“Sweetheart, we’re just about to the hospital. Can I go in with you when they take you back to a room?” Marie asks me, her voice soft and gentle unlike how hard it was in the clubhouse.
“Yes. I don’t want to be alone. Please don’t leave me alone. All three of you can come back if that’s what it takes,” I say, my voice pleading with them as Rooster pulls up to the front door and Jace jumps out of the SUV to go get some help.
“We won’t leave you alone, Oaklynn. You’re family now and we’re always there for family. Don’t give a fuck what my son thinks. You’re givin’ us a grandbaby and we aren’t goin’ anywhere,” Rooster promises as Jace rushes back out with a group of people.
“Let’s get her inside. I’ve got an obstetrician on the way down to see her and make sure the baby is okay. I’m not gonna ask what happened because I have a feeling we won’t get the truth of the situation anyway. If you guys want the cops involved you can call them and get them here,” one of the nurses says, a smirk on her face as Marie smiles at her.
“I’m going in back with her. She doesn’t want to be alone and I’m not gonna let it happen. She also wants at least one of these guys with her,” Marie states as two of the nurses reach into the SUV and help me move out of the backseat.
“She can have you and one other person. If the dad of the baby is here, we’d prefer him to be in the room. If not, one guy can go in with her,” another nurse states as I’m laid on a gurney and rushed inside the hospital.
I hold out my hand expecting Jace or Marie to take it from me. Instead, the large, warm hand of Omen takes mine as he rushes next to the gurney as I’m taken in the back of the emergency room. From there, everything moves very quickly. I’m hooked up to an IV and a bag of fluid is started. An older man is barking out orders as someone starts to clean up my face. Everyone is moving around and creating chaos in the small room I’ve been wheeled into. Marie and Omen are on the same side of the gurney so they’re out of the way. I’m asked if my stomach is bothering me or there’s any kind of pain I’m feeling. One question after another is tossed my direction and I’m having a hard time answering them and keeping up with what’s happening around me. Marie tries to make Omen leave when they bring in the ultrasound machine because he’s getting nervous about seeing the baby. However, he doesn’t leave and instead leans against the wall of the room with his eyes locked on the wall across from him. I close my eyes for a few minutes while they get me ready. This is not how I was planning on spending my day and I don’t recommend it.
Chapter Five
Omen
INSTEAD OF GETTINGin bed like I was planning on doing after my shower, I find myself getting dressed once again and heading down to the common room. Before I get to the last steps, I hear a commotion and people rushing into the room to surround a table not far from the hallway leading to the bathrooms, offices, and back door leading outside. When a few of the guys shift around, the sight greeting me has my vision turning red. Oaklynn is sitting at the table, blood covering her face as she sways slightly in the chair. My parents and Grudge surround her as I roar out to find out what the fuck is going on. When I hear Darian and Meisha did this to her, rage consumes me and I growl out that I want them gone. I might not know what the fuck I’m feeling when it comes to Oaklynn or what I want to do about it, but they hurt this innocent woman who is carrying my baby. Yes, I fully believe the baby is mine. Oaklynn isn’t the type of person to lie about something like that and be able to keep it up for as long as she has been. This is why Melissa has been treating me differently over the last several months.
Melissa hasn’t been outright mean or anything, but she’s regarded me with a coolness I haven’t ever seen or felt from her. Homicide would talk to her in hushed tones before she’d look at me again and lose the attitude. I’m sure she’s one of the only ones who knew about the pregnancy and that I’m the father of the baby. That knowledge would make her hate me just because I wasn’t doing anything to help her best friend. Oaklynn and Melissa are closer than sisters and love one another in ways I’ve never seen from anyone outside the clubhouse before. Their loyalty to one another is something we could all learn from. Especially with all the shit Melissa’s father and his club members put her through. Oaklynn could’ve easily turned her back on the bullshit and let Melissa suffer alone. Especially after she was hurt by the assholes but she didn’t. Oaklynn has stood by her friend's side and never once let her go through anything alone. Even living hours away with her aunt and uncle.
By the time we all left the clubhouse, I was pissed at Grudge. He was taking care of Oaklynn the way I should’ve been. Including holding the towel against her head to try and stop the bleeding. If I had been thinking about anything other than hurting those two skanks, I would’ve moved him away from her and taken care of her wounds and tried to reassure her that I wasn’t going anywhere. At least until I knew she was okay. No, I won’t hurt the girls physically, but I have no problem calling in someone to beat the absolute fuck out of them and make sure they know this shit isn’t gonna happen in the Dirty Slayers clubhouse. Darian and Meisha will get what’s coming to them and they’ll be banned from the clubhouse and all of our businesses in the future. No one will talk to them or go anywhere around the two girls. They’ll be iced out and have no choice but to leave Frostford because of what they’ve done to Oaklynn. I can’t wait to watch them die a social death from their choice to be jealous and try to claim me when they will never be anything to me.
I’m good watching as the doctors and nurses work on Oaklynn. Well, I’m not good because I want to beat the fuck out of someone after seeing this woman hurt and covered in blood. For the first time in my life, I was truly scared the second I saw her looking the way she did when I entered the common room. They quickly clean her wound to see how bad the damage is and it’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be. The cut on her head is less than an inch long and thin as hell. I know head wounds always bleed more than most any other wound, but the amount of blood she lost is terrifying. Her face and shirt are covered in it both on the front and back of her body. Every single time she moves, the shirt pulls at her skin from it sticking to her. I want to remove it from her and give her my shirt to wear and cover her body with. Right now, every part of her is essentially exposed with how her shirt is sticking to her body. I don’t want anyone seeing her like this.
The doctor quickly gets the wound stitched up and so much is going on in the room, I don’t think Oaklynn even realizes what’s going on with her. My eyes never leave the doctor as he works while I listen to every answer Oaklynn gives to the questions being thrown her way. Oaklynn never let’s go of my hand as my mom stands next to me and we remain quiet so we don’t get thrown out of her hospital room. When the obstetrician walks in and tells her she’ll be performing an ultrasound, I’m not sure if I want to remain at her side with my mom. I can feel the excitement rolling off of my mom in waves with the knowledge she’s about to see her grandbaby. Nervousness fills me as I realize I don’t have a choice in the matter because they need to ensure the baby is okay. So, I release Oaklynn’s hand and move to lean against the wall and stare at the one opposite me in the small room.
When a large machine gets wheeled in the room, there truly is no room and no matter where I stand or look, I’ll have to see the screen where our baby will show up. I might not know much about this shit during pregnancy, but I know enough to realize what will happen during this part of Oaklynn’s exam. Unless I close my eyes, I’ll see everything on the screen. Part of me longs to make sure our baby is okay while the other part doesn’t want anything to do with this. I’m torn in two and almost run from the room to send my dad or Grudge back in while I pace the waiting room. Instead, I remain where I am and watch as the technician gets everything set up. Just before she squeezes the gel on Oaklynn’s stomach, the obstetrician walks back in to watch what’s going on and see first-hand the baby on the screen and give direction to the technician.
A loud whooshing sound fills the room causing my mom to gasp as tears fill Oaklynn’s eyes. The sound is steady and strong as I realize we’re listening to my son’s or daughter’s heartbeat. Relief fills me because if we’re hearing their heart beating like this, he or she must be okay. My gaze moves to Oaklynn as she turns her face toward me. A soft smile makes her face light up despite the slightly glazed look in her eyes and the pain filling every inch of her.
“The heartbeat sounds really good. Steady and strong without any indication anything is wrong,” the doctor speaks up before the sound suddenly disappears and we’re thrown back into silence while the technician presses several keys and the screen fills with a grainy image.
My eyes move fully to the screen as our baby appears. From what I can see, he or she is sucking their thumb as they float and move around in Oaklynn’s body. Awe fills me as her stomach moves while the baby moves around. Seeing the baby on the screen makes this situation even more real than it was before and I know I have to make some decisions about what I’ll be doing with my life and Oaklynn moving forward. Decisions that won’t affect just me. No matter what I do, it’s going to determine Oaklynn’s life moving forward and the life of our unborn child. I need time to figure out what the hell I’m going to do and maybe a long talk with my dad. No matter what he thinks or feels, he’ll give me solid advice and help guide me through this situation. My mom will lead me with emotion, but my dad has always been solid and can remove himself from the situation to give me unbiased advice. I just hope he can be the same this time considering I know he realizes the baby will be his grandchild.
“Would you like to know the gender of the baby if you don’t already know?” the technician asks, looking between Oaklynn and myself.