Chapter Thirty-Seven

Flame

I"ve been in a normal hospital room for a few hours now. I"m fucking relieved to be out of the ICU. Being in there just made me more worried about my injuries. Wrath's using my private bathroom to have a quick shower, as he absolutely stinks—his words, not mine.

Apparently, he had his injuries checked by one of my nurses last night, as he refused to leave me. He's got a minor concussion and a bit of road rash from where he skidded across the road. Lucky fucker, coming away from that crash with minor injuries, but I"m glad that"s all that is wrong with him; I"d have hated to go through what he did last night, waiting for news on me. Blaze should be here any minute with a change of clothes for Wrath, and I think he may be bringing Cam to visit too.

The next thing I hear is "Papa!" being shouted as Cam walks into the room. I can"t help but smile. I was worried about how he was coping with everything that had happened.

"Hey kid, are you being good for your grandfather and uncle?" I ask as he takes a seat next to my bed.

"Of course I am Papa. Are you okay now?"He asks with worry in his eyes.

"I"m going to be okay, I promise. I"ve just got to take it easy; hopefully, I"ll be able to come home tomorrow,"I tell him, hoping to ease his worry.

"That"s good. I miss you and Dad being at home. I"ll help look after you too."

I smile at his enthusiasm and then hear the bathroom door open. I turn to see Wrath"s head pop around the corner, his body still hidden behind the door.

"You got me clothes, Dad?"He asks Blaze, who entered the room just after Cam.

"Yeah."He says. Walking towards Wrath, and handing him the bag out of his hand.

"Thanks."

Wrath then disappears back into the bathroom to get dressed.

I focus back on Cam. "So, what have I missed at home?"

"Nothing; it"s been pretty boring. Aunt Jasmine asked me to hang out and watch a movie tonight, so that should be fun."He says with enthusiasm only a child can have.

"Well, that sounds like fun."I smile at him, but internally, I"m concerned. Her behavior recently hasn"t exactly been great, and I don"t want her to cause issues for Cam.

"Yeah, I have no idea what film we're watching. Hopefully, it"s not some chick flick."He tells me while pulling a disgusted face.

Wrath comes out of the bathroom just then, fully dressed and looking more refreshed.

"Hey, babe, can you take Cam and get us some coffee?"I ask, hoping he gets that I want to talk to Blaze alone for a minute.

"Sure, come on, you can help me carry it all back."He says to our son as he messes up his hair as he walks past. Cam pulls an unimpressed face before he quickly follows his Dad from the room.

Blaze looks at me and smirks. "Well, what did you want to talk to me about without Cam here?"

"Jasmine; she"s not as sweet as she seems; we"ve had some issues with her. I don"t want her saying bullshit to Cam or planting doubts about us in his head."I say seriously.

Blaze"s face loses all playfulness and becomes hard. "That"s fine; I"ll tell her they have to do movie night at your house tonight. If she doesn"t like it, then she isn"t having movie night with him."

"Thanks, Blaze,"I say with relief.

Just as we finish talking, Wrath and Cam come back with coffee. Luckily, we"d finished talking about Jasmine, we don"t need Cam worrying about her too. He has far too many worries for a kid as it is. Walking over, Wrath hands me my coffee, dropping a quick kiss on the top of my head in the process.

"Thanks, babe; I needed caffeine desperately,"I say before I take my first sip.

"You"re welcome. You know I'd do anything for you, even going to fetch you some coffee while you"re stuck in your hospital bed."He tells me with a tender smile.

"You really aren"t portraying the big bad MC President right now." I laugh.

"I don"t care; you"re more important than coming across as a badass."He tells me seriously.

When he says things like that, it makes me love him even more.

For the next hour, we sit around just talking about random, meaningless stuff before Blaze tells Cam that it"s time to go if he wants to make it back for movie night. Cam gives me and Wrath quick hugs, then leaves with his grandfather. He seemed a lot more settled when he left, which I"m relieved about. I hate how much all this shit with Claire"s affecting our son.

Lying here after they"ve left, I can feel my eyes dropping, slowly drifting to sleep. My body obviously needs more rest. I did want to talk to Wrath some more now that we were alone, but that"s going to have to wait. I need rest.

∞∞∞

I"ve been back home a few days now, and I"m going insane being stuck inside this house. I know I can"t exactly do a lot right now, but I"m not used to this resting shit. Don"t get me wrong, I love all the time I"m getting to spend with Cam, but I"m not made for sitting around all day doing nothing. I need a change of scenery desperately.

Grabbing my phone, I decide the best course of action is to get Doc to be the one to move where I am. Nobody can moan at me for leaving the house before I"m ready that way. Sending a quick text, I ask him to come to the house.

Maybe I should've told him I was okay because he's bursting through the front door five minutes later, panting, totally out of breath. I think he may have ran all the way from The Clubhouse. Oops. My bad.

"What"s wrong?"He manages to ask me between gulping breaths of air.

"Nothing's wrong; I'm just wondering if you thought I"d be okay going over to hang out in The Clubhouse for a while. I won"t be doing anything before you worry about that; I just think sitting in The Common Room and having a change of scenery would do me some good. I"m going stir-crazy being stuck in here, but I didn"t want to just come over there without checking. I refuse to cause anyone any more worry, but I could really do with getting out of the house."I quickly explain to him while feeling a little guilty that I worried him.

"I don"t think that"s a problem. You"ve improved daily. I think you can even start taking short walks to regain your strength and keep you fit, as long as you have someone with you just to be safe. You can come over, but you need someone to drive you. You"re not recovered enough to be driving yourself, and it"s too long a walk for you to attempt right now. Can you agree to all of that?"He asks me while eyeing me; I know he"s reading my body language.

"Yeah to it all. Are you okay to drive the SUV that"s over here for me, and then I"ll get someone to drive me back later?"I ask him hopefully.

"Yep, come on, let"s get you out of here for a while. You"re starting to get crazy eyes."He says with a smile.

After driving me over to The Clubhouse, he makes sure everyone sees him take me in, including Wrath, who"s at the bar grabbing a bottle of water. No one can argue with me being out of the house when Doc"s the one to bring me over here. There"s definitely a method to my madness.

Every member who"s been in and out of The Common Room has come over to check how I"m doing, and if I need anything. It"s been nice to see how much everyone cares. Sometimes it"s easy to forget that Devil"s Inferno is more than just a club; it"s a family too. For some, it"s the only family they have now.

Noticing Blade entering the room, I wave him over towards me. I haven"t seen him a lot since I was hurt. I want to check on him and see how he"s doing after everything that happened with Jasmine. He starts walking towards me, but suddenly stops when he sees something over my shoulder. Turning around, I see Jasmine, and she"s heading straight for Blade. Fuck! I can"t do anything. Eyeing me as she walks past towards Blade, she fucking smirks. What the fuck?

Grabbing my phone off of the table, I type a quick text to all the Officers, telling them to get to The Common Room now. They aren"t going to get here quick enough to stop her, though; she"s only about five steps away from Blade now, and he hasn"t moved at all. I think he may be triggered just by seeing her. Not good. Not good at all.

Reaching him, she pulls her hand back and slaps him across the face. I can"t help but gasp out in shock. What the fuck? Why the hell is she hitting him?

"You"re a lying piece of shit, and so is your little friend sitting over there too."She says as she points at me. "How can you live with yourselves lying about you being raped when you were younger?" She shouts in his face.

Gasps sound around the room. Blade"s past isn"t common knowledge. Only those he trusts the most know. Fucking hell, she"s just outed his past to everyone here.

Hearing the sound of pounding footsteps, I catch sight of Shadow as he runs across the room, managing to get himself between Jasmine and Blade. Wreck"s only a few steps behind him, and he slots between Blade and Shadow, placing his arms around Blade and drawing him into his chest. I can"t see Blade, but I can see Shadow, and he"s fucking furious.

"You"re lucky you're female, or I"d have fucking knocked you out for what you just said. I"ll set the fucking record straight now. Blade never lied to you; he was raped as a child. Do you want me to prove it to you? Get you the fucking police reports and court documents on it, huh? You're a guest here; you're under our protection, but I"m ready to tell my brother to throw you to the goddamn wolves. What you just did is unforgivable. I don"t know who told you he lied. I don"t really care, but hear me when I say this. There's a handful of people here that know what happened to Blade as a child; it"s not common knowledge, and you"ve just fucking outed it to everyone here. You"re a spiteful, vindictive little bitch who needs to learn her place."Shadow"s shaking with rage now.

Jasmine carries on running her mouth. "You"re covering for him just like that piece of shit over there did." She says and points to me without turning around.

I"ve been so busy watching Shadow that I didn"t realize Wrath and the other Officers had entered the room, but hearing a growl I know well, I glance around and see Wrath standing with all the other Officers. He"s not happy with that little comment about me.

"The person who told me has no reason to lie to me; you all do. I can"t believe you're all okay with lying about something like this. You"re all disgraceful. It makes me sick. I hope that one day, Blade, you actually get to experience what being raped is like. That seems fitting with the lies you told."

"THAT"S ENOUGH, JASMINE!"Wrath shouts across the room.

Blade still hasn"t spoken a word; he"s still tucked into Wreck"s chest, with Shadow standing protectively in front of them.

"JASMINE YOU'RE HERE FOR YOUR FUCKING PROTECTION. AFTER THE DISPLAY YOU JUST PUT ON AND THE THINGS YOU HAVE JUST SAID ABOUT AN OFFICER OF THIS MC, YOU'RE CONFINED TO YOUR ROOM UNTIL I SAY OTHERWISE!He shouts, his entire body shaking. "You can leave your room for meals; that is it! You no longer have free reign around here. You can also stay away from my son for the time being; I won"t have you spreading your hate to him. Prospect, escort her to her room, and stand outside on guard until someone comes and relieves you." He dismisses Jasmine, and Jake comes, grabs her arm, and guides her from the room. She tries to fight his grip, but he isn't having any of it.

Fucking bitch.

Once she"s out of the room, Wrath walks over to where Blade"s standing in Wreck"s arms and whispers something only Wreck, Shadow, and Blade can hear. Shadow and Wreck nod and then help guide Blade from the room.

Once they're gone, Wrath addresses the room.

"I"m only going to address what just happened once. Blade didn't lie about his past to Jasmine; only a select few of us know about his past because he told us in confidence. He doesn't like to talk about it, so none of you are to bring it up to him. Am I clear?"He asks demandingly.

"Yes, Prez."Every person in the room calls out.

Wrath just nods and leaves the room, all the Officers following behind him. I"m still sitting here, shocked at what just happened. What the fuck happened to the sweet woman we all first met? I"m certain now that it was all an act.

She"s more like Claire than we thought.

∞∞∞

Shadow

I can't believe Jasmine. What she just did is un-fucking-forgiveable. Blade"s so private about his past. He"s ashamed of what happened to him. I can't believe it was just exposed to most of the club in such a horrific way. Jasmine isn"t so different from Claire; she"s definitely not as sweet and innocent as she portrays herself to be. She"s going to have to be watched closely now.

Getting Blade out of the Common Room, we take him to the basement, which is set up as a game room with a few sofas for us to sit on. Luckily, it was empty, as everyone"s upstairs drinking.

Wreck guides Blade to a seat and sits next to him. Sitting on the other side of him, I wait for him to speak.

"Do you think everyone"s judging me now? Do you think they believe her?"He asks us quietly.

"No, man, I don"t; I think everyone"s judging her. There's no chance Prez didn"t speak to them all when we left. He"ll make sure they know the truth."Wreck tells him honestly.

"I hate that so many people know now. I can"t believe I thought I could trust her. God, what a mistake!"He says, shaking his head.

"We learn from our mistakes; she"s showing her true colors now. We"ll make sure she"s gone as soon as Claire is dealt with. We don"t need someone like that around here."I tell him sincerely.

"How"s that going to work? I know Wreck hired her at Devil"s Ink, and she"s Cam"s Aunt."Blade queries.

"It"s simple; she"s gone at the end of her trial. She"s not that good anyway; no loss there. I"m sure she can see Cam without coming anywhere close to you."Wreck tells him.

"Don"t worry about her, okay? Focus on yourself."I tell him.

Blade drops his head on my shoulder. We all just sit lost in our own thoughts. God, I feel for him. No one should have their past exposed in such a horrid manner. I know I need to leave soon; I"m supposed to be going to Megan"s. How the fuck am I going to get out of here without either of them asking why? God, this is so damn complicated. This is why I hate fucking secrets. She"s going to throw a fit if I cancel tonight. With everything that"s happened recently, I"ve had to cancel a lot. She's not been happy with that at all. I need to think of something fast so I can go over to see her. God, it"s a good job I already care about her, or all this shit really wouldn"t be worth the hassle.