Lynx
It felt like someone had punched me in the gut when I saw the look on Meredith’s face and watched her make a hasty exit. I’d wanted to go after her, but Moira stopped me.
“What are you going to say to her?” she asked. “Beg for forgiveness? Tell her it was for her own good? Make up some excuse or try to placate her?”
I opened and shut my mouth, having no fucking clue what to do. I could try all those things, but I didn’t know if it would be enough. She’d trusted me. Hell, I wasn’t even entirely certain I had all her trust yet, and I’d already tossed it out the window.
Way to go, fucking idiot.
I’d wanted to help. In hindsight, I realized I’d done it the wrong way. Of course, I hadn’t thought Moira would throw me under the bus the way she had. I eyed her, wondering what the fuck she was up to.
“Why did you do it?” I asked. “You knew I wanted the two of you to meet, and for it to seem like a coincidence. You agreed to it.”
“Did you see her?” Moira asked. “You brought her over without explaining who I was. I’m sure she wondered if we’d slept together, or if I had feelings for you.”
“So I should have what? Introduced you as a psychiatrist right off?”
“Sure. You could have told her more than the basic story of how we met. You didn’t tell her anything about me, or that we’d never dated. It would have been great if you’d reassured her as to our relationship. Jesus, Lynx. Do you ever use your head?” she asked.
I winced. No. Apparently, when it came to Meredith, I didn’t use my brain one hundred percent of the time. If I had, I’d have known this was a bad fucking idea, and I’d have found another way to bring the subject up with her.
“Go find her, Lynx. Tell her you were trying to help and realize you did it the wrong way. Ask for her forgiveness, or better yet, ask her what she needs. Don’t assume you know what’s best for her.”
I stood and left the café. She’d gone out the door and taken a left, so I followed the same path. When I heard sirens, I hastened my pace, hoping like fuck nothing had happened to her. A police car flew by me as I ran down the sidewalk. I scanned the area along the way and didn’t see even a glimpse of Meredith. Where the fuck could she have gone?
An older woman flagged me down. “Are you looking for a young woman by any chance?”
Well, I’d blatantly been searching for something. Maybe it wasn’t a stretch for her to assume I was looking for a woman.
“Yes, ma’am. My girlfriend. We had a fight and…” I ran a hand down my face. “I need to tell her I’m sorry, but I can’t find her.”
She clicked her tongue at me. “That police officer just left with her. I heard him say something about a hospital.”
Hospital? What the fuck had happened in the short time we’d been apart? I hurried back to my bike and broke every speed limit between the café and the hospital. I’d fucked up so bad this time. She’d had no one to rely on except me, and I’d done this stupid shit and run her off. If I’d handled things differently, would she have been all right? I’d do whatever it took to get her to forgive me.
I parked and hurried inside. A police officer stood at the triage desk speaking with a nurse. As much as I didn’t care for law enforcement, I needed to know if he’d brought Meredith here. Why was she in the hospital? Had she been hit by a car? Had someone attacked her? Not knowing was the worst part.
“Excuse me. Are you the officer who brought in a young woman?” I asked. “I’m trying to find my girlfriend.”
The man scanned me from head to toe. The sneer on his lips told me exactly what he thought of me. I didn’t give a shit, as long as he answered my question. He could think I was complete scum, as long as I knew for certain Meredith was here and could find out what happened. I needed her to be okay.
“You the one who made her cry like her entire world had fallen apart?” he asked.
“Yeah. That was me. I admit that I’m an idiot, and I need to apologize to her, but first I need to know if she’s okay. Why did you bring her here? Did someone do something to her?”
“Sir, I’m sorry, but until the patient says it’s all right to speak with you, we can’t divulge any information.” The nurse glared at me, then tugged the officer away. “Feel free to sit and wait.”
Damnit. I didn’t know what to do, so I messaged Wire. If anyone could hack into the hospital records, it would be him.
Need help. Meredith is at St. Mary’s Hospital in Bryson Corners. No one will tell me what’s going on.
Instead of a text response, I got a phone call. I stepped outside to answer it.
“Wire, can you do it?” I asked when the call connected.
“What the absolute fuck? How can you not know why she’s in the hospital?”
Just what I needed. No matter how I spun this, it wouldn’t put me in a good light. As long as he helped me right now, I’d deal with the fallout later.
“We had an argument of sorts. She ran off, and by the time I caught up to her, a cop was taking her to the hospital. I have no idea what’s going on because neither the officer nor the hospital staff will speak to me.”
He growled softly. “Sometimes I really hate the police. Although, I’m sure he thinks he’s protecting her from you. I realize he’s doing his job, but damn. He probably took one look, saw you were a biker, and wrote you off as the problem.”
Wouldn’t be the first time. In all honesty, I hadn’t led a squeaky-clean life. While I’d never been into anything heavy, as far as illegal shit went, I hadn’t exactly been a law-abiding citizen either. With my upbringing, it was a miracle I wasn’t the same sort of scum as my father.
“So can you find out what’s going on?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ll call you back when I have something. If you get someone to talk to you before then, let me know what they say. Are you going to tell Grizzly? The two of you were supposed to meet him here tomorrow or the day after, right?”
“Shit. I don’t want to worry him until I have something to actually share.”
“All right. I’ll see what I can do on my end,” Wire said.
I hung up. My chest fucking hurt. I needed to know she was okay. I went back inside and found the officer near the door, arms folded. Best to get this over with.
“You still not going to tell me anything?” I asked.
“Depends. Why was she crying?”
At least he hasn’t said an outright no. I’d consider this progress. How much should I tell him? I’d keep things simple. Probably the best way to handle it.
“Told you. We had a fight.”
He didn’t say a word. Just stared me down. I pinched the bridge of my nose and wondered if I should divulge a little more. If I said I worried she might be mentally ill, would they put her under a psychiatric hold? Meredith might really lose her shit then. Looked like he wasn’t going to give me much of a choice. I either told him what happened, or he’d continue to withhold information. I didn’t have a fucking clue if it was actually legal for him to do that or not, but I wasn’t exactly going to go research it right now either.
“She’s had a rough time of it lately, and I noticed she tends to do reckless things. I think she’s mentally ill. She shows signs of anxiety and does things that could potentially harm her. I asked a friend of mine to observe her and give me an opinion, except Meredith found out the meeting had been orchestrated and she ran off.” I leaned against the wall. “I realize I fucked up. I should have told her up front that I was concerned and wanted her to consider getting some help. Instead, I went about it all wrong and now she probably hates me.”
“Well, we all do dumb shit when it comes to the women we love,” the officer said. “Just ask my wife. I’m surprised that woman hasn’t taken a skillet to my head by now. I don’t know for certain what’s going on, but I can say this much. Your woman started bleedin’. Said she was pregnant.”
Shit. Was she having a miscarriage? Had the stress of what happened been too much for her? I felt like the worst asshole on the planet. If she lost the baby because of me… It felt like something was squeezing my lungs so tightly I couldn’t breathe. Now she was in there, alone and probably scared. I needed to be with her. She’d been through so much. I didn’t know how she’d handle losing the baby.
“That girl of yours don’t look to be in a good place,” he said. “Hospital won’t tell you shit without you bein’ her husband. Not unless she tells ’em to say somethin’.”
Little late to retract the boyfriend label I’d already given myself. Otherwise, I’d call Wire back and ask him to marry us. Then again, right now he might very well refuse.
“I get it. Hospital rules. I just want to know if she’s all right.”
“Can’t tell you more than I have.” He walked off, leaving me alone in my misery.
I paced the ER, and even walked outside for a bit. The minutes ticked by. Then an hour passed. Then two. My phone buzzed and I answered it without even checking the screen.
“This is Lynx.”
“It’s Wire. Why the hell didn’t you say anything about her being pregnant?” he asked.
Now I knew for certain he’d been in her hospital files. There wasn’t any other way for him to know she was pregnant. Or had been. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer, but I asked the question anyway. “Did she lose the baby?”
He sighed. “Yeah, man. I’m sorry. Hospital records show they did a D&C, and once the anesthesia wears off, she’ll be released. Did you ride there on your bike?”
“Yep.” I sat on a nearby bench and stretched out my legs. It felt like time stood still. The baby was gone. What would this do to Meredith? To us? I hated being out here while she was in there facing this nightmare on her own. And it was my own damn fault. “We were supposed to buy a new car today. Something she’d be comfortable driving but would be safe for the baby. Didn’t make it past coffee.”
“You took her for coffee and she’s pregnant?” he asked.
“Uh, what’s wrong with that?”
“You fucking moron. She shouldn’t have caffeine.” I heard him tapping on his keyboard. “I’m accessing funds from one of the trafficking groups I helped take down, and I’m using it to buy a damn car. Someone will deliver it to the hospital, so wait outside for them. Can someone get your bike?”
“I’ll call one of my brothers. They’ll swing by and get it. You don’t have to buy a car. It’s not like those are cheap.” I also didn’t want to feel indebted to him or the Dixie Reapers. Besides, if he hadn’t gotten his president’s permission, this could end badly for me.
“Well, if Grizzly finds out you knocked up his daughter, then she lost the baby, you’ll have to consider it a consolation gift for Meredith… because he’s going to bury your ass.”
He wasn’t telling me anything I hadn’t already considered. None of them needed to know I hadn’t been the one to actually get her pregnant. If Meredith wanted to tell them, I wouldn’t stop her. Otherwise, I planned to remain silent and let them assume whatever the fuck they wanted. My goal was to protect her, even if I’d already fucked that up pretty bad today.
“There’s a two-year old Dodge Charger heading your way. Certified preowned, so any major issues should be covered if something comes up. It will all be in the paperwork you’ll have to sign when they bring you the keys.”
“You put it in my name?” I asked.
“Well, I can’t put it in hers since she’s in the hospital. There’s no way she can sign all those papers right now.” Wire lowered his voice, and I wondered if his woman was nearby. “Besides, if it’s in your name, it will be harder for her to use it to run. Some part of her will worry that she’ll get pulled over and they’ll realize her name isn’t on the registration. Not to mention you could call it in as stolen.”
“Did you do that to your wife? Put her car in your name?”
“Your situation and mine are very different. My woman chased after me. Yours is known for running.”
I didn’t like the way he’d phrased that. Meredith hadn’t been on the run. Not at first. The Devil’s Fury essentially threw her out. Sure, they’d said it was only for a short while, but after making her feel so unwelcome, had they really expected she’d just waltz back in like nothing happened? No, she hadn’t run.
“Not technically,” I said. “The Devil’s Fury told her to leave. That’s not even close to the same thing.”
“True enough. Let me know if you need anything else. I’ll try to monitor the hospital records from this side, and I’ll make sure the fees are covered. I haven’t disbursed the funds from that confiscated account yet, or told anyone what’s in it. No one will know if fifty grand or so is missing.”
“Just don’t put your ass on the line for this, okay? I don’t need to make waves with your club. My sister lives there, and I’ll be pissed if I can’t go to the Dixie Reapers compound anymore to visit with her.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll make sure they know you had nothing to do with it.” Wire hung up without another word and I shoved my phone into my pocket.
It didn’t take long for two cars to pull up at the curb. One of them was a blue Dodge Charger SXT. It looked like Wire had gotten us a good vehicle. I stood and shook hands with the salesman.
“Name’s John Turner. You must be Lynx.”
I nodded. I noticed the paperwork had my legal name on it, even though the man didn’t call me by it. I signed everything I needed to, then listened as he went over the vehicle features. It would be safe for Meredith to drive, and I liked that it had a backup camera, blind spot detection, and a panic alarm. That backup camera would come in handy if my club started growing the way the Dixie Reapers had. Couldn’t always see a small kid in a rearview mirror.
John handed me the keys, then got into the other vehicle and drove off, leaving me with a packet of papers and a nearly new car. Only nine thousand miles. I parked the Charger and contacted my VP to ask about having my bike moved, then I went inside to wait for them to release Meredith. Whether she liked it or not, she’d need a ride home, and I intended to be the one to take her. If she didn’t like it, then she could yell all she wanted.