He shrugged. “I always thought the idea that death is a part of life is sort of beautiful,” he admitted, and I could tell he was almost bashful about his explanation. “I felt in a way when I left home it was a death of sorts, but a good one.”
I nodded. That made a hell of a lot of sense to me.
My fingers traced under his shirt and up to his chest, outlining the Knight insignia that I knew blazed across his pecs. His skin felt so warm and smooth, it soothed me to touch him.
“Sleep, Birdie. I’m here,” he assured me, squeezing me gently.
I nodded and allowed my heavy lids to shut.
I was first aware of the damn beeping when I began to stir. Hospitals were not easy places to rest in, that was for sure. I was alone in bed and my eyes opened to search the room for Sal.
“Hey, girl,” Hank’s voice came from the doorway, surprising me.
“Hey,” I rasped, trying to sit up. “Where’s Sal?”
“Meetin’ with Cole and Cal downstairs, he’ll be back soon as he can. Axel, Tag, and I are here,” he told me, his huge arms crossing over his chest. Hank was a bear of a man, and I always found it slightly amusing that the women who piqued his interest were always so petite.
“Is Connie okay? Have you talked to Wes?” I asked. They were supposed to get married in a few days.
“Just shaken up,” he replied, stepping farther into the room. “Mind if I sit?” he asked, indicating the chair beside my bed.
I shook my head.
Of all the guys, Hank was probably the warmest and the most approachable. He was like a big teddy bear most of the time. But, this morning I saw none of that softness in him. He looked beyond pissed. “We’re all sorry for what happened to you, Kat. There’ll be hell to pay. You know that, right?” he demanded.
“Yeah, I know,” I answered quietly. Really, there wasn’t anything else I could say. I couldn’t stop them even if I tried. It was as good as done the minute Parker had made a move against me and, in doing so, against the entire club.
“What’s the latest on Jeb?” I asked.
“He came through the night,” Hank answered, providing unexpected good news. “Punctured lung but they were able to stop the bleeding and get him stable.”
“That’s great news.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “Is someone with him?”
Hank nodded. “His girl.”
I’d never met his girlfriend; didn’t know he had one because I didn’t know Jeb all that well, but I was glad he wasn’t alone.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked, interrupted by the swishing of the curtain as the doctor stepped into view.
“How are you feeling this morning, Miss Jennings?” he asked kindly, looking at me briefly before studying my chart.
“Okay,” I replied. And I did feel okay. My arm was sore as hell, but I wasn’t hurt anywhere else and wanted to get the hell out of there.
“Let’s take some vitals and then I’m going to check your wounds, okay?” he asked.
Behind the doctor stepped in two men dressed in suits. Detectives, shit. I hadn’t talked to Sal yet, and I wasn’t sure how he wanted me to play this. I glanced briefly over at Hank who was suddenly typing furiously on his phone.
“Miss Jennings?” The blond-haired detective spoke, coming into the room. “I’m Detective Rawlings. This is Detective Marx,” he introduced the attractive black detective standing next to him. “We wanted to talk to you about what happened last night.”
“Can this wait?” I replied, hoping to stall for time. “I’m still a bit shook up, I’d rather not go into the details just yet,” I told them, which wasn’t a lie.
“Unfortunately, no. We’d like to get your information as quickly as possible. The man with you, Mr. Harris, almost died. This was attempted murder and aggravated assault, in a public place no less. We want to get to the bottom of this and we want to do that today,” Detective Marx returned forcefully.
Clearly, these guys weren’t fooling around.
“I’ll come back shortly,” the doctor said, leaving the room. I sighed regretfully at his departure. I’d rather have him push and prod my open wounds than deal with the detectives.
“What’s going on?” Sal demanded, appearing behind the detectives. He was wearing the same clothes as last night and sporting new smudges under his eyes from lack of sleep. He looked exhausted and seriously pissed, but he immediately stepped to my bedside, a standing sentry between me and the law.
