by M. L. Beeson
“Fuck this!” I huff out, “I am going to the hospital to sit with her in case she wakes up. Edge will stay with you. Make yourself at home because you’ll be here for a while.” Slamming the door leading into the garage, I open the automatic garage doors and get in my Chevy pickup, pulling out of the driveway, and head in the direction of the hospital.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
GINGER
NO, NO, NO! It can’t be!
I am in the bathroom of the home I am now sharing with Megan, well now she insists I call her Meg. We have become close, almost like sisters of sorts, and I am ashamed I have just ruined that. No matter how much I try and give life my everything, it seems like the big man upstairs has other plans for me. Does he even care? Because I am really starting to doubt his motives.
Hearing my sobs, Meg gently taps the door. “Ginger, are you ok sweets?”
“Fine, I will be out in a minute.”
Looking down on the counter again, I see the two previously faint pink lines, are now darker, indicating that I am pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant with a baby. A baby! A product of sexual assault. The thought of being pregnant with a child at seventeen, let alone by rape, has my mind swirling in negative thoughts. I can’t do this. My anxiety is taking over and my mind is in flight mode. I need to get the fuck out of here.
Standing from the toilet seat I had been sitting on, my plan was to go to my room and pack my things. I can’t put Meg through this, not after everything she has already done for me. Instead of standing on two level feet like most people, I feel like I am standing on a ball, my feet and legs are wobbling and before I know it, I connect with the floor.
“Ginger, are you sure you are ok?” Not hearing a response from me, Meg opens the door. “What’s wrong honey?”
I slump against the wall, finding comfort and support in the hard structure behind me, I shake my head and the tears start to flow. Meg gives me a sharp pointed look saying she isn’t going away without and answer, so I point to the counter, where she instantly looks and snatches up the pregnancy test.
“You’re pregnant?” I’m not able to look her in the eyes, I start to shake from sobbing so hard.
“Oh honey, it will all be ok, let us go sit on my comfy ass bed, and we will sort this out, ok?” Her tiny little-self hoists me up off the ground and walks me into her room.
I can’t deny that it is the fluffiest and comfiest bed I have ever been in. I fall back into the comfort. Looking up, I see Meg looking at me, demanding answers. “I need to know everything so that we can work through this.”
It took every ounce of muscle to conjure up enough courage to tell Meg everything. After I spilled my guts about my stepfather sexually assaulting me on my birthday, to running away, meeting her, and now this. She looks like she is going to rage.
The saying, ‘she is little but she is fierce,’ is Megan Livingston’s slogan. I came to find this out on several occasions; don’t piss off sweet Megan because she turns into a very large and in charge woman. I find comfort in thinking back upon the first time I saw her get upset and how she reacted to me calling her large and in charge. It did not end well, I got bitched out but after I talked her down, we binge watched the new 90210.
Meg didn’t react to the pregnancy the way I feared she would; she was understanding and supportive. She was not kicking me out, instead she told me she would support me in whatever I decided to do, but with being an underage runaway, my choices were limited. I couldn’t bring myself to get an abortion even if I was of age or had a legal guardian to sign for the procedure. I was going to have this baby, it is innocent in this situation.
From that night forward, Meg and I were a team. She helped me mentally and financially while I kept the house in top shape and enrolled in an online GED program under a false name. I kept my first and middle name but I traced my paternal grandmothers back a couple generations and decided to go with my great-great-great grandmother’s maiden name of Stradley. Meg and I had made preparations for the events leading up to the baby’s arrival. We decided that I would have a home birth with a mid-wife so that we could keep my presence and the baby’s presence from the world. Last thing I needed was for Ross to hunt me down and drag me and my innocent child back to Austin.
With Meg and I falling into our daily routine, my pregnancy seemed to fly by. When I found out I was pregnant I was already bordering on the second trimester, and on a warm spring morning I welcomed my baby girl, Crimson Rose Stradley, into the world. My heart has never felt so full of pure happiness. Even though she had features that referenced Ross, I thought she was the most beautiful little thing in the world. It was that day that I told myself I would do whatever it takes to take care of my own.
Crimson, Meg and I were happy living in our little cottage. I was privileged enough to stay home with my mini me during the day, and after I put her to bed I would go to work at the strip club. I never imagined I would be a stripper, but it offered the hours and time that I could devote to my daughter. On my nights off, I found myself working with a self-defense trainer, learning how to defend myself so what happened with Ross would never happen again. That’s where I discovered my love of knives.
Hearing an obnoxiously loud beeping, and hushed voices around me, I am not pleased that I was taken away from reliving one of the biggest moments of my life. It takes every ounce of strength I have to try to open my eyes, curious as to where I am. Once I was at least able to get my left eye somewhat open, I had to immediately clench it shut because of the blinding light.
“Doc!” I heard someone bark out in a tone that reeked of authority. Blade.
I hear more footsteps come into the room. “She just opened her eye.” Blade’s tone was hopeful.
“Ms. Stradley, can you hear me? If you can hear me, I want you to try and squeeze my two fingers,” the doctor instructs. Feeling him place his two ice cold fingers in my right hand, I squeezed with what strength I had. “Good job Ms. Stradley. You’ve given us quite a scare, I am glad to see you finally waking up. If I dim the lights, would you like to try to open your eyes again?” He inquired, again I gripped his fingers and gave them a light squeeze indicating that I would like that.
Once the doctor’s cold fingers withdrew from my hand, something else replaced them, large rough and callused but warm hands. “Babe, you can try again. He turned the lights down,” Blade’s voice was music to my ears. Trying my hardest, I was able to squint my eyes open enough to see his bulky figure looming over me. I couldn’t quite make out his defining features but I was happy enough to see his hazy outline.
“What happened?” I croak out, my throat raw.
“Shh, shhh, shhh, save your voice, you have been on a respirator for six days while your body heals.” Six days? I have been in the hospital for six days? What the hell happened? The last thing I remember… oh god.
Remembering the events leading up to my stay here causes my chest to feel tight, I can’t breathe. Some of the monitors must have picked up on my anxiety and panic because they started beeping loud and at a rapid pace. Nurses and the doctor rush over to my side.
“Her heart rate is spiking, we need to calm her down, lets sedate her again.” The doctor spoke in a very calm and cool tone, and as my panic attack took over my mind and body, I watched a nurse shove a syringe into my IV line, within seconds I could feel myself going under.
BLADE
Watching Ginger’s eyes glaze over as panic set in, I knew she was remembering the trauma she went through. It was rough to watch. I would do anything to take that pain away from her. Meanwhile, the doctors said that she will be sedated overnight to keep her calm and collected so that her body can heal, they will try to wake her again tomorrow.
It has been six full days since we found Ginger and brought her into the hospital and in that amount of time, we have come up with dick for finding Benny. I have tapped into all of my community connections, the less than desirable connections.
We even brought in Sheriff Nathaniel on the
search for Benny. After the second day of Ginger being in the hospital, Nathaniel had come in to check up on things. After speaking with the club, we decided to tell him about the stables and how we found Ginger, but not the events leading up to her being taken. As far as he knows she was chosen at random.
Ginger isn’t waking up so I head out to the parking lot and get on my Harley. I turn the key and hit the ignition to bring the beast of a bike to life. Sitting there, I let her idle and warm up and I decide to send off a text to my men,
Blade: Church in fifteen, no excuses.
Clicking the lock button on the side of my phone, I shove it in my pocket, before putting the bike in gear and grabbing a fist full of throttle to get the fuck out of the hospital parking lot.
Heading towards the clubhouse, I can’t help but grab gears as a release to ride out some of this tension and anxiety. The air biting my skin has never felt so good, I needed something to keep me rooted into this reality, riding was just that.
Pulling in and parking in the clubhouse lot, I dismount my bike and head inside. I’m met with music raging and booze slinging in every direction. Whores are happily bouncing on cocks, and my men are smashed, shit-faced drunk.
Riley and Marcus are working the bar as I head over. “What the fuck?” Shrugging their shoulders, Riley is the first one to take an action to dismantle the party that is in full swing. Cutting the music, I can hear the grunts and groans of my men, and the slapping of pussy lips against hips as the two whores continue to ride the fuck out of Rage and Riggs.
Grabbing a barstool, I raise it up and fling that shit across the room to get everyone’s attention. As it smashes into the television that had been displaying porn, I finally have all eyes on me. “What in the actual fuck? I sent a text informing all of you of church, and you’re out here putting booze and pussy above club business?”
Leaving it at that, I stomp off in the direction of the meeting room and slam the door behind me. FUCK!
Rubbing my temples with my index and middle finger as my elbow rests on the desk, I hear the door squeak open. Looking up, I see Rex, Leo, Dozer, and Farm-Boy all towering in the doorway. “Oh, now you think you should attend church?” My tone clearly sarcastic.
“Boss—” Rex starts.
I don’t give him a chance before cutting him off. “I don’t want to hear anyone’s fucking excuses. Get everyone in here now, we have shit to go over.”
Once everyone is seated, I am quick to hit the gavel to the table to commence the meeting. “Alright, we have yet to hear anything about the whereabouts of Benny or any of his cock sucker followers. More importantly right now, we have the pickup of Gideon’s shipment tomorrow and I need all of you focused. This is the first go around, so I want things to go smoothly,” I say in a long breath. Looking around to see the head shakes of the men in the room with me, I continue, “Leo,” I focus my attention, “do you have the route mapped out along with a plan B and the Vegas chapter’s route?”
“Yes, I have that shit down and memorized.”
“Good, moving on.” I turn to my vice president. “I want you to stay here and guard Ginger’s hospital room while I am gone. I feel that since it is our first dealings with the Russians, I need to be there.”
Nodding his head in response, I get a short, “yeah, ok.”
I continue to go through the plans of executing our handoff of the weapons from the Russians and who will be going with me and who is staying to keep working on finding the Aryan fucks.
After about an hour of going over plans, I finally call it and bang the gavel down on the table once more, watching as my men file silently out of the meeting room. Making sure to get my point across, I growl, “don’t get too fucked up tonight and be worthless tomorrow or each one of you will be doing tasks I don’t even ask the prospects to do.” I can’t help but grin as I hear the groans of a bunch of bikers.
“Riley!” I bark out as loud as I can.
Seeing him scurrying and almost eating shit coming into the meeting room, I can’t hold back my laughter. “Shut the door, kid.”
Shutting the door so that we are alone in the giant meeting room, I stand and walk up to the kid towering over him. “I don’t let many know where my house is, but while I am gone, your task is to take up residency on my front porch and watch out for anything suspicious. I want you looking over Meg and Ginger’s kid, think you can handle that?”
“Ginger has a kid?” His eyes go wide.
“Yes, and I want to make sure it stays quiet. Only reason I am asking you is because you’ve taken to protecting Ginger like she was your sister,” I truthfully admit. “If they want to go visit Ginger, that is fine, take my pickup. Dozer will be at the hospital at all times guarding the door.”
“You got it boss, I can handle it and I will protect them at all cost.” There’s a confidence in his voice that I trust.
Grabbing and squeezing his shoulder, I give him my approval. “I don’t doubt that bud.”
Stopping back by the hospital on my way out to the house, I round the corner into Ginger’s room in the intensive care unit, and can see that she is still sedated. Her even breathing gives it away. The last time she was awake she had a severe panic attack. Thank god the doctors were able to get her sedated because I don’t know what she would have done to herself or others, trying to escape reality.
Walking over to her bedside, I lean down and place a light kiss on her slightly bruised cheek. “I will be back beautiful. You continue to heal and get strong again. I hope to see those beautiful brown doe-eyes when I get back.” With that I walk out of the hospital room and out of the hospital making my way to my bike.
I notice a shadow lingering around my bike at the far end of the lot. What the hell? Walking at a quick pace, but not so fast that I alert the person allowing me to get directly behind the little shit. I grab them by the neck. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing by my bike?” I growl in a threatening tone. The little prick doesn’t give me an answer. Pulling out my phone, I dial the clubhouse. “Marcus, get Rex and the van and find me in the lot at the hospital, I got a little present for the chamber.” I hang up without another word and look at the little shit who doesn’t have the audacity to look me in the eye, pissing me off even more.
When Rex and Marcus arrive with the van about seven minutes later, I’m holding the dumb little shit by the throat and pinching his almost non-existent Adam’s apple between my knuckles. He isn’t going anywhere. I have Marcus zip-tie the man’s hands behind his back and throw him into the back of the van while Rex walks over to make sure the guy didn’t mess with my bike. I would have done it myself but I was rather than occupied by holding onto the asshat.
Once I got the word that my bike was good, nothing major was fucked with, I finally gave my instructions. “Take him to the compound and chain him in the chamber.”
With reassuring smiles, my men just fueled the demons inside that are waiting to get released while inflicting pain in the chamber. Almost feeling like a kid in a candy store, I strike up my bike and follow the van back to the compound. Giving the men time to get his ass to the chamber, I walk into the bar to grab a bottle of whisky.
“Haven’t seen you within these walls much lately.” Catching my attention, Shay pushes off the bar and starts to walk my way.
“Stop there. We still haven’t had a little chat about what happened last week and you sure as hell better count your fucking blessings little girl.” I growl as I point my large finger in her face, making her stop mid-stride. Without another word or sassy response, she turns around to walk back to the room where the whores stay. That’s fucking right, walk the fuck away.
I need a drink so I finally make my way behind the bar, grabbing for a bottle of whiskey. I smile when I see the Wild Turkey, it is her favorite and my choice of poison today. Grabbing the bottle by the neck, I twist the cork out of the top, and take four big gulps of the amber liquid. The burn has never felt so good.
Once I walk into our
eye-achingly white chamber, I see that the guys have the bastard chained up and waiting my arrival. Fuck yeah! Getting amped, I slam the door shut, and march right up in front of the man. “Who the hell are you? And why were you messing with my bike?” I grind out, gritting my teeth.
His silence only fuels the fire even more. Not willing to ask a second time, I pull out the blade from the back of my waistband and I slither the cool and sharp steel down the man’s cheek to let him know I am not fucking around. Hearing him hiss, makes a sly grin spread across my face.
“Why were you trying to fuck with my bike?” I ask, hunched down eye level with the man.
Shaking his head indicating he isn’t talking, I grab ahold of his left ear, and as quickly as he realized I touched him, I slice the outer part of his ear off in one nice, smooth cut. Tossing the ear to the drain, I watch as it teeters on falling down the grate. Standing and laughing as the man is fighting against his chains and crying out, I ask one last time, “who the fuck are you and why the fuck were you messing with my bike?”.
“I can’t man. I can’t they will fucking kill me!” He screams.
“You must be mistaken; you’re dying no matter what. The only difference, is if you talk and give me information I need and want, I will make it quick and easy,” I say in a smooth tone.
As the tears start streaming down his pale and colorless face, he finally gives in, “Benny is pissed you killed his brother and found the stables. He wants your head on a platter and told me, he would give me my own girl if I fucked with your bike enough to cause a deadly accident.”
“Hmm.” I pull my fingers down my short beard. “Good thing you don’t know dick about bikes then huh? Because you did nothing except unclamp the clutch cable.” I laugh. “That wouldn’t have killed me, I would have just been stuck at the hospital a little longer with my girl.”