Page 20 of Behemoth

Emmie is recovering in a room with Brick at her side. Francis, Damien, and I are getting ready to leave the hospital with Fury, Abby, and the twins. Everyone else has already left. The most important thing for Emmie right now is rest. And plenty of it.

The surgery was a lot more complicated, per her gynecologist, and her recovery will be kind of long. But the doctor relieved both Emmie and Brick by telling them they could still have a family down the road. You could see the relief on Emmie’s face as her face broke out in a beautiful smile aimed at her man. That right there, their love is priceless and rare. We all decide to give them some time to process alone. The kids are exhausted as are the adults. Sitting in a hospital isn’t fun at all.

“Emmie, if there is anything you need just have the hospital page me. And I mean it when I say this, so please don’t be too stubborn or worried about bothering me. I’ll check on you tomorrow okay, honey?”

As I reach down, I carefully give her a cheek kiss and a small hug. Pulling back I look directly into her eyes, trying to reassure her all will be okay. When I release her Francis is at my side, ready and loaded to give out his hugs. I watch as he hugs Emmie. Something about the way he cradles her in his arms and whispers in her ear, she seems to relax and just let go. Once Francis seems satisfied with how Emmie is responding, he gently places her back on the bed.

Knowing he knew what I was thinking when he looked my way, I am surprised to see the small smile. He approaches Brick and gives him the standard man goodbye/later: a semi-hug with a couple of slaps on the shoulder blades. That crap has to hurt. Whatever. Boys will be boys or better yet, men will be men.

When Francis turns after his brother’s goodbye, the exhaustion pours out of him. I quickly say my goodbyes to Fury, Abby, and the boys then grab Francis, who in turn grabs Damien. We make it to the SUV in record time. As we all find our seats, my son surprises the crap out of me.

“Mom, Francis wants to grab a bite to eat. Let’s do drive-thru, it’s faster and we’re already in the car.”

I’m shocked as these are my exact thoughts. I mean totally. I hear a bit of a little boy giggle from behind me and as I turn I catch Francis’ eyes, which are sparkling, and he seems to be holding back his laughter.

“Gotcha, Momma, right? Those were your thoughts; I just got them out ahead of you. See, Francis isn’t the only one who has unique skills as you always call them. I’m just like my dad.”

The atmosphere in the SUV suddenly takes on another vibe. Francis is frozen in place and Damien realizes what he said out loud. Both of my boys are in zombie mode.

“Damien, you’re right on all fronts, got to give it to you, kiddo. Let’s find somewhere to grab some chow and head home. Okay with you, honey?”

I grab his hand as I finish to let him know I know he is freaking. As usual, he is in my head so he squeezes my hand and the tension instantly leaves the vehicle. As Francis drives down the main street from the hospital, I feel like even though this was very traumatic, we all did our share to make sure we took care of Emmie and Brick. And with time she will heal and they can go back to “screwing like bunnies” to get pregnant. I kind of giggle just as I hear from the back seat.

“Gross, Momma that is Aunt Emmie and Uncle Brick. And bunnies have litters. Yuck.”

Francis joins in on the laughter with me now, loudly. Eventually we hear the giggles fade and then soft snoring from the back seat. All of this as we look for food to take home.

After we ate our food and Francis helped Damien get to bed, he finds me sitting in the family room staring at the blank TV.

“Darlin’, you doing okay? Doc said Emmie should be fine, just gonna take time. What’s on your mind, Grace?”

“Francis, I know she will be okay. My head keeps repeating it but my heart is taking its time catching up with the words. All I can see is Emmie, Damien, and the blood. Not the day I thought we were going to have. No, that is being selfish, it’s just how can a morning start so beautiful and then spiral into such crap? I’m just tired and worried.”

He pulls me into his arms and we just sit quietly, holding each other as we both let our fears of the day go. And this is where we both peacefully fall asleep in each other’s arms.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Francis

Sitting in Brick’s office, I've come to the realization that I had no fuckin’ idea the extent of bullshit our prez handles on a daily basis. Son of a bitch, I’m drowning and I’m just trying to step up and give a hand.

With Emmie finally being released after almost a week in the hospital, it goes without sayin’ that Brick is gonna be home with her. After her surgery an infection set in, and she was moved to ICU for two days on very strong intravenous antibiotics. Grace was at her side while trying to put Brick’s mind at ease, which no matter what my woman said, he wasn’t buyin’. He for sure thought his woman was gonna die.

Thank God the drugs brought the infection to bay. With that said, Emmie is extremely weak and has a long road ahead of her. Between the women and Brick there is always someone with her right now. The biggest concern is depression, especially with her hormones all over. Emmie desperately wants to be a mom and have kids with her man. Grace went into great detail explaining to Emmie she still has that opportunity. It just isn’t penetrating, so the club family is gonna keep an eye on her and the situation.

Grace and the girls decided that until they felt she was on the road to recovery, they would make sure she wasn’t left alone. And Brick being the dominant alpha he is also decided he needed to be available at all times for his woman. So that left the club in chaos. What one man managed is taking all his brothers to muddle through.

Trying to concentrate on the shitload of papers in front of me I hear a commotion right before the door bursts open and Fury storms through, fire shooting from his eyes.

“Stitch, get your goddamn ass out there before I kill Beast. That asshole is getting on my last nerve. While we’re all busting our asses to cover our prez, this club, and our personal shit, he is out there drinking beer after beer not a care in the fucking world. And from what I’m hearin’, he isn’t even taking care of his kid or woman.

“Rumor has it he moved them from that halfway decent joint across town to some dump apartment complex. What the fuck is up with that asshole? And since Emmie’s situation, what’s he done to give a hand or step up? I’ll tell ya, brother, not a goddamn thing. He’s barely here anymore and when he is it's to get drunk and flop out in his room. Of all the others, never thought Beast would be such a useless piece of shit. And get this, right before I walked in here to get ya, he had a sweet butt all over him. Now I know some of the brothers believe that is cool and don’t believe in having an anchor around their neck, but Cathy has been with that dick for years, not to mention she gave him his son, Rider. I want to wring his goddamn neck, brother.”

Looking at Fury, I can see the rage pouring out of him. His already black eyes are glowing with such force even I take a step back. When he loses it, he could scare the motherfuckin' shit out of anyone. His mind is runnin’ all over and it is fuckin’ overwhelming me. I know he is worried about the club without Brick at the helm.

Fury is our vice president. A position that suites him well. He works well with Brick and they complement each other. Saying that, Fury needs his space and privacy. Even I don’t know a lot about him, except he isn’t from the streets, doesn’t do drugs, and can handle just about anyone and anything. I’ve got a ton of bulk on him and he scares even me. Something in his eyes isn't right when he is pissed. And he always appears in control, even if he is anything but that.

“Fury, okay, okay, dude, I will go talk to the dickhead. I need your help, brother. Take a minute and look at these invoices. I’m lost and not sure if these are normal or not. And here are the next couple of runs coming up in the next few weeks. We need to get the route and crews scheduled, so everything is ready to go. Fuck, never knew all Brick handled before. No wonder there is always a bottle of Jack in his bottom drawer. Review this shit, brother, I’ll go and handle Beast.”

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