Jett shakes his head and pulls out his phone. “I need round the clock watch on my girl.” I notice how he says the final part of the sentence. I’m his girl now.
Thing is, I always was.
“That fucker came back. He does it again and he’s mine.”
He ends the call and looks at me. “It’s taken care of. He won’t come back here to bother you during your recovery.” We sit there just staring at each other when the door swings open, startling me yet again.
“So how's my patient doing this morning?” Dr. Bennett asks, his voice carrying across the room.
He stops, looking back and forth between Jett and me as a huge smile crosses his face. Jett nods at Dr. Bennett and quickly turns to me. “I'll be back later to check on you,” he says as he walks out the door. I wonder where he’s going. If there will be blood on his hands when he gets back.
“My dear, you seem in better spirits today,” the doctor says as he begins to examine my face.
“I am, Jett has kept me company this morning,” I reply, trying not to smile.
He looks at me and shakes his head. “Out of the pan and into the fire.”
“I’m sorry?”
He sighs. “You’ve seen the vest, right? He’s in an MC, or at least trying to be in one. Those guys are dangerous, Camryn, and it seems like you have a predisposition to bad boys.”
“Jett would never hurt me.” This I know. Ty was a wildcard, but Jett is steady and true.
He nods and asks me to sit up. A burning pain shoots through my sides when I do, and I whimper.
“I know it’s uncomfortable, but I've got to finish examining you.” I nod as tears begin to fall from my eyes as he lays me back and presses on my abdomen. “I'm going to have a plastic surgeon come in and talk to you about your face, if that's ok?” he says.
“Ok,” I reply, closing my eyes as he turns to leave. The door shuts behind him and the silence of the room takes over. As I lay there with my eyes closed, I hear the door creak open again. I open my eyes slightly and see Jett and a teenage boy, not much younger than me, creeping in.
“Cami, this is Austin. This is the young man that found you,” he says, guiding him to me.
“I'm s-s-so sorry,” he says, taking my hand. The horrified look on the kid’s face speaks volumes. The bruising, blood soaked bandages and the purple rings under my eyes must look horrible. He just stares at me, his mouth occasionally opening, indicating he wants to say something, but no words will come.
“Austin? Right?” I whisper. He nods, not taking his eyes off me. “Thank you. You are the reason I'm still breathing. If you hadn't gotten there when you did, I would have died,” I say, fighting my own tears from the realization of it. Austin leans down to me hugging me softly.
“If you need anything… anything at all, please let me know,” he says, turning to leave.
Jett takes his place by my side. “Sweet kid,” I say with a smile.
“He's not much younger than you,” Jett says. I nod, closing my eyes with a sigh. Jett places his hand over mine, and I smile.
“You're sweet,” I say, slowly opening my eyes to look at him.
“I try,” he says, running his thumb across my palm. Laying there just looking at him makes my heart thump loudly. Here I am, a complete mess, scarred and bruised, being comforted by what could be the most beautiful man I've ever laid eyes on. I snicker to myself at the thought of telling him he's beautiful and he looks at me, eyes narrowed.
“What?” he asks.
“I was just thinking about you,” I reply.
“What are you thinking about me?” he asks.
“Nothing, really.”
“Liar,” he says jokingly. “If it is nothing, then why are you blushing?”
A knock on the door startles me as the nurse comes in. “Hey, Cami. How are you feeling today?” she asks, while checking my IV.
“My whole midsection hurts,” I reply, trying to sit up.
“Oh, honey, don't try to sit up by yourself,” she says, coming to help. As she raises the bed, I feel a slight burning sensation, but not as much pain. “I'll go get you some pain medication, ok?” she asks. I nod and draw in several shallow breaths while I adjust to sitting up.
“Are you going to tell me what you were thinking?” Jett asks. I shake my head, grateful when the nurse comes back with some medicine.
The pain begins to subside quickly as she injects it into my IV, and I'm feeling more relaxed by the time she leaves my room.
Jett just looks at me, waiting for me to answer his question. His phone begins to ring and he looks down at the screen. “I have to go,” he says. “But I'll be back.” Yawning loudly, I nod and close my eyes as sleep finds me just moments after he's gone.
Bright light filters through the blinds as I open my eyes. I look over to my left and find Jett passed out in the chair. His dark hair shimmers in the light and his eyes flutter as he dreams. The door slides open and Dr. Bennett walks in.
“My dear, you seem to be doing well,” he says with a smile looking like relief.
“I'm better, that’s for sure,” I say back to him. Looking over towards the window, where Jett is sound asleep, he smiles and shakes his head. He comes over and begins removing the bandages and looks me over.
“Well… it looks like you'll be able to go home in a couple days.”
I smile at the thought of my own bed, but the joy is short lived. The fact I have nowhere to go anymore and that Ty, knowingly, will be waiting, makes I shiver. He found my apartment, he found me. Us. Ella hasn’t visited at all because I made Aunt Suzanne promise to keep her away. Reality has just set in and my mind begins to race, making me unable to concentrate on what he is saying.
“Cami?” he says with concern in his voice.
“I'm sorry,” I reply in a strained voice.
“Is everything ok?” All I can do is shake my head. “If you need someone to talk to I'm here, or I can get one of the nurses for you,” he says.
“I-I-I have nothing… what I mean is when I leave here, I have nowhere to go,” I reply as the tears come.
“You have a place.” Jett is awake, speaking to me from the corner of the room.
Dr. Bennett leaves silently.
“What?”
“You have a place. My place. You and Ella are coming to stay with me. No questions, and no refusing. This is how we keep you safe. I’ve already discussed it with your aunt.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I’ve been lying to him this whole time and yet he just takes me in? I can hardly live with myself. I have to tell him about Ella.
I have to.
A soft knock on the door makes my heart jump, and I hear the sweetest giggle ever. Ella runs towards me, skidding to a stop as her eyes begin to water. “Mama,” she whispers.
“Yeah baby, come give me a hug.”
She climbs up, carefully studying my face. “I was so scared. Daddy is a monster.” I cringe at the thought of her witnessing what happened.
“I'm gonna be ok. Look at me, Ella, Mama is ok.” She nods, wrapping her arms around my neck gently.
23
Jett
Cami looks so happy with her little girl. What I wouldn’t give to have a love like that, a family like that.
But guys like me don’t get shit like that.
Ella and Suzanne leave, but Suzanne gives me a wink first. She knows what I want, what I’ll ask of Cami one day.
“Can we talk about us moving in with you now?” Cam says, turning to look at me.
“Don't worry about it. I just… I…” I say, pausing, unable to find the right words.
“You, what?” Cami asks. I just shake my head, afraid of her response to what I need to say. “Ok, fine. But I will cook and clean and whatever you need,” she says, as if she knows the words I was trying to spit out. “And thank you.”
“I want you to know everything is taken care of already. I am not doing this for anything in return and if you decide you don't wan
t to live there, then I understand. I’ll help you find somewhere else, but I wanted you to have someplace to go when you were released and not have to worry about anything.”
“Thank you, Jett. I mean that. You don't know how much this all means to me. I ran out on you and our friendship years ago and you just take me back in like I never hurt you… just thank you.”
I stand up to open the blinds and when I turn back, I notice she's watching me. “What?” I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.
“Nothing… well, um… You just look so cute when you sleep,” she says, looking down at her hands. A smile crosses my lips.
“Cute? That's what you think of me? Cute?” She nods, not looking at me. “Thank you, I think.” I bite my lower lip. Cami looks at me and her soft brown eyes sparkle. Sitting beside her on the bed, I laugh as I slowly put my arm around her. She flinches and looks at me with wide eyes, unable to stop shaking.
“It's ok,” I whisper and pull her closer to me, being mindful of her injuries, and wrap the blanket around us. She lays her head on my shoulder and closes her eyes.
“Jett? There’s something I need to tell you,” she whispers, trying to fight against the pain meds in her system.
“You can tell me anything,” I tell her and I mean it.
“I love Ella more than anything.”
“She’s beautiful, Cami.”
“She is. Just like you,” she says just as sleep claims her once again. I lay next to her, pondering her words for a moment. Why would Cami be worried about telling me about her?
I just watch her as she sleeps, memorizing every curve of her face. Thick, dark lashes frame beautiful dark, brown eyes against the light pallor of her skin. Even with the gash running down her face and deep purple bruising, she is beautiful. Closing my eyes, I sync my breathing with hers and drift off to sleep, never wanting to leave this peaceful moment again.
Soft whispers wake me and I see Dr. Bennett and Beth in the doorway. “Jett,” Beth says, motioning me to come to them. I carefully move my arm, making sure not to disturb Cami, and kiss her forehead.
“What's up?” I ask, closing the door behind me.
“She is doing well, and we are probably going to release her tomorrow,” Beth says.
“That's great news,” I reply, “I'm sure some fresh air will do her good.”
“Here's the catch, she's been in that bed a week, so I need your help to get her up and moving around. When she’s home, she needs to regularly walk around, just a few minutes at a time is all and then we’ll get it her started on physical therapy too,,” Dr. Bennett says.
“I can do that, I’ll do anything you need, doc.” He nods and pats my shoulder.
I smile back and shake his hand before opening the door.
Cami is still sleeping, so I sit on the stool beside the bed and just hold her hand. After a few minutes, I feel her squeezing my hand. “Hi,” she says with a yawn.
“I have some good news for you. As it stands now, you will be discharged tomorrow.” The look on her face goes through a variety of emotions, from joy to dread.
“Better yet, I’m off tomorrow, so it looks like you'll be stuck with me,” I say, waiting for her to speak.
“Thank you,” she says after a moments pause, “I have the worst luck. If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any.” Standing up, I lean over to hug her. She wraps her arms tightly around me as she kisses my cheek.
“Now you know what you just said, that's not true. You got me and I'm not from bad luck,” I whisper. She smiles at me and hugs me again.
“Here's the deal, you want to break out of here, right?”
“Yeah,” she says with a sigh.
“Well… we've got to get you up and moving around.” In that moment a fire unlike anything I've ever seen fills her eyes. She reaches out for me to pull her up. A painful grimace crosses her face as she stands up. After a few deep steady breaths, she begins taking steps. Her balance is wobbly, but she doesn't let that interfere. She walks confidently towards the door, me by her side in case she stumbles.
With each step, she becomes sturdier. “You know what I want?” she asks.
“I have no idea,” I reply.
“I want to take a shower. You think you could get that Ok'd for me?” she asks, batting her eyelashes.
“Yeah, I think I can do that for you.” She walks back to the bed and sits while I run out to the nurse’s station. After finding Beth, I go back in the room, only to find her undressing. “Oh. I'm sorry,” I say, turning around to face the door.
“It's ok, no need for modesty at this point,” she says with a shiver. “Could you do something for me?” she adds.
“Sure, what do you need?” I ask.
“Could you get me some clothes? I want to feel somewhat normal and these gowns just don't do it.” She pulls on the bulky hospital gown.
“Sure will. Beth will be here momentarily and I'll be back soon. We’re gonna get you home soon, ok?”
I leave her in Beth’s capable hands and head back to my small cottage on the east side of the city. Wilson is sitting on my front porch, drinking a beer.
“Dude, how is she?” he says, looking honestly concerned.
“She’s all right, brother, coming home with me tomorrow.”
“Hey, that’s great. So after you get her settled, you need to come to the clubhouse. Major shit has been going on with those druggies. We need back up. You’ll come by tomorrow night, maybe?”
“Yeah, anything for the Rebels. I can’t tell you how much it means to me, that you guys have been helping me out. Keeping her away from the shit who did this to her.”
“It’s what you do for family, man.”
“Hell yeah, it is.”
He leans back and starts rocking again as I fumble with my keys and open the front door. I rummage through her suitcase until I find some loose fitting comfortable clothes she can wear home, then I lock up the place and head back to the hospital. Almost an hour has passed and when I pull in to park, I notice I'm being watched. A man sitting in a large black truck glares at me from a row over. When he sees me looking, he quickly rolls up his window and starts his engine. As he pulls away, I take notice of the plate number.
Hello asshole.
Beth is standing outside the bathroom door when I get back to the room. I hold up the bag and hand it to her. She smiles slightly, opening the bathroom door and setting it inside. “Cami, your clothes are in there with you. Let me know if you need my help,” Beth says.
“Ok, thank you. Is Jett out there?” Cami asks from behind the bathroom door.
“Yep, he sure is.” She winks at me.
“Tell him I said thank you.”
Beth looks at me and smiles. “Why don't you go home and get some rest?” Beth tells me.
“Yeah, I could use a little rest,” I reply, still holding my helmet in my hands. “Let her know I'll be back later, ok?”
“Certainly,” she says, shooing me away.
My empty house is too quiet, so I get up and head into the living room, flipping on the TV. Wilson must have finished his beer and left when I went back to the hospital. Sitting there, channel surfing, I keep thinking about Cami. Our past and our future. On the surface it feels like a rebound, but deep down it feels like more. I sit here pondering everything as the sun begins to trickle through the blinds. I honestly don't even know if I’ve even slept.
Standing up, I stretch and gather my things to shower. Dressing quickly, I look at the clock and notice it's only seven in the morning. Laughing at myself, I put on a pot of coffee and have a cup before heading out to go see Cami at the hospital.
24
Cami
The shower felt great, but disappointment set in when I got out and heard Jett had left. I've been sitting here in this bed all night unable to sleep. Deep down, I know it's not right of me to wish him here so badly, but there is something about him I can't shake. I draw in a deep breath and close my eyes, trying to figure everything
out. I have to tell him. I know I do. But I can’t bring myself to do it yet. Not until I know what’s going on between us. And once Ty is out of the picture, then I can really figure all of this out. A knock on the door brings me out of my thoughts and a huge smile crosses my face when he walks in.
“Good morning.” He hands me a cup of coffee.
“Oh my God, you must be psychic,” I reply before taking a sip. The warm liquid feels so good sliding down my throat. “Thank you, I needed that.” I smile.
“Anytime.” He comes to sit by me. “How are you feeling today?”
“Better than I have been,” I admit. He smiles and puts his arm around me, bringing my face close to his.
“I see your stitches are gone,” he says, examining my face.
“Yeah, Beth removed them last night.”
He kisses my forehead. “You ready to blow this Popsicle stand?”
I nod. “Beyond ready.”
“Well, let me go talk to Beth and Dr. Bennett to see if the paperwork is almost ready,” he says with a smirk.
Within minutes, he is back and we are leaving. The cool wind whips my hair around my face when I stop just outside the hospital doors to breathe in some fresh air. Jett pulls his truck around, opening the door for me. “It's just a short walk over there, you know. You didn't have to bring the truck around,” I say, climbing in carefully.
“Yeah, but I can't have you falling down and getting hurt on my watch,” he says, reaching over me to buckle my seat belt.
“I'm not completely helpless, you know that, right?”
“Yes, I do know that, I was only trying to help,” he says, trying not to laugh at me. I roll my eyes and try to hide the smile threatening to cross my lips.
“No bike today then?” I tease.
“I didn’t think that was appropriate. Also, I got one of those kid’s seats for this thing. Don’t need Ella riding on the back of some bike.” He pauses, thinking. “Ever,” he adds.
Protective already, I like that. In less than thirty minutes we're sitting in front of my new digs. Jett hands me the key and walks me to his door. “Can you stay for a little while?” I ask before I even realize it.
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