BONER CARRIED TRIXIE into my room at the clubhouse where Needles, our club doctor, waited. He was an older man the club used over the years. He always came when called, didn’t ask questions, and did whatever was needed to be done. Exactly what we needed.
His eyes darted from Trixie to me, and I nodded my head toward her. It was always her. No matter fucking what, she came before me … always.
Boner laid her on the bed where she continued to shiver. I had Boner crank the heat up in the SUV, but along with my body heat and the blankets, it hadn’t helped.
She groaned as I sat on the bed next to her and gripped her hand. She hung on with every bit of strength she had inside her. She was so damn strong, so seeing her hurt was like taking a blade directly to my heart.
Needles had an area set up with gauze and other doctor shit, but as he moved to the side of the bed, Trixie began trembling more fiercely.
“Trixie, this is Needles, our doctor. He’s gonna take a look at you.”
Fear flamed in her eyes like a wildfire. “No,” she choked out, moving next to me and groaning as she did. Fuck, I hated this.
“Baby.” I touched the side of her face, and her beautiful green eyes focused only on me. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
She breathed out harshly, but it wasn’t from disbelief. It was from relief.
“He’s gonna have to stitch you up.”
I could see the moment her determination came back into her body, her shoulders relaxing a touch as she batted away the tears.
“That’s my girl.” I looked at Needles. “What do you need?”
“I’ve got it all. Let me check her out.”
I nodded then turned back to Trixie. “I’ve gotta remove the blankets. I know you’re cold, but I’ll warm you up as soon as I can.”
“I’m good, Cade,” she said softly. I was fucking ecstatic her tone didn’t have fear lacing it.
“Yeah, baby, you are.” I gave her a reassuring smile then turned back to Needles. “Do what you’ve gotta do.”
He stepped up to Trixie. “Hey, Trixie. I’m just gonna take a look and see what we’ve got here.”
“Okay,” she told him.
He turned to me. “You wrap her in this while she was still bleeding?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck,” he grumbled, turning back to Trixie. “The blanket probably dried the blood, so when I pull it off, it’s gonna hurt.”
Trixie’s eyes closed then slowly opened. “Just do it,” she told him, licking her lips.
“It’s like a band-aid. I’m gonna do it gently but quick.”
She just nodded as he took the blanket off. He was right. Parts of it were stuck to the wounds on my girl’s beautiful skin, but she didn’t cry out. The only thing she did was close her eyes and bite her bottom lip. My tough girl.
“Fucking hell,” Needles said, and Trixie’s face turned toward me.
“It’s bad?” she whispered.
Yeah, it was fucking bad. The words etched into her skin made me want to kill my father all over again. And fucking Worm. I wanted to carve into his skin, dig out his eyeballs, and cut off his dick. Both those motherfuckers were gone, though. I’d made damn sure this time.
“Nothing that time won’t heal.”
I looked at Needles whose lip had turned up in disgust. When he focused on me, I could see it in his eyes. She’d have scars from this, with ones on the inside that wouldn’t heal. Fucking hell.
“I’m gonna need your help, Spook.” Needles handed me some wet gauze. Luckily, it was my left shoulder that hurt, and I was able to use my right. “Start getting all the blood off so I can get all the wounds cleaned.”
The entire time I wiped Trixie, her eyes were shut tight, small drops of tears falling from the corners of them. She flinched a few times yet stayed solid. She didn’t protest when Needles gave her a shot, saying it would make her more comfortable, along with a tetanus shot. She hardly moved as he stitched all the cuts on her body, which took so long I had thought she’d fallen asleep from the medicine. However, when Needles’ gloves smacked as he took them off, her eyes fluttered open.
“Done?” she whispered.
“Yeah, Trixie.” I didn’t want to ask her this, but I had to. Needles needed to know everything. “Did …?” I choked a bit on my words and cleared my throat. “Did they … touch you?”
“No,” she said in a sleepy voice. “Only the cuts and the bruises.”
I brushed her hair back. “Good, baby.” I looked at Needles. “Anything else you need to do?”
“No. Clean the wounds twice a day and add this cream.” He handed me a tube. “Then redress it. She’ll need sponge baths for a few days. Then she can do showers, but no baths, swimming, or hot tubs.” Like we were going to go out and run to the damn beach. Whatever. “I need to check you now.”
“Where are you hurt?” Trixie whispered, the medicine obviously making her ultra-drowsy, her words slurring.
“I’m fine,” I lied. “Go to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“Okay.” She yawned and moments later, passed out.
“Now let’s see what mess you’ve got yourself into, boy,” Needles said.
After he twisted and turned my damn body, checking me out to the point I wanted to throat punch him, he said I had a strained muscle in my arm and shoulder. My ribs weren’t cracked, but bruised pretty good. He had me piss in a cup and determined that my kidneys were alright, but if I started pissing blood, I needed to call him. He gave me pain meds, along with Trixie’s. Trixie also got antibiotics.
When he left, I stared down at the beautiful woman who I loved with everything inside of me.
A slight knock sounded on the door, and Boner poked his head in. “You alright?”
“Yeah, get a couple of the guys and help me change the sheets. Need to get the blood out of here.”
He nodded as I wrapped a sheet around Trixie carefully.
It only took moments to change the bed, and Trixie didn’t even stir as Stiff lifted her.
"What about the girls?" I asked Boner, Stiff, and Dawg.
“Stacy’s a fucking mess. Nanette, she’s scared to death, but appears to be okay.” Boner grabbed the back of his neck, a frustrated look crossing his face. “I sent Needles to check them out.”
“Good. That’s good,” I said, looking down at my girl. “I need to rest.”
“You got it,” Stiff said, taking one more look at Trixie’s sleeping form then left the room, the others following suit.
I needed to touch her as I lay next to her, but I was afraid I’d rip open her wounds, so I grabbed her hand and held on tight.
“WHERE ARE WE going?” Trixie asked as I held her hand, walking through the illuminated lot of the clubhouse. It had been five days since she was hurt, and I wanted to get her out of the house.
“Surprise.” I told her, opening the car door for her.
She gave me a soft smile, and I couldn’t help leaning down to kiss her softly on the lips. Then she slowly sank down into the car seat, and I shut her door then ran around the car, hopping in the driver’s seat. I had everything we needed in the trunk, ready to go.
Grabbing her hand, I held it the entire way, waiting for the moment when she would recognize where we were going. The streets were lit up by lights, and the pitch black night sky was calling to us. We wound around the roads that carried us higher and higher.
“Oh, my God,” Trixie gasped, covering her mouth.
I grinned.
“You’re taking me to Hollow Point?”
“Absolutely, baby.” I gave her hand a squeeze. “I thought we could see the stars.”
I parked the car turning completely toward her, seeing a tear roll down her cheek. I lifted my finger, wiping it from her flesh. “Why the tears, Trixie?”
Her gaze met mine. “This is absolutely perfect, Cade.” Her smile radiated.
“I wanted to bring you to a place where my love for you began. You, me, looking up at the stars. You telling me all that shit about how stars are supposed to look like animals or whatever and me not giving a fuck about that, watching the animated look on your face while you told me, instead. Loving how your eyes lit up in excitement. I want you to show me the stars, Trixie,” I whispered, lifting her hand and placing a kiss on it.
“Absolutely.”