Page 38 of Haze's Jewel

Vapor is still talking. “Siege making me sit this one out was probably a good idea. Trix needed me and so did Mel. Your girl stepped up like a champ, offering to drive Mel and Hark to the hospital.”

“Is Anna still there with you?”

“Yeah, we’re in the waiting room. She’s been through a lot tonight.”

“Ain’t that the damn truth. This has been the longest of long nights,” I tell my brother with a sigh, “I’m heading your way right now.”

“Okay, bro.”

I pull the nozzle out of my gas tank and slide it back into place. “Take care of our girls. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I climb onto my bike.

“Roger that. Everything here is stable, so don’t break your neck getting here.”

A ghost of a smile crosses my face as Vapor ends the call and I drop the phone back into my pocket.

Just as I’m starting my engine, Siege and Rigs pull up beside me. “We heard about Mel’s baby,” Siege says worriedly. Siege is a father of four so he knows how stressful parenthood can be.

Rigs adds, “It’s damn good news that poor little thing’s gonna be okay after the night we’ve had.”

“Where’s your new buddy?” I ask Rigs.

He knows immediately that I’m talking about Scott. I don’t know why my prestigious club brother decided to take a personal interest in this particular asshole. It’s possible he sees something in Scott that the rest of us don’t.

“Stop ragging on me about that. You were there when I told his brother to bring him to the clubhouse in the morning.”

I flash him an evil smile and shrug. Rigs is a fucking bleeding heart who feels the need to right every wrong he sees in the world. Good thing his old lady is the same damn way, or his marriage would be doomed. I am choosy about the people I let into my life. A raging alcoholic who thinks he’s God’s gift to women would not be on my list at all, much less at the top.

Siege snaps his fingers in front of my face, “Earth calling Haze. Wake the fuck up.”

Slapping his hand away, I say, “The fuck? Keep your hands out of my face.”

He frowns at me. “You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?” I ask defensively.

Rigs interjects, “Staring at nothing. You do that a lot.”

Feeling attacked, I fling back, “No, I fucking don’t.” Truth be told, this isn’t the first time someone has pointed this out to me. I’ve always been this way. So what if my mind wanders? It’s nothing. Changing the subject, I say, “I’m heading to the hospital. Anna’s there and I want to be with her. You done with me for the night, Prez?”

Siege revs his engine. “Sure. We’ll be along after we pick up our old ladies. They’re pretty tight with Mel, so I’m sure they’ll want to be there for her and Tracker.

“Yeah, the women in our club stick together that way.”

“That’s the way it should be,” he responds.

Still a bit distracted about everything that went down tonight, I tell him, “See you there.”

***

The second I walk into the waiting room, I see Anna is a complete mess. She’s curled up in one of the chairs and looks as jumpy as a cat on a hot tin roof.

Vapor jerks his chin at me as I walk into the room. He has his arm wrapped around his old lady. Trix seems to be spiraling. She’s normally smart, tough and capable but the pregnancy hormones, coupled with her anxiety about her being pregnant are really doing a number on her. It was all my brother could do to keep Trix calm. Something about Mel’s baby being rushed into hospital had spiked her anxiety sky high. I’m guessing it’s the feeling of knowing that parenthood can have its scary moments was freaking her out. I wanted to reassure her that emergencies like this are rare, but none of us are supposed to know she was pregnant, so I just shut up and let my brother comfort her.

Hark is pacing back and forth in front of Anna, muttering under his breath. He looked anxious as hell too and was worrying about his little niece.

I put my hand on his shoulder when I walk by and tell him, “The baby’s gonna be fine. She’s in the best place. You don’t have anything to worry about. Trust me on that.”

When he gazes up at me, I can see a world of worry in his young eyes. “Thanks,” he mumbles before going back to pacing.

---