Jack was the first to make his way to Blackie, ignoring the tubes and pushing aside the machines they were attached to. He bent down, taking Blackie’s head in his hand and kissed the top of his head.
“My man,” Jack said, kissing his head again before he leaned back and stared at our vice president. “Left side of the table’s been empty, brother,” he explained hoarsely.
“I’m sorry,” Blackie stammered.
“You got nothing to be sorry for,” Jack replied. “I owe you everything,” he reiterated. “You saved Lacey, and you kept Reina sane,” he continued. “You sacrificed yourself for the club and that shit deserves a whole lot more than a thank you. Need you well, Black, need you to reverse this shit Jimmy has you strung out on, knocking on death’s door,” he growled. “Whatever it takes, we’ve got you,” he insisted.
“Ay!” Pipe agreed.
“Did we get him? Gold is he…” Blackie asked.
“Oh, we fucking got him,” Jack assured. “Lit that motherfucker up,” he added.
“How?” Blackie asked.
Jack turned around and pointed his thumb over his shoulder at me.
“This son of a bitch right here, saved the day, your life and my sanity,” he declared.
“And still no fucking pie,” I added.
Blackie stared at me for a moment before looking back at Jack.
“What about the deal?”
“We made a new deal,” he explained.
“You got the drugs?” Blackie asked, trying to sit up.
“C’mon man, don’t worry ‘bout that shit. You need to concentrate on getting off this shit and getting yourself good,” Jack said, as he helped Blackie adjust himself in the bed “I want to know,” he insisted.
“We took the drugs from The Red Dragons,” I offered. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because Bones elbowed me in the gut and all eyes turned to me, glaring at me. I forgot that Blackie knew about the war with The Dragons, that he saw that shit, lived it and lost his wife in the middle of it. The guy wakes up from a coma to be reminded of the darkest time of his life.
Shit I’m a dickhead.
“You got the drugs from Wu? Are you out of your fucking minds?”
“Blackie, it’s good. We’re good. Jones arrested Jimmy at Temptations with the drugs,” Jack explained calmly. “Everything went like we planned.”
“We didn’t plan to fuck the Chinese,” Blackie said furiously, as he started to cough.
“It’s fine, brother. Wu and the Dragons have no idea it was us. We have a meet with them tomorrow for another shipment of guns. We’re good man,” Pipe offered. “We’re fucking good man, relax!”
Pipe turned, fixing me with a hard stare. “Tell him your news,” he demanded.
“What news?” I asked bewildered.
“Yeah, give it to him. He’s going to love this shit,” Wolf agreed.
I rolled my eyes and clenched my jaw.
“Fine! I gave you mouth to mouth,” I exasperated.
“Not that!” Jack said, shaking his head.
Bones leaned into me.
“Pea,” he muttered.
“Shit,” I sighed, feeling like a complete sack of shit for needing a reminder that Pea was my news.
My news.
My kid.
“I’m having a kid,” I announced.
“Give him the good stuff, tell him who’s the baby mama,” Pipe said, wiggling his eyebrows to Blackie. “Wait for it,” he told Blackie.
“Fuck off,” I said, flipping the bird to Pipe.
“Riggs knocked up Bianci’s sister,” Wolf supplied.
“Come on guys,” Bones started.
Blackie stared at me with a dumbfounded expression on his face, one I wasn’t sure was due to the ordeal he had been through or the one I was going through.
“Glad I could amuse you fuckers,” I grunted, as the door opened and Jack’s daughter, Lacey, stormed into the room.
Now, I’ve been in a lot of awkward positions in my life, but that one right there, may have topped the cake. We all stared at her as she kept her eyes locked with Blackie’s.
“You’re okay?” She whispered, ignoring the rest of us as she walked toward the side of Blackie’s bed. “You’re okay,” she repeated, this time her words more sure than the first time she uttered them. I wanted to shout at the two of them that it was pretty fucking obvious this was no casual encounter. If I could notice the way she looked at him then everyone else could because we all know I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Blackie turned his gaze away.
“I’m good, kid,” he said, looking at Jack. “Going to want my gun back,” he added.
“Yeah,” Jack agreed, his eyes wandering back and forth between Blackie and Lacey.
Nice save!
“So a kid, huh?” Blackie said, turning back to me, his eyes pleading with mine to save his ass.
“Yeah, I’m going to be a dad,” I said, the words sounding weird coming from my mouth.
Lacey took a step back, staring at Blackie like he’d slapped her across the face.
“Congrats, man,” Blackie said, ignoring Lacey and the hurt expression on her face.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Lacey whispered, turning on her heel and stepping out of the hospital room.
“Lacey,” Jack called.