The Rampage MC #4: Max and Briony

Chapter 2 (Briony): When You Sleep

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

There's something sad about going home from the hospital by yourself in a cab. Or maybe just lonely. That might be the better word since it makes you feel so damn alone.

When I'd moved here seven months ago for a fresh start, Gene had begun the calls on my new phone almost immediately, telling me he knew where I was. It was like those freaking horror movies...but real. Extremely real and extremely scary.

Kadie, my best friend, had appealed to her boyfriend on my behalf, and Orion had called in a favor owed to him by the Rampage. Just two days after moving here, I'd been whisked away to the Rampage compound, bouncing between the clubhouse and Max's house on the grounds. As time went on, Max had me over at his house all the time. He'd walk me over to the clubhouse in the morning when he left for his construction job, and then he'd pick me up and take me back to his place in the evening.

That meant in the seven months that I'd been living around the MC, the friends I'd made were all related to the Rampage, so I couldn't ask any of them for help now. Maybe it was wrong to take out my anger and hurt at Max on the entire MC -- especially since one of them had actually saved my life -- but you can't help feeling how you feel. And I felt let down.

Betrayed.

Vulnerable.

Hollow.

I'd checked and double-checked with my doctor and nurses to ensure that they wouldn't give out any information about me, including my release date. They'd all assured me that HIPAA guaranteed their silence.

Knowing Max, knowing he was being driven by guilt, I wouldn't have put it past him to try to intimidate the nurses into giving him information about me, and then he'd try to bully me into going back to his house on the Rampage compound. According to my nurses, the hot man with long hair was still refusing to leave the waiting room, so on the day I was released, Van, the most awesome Van, wheeled me out of my room wearing a pair of scrubs she'd brought me to wear home. I had nothing else here since the clothes I'd been wearing when I was brought in had been cut off of me.

Somebody from the MC had grabbed my purse and taken it to the hospital, so I had my wallet and keys as well as my phone. We hid my purse under a blanket thrown over my lap and legs.

As expected, Max lunged to his feet and rushed over when he saw me being wheeled out of my room.

"What's wrong? Where are you going?" he demanded. "Are you OK?"

As rehearsed, Van, seeming to break all HIPAA laws known to man, said, "We have to take her to X-ray to see how her arm's healing. From there, the doctors will determine if she needs surgery or if she can go home in two days."

Max was so flustered by the thought of me possibly requiring surgery that he didn't question anything. But he now thought I'd be here for another two days.

Van continued, "You can't come up to the X-ray floor, but she'll be down in about forty-five minutes."

Again, Max was so agitated that he didn't question this sudden overabundance of information when before there'd been none.

"Good luck," he called to me. "I'll be here when you get back, if you need anything."

I needed you to stay with me that night. Now, I know better than to need anything from you.

For the two weeks before Gene had broken into Max's house, I'd felt as if I was being watched when Max walked me to the clubhouse every morning and walked me back to his home at night. I tried not to look around to see if I could spot someone and make my nervousness apparent, but I'd told Max my skin was prickling as if I had invisible eyes on me.