Page 110 of Tuck & Roll

“Hey, I just remembered,” Kylie resumed her seat. She waited for Tuck to sit before she asked, “What happened to the other women and Cutter and Miles?”

Tuck frowned. “I don’t know. Race?”

Race had been doing something on his phone, but managed to hear their question. “Sent them all along with the kids to the clubhouse with the prospects and told them to lock it down until we got Chet dealt with. They’re safe, doll.”

“Thank God.” Kylie sighed in relief. Leaning back into Tuck, she rested her head on his shoulder, gripping his arm where it rested in her lap and across her body. Her eyes were starting to get heavy when Jackson and Trick returned with coffee and her water.

“Thank you.” She immediately opened her bottle and started chugging it down. “That hit the spot.”

Tuck watched Kylie drink greedily, trying not to laugh, before he accepted the coffee Trick handed him. The coffee wasn’t all that great. The only things he could say about it was it was tasteless and it was hot. He was spared having to drink more of it when a doctor came into the room asking for the family of Jennings. He set it on the side table next to him and went with Kylie and the brothers to find out how he was doing.

“Oh. Well. Looks like he has a big family.”

“Yeah, he does,” Race replied. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing great. We repaired the damage the bullet caused and removed the knife. It missed all his vital organs, but between both wounds, we had to give him blood to replace what he’d lost. He’s doing really well and he’ll be able to have a couple of visitors as soon as he goes back to a room. The rest of you will have to wait until tomorrow to check on him I’m afraid. It would be too much excitement for the other patients this late at night.”

“Sure, Doctor. We understand. Thanks for letting us know.” Race shook his hand. “You two,” he was addressing Tuck and Kylie, “go see him and tell him we’re all here for him. We’ll be by in the morning to check on him.”

“Sure, Race,” Tuck agreed. “We’ll do that.”

He was glad Race and the brothers understood that Kylie wouldn’t rest until she saw with her own eyes that Darren was doing okay. He’d saved her life twice now and Kylie had grown close to him during the whole Taylor debacle. Everyone said their goodbyes and made sure to tell Kylie to get some rest, then they were off. It was quiet in the absence of everyone leaving. Too quiet. It was at this point it hit Tuck exactly how tired he was after all the earlier drama.

He glanced at his woman and saw she was dead on her feet. In fact, he didn’t know how she was still awake at this point. Between the terror she’d suffered at being kidnapped and then not knowing if she was going to live or die and then the adrenaline crash, it was a miracle she hadn’t collapsed yet.

As soon as they got to visit Darren and she was assured that he was okay, he was taking her home and they were both getting some much-needed rest. To ease his own mind, he planned on holding her all night long. She might not like being tangled up all night, but this was something he needed.

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close as they waited for the nurse to come get them and take them to Darren.

Tuck and Kylie followed the nurse to Darren’s room and thanked her for her assistance before stepping inside and closing the door. The room was dark, the only light coming from the one above and behind the bed. From where they were standing they could see the big guy looked like he was asleep and they debated on whether or not they should leave. Or it was more like Kylie couldn’t decide if they should stay or go.

“Should we go? He’s sleeping,” Kylie whispered.

“Kylie Jo, he’s fine. The nurses wouldn’t have let us in here if he wasn’t okay to have visitors. And you were determined to see him before we go.” Tuck squeezed her shoulders from behind, trying to reassure her. He couldn’t believe she was even entertaining the idea of going before she’d gotten to talk to him.

“Will you two come in already?” Darren had his eyes open watching the two of them as they bickered just inside the room.

“You’re awake!” she whispered loudly. She immediately went to his bedside, smiling like a loon.

“Of course I’m awake. With the two of you arguing about whether or not to come in, how’s a man supposed to sleep.” His tone might have sounded serious and grumpy but the twinkle in his eyes gave him away. “You okay? The baby good?”

“Yes. Thanks to you, we’re both doing fine.” She reached for his hand and held it between both of hers. A tear slipped fee, landing on his hand.

“Hey. Why are you crying?” Darren frowned.

“I was so scared we would lose you. I mean, you were not only shot, but stabbed, too. The thought of losing you or you not being around scared the crap out of me.” Kylie swiped at another tear trying to get free.

“I’m fine, honey. I’m fine.” He tugged on her hand. “If you go around to the other side I’ll give you a hug.”

Kylie quickly rounded the end of his bed and went to his left side. She leaned down and closed her eyes as he gave her a one-armed hug. “See?” he said as she pulled back. “I’m fine. You good now?”

She nodded her head. “Yes. It was kind of selfish of me, but I really needed that hug.”

Darren turned to Tuck. “Will you tell your woman I’m good and to quit the water works?”

He laughed at Darren’s slightly panicked plea. “Just go with it. Until she gets it out of her system, you’ll have to deal with it. If the two of you think you’re going to be okay for a few minutes, I’m going to go down to the nurses’ station and see if I can get a good cup of coffee.”

He roamed down the hall and found a nurse behind the counter working on the computer. “Excuse me.” He waited until he had her attention. “Could I trouble you for a good cup of coffee? The stuff in the machine is toxic.”

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