Page 47 of Parrish

Chapter Eighteen

Jack Parrish

After the doctor informed me of Reina’s condition, he suggested we move to the waiting room. Twenty people deep, most dressed in leather, all filled the room and prayed for my wife as she went under the knife. My pregnant daughter being one of them.

When Lacey first arrived, she did her best to assure her little brother his mother would be fine, that the skillful doctors working on her had magical powers in their hands and would fix his mommy right up. As I watched her interact with Danny, I realized no mental illness would interfere with the wonderful mother she was to become.

Danny was discharged shortly after with orders to follow up with his pediatrician in twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Initially, Lacey offered to take him home, but Wolf called his wife, Maria, and she wound up taking Danny home with her. Saying goodbye to my son gutted me. Odd considering, I was becoming a fucking pro at goodbyes. But it was different from this morning. This morning, I was entrusting my sweet boy in his mother’s care. Now, Reina was in surgery and the future was unknown.

A boy needs his mother.

Especially when his father is such a rotten bastard.

“She’s going to be fine, Dad,” Lacey whispers, rubbing her hand down my back. “You need to believe that and not all the grim thoughts running through your head.”

If only it was that easy.

If only I could silence the madness inside me.

“Do you want Blackie to go to the house and get your medication?” she asks. At the mention of my meds, I lift my head and meet her gaze. I’ve always tried to make light of my illness around her, mainly because I didn’t want her to look at me and lose hope for herself. I guess we can only hide so much from our kids.

“The meds make me sick,” I confess. “They debilitate me, and I need to function for Reina and Danny.”

“Okay,” she soothes. “Why don’t we call your doctor and see if she can prescribe something else. Maybe since you’ve been off the Lithium for so long it’ll start working again.”

She should only know, I’ve been popping pills since I left the clubhouse yesterday. In the middle of the night, after my episode with the clocks, I downed half the bottle. Just as I’m about to confess I overhear Deuce question Nico about the accident.

“Do we know what happened to the other driver?” Deuce asks.

My eyes slice to Nico and I focus all my attention on their conversation. He hesitates with his response, shuffling his feet as he looks around the room. His eyes lock with his fathers and he draws in a deep breath.

“Forget the driver,” Blackie says. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”

Nico turns his attention to Blackie then back to his father.

“Go ahead, son,” Wolf encourages.

“Look, I did everything that was asked of me. I offered to drive Reina—hell, I even insisted at one point, but she wasn’t having it. The woman threatened to slash my tires and I mean, well, she married him…” he says, waving his hand toward me. “…so, I wouldn’t put it past her,” he continues. Glancing at me, he holds up his hand and shrugs his shoulders. “No offense, Uncle Jack.”

“Continue with the story, Nico,” Wolf orders.

“She appeared okay when we left the house,” Nico continues. “You could tell she was upset, but she wasn’t crying,” he adds, turning his gaze to me. “She put Danny in the car and peeled out of the driveway. I followed her like you told me to. At some point, I got stuck at a light. When I caught up to her, she was three cars ahead of me. I didn’t see the collision but a witness on the scene said a vintage Cadillac hit her from behind and pushed her into the semi. I heard the impact over my engine, but I didn’t know it was Reina until I saw the car flip…”

I close my eyes as he continues, revealing how he found Reina laying in the middle of the street unconscious and Danny trapped in the backseat hysterical crying. As soon as the ambulance arrived, they started working on Reina. Nico stayed with Danny and tried to calm him down while the fire department used the jaws of life to free him from the car.

“I took some pictures,” he said. “You know in case you want to sue…”

“Back up,” I say, lifting my eyes to his. “You said there was a witness.”

“Yeah, I don’t have her information but I’m sure the cops do. The driver of the semi is in surgery. He was in bad shape too and I don’t believe he’ll be talking anytime soon but if he tries to make a case or accuses Reina of blowing the light, the woman gave a statement. That’s gotta count for something.”

“What about the blue and whites that were following you when you left that mutt, Ritzer’s office?” Pipe questions.

“They disappeared last night,” I tell him, keeping my eyes on Nico. “You said that she was hit from behind,” I continue, my mind drifting back to the night before. The car I thought I imagined could’ve passed for a Cadillac. Maybe I was lucid after all and this whole fucking thing ain’t a coincidence.

“That’s right,” Nico confirms with a nod as he crosses his arms against his chest.

“What happened to the Cadillac?” Pipe asks before I can.

---