pull that again, and I will hunt you down and give you much more than just a talking to!”
“Well, I sure do like the sound of that,” I chuckled, squeezing her tightly against me.
Everyone in the room let out a collective sigh, and resumed chatting about the plan. Before I had a chance to really fill Dana in, Billy stood up and cleared his throat authoritatively.
“Now that you both are here, I’m sure you know that both The Flaming Dragons and the Wild Wolves need to speak with you about the little problem that got us into this big mess.”
My heart felt heavy, and even though I knew this was coming, I thought maybe I could push it off a little longer. I wasn’t prepared for this meeting, and I was completely uncertain of where this would lead. I knew in my soul that my final decision was already made. I had chosen Dana and nothing would change that. But the other factors surrounding the decision were completely foggy, and I wasn’t ready to give up my family and my place in the Flaming Dragons. They had been my home when I had nowhere to go, and even though Dana’s love would always be more than enough, letting go of family was never easy.
Dana stood tall and firm, looking a lot more confident than I knew she felt. She was going to take this meeting on the chin, and I knew she was determined not to show any emotion. Although Dana was never officially involved with either club, I knew she understood the seriousness of what was happening, and a part of her must be worried about what I was going to choose. I wanted to talk to her beforehand, but since we weren’t given the opportunity we had to simply trust each other and go in blind.
“Over the last few days, the Flaming Dragons and the Wild Wolves have held a lot of joint meetings, and we’ve thrown around a few ideas throughout. The one thing we both agreed on is that this is not acceptable, and the fact you hid it from your club is a grave offense.” Billy was speaking directly to me, and I braced myself for what was coming next.
“The original plan was to banish you from the Flaming Dragons, ensuring that you no longer held any conflict of interest. Mitch was also discussed, but after further investigation we were assured that he had no clue about what was happening, and so Mitch has been cleared of any wrongdoing. We have spoken to Mitch intensively about what he thinks should be done, since it’s his own sister on the line here. Mitch has pleaded a very convincing case, and has brought some interesting ideas to the table.”
I turned and looked at Mitch, and he met my eyes and nodded. Something told me that he had put a lot of effort into helping Dana, and I reminded myself I would need to thank him later.
“So, that leaves us at a very serious crossroads. On one hand, you have betrayed us and lied, putting everyone’s lives on the line. But on the other, you did it for a noble reason, and I’ve never been in the business of involving myself in another man’s love life.”
There was so much I wanted to say, but it didn’t seem like Billy cared too much for my opinion at this point. I thought maybe it was best to keep my mouth shut and just wait this out and see what decision had already been made.
“After more than enough discussion, both clubs have agreed that despite the unpleasantness of the last few days, family is family and we stick together even in the shittiest of times. Even though we are separate, this entire performance has forced both clubs to sit down and talk, and we realized that there was a lot we needed to work out between us. We are always so busy competing, we started to lose sight of what was important, and this has given us a chance to re-evaluate a lot. So, Jake and Dana, what this means for you is that we are going to sanction this odd sort of crossing of teams, and you’ve got our blessing for the relationship to continue.”
My ears couldn’t believe what they were hearing, and I damn near fell off my feet. Dana was already leaning down to hug Mitch, and I reached out to Billy.
“Billy, I don’t even know what to say, man” I started off “you don’t understand how much this means to me, and I’m going to show you I can make this work. I love that damn woman, but I love you as well. You’re my brother for life, and I will always have the upmost respect for you. Thank you, my brother, thank you for taking care of me on this one.”
Billy and I embraced while the rest of the Flaming Dragons and Wild Wolves came over to pat us on the back and hug Dana. Our clubs would never be one, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t have a healthy respect for one another. We would forever be united because of mine and Dana’s love, and that seemed to be one hell of a powerful force.
“I cannot believe how well that went!” Dana beamed, hugging me tightly. “I’ve been so anxious about this for so long, and then just like that it’s all behind us!”
I didn’t want to rain on her parade, but the truth was that there was still a lot in front of us, and I wasn’t about to relax any time soon.
“I’m sweaty and stinky and I really just want to go home and have a shower. Would you be okay if Tina took me back home just to I can freshen up and put some real clothes on?” Dana knew I didn’t want her to leave, but I could see that she needed a long hot shower to help bring her back to life. With Mack and Tom still on the run, I wasn’t going to let her go anywhere alone, but Tina had done a wonderful job of protecting her so far and I knew I could trust her again.
Besides, I thought, Mack has no idea I survived his attempt on my life. For all he knows, I’m long dead, and that may have been good enough to get him to leave town for good. We had guys circling the entire town and not once had either man been spotted, so it was safe to say that for now the worst was behind us.
“You get going, but don’t be gone too long. I’ve spent enough time away from you this last little while, and I need my Dana Doll back in my arms as quick as possible.”
Dana leaned down and kissed me. “Don’t you worry, Jackhammer, I’ll be back in your arms before you even notice I’m gone.”
With that she grabbed her purse, and went off to meet Tina. All that was left for me to do was lie back on this bed and let my body do the rest. I was beginning to feel pain—maybe my little hallway exploration hadn’t been the smartest of ideas. As I got comfortable I thought about everything that we had overcome in the last few months, and I smiled with pride at the thought of Dana becoming my wife. She was one tough woman, and I had never met a lady who could handle me so delicately and so firmly at the same time. How a woman like that existed was beyond me, but I wasn’t going to question my absolute luck at finding her. In no time at all she was going to be officially mine, and I was going to cherish every moment I had with her. Getting to this point was no easy feat, and it made me appreciate what I had even more.
With a big yawn I laid my head back on the pillow and gently closed my eyes. Life was on the right track again, and maybe now I could finally have some sweet dreams.