Torn Read online

  “Brody, I don’t know. I don’t know what to tell you. She’s exhausted, stressed, and pregnant. It could be a few minutes or a few hours. Just stay here—”

  “Barb, where’s Jaxon?” Leila’s voice rang out, full of panic.

  *****

  Leila

  I could hear Brody and Barb talking as I slowly blinked my lids open. Allowing my eyes to adjust to the bright lights, I scanned the room. I was in an ER room. What the—? Immediately, my hands sought out my belly, making sure my baby girl was okay. As if on cue, she gave me a little thump. I felt the TOCO monitors then I saw Barb and Brody hovering around the curtain near the foot of the bed. It took me a moment to figure out what was going on.

  Great…this shit again. Then it all came rushing back.

  Jaxon. Shot twice.

  I sat straight up. “Barb, where’s Jaxon?”

  Brody rushed over and grabbed my hand. “Jesus Christ, Leila, you’re finally awake. Don’t ever do that to me again. You scared the shit out of me.”

  I looked at Brody and saw pure terror in his eyes. “I’m sorry, but I’m fine, really. I just passed out, couldn’t catch my breath. I hyperventilated. No big deal.” Right.

  Setting my sights on Barb, who had on fresh scrubs, I asked, “What’s happening, Barb? Talk to me, please.”

  “They’re workin’ on him and you know that’s all I can tell you. I’ve called his parents, they are on their way down from Greenville.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. “Brody is makin’ sure they get here quickly.”

  “Just tell me, is it bad?” I looked into her eyes because I knew her face as well as I knew my own.

  When she looked at me, it was like a cover to a book. She immediately looked away, her eyes glassy.

  Barb never cried. I mean never. This was really bad.

  “Who’s in with him? Please tell me it’s Drake,” I said, fighting the tears back as I pulled the monitors off and reached over to drop the side rail.

  “Whoa, honey, you need to lie down. You’ve gotta relax and think about our daughter right now. Your blood pressure was through the roof and Barb said you’re having contractions again.” Brody yanked the side rail back up and shot daggers.

  “When Jaxon’s parents get here I’ll have them give the hospital permission to talk to you.” Barb strapped the TOCOs back on and reconnected the rest of the monitors. “’Til then you’re stayin’ in this bed, otherwise, we’re moving you up to Land D. You feel me?”

  Glaring, I kept my eyes on her. “Yeah, I feel you,” I said begrudgingly as I slowly turned my attention to Brody. “Now what’s all this about you getting them here?”

  “I called in some favors, that’s all.”

  “Favors? To do what, Brody? Just spit it out.” I didn’t feel like playing these games right now.

  “I called my pilot and he called some friends. He arranged for a private plane to pick up Jaxon’s parents in Greenville and to fly them here. A car service will be waiting for them at the airstrip. They should be here in about forty-five minutes.” He reached out and rubbed my belly. “How’s she doing in there?”

  “I can’t believe you did that for him.” It came out as more of a whisper than I intended.

  “I’m not that selfless, Leila. I didn’t do it for him.” He reached up and pushed a lock of curls behind my ear. “I did it for you. And for her.”

  “Thank you, Brody.” Tears pooled along my lids. “Where’s Drew?”

  “He came in with me but he went to talk with the officers who found Jaxon.” Brody studied my face. “You okay?”

  I nodded even though I was the furthest thing from okay as a person could be.

  He gave me a weak smile. “Since it looks like we might have a little while to wait, do you want to go over some more baby names?” He skimmed his fingers over my belly, then took out his phone. “I just have to text Drew real quick.”

  “Sure,” I agreed, but my mind was a million miles away.

  “So far we haven’t agreed on one name,” he told Barb with a laugh.

  “That’s ’cause he wants to name her stupid shit like Edna or something,” I justified.

  “No. I never said Edna. Jesus, that’s a horrible name. I said Esme,” he corrected.

  “Ugh, she’s not a freakin’ vampire,” I scoffed.

  “Huh, a what?” He was completely lost.

  “Never mind. Next name.” I waved my hand in a circle, telling him to get on with it.

  “Okay, how about Ella?” he asked.

  “What is it with you and all these E names?” Barb questioned.

  “I actually like Ella. Jaxon and I put that down as a maybe a few months ago.” I thought back to that night, before everything went to hell in a handbasket.

  “Finally, one we agree on,” he smirked.

  “I didn’t say I was naming her that. Let’s keep going. How about Avery?” I offered up.

  “Nah, when I think Avery I think Steve Avery from the Atlanta Braves.” He stood and wrinkled his nose. “Skylar?”

  Shaking my head, I watched him pace, rubbing his dimpled chin.

  “Alesandra? Or what about Elizabeth?” Barb chimed in.

  Brody’s head whipped over. “Hmm, I like Elizabeth. What do you think about that one, Lei?”

  “I like it, but maybe as a middle name. I don’t like Lizzy as a nickname. I don’t like Ella Elizabeth. Too many E’s.” I shook my head.

  “I agree.” Brody turned and a dragged a chair over. “Okay, what about…? How about Lillian?”

  Hmmm. Lillian. I think I liked it. I tried to think of any awful nicknames kids could try to change it to and tease her with, but I couldn’t.

  “Lillian Elizabeth. I like the way it sounds. It’s a definite possibility. What else?” I didn’t want to limit myself. Besides, I wanted to be able to discuss all of the names with Jaxon, once I could go see him. I was determined to remain positive.

  Barb went back to work, leaving Brody and me alone. Just as I figured now was as good a time as any to tell him the real reason I made us dinner there was a knock at the door.

  “Leila?” a tall, beautiful blonde woman in her mid-fifties asked from the doorway.

  “Yes, can I help you?” I asked, slightly confused. There was a familiarity about her and when I saw her amazing honey-colored eyes, I knew this had to be Jaxon’s mother. She carried herself with confidence and class as she walked into the room. Behind her stood a handsome gentleman about her age. He was incredibly fit; broad shoulders filled out a tweed sport coat and vintage jeans. She looked back at the gentleman and whispered something I couldn’t hear.

  “I’m so sorry to meet under these circumstances.” She came toward the bed. “I’m Ashley, Jaxon’s mom. And this is Douglas,” she motioned to the tall man flanking her, “Jaxon’s dad.”

  “It’s nice to finally meet you both. I hate that it’s like this. Have you been able to speak with the doctors or nurses? Do you know if he’s okay?” I hated to jump her with questions, but I couldn’t take the uncertainty and not knowing what’s going on. “I’m sorry. I know we just met, and normally I’m not so…impolite, but since we aren’t married and I’m not family, they won’t tell me anything.”

  Just as she looked like she was going to speak, Brody stood. “Please, take my seat, Mrs. Henderson.”

  “Thank you, uhh…”

  “Brody Davis, ma’am. I’m, uh, Leila’s…”

  I cut him off. “He’s the father of my child and my ex. I know Jaxon has told you about him. He’s the one who made the arrangements for your flight here.”

  Douglas chimed in first. “Well, thank you for that. I’m not sure either of us would’ve been in any shape to make the drive. It was kind of you.” He turned to me. “We came straight to you while we waited to hear from the nurse who was taking care of Jax.”

  They knew nothing either. Dammit. My insides were twisting with worry.

  “Mr. Henderson, if you will—”

  “Please call me
Doug, Leila.” He smiled sweetly at me.

  “Of course, if you’ll go out to the nurses’ station and have them page Barb Kelly or Dr. Drake Thomas and tell them I sent you. That should speed up the process.”

  “I’ll take care of it. Y’all stay with Leila.” Brody crossed the room and shut the door behind him.

  “Do you know anything more than he was shot? Like where was he? What was he doing?” Ashley asked then suddenly stopped. “Oh my, listen to me going on and on. I didn’t even think to ask you why you’re in this bed. Are you okay, sweetie?”

  “I’m fine, but my friends, who happen to be nurses and doctors here, are administering over-care. I got upset about Jax and I passed out. Ooh, uhhhh. Sorry, gimme a minute.” I winced as I rolled to my side.

  “Doug, hit the call bell,” Ashley directed.

  “No. No, I’m okay,” I gritted out. “Contraction. One minute.”

  Ashley grabbed my hand, squeezing gently as I worked through the pain. After a few minutes my breathing returned to normal and I was able to lie on my back again. Smiling at her, I tried to remember where we left off. Right, she wanted to know about Jaxon’s whereabouts.

  “I spoke with Jax earlier today and he was vague about where he was and what he was doing. He only said they thought that someone within the club was doing something they shouldn’t be. He never said who, or what,” I explained.

  Ashley looked over at Doug and they exchanged an odd look. Their eyes widened, and their brows scrunched; it was like they were having a silent conversation.

  When Ashley turned back to me, she asked, “How are things between you two? The last time Jax actually told me anything, y’all were having some difficulties.”

  Now there’s the understatement of the century. Deep breath. Tell the truth. These people were practically my in-laws. “Things are really complicated right now. I think we are starting to figure things out, but with Brody in the picture, it always gets…hazy.”

  “I certainly didn’t mean to pry, dear. I just know he loves you very much. He’s been beside himself with guilt. Worrying over what he had done by pushing you away.”

  “Funny how that’s not important right now. I’m focusing all my energy on him getting better. We’ll figure the rest out later.” I didn’t want to seem rude, but I had regrets of my own. That was a conversation for Jaxon, not Jaxon’s parents.

  “Of course you will,” Doug said. “Jax will pull out of this, he’ll fix his mistakes, and y’all will welcome this little miracle together.” Doug stressed together.

  The door opened. Barb, Drake, and another doctor, who looked familiar but I couldn’t place the name, entered.

  “Good evening, are you Jaxon’s parents?” Barb asked.

  “Yes, we are.” Doug offered his hand. “Doug, and this is Ashley, Jaxon’s mom.”

  “How is he, Drake?” I asked, not able to hold it in any longer. Drake looked to Jaxon’s parents before answering.

  “Please. She has every right to know.” Ashley reached for my hand.

  “Okay, first I’m Dr. Thomas and this is Dr. Robbins. We’ve been working on Jaxon since he was brought in. He came in with two gunshot wounds,” he explained as Ashley’s grip tightened. “One to the right breast area closer to his underarm, it was through and through and didn’t hit anything vital. The other, well it was worse.”

  Spit. It. The. Fuck. Out.

  “Drake? Please. What?” I begged for answers I didn’t want to hear.

  “The other gunshot wound entered the stomach first then lodged in his spleen. He lost a lot of blood and coded twice on the table, but we were able to get him back, stabilize him, and remove the bullet. We made the necessary repairs and gave him four units of blood. But he is still critical. The next twenty-four hours are going to be the deciding factor. In my professional opinion, he’s damn lucky. If he can pull through the next day or so, then he should be okay.”

  “Oh sweet baby Jesus.” I sagged back in the bed. “Couldn’t you have led with that, you asshat?”

  Ashley whipped her wide eyes to me. “Leila,” she admonished.

  “Lei, we both know you wouldn’t have listened to the rest of what I was saying if I started off with that. I can’t say he’s okay, because he’s not. He’s still critical. Damn, girl, you are so frustrating.”

  “I would have listened,” I insisted.

  “Liar,” both Barb and Drake called out at the same time.

  Ashley’s and Doug’s gazes bounced around the room, trying to determine what was happening here.

  “Sorry, I should’ve said something before. These are my best friends, Barb Kelly and Drake Thomas. We also happen to all work together.”

  “Well, that makes more sense.” Ashley sighed in relief, clearly thinking I was a raging bitch.

  “Drake, when can we see him?” I pleaded.

  “He’s in recovery. It will be about an hour before we move him into ICU. I’m not sure if you’re up for it, Lei. Barb filled me in.” Drake waved his hand at my stomach as he sat on the end of my bed. “Honey, you gotta take it easy.”

  “I’m fine. I just passed out.” He glared at me. “Okay, okay. I might’ve had a few contractions, but seeing him will help me relax, Drake. Please.”

  “It’s up to his mom and dad, but you know the ICU rules better than anyone, and you know it’s going to be a while before he’s coherent.”

  I squeezed Ashley’s hand. “May I?”

  “Of course, dear. We’ll get you a wheelchair.” She looked at Drake, who nodded in confirmation.

  “First, OB’s coming in to check you since you’re still contracting. We need to make sure you’re not dilating, Lei.” Barb had to open her big mouth.

  “Fine, but make it quick.”

  Barb nodded and rolled her eyes at me as she spoke into her earpiece, connected to her walkie, requesting an OB-GYN to my room.

  “Sweetie, we’ll give you a little room and we’ll wait out in the hall.” Ashley stood and reached for Doug.

  “Thank you.”

  Thirty minutes later the on-call OB had come and gone. I was only dilated one centimeter, which meant I could be released. Brody had returned and insisted on taking me home after I went to see Jaxon.

  Earlier, Brody had called and made reservations for a room at the Belmond for Jaxon’s parents. The hotel was just around the corner, on Meeting Street. He also arranged a car service to be on standby for them at all times.

  When I questioned him, he simply hung his head and said it’s what he would want someone to do for his parents if they were still alive.

  My heart broke a little seeing what thinking of his parents did to him, knowing he wished they were around to see their grandchild.

  *****

  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Barb came in with a wheelchair. “You ready, hooker?”

  Taking a deep breath, I answered, “Yeah.” She dropped the side rail on the bed, grabbed my hand, and tried to help me down. “Stop it, slutasaurus, I can get my fat ass out the bed all by myself.”

  “You know one of these days, I’m gonna let your fat ass fall,” Barb clamped a death grip on my hand, “but it won’t be today.”

  We quipped back and forth down the hall like it was any normal night in these halls. She slowed outside of the ICU. “You sure you’re ready?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  “No, but I don’t have a choice, do I?” Barb waved her badge over the security keypad, granting us access. The large white doors swung open, revealing the long corridor of the intensive care unit. We turned left into a short pass-between at the nurses’ station that divided the unit.

  That was when I saw him for the first time.

  His room was directly ahead and the glass door was open.

  “Stop.”

  “You can do this. I know you can.”

  Tears fell down my face, but I couldn’t look away. I had seen thousands of patients intubated and on a respirator. I had also seen tons of people right aft
er cardiothoracic surgery. None of those or a thousand more could have ever prepared me for what seeing Jaxon would do to me.

  I bit the inside of my cheek, nodded a few times, took a deep breath and wiped the tears away. Words would not come.

  Barb stopped the wheelchair outside of the room and helped me out. “Do you want me to go in with you?”

  “No…thank you. I need to do this by myself.” She hugged me tight before walking away, and left me alone in the room with the man who stole my soul. The man who, in my eyes, had been invincible.

  My tough biker had a machine breathing for him. Tubes, IVs, machines, bandages, it was all too much. My strength crumbled as I threaded my fingers into his. “Jax, baby, I’m here. You have to fight right now. You are the strongest and most stubborn man I have ever met. You have to come back to me.”

  Tears threatened but I swallowed them back as his nurse came in the room. “Hi, I’m Jeremy, I will be taking care of Jaxon until tomorrow morning. Barb told me you are his fiancée.”

  “Yeah.” I glanced toward the foot of the bed where Jeremy stood.

  “Okay, I will give you a minute with him, then I’m gonna give him his meds. Do you have any questions?”

  “Not right now. I’m still trying to process all of this, but thank you, Jeremy.”

  He left the room, slowly pulling the glass sliding door closed. I turned my attention back to Jaxon. I looked from IV bag to IV bag then back to his handsome face.

  I got as close as I could to the edge of the bed and placed his hand on my belly. “Do you feel that? She’s telling you to fight. Fight for us, Jaxon. We are here waiting on you. You can’t leave me like this. I wasn’t living until you showed up and forced your way into my life.” A sob escaped. “I need you, Jax. I can’t do this without you. My life doesn’t make sense without you in it.”

  “Lei, we need to go so Jax can get his meds.” I heard Barb’s voice before I realized she was standing behind me. “Let’s get you home so you can get some rest, honey. You can come back in the morning. His parents will be here. Brody just texted you. He’s downstairs in the ER waiting.”