The UN Series Complete Box Set (116 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY

SAMANTHA

I open my eyes and look around at the white walls and small, uncomfortable bed I’m lying in. I recognize it being a hospital immediately. My eyes look down at my sore wrist, and I see the indentions of what looks like a thick strap had been wrapped around them. I place my hand over the IV trying to rack my mind of why I would be in a hospital. Memories start to come back of the parking lot at Larry’s. Jax throwing me into my car. I don’t remember things being said or why either of us were there. But I do remember slapping him while sitting in my car. After that things are pretty nonexistent until this very moment.

I look to my left when I hear a faint snore and find Slade slouched in a chair. My eyes move to the clock on the opposite wall in front of me and see it reads six thirty in the morning.

I look over to the window and see Tate on the couch directly under it. I actually crack a smile at how comical he looks. His long legs are hanging over the end of the couch. His wide frame is half off the side of the couch. His arm is hanging off the side and resting on the tiled floor. He shifts and the blanket that covers him pulls down revealing his chest to me.

I gasp and sit up quickly. The quick intake of breath making my chest ache and head pound.

“What’s wrong?” Slade asks, jumping up startled and looking around.

I ignore the pain. “Tate,” I point out as tears fill my eyes. “What happened to him?” I can’t take my eyes off of his chest. There’s a long white bandage that goes from his right collarbone down across to the left side. It looks like Zorro got a hold of him.

Slade runs a hand down his face and lets out a sigh before he falls back down into his chair. He places his hand over his forehead and looks down at his lap.

I watch him silently as he takes a few deep breaths and tries to relax his tight muscles. The vein in his neck is throbbing, and he shakes his head roughly. He takes a deep breath and lifts his head slowly to look at me.

I pull my eyes away from his stare, it’s unsettling. He looks angry, and I hate that I don’t know why.

I look down to my wrists again and feel tears well up in my eyes.

“You know I would never hurt you like that. Don’t you?” his voice wavers.

I look up at him, and my brows scrunch. “I know that. But why would you say that?”

He lets out a long breath as if he was holding it waiting on my answer. “You…” He shakes his head as if to change his mind about what he was going to say. “I just wanted you to know I would never hurt you.”

He slowly scoots his chair closer to my bed and places his hand on top of my blanket next to my arm. I reach out and place my hand in his and he lays his head back and sighs.

“I’m sorry I woke you,” I whisper. He looks completely drained.

His head snaps up to me, and his hard eyes lock on mine as he frowns. He leans up in his chair and brings his face to mine. He very slowly reaches his hand out as if he wants to touch my face, but he stops. I push my face into his hand and he lets out a heavy breath. “Don’t apologize, Samantha.”

I pull my head back as if he slapped me. He drops my other hand and straightens in his chair.

“You called me Samantha?” I ask confused. “You never call me Samantha.” The only time I remember him calling me Samantha was the first time I called him.

He nods his head. “You told me to not call you…uh, Angel.”

“I did?” I look down at my hands.
Why would I do that?

“You don’t remember?” he asks quietly.

I shake my head.

He places his hand back on my face and lifts it gently to meet his. He looks at a loss for words, and I feel like I’m losing my mind. “Why can’t I remember anything?” I ask as tears runs down my cheeks.

He almost looks relieved by that question. When he doesn’t answer, I grab his hands and pull them away from my face. My eyes catch sight of the scratches and bruised knuckles. I bite my bottom lip trying to hold in the feelings that overwhelm me.

“I’m fine,” he says pulling away.

“You’re hurt. Is that because of me?” My voice cracks.
Of course it is.

He shakes his head. “None of this is your fault. Okay?”

I nod for his benefit, but I know the truth. “What happened to him?” I ask again look back over to Tate.

Slade lets out a long breath as if he doesn’t want to tell me. “Jax pulled a knife on him.”

Knife? “Is he going to be okay?”

Slade nods. “Just some stitches. He’s good.”

“How do you feel?” he asks grabbing a hold of my hand.

“A little groggy,” I admit. “And a little sore.”

He nods his head. “How does your head feel?”

“I have a pounding headache.” It feels like it’s throbbing right behind my eyes.

“What happened?” I ask trying to remember as much as I can but nothing is there after Larry’s.

He sighs and looks down to his hand holding mine. The sound of the clock on the wall ticking has me more nervous by the second. What all could have happened that I can’t remember? I try to rack my brain, but it’s just too foggy. And then a thought hits me. “Have you already told me what happened?” I ask softly.

He shakes his head then looks up at me. His eyes hard, yet his voice is soft and full of regret. “I don’t even know what all happened, baby.”

I nod my head as I sniff.

“Hey?” He leans into me and speaks softly. “Whatever happened, we will get through it together. Okay?”

“Okay.” My voice shakes.

“It’s over. Everything is going to be okay.” His deep voice calms me a little.

I lie back and take in a deep breath. “You need to get some more sleep.” He stands and leans over kissing my forehead.

*****

A couple of hours later I open my eyes when I hear commotion and hushed voices talking.

“Have you told her?” a nurse in light yellow scrubs asks Slade. He stands over by the door with his back toward me. His head is down, and he runs his hand over the back of his neck. He slowly shakes his head, and the nurse frowns.

“Do you want me to do it?” she asks.

His hand falls down to his side, and he sighs. “I’ll do it. Last night was just not a good time.”

I jump when a deep voice clears his throat from behind me.

Tate! I forgot he was in here with us.

The nurse and Slade spin around and their eyes fall on me. They narrow their eyes on me like I was eavesdropping.

“Tell me what?” I say trying not to wince from the pounding headache.

The corners of Slade’s mouth actually lift just a bit. He walks over to me and sits down beside me as I sit up straighter in the bed. He grabs my hand and smiles at me.

“They ran some blood work when we brought you in last night, and they found something.”

“What?” I say looking back and forth between him and the nurse. When my eyes finally settle on Slade, he gives me a slow and sexy smile. One that eases my nerves.

“We’re going to have a baby, Angel. You’re pregnant.”

Stunned would not even come close to what I feel right now. The longer I sit there and stare at him, the more his smile fades. “Say something,” he urges.

“I’m on birth control.” I take it religiously. I never miss a pill.

The nurse responds. “They are only ninety-nine percent effective.” She shrugs. “Have you been on antibiotics lately? That can reduce their effectiveness.”

And right there is the million dollar question. I was, when we got back from New York.

I feel my eyes well with tears. “We’re having a baby?” I ask looking back at Slade.

His eyes watch me closely trying to gauge my reaction. “Yes.” He nods slowly.

A smile cracks across my face, and I let out a laugh, “We’re having a baby,” I squeal, making him smile. He pulls me in for a hug and kisses my forehead.

I pull away as a thought hits me. I start to panic. “The baby? Is the baby okay? Jax…”

The nurse cuts me off. “We are going to do an ultrasound to check on the baby and see how far along you are. Once all that is taken care of you should be ready to go home.”

“Thank you,” I say smiling.

The nurse nods her head once and walks out. I turn to face Tate and catch him as he’s putting his shirt on. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”

He looks at me as if I’m being annoying. “No worries. I’m fine.”

“Slade said Jax got a hold of you with a knife.”

His eyes glance at Slade for a quick second. “Yeah, the bastard cheated. A man who can’t use his fucking hands deserves to get his ass kicked.”

I turn back to Slade. “What happened to him?”

“Jail,” is all the information he offers.

I nod. “And the other guy?” I ask. I don’t remember much after Larry’s parking lot, but every time I close my eyes, I hear another voice.

Slade looks up at Tate once again and the room grows tense. “What other guy?” Tate asks not taking his eyes off of Slade.

“There was someone else there,” I say slowly looking between the two of them.

Slade breaks away first and looks at me. “Are you sure there was another guy, Angel?”

“Yes.” I frown. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Slade exhales. “He drugged you, we don’t know when exactly. But there is a very good possibility that you were out the entire time…”

“I know there was someone else there. I heard them,” I argue, fisting my hands in the sheets. Could I be wrong? Was I out the entire time?

“You didn’t see anyone else?” Tate asks.

I shake my head.

“Then how do you know for sure?” Slade asks pushing some long strands of hair behind my ear so he can look at my face.

“I just know.” I sigh. “Every time I close my eyes I hear voices. There’s two of them.”

“What are they saying?” Slade asks with concern.

I shake my head. “I can’t make it out.” I look into his eyes pleading with him to believe me. “But someone else was there.” I look back down at my hands. They don’t believe me. Hell, I’m not sure I even believe me. I don’t even know where
there
is.

Tate breaks the silence first. “Dallas did say that Jax had a roommate named J.”

Slade doesn’t hesitate. “Check into it.”

*****

I’ve been released from the hospital for two weeks now. The bruises have turned to the ugly greens now and my body feels pretty good besides being tired.

The ultrasound confirmed that the baby is okay. It’s amazing how their tests can detect such an early pregnancy. I was just three weeks along at the time, which means the time of conception was either right before or the night of Missy’s birthday party, which scares me to death. We went to Vegas and I have drank alcohol since then. But the nurses assured me everything is okay.

Slade has had me on house arrest since we left the hospital. Everyone has shown up at our house bringing things from stuff to eat for dinner and stuffed animals. Vivian even brought me a big bouquet of flowers. Her and Mark also took Peaches home with them, saying she felt the need to dog sit.

Tate has stayed the night every night since I came home. He sleeps in the spare bedroom, and he doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. I don’t know if he’s here for me or if he’s here for Slade’s benefit. He seems to be keeping Slade’s mind off of everything that has to do with that day.

Sometimes I see Slade staring off into outer space as if he remembers what went down the night they found me. The guys have been very tightlipped about what happened that night. I know Jax cut Tate with a knife and Jax got arrested. Other than that, I’m clueless on what they went through.

Slade also sold my car. He told me he didn’t want me to have a reminder of what had happened. I agreed, it’s not a mommy car anyway. It didn’t even have a backseat.

No one knows what happened to me, and Slade wants to keep it that way. He said with him being a defense attorney that the press would have a field day with what happened, making up all kinds of stories regarding someone having a vendetta for him.

I was fired from the bank. Slade had called the bank while I was in the hospital and told them I would be out for a week. When he refused to give them a reason, they told him there was no need for me to return. He gladly told them to ‘fuck off’.

We decided to keep the baby a secret for now. No one knows but me, Slade, and Tate. And right now we think that’s best for us.

I haven’t had much sleep over the last two weeks. I still don’t remember much, but the things I have started to remember, I keep to myself. I have dreams where I’m hearing the voices and being held down. All I can hear is my heart pounding and my screams. I wake up every time screaming and covered in sweat. Slade is always there with a bottle of water and a warm washcloth. He holds me, which helps calm me.

He has taken off work to stay home with me, and I have to admit he’s kind of smothering. Or it could just be the fact that I’ve been locked up in our house.