Page 33 of Unruly Defender
“Could you please rephrase what you just mentioned?I’m not sure if I understand completely what happened with all the medical terms,” Gracy says, and I’m thankful she’s with me.
The doctor nods at Gracy but turns his attention to me again.“We believe your mother had a vasovagal syncope.This caused her heart rate and blood pressure to suddenly drop, which led to reduced blood flow in her brain.It was the reason she lost consciousness.We were worried she might have an underlying medical condition such as a heart or brain disorder.Your mother mentioned she’s had a low heart rate all her life, has something like this happened before?Do you know if she endures underlying stress or maybe extreme pressure?Were there recent changes that could have triggered a stressful moment?”
I now know for a fact what happened to my mother was because of the papers Gracy noticed on the table.I don’t know where my mother got them from, but it’s the damn reason she’s in the hospital.More anger hits me because this whole thing that landed me in prison is like a black hole, swallowing everyone around me into this mess.
“She’s been missing her husband more and more these days, and Henley just came back after a long time, and he has been wrapped in some issues.I’m sure as a mother she’s worried and maybe it all became too much,” Gracy offers because I’m still tongue-tied.“But I also know that she’s been more tired the last few months and has made a few changes.Less work, more time to relax.She assured me nothing was wrong with her physically and that it all had to do with getting older one day at a time.Should we have been more alert?Should I have forced her to go to the doctor?Would it have prevented what happened to her today?”
Everything is running through my head and it’s mostly guilt when I hear the last few things Gracy is mentioning.Should I have been more alert too?I can’t think of anything to say to mingle in this discussion, mainly because I haven’t been around my mother in a while.
And for fuck’s sake, what do I even say to this doctor?The truth?I can’t even comprehend everything myself.And do I even want to talk to my mother about this while it’s probably the reason why she’s in this hospital bed?The doctor in front of me offers me his hand and I warily take it.Seems I missed half of the conversation yet again.
Gracy squeezes my hand and says, “Let’s go see your mother.”
Yates and Ash are waiting across the hall as we enter my mother’s room.Like last time there are beeping sounds and machines surrounding her but she’s sitting slightly up.The smile she gives us both is warming my chest.
“Hey, Ma,” I croak.
She waves me over.“Henley Augustine, come give your mother a hug.I won’t break.”
Little does she know my own heart is breaking seeing her like this and knowing what put her in here isn’t over and handled yet.It makes me feel even more like a failure.I drag myself over to the bed and carefully hug her.The deep sigh ripping from her body is letting me know the hug is something she gathers strength from.
“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” I mutter.“I’m not ready to lose you too.”
“I’m still here, son.I’m not going anywhere.Well, maybe home soon because I would like to spend the night in my own bed but they have mentioned I needed to stay overnight.”
“Yes, they need to keep an eye on you but from my understanding if everything goes well, they will release you tomorrow and Henley and I will be right here to pick you up.So, you’d better do as ordered and get some rest.And I will make sure you won’t have any extra work or stress, you need to take it slow for a while,” Gracy says, though she too knows about the papers.
I’ve never trusted a woman or shared crucial information with one.The world I grew up in was one raised in an MC where brotherhood was strong but crucial information was club business.Things discussed in church aren’t meant to be out in the open.
Though, I know very well each club and president have their own little rules, but I know for a fact my father never involved my mother with club business.And yet it doesn’t stop her from worrying about all of it.It’s the reason I convinced my father that me buying the estate for her was a great way to keep her mind busy.
The little things she did for the construction company weren’t really needed and she would always rave about her dream to run a tiny bed and breakfast.Being in the construction and the real estate world along with it, I got wind about the estate becoming for sale.
It cost me almost my whole savings I had gathered through investments, but it was worth it when I saw her face the moment I brought her to the gate and told her it was hers to run and turn into her little paradise.
Though my father was a hard worker and a man of little words, he helped me and my mother after I bought the estate.There was some construction work needed and he took control.And I know it bothered him when I bought the estate but I also knew all his money was wrapped up in his company.
It’s always the next job where money is needed to be pumped into, it’s the way he’s always worked and how we all got to where we were.But I owed them both.Every cent I made was with the help of my father as I worked my way up his company where he gave me all the possibilities.
He allowed me to go through college, get a degree and through working for his company, I made my first paycheck.Due to the MC I could save on everything so I could invest and I was lucky enough it all worked out.
It’s the reason I invested it all back into property.The whole needing money to make money was true for me and the reason I was able to have enough to do everything I wanted.Though the estate I bought for my mother was different.
After I bought it, we all decided it was better if it would stay in my name, because my father kept telling us how fragile running a construction company was.Investors failing, market plunging, if I kept it in my name my mother would always keep her dream if something happened to my father’s company.
It’s also the reason why I bought the MC property and the bar next to it.Both investments and making sure everything was kept in the family.And with the estate being my mother’s dream, I know it’s not causing her any stress, if anything it’s a stress relief because she’s mentioned many times how waking up every morning in her bungalow and seeing the view of the ocean sets her mind at peace.
“The estate practically runs itself, it’s not what’s caused this nor will it cause her the added stress,” I grumble.“Ma, it was the papers we found on the table that landed you in here, wasn’t it?”
Her whole face falls and the bleeping of the machines starts to change.
“Calm down, Maggie,” Gracy says, her tone filled with worry.
“The papers,” my mother gasps and grabs my arm.“You need to get them.They can prove you’re innocent and there’s a note from your father.You need to read it because he wrote down his thoughts about what went wrong with the mall project and how he was heading to meet Rush along with Nicolaus.He confronted Nicolaus earlier that day with the two sets of documents he found and how he saw Nicolaus’ son, Rush on camera exchanging them.Your father took the papers out of the container outside where Rush threw them in and put everything in an envelope along with a copy of the video.He needed to know if Nicolaus was in on it too.”
My mother furiously shakes her head as her hand tightens into a fist.“William never should have tried to solve it internally like club business.What was he thinking accepting Rush’s suggestion to meet up in that building?He should have gone straight to the police with everything he had, and the suspicions.But instead he put it in the safe and went to meet Rush along with Nicolaus.And the note your father wrote clearly states Nicolaus didn’t know and didn’t believe Rush would do such a thing.It’s obvious Rush killed them both.It wasn’t an accident; Rush took my William away from me.I didn’t know, Henley.I didn’t know this envelope was in the safe all along, and I wouldn’t have ever found it if it wasn’t for you and Gracy.”
Her words thunder through my head.There’s a video showing Rush swapped those documents?Clearly, I didn’t check inside the envelope well enough, only the documents concerning the investment for a mall project where investors transferred thousands of dollars into a bank account.One of the two versions we now found was in Rush’s name and bank account.
