Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“Just peachy,” he groaned as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Now quit fussin’ over me. We gotta get Q to his girl.”
Wrath gave him a pat on the shoulder, then said, “You got it.”
Seconds later, we were on the road and driving toward the clubhouse.
I felt a twinge of guilt for leaving my brothers to search the warehouse without me, but I knew that if there was anything to find, they’d find it, especially with Maverick there. He had a knack for finding shit no one else could find. Besides, I wouldn’t have been much help to them. I was moving slow and struggled to see clearly with my swollen eyes; more than that, my head just wasn’t in it. All I could think about was getting to Jules and seeing for myself that she was okay.
When we got to the clubhouse, Wrath got a couple of prospects to come over and help us out with Rooster. We’d just started inside when Cotton came rushing up with Guardrail and Smokey. The second he saw how bad off we were, Cotton clutched his fists at his sides and growled, “Ah, damn. I’m gonna fucking kill ‘em!”
“We’re good, Prez,” Rooster muttered. “Just need a minute to catch our breath.”
Cotton looked beside himself as he shook his head and said, “Let’s get you boys down to the infirmary.”
I nodded, then Wrath and I helped the others walk Rooster down the hall and into the infirmary. We’d barely gotten him on the gurney when Doc came rushing over. He was much younger than his predecessor, but since they were so closely related, he looked just like him. His father had been the club’s doctor for as long as I could remember, but his time had come to step down and his son stepped in to take his place.
Doc Hollywood had gotten his training at veterinary school but learned real quick that feral cats and breached calves were not his thing. He prospected for the club and had been our Doc ever since. He took a warm rag and started wiping the blood from Rooster’s face as he said, “Damn, you boys really took a beating.”
“Could’ve been worse.”
“You say that now, but when the adrenaline wears off, you’ll be singing a different tune.” Doc worked on Rooster as he asked, “You boys got any specific wounds I need to be aware of?”
“A couple of stab wounds on his thigh and abdomen.”
Doc nodded, then dropped the rag and picked up some scissors. When he started to cut away at his clothes, Rooster leaned up and whined, “Come on Doc. I liked those jeans. They make my ass look good.”
“It’d take more than some fucking jeans to make your ass look good,” I teased. “Now, quit your belly-aching and let Doc do his job.”
“And what about you?”
“Doc can check me out later. It’s time I go see about Jules.”
“Need to let her rest, brother,” Doc ordered. “She’s been through quite an ordeal.”
“You guys keep saying that shit, but you’re not telling me a damn thing! What the hell happened with her and the ex?” My throat tightened as I asked, “Did he hurt her? Did he touch her? Tell me!”
“He roughed her up a bit, but she held her own.”
“Goddamn it! I’ll fucking kill him!”
“All in good time, son. All in good time.”
“I gotta see her, Prez.”
“I know, and you will. But before you do, we need to get you cleaned up. You’re no good to her like this.”
“He’s right,” Doc agreed. “She sees you like this, it’ll scare the hell out of her. She doesn’t need that right now.”
As much as I hated to admit it, I knew he was right. Jules had been through enough. I didn’t need to add to her hellish night by coming in there looking like I’d been run over by a Mack truck. The least I could do was try to make myself look a little more presentable, so I sat down on the gurney and waited for Doc to finish up with Rooster.
He started with the wounds on his thigh. The knife blade was short, so none of them were all that deep. But they still looked pretty gnarly. Doc gave him a shot, hoping it would help ease the pain. Cotton grimaced as he muttered, “This should’ve never happened.”
“No, but we’ll get ‘em. We always do.”
“Just gotta find ‘em first.” Guardrail looked equally concerned when he asked, “They give you guys any clue to who they might be?”
“Afraid not. All I know is they were interested in names. Wanted to know all the brothers and the name of our distributor.”
“What the fuck?”
“We didn’t tell him shit, Prez,” Rooster grumbled. “Die before ...”
He passed out before he could finish his thought, but we all knew exactly what he was going to say. Doc finished patching him up, then turned his attention to me. He put a cold compress on my face and eyes, then cleaned each of my wounds and stitched up a couple. When he was done, Doc got me some fresh clothes, and after a quick shower, I was ready to go see Jules.