by Nicole Fox
“She’s … okay.” The doc’s tone was not convincing. Chopper couldn’t put his finger on it, but something filled him with unease. He scrutinized the woman, from her messy blonde bun to the scrubs on her feet. She had bags under her eyes; he guessed she’d been woken up in order to do this job.
“Can I go back to see her?” Chopper took a step forward even before he finished his sentence, but to his surprise, the ER doctor held up her hand.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she said, and she sounded like she meant it. “I was told to inform you that she won’t see you.”
It didn’t register. “What? Just let me talk to her.” He took another step, subconsciously, and the woman moved to block his way. She was thin, but tall, and her presence was surprisingly arresting. She gave him a level glance from behind her glasses.
“I can’t let you in there, sir,” she said. “She says that you are not her husband, and she doesn’t want to see you. I am bound to make sure her wishes are honored.”
“She wouldn’t say that,” Chopper protested. But there was no hint of a lie in the doctor’s face. “She’s pregnant with my kid. I brought her here.”
The doctor looked at him. This time, her voice was softer when she spoke. “I am sorry to have to tell you this.” She sighed. “The baby didn’t make it.”
It took a moment for the words to hit him, and when they did, Chopper stepped back. He searched for words and didn’t find any. “Oh,” he managed finally. Then, “And she won’t see me?”
“That is what she said.”
“Well …” He had to stop to gather his splintered thoughts. “Tell her I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here when she gets out. I don’t care how long that takes.”
The doctor pursed her lips. “Sir, I’m not sure that’s wise.”
“Good thing I’m not a wise man.” Chopper backed up and planted himself into the same seat as before, holding his head in his hands. He had a throbbing headache in his temples now, and his mind spun wildly out of control. What was happening? Why wouldn’t Kelsey see him? He thought to ask the ER doc when she thought Kelsey might be released, but she was gone by the time he looked up again. Chopper rubbed his face. He felt lost. His heart hurt. He didn’t understand.
All he really knew was that Kelsey Jones had come into his life in a whirlwind and flipped everything upside down. She’d started out as a bit of a thorn in his side, but then she’d shown him a side of life he had forgotten years ago. She unearthed a side of himself he had forgotten. Hell, if it weren’t for the money, he might quit the Outlaws, marry her, and settle down. Maybe they’d even move somewhere that they could start over. Whatever she wanted.
The day before, his life had seemed as close to perfect as it had ever been. Now, he could practically see it unraveling. Something clenched in Chopper’s chest, and he shoved it down and locked it away. Now was not the time to feel things. He’d have plenty of room to do that once he and Kelsey got past this — or, said a small voice in the back of his head — after it’s all been torn down.
Chopper felt like he was going crazy. He needed a distraction. For the first time in a few hours, he checked his phone, feeling a sudden pang of guilt. Kelsey’s plight had left him so consumed that he had forgotten to check in on the war that was raging. He was relieved to see no major news, just a text from Red to let him know that the Mongols had finally beat a retreat about an hour before. Chopper walked to the far end of the emergency room, near the door, and called Red.
“Where you been, Chop?” Red drawled. “We were startin’ to think they might’ve got you.”
“No,” said Chopper. He was too tense for levity. “Kelsey had a situation. We had to go to the hospital.”
“Oh, shit.” Red drew a breath. “I didn’t think she was that far along.”
“She’s not.” Chopper didn’t let the words linger for more than half a second. “Give me a report, real time. What’s happening?”
“Ah, we’re just playing fire brigade now. ‘Bout an hour ago, all the Mongols up and left real quick. Pulled out like … the tide.”
That was weird. Chopper filed it away in his brain. “You see Spike?” he asked.
“Negative. You?”
“Nope. He went after Kelsey, but by the time I found her, he was gone.”
“Hmm.” Red pondered. “You think he’ll be coming back today?”
“Maybe. But I don’t even want to give him the chance.” A plan was forming in Chopper’s mind. It was aggressive, but he wasn’t in the mood to take anything else lying down. “Listen. I’m not about to give that bastard any time to regroup. We’re gonna put a force together, and we’re gonna storm their goddamn rat’s nest and kill every last one of them if we have to. You get me?”
“I get you,” Red said mildly. “Are you coming?”
Chopper didn’t answer right away. Part of him wanted desperately to say yes—to shrug off the hurts of this new situation with some good old-fashioned violence. He was sure that giving Spike the beat down of his lifetime would be cathartic, at the very least. But even in the wake of cold rejection, he couldn’t bring himself to leave his girl.
“I have to be here for Kelsey,” he said. “She needs me right now. Besides, I trust you and Hoss to go there and get shit done.”
“As you should.” Red sounded pleased. “Tell us what you want. We’ll do it for you.”
“It’s simple,” Chopper said slowly, relishing every word. “Make him pay.” Everything that Spike had done to him, to Kelsey, to the Outlaw compound, needed to be avenged. And ultimately, Spike Lawler needed to die. Chopper could see the vicious cycle in his mind’s eye, spinning on and on, uglier and uglier, for the rest of his life.
With or without Kelsey, he decided in that instant that he was done. In a perfect world, he would be there to deliver the final blow himself. But right now, there was something even greater to him than exacting vengeance on Spike Lawler. He had to try and salvage the life he realized he wanted.
“Take your time,” he said to Red. “And remember everything. I’m living through you right now.”
“I’ll have a full report.” Red was smirking.
“All right. Go rally your troops. Move out as soon as you can.”
“Roger.” The line went dead. Chopper’s world fell back into brooding silence for a few moments. Then his phone went off. He answered automatically without looking, knowing it wouldn’t be Kelsey.
It was Hoss. “I want to tell you something I’ve been sittin’ on a long time,” he said, his voice heavy and laconic. “And before you get on my ass, I been ready to raid the fuckin’ Mongols for twenty years, but I gotta wait for Red to get everyone together. So, there’s a little time right now.”
Chopper chuckled slightly. “You got me,” he said.
In the background, a lighter flared. Hoss inhaled slowly, then exhaled even slower. “I lost a kid once,” he said finally. “Years ago.” A pause, during which he took another drag. “I didn’t know that they could have freak accidents before they was even born, but … mine did. Only time I ever met him was after.”
“I’m sorry, Hoss.” Again, Chopper was speechless. He decided it would be most prudent not to say anything at all besides for his condolences.
“That first month was fuckin’ hell,” Hoss said. “Didn’t even know I wanted to be a dad ‘til I couldn’t be one anymore.” He laughed flatly. “Few months later, I became an Outlaw. Never looked back. But maybe I should have. Y’know, once in a while.” Another pause, this one longer and weightier.
“Anyway, Red told me. So I thought I should tell you.” His voice was undercut by the drone of an approaching bike. “Here comes the posse,” he said, his voice wry. “Guess I’ll be seeing you.”
“Good luck,” Chopper said quietly. It was not what he had wanted to come out of his mouth, but anything else seemed even cheaper. Before he had the chance to amend himself, Hoss terminated the call. Slowly, his heart thudding in his chest, Chopper slipped his phone back
into his pocket and made his way tiredly across the waiting room to the chair he was beginning to view as his own. He watched the doors to the back rooms for as long as he could, but after he couldn’t take it anymore, he looked away. There was something comforting and painless about the bland, featureless walls, marked only by a simple pain chart on a scale of one to ten. Chopper’s body was starting to feel heavy with exhaustion, but his soul felt even heavier.
When was the last time he had felt so alone?
Chapter Sixteen
Kelsey
The room was dark when she opened her eyes, and Kelsey swallowed a sharp stab of panic. In a moment, the memories came rushing back. She sagged against the pillows, rubbing her eyes. Everything she did seemed to be in slow motion. She looked to the left, then to the right, taking in the tall silhouette of her IV pole, the bright numbers denoting her vital signs. The clock on the wall, just barely illuminated, read shortly after nine. From her prone position on the bed, she could see stars dotting the black sky.
She sat up, shaking the remnants of sleep from her head. She had a headache, but not a bad one — just a stuffy feeling behind her eyes. The door was open to the dimly lit hall, which was apparently empty. Kelsey yawned. She scratched the back of her head. Did she have a plan for this? No, she didn’t. As far as she was concerned, she was renouncing Spike and the Outlaws — her whole way of life — for good. The best she could hope for was a clean start.
A soft knock at the door jolted her back into reality. Kelsey turned and saw the same nurse who held her hand when she’d arrived in the ER standing in the threshold. She crossed to the side of the bed and sat down, examining Kelsey’s face with an air of maternal tenderness.
“You look a little better tonight,” she said cheerfully. “How do you feel, sweet pea?”
“I feel okay.” Her voice came out scratchy and hoarse from disuse. The nurse handed her a cup of water with a straw.
“Poor thing.” She looked at the display on the vitals machine. “Well, your signs look like you’re back to normal. Are you feeling any discomfort?”
“Not really.” It was mostly true. Every so often, she felt a dull pain between her hips, but mentioning that would mean acknowledging the things that had happened in the last day. Kelsey didn’t think she was ready to do that. Instead, she made herself smile.
“How about your heart?” asked the nurse.
The question caught Kelsey so off guard that tears sprang to her eyes before she knew what was happening. She tried to say something, but ended up only covering her mouth to keep from sobbing. Her heart was in shreds, for a lot of reasons. She felt hollow.
The nurse scooted over and wrapped Kelsey in a warm, tight hug. “I don’t know how you got here, honey,” she said softly. “But don’t give up. I can tell you’ve made a few mistakes, and I’m here to let you know it’s still going to turn out fine as long as you keep your chin up high. You understand?”
Kelsey nodded and swiped at her eyes. She sniffled. The nurse gave her a tissue and continued.
“Now, you’ve got one thing going for you that I don’t see with a lot of girls who come through here, and that’s a good, steadfast man. Do you know he’s been out there the whole time you’ve been in here?”
Kelsey blinked. “What?”
“I just saw him before I came in here,” said the nurse. “He’s sleeping on the chairs. He’ll probably need a real good chiropractor when he gets up.”
Kelsey’s face tightened. “I don’t want to see him,” she said. “I told him that already.”
The nurse arched an eyebrow. “Well, he doesn’t seem to have gotten the message, honey.”
The tears threatened to erupt again. Kelsey bit them back. A wave of frustrated anger momentarily eclipsed her sadness. She should have known Chopper would be too bullheaded to do what she asked. It was just like him to keep on being an incredible pain in the ass. Why couldn’t he just make it easy for her? She let out her breath and turned away, mumbling, “It doesn’t matter.”
She could feel that the nurse wanted to say something, maybe guide her gently toward a more charitable mindset, and she braced herself for it. But a voice called from the hallway, and she heard the woman go out. After a second, Kelsey looked over her shoulder. The door was still open. As far as she could tell, the corridor was empty. Another second of thought was all it took. Kelsey gritted her teeth and pulled out the IV in her arm, leaving the tube neatly on her bed tray. She got up and grabbed her bag, and the clothes that were laid on the visitor’s chair. They smelled like medicine and laundry soap; someone had washed them while she was sleeping. She thought about scrawling a quick, apologetic “thank you,” but she had no writing utensils and no paper. Instead, she just put her feet into her shoes and crept to the doorway, peeking around it like a stowaway.
The hall was quiet and empty — she could see the nurses’ station at the end was dark. Just beyond that were the set of doors leading out to the room where Chopper was. Kelsey didn’t want to go that way, but she didn’t think she had a choice. The hospital was huge and sprawling, and she couldn’t take the risk of getting lost or caught, or accidentally setting off an alarm. Plus, she just didn’t have time to really think about what she was going to do. If she waited too long, the nurse would come back and her window of opportunity would disappear. So, she slipped through the door and scurried down the corridor, trying to keep her shoes as quiet as possible on the tiled floor. When she got to the big double doors out to the waiting area, she took a deep breath to steel herself and pushed them open.
He wasn’t there. The chairs were mostly empty except for a scared-looking woman sitting alone, huddled under a blanket. Kelsey felt a pang of sympathy, but she kept moving, walking quickly without daring to look back. Her ears were tuned for the sound of the doors swinging open behind her, of someone calling her name.
It never happened. Before she knew it, she was stepping out into the cool dark night. The sign above the door splashed red light onto the asphalt, and as Kelsey walked away from it, she could feel the shadows descending around her. She shoved her hands in her pockets, kept her head down. Her stomach felt strange and flat beneath the strap of her purse.
Where would she go now? Even if she could bring herself to face Chopper, she was sure he wouldn’t forgive her for the little stunt she had just pulled. She thought about the place she’d given up to live with Spike, and wished she had exercised just a bit more forethought. But back then, she’d been riding almost exclusively on hope and the confidence that things would somehow work out. She was empowered by her determination to seek justice for her sister. And now, all that was gone.
Kelsey had failed in everything she set out to do, and she had burned every bridge that would bring her back to the world she lived in before. Ironically, either the Mongols or the Outlaws could have helped her get new documents if she wanted to change her identity, but it was too late for that. She was stuck being Kelsey Jones, bereaved and fallen from grace.
She walked as far as the edge of the lot, where she paused to assess the situation. The hospital sat near an entrance to the freeway, which was preceded by a moderately busy two-lane road. If she followed that road, eventually she’d end up back in the city. On foot, the trip would take hours. Kelsey shrugged to herself as she turned onto the sidewalk. It wasn’t like she had anything else to do, or anywhere else to be.
She’d barely gotten twenty feet when a car came rushing around the nearest lane of parked vehicles, its headlights blaring directly into her face. Kelsey threw up an arm to shield her eyes, and because she did that, she didn’t immediately see who was there. All she heard was a voice, which filled her blood with ice.
“There you are, little lady.” Someone grabbed her roughly by the waist, lifting her off her feet. Kelsey tried to scream, but hands clamped firmly over her mouth. A blindfold snaked its way around her head. She felt it knot tightly at her nape.
“We been lookin’ for you for a while. Ain’t Spike gonna b
e pleased.”
She didn’t say anything in response. The men swung her around so that she was suspended on her back in the air, and then they put her down—into what she quickly realized was the trunk of a car. “Don’t you look pretty lying there,” one of them said. “Now be a good girl and open wide.” Kelsey’s skin crawled. She kept her jaw firmly locked closed, and when she felt them prying her mouth open, she fought as hard as she could. A few fingers were bitten, some curses were uttered, and she was hit across the face, hard. Stars popped behind the blindfold. Her neck and jaw went slack. Something bitter poured onto her tongue.
Then everything faded away.
# # #
The two Mongols exchanged a glance, standing over the girl’s unconscious form in the open trunk. The one on the right nursed a couple of bleeding fingers, scowling down at the mark he’d left on her smooth white cheek. “Didn’t want to hurt ya, sweetheart. Wasn’t going to.”