If it had been anyone else, I wasn’t certain they would’ve survived this long. After the chest tube was in place, and I had successfully pulled most of the air out of his chest cavity, the man’s breathing settled into a still shallow but more even rhythm. Once I had the blood transfusion hooked up in the most rustic manner possible, I declared him safe enough to move. The rest of the bikers immediately jumped into action, setting a plan in place to move their president back to their clubhouse up in the hill country.
Before I could be dismissed and ignored, I told the entire room, “I’m going with him.”
I had no idea where the words came from, or where I got the guts to make such a declaration to the room at large, but I knew I couldn’t send the man off without medical supervision. I was scared something would happen to him, and I was worried the rest of the bikers would blame me if he didn’t make it.
Kody immediately protested. It was clear she didn’t want me involved any further. Saving an injured man’s life was one thing; knowingly helping that same man evade proper medical and legal channels was another. Even though I was on a hiatus from work, my job was still closely tied to law enforcement, and getting tangled up with an outlaw motorcycle club was the last thing I needed. But I couldn’t turn my back on the scarily still man. Even deathly pale and covered head to toe in blood, I could tell he was someone with a powerful presence. And even though he was unconscious, his aura remained intimidating and fierce. He was also incredibly good-looking beneath the gore, something I shouldn’t have been noticing considering his current state and the fact that he was the exact opposite of the type who usually caught my eye.
My love life tended to be as staid and dreary as the rest of my life. The men I dated were bland and boring. I’d never had my head turned by tattoos and brawn, which the biker had plenty of. There was nothing about him I should have found intriguing or interesting, but I was unable to deny that I was curious about what he looked like when he wasn’t on the brink of death. I also wondered what his voice sounded like, and what color his eyes were. All wayward thoughts that came out of nowhere and took me completely by surprise. I rationalized it as my mind’s way of keeping me calm in a crisis. Cataloguing all his attractive points definitely worked as a good distraction.
It took some convincing to get both my half sister and the rest of the club members to let me ride with their injured president. Apparently, outsiders weren’t let onto club property…for any reason.
Today they were willing to make an exception for me, but they made it clear things would not end well if I spoke about any of the things I witnessed once I was allowed through the gates.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Presley?” Kody’s tone was full of worry and concern. She looked like she was ready to sit on me to keep me from going with my still-critical patient. I appreciated her apprehension. It’d been a long time since I’d had anyone in my life who actively and visibly cared about me. But I was independent by nature, and having come this far, there was no turning back now. I was determined to keep the biker alive come hell or high water.
“No. I have no clue what I’m doing, but I’m doing it anyway.” I decided to embrace the chaos that had overtaken my life lately instead of hiding from it. “Too many things can go wrong between here and there. As soon as I know for certain he’s made it back to their compound, I’ll breathe easier and head home.”
Kody shook her wild tangle of dirty blond curls and gripped my arm hard enough to bruise. “They’re all decent guys but they’re still an outlaw club. If you want to go back to work anytime in the near future, you can’t afford to have your name mixed up with this club—with Shot in particular.”
Shot.
It was a fitting name for a biker, and for someone who has just been shot and who was already sporting more than one scar from a bullet.
I shook off my concerned sibling and took a deep breath. It