Hold Me Close (Devil's Chariots Motorcycle Club Book 1) (13 page)

He watched her mouth form a smile. Everything inside of him tensed up. He was hopeful.

Everything happened within a split second. She placed her hand on his arm. She leaned towards him. She took a deep breath.

Johnny watched her lips open to speak and within less than a second he watched her body crumble. She fell to the ground in a heap. Her eyes were closed. Her body was limp.

Fear filled his body as he jumped off of his bike. He couldn't lose her this way. It just couldn't happen.

Grabbing a cell phone, Johnny called for an ambulance and he waited. Heart racing, fear flooding his veins, he no longer worried about what she was going to say. He only wondered if she'd be okay.

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The ambulance arrived. The EMT workers checked on her, placed her on a gurney, and loaded her into the vehicle. He was beside her. Holding her hand. Watching.

Somehow he'd found the ability to call that redhead and let her know. Turns out her name was Stephanie. She was panicking as well and said she'd meet him up there.

The sirens were echoing in his head. He couldn't think. What was wrong with her? Was she okay? Terror took over. The thoughts were more than he could bear.

All of the worst ideas popped into his head. She was going to have to wake up. He had to tell her he loved her.

He didn't even think about the guys. The ones planning to meet him. He forgot. He forgot about his plans. He forgot about his life. All he could think about was how he wanted her to be okay. She had to be okay.

It was still foggy as they arrived at the hospital. The guys rushed her into the doors and he felt like his legs wouldn't keep up. He couldn't seem to get to her. To catch up. They were taking her in the back.

Johnny tried to head for the doors but a lady stopped him. She was heavyset. Black. Friendly eyes.

“We need to get some information,” she was saying calmly as she held onto his arms.

He didn't want to talk to her. He wanted to be with Beth. What was happening? He couldn't go until they let him, so he nodded and followed her to a makeshift desk.

The questions were confusing. Her name. Her address. Her family information. It was in those moments of answering that he realized how much and how little he knew about the woman he loved.

Johnny answered everything to the best of his abilities. Then they wanted to know what happened. He tried to explain, but his heartache was too strong. The woman he loved was back there and he needed to be with her.

Was she awake? He asked himself, but the question was spoken out loud.

“Honey, we will get you back there as soon as we can,” she answered. Then she asked the unthinkable, “Is that your wife?” He shook his head and she stopped for a moment. “Are you related?”

Johnny knew how this would play out. He would say no. She would stop. There would be no more information given to him. He wasn't family. He wasn't even a boyfriend. He was just a friend of her dead husbands who had fucked her a few days prior.

He couldn't tell them that. He couldn't let them shut him out.

“I'm her fiance,” he answered as if it were the truth. “We are getting married.” It seemed so natural.

He knew that they would eventually find out. Probably when old red showed up. But for now it was all that he had. It was enough for them to continue letting him inside.

The noise from the hospital seemed distant. He could barely hear. He couldn't think. Within a few moments he was led to a waiting area. They told him someone would be out as soon as there was any information. He couldn't go back.

He waited. He saw Stephanie. She glanced in his direction and then sat on the other side of the waiting area. She didn't like him and it was never more obvious. He prayed she didn't tell them the truth. If she did, then he'd be in deeper shit than he was in now.

A million scenarios ran through his mind. Over the course of the time he sat there, he watched as people came in and walked over to Beth's friend. None of them acknowledged him sitting there. Were they family? Friends? He wasn't sure.

It seemed like hours had passed when a doctor walked up to him.

“Mr. Malloy?” he asked calmly.

Johnny examined him. He looked stiff. As if the feeling had left him long ago. Was the news good or bad? Johnny couldn't tell.  He just looked at him, nodded and waited for the answer.

“I'd like to speak with you,” was all he said.

Johnny wanted to hit him. Just fucking talk. He needed the answer.

“Is she okay?” Johnny asked. “Is she going to be okay?”

That was all he wanted to know. To hell with the rest.

“She's sleeping. She's extremely dehydrated and her blood pressure and blood sugar are dangerously low. She needs some care. We'd like to admit her to get this under control and keep an eye on her. It shouldn't be more than a few days. She's very sick, but both her and the baby will be fine.” The doctor smiled.

It was easy to see that his smile was fake. He didn't appear to have many, if any, emotions at all. But Johnny didn't care. She was fine. Her and the baby were fine.

That was when it hit him. What the doctor had said. Once he got past the part where Beth was alive and okay, he heard the rest.

“Baby?” he asked with surprise.

The doctor looked at him and realized in that moment that Johnny had no clue. “Bethany is pregnant,” he said matter-of-factly. “I assumed you knew.” The doctor patted Johnny on the back. “I suppose congratulations are in order.” And with that he walked off after letting Johnny know that they would take him back to see her as soon as she had a room.

Johnny sat back down in his seat and watched as Beth's friends and family went to the desk to inquire. The doctor had talked to him. His story about being engaged had worked. But they'd tell the staff the truth. He would be excluded.

The reality of the situation was hitting him. She was pregnant. That changed the playing field. It wasn't his kid. It'd only been days. Did he even want a kid? He'd come to the hospital to make sure she was okay. He was going to tell her he loved her. Now there was a baby. What the fuck?

He sat back and waited. On the doctors to let him see her. On the friends and family to speak to him. On the answers he wanted. He waited and he wondered just what the hell he was going to do now.

“Mr. Malloy?” The nurse called his name. “You can come with me now.”

Johnny stood and watched the glares from Stephanie as he followed the nurse back through the doors.

Be on the lookout for the sizzling sequel,
Never Let Go
, by Miranda Banks

Available soon!

FREE for Kindle Unlimited customers!

Available FREE for Kindle Unlimited customers

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A drop dead gorgeous woman who plays by the rules and a bad boy biker's paths are about to cross.
Charlotte is a woman who's played by the rules her entire life, and when she encounters a biker who seems completely at ease with breaking every traffic law possible, it's only sensible that her feathers are ruffled. 
But when she gets a flat tire on Highway 66 and it's none other than the very biker that she can't stand who shows up to help, things are about to heat up for Charlotte in unexpected ways. 
On that legendary lonely road, nothing ever happens by coincidence, and Charlotte is about to discover a new wild side of her that she's never known before. 

***

The only easy day was yesterday
.
Valerie Swan has been working towards her PhD in Microbiology for nearly five years and truth be told, she's starting to burn out and begins wondering just when did she stop living her own life.
Casper Dawson is everything that Valerie isn’t: carefree, wild, and living life to the fullest with his brothers in the Valley Sons MC.
A chance meeting at the side of the road sends the two into a wild night of passion and carnal pleasure. When the clarity of morning comes, Valerie begins to question everything in her life, as well as just exactly where the handsome man next to her fits in...