Reagan woke up in a hospital bed, scared and freaked out.  There were people poking and prodding at her, but she couldn’t get her mind to understand what the hell had happened.  The last thing she remembered was saying goodbye to Suzie and thinking about Tank.  Frantically looking around, she couldn’t find him. Had something happened? Where was he? Shouldn’t he be there? Fuck, didn’t he know what happened yet.  She had been so stupid. She should have waited to go to the storage locker.  She should have asked for help, she knew better. Doc came into her line of sight.

“Welcome back, Rea,” Doc smiled. The pain in Reagan’s body was immense, but she didn’t care, she needed to fix this, she needed to talk to Tank.  It took a couple of tries, but she was finally able to croak out his name. Doc looked puzzled at first, but she could see when he finally realized what she was asking. “Rea, it’s okay calm down.” It wasn’t okay, Reagan could see the pity in Doc’s eyes. Tank either wasn’t here, or she had hurt him. Reagan guessed the latter. 

Reagan started to cry, but when she tried to move, her body wasn’t cooperating. She needed to explain. Tank needed to know why she decided to go without him. Reagan didn’t realize that she had been screaming until she felt the burn of medicine hitting her veins. With Tank’s name on her lips, she fell into a floaty, fuzzy world she didn’t want to be in.  Why couldn’t they understand she didn’t want to be numb, she wanted to feel? 

Tank came rushing into the ER, not paying attention to security or anyone else. Reagan was calling for him, he could hear her cries as he rushed down the hallway.  Noticing Doc walking out of a room, he knew right where he needed to be. He was just about to barrel past him when the man stopped him. Tank didn’t want to be stopped. 

“Tank, we need to talk before you go in there.  Tank didn’t want to talk, but he knew better than to piss off Doc. He could get away with a lot, but if Doc ordered him out of the hospital, he was out.  Grinding his teeth, he forced himself to stand still and hear what the man had to say. 

“Reagan is in a bad way, that fucker did a number on her.”

“I already know, Doc, I saw her, I know what that piece of shit did to her. Now are you going to let me go to my woman or are you going to keep me out here talking?” 

“I guess I’m going to keep you out here talking because you’re too pig headed to realize that I need to tell you what’s going on with your woman.” Fuck, he was batting a thousand today.  Crossing his arms, he waited for Doc to continue.  “Reagan has one broken wrist, I have set it and put a cast on it. The other is severely sprained.  She has multiple contusions and abrasions, but the thing I am most concerned about is head trauma. She isn’t showing signs of a concussion, but I want to keep her overnight to rule that out.”  

Tank waited for Doc to move but the man was still standing firm.  Hadn’t he already listed his concerns what more could there be?  Fuck, what else could there be.

“I had to give her something to calm down. She woke up looked around and started to panic, screaming for you. If you’re not in this for more than some pussy, I need to you stand down.  That girl in there is hurting and it’s from a hell of a lot more than the injuries that asshole caused.  I’ve watched you with her for the last six months, and I have wanted to kick your ass every day. Now’s your chance either step up or step back.  I’m sure another brother would be fucking honored to take your place.”

“Fuck, Tank had been so blind, he never noticed the love and caring in Doc’s eyes for Reagan before. Shit, he had never paid attention to how any of the brothers felt about her, having been too worried about punishing her while still keeping her close to him and only him.

Tank pushed past Doc, but didn’t enter Reagan's room before saying what needed to be said.

“Reagan is mine, and as soon as I make this shit right, I place to put my patch on her back and my brand on her ass. Don’t threaten to take away what’s mine again.  Do you understand Doc?”

“No issues here, brother,” Doc put up his hands, “just remember, she throws you back, others are just waiting for a chance.  Treat her right, and we have no problems.”

“Plan to, asshole,” Tank grunted under his breath.

When Tank stepped into the room, his knees almost buckled. She was sleeping, giving Tank a minute to get his emotions under control, he would be strong for her because that was what she needed.  Damn, Reagan was so small in the bed and the bruises on her face had darkened since he brought her in.  Shit, maybe he should just let her go and let someone like Doc take care of her. The brother’s comments might have pissed him off, but Tank knew he was a good man. He would be able to give Reagan things Tank never could, but then he looked at her and knew he could never do that, Reagan was his.  Walking closer to the bed Tank leaned down and kissed Reagan's forehead.

“Love you, babe,” he whispered.

Before he could pull away from the kiss, he felt her tiny bandaged hand on his cheek. He looked up, Reagan had tears in her eyes. Damn, couldn’t he do anything right? Even his comfort brought her pain. When he went to pull away again, Reagan grabbed his ear, pulling him down to her lips, they were swollen and bruised but he let her lead the way, kissing her with a feather light touch. 

“I love you too, Brayden. I have for a very long time.” Reagan started to sob, and Tank was at a loss for what to do.  He wanted to hold her close, but there wasn’t a place on her that wasn’t hurt. Leaning back, he used his thumbs to wipe the tears from her face.

“Baby, please stop, you're killing me here. I’m so sorry I didn’t get there sooner. If you want me to leave, just tell me, anything you want, Reagan. Please, just stop crying.”

“I’m so sorry! I should have waited, I shouldn’t have gone, please, you have to forgive me.”  Reagan was sobbing so hard her entire body was shaking. He needed to know everything that happened was her fault and no one else. 

“Babe, none of that now, you need to rest,” Tank said as he tried to untangle her hand from his hair. She was clinging to him like he was going somewhere. “Babe, let go.” When she didn’t, he said the words a little more forcefully, causing her to cry harder, but she let him go.  Tank moved back and sat in the chair, bringing it closer to the bed. When he got close enough, he reached for her and cupped the side of her face, making her look at him. 

“Babe, I’ve never lied to you and I’m not going to start now. I’m not happy you're lying in this bed, beat to shit. Hell, I won’t even say that walking into that fucking cabin, seeing you on the floor tied to that chair, didn’t take ten years off my life, but we can deal with all that shit later. I just wish you would have trusted me enough to help you instead of going out on your own, but like I said we can talk about all that later. Right now, you need to rest and heal.”

“I just wished you would have trusted me.” Reagan could see the change in Tank when he uttered the words. Fuck! 

“Tank, Brayden, how can you even say that I don’t trust you, I always have. I love you, how can you question my trust. What I did today had nothing to do with not trusting you, I was trying to protect you from all that crap in your Dad’s locker. I didn’t want you to see it, please, you have to forgive me. Oh, shit, Suzie!”  How could she have forgotten her best friend?  Reagan struggled, trying to get up, but Tank placed his hand on her chest. 

“Stop, Reagan, if you promise to lay still, I’ll go and ask about Suzie, but you need to lay down back down, okay?” 

Reagan didn’t want to lay down, what she wanted to do was erase the last day from her life, but her body and the medicine were taking their toll on her strength. The door opened, and both she and Tank looked to see who had come in. 

“Hey, sweet girl, if you keep on sending those monitors flying, I’m going to have to give you something to calm you down.”  Reagan didn’t miss the growl that came from Tank, but she didn’t even think about asking him about it. 

“Doc, how is Suzie?”

Doc was an attractive older man, but his handsomeness never really registered with Reagan; it was like that with a lot of the guys. She had always had eyes only for Tank.  They had become friends while she stayed at the Clubhouse and he had questioned her a time or two about Tank, but never pushed it.  Now looking at him after he used that endearment, she wondered if she hadn’t missed something and felt bad. Did he have more feelings for her then she realized?  She hoped not because she liked him and she didn’t want to cause any more problems with the MC.  

“Suzie is fine, Reagan. Brass took her home about an hour ago, she only had some bruises and scrapes on her wrists and ankles. She wanted me to let you know that she would be back in the morning; she wanted to see you tonight, but I told her to hold off. Now do you think you can get some rest or am I going to have to kick Tank out to make that happen?”

Reagan grabbed Tank sleeve he wasn’t going anywhere if she could help it. 

“Ah, I see I have my answer. Okay, let me check you out, and I will leave you two alone.  Tank I’ve cleared it with the nurses so you can stay the night. I’ll do some tests in the morning and then Reagan should be good to go home later in the afternoon. Will you be taking her back to the Clubhouse or are you going to take her to your house?”

That was a good question and one that Reagan was interested in hearing the answer. She wanted to go wherever Tank was, but this was his choice, she wouldn’t push him. 

“My Old Lady will be going with me,” Tank stood up, taking her hand in his, “I haven’t decided where yet, but when I do, you won’t be the first one to know.”

What was going on why was Tank being such a dick to his brother?  Okay, on some level Tank was always a dick, but this hostility was even beyond his norm. Had something happened that she didn’t know about?  Then again what could have happened? It wasn’t like a lot of time had passed.  Reagan was too tired to figure it out right now, but thought she might ask Tank about it later.

“Okay, see you in the morning. Rea, get some sleep, okay?”

“Yep, thanks, Doc.”

“Tank, Tuck and Link are waiting for you in the hall. I can send one of the nurses in to sit with Reagan while you deal with them.”

Tank nodded, but Reagan didn’t want a nurse to sit with her; if she couldn’t have Tank, she wanted a couple of minutes to herself. 

“Tell them I’ll talk to them tomorrow when Suzie comes in. Right now, I need to stay with Reagan.”

“Will do, brother. Good night, both of. You get some rest, Reagan.”

“Thanks, Doc, see you in the morning.”

“Babe, you need to get some sleep.” Reagan moved over on the bed best she could, offering the space to Tank.  “No babe, not tonight. That bed is way too small, and I can’t hold you the way I want. I’m fine here for now, but I want you to sleep, okay?”  Tank turned the lights down and even fluffed Reagan's pillow before sitting back down in what had to be a very uncomfortable seat. 

“Tell me a story, Reagan said after a few minutes of silence.

“Babe,” Tank laughed, “you want a bed time story? Don’t you think we’re a little too old for that shit?”

“Nope, I want the fairy tale where the girl gets the guy she always dreamed about, and how they live happily ever after.”

“Then I don’t need to tell you a story because that is life babe, you have me, the happily ever after part is coming.”