Chapter Eighteen

Noah

 

I parked my bike in the far lot of the hospital. Shannon worked an early shift, and I wanted to pick her up for lunch. As much as she hated when I showed up at the hospital because she was afraid someone might recognize me, I loved surprising her. I supposed they could pick me up for stealing that ambulance. But since I got the ambulance back in complete working condition, they’d probably just forgotten about it.

 

As I walked past the emergency room and saw an ambulance sitting there, I smiled. We didn’t have the most conventional way of meeting each other, but it definitely got us off to a hot start. Two nights ago, Shannon had told me that she loved me. She’d said it with such sincerity, and when she thought I couldn’t hear her.

 

My knee-jerk reaction had been to open my eyes and respond. Tell her exactly how much she meant to me. How I felt the exact same way for her. But she chose that moment to say it because she thought I was asleep. She chose a safe time to say it. So, I let her have her moment.

 

But the moment was coming soon where I would have to tell her how I felt. Because I didn’t like the idea of this baby being born to unwed parents. As untraditional as I lived my life, I still believed in marriage. I wanted my ring on her finger. Not just to say that she was my wife, but to mark her as mine.

 

I rode the elevator up to her unit with an old couple and a little boy around four years old. The older woman had her graying hair tied up in a ponytail and wore a sweatshirt and jeans. She looked like she hadn’t slept in three days. She was holding the hand of the little boy. In his hand was a picture. I stood in the back corner, looking at the paper, making out a few stick figures and the word mommy scribbled across the top.

 

When the elevator stopped, all four of us got off. I fell behind them, ambling until they found the room they were looking for. All three of them went inside. As I passed, I heard the little boy call out to his mommy and the little pitter-patter of feet running across the linoleum floor. I smiled to myself and kept walking.

 

Shannon was at the unit desk and had clearly seen me walking with the small family. When I approached, her expression was one full of sadness and happiness at seeing me.

 

“What’s wrong?” I asked her, looking behind me, back at that door where the little boy had run into.

 

“That little boy lost his daddy yesterday. And his mom – she’ll heal but she’s lost the vision in her left eye, and we’re not sure she’ll be able to get all of the use of her left side.”

 

“What happened?”

 

She probably shouldn’t tell me – with the privacy laws that we had now – but she would anyway. If not to get the sadness off her chest and let me hold onto it for her. That’s how our relationship was working. If she couldn’t carry something, she gave it to me, and I carried it the rest of the way. And when I couldn’t, I handed it off to her.

 

“Car crash. The little boy wasn’t with them, thank God.”

 

I ran my hand up and down her arm, trying to soothe her, trying to give her the idea that things would be okay for them. Even if she was right.

 

“Well, looks like her parents, or maybe his, are going to be helping.”

 

Shannon looked up at me, fresh tears in her eyes. When this baby was born, I was going to have a very serious talk with him or her about making their mama cry so damn much.

 

“Yeah.” She nodded, wiping her eyes and checking her phone. She looked up at me again with a brighter smile. “What are you doing here anyway? My shift isn’t over for an hour.”

 

“An hour? I was going to take you to lunch.”

 

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. I’m only taking half a shift today. Tracy wanted a little overtime, so I

 

gave her half my shift.”

 

“Why does Tracy need overtime?” I asked. Not that I wasn’t grateful that my girl would have half a day to herself, but I didn’t think Jude would be happy with his girl taking on extra hours. He didn’t even like her working.

 

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.” Shannon looked away from me and nibbled her lower lip.

 

I leaned down close to her ear so nobody else could hear. “Even when you’re pregnant, I still don’t like lies.”

 

She huffed and looked back at me with narrowed eyes. “How do you know that I’m lying?”

 

“Because you’re no good at it.” I laughed. “Now, why does Tracy need extra hours?”

 

“It’s not a big deal. She just wants some extra cash to send back home to her mom. Her mom got laid off. She’s trying to help.”

 

I could understand that. “I’m guessing she hasn’t told Jude? Never mind. I know she hasn’t. Because if she had, he’d be taking care of it for her.”

 

“Has it occurred to you that maybe she doesn’t want him to take care of it for her? Maybe she wants to take care of it herself?” Shannon pulled away from me and grabbed a chart from the counter.

 

Other nurses walking by were giving me a look, then looking at her. I was used to being stared at, with all my tattoos and my leather vest, but I didn’t like the judgmental stares on these women’s faces when they looked at Shannon. But I was not about to suggest she not work at the hospital anymore. Just because I had the power to spank her after she got out of line didn’t give me the right to go pissing her off. Her job was important to her, and I would respect that.

 

“Well, that’s between her and Jude. I’m not stepping into that mess, and neither are you.” I touched my fingertip to the tip of her nose.

 

A soft blush blossomed over her cheeks, and I couldn’t help smiling at her. Even after all of the things she had done with me, she still had that fresh sense of innocence.

 

“I wasn’t getting involved. You’re the one asking all the questions.” She tapped her finger on my nose and laughed.

 

“You might be getting a little too big for your britches,” I said with a chuckle.

 

She merely batted her eyes at me and turned to walk down the hall. She looked over her shoulder back at me and blew me a kiss. “I’m done in one hour. I’ll see you back home, okay?”

 

When did we become an ordinary couple? It wouldn’t surprise me if she asked me to pick up some milk on the way home. I liked it.

 

Almost too much.

 

“Straight home,” I called out to her.

 

She got a few stares from the nurses and family members walking down the hall, but it only made me laugh harder when her blush deepened. She waved me off and disappeared into a patient’s room.

 

She should be home in an hour. That gave me enough time to stop by the clubhouse and check in on things before heading home. Joker hadn’t given me another run since Jack had dropped by. I was starting to wonder if he suspected anything about Jack. Because them being family friends had obviously been a lie.

 

I still haven’t figured out what to do about the club. Joker had got himself in too deep for anyone to help him. And he was stealing from the club, which meant he deserved no loyalty from the members. But I promised Jack I wouldn’t get involved. I wouldn’t out him. So, what the hell was I supposed to do?

 

If I went against Jack, there was a good chance he would come after the club. Small-time criminals or not, if I blew his case with Joker, and whatever cartel he was dealing with, Jack would come after us. He would have to save his skin with the DEA. But if I did nothing, I was going against my club. Knowing that our activities were being watched and not saying anything… that was dangerous territory. That could be seen as helping the police, and that wasn’t tolerable.

 

I left the hospital and walked straight to my bike. I was going to see what was going on at the clubhouse before I made any other decisions. Jude would be there too. He wanted to do some work on his bike, so he would probably be in the bike shop. I would stop there first. At the very least, I needed to get his opinion on what to do.

 

There wasn’t anyone in the club I trusted more than Jude.