I don’t know what face he’s making, but Ruby’s eyes go from his to mine. I hold her stare. She can be pissed. At me, at herself, at everyone in the club for the lie they told her about me dying. But going after a nurse who’s just doing her job isn’t allowed.
My face feels tight as I hold in my anger. But I hope she gets that she crossed a line by insinuating that any woman, especially Nurse Zimmer, is beneath me in some way. That she could never stack up to her mom.
“Let’s go, Nat. This is another place I no longer need to be.”
She leaves, but Nurse Zimmer stays.
But only for a moment.
She turns her head, not enough to fully see me, or even at all. But I see her profile, and the sadness is clear in the way her shoulders hunch a bit.
“I’m sorry.” It’s soft, not a mumble or a whisper, but not loud enough for anyone but the two of us in the room to hear it.
She leaves quickly after that, and Mad Max shuts the door behind her retreat. Then he takes his spot by the bedside.
He doesn’t need to stay here day in and day out, but he doesn’t listen very well. He still feels responsible for what happened to me. Not that he should feel bad. There was nothing he could have done. I went in. I knew the danger.
Funny enough, that’s something I remember clearly. The attack on the clubhouse. Milly’s kid being taken. Only a handful of us went after them because our rides were fucked. I don’t regret having done it. Even if it led to a total lie for the club that had them giving me a full funeral.
I’m not sure how many of the sister chapters know what’s going on. Word must be spreading by now. No one has reached out, but I doubt they would contact me. Why would they? I’m no longer the president. When you die, even if it’s a fake death, you get replaced. I wasn’t done with the role yet, and I get bitter about it sometimes, but with all my shit going on that I remember and don’t remember, I knowhaving someone else step in and make decisions for the club is the right thing to do.
“Her name’s Diana.”
My eyes cut swiftly to Mad Max.
“How do you know that?” I don’t know why there’s a growl in my voice, but I can’t seem to hold it in.
He lifts a shoulder and leans back in his chair as he folds his arms across his stomach. “General mentioned it when I brought in Fairy a while back. Doubt she even remembers us meeting before all this.”
I lie back and close my eyes. I need to get a hold of myself. I’m acting like I’ve got a claim on her or some shit. I don’t even know her.
But now I know her name.
Diana.
Babygirl.
The thought sneaks in before I can stop it. That seems to fit her more than her name. Especially since I’ve been calling her that in my head since I opened my eyes. But I haven’t been foolish enough to say it out loud. I got close a few times, usually when I got a hit of something. I might be getting cleared to go home soon, but that doesn’t mean General doesn’t give me some morphine now and then when the pain of all this bullshit is too much and I want to just Zen out for a bit or get some sleep.
If I were back home or at the club, I’d smoke a joint. But the hospital frowns on outside drugs, so I use what I can get my hands on. Not a lot. General, for all his love of causing pain, still holds to the rules of being a doctor. Sort of. He bends them a bit, hence why I get any morphine at all, butit’s never enough to dull the pain of still being stuck in the hospital completely.
Alarms sound in the building a second before Mad Max gets a call.
“Yeah.” He stands and is at the door a second later, gun drawn. “On it.”
He ends the call, and I’m halfway out of the bed already.
“What’s going on?”
“Active shooter outside. Atom got hit.”
“Let’s go.” I stand on steadier legs than I’ve felt in a long time.
Mad Max just shakes his head and positions himself in front of the door. “Casper wants you secure.”
I growl low in my throat. Then I grab the closest thing to me and throw the damn remote at the wall. I want to throw more, but I hold it in. Barely.
“This is bullshit.”
