Claimed by the Biker Giant (Maxine and Tank) novel Chapter 223

Cloe POV

A sudden loud noise made me jump, and I suddenly tried to listen to my surroundings.

Is Dad back? Sounds like he’s drunk again, falling over stuff, oh no, going to get another beating, or something.

I feel someone touching me, not hurting me, but a gentle touch like my grandma used to.

I miss Grandma. Dad didn’t like her around after Mum died, so she never visits anymore.

Voices are around me.

Where am I?

Open your eyes, dummy, and you might see.

Can’t hear Dad, he might have fallen drunk, someone, hence the crash, it might be safe to open your eyes and look around. What’s the worst he can do? He already almost killed me twice; maybe he’ll be lucky this time, and I can be with Mum. That sounds nice. I miss Mum. Things weren’t so bad when she was around.

Forcing my eyes open, I see a woman, I don’t know, sitting beside me, looking at me, with love ? Like she cares about me?

Can’t be, no one can care for me. Dad and my Sister throw that in my face every time I make a friend, so I stopped trying to make them. ‘You will be a lonely old maid, no one will ever love you, or care for you, you are a miserable waste of space.” Yeah, but when they want something fixed or the house cleaned, then I am not a waste of space.

“Hello, Cloe.” The woman smiled, actually smiled at me. AT ME!

Did I die and go to be with Mum and the angels?

“H.h.hi. Who are you?” I managed to get out, licking my dry lips. The woman noticed, reached for a glass of water, and moved something from my face, sliding a straw in. I sucked the cool water, swallowed, then took another one, washed it around my mouth, kicked out the straw, and licked my lips with my now-moist tongue.

“Hey, Babe.” I flicked my eyes over to see those blue eyes, which had been in my thoughts, making me feel I was worth something more than what my Dad had called me.

“Storm,” I whispered out, and raised my hand, then stopped mid-way, when I saw that I had a tube and needle in my arm. I followed the tube and saw it led to a bag half full of solution, and next to it was the machine that I assumed made that awful beeping noise.

“Where am I?” As my hand was captured, in a huge warm room, Storm kissed the back of it.

“Hospital, do you remember anything about the accident?” Storm asked as he sat on the bed with me.

“Hospital? No, you have to let me out, Dad will never allow me to be in the hospital, and waste money on me to rest up.” A deep voice swore, and I looked over to see a carbon copy of Storm, but older, must be his Dad, he looks good for an older man, that must be what

Storm would look like as he gets older, not bad.

Where were these odd thoughts coming from?

Oh, right, my sister always said, ‘Look at the Dad, before choosing a man, so you can see what yours will look like later in life.’ Don’t want to be with some tubby bald man when there are men out there who still keep their hair and shape. I never cared; if they treated you right, that was all that mattered, but then where do you find them? So many leave their wives and kids and take a younger one. Seen it many times with the kids at school: one day they are happy, and the next they walk around looking lost and confused. Doubt the parents think of the kids and how they feel when they decide they have had enough with each other, mind you, if I caught my man, if I ever have one, catch him cheating, I would boot him out of the house, and guess, it’s self-preservation, and hope the kids bounce back, and now I am in a confusing loop, of what’s right and what’s wrong, when a marriage falls apart. There’s no right or wrong answer; you do the best you can with what you’ve got, and hope to pick up the pieces of your life, and support the kids, who suddenly have to choose between two people they thought would love them unconditionally for life.

“Members of a bike club?” I asked, because that surely wasn’t a name they were given at birth, could it?

“Yes, we are.” The man I now know as Tank replied, and that was when I paid attention to what they were wearing: they all wore the same cutoff jacket with a club name, and I could see Fixer and Tank on theirs, and VP on Tank’s. I looked at Storm, and he had one with his name on it.

“What’s VP?” Fixer smiled at my question.

“He’s the club’s vice president, second in charge.” Fixer glowed with pride as she said this. Made my heart tighten, wishing I had someone who was proud of me for something. I didn’t care what, just to see that look, it was like a dream. I have seen Dad have that look when he talked about my sister to his friends, but he always looked at me with disdain and disgust.

“Get some rest, Storm will stay with you for a while. Let him know if you need anything. Later today, I will bring you some nightclothes and personal hygiene products. Any particular fragrance or toothpaste?” Fixer asked, I can hardly believe someone would care what I needed, never been asked before.

“Anything, I am not fussy. I do like blues and black.” I added quickly, hoping they don’t bring pink, can’t stand that color, maybe because my sister loves it so much.

“Guess that means you are not a frilly pink lady.” Tank chuckled, then looked at Storm, like they were talking to each other, without words. My face must have scrunched up at the thought, because all three laughed.

“What?” I looked between the three of them as they laughed.

“Do you want a burger and fries? Any foods you don’t eat?’ Tank asked, as Fixer leaned in, kissed my cheek, and looked down at me, like I was something precious.

“I eat anything, there’s nothing that I am aware of that I don’t eat. Oh, I take that back, I don’t like mussels and oysters, it’s the texture, I don’t like.” They stood and left. Storm sat in a large chair and began working on his laptop. I yawned a few times before my eyes got heavy, and I lost sight of the man I had been watching work away on his laptop