Page 6 of Denial

Morgan nods in response as I get my first look at the front of her body. Rage fills me as I take in all the damage her ex has done to her. Morgan is bleeding from open wounds from her head down to her feet. Her nails are broken and ripped off. The shirt she was wearing has been shredded and does nothing to actually cover her body, showing off her chest and the pierced nipples she’s got. That’s the first time I’ve seen them considering I’ve never seen this woman naked for any reason. Turning away from her, I let Doc start cleaning her body and hand him what he needs as he asks for it. I don’t look at Morgan again until I know she’s covered in a gown Doc has here from his office in town.

It's been a few hours since Doc finished working on Morgan. He cleaned her body, stitched the wounds that needed them, examined her the best he could, and finally gave her pain medicine and antibiotics. Morgan is sleeping as peacefully as she can with all the damage that’s been done to her body as I pull my phone from my pocket to call Vault. He needs to know what’s happened to Morgan so we can start searching even harder for her fucking ex.

“What’s goin’ on, Jinx?” Vault asks me, answering the phone as I remain in the chair at Morgan’s side in the infirmary Doc set up for us.

“I’m at the clubhouse with Morgan. She was beaten to hell by her ex today when she went to get some groceries for dinner. It’s fuckin’ bad, Vault. Doc put in over twenty stitches, her body has more skin that’s bruised than not, and her ribs are fucked. It’s gonna take a long time for them to heal. Right now she’s sleepin’ from the medicine Doc gave her, but when she wakes up, I’ll put her in her room. Doc has her hooked up to an IV for her meds and the fluid she needs,” I tell Vault, not holding back the rage I’m feeling as I look down at my friend.

“Fuck! I’ll let King know. We’ve got the fucker’s name. He needs to get to work and find some information on this prick. You stayin’ with her?” Vault asks, anger in his voice and I’m sure part of it’s directed at me because I’m once again with Morgan.

“Yeah. I don’t trust the Phantom girls to take care of her the way she needs right now. Gonna have to put the Prospects on the bar while she heals. Morgan isn’t gonna be up for workin’ the next few weeks,” I inform Vault what Doc told me as Morgan starts to have a nightmare based on the jerky movements of her body and the whimpers escaping her.

Morgan has nightmares almost nightly. No, I haven’t heard them or witnessed her having one. Morgan and I have never once spent a night together. She’s told me that she has nightmares and that they all center around her ex and the life she had with him. There wasn’t a day where he wasn’t hurting her in one way or another. Morgan relives every single encounter with him when she sleeps and once again can’t escape his wrath and the pain he loves to inflict on her. Now, I’m witnessing one for the first time and there’s nothing I can do to snap her out of it with the heavy dose of pain medicine in her body. The only thing I can do is make sure she doesn’t hurt herself.

“Okay. I’ll let them know they’ll be on rotation until she heals. Jinx, you need to really think about what you’re doin’ with Morgan. If you’re gonna be with her, then claim her in the eyes of the club so we can protect her. If not, then you need to think about how much time you’re spendin’ with her. I know you’re single and can do whatever the fuck you want. As much as I really don’t want to get involved in your life, you’re hurtin’ so many fuckin’ people and I know it’s gonna hurt you in the end. Cut her loose or claim her, Jinx. That’s the decision you need to make very soon,” Vault states before hanging up the phone.

Putting my phone back in my pocket, I lean back in the chair and watch as Morgan thrashes and cries out in the bed Doc has her in. When I can’t stand it any longer, I try to wake her only to find Doc wasn’t lying. I can’t wake Morgan up—she’s trapped in her nightmare with no chance of escape. It breaks my heart and I want to find her ex right now and make him suffer for putting her through so much hell. The only reason I’m not is because that’s not my place. Yes, I would stop any man I see putting his hands on a woman or kids. If I were to go out on my own and deal with Morgan’s ex, everyone would read more into the situation than what it means to me. They’d see it as me protecting a woman I want to claim and I’d fuck everything up even more than it currently is.

I think about Vault’s words as I watch Morgan finally start to settle back down from the horrible life she’s led. She’s back to sleeping peacefully, but the tears still slide down her face and land on the bed beneath her. Doc came in to check on her just as she was coming out of it and the monitors were still going crazy as fuck. He’s pissed and I know retribution is filling his mind. There’s no way I can claim Morgan. Claiming an ol’ lady is a lifelong commitment and she’s not the person I want to spend my life with. Hope is the only girl I’ve ever imagined myself claiming and even though things are so fucked up between the two of us right now, I still believe that one day I’ll claim her as my ol’ lady.

Morgan woke up long enough for us to get her situated in her room at the clubhouse. It hurt her so bad when we moved her and Doc made sure to give her more pain medicine to help ease the torment she was in. Currently, she’s back to sleeping and I’m sitting by her bed. Vault has been in to see her. The second he laid eyes on her, his eyes filled with pure rage. Morgan looks like shit and Doc went over all of her injuries with Vault even though I had already told him what they were. We’ll be keeping a close eye on her to make sure she doesn’t get any kind of infection despite her having antibiotics already.

No one else has come in to see Morgan and I don’t expect them to. The guys talk to Morgan when she’s behind the bar, but that’s about it. None of them have taken the chance to get to know her or anything else. They don’t want to because most of them feel that I’m with her and aren’t going to do anything to make it seem as if they’re trying to move in on her when she’s my girl. Even if I haven’t claimed her as an ol’ lady. The Phantom girls leave her alone and sneer at her because they feel as if she’s getting special treatment by me when it’s not true. We talk and hang out, but that’s it. If she needs a ride and I’m around, I take her to wherever she needs to go. I don’t go out of my way to spend time with Morgan, but it seems to happen on a daily basis. That’s not my fault.

See, I know something about Morgan that no one else does. She doesn’t want to be in a relationship with anyone. Her ex really did a number on her and she refuses to make herself that vulnerable again with anyone. According to her, she’s going to be alone for the rest of her life and will find someone who wants to fuck her without any strings attached. I can see how that would appeal to her after everything she’s been through. Plus, I know that she’s interested in someone and they have talked about some kind of arrangement between the two of them. None of that shit is my business to share with anyone else though. It’s their business and the two of them will make it known when they’re ready to. For now, I’ll keep her secret and ensure it’s safe so I’m not one more person in a long line of people who have let her down and betrayed her.

The three women here in the clubhouse are also avoiding Morgan. At first Annabell and Savannah were at least trying to get to know her and help her through the trauma she’d suffered. Once they saw how Hope viewed our friendship, they pulled back and no longer sit to talk with Morgan about anything. If she’s in the kitchen helping them, they don’t include her in the conversation and it hurts Morgan’s feelings. I get why they’re doing it because they’ll always be loyal to Hope over everyone else. However, they don’t need to intentionally hurt someone because they don’t know the entire situation. I haven’t said anything to either one of them yet, but I have a feeling that it’s coming and it will only make the entire situation look worse than it already does.

“Jinx?” I hear Morgan’s raspy voice as it pulls me from the thoughts filling my mind.

“I’m here, Morgan. How are you feelin’? Do you need me to get Doc?” I ask her, sitting up in my chair and looking down at her in the bed she’s had since we brought her to the clubhouse months ago.

“I hurt,” she says, pain filling her voice as I pull my phone out to message Doc about her needing more medicine. “What are you still doing in here?”

“Haven’t left your side since I got here, Morgan. You need someone with you and no one else will sit in here for this long,” I answer her honestly as Doc comes in the room after a quick knock.

“Hello, Morgan. I’ve got some pain medicine here for you. You’ll get more antibiotics later today. You’re getting two doses a day in the morning and at night. Right now, I’m givin’ you the pain medicine through your IV so it works quicker. Eventually, we’ll get you off that and givin’ you pills so I’m not stayin’ here to administer the medicine,” Doc informs her as I hold a glass of water for her to sip on.

“Thank you, Doc. You always have to patch me up,” she says, trying to smile and failing from the swelling in her face.

“That’s my job, sweetheart. Get some rest,” Doc says as he gives her the medicine and leaves us alone in the room once again.

It doesn’t take long for Morgan to go back to sleep as the pain medicine pulls her under. Remaining in my seat next to her, I pull out my phone and check for any messages I’ve missed. There isn’t anything. I know everyone knows what happened. Vault told me he was going to let everyone know today that Morgan was attacked and wouldn’t be working in the clubhouse for the next few weeks. Still, I don’t believe anyone will come in to see her because they can all see I’m missing and won’t be out there until I know she can be left alone. Morgan hasn’t had anyone at her side in a very long time and it’s time for someone to step up and be there for her.

Chapter Four

Hope

TWO WEEKS AGO Vault let us all know that Morgan had been attacked by her abusive ex when she went out shopping for groceries. She managed to get back to the clubhouse where she called Jinx to help her. Doc examined her and went over her injuries with Vault while staying at the clubhouse for a few days to give her the medicine she needed in her IV. I hate hearing that she got hurt by her ex all because she left the compound, but it only made me realize that Jinx is truly with her. He’s barely left her side since the attack and to know that he was her only call shows the kind of relationship they have. The only time I’ve heard he leaves her is to get them something to eat and shower. He’s even sleeping in her room with her. If that’s the case, I don’t see why he didn’t take her up to his room since it’s larger and his bed is better than hers. All the guys got new beds when they moved in while the rest of the beds are the same ones that have been here since the clubhouse was built. I can’t imagine her bed is too comfortable so that part doesn’t make sense to me. But, it’s not my relationship so I don’t give a fuck what they do.

The Phantom girls have been talking nonstop about how Jinx is wrapped around Morgan’s little finger and that she’s his new toy. He doesn’t let anyone else fuck her and since they’re always together it’s just a matter of time before he claims her as his ol’ lady. Hearing them talk about the pair breaks my heart even more because I can see the truth in their words. When I’m at the clubhouse, I don’t tend to hang out in the common room because I don’t want to see Jinx when he does leave her room. But, I have passed Jinx and it’s easy to see that he’s exhausted and not properly taking care of himself.

He’s got scruff on his face that usually isn’t there and his eyes are almost lifeless when he’s not by Morgan’s side. King hasn’t been talking to him so he has no clue how his best friend is feeling about things. Today that’s going to change because I know my cousin is trying to stay loyal to me, but I think Jinx really needs him right now. Plus, I can see the strain it’s putting on my cousin not to be there for Jinx. When Jinx does look at King, pain and hurt fill his eyes and it’s the only emotion you see in his usually expressive eyes. So, King will hear from me that Jinx needs him and he needs to pull his head from his ass to be at his best friend’s side while his girl is hurt.

Walking into the clubhouse after work, I find King sitting at the bar. He’s alone with a bottle of water sitting in front of him. Taking a deep breath, I sit on the stool next to him and rest my head on King’s arm. He looks at me and smiles before moving his arm to rest around my shoulders.

“How was work, short stack?” he asks me, smiling at the nickname he gave me so many years ago.

“It was work. Sat on my ass for eight hours and my eyes started crossing from the paperwork and numbers I was putting in the computer,” I tell him honestly, making King smile as he looks down at me. “We need to talk, King.”

---