Snake (The Road Rebels MC Book 3)

by Savannah Rylan

  “I’m fine,” I replied, in a softer voice, even though I could feel my voice choking in my throat. “Worry about those Dragon Knights taking our shipment.”

  “Fuck the shipment,” Gunner bit back at me.

  “Get in here, you two!” Glock yelled, and I looked up to find that the others had already gotten into the truck. Glock was holding the door open for us to get in, and I reached up and my arms buckled. Another shot of pain seared through my side, and my vision started to tunnel.

  Hunter caught me, pushing me forward and the sirens grew nearer and nearer.

  “Push him up,” Glock cried out, and Hunter did, pushing me with his full body force till I had fallen into the front seat with the others. He followed us in, and within seconds, Gunner was zipping us out of the docks.

  “Take off your shirt. Take your fucking shirt off!” Glock was still yelling, and Hunter ripped my t-shirt. I was hunched over on the seat, with my head resting against the coolness of the window. Gunner was driving at full speed towards the Rusty Pelican, our bar where the rest of the MC would have already congregated.

  Glock and Hunter were peering into my wound now, while Sniper sat slumped beside Gunner.

  “Is it in there?” Gunner asked, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove. I could feel the throbbing ache in my stomach grow out of control. Now every time I moved a muscle, I could feel the pain thumping.

  “I don’t see the bullet. We need bandages and need to make the bleeding stop,” Glock replied. None of them were willing to touch me yet, and I remained in the same position, gritting my teeth and clenching my jaws.

  “Can the girls help?” Sniper asked, and the others remained quiet. Sniper meant the other women, Gunner and Hunter’s girls and Axel’s old lady.

  “Do you think he needs to go to a hospital?” Sniper asked when nobody had said anything.

  “I’m not going to a fucking hospital. If the bullet’s in there, one of you can pull it out. Just give me something to bite into when you do it,” I hissed, and I could feel my eyes rolling in my head. I knew I was beginning to feel weak; it had to be the blood loss. But there was no way I was going to the hospital. The hospital meant questions on how I got shot, and I wasn’t prepared to figure out some story to tell them.

  The others were still silent, and I growled.

  “Did you guys hear me? No fucking hospital!” I barked, and Gunner stopped the truck with a jolt.

  “Get help!” Gunner yelled, and Hunter had jumped out of the truck in a flash, while I tried to cover the wound with my hand. My brothers sat with me in silence in the truck, watching as I writhed in pain. I knew they felt helpless, the same way I would have felt helpless if one of them had been shot.

  Kylie, Hunter’s girl, and Brooklyn, Gunner’s girl had come running out.

  “Don’t bring him down. Keep him there,” Kylie screamed when she saw me. I saw the worried expression on her face. Even though she wasn’t a doctor, she was a physical therapist and had medical training, so everyone considered her to be an expert in these things. She just didn’t know that I was feeling fine…that the pain was all in my head. I hadn’t even felt the bullet gone in, so the wound couldn’t have been that bad. Just a couple of minutes, a bandage and a quick pulling out of the bullet would do it…I felt my mind roll, and I pressed my eyes closed.

  “He’s lost a lot of blood,” I heard Brooklyn’s voice, but I couldn’t get my eyes to open again. I started to feel like I was underwater and everyone on dry land.

  “What should we do? Can you two do anything?” Glock asked, and I tried to flutter my eyelids to open, but it just wasn’t working. It was as though my whole body was protesting against me.

  “You need to take him to the hospital,” I heard Kylie’s voice again, and I groaned. I felt her hands press hard down on my side to try and stop the bleeding. I opened my eyes again everything seemed blurry and black spots crept near the edges of my vision.

  “Tank, you need to go to the hospital if you want to live,” Brooklyn added, and I growled and tried to slide myself off the seat of the truck. Sniper and Glock yanked me back again.

  “Tank, listen to the women. They know what they’re talking about. You need to go to a hospital,” Hunter was speaking into my ear now, while I struggled against the others’ grip.

  “We’ll figure out some story to tell them,” Gunner added.

  “No fucking hospitals!” I thundered, as loud as I possibly could. Even though I knew there was no hope of convincing them now. The decision had been made, and my brothers were going to take me to the hospital whether I liked it or not. There weren’t enough curses in the world that I could rain on them for it. Just as I was about to protest again, the blackness consumed me, and I felt my head roll to the side.

  CHAPTER 2

  Noelle

  When I looked at my wristwatch again, I saw that my break was nearly up. I’d been sitting in the nurses’ staff station for the past fifteen minutes, munching on a granola bar and sipping a cup of lukewarm coffee. I hadn’t finished either of them and now I emptied the remnants of the coffee down my throat quickly. I wasn’t exactly hungry or thirsty, but I needed the energy.

  It was nearly midnight now, which meant that the hospital was operating on half the staff and we were all on emergency standby. After working as a nurse for the past three years, anyone would have assumed that I had gotten used to the midnight emergency shifts, but the truth was, I hadn’t. Despite my lack of energy, I still loved the job. Every day at the hospital was a hurdle and made me appreciate life. I was glad for the opportunity to be able to help people, and I knew that it was my only chance to experience something other than the cookie-cutter life that my parents had planned out for me.

  I sighed as I sat on the metal chair for the last two minutes of my break. I was thinking more and more about my life outside the hospital, these days. How I had been a model daughter to my parents for all my life. How I had followed every rule set down for me by my parents, and how they were proud of their well-mannered daughter, in the polite society that they mingled with.

  Working as a nurse was my little revolution. They couldn’t imagine the blood and the gore and the kind of scenes that occurred in the hospital on a daily basis. My parents imagined their daughter spending her days chit-chatting with kindly old ladies on their hospital beds, or cracking jokes with the other nurses in the break room. They had no idea that their little daughter was capable of holding a grown man down, while a doctor set back his dislocated shoulder with a crack.

  But it wasn’t enough, was it? This pretense that I was happy leading a picture-perfect life outside the hospital. I wished I could explain to my parents that I wanted to live a life of adventure.

  The alarm on my digital wristwatch beeped, signaling the end of my break and I stood up from the chair with a start. Depositing the empty cup and the half-eaten granola bar in the bin, I stepped out of the staff room, at the same instant that the doors of the hospital at the end of the corridor burst open.

  I was on alert immediately, feeling the rush of adrenaline course through my veins, and I rushed towards the group of three EMTs who were rolling in a man on a wheeled stretcher. Someone had called for a doctor, and Doctor Mason who was on call came running down the corridor towards the group.

  The EMTs were explaining to Doctor Mason that the man had suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen, and my eyes fell on the patient. He was shirtless, which was a good thing…that someone had thought of removing most of his clothing.

  He was a muscular, tanned man, with chiseled six pack abs and intricate tattoos covering his chest. His bronze skin glistened with sweat, his muscles were taut, and his biceps bulged as he tried to sit up on the cart. I was surprised he was still awake with the amount of blood that was most likely lost.

  “Hold him down, he needs to be wheeled into surgery,” I heard Doctor Mason’s voice, and he turned to me.

  “Nurse Peters, good, please prep him, Surgery room three,” Doctor
Mason said, before rushing past me to get ready for the operation.

  I ran over to the stretcher, my expert eyes scanning his body and his gunshot wound. The bullet was lodged in him, and he was already losing a lot of blood. The problem now could be that he hadn’t been brought to the hospital right away, which could raise complications.

  His broad shoulders shook as he grunted and tried to sit up again. My instinct was to reach for him, and I placed my hands on his shoulders and applied a gentle pressure.

  “You need to stay down,” I said to him as gently as I could. I expected resistance, but instead, I found that he was sinking back on the stretcher. I looked over at his face, noticing his handsome, masculine features for the first time. His eyes were a dark hazel color, and they appeared bloodshot and intense as he stared back at me. A dark trimmed beard was on his cheeks and jaws, and along with that, he had shoulder length dark hair that was ruffled…adding to his scruffy look.

  He was the type of man I had always admired and fantasized about from a distance…but he was the kind of man, who was inappropriate for me by my family’s standards. But holy hell was he hot.

  We were rushing down the corridor in convoy, bursting through doors and finally into the operating room. My hands were still gently pressed against his shoulders, in an attempt to keep him in position.

  The EMTs were getting ready to leave, and I looked up through the glass partition to find that Doctor Mason was prepping for the surgery already. I moved my hands away, a little nervous to assist in this particular operation. I was afraid that my sudden strange attraction to this man could affect my performance in this surgery. I could feel a weakness in my knees, especially given the fact that he was still staring at me.

  I stepped away from him, and he suddenly reached for my wrist and yanked me back towards him. Despite the bullet in his abdomen, the blood loss…the man was crazy strong. I nearly gasped but gathered myself almost immediately. I thought I saw a flash of worry in his bloodshot eyes, and I forced a smile on my face.

  “Everything will be fine. You’re in good hands,” I whispered.

  CHAPTER 3

  Tank

  I felt like I had been sleeping for centuries, and now there was a blinding white light surrounding me. I tried to blink my eyes open, and I could finally hear voices around me. My eyes were slowly adjusting to the light. Which wasn’t bright or blinding, as per my initial perception, it was just the sunlight streaming in through the window of the room I was in.

  Someone was standing over me, and for the first few seconds, I could only see the woman’s silhouette. Then my eyes started adjusting to the light, and I saw her. She was doing something to me…perhaps tucking in the covers on the mattress? She had a delicate heart shaped face and long brown hair which she had tied in a thick ponytail, and it fell over her right shoulder now. She had thick straight bangs on her forehead, nearly covering her eyes. My gaze flitted over her, as she worked with some concentration.

  She was a woman with curves, and she was in green scrubs. The thin material of her hospital uniform stretched over her, over her breasts, at her hips…and I could feel my mouth salivating like I was a hungry wolf. Suddenly, as she worked, she looked up, and our eyes met. Blue, clear and light. She was absolutely gorgeous, or was I drugged? I did feel drowsy and weak.

  “Welcome back, Mr. Gowan,” she said, in a soft sweet voice. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had called me that. How did she even know my name? Where was I? My mind was still whirling with memories and conflicting emotions. On the one hand, I was confused about where I was, and on the other, I could feel a movement in my pants from the moment I laid eyes on this woman.

  “Where the hell am I?” I asked, in a dry husky voice and the nurse smiled and seemed to stifle a laugh.

  “Tank!” I heard a familiar voice, and within seconds, Glock’s face had appeared over me. Now it was the nurse and Glock who were leaning over me, peering into my face.

  “Glock. What are you doing here?” I asked him, and he smiled nervously and looked up at the nurse to exchange looks with her.

  “It’s normal for him to not remember everything right away, just give him some time and space,” she was speaking to Glock now, and I tried to sit up.

  She leaned over me, placing gentle hands on my shoulders and I seemed to melt to that touch. I fell back down on the pillows, and she smiled, quickly turning her gaze away from me.

  “You need to keep lying down, Mr. Gowan. You were shot, and you’ve been operated on. We can talk about it later when you’re feeling up to it. For now, all you need to know is that the surgery went very well and you’ll be back to feeling normal in no time,” she said and took a few steps away from me.

  Nothing she said had really registered in my head. All I could do was stare at her plump pink lips moving as she spoke. I felt like I had been heavily drugged…I had to have been! Why else was I reacting to a stranger this way?

  “What’s your name?” I asked, and my voice came out as a growl, even though I hadn’t intended it. I watched as the tops of her cheeks flushed for an instant, and she met my eyes again.

  “Noelle. Noelle Peters. I’m your nurse,” she replied, and her name rattled around in my brain for a few moments. I tried to recall if that name meant anything to me if I knew her from somewhere. Why else did I feel like I wanted to hold her?

  “Did you save my life?” I found myself asking, and Noelle’s cheeks flushed again, and she shook her head.

  “Hardly. Doctor Mason, if anyone, saved your life,” she said, and I knotted my brows. It felt like she had saved my life.

  “I saw you before. Somewhere,” I continued, and she stepped closer to me again, and then, she placed a delicate hand on mine, and I could feel a sizzle on my skin.

  “Out in the corridor last night, when they were wheeling you into surgery. We saw each other then,” she said, and I noticed how calm and sincere her voice was. She could put anyone at ease with just one word.

  “You were there? For the surgery?” I asked, staring into her smiling face. Her eyelashes fluttered, and she shook her head.

  “No. Someone else assisted the doctor,” she said, and Glock stepped in with a laugh.

  “Don’t worry, Tank, Nurse Peters here didn’t see your guts spilled out on the table,” he said and laughed hard while Noelle blushed again and quickly took her hands away from me.

  At that moment, I could have ripped off all the tubes inserted in me, just to be able to reach over and punch Glock in the face. I clenched my jaws at him, and he saw the look of rage in my eyes and stepped forward.

  “How are you feeling, brother?” he asked, trying to soften the situation.

  “Are you brothers?” Noelle asked, and I saw her filling in a form on a clipboard that was tied to the end of my bed.

  “No, not really, not by blood,” Glock told her, and she smiled and nodded her head, while she kept writing on that form.

  I looked at Glock again, while he stared at the bandage around my stomach, where I could still feel a dull aching throb.

  “I’m fine. But what am I doing in a hospital? What happened?” I asked him, and he jerked his head over to look at me. He looked about the room nervously, and I was confused for a moment. Why wasn’t he just telling me what happened? The last thing I remember was sitting in the warehouse with Glock smoking a cigarette.

  “What’s going on?” I urged him again, now feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline in my veins. He seemed like he was hesitating to disclose the truth and that was making me even angrier.

  Noelle was looking at Glock as well, expecting a response and he shifted on his feet before he turned to me with a smile.

  “You just don’t remember, man. We went out shooting our guns, you know over behind the Glen?” Glock said with a nervous laugh, and I narrowed my eyes at him. We did go to the Glen to practice our shots sometimes, but I had a feeling that wasn’t where we were the previous night.

  “We went to the Glen?” I confirme
d, and Glock nodded his head vigorously.

  “Yeah, Gunner, Hunter, Sniper, you and I,” he continued, peering into my eyes like he wanted to say something. I took in a deep breath and tried to imagine the scene, hoping that some memory would return to me.

  I could sense Noelle’s eyes still on us. She had stopped writing whatever it was that she was writing on the form.

  “Yeah, remember? You and Sniper were joking around, hiding behind those wooden crates we’d found?” Glock stepped even closer to me, and his voice had dropped to a near whisper. But the room was small, and whatever Glock said, Noelle could hear.

  I peered into his eyes, trying to think of these wooden crates that he was talking about, and it all came back to me in a flash. The cigarette falling to the ground, a shot ringing out, Sniper and me taking cover, walking into a shower of bullets, retaking cover. The bullet whizzing past my earlobe, blood on my ear, blood on my stomach. The Dragon Knights had shot me.

  “Yeah, I remember, okay, yeah…” I fumbled with my words, as realization struck me.

  “Who shot you?” Noelle’s voice cut through the air like ice and Glock whipped around to look at her.

  “I shot myself,” I replied, without missing a beat. Before Glock could come up with a worse explanation.

  “Yeah, he shot himself. The silly fucker!” Glock said and added another nervous laugh for good measure. We were both staring at Noelle to gauge her reaction, but she was only looking at me. I realized that was what Glock was trying to indicate to me with his eyes; that this was not a discussion, we should have been having in front of her in the room.

  “How did you shoot yourself in the stomach?” Noelle asked, and even though a soft smile grazed her lips, her eyes were narrowed at me. She knew what was going on…I could see it in her eyes. She knew we were trying to cover up something. We needed to change the subject and fast.