Page 35 of Regret

“Savannah, you can have me as your primary physician if you’d like. I’d rather you have a doctor you trust and are happy to see. Can I mark that down in your chart?” Dr. Copeland asks me, his smile lighting up his face.

“Yes. Thank you, Dr. Copeland. I would like it if you were my permanent doctor since I’m still kind of new to the area. Would it be possible for you to also take on my sisters? I’ve adopted them and our mother is no longer alive. I want to make sure they get the best care available to them,” I ask him, knowing the girls would trust Dr. Copeland as much as I do once they see him.

“Of course. I’ll make sure you have my card when you leave here so you can set up appointments for all of you. I’m going to want to have a follow-up appointment with you to make sure nothing happens once you’re discharged from the hospital. I will also be sending you home with more antibiotics that you’ll have to finish. They’re safe for the babies as well,” Dr. Copeland says before asking if I have any other questions.

Zach and I both tell him we’re good for now and he leaves with the nurse. Closing my eyes, Zach tells me he’s going to get my sisters so they can come in and see me. They’ve been waiting so long to make sure I’m really here with them and away from Conrad. I want to see them and make sure they’re all okay too. Conrad is still out there and he’s not going to stop until he gets what he wants. My sisters and I are on his radar and that’s not going to change because of the money they’ve lost on us. I don’t even want to know what the hell that’s supposed to mean so I leave it alone.

Ava, Chloe, and Miracle make their way in my room with Zach. All three of them make their way over to me and I hug them as tight as I can with the pain I’m feeling. We spend the rest of the afternoon with my sisters not leaving the room. Zach goes in and out as he talks to the guys and lets the women in to visit with me. Shy even brings me a chocolate milkshake and cheeseburger from the diner. It’s delicious. I stay awake for as long as I can until I eventually give up the fight with Zach and my sisters surrounding the bed I’m in. Love fills the room and I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Valor

LAST NIGHT WITH Savannah and the girls was one of the best I’ve ever had. It didn’t matter that we were in the hospital with my wife with nurses walking in and out taking blood, checking her vitals, and doing everything else they do on a daily basis. Savannah and the girls laughed and talked about everything under the sun. Conrad isn’t a topic that’s brought up when the girls are around because they don’t need to overhear everything being said about him. We tell them things when we feel they need to know, but keep all other details to ourselves. Savannah is the only one who knows just about as much as I do when it comes to Conrad, his father, and the trafficking ring. There are a few details she doesn’t know, but it’s more for her peace of mind than anything else. I don’t want any of my girls to worry more than they already are about Conrad or anyone else involved with him.

“Guys!” Vault says, rushing into Savannah’s room, out of breath and looking as if he’s about to pass out. “Annabell just went into labor. She’s bein’ rushed up to the maternity ward right now. I just want to let you know. The rest of the guys are still out searchin’ and will call you when they learn anythin’.”

“Fuck!” I say, my voice rushed and panicked as I look at my brother with wide eyes and fear filling me. “You go be with your wife and we’ll be there once Savannah gets discharged from here. I’ll make sure to keep you updated if I think it’s important enough to bother you. Give Annabell a kiss from us. We’re here for you both.”

“Congratulations, Alex. Give Annabell a huge hug from me and tell her I’ll be there as soon as I can. We love you guys,” Savannah tells him, a large smile on her face as she looks at me and keeps our secret from my twin.

Last night we talked about the fact that we’re having twins and decided to hold off on sharing it with anyone right now. We want to wrap our heads around the fact that we’re not adding to our family by one baby, but by two. The girls will be told before anyone else because they’re members of our family and deserve that. Everyone else in the club is family, but they aren’t my children. My children will always know what’s going on before anyone else because their lives are the ones directly affected by any changes to our family.

“Well, it looks like we won’t be leavin’ here when we thought you would, Love,” I tell Savannah as she looks up at me with a large smile on her face.

“That’s okay. I can’t wait to meet their baby. Our family is already growing, baby. They’ve been waiting for this day for so long and I can’t blame them. Even learning I’m only two months pregnant, I want to have our twins now. I want to hold them in my arms, see who they’re going to look like more, and everything else. The girls are going to love them so much. I can’t wait to tell everyone. Maybe we can tell everyone when we do a gender reveal or something,” my wife says, thinking of our babies and our future. One I wasn’t sure we’d have for a long time.

“I think that’s a great idea, Love. I want you to do whatever you feel comfortable doin’. The most important thing is we tell the girls before anyone else. But it shouldn’t be today. Today we’re gonna celebrate the newest addition to our family with the baby my brother and Annabell are about to welcome into the world,” I tell her, getting choked up with emotion as I think of my brother becoming a dad today.

Vault has always wanted to be a dad. He wanted a family of his own and that was his biggest dream. Not many people know it, but I do. I know everything about Vault once again because he’s made sure to tell me everything. We’re back to being as close as we were before losing our dad. That was one of the darkest points in our lives and if I didn’t have Savannah and my daughters at my side, I’m not sure I would have made it through the same way I did. No, I didn’t get lost like my brother did. It doesn’t mean I didn’t get lost though. I just pushed the best woman I’ve ever met away and in the process lost my daughters and her for longer than I care to admit. That’s time I’ll never be able to get back with them and I hate it more than I thought I would.

“Where did you just go, Zach?” Savannah asks me, her voice full of concern as she looks at me and only me.

Savannah is the first and only woman to only have eyes for me. She doesn’t make me feel as if I’m nothing behind my cut or that I’m not good enough for her. My wife sees the man I am behind everything on the surface and knows me better than everyone but my brother. Vault knows me as well as she does and those are the only two I’ll ever let in as deep as I have. Savannah has been there through my darkest days and during the best ones. She knows when I’m lost in thought and when to let me have space to work shit out on my own. Court is getting there, but he’ll always force me more than my brother and wife because that’s his job as my best friend. Yes, he told me that one day and I know he’ll never let me get away with anything if it’s hurting myself, family, or anyone else I care about.

“I was just thinkin’ about the time we lost. Those five years are ones we’ll never get back. I missed so much with the girls and you. You got so much stronger than you were before I left and changed in all the best ways. The girls grew so much in those five years and I wasn’t around to watch it happen. I’m so mad at myself for fuckin’ shit up,” I answer my girl honestly as she looks at me with sad eyes.

“I think things happened as they were meant to, Zach. We both made mistakes in the past and it’s time for us to let it all go and move forward with our lives. Now, we have our girls and we’re going to add two more children to our family. Vault and Annabell are giving us a niece or nephew to love and spoil too. Right now, we’re in the place we’re meant to be and we traveled the road we had to in order to make it here with nothing holding us back,” she tells me, her voice full of love as the doctor makes his way in her room and we give him our attention to make sure nothing has changed overnight and that she can still go home.

“Savannah, we’re gonna cut you loose. I heard you’ll be heading up to the maternity ward for your brother-in-law. You’ll have to go up in a wheelchair. For the foreseeable future, you’re not to be on your feet at all. I’ll see you in two weeks and we’ll figure out if you can start walking yet or not. It all depends on how well they’ve healed,” Dr. Copeland tells us as he makes a note in her chart and I look at him with a smile on my face.

“Is she supposed to be on bed rest or anythin’ once she leaves here?” I ask the doctor as he looks up at me with a smile on his face.

“No. I don’t want you up moving around if you don’t have to, but I don’t believe bed rest is something you need at this point. If anything changes, then we might have to change that. I’ll be in contact with your obstetrician once you find one. I can make a suggestion of one in the city though,” Dr. Copeland informs us as he looks between my wife and me.

“Okay. My sister is seeing Dr. Craven and I was going to give her office a call to see if they were accepting new patients,” Savannah says, knowing I’ll approve of this doctor since she’s Doc’s daughter and we’ve known her since moving here.

“That’s actually who I was going to recommend to you. She’s very good and takes time with her patients without making them feel as if she’s rushing them through her office or not listening to them. Every patient is important to her and she has a practice right in Pine View. I know that’s where you’re from so it will work out well for you,” Dr. Copeland says and I instantly like him more than I already did before this moment.

Dr. Copeland hasn’t made us wait for answers or anything from the second I walked through the door. He let me remain at Savannah’s side as long as I stayed out of the way so they could work and didn’t try to hide or sugar coat anything about her condition or what they were doing. I was included every step of the way and not shoved aside like most hospitals would have done to me until she was moved up to a room out of the emergency department.

“The nurse will be in to get rid of the IV and make sure you understand all of the instructions we’ll be sending you home with. Zach has told me that you already have a wheelchair so you won’t need to use one of ours while you’re upstairs. I believe it’s in the closet here and waiting for you. Zach, you can help her change as soon as the IV has been removed. I’m here if you need me and I will make sure you have my cell phone number in case of any emergencies. Dr. Craven does the same thing so you can always get in touch with her no matter what time it is,” Dr. Copeland says, giving us one last look before leaving Savannah’s room and leaving us alone once again.

It doesn’t take the nurse long to come in and remove the IV as I grab the bag Annabell and Shy packed for my wife. I listen as the nurse goes over the instructions because I won’t be leaving Savannah’s side for any reason because she needs help. Not being able to walk is going to kill her and I’ll make sure she’s carried everywhere she wants to go. It's the least I can do after everything she’s been through.

It doesn’t take me long to help Savannah get dressed. As soon as she’s ready, I grab everything from the room and shove it in her bag before helping her in the wheelchair my brother picked up yesterday for her to use at the clubhouse. We’re not going home right now, so there’s no point in having a second one for there. I can carry her up the stairs and then down again so she can work or hang out in the common room. After checking the room once more to be sure we’re not forgetting anything, I finally put Savannah in the wheelchair and then push her from the room and up to the maternity ward. The nurse did give me a blanket to cover her up with and I’m happy she has one. It’s always so damn cold in the hospitals and I can’t stand that shit.

We make our way up to the floor everyone else not out searching for Conrad and his father are located. Yesterday, Shy removed the girls from the room so we could talk more in-depth with Savannah to see if we could figure out where she was located when Conrad was holding her hostage. Fox also reached out to Tom, the man who rescued her and brought her in. He told us the road he found her on and Savannah described the house to him. Fox and Kingston looked it up on maps and using the computers to find the area we’re sure my wife was held in. Now, we’re all just waiting on news that they’ve found them. I hope it’s soon so my girls can finally start living their lives again and not have to worry about these assholes coming to get them ever again.

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