Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 86823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Luke nodded and turned to Amy, grabbing her arm. He dragged her out of the room, turning off the light on the way. Travis kissed the top of my head, and I fell asleep in the safety and comfort of his arms.
Travis
I knew Katie wouldn’t wake up for a while, and I didn’t have time to waste. I still wanted to get shit done, even if I was in the hospital. When I saw daylight come in through the window of the hospital room, I called Luke. He came into the hospital room about thirty minutes later and looked at Katie who was still sleeping peacefully. “Want me to leave the light off?” he asked quietly.
I nodded. Just because I was impatient about getting shit straightened out didn’t mean that we would be disturbing Katie’s sleep. She had looked drained when I saw her yesterday. She needed all of the sleep that she could get.
Luke came over to the chair beside the bed and sat down in it. “What’s the next step?” he asked me.
“Get the Black Skulls up here from Bloody Royals territory. It’s time to break ties.”
He glanced down at Katie. “You’re not going to be breaking many ties when you’re dating the president’s daughter.”
I sighed. I knew this was going to come up eventually. I wasn’t willing to end my relationship with Katie, though. If I absolutely had to form an alliance with the Bloody Royals to be with her, then I would. I wouldn’t lose Katie. She loved me, as she had confessed earlier, which didn’t bother me like I thought it would. I cared about her a hell of a lot, and it would break me if I had to give her up.
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes,” I said evasively. “There are no hard feelings right now between me and James, so for the time being, we’ll just break the ties and start solving problems on the inside before we worry about the outside.”
Luke nodded and stood up, leaving the room. Dr. Avery came into the room not too long after Luke left. “Good to see you’re awake. You know, normally, we don’t allow two people to be on the bed at once.”
I smirked at him. “We both know I’ve never been one to follow the rules,” I said. “It’s been three years since I’ve seen you, Avery. How’ve you been?”
“Fine. The girls are grown and moved out. Lizzie is getting married next spring. Megan just announced to us all last Sunday that she’s pregnant and dropping out of college. I’m fighting with her about dropping out of college. Even if she has to move back home so we can help her, she’s not dropping out of school.”
I nodded in understanding. There was no way in hell my child would quit school at any point. They’d go all the way through high school. My life got fucked up when I was seventeen, but I would be damned if my child’s life got fucked up as mine had. The only way they would stay in this life was if they chose to stay.
“So, what’s the verdict on me?” I asked him, making him smile at my word choice.
“I know how much you hate hospital stays, so as soon as your shoulder begins to heal a little, we’ll let you go. You’ve had gunshot wounds before, so you know how to properly take care of them. I trust you won’t end up coming back here because you opened the stitches I worked so hard on putting in.” He shot me a pointed look as he said that because I’d done it before – numerous times, actually.
I looked down at Katie and gently brushed her hair away from her face so that I wouldn’t wake her. She didn’t even stir. The woman was out cold. “I doubt Katie would let me do anything that would cause that,” I replied. “She can be a real bitch when she intends on getting her way.”
Dr. Avery chuckled. “Most Hollands are, from what I’ve heard. Her dad was a dick when he brought you in here yesterday. He was yelling at nurses and cursing up a storm, scaring the hell out of some patients here that aren’t used to people acting that way. The only time any of us saw him the least bit calm was when he was dealing with Katie on the phone. But once he hung up with her, he went right back to being a complete asshole.”
Her dad was a dick to the hospital staff because I was shot? What in the absolute fucking hell? The man barely knew me. Dr. Avery must have noticed my confused face because he shook his head. “It wasn’t because he has some fatherly bond with you, so don’t freak out.” I snorted. “It was obvious he was worried about the state his daughter would be in when she found out because he knew she was counting on everyone to make sure nothing happened to you. Apparently, facing the wrath of Katie Holland is enough to make a grown man almost shit his pants.”