“The pills. They were on her bathroom counter, but that shit’s only like ninety-nine percent effective.”
“Nine-two.”
“What?”
“Pills are only like ninety-two percent effective. I looked the shit up. Why couldn’t she be on a damn IUD or that fucking stick thing that goes in the arm?”
My mouth hangs open. “Because it’s her fucking body, and she gets to choose what goes in it, asshole.”
“It’s just… fuck.”
I take a step back when he scrapes his hands over his head once again. He’s one stupid remark away from getting a fist to the face, and that would be frowned upon by our superiors. This situation is already big enough to make them doubt our decision-making skills.
“Those other things are more effective. If she were on those, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“If she was on one of those, that fucker would still be alive and able to continue hurting her,” I remind him.
His face falls, and it’s like he’s just remembering the facts that brought us to the damn hospital tonight.
“Men who hurt women—”
I hold my hand up. “Man, you don’t even have to say it. If he wasn’t dead already, he’d be six feet under by the end of the week. I don’t think there’s a man on our team that hasn’t thought the exact same thing we have by now.”
Jinx tilts his neck to the side, cracking it before turning it in the opposite direction.
“What the hell am I supposed to do if that baby is mine?”
His eyes search mine, and I can see he’s looking for real answers. I still want to shove him and tell him that the kid is mine, and that makes me pause because hurting my best friend over an unborn baby isn’t a situation I ever thought I’d find myself in.
“Be a fucking man and take care of it.” The answer seems simple, but we both know it’s more complicated than that.
“I didn’t have a fucking dad growing up. I don’t know how to be one. My family is nonexistent.”
“You’re surrounded by family. We’re all around you. Everyone back at the club house would be willing to back you up if you need help or support.”
These are all my own realizations when I started losing my mind after Simone fell asleep earlier. It kept me calm and able to run through the scenarios and outcomes easier. No matter who is the baby’s father, that baby and Simone will have all the help they require. That’s a given.
“But right now, I need you to go back upstairs and sit with her.” He doesn’t balk like I expect him to. He simply nods his head.
“And you?”
“I have something I need to take care of.”
Grinch was picked up earlier after the doctors told us she had a lot to recover from but she was going to be okay, so that left just the two of us here to keep an eye on her.
Without having to, Jinx pulls the keys to the SUV from his pocket and places them in my hand.
“I don’t know a lot about women outside of getting them naked, so don’t be gone too long.”
I give him a quick nod before walking away. The entire time it takes to get to the vehicle and off of hospital property, I fight the urge to turn around and go right back to her room. If it weren’t for the answers I needed, I would’ve done exactly that.
Chapter 6
Simone
The cold surrounding me woke me up. I knew before I opened my eyes that Rocker was gone. It’s not like I really expected him to keep his promise, but that didn’t stop my heart from cracking open a little with his absence.
I didn’t open my eyes until the door was shoved open, but it was the nurse coming to take my vitals rather than Rocker walking in with a cup of coffee, something I tried to convince myself he was doing instead of just leaving.
Sleep is impossible now, and the television mounted on the wall doesn’t have anything worth watching. The news doesn’t manage to do anything other than make me feel guilty. The problems all over the world they’re reporting on are so much bigger than what I’m going through, yet, I lie here in the middle of my own pity party.
Poor Simone let a violent man back in her life when she knew better.
Poor Simone got pregnant and doesn’t know who the baby’s father is.
Poor Simone can’t close her eyes without seeing her hands covered in blood.