Viper and Ton would never be able to understand the lure of returning to that hell, because they were too strong. They had significant others, people who cared if they went to sleep and didn’t wake up the next day. He didn’t have that anymore.
Viper, his father, The Last Riders, and Taylor were his reasons for breathing, despite it being easier to give up and find solace in death. He no longer had that and felt as if there was a deep divide between him, Viper, and Ton. The friendships he had with The Last Riders were built around a man he no longer was—and would never be again.
Ultimately, the strongest motivation for his survival had been Taylor. During his darkest moments, he’d clung to their future. He wouldn’t give up on that future, not when they still had a chance now that he was free. She would want to see him once the shock wore off. They would look at each other and everything would be okay again. He would promise to never leave her again, and she would leave her husband.
Everything was going to be all right ….
It had to be all right….
Chapter Thirty-Three
It was shit. A five-year-old could take him out. He couldn’t even walk the short distance to the bathroom without breaking into a cold sweat. When an aide brought him a tray of food, he’d been excited, until he saw the plate. The soft foods were unappetizing and made the sandwiches that Ink gave him look like gourmet meals. It had been years since he’d had a hamburger and fries.
His irritation vanished when he spent the next hour puking up the broth and Jell-O. Not only did he have the body of an eighty-year old man, it seemed he had the stomach of one too.
The week dragged into two before he could keep down small amounts of food and was stabilized enough to be moved into the treatment center.
Viper and Ton spent the four-hour ride to the facility trying to convince him into letting one of them stay. Remaining quiet, he stared out the window, letting his silence speak for him.
Looking out the side mirror, he watched the four rows of Last Riders follow the car. Seeing the brothers sitting on their motorcycles in their cuts, their muscular bodies controlling the powerful machines with ease, was just another distinction between them. Their radiant power was visual proof how far he was from the man he used to be, and each mile they traveled only reinforced the contrast.
With the shape he was in, he wouldn’t be given the opportunity to become a Last Rider. In order to gain entry into the club, a prospect had to fight three of the eight original members. If you managed to live, you became a member.
As Viper parked his SUV in the parking lot, he wanted to beg him not to make him go inside. The only thing stopping him was knowing that neither his brother nor his father would make him. They would drive him to one of their homes in a heartbeat.
Springing out of the car as soon as it came to a stop, afraid he would break if he stayed, he rushed to the front door before any of the riders behind the SUV could talk to him. He came to an abrupt and looked around wildly, his mind already searching for escape routes.
The sound of the doors swishing open behind him had him jumping to face the oncoming threat with a heaving chest.
“Son, I haven’t seen you move that fast since I walked in your bedroom to wake you up for school and caught you jerking off.”
Reaper flushed at the memory, his racing heart slowing when he saw their troubled faces.
Tight-lipped, he let Viper handle his check-in while he and Ton were escorted to his room. It was larger than he expected and didn’t feel as cold and impersonal as the hospital. Balcony doors gave a view of a walled-off, private garden and patio, giving it an atmosphere of a small apartment instead of an expensive room to monitor addicts like him.
Before Viper returned to Treepoint, Reaper promised himself that he would talk to Viper about paying the bill for his stay. Viper hadn’t discussed Reaper’s money since his return, and each time he brought it up Viper and Ton told him they’d discuss it when he was better. He hadn’t argued with them, but if he was ever going to get back on his feet, he needed to find out where he sat financially.
Viper told him that Bedford had stolen the money for the new factory’s equipment, and Reaper was sure—even if Viper hadn’t said it—that Bedford also stole the money from his personal accounts as well.
The woman who had escorted him to his room introduced herself as his nurse and said she would give him time to settle in and that his doctor would be coming to discuss his medications and treatment.