Chapter 8: Tears and Fears

_I’ve got Athos’ card; he’s buying me lunch too. – Priscilla_

Priscilla saw her teacher get shot.

Leo looked at his president, watching his mouth move. He was certain that Brute was saying words. They were not penetrating through the roaring sound of his blood rushing through his head.

Priscilla saw her teacher get shot.

If he thought that he had a sinking feeling a few minutes ago, it was nothing compared to this feeling of falling through reality. This had to be a dream. A nightmare. Punishment for fucking around with Mitzi.

Priscilla saw her teacher get shot.

A hand landed on his shoulder and Leo turned to look at Scrapper. There was a concerned look on his face. Just like his father, his mouth was moving, but Leo could not hear what either man was saying.

Priscilla saw her teacher get shot.

No. That couldn’t be what happened. She was at the pool with Camille today, taking pictures of the other girl. It was Camille’s senior year, and she wanted some senior pictures of her diving. There was no way it could have happened.

Priscilla saw her teacher get shot.

There was a picture that Priscilla had sent of her and Camille goofing by the pool. And another one that he had seen on the ride to the shop. Athos had asked for a McDonald’s run. Because Evie was getting hangry.

Priscilla saw her teacher get shot.

She had Athos’ card because Michelle had gone shopping with the other two teenagers yesterday. He had given Priss his card and told her to buy whatever his girlfriend wanted.

Priscilla saw her teacher get shot.

She had gone to McDonald’s and taken the food to the high school. The school where Evie taught. Where they had to use the IDs to swipe to get into the building. And student IDs had been disabled.

Priscilla saw her teacher get shot.

Reality hit Leo hard. It was a distinct possibility that his girlfriend had indeed watched her teacher and friend get shot.

The roaring whoosh in his ears fell away and the sound of Brute and Scrapper’s voices filled his ears.

“Where is she?” Leo demanded.

“Evie is in the emergency room –“

“I don’t give a damn about Evie,” Leo snarled as he cut his president off. Any other time, he would worry about what the consequences of that action would be. Right now, he could not care. There was nothing more important than his girl. “Where is Priscilla?”

Brute nodded in understanding and held a hand up to silence his son. “I understand that you’re worried about your own woman, so I won’t tell you not to insult the patched brothers again. Now, if you will allow me to finish, Evie is in the emergency room and Priscilla is at the hospital with her dad.”

“Did she get hurt too?” Leo asked as fear engulfed him again.

“No,” Brute answered as his phone chirped with a message. He glanced down at the screen before he continued. “Priscilla is wanting to stay until they know what all is going on with Evie. It’s been confirmed that she’s going to have to go to surgery.”

“You said she was in surgery,” Leo argued.

“I said that they were taking her in for surgery. It was a guess. That’s what usually happens when you get shot in the chest.”

“Usually there’s only two options for a gunshot to the chest,” Scrapper interjected. “Surgery is the better option.”

Leo turned to say something to the other man but saw that the Vice was looking at the picture of his mother on the wall behind his father. The woman had been killed by a gunshot wound to the chest in a convenience store robbery. If this situation was hard on Leo, it had to be hell on Scrapper.

“A lockdown has been called until we know what’s going on. It’s not one to keep everyone in one place, but to provide an alibi for everyone. We don’t need anyone getting stupid and going after this bitch.”

The grin that Brute gave told Leo that the older man knew exactly what he was thinking. If he could find this bitch, he would put a bullet in her chest too.

“I need to go to her.”

“You’re going to,” Brute assured him. “Scrapper is going to ride with you. To ensure that you don’t try to ditch him somewhere, I’m texting him where you need to go. You can stay at the Shack, but you will listen to Toad and Molly. Whatever they say goes. You get me?”

“Yes, sir.”

Brute cocked an eyebrow at him. “They tell you to stay away, you stay away. One of the musketeers tells you to back off, you back off. You may be dating that girl, but she’s a third generation Saint and her grandfather is a founder. You give her family the respect they deserve.”

“Yes, sir,” Leo said again.

With a single nod, the two younger men were dismissed and headed for their bikes. As they walked down the hall, Mitzi’s oldest daughter, Cindy, was snuggled up against her husband, LJ, who grabbed Leo’s arm.

“Everything good?” LJ asked.

“Dad’s going to call church in a few,” Scrapper interjected. “I got to get him somewhere.”

Once they were out by the bikes, they straddled their rides and headed for the hospital near the river that separated the cities of Monroe and Ridgeview. Parking by the large group of bikes, they approached the hospital and Scrapper checked to see if he had received the text from his dad.

“Elevator,” Scrapper said and directed them towards the elevator bank. “Keep your head on straight.”

“Yes, sir.”

The elevator arrived, and the two men stepped on with a few hospital staff in color-coded scrubs. At the last minute, two nursing students in white scrubs with the school and program emblazoned on their shirts.

When the elevator reached the right floor, Scrapper nudged Leo, and they moved towards the door. Just before the doors closed, Scrapper looked at the woman who had been eyeing him and winked at her. The giggles from the women were cut off by the soft shoosh of the doors closing.

Leo had never been up on this floor and followed his Vice. They entered the waiting room, and Leo scanned the room to find Priscilla sitting on Tank’s lap. The older man kissed her temple before he nudged her leg to get up. Leo caught Priscilla as she ran towards him and hugged her to his body.

“I’m here, sweetheart,” he murmured against her ear as he lifted her up by her thighs.

A silent sob wracked her body as her legs wrapped around his waist and he leaned against the wall. One arm anchored her to his body as it wrapped around her waist. His other hand moved to her head and held her to his shoulder. His fingertips slipped into the braid in her hair.

Pressing a kiss to her head, he closed his eyes and offered up a silent prayer that she was safe. “I’m here, baby, I’m here.”

Tammy appeared by them and rubbed Priscilla’s back. She met his chocolate brown eyes with her worried ones. “Take care of her.”

“Always,” he quietly assured her.

She nodded at Leo and kissed her daughter’s cheek. “I love you, little pretty.”

Tammy then walked out, and Leo stood leaning against the wall holding his girl as she cried. When her tears slowly stopped, and breathing evened out he adjusted them as her body relaxed with emotional and physical exhaustion taking over. Once he was certain that she was asleep, he walked over and sat next to Molly on the couch.

Molly smoothed down some of her hair. “She needs you today.”

“I’m hers whenever she needs me.”

The only response that her father gave was a slight grunt.

With soft conversations going on around them, the two men sat in silence. Leo knew that it was only a matter of time before the conversation would come.

“We’re all staying at the Shack tonight.” Molly eventually told him. “You can stay in one of the spare rooms tonight.”

“Thank you, sir,” Leo pressed a kiss to Priscilla’s head. “I would like that.”

“So would she,” Molly said as he gently ran a knuckle down his daughter’s cheek. “Why don’t you join us for dinner at Nessie’s Kitchen? It’s baked pork chops and brisket tonight.”

Before he could answer, a man entered and called out Evie’s last name, “Reagan?” Leo watched as the whole room around him stood to support their friends and her family.