He unzips the top and handed me a pair of faded jeans, a thin olive t-shirt, a bra, and a cheeky pair of underwear. His face turns a little red at the sight of my lace panties. I’d smack Quinn the next time I saw her – if I even got to see her again. It wasn’t as if things weren’t a little awkward between Tex and I anyways, this just added to the awkwardness level. “You can hand me the whole duffel bag,” I tell him, knowing that he didn’t see something in the bag – something that I very well need given the surgery I’ve just had.
“Nah, I’ll get it for you. What do you need?”
“Just give me the bag.” But he doesn’t, Tex digs his hands in looking for whatever it was that I needed, sure enough he finds it. He pulls out a pad, handing it to me. I was trying to save myself the embarrassment of asking for it. I should’ve known I’d get another type of embarrassment all together.
I sit up further on the bed, grabbing the clothing items, and slowly walk into the bathroom that is within my hospital room. It takes me no time to dispose of the awful patient gown. I hated those things more than anything else, they were itchy, and the material was as hard as sandpaper, plus they weren’t aesthetically pleasing whatsoever.
I change into the fresh, clean clothes that Quinn packed for me and toss my old underwear in the trash bin. When I am ready, after carefully looking at my exhausted self in the mirror, I open the door and exit the bathroom, back into my hospital room. Tex is just a few feet away, scrolling up and down on his phone.
“You done?” He sounded impatient, like I was an inconvenience to him.
“Yep.” I nod.
“Good. We’d better get a move on,” he grumbles as he walks up to me, grabbing my arm and tugging me along with him.
The entire time we move through the hallways I feel like I was jogging to keep up with him. He keeps yanking me along with his long strides until I almost fall flat on my face. In that moment where I’m mid-air, that is when I rip my arm out of his grip. “What the fuck is going on? Why are you in such a hurry?” I snap, my frustration radiating out of me. I didn’t give a damn about what I knew I was facing. Maybe he wants to deliver me and get it over with as soon as possible, but I wasn’t in a hurry. Rage could wait. He would wait.
“We have to go.” Tex grabs my arm again and starts pulling me forward. I yank back my arm out of his grip lightning fast, causing him to glare at me like I’d just slapped him across the face.
“What is the big deal! You’re being such an ass right now!”
He doesn’t say anything for a moment, but purses his lips together as he looks at me. He was contemplating something, that I could tell. I just wanted to know what. “I’m going to be straight with you, we have to leave now because any minute now Kolt will show up and catch me taking you out of this hospital.”
“Wait…what are you saying?”
“I’m telling you that I’m not taking you back to the club. We’re getting in my damn truck and getting the fuck out of town. I’m not taking you back to him.”
Everything that happened over the past few days runs through my mind like an old tape on repeat. I could only think of one thing. Tex extends his hand out to me, and I just stare. I stare at the hand in front of me like it was an offering, an option for something better, an option for a life. It finally hits me.
This was my chance to finally make the right decision.
I take Tex’s hand and don’t look back.
Chapter 6
To make an end, is to make a new beginning. – T.S. Eliot
Tex
I thought she’d put up some sort of fight. Instead, she blows me away, looking me dead in the eyes, and taking my hand. After all of these years of her putting up with Rage’s abuse – I never expected her to just come willingly. I’d prepared myself for a fight, for her blatant disregard for her wellbeing and safety. It seemed that she actually did care about what happened to her. Dammit, Rox, took you fuckin’ long enough.
I don’t know what has changed in her mind to make her think differently, to make her finally decide to run. My chest swells with pride at her making this decision, knowing it was very well not an easy one. She’d been with Rage for years.
I wasn’t privy to all of her abuse. I made sure to stay away from both of them, especially when they were together in the club. If you would have asked anyone else, they would tell you that her attacks were unpredictable. They just weren’t paying as much attention as I was. Nothing was unpredictable about her abuse.
“Where are we even going?” Roxy speaks up to me, lifting her knees to her chest as I drive north-bound, away from all of the chaos. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her gaze land on me, “Are you prepared for this? Do you have a place for us to stay? What are we going to do? How are we going to do it?” Questions fly out of her mouth faster than I could keep up with.
“Calm down.” I didn’t have everything planned. I had an idea of where we’d go, given that the place was still standing. It was a wildcard, but if Plan A didn’t work, I’d just jump to Plan B. I just had to figure out what that was first. “We’re going to Colorado.”
“Colorado,” Roxy repeats. Her eyes flash with shock before she speaks up again. “You better not be taking me to your momma’s house.”
“Are you fuckin’ crazy? Of course, I’m not taking you to my mom’s. Dammit, Rox. I’m not risking her getting involved in the middle of this shit storm.” I breathe deeply, continuing our long trek of a journey. We’d been on the road for a while, a few hours at least. I was exhausted, and I was positive she was aching. The poor girl was healing; she’d be getting better for a couple of weeks at least.
I decide to turn off at the next exit into a Mom and Pop town, a town I’d never heard of, a town I’d known that there was no biker activity. As I drive down the road I notice there is a motel with a small diner attached to the opposite side. This would be as good a place as any to rest for the night.
I pull my old Dodge up to the front entrance, telling Roxy to stay until I come back.
I open the door to my truck, slide out, and shut it firmly behind me. Pulling my wallet out of the back of my jeans, I hope and pray that the person working the front counter could be persuaded with a few Benjamins.
The motel looked like it hadn’t been changed since the seventies, it wasn’t up to my personal bar by any means – but it was a place to rest our heads, a safe place at that. “Can I help you?” A short older woman peers over from the counter.
I walk up slowly, “Yes Ma’am. I’m looking to book a room for the night.”
“Alrighty. How many people?” The nametag on her dress read ‘Dottie’.
“One,” I lie, figuring that by telling her it was just me it would make it harder for anyone to track us down. Then I remembered – Rage wouldn’t be looking for two. I told him my Mom needed me for the week to help with some repairs on her house. He thought I left early today, not knowing I left a few hours after. “Two.” I shake my head as if I’d forgotten, “My girlfriend’s in the car, she’s been so quiet the drive up here that I forgot she was even with me.”