Chapter Eleven
Ella couldn’t wait for her discharge papers to be signed so she could go home. Ryker and her father spent an entire twenty-four hours in the same room with her and they hadn’t tried to kill each other.
She called that progress.
Now she simply wanted to sleep in her own bed. Take a shower in her own bathroom. Watch her own TV. Basically hide away until she felt completely better.
“Are they going to release you today?” her father asked. He sat in the chair next to her bed while they played a game of cards.
“They’d better.” She glanced over at Ryker who stood by the window. “You two are being civil. What gives?”
Neither said anything to her. She snorted and slapped a card down on the growing pile between her and her father. Men were interesting creatures.
“Okay. Can you at least tell me if this is just for twenty-four hours or is there some kind of agreement going on outside these four walls?”
“I don’t have a beef with Pat.” Ryker kept his attention on whatever was outside the window. “Me and you are getting married some day. I’ve gotten used to him being around.”
She turned to her father. “What about you?”
“He’s saved you twice. I can’t exactly hate him for that.”
“Aww. You love each other.”
She laughed when both men jerked their attention to her. She slapped another card down and reached for her drink.
“You might as well. Ryker is eventually going to be your son-in-law and the father of your future grandkids. And Dad is going to become your father-in-law. He’s going to come over all the time to play with our kids. You two really need to bury the hatchet now.”
“Don’t rush into that too soon.” Her father slapped down his own card. “You’re still a baby yourself.”
She tossed another card to the pile. “It’s going to happen soon. I’d say a year or two tops.”
Both men looked like they wanted to throw up. Ella collected the cards and lay back in the bed. She didn’t know why she kept thinking about babies. She’d seen a woman gushing to her husband in the hallway of the hospital and pictured herself doing that one day. She wanted that with Ryker.
“Stop looking like that. Both of you.”
Ryker leaned against the window. “No babies.”
“Yes.” Ella smiled. “Two or three.”
“Shouldn’t you get married first?” Pat leaned back in his chair. “Take it one step at a time. You didn’t pop along until five years into my marriage. That’s a good amount of time to wait.”
She pursed her lips. “I don’t think so. We can sign the papers and he can get me pregnant before the ink dries.”
“That concussion has got your thinking all messed up.” Ryker moved away from the window. “No babies.”
“Three.” She closed her eyes. “Mom will be ecstatic.”
“Are you pregnant now?” Pat asked her.
Ella’s eyes popped open. “No.”
“You sure?” Pat asked. “Because it sounds like you are.”
“I’m not. I’m still on birth control. I’m not trapping Ryker or anything.”
Ryker walked to the other side of the bed. “Pat’s right. Five to ten years before we even consider bringing kids in to the mix.”
“I’ll be an old woman.”
“Even better.” He sat in a chair, smiling.
“You really don’t want kids?”
“No.”
She glanced over at her father. “You don’t want grandkids?”
“No.”
She huffed a breath. “You two are crushing my dreams here.”
“You’re a doctor. When are you going to have time for a kid…or three?” Ryker arched an eyebrow at her. “You’re not leaving them with me.”
She laughed. “You would be an awesome stay-at-home daddy.”
“They got you on some good shit. Your mind is fucking delusional.”
Her father actually cracked a smile. “You’re just busting his balls, aren’t you?”
“Mostly.”
“It’s a daily event in our lives.”
Ella reached for his hand. “Just think. If we have five, you can have your own mini motorcycle club.”
He touched the back of his hand to her cheek. “Yep, you’ve got a fever. Delirious.”
Ella linked her fingers with his. “You said you’d do anything for me.”
“I’m reconsidering that offer.”
“No, you’re not.”
Ryker kissed her hand. “Can we talk about something else?”
“What happened to Razor?”
He huffed a breath. “Not that.”
“I’ll get it out of you eventually.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. There were things they could talk about and things that were better left unsaid. While their life was mostly great without Razor’s influence, she really wanted to know if he’d pop up again to ruin the good thing they had going, or if she was finally done with him.
“You’re milking my sympathy.”
“I know you.” She waited a moment before continuing. “He hurt me. You’re not going to let that go.”
He rubbed his forehead. “What do you want me to say? That I killed him?”
“I would like to know.”
“No.”
“You didn’t kill him?” She glanced over at her father who didn’t seem too surprised. “I know you didn’t let him go. What happened? Did you beat him up? Drag that blade across his skin just to fuck with his head?”
Her father frowned. “You’ve been watching too much TV.”
“Don’t worry about Razor.”
“I am, Ryker.” She dropped his hand to her thigh. “He came after me twice. What if he does again and succeeds? He blames me for you going against him.”
“You don’t have to worry about Razor.” Ryker met her gaze. “Trust me.”
She didn’t know what to believe. “You killed him.”
He smoothed his hands along her thigh. “How exactly did you get the stomach bug?”
“A patient threw up on me.” She glanced over at her father. “Did he kill him? Do you know anything?”
Her father scratched his chin. “He hasn’t been arrested. If I knew anything, he’d be in jail.”
“Really? I thought because you loved each other that you’d protect him.”
Ryker laughed.
“Love is a really strong word.” Her father folded his arms over his chest.
She smiled. “I think you’re at least getting used to one another.”
Neither man said anything further, and she clicked on the TV. They were restless, and she was loving it. There as no way she could have forced them to stay with her like this in real life. Being quarantined with them quite possibly was the best thing that could have ever happened to her.