Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 57099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
“Already on it, brother,” Knuckles replied, his voice a gravelly rumble through the phone. “We’re all here now. Brought the cavalry.”
I froze mid-stride. “What do you mean, ‘all here’?”
“Ada texted. Said you might need backup. Dr. Patel stopped by after you guys left her office and told us the news. Said it was strictly against policy for her to be talking to us without Lavender’s consent but figured you guys wouldn’t mind given the circumstances. Hannah and I got here as quickly as we could. You just tell me what you guys need and I’ll take care of it.”
Me and Lavender rounded the corner to Brynn’s hospital room, and I felt my chest constrict at the sight before me. Through the half-open door, I could see Knuckles himself, sitting in a chair by the window, phone to his ear. He dropped his arm when he saw me approach. Ada and Hannah flanked Brynn’s bed like sentinels, while Jag stood with his back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, his face set in that impassive mask that had kept him alive in prison all those years.
Monitors beeped in steady rhythm around my daughter’s bed. Each beep meant she was still here, still fighting, but also that she was tethered to these machines, growing weaker by the hour while a bunch of strangers decided if I was morally fit to give her my fucking kidney.
I shoved my phone into my pocket as I entered the room. Brynn lay sleeping, her face pale and puffy from the fluid buildup. Her blue hair splayed across the pillow. The sight of her so small and vulnerable sent a fresh wave of rage and helplessness crashing through me.
“Knight,” Ada whispered, rising to meet us. Her eyes widened at the sight of my bloodied hand. “What happened?”
“Picked a fight with a wall. Wall won,” I muttered, ignoring her concerned look. “Knuckles. Hallway. Now.”
Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked back out, knowing he would follow. I couldn’t have this conversation in front of Brynn, even with her asleep. Couldn’t risk her hearing the fear in my voice.
Knuckles appeared beside me a moment later, closing the door partway behind him.
“Talk to me,” he said simply.
I ran my good hand through my hair in frustration, pacing a tight circle in the empty hallway. “We’ve got six hours before the meeting with the transplant committee. Six hours to figure out how to convince them I’m not some criminal trying to take advantage of a helpless woman and her daughter. Or whatever the fuck they think I’m doing.”
The words tasted bitter on my tongue. My carefully constructed calm, the one I’d maintained through every test, every setback since finding Brynn, finally cracked. The strain of the past weeks, the sleepless nights, the constant fear that I wouldn’t be enough to save her, all of it crashed through me like a wrecking ball. My insides felt like someone had sliced me open and disemboweled me.
“They’re looking at my record, Knuckles. Cyber crimes. Violence. The kill in prison. And now my connection to the club because everyone there is an ex-con. They think I’m manipulating Lavender. Like I forced her to let me help Brynn? How the fuck does that even make any Goddamned sense?” I slammed my palm against the wall, careful to use my uninjured hand this time. “Like I haven’t paid enough for my mistakes already. I pled guilty, Knuckles! I took responsibility and took my punishment like a Goddamned man and now I’m still fuckin’ payin’ for my fuckin’ mistakes!” I didn’t yell or raise my voice but no one could miss my agitation and anger.
Knuckles put a steadying hand on my shoulder, his grip firm enough to anchor me back to reality. “Breathe, brother. Getting yourself worked up won’t help her.”
I sucked in a ragged breath, feeling the tension coil through my body like a live wire. “I can’t lose her. Fear of losing them is consuming me, Knuckles.” The confession felt like ripping off a particularly deep scab. It hurt like a motherfucker, but once free of it, maybe fixing the wound could start.
“You won’t lose either of them,” Knuckles said, with the simple certainty of a man who’d never accepted defeat in his life. “Not because of this. I can help with the meeting.”
“I lost control once before,” I confessed, my voice dropping to a whisper. “When I pushed Lavender away. Thought I was doing the right thing, protecting her from what I’d become. But all I did was leave them both vulnerable. And now my past might make Brynn suffer.”
Knuckles studied my face, his expression unreadable. Then, with a decisive nod, he pulled out his phone. “Lana Thompson.”
I blinked at the non-sequitur. “What?”
“Lana Thompson,” he repeated, pulling out his phone. “She’s our best, quickest play here.” His thumb was already swiping across the screen, pulling up contacts. “Hospital committees are like any other bureaucracy -- they fold when someone comes at them with the right combination of legal expertise and pure intimidation. Lana might be family law instead of malpractice, but she’s got pure intimidation in spades.”