“I…I…m ok...ay.”
He softened. “Yeah, Blackbird. You are.”
The doctor came in a few hours later, his eyes a little wider this time as he took in the room filled with Brothers by Blood members. He carried out the tests again, all as Optimus stood at my side and held my hand. He also checked the wound in my side where a chest tube had been placed to repair my lung.
“Things are looking better. You’re going to have to put in some work to get your movement and speech back to where it was, and your memory will probably be hazy for a while, but I can see you have a large amount of support behind you.” He looked around the room and smiled. “So I have complete faith.”
Optimus shook his hand as he left the room and I felt a collective sigh of relief from everyone. I had a long road ahead, but I was going to make it.
I smiled up at Optimus. “Lo-love y-you.”
He looked taken aback for a moment and my heart skipped a beat. Maybe I was wrong. I could remember Op and I making up after the attack on the gym, but the details were still fuzzy in my mind.
His hand reached up and gripped at his chest, over his heart. “Fuck baby. Never thought I’d ever hear you say those words again.” He crouched at the side of my bed and placed my palm against his cheek. “Fucking love you. So fucking much.”
My heart swelled and in that moment I knew everything would be okay. I looked around the room, the boys all grinned and Harmony let out a sigh despite her smile. Kit wrapped his arms around her and tucked his face in her neck.
Shit was about to get hard. There would be therapy and doctor’s visits and no doubt tears and a whole lot of fuck this.
But I had Optimus. And I had the Brothers.
This was my home. I knew this was what fate had in store for me. I may have lost my parents, but I’d gained a whole damn family.
“Well,” Slider announced loudly. “Optimus and Kit have handed their balls over. Who’s next?”
I curled my hand into a fist and pushed up my middle finger.
Laughter filled the small space.
Harmony’s eyes met mine. “And…she’s back.”
“Will you put me down you damn caveman!” Chelsea complained as I carried her bridal style toward the front door of the clubhouse.
“Woman, shut up,” I growled.
I looked down at her, smirking as her mouth fell open at my crass words. “I know you didn’t just call me woman.”
“You keep saying I’m a caveman, that’s how they talk,” I shot back, halting at the door as Ham scooted around me and pushed it open.
“Okay. I take that back. From now on I’ll just use words like, asshole, bastard—”
A huge cheer cut her off as I stepped inside and she jumped. My brothers and our friends all clapped as I walked through and placed her on a barstool. She looked around the room completely stunned.
Two weeks.
That’s how long it had been since Chelsea had woken up in the hospital. Her speech had returned pretty quickly after about a week of speech therapy. But even now there were times when it was more noticeable, like when she was tired or upset, it would take a little longer for the words to come to her.
We’d been through a couple of intense physical therapy sessions. It was hard for me to sit and watch her struggle so hard to do such simple tasks like take a step or grasp something in her hand. She was slowing getting there, but we still had a long road ahead of us.
But it was exactly that.
Ahead of us.
Because I would be right there next to her every step of the way.
I watched as tears welled in her eyes. “Th-thank you,” she murmured softly.
It wasn’t long before the music was blasting and drinks were flowing. This was a celebration of two kinds. Not just for Chelsea’s homecoming, but also a celebration of her finally becoming my Old Lady. I say finally because, in reality, we all knew that’s how things should have been a long time ago. There wasn’t going to be anyone else.
Chelsea was where my heart lay. She made me happy. I could be who I wanted around her, and more so now around others. She made me realize that life was too short to be living in the past. If I’d lost her, I would have spent the rest of my life regretting pushing her away and not spending every minute with her while I still had the chance.
I had made mistakes—mistakes that even though people told me over and over weren’t my fault, that I still dwelled on every single day. But I wasn’t going to let the past dictate my actions any longer.
Chelsea was the prime example of that. None of us really knew what she went through growing up, but that’s because she didn’t feel it was relevant. She didn’t let the bullshit and hell she’d survived effect who she was today. My girl was strong. When she went to hell, and her life was crumbling she took those bricks and just started building something new.
“Chelsea!” I heard a little voice squeal. Harlyn pushed past me and wrapped herself around one of Chelsea’s legs, another little body came out of nowhere and did the same—Jayla. Chelsea laughed and placed a hand on each of their heads as they smiled up at her.
Jayla had become a permanent fixture in all of our lives. Her time was shared between the clubhouse and the apartment that Lucy shared with a couple of other girls from X-Rated. We were still unsure of her future, but there was one thing for sure, she had stolen all of our hearts. And although it wasn’t official yet, we weren’t going to be letting her go without a fight. The kid had my men wrapped so tightly around her little finger, I was about to start calling them my sisters instead of brothers. It was laughable.
Sugar had headed back to hers and Harlyn’s home. She would be packing their things and returning in a few days. I wasn’t sure what it was that had finally convinced her to stay, but I didn’t care. We had already found the perfect home for them in Athens, and I was excited to have the opportunity to watch my daughter grow.
Taking broken bricks and building something new.
I watched as my family crowded my Old Lady and welcomed her home. Harmony had been with us for the last few weeks, supporting her friend through everything. She barely ever left her side and I was grateful.
Chelsea put up a strong front, but I knew inside she was still hurting. Along with almost losing her life, she had lost a friend and honestly I think that hurt her much worse than the pain of her injuries or therapy. She needed now, more than ever, to have people at her back that she could trust and rely on, people that she knew wouldn’t turn on her.
I watched as Chelsea’s face stilled, her expression changing from one of joy to sadness. I hated seeing that look on her face.
I followed her line of sight.
Blizzard, of fucking course.
He was doing the same thing he had been doing the past weeks, moping in the corner with a bottle of whatever he could get his hands on.
Rose hadn’t only hurt my woman but also my brother. He was shattered. Everyone knew that out of all of us Blizzard took betrayal the hardest. It was a theme he knew only too well. Blizzard was one of the strongest men I knew. The first to throw a fuck you to the wind and stand beside you in a fight. Not afraid to pull the trigger when the time came. But he also had the biggest heart and always wore it on the outside, just waiting for someone to rip it to shreds.
I moved closer to Chelsea and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. She nuzzled into my side. “You think he’ll be all right?”