Page 13 of Holly's Valentine Vow

She’s lost weight that she really couldn’t afford to lose, and even with makeup, I can see the dark circles under her eyes. She’s been burning the candle at both ends; staying with me at the hospital, helping to take care of me, working on her laptop constantly, and then, spending time with the girls whenever she can.

“She is, but since I’m here now, she’ll go home because they won’t let her stay overnight,” I admit. Part of me is sad because I’ve grown accustomed to her sleeping next to me, but the other part knows she’ll sleep better when she can stretch out.

“I uh, I think I may know who caused your accident,” Samuel says.

I feel Holly lightly flinch and realize she’s now awake, even though she’s feigning sleep. Squeezing her gently, I ask him, “What do you mean?”

“I went out to the house to get the last of my things that were out in the garage,” he replies. “When I opened the garage door, I saw a car covered up with a tarp, which isn’t something we’ve ever done before. After I had the truck loaded, I took it off and found Myra’s car. Rebel, it’s got some massive front-end damage. I snapped some pictures plus took a video of it.”

He pulls his phone out and cues up the video then hands it to me. I can feel Holly shaking now and realize her eyes are open as she watches with me. Once it’s done, I flip through the pictures then stop on one and zoom in. “That looks like… that looks like a piece from your leathers,” Holly whispers, sounding horrified.

“Fuck me,” I growl out. “What did I ever do to her to cause her to do this to me?” Nothing. That’s what. The vindictive bitch is going to face a jury of my brothers unless the cops get her first. Still, we’ll enact our own brand of justice. It might take some time, but she’ll get hers… eventually.

“I don’t know, Rebel, but I’m heading to the police station and will turn it over to whoever’s handling your investigation. Do you have a name?” Samuel asks.

“I do,” Holly replies, maneuvering herself out of the bed. She pulls her wallet out of her purse then fishes out a rectangular business card with a shield logo on it and hands it to Samuel. “The case number is on the back, can you just take a picture of it so I can have the card back?”

“Definitely,” Samuel says. He takes the pictures then hands it back.

“Let me forward that shit to Data,” I demand, holding out my hand for his phone. “And you should probably call your insurance company and file a claim, Samuel.”

“Whatever you need me to do, Rebel,” Samuel promises. “I’ll get all the details from the cop and call it in so they can handle all of your medical bills and of course, any damage done to your bike due to her negligence.”

“It was totaled,” I tell him, my jaw grinding to hide my ire, so I don’t inadvertently take it out on him. It’s not his fault his ex-wife is a psycho.

“Myra’s unhinged, Samuel,” Holly adds. “I don’t understand why she’d target Rebel though.”

“Because you’re happy now,” Samuel replies. “Plus, since she pulled her shit, she hasn’t seen the girls.” I want to snort because that’s her fault, not Holly’s, not mine, and not the girls. She made her damn bed and now she has to lie in it.

“And she definitely won’t now that she’s done this,” I state. “I don’t want our girls exposed to her brand of crazy. Life is hard enough as it is right now.”

“I agree. Okay, I’ll head over to the police department and give them the evidence I captured on my phone so they can do what they need to with respect to the investigation and pressing charges, then call my insurance company and give them y’all’s information,” Samuel advises. “Holly, I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“It’s okay,” she says.

“No, it’s not. You’re exhausted and need your sleep,” Samuel states as he stands to leave. “As soon as I have a claim number from the insurance company, I’ll pass it along, but I suspect they’ll call you for your statement.”

I briefly wonder whether or not I should get the club attorney involved. There’s so much I don’t know when it comes to shit like this, premeditated or otherwise, it might not be a bad idea. I’ll ask Holly once Samuel leaves though. He leans in and kisses Holly’s forehead and reaches over to shake my hand once again.

After he leaves, I look at her and she says, “We need to talk to the club lawyer, Rebel. This is more than I know how to deal with, that’s for sure.”

“Do we share a brain cell or something?” I tease. “Because I was just thinking the same thing and was waiting for Samuel to leave so we could discuss it.”

“I mean, think about it, you have unforeseen expenses heading your way. You’ve spent two weeks at the hospital, had multiple surgeries, there was an ambulance ride, and now rehab. Plus, your bike, the therapies that will have to continue for some time through home healthcare, especially once your casts come off. I’m sure, too, that there’ll be medical supplies we’ll have to have on hand at the house even though you’ll have home health nurses. Oh, and the renovations to my house to make sure you’re able to maneuver around without any problems.”

“What renovations?”

“Pappy and your brothers are working with a contractor to redo my master bathroom,” she admits. “You’re not going to be able to step over the side of the bathtub, so they’re putting in a walk-in shower with a wide bench in the back, complete with handicap bars and a handheld shower.”

“Holly, no,” I drawl out.

“Too late, they’ve already hired a contractor to do the majority of the stuff, but they’ll handle the smaller details such as painting,” she replies. “They’re doing the ramps on the front and back porches, though, and because Pappy held out hope that the police would find out who was responsible, they’ve kept every receipt of the items they’ve purchased, plus a log of the time they’ve put in while doing everything so they can be reimbursed.”

Shaking my head, I grab my phone from the rolling tray that’s beside my bed. “Let me call the club attorney and see what he says we need to do, sweetheart.”

“Well, that was enlightening,” Holly says once Bruce Newman, the club's legal advisor, leaves. “I didn’t even think of the fact that you’d have to report it to your insurance company since it wasn’t your fault. But it makes sense because unless she has decent policy limits, your underinsured motorist coverage will come into play. It might anyhow because of the depth of your injuries.”

“He’s a shark, that’s for sure,” I reply, exhaustion suddenly hitting me. Today’s the longest I’ve been awake, and it’s been quite busy. First with getting me moved from the hospital to rehab, then the shower, followed by Samuel’s impactful revelation. Ever since then, it’s been one phone call afteranother, plus the visit from Bruce. I’m having a hard time keeping the yawns held back.

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