***WARNING*** This chapter contains the mention of suicide. If you or someone you know is in a dark place, or even entertaining the thoughts of suicide, please reach out to the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. You and the people you know are not in this battle alone.
Chapter 3:
"When tragedy strikes, not all is lost." - Momma
Maddie
I woke up with the bright sun shining through my open blinds and pulled back curtains. Squinting I read the clock on the nightstand, seven fifteen a.m. I groaned. One thing that was for certain, I was one hundred percent not a morning person.
"Come on, let's get the day started." I heard my sister Beth say as she patted the bed.
"For the love of everything that's holy, go away and let me sleep." I begged her, pulling the pillow over my eyes.
"Nope, we need to keep busy. We need to get a good healthy meal in, then we need to go to the store, and then who knows what else the day has in store for us." She said as she started going through some of the drawers pulling out clothing for me.
"You know, I can dress myself." I said as I rubbed my eyes and sat up. She made her point, we had promised to keep busy to try to deal with the darkness that always wanted to creep its way into our minds.
"Yeah, well, I used to do it for you when you were younger...habit I guess." She said. My mind remembering those days clearly. She had always picked out my clothes for the day, saying that she didn't want to be embarrassed by me and she didn't want me to get picked on.
"So...who cooked breakfast?" I asked as I started getting up from bed. I could smell something had burnt.
Beth looked at me with a crocked smile. "Apparently, Luke decided that he wanted to try his hand with making a traditional southern breakfast" She said. We looked over at each other and laughed. As much as we appreciated all that Luke has done for us, he was definitely not a cook.
"Hurry up, and let's get a move on it. I want to beat all those Couponers to the register. I will not stand in line that long again." She said as we thought back to last week's grocery store trip. There had been only register opened at that time, and unfortunately it was backed up due to a lady who literally had three binders out and handing out coupons to the cashier. What was supposed to be a short trip had ended up taking at least over an hour. The worse part of it was, we were the next people in the line to the register, we weren't about to leave.
I hustled through my get ready routine, and met Beth and Luke downstairs at the kitchen island. Sure enough it looked like Luke really tried to go all out. There were grits, sausage, bacon, eggs, toast that were completely black, waffles and pancakes that were a hit and miss on the burnt level, and some fried chicken that were a little on the burnt side too. I looked to Beth and then Luke as I sat on the stool.
"Wow, Luke, it um looks great. Thank you so much." I said stuttering as I started fixing my plate with some of everything so I wouldn't hurt his feelings.
"Yep, well I tried. I figured you ladies needed a good hearty breakfast with all the running around you probably have today." He said as he took a bite into the toast. "Just, maybe don't worry about eating the toast." He said and then we all laughed.
"Speaking of running around, how was your day in town yesterday with Noelle?" Beth asked as she ate a lot of the fruit she'd put on her plate.
I had gone into town with our next door neighbor that was just slightly older than me the day before. Honestly, it felt good being able to get out of the house without Beth and Luke, even if Noelle was still my "chaperone". Honestly, I didn't blame them. With how things had been when I first arrived here after being released from the hospital, I was surprised they were letting me go out at all without them.
"It was great, we mostly just went window shopping, and then went through some of the consignment shops." I had started to say before I remember the idiot who almost ran me over. The same idiot who I saw last night hanging around the pool.
"By the way, I saw a guy late last night in the backyard." I said looking to Beth then Luke.
"Oh Rhyker, yeah, he's a guy from the club. He's going to be staying in the pool house for a little bit while he's in town. He shouldn't cause you any trouble." Luke started to say, but Beth interrupted.
"He's a really nice guy, he's just been on the road a lot, but if you think it's too much, then we can have him stay somewhere else." She said the last bit quickly, Luke nodding as he watched my facial reaction. Honestly, I wasn't going to freak out again.
"No it's fine.. I swear, I'm fine with it." I said trying to convince them.
Knock Knock Knock. We heard someone rap their knuckles on the front door. Luke put down this napkin as he went to go see who was at the door. Next thing we knew Luke was explaining that he had made breakfast and to come eat. Noelle bounded around the corner and saw the spread. She locked eyes on Beth and then myself as she hesitantly sat down.
"Wow, Luke you sure know how to make sure no one ever goes hungry in this house again." She said as she took a waffle that was less burnt than the rest. We all laughed.
"So, you ladies heading out this morning? I'm bored. I got called off from work at the pharmacy. Can I tag along?" Noelle looked from me to Beth.
"Yeah, that's fine with us." Beth says, as she looked at me to make sure I was okay with the decision. I was totally okay with it.
"Great! Hey Maddie, did you know the guy who almost ran you over last night is in your driveway?" Noelle said before she took a bite from the waffle.
"Wait. What happened?" Beth asked frantic as Luke started in asking the same thing.
"Yeah some psycho wasn't paying attention and almost ran over Maddie on his motorcycle. He's standing outside your house actually." Noelle stated as Luke got up and went to go look out the window that faced the driveway.
"Madds, why didn't you say anything? That was probably terrifying, especially after..." Beth started saying with concern, trailing off. I knew she was testing to see if I really was alright and if this was going to send me back into a relapse.
"Honestly, I'm fine. I was just more upset that he didn't even bother to apologize or anything. I mean, he clearly saw I had the right away." I said, my anger starting to come up when I thought of yesterday, and then seeing him again last night out by the pool. His face and those stupid cocky eyes didn't want to leave my mind.
"Yeah Luke, you should have seen Maddie. I know he's one of the guys from the club, but boy she tried to put him in his place. No fear at all." She said proudly as she reached over to pat my hand.
"Luke?" Beth said a little more loudly, trying to get his attention. However, before we knew it he was out the back door and bounding for the drive way.
"Lord help me, I swear, if one of those two get blood on my driveway so help me." Beth said as she rolled her eyes and finished her fruit.
"Sorry, I figured you told them about what happened." Noelle said sheepishly at me.
"No, she didn't. She should've though." Beth said as she got up and took her plate to the sink.
"Beth, I'm fine, honestly. No one got hurt." I said bringing my plate in behind her.
"It's just, if something were to happen to you, or if you were to have a relapse..." Beth said her hands on the counter. I knew she was scared to lose me, I knew the memories probably haunted her like it did with me. All I could do is wrap my arms around her and say that I was sorry over and over.
Luke came in moments after we heard the sound of the motorcycle riding down the street. He didn't say a word, only looked at Beth and me hugging in the kitchen and then he went to shut himself into the study. Moments later we were calling out our goodbyes to Luke as we all left the house to do our morning errands.
***
Luke
When I heard the girls leave the house, I let out a long breath I didn't realize I had been holding. My emotions and anger had gotten the best of me. Honestly, what had Rhyker been thinking? I mean to almost run someone over is a bad thing itself, but for that someone to be Maddie...my right hand clenched in a fist as my left pulled open my top desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of pain medication. My fingers rubbed across Maddie's name, and my thoughts instantly went back to when Beth first got that horrific call that none of us would ever want to receive.
Beth and I had been in the middle of making love, trying to conceive, even though we both knew it was a slim chance to none that it would actually happen. Yet, still we had a week window every month that we would try. Her phone rang, at first I told her to ignore it. It could've been someone from the club trying to reach me through her, and I was not about to go anywhere tonight. However, after the third time a call coming through her phone, we knew we couldn't ignore it anymore. The mood had past, and she looked to see a number from her hometown calling through. She wasn't going to answer at first, however she did. She had the look of confusion on her face, then answered that yes she was Elizabeth Keaton, but she was now McDaniel now. We had been married a little over seven years now, before she even actually left her parents' home, a story itself for another time. The next moments I'll never forget, the look of pure terror that registered across her face as she listened to the caller on the other end. Her hand covered her mouth as her hand dropped the phone, and I could see she was about to be sick as she ran to the bathroom. I could hear the caller repeating her name. I picked up the phone explained that I was her husband and what the call was about. Beth's parents and kid sister had been in an accident and that we had better make arrangements to come as quickly as possible to the hospital. The nurse didn't release much more to me since I wasn't actually blood related, but I knew what this meant. I had been around the club life too long, and had been the cause of these types of calls. I explained that we were going to head there as soon as we could and hung up the phone.
The next thing I knew we were rushing inside the ER at Saint Baptist Memorial asking for a Madeline Elizabeth Keaton. The nurse rushed us back to a conference like room were saw two doctors, at least three or four police officers, one of which had been soaking wet with a towel around his shoulders, and another nurse all standing around talking amongst themselves. When we arrived the group stopped at once with grave faces. This was bad, I knew it from the phone call, but to actually see their faces and feel the vibe...I clenched Beth's hand as I asked for the both of us, "What happened?" As the doctor and the police spoke, my strong Beth became a sobbing mess on the floor. A nurse helped her up and brought her to a chair. I couldn't wrap my head around one set of emotions. Beth's mother, Helen, had been instantly killed with the impact of the drunk driver's car colliding into them. Beth's father, Roger, unfortunately had drowned due to the car going over the side of the bridge and landing in the water and he succumbed to the water and other internal injuries with the impact. Beth's seventeen year old sister, Madeline, had been in the O.R. for the last several hours as the surgeons worked to save her life, even though she'd only been given around a ten percent chance. The only reason why Madeline had even survived was due to the cop who had jumped in to save her. I stuck out my hand towards the wet cop, shaking his, and thanking him for jumping in when he did. He voiced that he wish he could have done more. I asked about the driver, but they stated that the driver had died at the scene as well. Well, at least justice had been served I guess. I thought briefly to myself, hating to know that I thought another person dying was "justice".
After several more hours had passed, a nurse came into the waiting room of the ER to let us know that they had moved Madeline to a room and took us back. Once we got there an older female doctor was charting some of the monitor's numbers.
"This is Dr. Shepherd, she's going to be the charge doctor while Miss Keaton is recovering in the intensive care unit." The nurse said before moving to take over at the computer screen for the doctor.
I took at Beth's sister, Madeline. The teenage girl with bloodied strands of hair was covered in cuts, bruises, bandages, several casts, IVs, breathing tube, and much more medical equipment hooked up to her. The doctor came around the bed, and started to explain the extent of the surgery and how the recovery process was going to be. Beth had gone over to hold one of Madeline's hands and leaned down to kiss it. The doctor continue stating that they were going to leave Madeline in a drug induced coma for a few days to help with some of the internal swelling including her brain. What we didn't anticipate was for when they tried to bring Madeline out of the coma later that week that she fell into comatose state all on her own. The doctor stated, that these thing do sometimes happen, but they would monitor it.
Days, weeks, and months had gone by, and Beth's sister still hadn't come out of the coma. We had held a funeral for their parents. Packed up and sold their house. Still months had gone by and nothing changed. After the eighth month had gone by and still Madeline hadn't come out of her state, the doctor voiced that they were going to start trying some new therapy sessions that have proven in other similar situations to help bring people back to the surface. I watched Beth, knowing she didn't want to get her hopes up again. This had been the third time a type of session or experiment would be done to her sister.
On February twenty-sixth though, Beth called me from the road stating that her sister was waking up. I was at the clubhouse going over maps of the New England territories with Tyler, Victor, and Jace when my phone started to ring. I looked down and furrowed my brow a little. It was Beth. She was probably wanting to talk about this morning argument. The same argument about the same issue we've been having for a couple of months now. Honestly, lately everything seemed like it was the same. Same club issues about territories and the same runs, same home life issues with Beth with every month we would try to get pregnant, only to see the following month that it was for nothing. Then it would lead into Beth feeling guilty and ashamed and I would try to do something nice for her, only most of the time now she would just get angry at whatever I tried to do. We'd even had arguments about adoption almost weekly it seemed. Again, same issues, same routine, same everything. However, when I saw Beth calling in for the second time I knew it wasn't about this morning it was about something else.
"Hey what's wrong?" I asked quickly into the phone while stepping over to the other side of Victor's office. The guys looked up at me from the map and focused in to see what the call was about.
"Honey, I'm on my way to Saint Baptist Memorial. A nurse just called to say that Maddie had positive signs of waking up from her coma. I can't believe it. My sweet Maddie, is finally waking up." Beth said as she choked out the last word. I could hear her smile and tears, heck even I had a slight smile on my face to hear of the good news.
"Beth, that's great baby! I'll let the guys know and start heading there myself. It'll be probably an hour maybe two depending on traffic." I said as I turned back around to look at the guys with questioning looks.
"Okay, be careful. I love you. Today is a good day." Beth said as she let out a sigh.
"Yeah it is. Love ya too. See you soon." I said back before ending the call.
"Everything good brother?" Tyler asked as he came around the desk.
"Yeah, my wife's kid sister is waking up from her coma." I said still with disbelief. It had been almost a year with numerous trails and procedures to help her come out of her coma.
"Ah that's great dude! Congrats! She's one heck of a fighter I'll give her that." Jace said as he came to give me a hug. That she was, I thought. For someone that had little to no chance of surviving after what she went through, she definitely fought and is now waking up...alive.
"Excellent news. Go on and head over there. I'll let everyone know. Just keep us up to date will ya? We're all sending our thoughts to her and Beth. It's not going to be easy, but just remember that this family will always be there for y'all." Victor stated as he clasped me on the shoulder.
"Will do. I'll be in touch." I said as I grabbed my jacket and ran out the doors and started to head towards Beth's hometown.
About almost two hours later I had walked into the room where Dr. Shepherd, Dr. Monroe, and Dr. Shelton all stood around while my Beth hugged and cried with her sister.
"Oh Luke, Honey, you made it." Beth turned looking over at me to where I stood by the door as I gave the girls space. Madeline looked from her sister to me, then back to her sister with a confused look on her face.
"Madds, this is Luke McDaniel, you're brother-in-law. We've been married for several years now." She looked back at me taking me in.
"Hello Madeline..." I started to say before she quickly corrected me along with her sister.
"Maddie." Beth and Maddie said in unison.
"Oh Madds, I'm so happy you're awake. I know this is all so much to take in." Beth said as she moved some of Maddie's hair out of her face.
"Mrs. McDaniel, now that Maddie is fully awake again, and her heartrate is back at a steady rhythm, we'd like to take her to just do a CT scan. Maddie, will that be alright with you? I shouldn't take too long." Dr. Shepherd said as she addressed Beth and Maddie at the same time. Beth looked down at her sister, and Maddie nodded her head slightly.
"I'll be right here when you get back okay Madds? Luke and I are just going to go over somethings with the nurses, and probably go down to the cafeteria for a quick bite while you're doing the scan alright?" Beth said as she held Maddie's hand. Maddie just simply nodded her head to Beth, not saying a word. Beth came over to me as we stepped out, allowing the nurse and doctors to get Maddie prepared to head down to the CT lab. While we were outside, Beth filled me in on what had occurred when she arrived. That the doctor's had been explaining to Maddie about the accident, and Maddie had a panic attack that made her to pass out. She had just come back around about forty-five minutes before I had arrived. Poor kid, she can't catch a break, I thought to myself.
Once Maddie had gone down to the CT lab with Dr. Shelton, Dr. Shepherd came out to let us know that it was going to be about thirty to forty minutes before Maddie was back and that they hopefully will have a better idea about a plan of rehab and recovery.
"Do you know when Maddie may be able to come home with us, now that she's awake?" Beth asked clenching my hand as we looked back at the doctor. I knew Beth wanted to ask so many more questions, heck, I did too.
"Not yet. Let's see what the scans are like and then we can decide what is going to be best. Go enjoy some food, the salads here are actually really good. I'm just going to check on a couple more patients while we wait, but I'll be back." Dr. Shepherd said as she shook our hands and then went on down the hallway. As soon as Dr. Shepherd was out of sight, Beth let out a long breath. I held her tight, and led her down to get some food.
Almost an hour later, we were back in Maddie's room, her scans up on the computer screen, and Dr. Shelton started to explain what we were seeing. In summary, Maddie's body was pretty much back to normal, aside from weakness in muscle mass, a few screws and plates to hold her shattered leg and arm together, and there was still a slight enlargement of part of her brain which was affecting some of her memory loss. They wanted to keep Maddie in the hospital for another week or so, to begin the rehab and to make sure she didn't lapse into another comatose state. Throughout all of this, I noticed that Maddie didn't say a word. She would nod, she would look to Beth for her to answer for her, but nothing else.
"You hear that Maddie, next week you could be going home." Beth said, though her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. The home Maddie was probably thinking of and the home that she would actually be going to would be completely different.
"Are you tired at all? Are you hungry? Gosh, I can't imagine all the questions and thoughts that's going through that mind of yours." Beth said as she tried to fix some of the bedding with the other hand in case Maddie had been cold. However, instead of answering, Maddie slid down in the bed keeping her hand wrapped around Beth's and closed her eyes. Beth eyes teared up, and she moved some of Maddie's blonde strands away from her face and just watched her for a moment before turning her head towards me.
"Honey, thank you so much for coming. I know the doctors said that Madds may be here for another week, but honestly, I'm not sure how long it will actually be." Beth said looking at me with tender eyes.
"Hey Babe, it's alright. We'll figure things out, okay? Right now we just need to be here for her, she's still got a long rough road ahead." I said coming over to kiss her on the forehead while rubbing her back. She leaned into me and we both watched Maddie sleep for a few moments. She didn't really look like Beth, except with a few things like her lips, nose, and they looked to be similar heights. Maddie definitely took after their mother, Helen from what I could tell from the few times I met Helen and all the pictures I saw of them. Where Beth had dark hair like their father, Roger, Maddie had bright blonde hair.
I stood there a few moments longer before I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I took it out and saw that it was Victor, my ex-stepfather, and the president of the Demons Tribe motorcycle club I was a member of.
"Hey, it's Vic, I'm going to step out and take this. You need anything?" I said kissing Beth briefly on the lips. She shook her head as she went back to watching Maddie.
"Hey Vic, give me a sec let me get in a place where I can talk." I said into the phone while leaving Maddie's room and heading down towards the family waiting room at the end of the hall. I checked the room and no one was in there, good, no telling what kind of conversation this was going to be. "Sorry about that, I'm good now." I stated as I went to go stand by the window.
"Luke, what's the update? How is she?" Victor asked.
We had been going over some maps about possibly expanding some territories in the northeast when Beth's call had come in.
"She's awake, they want to keep here for at least another week while they run tests and start her rehab." I said as I relayed some of what the doctors had mentioned.
"That's good to hear, we are all rooting for her. You just focus on your family and let us know if you need anything." He said, continuing to explain that I can just get updates and send in proxy votes until I'm ready to come back. He knew better than anyone the meaning of family and how much it meant.
"Thank you Sir. I'll be in touch." I said as I ended the call.
I texted my mom and then my sister Nikki, they were very happy to hear that Maddie had woken up, and mom and made it clear that she was going to have the house ready for when we all came home. It was going to be a change, however, we would all get through it together.
Two weeks later and the three of us were home. Maddie was still moving slowly especially since we had the bedrooms on the second floor. I had offered to have her stay in the pool house, but Beth didn't want Maddie that far away from them. I could understand that, Maddie was still recovering physically and mentally. She would barely speak to us, at least to myself. My mom and sister had brought us dinner one evening, however, Maddie did not want to come down from her room. The more she isolated herself, the more Beth and I became more worried. This went on for another three weeks. Three weeks of silence, of looking at Maddie and just seeing all life gone from her eyes. We had tried to have a councilor that the hospital recommended come by, thinking it would help, however, Maddie just sat in her room with vacant eyes and didn't say a word back. The next day, our fears came true.
I had been outside tuning up my motorcycle in the driveway when our next-door neighbor Noelle came by with a plate full of cookies. She had been working a lot lately at the local pharmacy, however, she stated that she figured homemade cookies from her grandmother's recipe book may help Maddie want to come down and spend time with her. She wasn't much older than Maddie, maybe two or three years, but she had her life together that she had her own house across from us, a great job, and she always seemed to be a kind person towards us. She even offered to help Beth when I was way on business trips for the club. I figured she would be a positive influence to Maddie as well. When we got inside though, I could hear banging, and yelling going on from upstairs. I looked to Noelle who just sat the plate down on the kitchen island, and we raced upstairs to see what was going on. Going from a house of silence to yelling was definitely something to take notice of. The first thing I notice was Beth outside of Maddie's door with tears trailing down her face. The second thing I noticed were pieces of door cracked or broken where Beth had tried to break the door down.
"What is going on?" I said with furrowed concerned brows looking at the situation.
"She's in there, she won't answer me. She won't come out. She's, she's..." Beth said as she tried to calm down and bang on the door more. "Maddie, please answer me. Don't do this. Maddie are you alright? Maddie." She yelled to the door.
"What did she do? She's normally in her room." I said slightly confused at the escalated situation.
"She took the whole bottle of pain pills from the kitchen and locked herself in her room. I'm afraid...I'm afraid she's going to harm herself." Beth said as she clutched her stomach.
I knew she was going to be sick from all this commotion, she's been getting sicker and sicker the last few weeks. I'd be glad when she finally went to her doctor's appointment next week to see what's going on. My thoughts shifting from my wife back to Maddie, I told Noelle to help Beth up and step back. Noelle, did exactly what she was told and when I saw they were backed away far enough, I started kicking at the door. One kick, two kick, and three. The door crashed open and it took me a moment for me to register the scene before me. Everything looked normal, Maddie's bed slightly unmade, clothes scattered about, the curtains closed making the room darker. My eyes moved about as I walked in, "Maddie?" I said softly, not wanting her to think that I was mad at her, only worried. However, I received no answer. I could hear Beth sniffling behind me, but I held up my hand to her, I didn't want her to come closer yet. Noelle, stayed with Beth trying to soothe her.
"Maddie? It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you alright?" I said as I crept closer to the other side of her bed. When I approached my mind took a second to register the situation. Maddie, laying on the floor unconscious, a bottle that was full of pain medication was empty, and a shattered picture frame with a picture of Beth's and Maddie's parents laid beneath a bloodied hand.
"Beth call 911, NOW!" I shouted out as I grabbed Maddie along with the empty prescription bottle and raced her out of the room and downstairs. I could tell that she was still breathing, thankfully, however, there was no telling for how much longer. I had seen former brothers do the same thing, and they weren't so lucky. Noelle, was right beside me calling the local hospital to tell them exactly what all Maddie had taken and the dosage. By the time we had gotten to the hospital, Maddie had started to convulse, and Beth was praying that Maddie wouldn't be taken from her as well.
We waited in the waiting room for hours, not knowing if Beth and I were going to have to plan one more funeral or not. Noelle, had left for home a while ago stating that if we needed anything to let her know, and that she would make sure the house was locked up for the night. We were definitely grateful for a neighbor like her. After another hour, a nurse came in stating that we could go back and see Maddie. When we got there, Dr. Jack Clemmons, a doctor I was used to seeing around in the ER thanks to the club life was there. He and I shook hands, and he began to explain all that Maddie's body had gone through, and what they had done to help save Maddie's life. The good thing was that Maddie would survive, though, they would need to keep her under psych evaluation for the week. She had been very lucky that we had gotten her to the hospital in time, or else, even the amount of stomach pumping wouldn't had been enough to save her. The bad thing was that he was worried that this may happen again if something at home didn't change. He understood based on the hospital records what Maddie had been through, however, he also explained that she cannot be left alone. She needed to be around people pretty much 24/7 and we needed to take things slow. We also needed to do things to help Maddie take her mind off of the dark thoughts and memories. He was going to recommend a therapist for her and us to see for the next few weeks.
The next few weeks, things began to get better. Maddie was talking more, she was being more interactive with everyone, though sometimes we didn't give her a choice. What made me break down one night with Beth was when I heard Maddie explain that she felt like she didn't deserve to live. She was the one who had gotten her parents killed, and had almost killed her best friend as well. I couldn't imagine such a young person having to live with that false sense of guilt. Eventually, Beth and I were able to stop having to hover over Maddie, and Maddie genuinely began to get better. My mom and Nikki wanted to come over, however, Beth and I didn't want to overwhelm Maddie. She was just now getting used to a routine, and we were seeing a huge improvement. She even began to spend time with Noelle more, which I was truly grateful for since the doctor's appointment with Beth didn't go as planned, and Beth was having to get treatments and rest more than she had a month or two ago.
My mind coming back to the current day, my hand still wrapped around Maddie's prescription bottle, I looked over at the picture of Beth that sat at my desk. It was my favorite picture of her from our wedding day, she was dressed in a simple white sundress with a single red rose in her hand. I covered my face with my other hand as I set the prescription bottle back in my top drawer. Between dealing with Beth's health, Maddie's depression, and now the issues with Silverbacks possibly trying to take up position within the south western territory, life had gotten way more stressful than he ever thought it could. He didn't wish things could go back to the same old boring days, where they same thing happened day in and day out. Heck, he really didn't know what to feel or wish for at this point. Sure, he wishes his Beth would get better, however, he did like having her around more. He also couldn't imagine life going back to when Maddie hadn't been around. Even through the trials over the last couple of months, there was something about Beth's sister that he couldn't shake. A sense that she was always meant to be here. When Noelle had said that Maddie had almost gotten hit by Rhyker, he knew he had let his self-control slip a little more than he should have. He didn't know what Maddie was doing to him. There were moments when he found himself glancing at her longer than he probably should have, felt more protective over her than he probably should have. She was Beth's sister, and trying to heal from everything she had been through for Christ's sake, he should be giving her space. Instead, he wanted to be constantly around her, making sure she didn't worry or need anything. Now with Rhyker back, these urges were coming out more and he's not sure if he should be grateful or hate it.
I took out my phone, and dialed Duke's number. I needed to know more about what's been going on out west. The only way to plan was to know all the facts, and Duke would know all the facts. When Duke answered, he knew it was going to be a long call, but he didn't know just how long it was actually going to be. What had happened with this club while he's been away for these few short months? Did Vic truly not know that the Silverbacks were trying to make a play again? It looks like he was going to have to finally head to the clubhouse for a strategy meeting. He didn't just have himself and Beth to worry about anymore. He had Maddie now, and he couldn't let anything or anyone hurt her ever again.