Page 26 of Ryder's War

She croaked out a quiet, “Yes.”

Staring down in the weird-ass way that only Darkness could, he allowed the silence to stretchout until he finally said, “That ain’t gonna be some shit I just overlook.”

Glancing around nervously, Abby wrung her hands in her lap. “I know; I can make it up to you, babe. Just give me a chance.”

Suddenly, a physician walked into the room along with the senior Dr. Reynolds and a nurse. The physician Ryder didn’t know, stated casually, “Dr. Reynolds has ordered a paternity test. I’m told it was at your request?”

Darkness stared up at the white-haired man wearing thick glasses. “Did you come in here to tell me a bunch of shit I already know?”

Ryder frowned at his irritated friend. Darkness was in a truly shitty mood most of the time, but being injured had really killed off any pleasantness he once had. Ryder didn’t blame his friend for his darker than normal mood, though. He blamed the woman sitting at his side, smiling at him and pretending to care about his well-being.

Glancing at the older physician, Ryder watched him squirm. Dr. Nathan Thomas wasn’t used to dealing with men like Darkness. The only reason Ryder knew the doctor’s name was because it was embroidered on his fancy lab coat. The pompous man deflated rather quickly under his club president’s withering stare.

Club hierarchy didn't translate well to hospital corridors, but some things were universal, like a father's right to protect his child. Even lying in a hospital bed with a hole in his back, Darkness commanded the room like he commanded the streets.

Clearing his throat, old Doc Reynolds motioned the nurse forward. “This is Kaylee. She’s going to draw blood samples from the three of you and—”

“You ain’t waking up my daughter to poke a needle in her skin,” Darkness growled.

Dr. Reynolds ran his fingers down the front of his suit. It was an odd gesture, and Ryder didn’t know quite what to make of it. “Blood tests have a higher degree of reliability, and they are faster—”

“Don’t give a fuck,” his prez cut him off. “Take a hair sample or a mouth swab. I ain’t in any hurry, and you are not going to make my little one cry tonight.”

The nurse hurried away and returned quickly with what looked like giant Q-tips. She swabbed the two adults first, then Abby squeezed open the little one’s mouth, and the nurse quickly dipped the swab in. All in all, it appeared to be a pretty painless procedure.

When it was all said and done, and the nurse excused herself from the room, Darkness brought the sleeping child up to his face and kissed her on the forehead. “Now, about me getting out of here.”

Dr. Thomas spoke as he flipped through Darkness’ chart. “Dr. Reynolds has agreed toprovide close monitoring, and against my better judgment, I’ve written a discharge order. As we discussed, you had to have one lung repaired, and you sustained a bit of internal damage. Though it’s been repaired, you must stay off your feet and refrain from heavy lifting in order to heal properly.”

Looking down at the child sleeping in his arms, Darkness reluctantly allowed Abby to take her again. Tiffany came in with another nurse and a wheelchair then, and after some kerfuffling about, Ryder found himself in the bizarre situation of helping Darkness into the back of an SUV. Abby climbed in beside him with their little one, Tiffany got into the passenger side, and Ryder elected to drive, knowing his brothers would be close behind.

He headed straight for the clubhouse since they were on lock-down until the situation with the Seven Devils could be unraveled. Dr. Reynolds followed with Ven and Hickory, though he didn’t seem a bit happy about babysitting the world’s scariest biker.

Since Darkness was in no condition to be climbing stairs, Hickory stepped up and had made arrangements for their president’s office to be traded out for his king-size bed and dresser. There was a tiny bathroom with a stand-up shower,making it the perfect set up until he made a full recovery. As icing on the cake, the brothers had made a run to some all-night department store and bought baby stuff, so everything was taken care of on all fronts.

Spinning around some strange kind of toy hanging off the side of the crib, Ryder tried to imagine Darkness toting around a tiny daughter with pretty dark hair and eyes. The whole situation was brazenly bizarre, as far as he was concerned.

Pulling off his clothing, Tiffany and Ven got Darkness into bed. Motioning to the crib, he wheezed while holding his chest. “Bring the crib over here. I want to see her while she sleeps.”

Oh yeah, Darkness was getting all kinds of attached to his little one. But who could blame the man? The kid was sweet, and more importantly his own flesh and blood.

Ven and Hickory pulled the crib over right beside his side of the bed, and Abby laid her down on the soft sheets.

In typical Darkness fashion, he rasped, “Go, I’m tired.”

Dr. Reynolds nodded. “I have to check on you every hour, so don’t get pissy.”

Quick as lightning, Darkness retorted, “I was born pissy, asshole.”

The older man frowned. “I’m going to mark that down to the pain.”

Ven slapped the older man good-naturedly on the back. “Go get yourself a drink and a whore, doc. You’re single, so you might as well enjoy your time here.”

For a second, Ryder thought the uptight physician would protest, but he surprised him. “Thank you. It’s been a long night.”

Hickory murmured, “We’ve set you up a nice room near the bar.” Turning to Darkness, he asked, “What about Abigail? Shall I make her up a room or are you sharing your bed?”

Getting comfortable on his pillow, Darkness replied coldly, “Bitch can sleep on the fucking floor for all I care.”

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