Pearl's Awakening (Devil's Iron MC #3) (18 page)

Waking in the morning from a restless sleep, I am quick to realize that I am not sure how the discussion between Ember and Doc went last night. As I walk through the house I look out the front window and notice both Doc and Trip’s vehicles outside. Walking into the bathroom, I jump into the shower and lose myself in the relaxing heat of the water. Walking back through the house I am startled by Doc in the living room as I come around the corner.

“Jesus fucking Christ Doc. You scared the shit outta me. What are you doing sitting in here?”

“Morning to you too, Pearl. You want me to help you get the girls ready?” Checking his watch, he adds, “you seem to be running a little late from what I remember.”

“How did your talk with Ember go last night? Were you able to reach some common ground and…”

“Pearl, I spoke with Prez and Abraham after you went to bed last night. Are you sure that you want to keep up with those questions?”

Shaking my head as I walk away, I throw over my shoulder, “Please get the girls up Doc, we need to leave, the sooner the better,” adding on even quieter, “because if you men don’t stop telling me what to do soon, I will go the fuck off.”

Laughing to himself I hear him say, “Ok, I will let Prez and Abraham know that when I talk to them later.”

Coming out of my bedroom fifteen minutes later, both of the girls are up, changed, and ready to leave the house with sandwiches in tow as well.

“Jeeze Doc, that is impressive. If I would have known you were so good at getting them ready, I would have employed your services the whole time you were babysitting us.”

That is when Ember peaks her head around the corner and laughs loudly. “Not likely Pearl. Doc, wouldn’t know what to do with two little girls let alone change and dress them.” Smiling broadly at Doc she looks to me and goes on, “Do you take cream in your coffee? I made you some decaf and also an egg sandwich for the road.”

Watching her disappear back around the corner, I look back at Doc and shake my head at the exchange that has just happened. “So I take it the talk went well?”

“Pearl, this is none of your business so stop digging or I will talk to Prez about it. I am going out and load the girls up in the SUV, then we can get to work.”

“Ok Doc, thanks.” I roll my eyes as I grab the coffee out of Embers hand and take a swig then throw the cover on the mug. Throwing some food in my bag for lunch I grab the egg sandwich and walk out the door.

The message from Doc during lunch is distressed to say the least. He says that he has seen a couple of Knights around the house when he was there this morning. Trip, who is sitting outside of the daycare has also reported a few Knights driving by there. FUCK! Doc tells me that he has told Markus and Abraham and that they are sending Country back up to Milwaukee to give us an extra set of hands and eyes on the way back to Chicago. They want us on the road as soon as possible after school, so I text Ember with some of the stuff that I will need her to pack up before I get home after work.

Leaving school that afternoon to go pick up the girls, I notice Country in the parking lot and give him a wave as I get into my vehicle. Following me to daycare, then home, he parks down the street a ways, as I pull into the garage. Getting the girls into the house, I double check the stuff that Ember had packed up for us and we are on the road within fifteen minutes.

Rebel has been a real pain today, so I let Ember drive. The passenger seat is reclined and I cannot seem to find a comfortable position. Sitting the seat back up, I run a hand over my bump that has been a part of me for going on seven and a half months.

Crossing the border into Illinois I notice a group of motorcycles following behind us. I see Trip, Doc, and Country’s vehicles closing in on us as the bikes weave in between them. Looking into the back seat I see that all three of the kids are passed out and strapped tightly into their car seats. Glancing at Ember I see panic start to take over and that is when I see the bike out of the corner of my eye cut in front of the SUV causing it to spin out on the road and head straight for the ditch and a huge ass tree.

Screaming is all I hear as everything goes black and then there is nothing.

I get a call from Doc in a panic. All I can make out is that there was an accident on the drive down to Chicago. I ask him if Pearl and the girls are alright and when he doesn’t answer I start hollering louder “Where the fuck are Pearl and the girls, Doc? What the fuck happened?”

Striding from the room I walk along the hall waiting for Doc to answer, I walk into the office catching Markus off guard. As he sees the panic on my face he grabs the phone from me looks at the screen putting it on speaker he shouts, “Doc, what the fuck is going on?”

Doc answers, “There was an accident Blaze. Pearl was transported to the hospital in Kenosha. You both need to get up there as fast as you can. I think the baby is coming and I am not sure how she or the baby is doing. Ember and I have the girls and they have just been released from the ambulance, but you need to get your asses up to Kenosha. I will text the details over to you and we will meet you guys there.”

Looking at Markus who is handing me back the phone I see the same fear and panic that I know is written all over my face. We have got to get our shit together and get to Pearl.

“Let’s fucking go Markus, we gotta take the truck because he will be calling with details and I am not sure if we gotta bring the girls home with us.” Running my hand over my hair I pause a second before yelling at him, “Let’s fucking go Prez, get a fucking move on, we need to get to Pearl and Rebel.”

Shaking his head, he seems to snap himself out of his disbelief. Striding to his desk he grabs his phone, gun, and cut before catching up with me by the door.

We rush to the truck and I am on the phone with some of the other brothers as we get on the road. Receiving a message from Doc with the name of the hospital and address, I plug it in to GPS and get back to my calls. I have made it through half of the brothers as we hit the state line, and the GPS tells us we are twenty minutes away.

As I get back to the calls, Markus’s phone is blaring as he answers with the Bluetooth, “Doc, what’s going on? Have they given you any details on Pearl or the baby? What the fuck happen?”

I listen as not Doc, but Ember, starts to speak. “We were forced off the road and the SUV rolled as we hit the ditch then hit a tree. The kids and I were all fine and released by the paramedics on scene. Pearl, however, needed to be flown to the hospital because of her injuries. We are just walking into the hospital now and they won’t let anyone but family get updates. We told them that her fiancé and brother were on their way and would be here shortly.”

I respond to her rapidly, “She had to be flightfor life to get to the hospital?”

“Yes, she was bleeding and lost consciousness as soon as the accident happened. Are you guys close?”

Looking over at the odometer, seeing that Markus is ripping down the highway going well over ninety MPH, so I answer, “we will be there within fifteen minutes Ember. Please try to find out something, anything on Pearl’s condition for us. “

“I will do my best to see what I can find outabout how they are doing.” Pausing shortly for a breath,“Abraham, Markus, it was the Knights.”

“What?” was screamed out from next to me as Ember’s words register. “What did you just fucking say Ember?”

“The Knights, they are the ones that ran us off the road.” 

Markus lets out a howl as he momentarily loses control of the truck. “Ember this was not a car accident? Are you fucking telling us that the Knights caused this accident? That the Knights are the reason that our woman and child are in the fucking hospital right now?”

“Yes, The Knights, maybe four or five of the brothers on their bikes, ran us off the road. Country, Trip, and Doc were following us, but the bikes were just upon us in the blink of an eye, causing me to lose control. I am so sorry Abraham and Markus, I didn’t mean for anything to happen to Pearl and the baby.”

“Ember, it is not your fault no matter what happened. This is to be put at the feet of that stupid fuck Clutch. He will get what is coming to him. We are five minutes out Ember, have Doc meet us by the entrance.”

“Doc is gone, Markus. He left as soon as Country and Trip got here after trying with no success to check on Pearl and Rebel. The kids are really freaking out; I will get them out of here as soon as you guys get here. There are some hotels right near here that we can stay at if need be.”

“No, you, Country, and the kids will head for home as soon as Bull gets here with a few more of the brothers. It should only be like twenty more fucking minutes; Abraham was on the horn with them as soon as we hit the road. Send Country to the front, we are just pulling up now.”

Hanging up the phone, we get out of the truck and head for the front entrance. Country is coming down the hall as we walk in and we head towards him. “She is back here in surgery. The doctors were waiting for you guys; they wouldn’t tell us anything that has been going on other than she was in surgery.”

Markus continues to walk with Country to the waiting area a few feet away, as I look towards the nurse’s station. Walking over to it, I question the two women who are sitting there, “My fiancé is in surgery and I need to find out what is going on with her and the baby that she is carrying.”

“Oh, the car accident, Yes? She is in surgery right now, and they just took the baby up to the neo-natal room. He is doing okay, but needs to be on a ventilator and monitored due to him being so premature.”

Markus is suddenly next to me and as the other nurse sees the worry on our faces she chimes in, “Thankfully he is a pretty big guy for his age, so he should have no long term issues. Pearl is still in surgery, and the doctors will be out as soon as it is over to talk with her immediate family.”

Markus looks towards these women asking, “Where is Rebel? Can we see him?”

“Rebel? Who is Rebel, was there another person admitted from this accident?” She starts looking through the computer and at the charts in front of her, and he quickly corrects her.

“No, Rebel is the baby’s name. Where is he? Can you take us to see him?” Taking a deep breath, he adds, “please.”

“Oh, yes of course, I will take you right up to him. They are still doing some tests on him, so you might not be able to hold him, but you can see him.” Getting up from her chair and walking around the desk she motions for us to follow her.

Taking the elevator up a few floors, we exit the elevator and the first thing I notice is the security setup. I see cameras and sensors all around the exit. Looking towards the nurse she answers my unasked question. “All the babies have GPS’s on them while they are in the hospital, these are just our security measures to insure safety. Come on, he is over here.”

Following close behind her I look at Markus and see the fear still taking hold of him. Knowing that there would be nothing worse than losing Pearl and our child, I know exactly what he is feeling. Reaching out I grab his shoulder stiffly and reassure him without words.

Stopping at a huge glass window, the nurse heads into the room putting some sanitizer on her hands as she starts talking to another nurse, and we look longingly into the nursery. The nurse returns to the window pushing a big plastic cart with tubes coming out from every which way.

As I glance down into the basket I see our baby for the first time. Dark brown hair is the first thing I notice, followed quickly by dark brown eyes looking up at me. Looking from Rebel to Markus I see joy replaced by fear after only brief seconds. Before he turns and heads for the stairs, slamming the door open as he makes his exit.

“Markus,” falls on deaf ears as I try to rip myself away from Rebel, wondering if the health of both our child and our woman has alarmed him this much. As the nurse comes back out of the nursery, I let her know that I will stay near to Rebel and ask her to let me know when the doctors are done with Pearl and ready to talk. Nodding her head, she takes off down the hall.

Returning to the viewing window, I watch as the little man starts to cry and take note that he has a good set of lungs on him. The nurse who is still in the room looks over at him and notices me; going over to Rebel she takes him out of the basket and brings him over to the window. Asking if I would like to hold him, my eyes get big and my head bobs up and down. I walk over to the door and she jerks her head to the side and I step into the nursery.

“Wash your hands at the sink, Daddy, and then you can hold your little man, he has quite the set of lungs on him for being so little. I just got word that they are finishing up the operation on his momma, so you probably have fifteen or twenty minutes before you will want to head down to talk with the Doctors. Of course that is after a little snuggle with him” she says smiling from ear to ear.

Handing him to me as I walk back from the sink she asks, “Does he have a name?”

“Yes, his name is Rebel.”

“Good name for this little fighter. There is a rocking chair over there in the corner, just make sure to support his head, Daddy.”

Staring down at Rebel, I am in fucking awe of this whole situation. Rebel looks up at me and I have no doubt what love is. It is the same thing that I feel for his mother. As he starts to fuss the nurse comes over with a bottle and lets me feed him. As he finishes a small amount of milk, he instantly falls asleep.

Taking him from me, the nurse lets me know I should head downstairs and that she will be bringing him down to his momma as soon as she is given the all clear.