Chapter Ten
Rooster
“Psst, Rooster.” Ice’s hushed tone pulls me out of sleep.
Shelby finally seems to be resting comfortably and I hate to disturb her. Slowly, I extract myself from the bed without waking her and step into the hallway, quietly closing the door behind me.
“What’s up?” I stretch, wincing as my spine snaps and crackles into place with the movement.
“New York’s here,” Ice says. He lowers his voice and moves closer. “And Pants has some info you’re going to want to hear. In person.”
“Shoot.” I glance at the door. I really don’t want to leave Shelby, but she knows I was here and I wouldn’t leave unless it was important.
Ice lifts his chin at something behind me. I turn and find Murphy and Heidi walking toward us.
“Holy shit, you came too, Little Hammer?” I pull her in for a quick hug and mouth a “thank you” to Murphy over her head. While Shelby knows my brothers are here to protect her, I bet she’ll appreciate a bit of female companionship.
“Is she okay?” Heidi pulls away, staring up at me with worry dancing in her dark brown eyes.
“I think so. She woke up for a bit. Doctor says she needs to rest.”
“Wrath and everyone else are down in the waiting room.” Murphy jerks his thumb over his shoulder. “Staff was a little squirrelly about having so many bikers here.” He and Ice share a laugh. “Ice said you might need to run out. Heidi and I can sit with her until you get back.”
Maybe I’m tired but the offer chokes me up. Murphy somehow knows. Sure, Ice is a brother—I can trust him. Hell, every brother in Virginia has helped me out in one way or another over the last few days. But I’ll be a hell of a lot more comfortable with a NY brother watching over Shelby while I’m gone. That way if she wakes up again, at least she’ll be greeted by familiar faces.
“Thank you, brother.” I pull him in and slap his back. “Really appreciate you coming all the way down here.”
“Not a problem.” He searches the corridor. “Where’s Jiggy?”
“Probably on his way to the airport. He’s picking Shelby’s mom up for me.”
Murphy raises an eyebrow.
“He promised to behave.”
“Yeah, okay. First time for everything, I guess.”
After all the tension and misery of the last couple days, I laugh a little. “You sure you don’t mind…being here?” I ask.
Murphy spent a fair amount of time in the hospital not that long ago. Can’t imagine he’s eager to hang around one now.
He snorts. “Thanks for the concern, but as long as I’m not the one in the gown getting my hair and beard shaved off, I’m fine.”
“Now that you mention it.” I squint and rub my hand over my own beard. “That ol’ chin curtain of yours sure grew back awfully fast.”
His mouth twitches. “Heidi says it’s because I have an overabundance of testosterone.”
I roll my eyes Heidi’s way. “Of course she did.”
She grins at me. “It’s true.”
“There is another possibility.” I scratch the side of my head, like I’m deep in thought. “He’s part Sasquatch?”
“Anything’s possible.” Murphy shrugs.
I open the door, checking that Shelby’s still asleep. Murphy claps me on the shoulder. “Fill me in on all your adventures when you get back. I won’t let anyone near her.”
“Thanks, brother.”
He and Heidi quietly tiptoe into the room and I close the door.
Ice nudges me down the hall toward the waiting room.
He wasn’t kidding. The room’s bursting with Lost Kings and friends of the club.
Anya leans up and quickly hugs me. “If Shelby needs anything, let me know, okay?”
It’s a kind offer considering Anya and Shelby have only met one or two times. “Thanks, sweetheart.”
“Rooster!” Wrath picks me up in a big bear hug—possibly cracking a rib or two in the process—before setting me down. “How’s she doing?”
“Better. She woke up a bit.” My lips twitch as I remember Shelby telling off one of the nurses who came in to check on her.
“Sorry we couldn’t get down here faster.”
I glance at the clock on the wall. “You made good time, brother.” My gaze lands on Trinity, standing slightly behind Wrath. “You came too?” I can’t help but be a little choked up that my brothers and their old ladies dropped everything to be here. “Thank you.”
Trinity squeezes me in a quick embrace. “No problem.”
Dex steps forward to hug me as well.
“Shit, brother, you have a lot on your plate at home. Thank you for coming down,” I say.
“You got it.” He slams his fist into his open palm. “Wish we’d gotten here sooner to help you find this guy.”
I glance around the room. Jackson has a way of blending in, and I don’t want to say anything he’ll overhear. “He’s on the loose right now. But Feds are on it.”
Dex’s face remains impassive. “Good to know.”
Griff shakes my hand next. “Whatever you need. We’re here for you, Rooster.”
“Jumping right into the support club gig?” I pull him in and slap his back.
“Nah, man. When we heard what happened…” He glances over his shoulder at Remy. “We just wanted to help out if we could. That’s really fucked up.”
It’s bullshit—Griff and Remy definitely want to know how far the club will go to protect what’s ours. Probably want to get a feel for being on the road with the club and visit one of our other charters, too, before they commit to forming a support club. It’s what I’d do in their position, so I’m not offended.
I flick a quick glance at Dex, who nods. Yeah, this might be a sign they’re moving closer to forming the support club. “Appreciate it.” I slap Griff’s shoulder, then Remy’s. “Thank you. Glad you’re here.”
Steer and Hustler try to crack my ribs next with their enthusiastic embraces. Guess I’m missed in New York. I rough my hand over Steer’s big, bald head and plant a loud, sloppy kiss on Hustler’s cheek. “Thanks for coming.”
“Z was frothing mad he couldn’t ride down with us,” Steer says carefully.
“I understand.” Without Z’s help, we wouldn’t have found Shelby so fast, so I’m sure as fuck not complaining about his absence.
“What a lovely family reunion.” Jackson’s sarcastic comment silences the room.
In a brave, bold move, he pushes his way into the middle of our group while slow-clapping his hands together. “Why exactly are so many of you needed down here?”
Wrath scowls and tosses a who-the-fuck-is-this-joker look my way.
Jackson scans us again. “Two different charters from New York, huh?” He tilts his head in my direction. “You must be awfully important to your club.”
Ice grips my shoulder. “Fuck with one of us, you fuck with all of us.” It sounds more like he’s warning Jackson than explaining the basics of club life.