Page 175 of Heartbeats & Highways

Chapter 46

After we walked awayfrom the burning house, we drove to the hospital. The nurse looked ready to call security; a barefoot woman covered in blood showing up with bikers inspired a lot of questions. Savage pulled her aside and said something intense, because she immediately backed off and showed us to a room.

The nurse gave me a pair of clean scrubs and removed the shards of glass from my foot. They hooked me up to a fetal monitor and Savage cleaned the blood from my face while she took my blood pressure. The last measure had been a sonogram.

Everything had looked good; the babies were safe, and their heart rates were normal. The doctor told me to see my OBGYN just to ensure there were no potential issues.

“The ER’s been quiet tonight,” the doctor said. “No one saw you come in, but you guys need to leave. I’ll get a nurse to take you out the back.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Savage shook his hand.

Crow knocked on the door of the hospital room and came in to give me a pair of flip-flops.

We left the hospital. The scent of disinfectant lingered in my nose and my throat was sore from the Grand Matriarch’s fingers.Duke pulled the car into a parking lot of a highway motel on the other side of town.

“I’ll check us in and get the keys,” Duke said, cutting the engine.

“Thanks, brother,” Savage murmured.

“Sure thing.” Duke looked at me over his shoulder. “You hungry? Thirsty?”

I didn’t reply.

Duke looked to Savage for direction.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of her later.”

Duke nodded and then climbed out of the car. He shut the driver’s side door and then I watched him walk with Crow to the check-in building.

“Babe?” Savage reached into my lap and took my hand. “Jesus. You’re freezing. Why didn’t you say anything?”

I hadn’t spoken since we’d left the hospital.

Savage took both my hands in his and rubbed them between his own, not caring that mine were stained with blood.

“We’ll get you into a room, have a nice hot shower. I’ll wash your hair.” He stared at my fingers. “And your fingernails.”

When I still said nothing, he droned on. “You’re in shock. So I’m just gonna keep talking until you come back to me. But you take your time. And when you’re ready, you’ll tell me everything. Okay?”

I stared at him, wanting the words to come out of my mouth, but they remained steadfastly trapped.

“I woke up about thirty minutes after you were—you were taken. Hell of a headache, blurry vision. Thank Christ I was in a hospital parking lot, yeah?” He shook his head. “Doctors told me I needed a CAT scan while Prez and the others formulated a plan. We knew it was your . . . family that took you.”

He kept talking, but his words had no meaning. I was trapped in my body, in the horror of what I’d done.

“Willa had a healthy baby girl. And she told Duke to go with me.”

That seemed to shake me out of my stupor.

“Why?” I croaked. “Why did she let him go when she just had a baby?”

“I took a bullet for Duke once,” was all he said in explanation. “I’m not cleared to drive for a few days. He offered.”

“Acid?”

“Out of surgery. But his brain is badly swollen. So, we don’t know if . . .”

I looked at my hands that were held between his palms and tugged them free. I glanced at my fingertips. My nails were stained with blood. I curled my hands into fists, so I didn’t have to see them.

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