CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

 

Undertaker sat behind his desk, staring at the bottle of Jack in front of him and contemplating finishing the whole damn thing. The shot glass sat next to it, empty, unused. He knew if he poured himself one, he wouldn’t stop; he’d polish off the entire bottle.

But he knew there would be no solace for him at the bottom. It wouldn’t ease his pain or get his woman back, and that’s who she had become—his woman.

Had he screwed up? Had he made a mistake in going after that scumbag? Everything inside him screamed, hell no! The man was a coldblooded murderer and deserved to die. He deserved everything they’d done to him.

But knowing that didn’t get him AJ back, and apparently it wasn’t a good enough reason for her. So where did that leave him?

For two days now she’d refused to take his calls.

He ran a hand down his face, then in a fit of anger, picked up the bottle and heaved it across the room to shatter against the wall.

His door opened, and Bug ducked, afraid his president wasn’t finished throwing things. The kid glanced at the wall, amber liquor running down it in rivulets as the smell of good whiskey filled the room. He whistled.

“What?” Undertaker barked.

Bug twisted to look at him. “Been monitoring the police scanners like I always do. Some news came across that you might want to hear.”

Undertaker ran a tired hand down his face. What now? The last thing he needed was another police raid. They’d been hassling the club since Blood’s father had disappeared and his place had burned to the ground. Well, they’d never find Black Jack Boudreaux’s body, because it was gator food. He glared at Bug. “Spill it.”

“There was a fire on Orchard Hill Drive.”

“Orchard Hill?” Undertaker straightened in his chair, the tiredness instantly vanishing. AJ lived on Orchard Hill.

Bug nodded. “325 Orchard Hill. One victim was taken to North Shore Regional.”

God, let her be okay. Undertaker was out of his chair and moving toward the door as an unbearable tightness squeezed his chest like a Boa constrictor. If he didn’t stop for red lights, he figured he could make it to the hospital in five minutes. As he pushed past Bug, he ordered, “Have someone clean up that mess!”

Bug stared after his President’s retreating back. “You’re welcome!”

 

***

 

AJ lay in the emergency room bay. Amy, Kelsey, and Bella were gathered around the gurney. She stared up at them. “I’m fine. I promise.”

Another coughing fit made a liar out of her.

“That’s not what the doctor said. He said you have smoke inhalation,” Amy corrected, looking back at her with a worried expression.

Kelsey added, “You have shortness of breath and your voice is hoarse. You’re not fine.”

“We can’t just ever have a nice girl’s lunch, can we? There’s always gotta be drama,” Bella teased, trying to lighten the mood and cheer her up.

AJ tried to laugh and ended up coughing again.

Kelsey elbowed Bella. “Stop making her laugh.”

“What? I was being serious.”

Kelsey rolled her eyes.

Amy looked down at AJ. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Next time we drop you off at your house and it’s on fire, you don’t run in to save your damn cat.”

“I had to!” she rasped out. “I couldn’t let Moxie burn to death. Where is she? Is she okay?”

Amy patted her knee. “The cute fireman gave her oxygen from his mask while the paramedics treated you. Your neighbor, Stacy, took her. Said she’d take good care of her for you.”

“My house. Is it a total loss?” AJ started coughing again.

“I’m afraid so, honey,” Bella said. “What the fire didn’t get, the water and smoke damage probably did.”

AJ’s eyes slid closed. She’d just lost everything she owned. “At least I got Moxie out. I’ve had her since…”

Her voice faded off, but her girlfriends all knew how long she’d had Moxie. Not long after Gregg’s funeral, Amy had given her the kitten to try to cheer her up. The sweet little ball of fur and affection had gotten her through the miscarriage and the depression that followed.

“Everything’s going to be fine, honey. You have insurance, and you’ll come stay with me until you find another place.”

“But I loved that house.”

They got quiet, knowing they couldn’t fix this or make it better.

“Do you want us to call that man you’ve been seeing? What did you say his name was?”

“Derek.” She shook her head. “No, I don’t want you to call him.”

“But why? I thought you two were getting close. You seemed so happy.”

Her throat closed up at the pain of ending it with him, and a coughing fit took her.

“Get her some water,” Kelsey said, gesturing for Bella to hand over the cup and straw the nurse had brought in.

A different nurse pushed aside the drawn curtain. She was dressed in green scrubs. “How are you doing, Ms. Carter?”

“I’m all right,” she rasped. “When can I go home?”

“The doctor is going over your blood work. He’ll let you know.” The nurse checked the reading from the probe they’d attached to her finger. “Your oxygen level is good. Much better than it was when they brought you in. That’s good.”

“Can I take this tube out of my nose?”

The nurse smiled, understanding she hated it. “The doctor wants you on oxygen for now. He’ll be in to see you in a couple of minutes, and he’ll make that determination.”

AJ nodded.

The curtain was pulled aside, and they all turned, expecting the doctor.

AJ’s eyes widened when she saw Derek standing there.

The nurse took in his leather vest before turning to AJ. “Is this a friend of yours?”

She nodded, not about to put the nurse in the position of asking him to leave. She knew he wouldn’t do it, and there’d be a scene, probably ending up with Undertaker being hauled off by security and whatever army they had to call in to assist.

Her eyes swept over him. He looked shaken. His eyes barely spared a glance for her friends as he moved to her side and demanded, “Are you all right?”

Was that fear she saw in his eyes?

“I’m fine,” she rasped. “What are you doing here?”

“Where else would I be when you need me?” He brushed his hand over her hair. “Were you burned? They said your house was on fire.”

She frowned, wondering how he knew. “Who said?”

“The police on the scanners. Never mind that. Are you burned?”

“I’m okay.” She started coughing again.

Derek turned back to the nurse. “Where’s the doctor, damn it?”

AJ clutched at his arm as the nurse retreated. “Don’t swear at her.”

His head swiveled. “You scared me half to death.”

She searched his eyes. “You came.”

“Of course I did, babe. I love you. I prayed all the way over here that you’d be okay.”

She laughed, happiness flooding through her.

“What are you laughing at? The thought of me praying or that I just told you I loved you?”

“No. The fact that the first time you say it to me, I’m lying on a hospital gurney, looking like crap.”

He brushed the hair back again. “You look beautiful. Gorgeous. And I said I loved you before.”

“No, you didn’t. You said, ‘No one hurts someone you love.’ That’s not the same as saying, I love you.”

“You gonna argue with me like this all the time?”

“Probably.”

There was a giggle behind them, and he turned. “These your friends?”

Amy extended her hand. “Are you Derek?”

His eyes moved back to AJ, realizing she’d told her friends about him. Judging by the smile on his face, that made him happy. “Told your friends about me, huh?”

“Maybe. This is Amy, Bella, and Kelsey.

He shook all their hands.

The curtain moved again, and the doctor walked in. “We’ve got quite a crowd in here. You must have a lot of people that care about you, Ms. Carter.” He moved to the other side of the gurney from Undertaker. “I’ve got the results from your tests. Do you want them to stay?”

“Yes, they can stay.”

“I’ve gone over your arterial blood gas, your metabolic profile, and all your levels look good. At this time I don’t think a chest x-ray or bronchoscopy is necessary, but I want you to follow up with your regular physician. Call them tomorrow and make an appointment. If you experience any increased respiratory distress, I want you to take it seriously and get back in here.”

“What’s a bronchoscopy?” Derek asked.

“A procedure where we’d sedate her and insert a bronchoscope to examine her air passages.” He looked back at AJ, smiling down at her. “I’m going to discharge you. If the condition worsens or doesn't improve, I want you to return immediately to the emergency department. Understand?”

“Yes, doctor.”

“I’m going to prescribe you some pain medications for your sore throat and an inhaler to help with your shortness of breath. And I want you to stay away from any and all breathing irritants such as cigarette smoke.” His gaze flicked up to Derek when he said that, and AJ smiled at the look on Derek’s face.

“Any questions?”

“No, doctor.”

He patted her hand. “The nurse will be in with your release papers and the prescriptions. Take care of yourself, young lady. You were very lucky.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

They were all quiet for a moment before Kelsey said, “We’ll be in the waiting room; give you two some time alone.”

Undertaker turned to her. “I’ve got it from here, ladies. No need for you to hang around. Thank you for all you did for her.”

They all looked to AJ to see if that was what she wanted.

“It’s all right,” she assured them.

“Are you sure?” Amy asked her.

“I’ll take good care of her. I promise you,” Undertaker insisted.

Bella moved forward. “Here, honey. You left your purse in my car when you ran in the house.” She put the bag down on the end of the gurney, and then moved to hug her, whispering in her ear, “The second he heard about the fire, he couldn’t jump on his bike fast enough to get to you. I think that says a lot, don’t you?”

AJ nodded, smiling up into her face when she pulled back. “Thank you, Bella,” AJ rasped out. “Thank you all.”

When they were gone, Derek turned back to her. “Don’t ever scare me like that again. I thought I was having a heart attack.”

“You and I still have things to work out. We need to talk.”

“I know, babe. And we will. Just don’t give up on me—on us. Okay?”

“Okay,” she croaked out, then tried to laugh, holding her throat. “My voice.”

“You’re raspy voice is sounding sexy as hell. Not likin’ the way it happened, though.”

“Don’t joke. It hurts.”

“Sorry. Tell me how the fire started.”

“I don’t know. The girls were dropping me off from a lunch date and there was smoke pouring out. I ran inside to save Moxie.”

“You better never put your life in danger like that again.”

“I had to save her.”

“I coulda lost you over a damn cat?”

“I love Moxie.”

“Not as much as I love you.”

“I have no place to live.”

“Yes, you do. You know you do. You’re coming home with me. Whatever problems we’ve had, we’ll work them out. Okay?”

“Okay. But where will we live? At the clubhouse? That’s where you live, isn’t it?

“It has been. Never had a reason to go anywhere else ‘til now. There’s my grandfather’s old place, or we can buy someplace new, someplace all our own. Whatever you want, babe, just as long as we’re together. Home’s gonna be wherever you are.”

She put her palm to his cheek. “You’re going to make me cry.”

He moved his mouth to an inch from hers. “Can I kiss you with that tube in your nose?”

She smiled. “You better, mister.”

He complied, touching his mouth to hers.

The curtain was yanked aside again, and a security guard stood there. “That your bike out in the emergency entrance parked on the sidewalk?”

Undertaker pulled back to glance at him. “Yeah.”

“You have to move it. Can’t leave it there.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll move it right now.”

“You parked on the sidewalk?” AJ asked.

“Yeah, just outside the door. Don’t give me shit, woman. I was in a hurry to get to you.” He winked. “Don’t go anywhere.”

She rolled her eyes, grinning at his joke, and looked down at the oxygen tube and meters she was still hooked up to. As if.

 

***

 

When Undertaker walked out to move his bike, Bella was waiting to waylay him.

“Can I speak with you for a moment?” she asked.

He stopped before going out the automatic doors and frowned. “Sure. What’s up?”

She glanced toward the bays where AJ lay. “You know she’s beautiful, intelligent, caring; you can tell all that by looking at her. But what you can’t tell is what she’s like when she gets her mind made up about something. She has an absolute rod of steel up her back. She cannot be deterred. I mean when she gets her cap locked”—she paused, shaking her head—“there’s no sterner adversary.”

“It’s called stubborn,” Undertaker said, a smile tugging at his mouth.

“It’s called steely determination and relentless drive,” she corrected him.

Undertaker nodded. “I know.”

“But there’s an incredible vulnerability, too. And a heart that needs protecting. You may not realize it, but it’s so easily injured.”

“I know that—all of it. And I want you to know I plan to protect that heart, and I have no intention of ever breaking it.”

“She’s needed a man for a long time.”

“Know that, too.”

“Be that man.”

“Plan to, Bella. I plan to be everything she needs.”

“Okay, then.” She smiled.

“Okay, then.”