“You should have woken me up,” he grumbled. “I would have taken you.”
“I wanted you to sleep. You haven’t slept in an actual bed in over a week.” And I didn’t want you to know what I was buying earlier, I thought to myself.
“I’m getting ready to head back to the hospital. Tanner’s surgery is in an hour. Do you want to meet me over there?”
I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth, hesitating. “I thought you wanted me to wait until after his surgery before I came over.”
“I changed my mind. Meet me there, okay?”
“Yeah,” I told him, turning at the next stop sign so I could head over to the hospital. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Be careful, baby. I love you.”
I clenched my eyes shut for a moment before opening them again to focus on the road. “I love you too.”
Chapter 14
Matt
Raven’s car was already in the parking l
ot when I got to the hospital, but Rory wasn’t waiting on me. Instantly, my gut clenched and my heart started pounding. I jogged into the hospital lobby, looking for any sign of her even as I pulled out my phone.
It rang twice before she answered. “I’m in the bathroom. Stop freaking out,” was her greeting. “Give me, like, two more minutes, okay?”
I let out a relieved breath. “Okay, baby. Take your time.”
I found the women’s bathroom and stood outside the door as I waited for her, scrolling through the group texts on my phone I’d missed earlier. There was one from Bash to all the MC brothers, letting us know to avoid Bates for the moment, and he would explain more during church later that night.
Nothing unusual about that. We were always avoiding Bates, but something about the text left me feeling uneasy.
The door to the bathroom opened, and Rory came out, still drying her hands with a paper towel. I took one look at her and knew something was wrong. Her face was pale, and there was sweat on her brow. Her eyes were unfocused as she stepped into the corridor, as if her mind was a million miles away.
When she realized I was standing right in front of her, she jumped in surprise. “You didn’t have to wait for me,” she said, her voice weak.
I took her hand and guided her down the hall to the chapel. Shutting the door behind us, I turned to face her. For some reason, I felt anxious just looking at her. Whatever was going on, I needed to fix it now. I knew something had been off with her since Jos arrived. The whole confrontation with Butch still hadn’t been discussed because I’d been so fucking busy.
“Are you sick?” I asked, touching my thumb to her forehead and wiping away a smear of sweat.
“Just an upset stomach. Maybe I shouldn’t be here, after all. I don’t want to chance giving Tanner this stomach bug.”
“Stomach bug,” I repeated, shaking my head. There were enough pregnant women in the clubhouse for me to recognize the signs. A grin started to tease at my lips despite the shit we still needed to talk about. “Is it really a bug? Or did you catch something else?”
She looked away, and I had my answer.
My grin disappeared before it even fully formed. “Were you going to tell me?”
“I just found out, okay?” she snapped and walked toward the front of the chapel. Sitting down on the bench, she glared up at the cross on the wall. “I took a test while I was in the bathroom. I’m still trying to process it.”
“What’s there to process?” I asked, crouching down in front of her. “We’re going to have a baby. I’m pretty damn happy.”
“Well, I’m not,” she whispered, tears spilling over her lashes. “I don’t know how to be a mother. I don’t know how to deal with this jealousy that is eating at me. And I can’t fucking breathe right now.”
My heart stopped, watching her struggle. “Don’t say that,” I choked out, more scared than I’d ever been in my life. “Rory, we’ll figure it out.”
She lowered her head, her hair falling into her face and effectively shutting me out. My fingers shook as I pushed it back, desperate to touch her. “Why are you so jealous? What happened to make you doubt me?”
“I don’t doubt you,” she answered, her lashes fluttering closed. “I know you love me. I know you’re mine. I’m struggling with the three years we were apart.”