1
NOELLE POV:
I got the keys to my car out. I clicked them and tossed my bag in and onto the passenger side before getting in as well. I sighed and moved my neck around before hearing the glorious crack. I sighed and relaxed before leaning back. I sat there for a moment, making a list in my head of all the stuff I will need to do in the next couple weeks before school lets out and I started to sweat at the lack of airflow in my car.
So, I sat up and turned my key before hitting the air conditioning, turning on the radio as well since I needed to hear something that would distract me from all the planning I had yet to do.
I looked around the parking lot. I wasn't the last teacher to leave, but I wasn't the first either. I pulled out slowly. Turning a few blocks before getting to the first light and waiting. I hated going down such busy streets. It always made me worry about accidents. My brother, Samuel, had been in one when he was 19, his car was demolished by a Semi and he was left paralyzed.
I got past the lights and down the residential area. I loved where I lived. There were kids all around and older grandparents who always asked questions. It was like having a family again.
When my brother was hit, it hadn't been his fault, so he got to sue the company the semi worked for. He had won the case outright. The company paid him very well and took care of his medical bills. And when he got that money... our parents’ sort of swooped in and tried to take it from him. Tried to talk him into handing it over so they could' save it'.
But we always knew about our parents struggles. We grew up in the lower end of the middle class family, our father was a workaholic and our mother an alcoholic and put them together and they run up bills and fight like the world would end tomorrow and they had to say exactly what they needed to.
So, my brother took me in. We separated ourselves from our parents and he paid for a house. He paid for me to go to college for an educational degree. And after years of us living together, he committed suicide when I had my first boyfriend and I slept over.
He had left a note that I have never read. He left me all his money and the house we shared. And... he left me forever. 8 years go by, with no family and only a job in my life, and I am still in the same place where he left me. Same house, same bed, same job, same love life minus the boyfriend. He didn't last long after I asked him to help me plan my brother’s funeral.
I worked, I ate, I sometimes went to the gym, I sometimes made 'friends' with the parents of my students, but most don't stay friends after the year is up. I was alone, always alone. Maybe I would get a dog.
I turned onto the next street and heard the roar of a motorcycle. He was three cars back and I moved over to give him room. Going around a giant hummer as he started to pass me, I didn't have a chance to stop before the little green blob running right into the street.
I swerved, hitting the breaks, hitting the motorcycle and knocking the man off, and then rolling into the other side of the street and as I shut my eyes as a car rammed into me. I hit my chest on the steering wheel, then the airbag went off late and sent my head flying into the back of my chair and then my eyes didn't open until I felt myself being moved.
"Ma'am, are you awake?" The voice was calm and controlling and I just whispered a yes. "Okay, we are trying to get you out of the car right now. I need you to stay absolutely still." The same voice called out and I took deep breaths.
"Is she going to be alright?" I heard a deeper voice ask and I gulped.
"Sir, please continue getting your scrapes cleaned up, we need her to remain as still as possible as we get her out." Another voice told the other and I just kept my eyes open as I felt hands and a searing pain in my shoulder making me cry out.
"You better not hurt her!" I heard the same voice that called out shout in warning and I clenched my teeth.
"Please sir, we need to get her out as fast as possible. She might have an injury we can't see yet. Let us do our jobs." I heard a female voice call out and I heard scuffing feet before was being moved slowly.
"What did hurt you ma'am?" The man on my left that first talked to me asked finally and I sighed.
"My shoulder. Whoever is lifting me over there pushed it up and it really hurts." I told him and he nodded. "Is that little girl okay?" I asked and he sighed as I was pulled out through my window.
"The little one in green? Yes. Her mother and father have told the cops that she ran out into the street as you passed, and you had to swerve. We all know this is an accident." The EMT man told me and I sighed in relief that I didn't hit that little girl.
"What about the biker and the person in the other car?" I asked and he sighed.
"The biker has come out of this with minor scrapes. The person in the other car however has been caught with more than 70 pounds of drugs, they are being checked out at the hospital and going to be detained." He told me and I gulped. "So, all in all, you have only hurt one man, yourself, and brought down a drug dealer or mule."
"Are you in pain anywhere other than your arm?" Another person asked me, and I shook my head. I was put on a mat near the floor and flashlights were checking my eyes and I felt something in my arm. "We are taking some blood tests, we are going to give you some pain medication, are you allergic to any kind of medication." I felt a compress on my head, and I hissed.
"No. Not that I know of." I told the two EMTs around me and I heard someone calling out they needed to be careful with me.
"Sir, do you know the woman?" I heard someone ask but the medication was putting me to sleep right away.
I woke up hours later, the sun was down, the lights in my hospital room were dimmed and I felt pressure on my shoulder and when I looked over at it, I not only saw a bandage, but a man sleeping with his feet up on the bed. He was tall, muscular, and his hair was just long enough to touch the tips of his ears.
I moved to sit up and reached for a pitcher that I was hoping had water in it. I hissed as something in my arm pulled and before I could blink there was a hand coming into view. "Doctor told me to make sure you don't move around too much." I looked at him, he was standing now, as he poured some water with small melting ice chips into a short plastic cup. His arms were tan, his five o'clock shadow was begging for me to touch it, and his leather vest was sexy. And his eyes... oh they looked like the perfect shade of green grass.
"Who are you?" I asked after taking a sip of the water and letting it refresh my throat before looking up at him. He had a bandage on his neck, a couple wraps on his hand.
"I was the biker you hit. I wanted to make sure you were okay, and that you knew that little girl was okay." His eyes flashed to mine and I felt a quiver as his green eyes seemed to undress me and his crooked smile made me bite my lip in return and shift my eyes away.
"You saw her too?" I asked and he nodded.
"I had already hit the brakes by the time she was off the curb. But you swerved before I was clear of your car." He took the now empty cup and set it back down. "Do you want more?"
"No." I shook my head and he grabbed the blanket and tucked me in. "Who are you?"
"I just told you-"
"No, I meant your name." I stopped him and he smiled at me.
"You can call me Ryan. And they told me your name was Noelle." He said and I nodded.
"Noelle Rolland." I told him and he turned his head to the side.
"As in Ms. Rolland. Teacher?" He asked and I nodded. "You teach my god daughter. Every time I see her, she is talking about what she gets to do in your class. She loves it."
"And who is your god daughter?" I asked and he smiled.
"Camille-"
"Camille Daniels?" I asked and he nodded. "So that means you're friends with her dad Luke."
"Yes. He is my vice President." That's right... Lucien Daniels was part of a biker club. I gulped as I made eye contact with him before dropping my eyes. "You don't have to be scared of me." He laughed lightly and moved to sit on the bed, I moved my leg and hissed. "Right. You also have a slightly sprained ankle." He got back up and I gulped and nodded.
"So why are you here?" I asked and he blinked at me again.
"To make sure you are protected." He told me and I blinked.
"Protected? From what?" I asked and he sighed.
"I heard the EMTs tell you that the other car you hit was filled with drugs. I am President of the Razorbacks, the MC here in town. You uncovered a mule of another MC's drug ring." He told me and I tried to think about that.
"Does that mean you deal drugs?" I asked and he laughed lightly but shook his head.
"No. We stopped with everything and anything illegal when Camille was given to my brother. We are clean, and we don't like other clubs dealing in our town. So, we have to find out who is trying to deal, and until then, you are in danger because it is your fault that their mule was busted, and their drugs taken." He told me and moved to sit closer to my face rather than by my legs, so I didn't have to move them and hurt myself all over again.
"So, the cops are going to put me in witness protection? I don't get it." Why was he telling me that I needed to be protected and not an officer?
"The cops don't give two shits about you. They are happy to get a drug bust. Nope... you're going to have me as your protection." He smiled wide at me and I gulped.
"How would you be able to-"
"I have my ways. And when I get to the bottom of which MC was bringing drugs through my town-"
"Wait, how are they supposed to know I was the one who caused the accident?" I asked and he licked his lips and crossed his arms.
"The news reported that a teacher brought down a drug bust while also swerving to miss a child. I was named and they said your name." He told me and I gulped. "And I looked online and do you know how easy it is to find you? An article says your room number at the school. All they have to do is follow you home."
"And what are you supposed to do? Sit outside of my house and call the cops when someone stops outside?" I asked and he worked his jaw and settled on giving me a small smile.
"Just because I don't deal drugs doesn't mean I don't own a gun. I am not afraid of using it to protect someone. Especially my god daughter’s favorite person outside the family."
"I am sure I am not her favorite person." I laughed and shook my head slightly and thought about Cami. She was always first to raise her hand, always wanting to stay and help clean up when I let the kids out for recess. Always first to offer to help pass out papers. She was a little angel.
"But you are. She's told me."
"How often do you get to hang out with her?"
"Every other weekend we do something on a Saturday. Gives my brother and his new woman time to plan their week out. And when they go on their first vacation this summer, she will stay with me for two weeks." He seemed more excited than burdened by that and I had to say, him with a child could set any woman on fire.
"Oh. That's nice. She must think of you as an uncle then?" I asked and he nodded before shrugging. "But... doesn't she have a mom? I know that the girlfriend is new... she only mentioned her just before Christmas... but she never mentioned her mother before." I knew that this was getting way too deep, this was getting way off topic as well. But I didn't want to hear about how he needed to protect me from other drug dealers that might be able to find me and hurt me.
It was just too much to think about.
"Her mother left her when she was a baby. One of the many reasons the club got clean was because Lucien and I didn't want to give her up to CPS and everything had to be clean. We run a few clubs, and restaurants, and shops. We get by. But we are a club, and we have business with other clubs, and none of them are ever supposed to deal drugs or take them through our town." He told me and I gave a long blink as I felt tired again already. "The doctor has you on a drip. They said that you would wake up and that you won't be able to eat until the morning. Get some sleep."
"Are going to be stand guard?" I giggled at him and he nodded.
"I will be with you until you're released. Then when I go back to work, I will get a trustworthy patch on you, you'll be protected by me or someone I trust. Until I find out who wants to deal-"
"In your city. I got it." I whispered and tried to turn to my left side as he moved to sit back down, and he smiled at me.
"Now you're getting it babe." I would have rolled my eyes at the nickname if they weren't already closed.