Children of Fire (Complete)

twenty-seven

3 weeks later...

Emerson

It had been some of the longest weeks of my life, living on edge and constantly checking over my shoulders that I wasn't being followed by anyone. I knew, just as well as everyone else at this point, that it was Piniero and his gang that had issued the attack on the clubhouse-- but I couldn't help but feel this existential dread that seemed to wash over me since Killian was shot. It had not only been a long three weeks, but a difficult time in general.

Gideon and the rest of the club had been on high alert, nobody going anywhere by themselves, and even though I was technically no longer a part of club business anymore, he was sure to always have a club member watching over me-- no matter what I was doing. Which is why I found myself climbing onto the back of Butters' bike.

"Got everything you need?" He asked before starting the bike and buckling his helmet underneath his chin. I gave him a small nod before fastening my own helmet. I had been relatively quiet these past few weeks, the memory of watching Killian writhe around in pain and the sounds of his screams hadn't left my mind--not even in my dreams. After a few minutes of silent riding, Butters turned into the now fixed gate of the clubhouse, parking his bike in the long row of bikes that had already accumulated.

I had been a regular at the clubhouse these past three weeks, and I had managed to establish a bond with several members, and even one with Gideon's mother, Aggie. It was second nature to walk into the clubhouse now, giving a nod or a small wave every once in a while, sometimes even having a small conversation with some of the guys that frequented the bar. Gideon had been fairly distant since the shooting, and I tried not to think too much about it, I knew he had a hell of a lot on his plate and the last thing I wanted to do was become a distraction for him while he plots his revenge on The Muerte.

"There she is!" Killian shouted playfully as I entered the second to last bedroom in the long hallway that seemed to stretch on for miles. I gave him a small smile and moved to sit next to him on the bed that was in his painfully decorated room. It was like walking into the lair of a 15 year old boy, pictures of motorcycles and scantily clad women were scattered precariously across the walls, and not a single one of them had been hung up straight-- they were all sideways and tilted and it really made me struggle with the OCD part of my brain that I hadn't knew existed until now.

"Hey, how are you feeling today?" I asked him. For two days after the shootout, we didn't know if he was going to live or not. He had lost a lot of blood while he was laying on the roof for over two hours unable to move, and the doctor (after being threatened a few times for being unreasonably rough--to which he explained was necessary) had managed to get the bullet out of Killian's abdomen that had almost hit his spinal cord, he was millimeters away from being paralyzed from the waist down and I had been so grateful when he finally opened his eyes. The first person he had asked for was me-- he knew I had been in the clubhouse because he remembered me asking about him.

I couldn't deny that it made my heart beat a little faster knowing that he had heard my voice over all the others, but I knew I had to push those feelings down somewhere deep-- I hadn't been able to take my mind off of Gideon since the night at the gala. He had been incredibly wonderful to me that night, taking me home and laying with me until I fell asleep. He left a note by the bed when he left that morning, making sure that I had someone outside of my apartment at all times-- hence why Butters had brought me to the clubhouse this morning.

"Like a million bucks, I went for a ride late last night and I'm fucking sick of sitting in this room. Ray has agreed to let me get back to normalcy today. I'll be escorting you to your shift at the bar tonight. But, since I'm still on those antibiotics I'm not allowed to drink. So, I'm going to drop you off and go do some stuff for the club and then I'll probably be there--"