Chapter 11

I"m home.

A few months ago, home was where my belongings were, but today, home is in Bishop"s arms.

After Uma was deposited back into the cell with us, the five of us rolled Bishop onto his front and exchanged the soiled bandages.

I went through five minutes of hell to get some first aid for him, and even though I know he"s not happy that I had to trade myself to help him, I"d do it all over again if it meant keeping him alive.

Bishop is just one of those men who deserve to let their light shine in the world. I"m not going to sit by and let it be snuffed out by some maniac on a power trip.

Once we finished cleaning him up, he fell into a deep sleep, and I talked to the girls a little bit.

Uma was closed off. Her "entertainment" came in the form of strip-teasing for the few clients Liam and Shade managed to scrounge up. She admitted it wasn"t as intense as some of the things she"d been forced to do in the past, but she hated the idea of those bastards being able to look at her. It made her feel just as dirty as if she were being held down and forced to have sex with them.

After the five of us spoke and ate the small helping of food the guards brought in, there was nothing left to do besides go to our respective corners and rest.

I know I should give Bishop some space, but I feel whole with his arms around me.

It"s like our souls are entwined with each other. At one point in the middle of the night, while I was sleeping in his arms, I must have been having a nightmare. My eyes opened to the sound of him humming one of my favorite songs, "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday. He was still sleeping himself. Even his subconscious wanted to take care of me. I rolled away from him once, thinking I was hurting him, but he grimaced and groaned until I moved back into his arms. As much as it feels cliché for me to say, Bishop and I are connected on a way deeper level than I"ve ever been attached to anyone else.

"You okay?" Bishop mumbles as he comes out of his sleep. His breathing is shallow, but I"m not sure if something more is going on in his body or if he"s just in pain. I didn"t get much of the pain-numbing gel from the guard, but I should have enough to take care of his back for this morning.

"I"m fine. Are you okay?" I question.

"Yeah, I"m straight," he replies quickly. Too quickly.

"Bishop," I admonish, and he lets out a sigh.

"One day you"re going to believe me when I say that." He chuckles tightly.

"And one day it"ll be the truth. But that day isn"t today. Is it your back, or is something else going on?" I sit up, looking down on him. His eyebrows are knit together tight, and there"s a fresh sheen of sweat breaking out on his brow and upper lip.

"My back. I must have reopened some of the cuts in my sleep or something. They burn," he admits finally, and I can"t help the pout that pulls my lips down. This is going to be a long journey for him, one I know he doesn"t want to take. Especially with him talking about leaving in the near future. We all have to be at our best if we even have a chance of making it out of the compound alive.

Whatever Bishop needs, I"m going to have to take up the slack for him, the same way I know he would for me if the shoe was on the opposite foot.

"Hold on, I have a little bit of the medicine left, but it"s the last of it." I question him with my eyes, trying to gauge if he"s in enough pain to accept it.

He nods slowly, and I rush to get April and Willa. Uma is still recovering from her time with the clients last night; she doesn"t need to be woken up for more gruesomeness.

April groans a bit, but she wakes up quickly when I tell her that Bishop needs help. Willa, on the other hand, is harder to rouse; I"m sure the pregnancy is kicking her butt. She"s at the last stages. Soon a new baby will bless all of us with their presence.

After a few moments, Willa gets up too and walks over to where Bishop, April, and I are sitting.

"You look like dog shit," Willa jokes with Bishop, and he gives a small smile.

"I can"t say I feel much better than that anyway."

"Come on, let"s get him turned over so we can redress these wounds."

Bishop screams in agony as the three of us slowly roll him back over to his front.

"Shit, this isn"t good," April mutters as we get another look at his back. The wounds are red at the edges, and several of them look like they"re starting to become infected.

"We have to clean these more often." Quickly, the medical professional in me jumps to the forefront of my mind. Not because I want to hurry up and finish what we"re doing, but I know if I continue to look at Bishop as a friend instead of just a patient, I"m going to lose my mind. I hate to see him in this much pain. Liam really did a number on him.

"How are we supposed to do that? We don"t have any more supplies." April shakes her head while she"s looking at me.

"We can use strips of cloth dipped into our drinking water."

"Then what would we drink?" April pipes up again.

"Listen, this man doesn"t have to be in here helping us. I"m sure he could"ve fought his way to either death or out by now if he didn"t have to be in here worrying about us." Willa championed Bishop, and it made me feel good that someone other than myself acknowledged how much of a part he really played in our survival. "We"re going to do whatever he needs. Besides, it"s not like we"re going to be using up all the water, just enough to clean his back."

I nod my head in agreement before turning to look at April. She lets out a sigh before she finally agrees to what both Willa and I are saying.

"Don"t waste... waste anything on me." Bishop tries to move, but I see his muscles tremble with every movement.

"Stop it, Bishop. This is happening whether you want it to or not. We need you." I lean down and whisper in his ear. He grunts, defeated, before he nods his head softly. From then on, April, Willa, and I use up most of our drinking water to clean the wounds on his back and reapply the little bit of pain relief salve I have left. I know things are getting better for Bishop when he starts talking to us.

"Willa, have you thought of a name yet? Or do you want it to be a surprise?"

Like most expectant mothers, the mention of Willa"s unborn child causes a huge smile to spread across her cracked lips.

"No, I don"t think I"ll leave it for a surprise. I"ve had enough surprises to last a lifetime in this place."

I giggle at that, even though it"s morbid as hell.

"I"m thinking something like Skylar. That"s my only wish—that I"ll be able to see the sky again. Even if I don"t, at least I"ll have him or her here as a small piece of it." Willa shrugs, and I feel the tears pricking the back of my eyelids. This child deserves to be able to see the sky, deserves to be able to run and play, and just be happy.

"We"re going to get you and that baby there. Don"t worry about it." Bishop turns to look at Willa, the sincerity clear on his dark features.

"I believe you, Bishop. Out of everyone in this place, I believe you the most." Willa touches his shoulder, the one place on his body that doesn"t have any bandages.

"Bishop, was your mother very religious or something?" April speaks up from where she"s sitting on the side of him.

"No, not at all. Bishop isn"t my birth name; it was given to me by my club. I grew up in a very spiritual home, and when I finally got into the MC life, I was the one the guys came to talk to about any moral dilemmas or just for advice that they felt needed a nonjudgmental ear. Not to mention I made sure they said grace before meals and after a run. Things happen for a reason, and when they do, there is always someone to give thanks to."

"Hmm, I"d have never pictured you for a priest." Willa chuckled.

"Me neither, but it seems like everyone else did. I"ve never worked in a church or anything like that, but I"ve been known to preside over a wedding or two. I have a way with words."

"A way with words..." Willa looked from me back to Bishop. "No wonder you and Gabi are so good for each other. Just your words are enough to get us by." Bishop darts his eyes up to me. It"s the first time anyone has mistaken us for being together. I"m not mad at it in the least. There are far worse things I could be doing than being mistaken as Bishop"s woman.

"What about you? How was your upbringing?" Bishop asks Willa, and she sits back to tell us how she was raised. The four of us sit in a small circle, speaking quietly so as not to wake Uma.

It"s the closest I"ve been to normal in a long while. If I closed my eyes and my nose, I could pretend we were all in a park somewhere just exchanging stories—not locked up in this torture chamber just waiting for the next blow to hit.

April, Willa, Bishop and I laugh and chat like we"re all at a coffee house in the city. It feels great just to let up a little. Great just to have a little semblance of peace.

When I look around the room, I"m happy for the first time in ages. Not only do I have Bishop by my side but the girls, in the short time that I"ve known them have become something like a little family for me. The sisters I never had and the little village I always needed.

Of course, I should"ve known that no good things in this place last. I should"ve known the worst was steam rolling in my direction.

"I swear when I was younger I was such a tomboy. I thought I was going to be the first NFL player to have boobs." April laughs and nearly falls backward.

"You"re joking. That was my dream too!" Willa smacked her leg as we all continued feeling the joy rushing through us.

The laughter was the only reason I didn"t hear the footsteps trudging in our direction. I would"ve been more prepared. Maybe I would"ve been ready for it.

All at once the door swings open and three guards walk in.

The air in the small cell thickens as all of us struggle to get back on guard.

"What do you want?" I speak up first making sure to put myself between everyone else and the guards.

"I wouldn"t open that can of worms if I were you. Just get in the corner and close your eyes like a good girl. We didn"t come here for you today." The guard brazenly licked his lips at me while he ran the palm of his hand up and down his growing erection.

This is new.

Usually when the guards come for us it"s all business. In fact most of them seem to be annoyed that they even have to come for us in the first place. Today they look like they are enjoying their jobs. Like they"re going to get something more out of it.

My eyes dart to April and then to Uma. It"s the only logical option. Last I heard none of the guards were gay, and April, myself, and Uma are the only ones who are well enough for them to fuck. If they don"t want me, they must want April or Uma.

Grabbing hold of April, I pull her behind me and back track toward Uma.

"Leave them alone!" Bishop struggles to get to his feet.

Of course he"d try to protect us through his pain. That"s just who he is.

"Them? No. We don"t want them either." The guard"s smirk widen just as he lets his gaze track down to the only other person sitting in the room.

Willa.

"No. Please no!" Willa sobs instantly and tries to crab walk backward.

The shock is overwhelming as I realize what they"re about to do. I lunge forward trying to get back to where Willa is sitting but the guard is much faster than I am. One of them dashes in front of me and without hesitation backhands me so hard I nearly fly into the wall and bounce off the hard structure before crumbling to the ground.

"Stop! You can"t! I"m pregnant! The baby! You"re gonna hurt the baby!" Willa screams and fights as the other two guards grab hold of her hands and legs. Her rounded belly protruding upwards, shifting from side to side as she struggles to get free.

My head spins and I suck in shallow breaths, listening to the room as it descends into absolute chaos. Uma finally wakes and tries to help but she"s only pushed off.

The guards laugh as they basically drag Willa begging for the life of her unborn child out of the room.

The pain is unreal.

Not the one in my head or my body but the pain in my soul.

My gaze lands on Willa just as she"s pulled out of the room and as much as I don"t want to admit it, I know our last conversation will be her last good memory.

I failed her.