“Alright, you see the patient’s name?”
Herold nods.
“Click it twice.”
Herold double taps his mouse.
“Now you’re going to see all their information pop up, from their address, birth date, insurance information, and more. On the left-hand side there will be a series of tabs. I’m assuming you’re trying to access someone’s x-rays, so . . . did we do it here, or did the hospital send it in?”
“Hospital,” Herold answers me lowly, craning his neck to get closer to the screen.
“Tap on the upload button then, because it’s something I would’ve uploaded into our system.”
“You mean the old system?” Herold questions.
“Yes, but when it transferred it would’ve gone to the upload section.”
“Stupid,” He grumbles, showing he’s not pleased.
“Smart,” I retort back, sticking my tongue out at him.
“Don’t you have work to be doing? We have our new patient who will be here any minute now.” Herold tells me, so I take the hint and leave him alone, walking to the front. Once I’m there I take my jacket off, put my coffee down behind my receptionist desk, and set the bag down next to my coffee. I turn the phones off voicemail mode and go to unlock the door, then come back over to the desk.
Every morning I sort through the patient files before we open while I eat whatever I’m having for breakfast. I take a couple sips of coffee and grab a giant bite of my burrito when the door to the clinic opens. It must be the new patient.
“Hi. How’re you today?” I ask, while chewing like a starved cow. Once I swallow, I look up and see him.
“Good morning.” He smiles brightly, flashing his pearly whites.
I raise my brows, a bit taken aback. “Morning. Um, thank you for the breakfast. You didn’t have to do that but thank you.”
“It was my pleasure. Looked like you had a rough mornin’, then Chas’ told me you’re a single mom of three girls and I figured you could use a little pick me up.”
“Chas’?” I question, never hearing this nickname before.
“Yeah.”
“You know her, on a personal level?” I wonder if they’ve been sleeping together and she’s kept it from me. The last time I remember she was seeing a guy . . . God, what was his name?
“Sorta. She was datin’ one of my brothers, Turmoil. Told her she was too good for him, though.” The man before me chuckles.
Turmoil? I thought she was joking when she told me that was his name . . . Lord, people name their kids some weird stuff around here. “It was probably true. She’s a real sweetheart.”
“Yeah, she sure is. So, am I supposed to give you my name or something?”
I nod like an idiot, completely forgetting I’m at work. “Yes, sorry.”
He smiles again. “Grim Braxton.”
Like I said, weird names up here. “Ah, you’re our new patient.” I say, realizing this is the guy whose chart I was reading over yesterday. The one who was lucky as can be. He could’ve died from his motorcycle accident.
“That would be me. Y’all come highly recommended.”
“Am I hearin’ things or did I just hear Grim Braxton?” Herold comes walking down the hallway and comes to the front.
“Shit, Mr. Her?” Grim sounds happy as can be.
Mr. Her? What in the world . . .
“Natalie, why didn’t you tell me who I was seeing today?!”
I blink a couple of times. “I don’t know, maybe because I never do. You see the patients when they get here. It’s your rule.”
“Well, this is Grim.” Herold smiles brightly, smacking Grim on the back.
“I know,” I mutter, getting a bit annoyed. Though, I notice as he smacks Grim on the back he grimaces in pain.
“Grim here helped me out ages ago when I got a flat on a snowy day. I think that was the first winter you came here, what, ten, fifteen years ago?”
“Give or take,” Grim chuckles.
“Anyway, Grim and his brother Axel helped me out. Those two became part of our family really quick, helped us out with stuff on the farm while we were waiting to hire some help.”
“It was our pleasure. You gave us a place to stay while we were looking to get settled up here. Say, you heard from Wrath lately?” Grim asks, letting go of the older man.
“Wrath!?” I question, not understanding the names they use up this way.
“My son, Walter. He joined the Reapers MC for a while before he went nomad. His road name is Wrath.”
“I didn’t even know you had a son,” I’ve been working for Herold for almost a year and I’m just now finding this out.
“Yep, and to answer your question, Grim, I haven’t heard from him in a bit. I know he was spending some time up in New York. You know that lady Prez up in Queens. He went to help her out with something.”
“Ah, Boss. I gotchu.” Grim says, sounding like he doesn’t like what he’s heard.
“Let’s take you in the back, shall we?” Herold says.
Grim nods and he takes him in the back to his exam room. Meanwhile, I chow down the rest of my burrito, ready the rest of the patients’ charts for the day, and answer the phone. We’ve had a couple of cancellations, but that typically happens. I’m betting within an hour we’ll be fully booked again. Herold is the best chiropractor around from what everyone says. He’s even worked on my neck when I’ve had some bad pain. I hold a good amount of my stress in my neck and shoulders. Lucky for me, Herold doesn’t make me pay for adjustments.
I walk around the desk and turn left, heading back through the area we have reserved for when patients need to be iced down, or need to use the TENS units to reduce some pain and tension.
I walk straight into Grim, my coffee splashing over the both of us. It’s warm, warmer than I thought it would be. Shite! “Fuck, I’m so sorry.”
“And here I was just complainin’ it was cold.” He lets out a chortle.
I don’t realize what I’ve done, but my hand is right below his stomach, almost on his cock as I’m patting the wetness. I rip it away, feeling the heat flush through my cheeks. “Goodness, I’m so sorry. God.”
“Wanna make it up to me?” He asks, causing me to look up at him.
“Yes, I’m terribly sorry. I’m normally not so clumsy.”
“Coffee on Thursday. My treat. See you then, Java.”
He walks past me, heading toward the door. “My name is Natalie,” I say, getting a smile back in response as he leaves the building.
Herold comes walking up to the front, “Please tell me he not only booked his next appointments, but got a TENS unit, some Biofreeze, and a back brace?”
“I’m not going to lie to you, boss.”
“You’re gonna leave thirty minutes early and take it all over to him. I don’t want him hurting that much. Poor guy.” Herold shakes his head.
“Herold, I . . . we don’t take things to patients like that.”
“We do now. I’ll give you his address and everything. Leave an hour early with pay if you want.”
An hour early . . . with pay? Don’t mind if I do. Making this one delivery probably won’t be that bad.
Chapter Seven
You can’t sell dreams to someone who has walked through nightmares
~ Unknown
Grim
“You look a little better today,” Rosa says as she plops down on my lap. I’m downstairs in the clubhouse, sitting on the massive sectional we have in the middle of the room, nursing a beer I pulled out of the fridge a few minutes ago.
“Yeah, went into town. Get this, the chiropractor’s office the hospital referred me to is Herold’s.”
Rosa blinks a few times. “You say that like I know what it should mean.”
“No shit! How’s he doing? Honestly, I’m surprised he’s still kickin’.” Ashley says from the alternate couch. She’s waiting on Blackjack who’s in the room we hold church in chatting with Zane.
“He seem
s fine if you ask me. Maybe even less cranky than usual.” I say, getting a giggle from Ashley.
“Have you seen your sister yet?” Rosa questions, making me think of a totally different subject.
“No, I haven’t. You know where she slept last night?”
Rosa turns a little red in the face. “It’s none of your business, okay.”
“What isn’t any of my business?” I hiss, knowing something happened, something I didn’t want to happen, something I even fuckin’ told Axel to make sure didn’t happen because I’m liable to rip someone’s fuckin’ throat out.
“Nothing.” Rosa is quick to respond but I know she’s gonna keep quiet on it. “Why didn’t you tell me last night that you were going to bed? I waited for you.”
My anger is still there, but now I feel a little bad. I didn’t mean to stand Rosa up. “Shit, I’m sorry. The accident has been takin’ a bad toll on my body, worse than I’d originally thought at first. Fuck, I thought it would be gone by now.”
“You’re not a superhero, Grim.”
“I know that.”
Rosa places her hand on the side of my cheek and looks down into my eyes. “You need to be more careful, alright? If anything had happened to you, I’d be a wreck.”
“I know, I’m sorry. Listen, you’re the best friend I have.” I tell her, but as I do her face drops. I don’t really understand why, but she’s quick to slide off my lap and scurry off.
Though, I do see Ruby walkin’ out of the kitchen with Turmoil on her back. He’s one of the newer prospects we have up here, but he’s been here long enough to know not to do stupid shit like fuck someone’s baby sister.
“Yo, Rub’. Wanna tell me why you left school before your finals started?” I call out, rising from the couch and head over to her.
Her eyes go wide, but she quickly recovers. “Relax, Grim. My professors emailed me the exams and I was able to do them online. It’s not a big deal at all.”
“It’s a big deal when you get written up for missing class.”
“College doesn’t work like that. You either show up or you don’t, the only thing that matters is if you do the work.” Ruby rolls her eyes at me and crosses her arms, and that’s when I see it . . . the massive hickey on the nape of her neck.
My eyes lock in on it like I’m in some sort of action movie and it’s my target. “Who did that to you?” I ask in the lowest growl I’ve ever been able to muster.
“Who did what?” Ruby questions, then looks down to the mark on her body.
“I had that when I got here.” She’s tryin’ to fuckin’ lie to me. I don’t fuckin’ think so.
“You did not. I saw you yesterday and you didn’t have a purple and black mark on your neck.”
“What does it matter? She’s an adult?” Turmoil decides he’s going to butt into our conversation, but I do notice the hand wrapped around my sister’s hip.
Oh fuck no.
I pull my hand back, ball it into a fist and slam it straight into his jaw. Turmoil falls back against the wall and I do it again but aim toward the center of his face. This time I hear a crack and then see blood slowly sliding down through his nostrils.
“What the fuck, Grim!?”
“You don’t touch my baby sister, ever. If you touch her again, I’ll fuckin’ kill you. You hear me? I’ll fuckin’ kill you if you ever think you can touch any part of her, whether it’s with your hand or that shriveled up little thing you call a cock.”
“Grim!” Ruby’s obviously embarrassed, but as always, I don’t give a flying fuck if she’s embarrassed or not.
“I didn’t fuckin’ sleep with your sister. She’s not even my type.” Turmoil snarls in my direction, wiping the blood from his nose.
“He tellin’ me the truth?” I question my sister. If it wasn’t Turmoil, it must be someone else here in the club.
“Yes.” Ruby confirms.
“Who touched you?” I ask, louder and angrier than before.
“I did.”
I turn my back and spot Zorro with a toothpick in his mouth, holding a stick. Bull is on the other end starin’ at the showdown he and I are havin’. Guess they must be in the middle of a game.
“You touch my baby sister?” I question, cocking a brow.
Zorro removes the toothpick from his mouth and flings it into the trash can by him. “She don’t look like much of a baby to me, brother.”
That’s it. Every bit of control I have has gone out the door. Zorro knows me better than that. Fuck, he knows not to taunt me. I start to run over to him when two sets of hands start pullin’ me back. I turn to my right and see Axel. Meanwhile, on my left Tex is holdin’ onto me. “Let me go,” I hiss to the both of them, but they won’t.
“She isn’t a child, Grim. Rub’ can do whatever the fuck she wants to, including Zorro.” Axel tells me, but that shit doesn’t help.
Zorro begins to chuckle, showin’ everyone in the club what kinda man he really is. “You like tauntin’ me motherfucker?”
“Actually, I do. Serves you right.” Zorro says clear as day while he leans up against the wall. He looks off in Ruby’s direction and gives her a kissy face. “You wanna come up to my room and do that all over again darlin’, you just lemme know. I ain’t had a cherry in a long time.”
“Jesus Christ,” Bull grumbles, walkin’ over to Zorro. It all happens so quick that I don’t even realize Bull rockin’ his fist into his stomach. “You could’ve been a classy fucker, but instead you had to get all nasty.”
“Te mostraré la pasión que te mereces.” I don’t know what the hell he’s just said, but I don’t like the way he’s speaking to Ruby.
“Gracias,” Ruby replies lowly. I know enough Spanish to know she’s just thanked him.
“I’m not a child and it’s high time you both stopped treating me like one.” Ruby snarls to Axel and I. Both of us stop in our tracks and look over to her.
“Grim’s the only one who does, Rub’.” Axel tells her.
She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, right. You’re worse than he is.”
“I am not.” Axel defends himself.
“Okay. How about this? You both shut your mouths and let me talk. You both treat me like I’m still a child and I hate it. I love you both, you’re my brothers, but stop treating me like I’m a freaking thirteen-year-old. I’m twenty-one, guys. The fact of the matter is you wanna act like you have your lives together, but you don’t. It’s a hot fucking mess.”
“Damn straight. Poor ‘lil Grim over here has a woman in love with him and he doesn’t even realize it.” Zorro chuckles.
“What the fuck?” I hiss, clenching my teeth.
“What? You can’t tell? She practically falls on the floor for you, brother. Your precious Rosa.”
I blink a few times processing what he’s said to me. There’s no way she’s in love with me. We have a good thing going, but we’re not . . . we’re not in a relationship or any of that. We just fuck.
“Fuck you, Zorro.” Rosa snarls, slamming the double doors shut that go to the club.
“You’d better go talk to her.” Tex tells me, and I’d love to say he’s wrong, but I damn well know he isn’t. Even if Zorro is right, Rosa and I need to have a chat. I . . . I won’t ruin our friendship the way I did with Shiloh.
Shiloh and I started out as friends and look where we are now. I can’t even stand the sight of her. I’ll do anything to keep Rosa and I from suffering the same fate, even if it means pushin’ away a woman I mesh with better than anyone else.
Chapter Eight
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are
~ Anais Nin
Grim
“Rosa,” I call out after her, even though she’s already made it to the Vixens’ house that sits a bit away from where the new clubhouse now stands. She turns back to look at me and throws her hands up in the air.
“What, Grim?”
I jog over until I’ve caught up with her. “What was all that?”
&
nbsp; Rosa raises her brows and shakes her head for a second. Obviously, something’s riling her up. “Look, I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“It’s not about me wantin’ you to say shit, baby. I just want you to tell me what’s on your mind, if what Zorro said was true.”
Rosa shuts her eyes and I watch for what feels like a solid minute, waiting to see if she’s gonna say somethin’. She opens her eyes and I don’t mistake the glisten in them, noticing how they weren’t wet like that a minute ago. “You call me baby, Grim. You . . . treat me better than I’ve ever been treated in my entire life, so, what do you think? You look at my scars and you don’t see a damaged woman, you only see me . . . so yeah, maybe I am in love with you, but given the look on your face it’s obvious you’re horrified at the mere thought.”
Rosa starts to walk away from me, but I grab her by the hand and pull her into my arms. “Rosa, it’s not like that at all. Fuck. You know about everythin’ that went down with Shiloh, Zorro, Axel, and me. I’m . . . I fuckin’ love you. You’re my best friend, and I love you as a best friend, and even though we get along so well I’m not gonna risk losing you . . . ‘cause if we even attempted this and it went south, I would.”
She pulls away from me and nods her head, standing on the gravel a couple feet away. A noise coming from my right causes me to look to the right and I see a car drivin’ down the lane. Fuck, someone must’ve left the gate open. We’re supposed to shut it after we’ve come through. Oh well, not the first time it’s happened and I doubt it’ll be the last.
“I should’ve known.” Rosa murmurs lowly, though it’s loud enough for me to hear her.
“Rosa, you’re a great woman. You’re fuckin’ amazing, but I’m not gonna lose you, and if it makes me an asshole, I’m sorry . . . but I’m not gonna risk it.”
“Did you even think for a moment that you might lose me because of this, the conversation we’re having right now? Do you honestly think I can just go on and act like this hasn’t happened?”
Mayhem: A Reapers MC Boxset Page 45