Page 14 of Guarding Glenda

She was disconnected. Never wanted to chat, never wanted to cuddle or beg to go for a ride on his bike. She would occasionally let a few sad moments slip so he always kept me looped in. He told me when she stopped group therapy.

She could go to private therapy through the VA but didn’t trust those docs to not report what she said. So instead, at Sam’s urging, she went to a local group therapy at a center he runs. But after a while, she refused to go back. Bama said he tried to encourage her to go and offered to take her, but she blew it off as unnecessary and would change the subject or distract him from the conversation.

On the surface, she seemed fine. She practically ran the clubhouse. Everyone liked her. But she wasn’t okay. Bama did his best to help her out, but he said it was obvious neither of them had the chemistry to be a real couple, and as much as he tried to help her, she wouldn’t accept it.

He was torn up when he met Linny. He fell hard for her and couldn’t keep entertaining Glenda. He said Glenda took it well, but that left her completely alone again. I didn’t like that Bama had been fucking her, but it was the only comfort I knew she had. So, once he cut things off with her, I started keeping a closer watch. But she was sure to push me away anytime she noticed.

When we rode to Bama’s looking for them, I lost it. That’s when everyone else knew. Bama kept my secrets, but when I found her bloody and lifeless on the ground and thought she was gone, I couldn’t hold it in. When she started convulsing in my arms, it shocked me. So much that tears actually stung my eyes. I was the cleaner. I’d done my fair share of shit and didn’t think twice about getting rid of evidence, bodies or otherwise, but thinking for those few seconds she was dead broke me. When I realized she wasn’t, too many emotions flooded me and they had nowhere to go but out of my eyeballs.

So even though she was cold as ice to me, there was no fucking way I was letting her out of my sight.

But Goddamn if it wasn’t hard having her here. And having her in my arms in a shower, well, needless to say, once I got her out, I had to go for a walk with Bruce. I wasn’t sure when Bama was coming back and didn’t need to be rubbing one out in the bathroom with extra bodies walking around my fucking house.

After a long walk around my property and Bruce thoroughly marking his spot, I headed back in to check on them.

The rest of the day had been pretty low key. She napped off and on, Bama brought Sofie after school, and Sam swung by later in the day.

He was impressed she’d eaten a few times and showered, but wanted her to walk more.

“The faster you’re up and moving, the faster you’ll heal. You have help. Take advantage,” Sam told her.

“Okay. Linny helped with the exercises. I’m just really tired. I can’t sleep on this hospital bed,” Glenda replied.

I waited for Sam to finish checking her over and followed him outside to his truck.

“Keep doing what you’re doing. She’s making progress. Just gotta get her moving a bit more,” he said as he opened the door and climbed in, leaving it open.

“Is there a reason she still has to be in that bed?” I asked.

He scratched his short scruff. “Well, the firm mattress helps when you have a lot of physical issues. She took a good beating.”

I didn’t need reminding. “But would it hurt for her to sleep in a normal bed? Shouldn’t she get some sleep?”

Sam sighed. “If she thinks she’d be more comfortable in a bed, she can try it. But her heart still needs to be elevated for now since she’s not moving around much. Be sure she moves her legs, too.”

“Got it, doc. Thanks for your help.”

“I’ll be by again tomorrow and if things are still going well, I’ll skip a few days. I like sleep, too.” He shut his door, cranked it up, then I stepped back as he put it in gear to turn and drive down the long dirt driveway.

I walked back up to the house and shook my head. Bruce had completely abandoned me for the women.

Bama was on the sofa watching TV so I plopped down in my recliner. “How’s the clubhouse?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Been kinda quiet. Hammer put a pause on the parties for now. Him and Allie are at each other’s throats. Some of the girls are tense.”

“And the brothers?”

“We’ve all been looking over our shoulders. We took out a lot of Scorpions in Jacksonville. Plus, a cop. Trying to lay low until the dust settles.”

The fuckers that attacked Glenda had killed Ollie and taken Linny. They’d been working with her baby’s daddy, a piece of shit pig from Georgia. We’d set it up to look like a deal gone bad, but we didn’t know for sure if he could be tied back to Linny, or us. She and Sofie had come to us as Brooklyn and Sadie. With the help of Roger’s cousin, Crown, up in one of our Canadian chapters, they both were wiped from existence and given new identities. But since a cop was involved, we couldn’t be too careful.

“No word on anything else?” I asked.

“No. Had a meet up last night with one of those new buyers but it went fine. Hammer’s not looking for new business for now.”

“We’re straight.” The club was doing well with our guns and we’d set up a few legit businesses as well. I normally worked at the mechanic shop but they were giving me some time off to deal with Glenda.

“Yep. So just coasting for now.” Bama pulled out his phone. “It’s getting late. Gotta get Sofie back so we can get her ready for school tomorrow.”