Chapter Fifteen

AXYL

“Reaper, speed up! She’s bleeding out. I can’t stop it. I can’t lose her. Drive faster!” I shout, needing to vent my fear and frustration on someone. Reaper, unfortunately, is the one at the wheel.

“Axyl, chill out. He’s going as fast as he can. We don’t want to crash before we even get there,” Westyn snaps back. He’s right, I know he is, but it’s my girl we’re talking about.

“The love of my life. I can’t lose her. I can’t lose our babies.

“Sorry. I can’t lose her. She’s bleeding too much. She can’t lose these babies. She’d be heartbroken. So heartbroken, I don’t think anyone, not even the boys, could bring her back to us.

She’d retreat into herself. She’d never be the same. Sure, we can always have more babies, but Jacey and Macey are the only good things that came from that whole mess with Alexander,” I say.

He knows I’m right.

“I know, but we’ll all be there for her. Don’t think the worst. You never know what’s going to happen,” Westyn says.

“We’re almost at the hospital,” Doc announces as Reaper brings the car to a jarring stop. “I’m going to get special clearance. I’m the only one who’s going to handle Ali.”

“We wouldn’t want anyone else,” I say as Westyn and I rush Aliana toward the entrance. “My wife needs help! Someone, please help her! She’s three months pregnant!”

Doctors and nurses swarm us, and we lay her on a gurney.

“I’m Doctor Adams. I’ve been asked to take care of Aliana,” Doc says.

“Of course, Doctor. You have clearance,” the doctor tells Doc. “This is as far as you can go. Let us take care of your wife.”

WESTYN

My little sister shouldn’t have to face this. She shouldn’t have to confront the possibility of losing the one good thing that came from her terrible ordeal.

Why does she have to endure this? I’d take it all away if I could. But all we can do now is sit and wait. Axyl is a wreck. He was barking orders the whole ride here. I’m just as scared as he is.

She’s my little sister. I’m supposed to protect her, and yet, I’ve failed twice now. I didn’t protect her when she left, and I didn’t protect her when he came back for her.

The entire club is here to support her and those babies. They aren’t even born yet, and they are already so loved. Aliana was always so cherished and loved. All of the club’s girls were.

Reaper is her best friend, and he’s not doing well either. He and my mom were the only ones who knew when and why she left. The guys at my table all grew up with Aliana and me.

All the children of the founders grew up together, but not all of them want to be part of the club. We don’t mind though, we’ve always been encouraged to follow our dreams.

Some of us want to stay in the club, and others, like Reaper’s brother, choose a different path. “Has anyone called mom?” I ask, turning to my dad.

“I did. She’s on her way. I told her to have Vanessa drive because I don’t want her to risk an accident. I know she’s a mess right now.”

Vanessa is Axyl’s mom and has been there every step of the way. As the VP’s old lady, she and my mom are best friends. All the moms are best friends, and it shows in how they interact.

I’m surprised they all aren’t on their way here. “I also told the other guys who stayed behind what happened. They’ll be here soon as well. The other ol’ ladies wouldn’t stay at home. They want to be here too.”

That answers that question.

“Daddy!” Danny runs up to Axyl when they arrive with Calvin. Calvin has always been like a second dad to us. He was my dad’s VP before Axyl took over for him.

Our fathers passed their positions to us when they felt it was the right time to step down. We wouldn’t get our spots without earning them and until all our fathers were ready to give up their seats. “Where’s mommy?”

I’m not sure when they started calling Aliana mommy, but I’m not mad about it. If Axyl and my sister are okay with it, then so am I.

I knew how it affected them when Lana beat them for no reason, other than being a spiteful bitch, and I know my sister will be the best mom she can be for those boys.

“She’s with the doctors, buddy.” He explains.

“Hey, Uncle Westyn.” Murdock comes up to me. You can tell by his expression that he knows what’s going on by the look on his face.

“Hey, squirt.” I lift him onto my lap after I sit in one of the uncomfortable chairs. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Dad said that mom is going to be okay, but he didn’t say if my sisters are going to be okay. I helped name them, you know. I want them to be okay. That bad man kicked them.

“They’re going to be okay, right?” He asks. For a damn nine-year-old, he’s smart as hell.

“I’m not sure, pal. All we can do is wait. Maybe we can see if anyone needs help?” I suggest. Keeping busy always helps me. Maybe it’ll work for him too.

AXYL

The waiting is the worst part. It lets your mind wander, and it always seems to wander to the worst-case scenarios. We’ve been here for two hours, and still no news.

I just hope Aliana and the babies are okay. I can’t lose her. We can always have more kids, but I can’t lose these ones. And she can’t lose them either.

Why is it taking so long? And even when she does come out, how long will we have to wait for her to wake up?

I can’t bear the thought of her waking up and having to tell her that the girls she’s been carrying for three months are gone. How do you even do that? I can’t imagine having to.

She’ll be devastated. She’ll spiral. I can feel it in my gut that she will if she loses them. I just have to keep telling myself that they’re going to be okay. He didn’t hurt them.

They’re strong. They’re fighters. Just like their mother. She’s a fighter. I know Jacey and Macey are too. Hell, even Alex is a fighter, and that’s a bitter pill to swallow.

They’ve got fighter blood.

“What’s taking so long?” Reaper echoes my thoughts. They’ve always been close. He was her best friend growing up. She’s always been loved and protected, just like the other girls.

The club is our family, and even though she left, the club was always her family. Reaper knew where she was when she left. They kept in touch, but they lost contact when she got involved with that bastard.

Now we know why. It’s all because of him. This whole mess is because of that son of a bitch. I don’t regret starting a war by not just shooting him, but killing him.

“I don’t know, man. It’s been two hours. They should be out any time now. Hopefully,” I respond quietly.

“They’re all going to be okay. They’re all fighters. My daughter is a fighter and so are my granddaughters,” Robert says.

“Yeah, son, we all raised that girl. We know how strong she is, and we know those babies will be too. Just stay strong for your boys. They need you now. Especially after what they went through with their mother.

“They took a liking to Ali, and Murdock took a liking to her before she left. They need you to be strong because they don’t know how to process the fact that they might lose her too. They got attached to those babies.

“Hell, we all did. Just keep the faith,” My dad advises.

“Come here, boys,” I call to my sons. They look worn out. They look scared, and all I can do is comfort them. They come over, and I sit each of them on one of my knees. “It’s going to be okay.

“Mama is going to make it, and so are your sisters. Why don’t you two go take a nap?”

“Okay, daddy. I love you,” Danny says, hugging me. I hug him back and pull Murdock into the hug too.

“I love you both so much. I’ll always be here for you. You two are the most important things in the world to me. Now, go take a nap, and I’ll wake you when we can go see mama.”

They nod, giving me a tight hug before they go over to one of the long chairs and lay down.

“Brothers.” We all turn to see Doc standing at the door, his face expressionless. Two and a half hours later, and he’s finally out. I just hope it’s good news.

“How is she? How are my kids?” I barrage Doc with questions.

“Calm down. It was touch and go. When we got her here, she was starting to hemorrhage. We were able to stop the bleeding and the contractions. We did an ultrasound, and the babies look fine. They’ll need to be monitored closely for the rest of the pregnancy. We don’t want to take any risks. I want her to have check-ups once a week for the foreseeable future. We had to surgically repair her nose.

“He managed to shatter the bone completely, but one of their best ENT surgeons worked on that. She has a severe concussion. She was extremely lucky, and so were the girls,” he explains.

I can see everyone in the room visibly relax. The babies are okay, and my girl is okay. The boys didn’t lose their sisters or their mama. I didn’t lose the love of my life and the precious gifts growing inside her.

“Thanks, Doc. When can we see her? When will she wake up?” Westyn asks.

“She’s being moved to a room now. You can go see her as soon as she’s settled. I’d tell you that not all of you can go in, but I know that’s not going to happen.

“She’s going to be here for a few days at least, and the girls will be under observation the whole time. I’m going to stay with her the entire time,” Doc says.

“Okay. I want everyone who isn’t part of the executive committee to head back to the safe house and clean up before heading to the clubhouse,” Westyn instructs while I walk toward the boys.

I pick up Danny, and my dad picks up Murdock. “We’ll keep you updated as we find out more.”

“Let’s go see mama, boys,” I tell them as we follow Doc to her room. I’m just relieved I don’t have to tell her she lost our babies. If only I could tell her that this is all over, but it’s far from over. It’s just begun.