Page 40 of Remy

“It could have been different though, yeah? Maybe I should have told her that we were lookin’ for Charlie when we left. I didn’t want to get her hopes up, though. I didn’t want to come back, and her see I failed to find her,” I tell him.

“I get that, but she did what she did, Remy. There’s no one to blame now. Could it have been prevented? Probably not. She made up her mind,” he says, and he’s right. She did make up her mind. She chose to do this. She knew what she was doing but there’s a part of me that wishes she didn’t. That part wishes shedidn’t know what she was doing, that she just wanted to sleep. Deep down, I know that isn’t true.

We walk out of the hospital together and head for the truck.

“Do we have any word on Brad yet?”

“We got a few leads we’re gonna follow up on, but nothin’ solid just yet.”

“I want him, Locke.”

“We all want him for what he did to her.”

“I mean it, that kill is mine,” I tell him. He nods his head as we climb into the truck and take off.

“That kill will be yours, Remy. No worries there.”

“What if she doesn’t wake up?”

“Don’t say that shit.”

“I mean it. What if she doesn’t wake up? How the hell do I raise a little girl on my own, brother?”

“You don’t. You have us. The whole fuckin’ club is behind you right now, Remy. You have to know that. We’re here for you. We’ll do whatever we need to do to help you.” He’s right. And I know that deep down I have the guys to back me up. They’d never let me down. It’s what we do. We have each other’s backs. But this is a child. My child. The one I was supposed to be raising with Tianna. And she fucked that up. She fucking ruined that for me. For us.

We climb into the truck, and I look out the window, wondering what the hell I should do. I blow out a breath and run my hand over my face before I sigh. This is all a mess, and thatmotherfucker is still out there. When I get my hands on him, he’s going to wish he was dead because I’m going to make him suffer for what he did to her.

We pull into the parking lot, climb out, and head inside. I stop dead in my tracks when I see her sitting in a little high chair, eating. Kiki is talking to her and making little noises at her as Charlie grins at her. The more Kiki talks to her, the more she laughs. It’s probably the best fucking sound I’ve ever heard. I keep my eyes glued to her even when she turns her little head to look at me.

The air is sucked from my lungs. That’s my daughter. That’s my little girl.

“You should go over there,” Hodge urges me, giving me a little push when my feet don’t want to move. I take slow steps toward her while she watches me the whole time.

“Hey, baby girl,” I say as she smiles up at me.

“Tell Daddy we’ve been eating lunch, haven’t we, Charlie.” Her little feet kick as she laughs again, and I feel my fucking soul breaking.

“How is she today?” Kiki asks as I look over at her.

“They said she’s the same. Doc said it’s just a waiting game,” I tell her, even though my voice is husky.

“She needs time. That’s all. She needs to heal, and then she’ll wake up. You know she’s stubborn as hell. She’ll wake up on her time,” Kiki tells me. Maybe she’s right. Maybe she’s wrong. I honestly don’t know anymore. I don’t know what to say, so I just nod my head. “She needs changing. She made a mess. You wantto do it?” she asks me as she stands and pulls Charlie out of the chair.

“I … I don’t know what the hell I’m doin’.”

“It’s okay. I’ll come with you,” she says. I nod my head as she passes me a dirty Charlie. Her eyes meet mine, and she smiles again before focusing on my patches. She reaches up and starts to pick at the corner as I carry her down the hall.

We go into the room, and that’s when I actually notice all the stuff that’s in here for Charlie.

“Where did all this come from?” I ask. Kiki smiles over her shoulder as she pulls clothes out of the closet.

“Me and Tianna ordered it a while ago when you left me your card. You’ve been so busy at the hospital that I had Locke help me set it all up. Hope that’s okay.”

“Yeah. It’s fine. Thank you for doin’ all this, Kiki.”

“You know I’m always here to help. Come on, let’s change her.” I walk over to the bed and lay her down as she wiggles and tries to scoot away. On instinct, I reach out and grab her ankle, keeping her from falling off the bed. Kiki laughs as she lays the clothes out.

“What am I supposed to do?” I ask her.

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