A Family Man (32 page)

She walked into the kitchen and kissed her aunt. “Hey. Where’s Joe?”

“
He and Samson are in the den. Why don’t you go and tell them that lunch is ready?”

Whenever Joe was home, Beth tried as much as possible to ensure that they all sat down and ate together. It was a way for them all to come together as a family. Often, of course, other stuff got in the way. Her work, Amy’s friends, the club. But they got together as often as they could. She smiled as Samson joined them. Any of Joe’s brothers were always welcome at her table, and he was one of her favorites. As a rule, she was wary around the nomads, but Samson was the exception. He was always polite and respectful around her and Amy, and she was comfortable in his company. Amy too, enjoyed having him around and was looking forward to evenings thrashing him on the Playstation, when he was feeling better. Beth smiled as her niece took her place between the two men, completely unfazed by what they represented. “Hey Uncle Samson. You feeling better?”

“
Getting there, baby girl. I’ll soon be fit enough to whoop that skinny ass of yours.”

“
Never gonna happen.” She nudged him and passed him a plate of lasagne.

“
Thanks, baby girl. So how was work?” She had recently taken a Saturday job at the local gas station.

“
Good. Oh, two nomads came in today.”

“
Really? I didn’t know any were in town. Do you know who they were?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve seen them before. One of them was real short, walked with a limp.”

“Sounds like Fox, so I’m guessing the other is Spider.” Be careful around them, baby girl. They’re good guys, but they ain't nice and polite like me.

Amy rolled her eyes. She was constantly being warned about Joe’s brothers as well as every other male on the planet. “Oh, they weren’t interested in me. They spent all their time talking to the new girl.”

“You got a new girl? Is she hot?”

“
Uncle Samson!”

“
Well is she?”

“
I don’t know. She’s okay I guess. She’s pretty old. Not as old as you an’ Joe, but…”

“
Hey. I ain't old, sugar.”

“
Oh you so are. That’s why you listen to such crappy music.”

“
I will have you know, I have great taste in music.”

      Samson grinned as he watched the exchange between Tiny and his kid. There could be no denying how much they loved each other, and he had to admit he was kind of envious of his brother’s little family.

Amy glanced at his plate and frowned. “You should be eating.” She touched his face. “You don’t look too great, and you’re hot again.”

“I’m okay, baby. Just not hungry is all.” He smiled and forced down another mouthful, before admitting defeat. “I am feeling pretty tired. Maybe I’ll go for a nap.”

~ oOo ~

He’d been dozing fitfully for a couple of hours when Amy crept in holding a bowl of soup. “Beth made you some soup.” He sat up and she handed him the bowl and climbing onto the bed next to him, grabbed the remote control. “Thought I could watch TV with you. Joe and Beth are making out on the sofa.” She shuddered. “It’s disgusting.”

He chuckled and started to eat his soup. “Yeah, must be awful for you. I’m surprised you ain't scarred for life. So what’s it to be? Cops or NASCAR?”

“NASCAR.” She settled with her back against the headboard.

“
So did that douche ask you out yet?”

“
Samson! He is not a douche, and yes. He wants me to go bowling with him. You won't tell Joe, will you?”

“
You want me to lie to my brother?”

“
Yes, I do. You wouldn’t even know if you hadn’t been listening to my private phone calls.”

“
I wasn’t listening, I overheard. You should be more discreet.”

“
I thought you were asleep. Please, Samson. Don’t say anything to Joe.”

“
I’m not going to say anything, because you are.”

“
I can’t. He’ll flip.”

“
No he won't. He loves you and he wants to keep you safe. But he also wants you to be happy, so he’ll be cool.” He laughed. “Eventually.”

~ oOo ~

Beth frowned as she pulled off the dressing that covered the wound on Samson’s thigh. “You really have to see a doctor. This is getting worse, I don’t think the antibiotics are working.”

“
I’ll be okay.”

“
No you won't. I’m not an expert. But I do know that you shouldn’t still be running a temperature and this should be healing. There must be a doctor that won't ask too many questions that you can see.”

Samson leaned back and closed his eyes as she redressed the wound. “Okay, if it makes you happy, I’ll see a fucking doctor. But if he gets suspicious and calls the pigs, I’m blaming you.”

Beth straightened up and kissed him on his forehead, her frown deepening at how hot he was. “Actually, I think maybe I should take you to the hospital now. You’re burning up.”

He opened his eyes. “Beth, I have a gunshot wound. If I go to the hospital, they’ll report it.”

“So say it was an accident. You were cleaning your gun and didn’t know it was loaded, I don’t know, say anything. Shit, Samson, you could end up with gangrene.”

“
I think you’re being a bit melodramatic, darling. It’s just a little infection.”

“
So why are you shivering?”

“
I ain't shivering.”

“
Sure you’re not.” She pulled a throw from the back of the sofa, and wrapped it around his shoulders. “As soon as Joe gets back, we’re going to ER.”

If he’d had the energy he would have argued with her. But all he wanted to do was sleep. His leg was on fire and it was getting hard to focus on anything for any length of time without his mind wandering. He felt Beth start to move away and he reached out and grabbed her hand. “Stay. Please.”

Without a word, she sat back and leaned her head on his shoulder until she was sure he was asleep, then carefully, so as not to disturb him, she stood and walked quietly into the kitchen and picked up her cell. “Joe?”

“S’up. Darling?”

“
I’m going to have to take Samson to the hospital. I really don’t like the look of his leg. And he’s burning up.”

“
Shit. I thought he was pretty bad last night, but he insisted he was feeling better. Okay. I’ll come with you. I’ll be home in ten.”

Ten minutes became thirty and Beth was starting to panic. She was finding it difficult to rouse Samson, and when she did, he was delirious and incoherent. There was no way she was going to be able to get him to the car on her own, and she was about to call an ambulance when Joe rushed in. “Sorry, darling. Fucking road was closed.” He looked over to where his brother was sleeping. “Fuck. He looks terrible. Samson. Hey, c’mon, brother, wake up.”

As soon as Samson opened his eyes Joe hauled him to his feet. “Think we better get you checked out. You look like shit.”

.     “Where we going? We going on a run, bro?”

“
Yeah. We’re going on a run.” Joe staggered under his weight. “All the way to ER.”

“
Is Beth coming? I like Beth, she’s a good girl.”

“
Yeah, Beth’s coming.”

“
S’good, I like Beth. I wan’ her to come. Where we goin’?”

~ oOo ~

Joe sat on the hard plastic chair and, with his legs stretched out in front of him, closed his eyes. Beth stopped her pacing and scowled at him. “How can you be so calm, aren’t you worried?”

“
I’m worried. I just ain't pacing.”

“
I knew I should have insisted he came in the other day. Shit, Joe. What if we’ve left it too long?” She sat on the chair next to him. “Why are they taking so long?”

“
Beth. Stop beating yourself up. They’ll fix him.”

The door opened and a nurse walked in. “Are you here with Mr. Samson?”

“Yeah.” Joe straightened up. “Can we see him?”

“
Yes, of course. Follow me.” She led them down the corridor and into a small room. “The doctor will be in shortly.”

Neither spoke as they sat and waited. Beth touched Samson’s hand, but he didn’t stir. Joe watched his old lady as he held his brother’s hand, concern etched over her face. He knew how fond she was of him and that she blamed herself for not insisting he come in sooner.

“
Are you Mr. Samson’s family?”

Joe didn’t hesitate. “He’s my brother.”

The young doctor walked to the edge of the bed, trying, and failing, not to appear intimidated. “He’s very sick right now, but hopefully we have caught the infection in time, and he should make a good recovery. There were signs of necrosis around the wound, which have been cut away, and there may be long lasting nerve damage. The biggest issue is septicemia, we will keep him on intravenous fluids and antibiotics for the next few days, and with luck that will be enough. His vital signs are good and there’s no evidence of organ failure. He’s lucky you brought him in when you did. If you’d left it even for a few more hours, the outcome could have been very different.”

~ oOo ~

Samson couldn’t remember the last time he was ill. He had had a few beatings and laid his bike down a couple of times, but had never actually been sick. The first few days of his hospital stay had been pretty much a blur. The only reason he was aware of the passage of time was that when he woke, there would be someone different at his bedside. As he started to grow stronger, though, he became more and more impatient. He knew he was still very sick, but he didn’t care. He needed to get out of there.

“
You can’t just discharge yourself, Samson.” Beth fluffed his pillows and helped him get more comfortable. “Have you any idea how close you came to dying?”

“
Yeah, but I’m okay now.”

“
Stop pouting. If you discharge yourself I’m not taking care of you. It’s only few more days and the drip will come out, and we’ll discuss it with the doctor then. I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to see the back of your miserable face by then.”

“
Fine.” He sighed. “I thought you were my friend.”

Leaning over, she kissed his now cool forehead. “I am. Now try and get some sleep. I have to get to work, but Amy will drop by after school.”

Even before she had left the room he felt his eyes closing. Shit. He really hated this.

“Hey, Uncle Samson.” Amy perched on the edge of the bed and kissed his cheek. “I brought you some stuff.” Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out some magazines and candy.

“
Gummy bears?”

She grinned. “I like gummy bears.”

“I like scotch.” He pulled himself up into a sitting position. “I guess since you haven’t brought me anything I actually want, I’ll have to make do with a hug.”

Amy allowed him to pull her into his arms, before making herself comfortable next to him and switching on the TV. “You’re looking a lot better now.”

“I’m feeling it, baby girl.” He pulled open the bag of gummy bears and stuffed a handful into his mouth, chuckling as she scowled. “You did buy these for me, right? So, how did your date go? You tell Tiny?”

“
It went okay.” Actually it had been a bit of a disappointment. The men in Amy’s life were strong and decisive. Compared to them, Andy had been a bit of a let down.

“
And Tiny? You tell him? Shit, Amy, you didn’t, did you?”

“
I would’ve, but you were sick, and he had enough to worry about.”

“
Oh no. You don’t get to use me as your excuse. Either you tell him or I will.”

“
There’s no need. I won't be seeing him again.”

“
Why? What did he do? If he….”

“
He didn’t do anything.” She sighed. “Nothing at all.”

“
You wanna talk about it?”

“
To you? Oh sure, I’m just itching to talk about boys with the president of the most notorious chapter of an outlaw MC.”

“
Has anyone ever told you what a sarcastic bitch you are?”

“
It has been mentioned.”

“
Well if you don’t want to talk about your sex life.”

“
I don’t have a sex life. Never fucking will, if Joe has his way.”

“
Okay, I’m sorry. How ‘bout you tell me about your plans for your birthday.” His eyes closed as she chatted, about her plans, until it dawned on her that he wasn’t really paying attention and she fell silent and with her head on his shoulder, watched MTV while he slept.