Worlds Collide

Out for Blood

Brantley's POV:

Anger radiated off me making me want to hit something -or someone- as I took in the bruises on Karli's face. How someone could do this to a woman was beyond me. But then again, I was raised to never lay a hand on a woman unless it was in a loving way. That didn't mean that there hadn't been more than a handful of times that I hadn't wanted to do so. Don't get me wrong, I was no stranger to feeling rage but seeing the woman that I was fully prepared to spend my life with laying in a hospital bed made me feel murderous.

Standing from the uncomfortable chair that I had been sitting it, I began to pace the room, needing to move in order to help with the tension I was feeling. As promised, Jax had told me who was responsible for Karli being like this. I'm not ashamed at all to say that when I found out that this was done at the hands of a patched member, I saw red. But Jax's words broke into my rage, reminding me that there was a time and place for everything and that right now, Karli needed me more than I needed to exact my revenge. Didn't mean that I wasn't ready to rip that motherfucker limb from limb when I laid eyes on him though. Or should I say who I laid eyes on first. It didn't matter to me if it was the son of bitch that did this, one of the other guys that he had patched into SAMCRO with, or the ringleader of it all -Karli's very own step father- they were none safe. Honestly, it was going to come down to who got their hands on who first since Jax and all the other club guys were as protective as they come when it come to Karli.

One thing did surprise me about all of this though. Karli and I had talked at length about the relationship that she had with her mom. Even though it was strained, I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that a mother would rather do her own thing than sit vigil at her only daughters bedside after she was attacked so heinously. I know for a fact that if it was me lying in a bed like this, my mom wouldn't leave my side. When I'd almost died in a car accident years ago, my dad had been forced to make my mom leave to get something to eat because she was so scared that I was going to wake up -or not wake up- and she wasn't going to be there. So, for Karli's mom to be so uncaring, it was not something that I could even fathom.

A soft knock on the door just before it opened pulled me from my thoughts. I whipped around, prepared to fight to the death if this was someone that was brazen enough to try and attack Karli while she healed. I knew that it was possible considering what Jax had told me about the guys responsible for her being here anyway. My shoulder relaxed when I saw that it was Jax's wife.

"Anything new?" I said, forcing myself to sit down in the plastic chair at Karli's bedside once more.

I watched as she nervously looked over her shoulder before stepping further into the room and shutting door softly behind her. My stomach tied in knots, fearing that she was going to tell me that Karli had a brain bleed that was inoperable or something. However, my stomach couldn't have been more wrong.

"She's pregnant." Whispered Tara. I couldn't help but notice the tears in her eyes as a smile came across her face. Stunned, I watched as she looked at her sister-in-law, so much love written all over all for the woman lying there sleeping all while I tried to process what she had just said. I quickly did the math and couldn't help the slight panic that washed oven me when I did. Having only met Karli a month ago, if I'm the father then he was just extremely early in her pregnancy. But if she's further along... That was a possibility that I didn't even want to begin to ponder.

"Its still really early. We wouldn't have even known if we hadn't have done blood work." Said Tara. Evidently my thoughts and fears had been plastered all over my face. "Odds are, Karli wouldn't even suspect that she's pregnant just yet since she's her levels are in line with someone who is only around four weeks pregnant."