CHAPTER TWELVE
Sweet Nothings
SERENITY
I hit three on the rows of buttons in the elevator. Brooks will be in one of two spots; either in Lake’s room, or by the half-empty vending machine in the hallway.
When the elevator doors open, a woman with shiny orange hair steps aside to let me pass. We smile at one another, my smile being a muted thank you. She has red rings under her eyes, and she’s falling into herself.
So I say, “thank you,” out loud anyway.
I spot Brooks bending forward at the vending machine. He smacks the side of the machine with his forearm. Nothing happens, so he hits it again. Then a bright grin glows on his face. He reaches his hand into the opening of the machine and pulls out a golden yellow bag.
“Brooks!” I call out.
He spins in my direction when he hears his name. His hand raises into the air and he waves. I maneuver around some people pushing a wheelchair. Brooks tears open his bag of chips once my feet come to a stop in front of him.
“I didn’t pull you away from work, right?”
I respond with the shake of my head.
When Brooks raises a folded chip into his mouth, I notice his hand. Red and purple blotches cover his knuckles. Two of them have tiny cuts where he must’ve torn his skin. “Did you and Lake fight?”
“What? This?” He holds up his bruised hand.
I nod. Concern wobbles the balance in my brain. It reminds me of the time I was a little kid, and Delilah got so angry she punched a brick wall. My parents had to rush her to the ER, because she broke a finger.
“No.” He snickers. “Don’t worry about this.”
I wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t. Brooks and Lake are both quiet people. Sometimes I see them communicate with nothing but the flick of their eyes. They keep their secrets and refuse to speak a word regardless of how hard I push. If they want me to know, they’ll tell me.
“So, what do we need to discuss?”
Brooks hums and holds up his finger. He munches on his chips, swallows, then speaks, “Lake told you he lost his apartment?”
He tilts the chip bag towards me and I take one and pop it into my mouth. “He did.”
It’s weird watching someone drop crumbs all over an expensive suit. Brooks wears a suit day and night. Suits and different dark ties. I’ve never seen him in anything colorful.
It makes me wonder if Lake has his own style. If he even has any clothes besides the ones I cut into to save his life. I know Brooks bought him some, but does he have anything he’d prefer? Was that tight gray t-shirt his favorite? Did I ruin the only shirt that made him happy in his own body?
“Well, he should stay with me, but he doesn’t want to.” He eats another chip. I can see his lips twitch like he wants to frown, but he forces it away with his chewing.
“If we go through with the plan, I told Lake to live with me.” I glance back at his knuckles. They look bad , like I should get a first-aid kit type of bad.
He hums. “That sounds like a better idea.”
“We really are all he has, huh?” I’m holding myself again. My hands massage my folded arms. I’m chilly and anxious. I want Lake’s arms around me. That warm hug that I can’t seem to get over. The other night, he held me for so long, I could’ve drifted asleep.
“Our mom is a crap person. I haven’t spoken to her in a while, and Lake hasn’t contacted his dad in years.” His jaw ticks. “Drug problem started from them. They suck.”
I peer down at my feet. Not everyone deserves to be parents. It astounds me how many lives are forever compromised by people’s refusal to change and mature.
“He’s still iffy about rehab, too,” I mutter.
“If he wants River’s inheritance, he’ll need to deal with it.”
Brooks looks up to the fluorescent lights. His head is resting on the vending machine. “Mom and his dad influenced him in so many ways. Wrong ways.”
He seems like he’s recalling billions of terrible events at once. There’s a war going behind his pupils and he’s avoiding eye contact, as if he doesn’t want me to observe that war directly. He eats fragments of chips, then tosses the empty bag into the trash next to us.
“Lake’s great, though,” I say. “The bad parts of him come from other people, but he’s not bad.”
The war vanishes, and his lips then break into a grin. “Yeah?”
He pulls his body off the vending machine and nudges his head toward Lake’s room.
“Yes,” I say, and follow him. “I know it’s stressful, but the bad parts of him aren’t him. I don’t think he knows that, but I do.”
Brooks’ smile grows. “Promise me you’ll keep telling him that.” He slows his speed to walk right next to me instead of charging ahead like Caleb did the other day.
“Keep showing him how great he is, so he believes it.” We reach Lake’s door. “No one has seen his goodness for a long time.”
“I promise.” And I mean it.
He throws open the door. “Good morning Lake!” He shoots up his arms and charges into the room.
Brooks flicks the light switch and does a dramatic spin. I shut the door as Lake groans. The raspiness in his voice shoots a zap to my heart, and I stumble over my feet. My attraction to Phoenix is becoming a serious problem.
I follow Brooks around the corner and pretend Lake’s existence doesn’t create a whole mess beneath my skin.
“No sun. Not morning,” Lake mumbles.
Brooks laughs and drops into his regular chair. Lake has his hands covering his eyes.
“Did we wake you? I’m sorry.”
Lake sits up. “Angel, didn’t know you were here.” His tone is the softest I’ve ever heard it be. Those dark brown eyes follow me as I walk towards the window and take a seat in the chair beneath it.
“My shift just ended. And the ER is slow, so I didn’t stay.” I roll back my shoulders to crack my back.
I have been spending quite a bit of time in Lake’s room. I visit him so often that Maggie started texting me to meet her in the break room so she could make sure I wasn’t skipping lunch to work. Something I often did in the past, but working till I’m near starving isn’t as common as it used to be. She wasn’t happy nor surprised when I told her I was spending my breaks on the clinic floor.
“How are you feeling?” I ask
Lake has held up his apology. To my knowledge, he hasn’t been sneaking around.
I shift in my seat until I’m comfortable. Then I hook my hand around the chair and scoot it forward. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Brooks look back and forth between Lake and me before bringing out his phone.
“Fine. You, Angel?”
“I’m okay, kind of tired.” It doesn’t matter if the ER is slow or overflowing with patients. I’ll feel drained at the end of my shift, regardless.
Lake looks over to Brooks. Brooks’ eyes lift from his screen, and he studies the expression on Lake’s face that I can’t quite see. Brooks scratches his cheek with his bruised hand, and Lake responds with the slight bow of his head, then returns his attention to me.
Okay . Something is going on.
“Did you watch TV today?” I pretend to ignore the subtle exchange I just witnessed.
Lake grunts, and his hand fumbles with the button next to him. “I did.”
I reach forward, removing his weak fingers from the button. He exhales, and I expect him to bicker about not wanting help, but he stays silent, so I jab at the button myself. His bed bends and raises, and once it presses into his back, I release the button.
“There–” I startle at a knock pounding on the door.
The three of us turn our heads toward the noise. Then Caleb rounds the corner, and my jaw falls straight to the ground.
His right eye is swollen and purple. The under swoop of his left eye is such a dark shade of purple it’s practically black. He has a clear bandage on his cheek, and his upper lip is busted.
I didn’t think Caleb was working tonight because the other ER doctor, Dr. Addams, was on shift. Apparently, he is here tonight. He’s just working at the clinic instead.
I slam my mouth shut, peering at Lake without turning my head.
He seemed calm when I told him what happened with Caleb. I mentioned a bit of my history with the idiotic doctor, and Lake pulled me back into his arms, reassuring me nothing was my fault. He made me promise I’d tell him or Brooks if Caleb tried anything again.
I promised—pinky swore, actually, and I thought that was the end of it, but Lake isn’t bothering to be subtle about the major realization that just clicked in my mind. He’s staring Caleb in his eyes, with a glowing smirk etched on his face. Meanwhile, Brooks won’t look anywhere in my direction. He’s leaning forward, with his hands clasped together, unphased by Caleb’s wrecked features. As if he’s seen the damage prior to Caleb walking in.
Lake is too weak to smack Caleb around. If what I’m thinking is true, he had Brooks doing his dirty work. For me.
“Serenity, what—” Caleb stops before finishing his sentence.
He brings his clipboard in front of him. “So you’re being released soon. Hopefully bright and early.”
Caleb’s as aggressive as usual. Which I don’t appreciate. I know Lake likes to act like he can fend for himself, but he can’t. That’s how he ended up here. If anyone, his doctor, is the person he shouldn’t need to be guarded around.
“Seem eager to get rid of me, Doc.” Lake continues grinning.
Caleb freezes at the sound of Lake’s voice. His eyes lift from the clipboard and he glares. Almost evilly. Like he believes the worst thing to ever happen in earth’s history is Lake having a voice of his own.
Lake leans his head to the side. “What happened to your eye?”
Caleb is visibly struggling to not snap. I can see his face turn red. He’s always had a thin grasp on his temper. He shoves the clipboard under his arm. “I’ll be cutting your dosage to prepare you for rehab.” He mimics Lake’s tilted head.
Then he shifts his attention to me. His jaw goes tight, and he clicks it to the side. He brings his arms in front of him, folding them, clamping his slimy fingers on the clipboard. “The ER’s pretty swamped. I may need you to work a double.”
I swallow the lump in my throat as my chest tightens. I don’t know what to say. Usually, I wouldn’t mind working a double shift. I’d gladly stumble in with weary eyes and a battered body to tend to a few more patients, and lessen the burden on my colleagues, but I don’t trust Caleb’s motives.
The ER wasn’t busy when I left. For all I know, he hasn’t even been to the ER, and he’s making it up to lure me in another dark corner. What if he locks the door this time? What will I do? What will he do?
“Serenity.” Lake smiles, flooding my sight with the calm curve of his lips. And I breathe. He nods his head. A quiet praise, a silent reminder that he has my back.
“If you need me to come in, you can call.” I pull my phone out of my pocket and wave the device in the air. “Though I’m busy with personal matters and I might not be able to work a double.”
The snarky turn of Caleb’s mouth drops. He chews on his lip and musters a noise. I recognize if he made anything louder than that noise, it would be him cussing me out.
“You’re here to discuss Lake,” I add.
Caleb and Lake return to exchanging some weird power stare. Lake hums and nods at everything Caleb says. Glowing with ten times the confidence Caleb has. Caleb doesn’t glance at me again while he’s at the foot of Lake’s bed.
I wait until he’s out the door before confronting the water brothers. For extra measure, because I don’t trust my boss, I rise from my chair and peek around the corner to make sure he’s truly gone before talking.
“You both planned the whole thing?” I drop back into my chair.
Brooks rubs his hand over his mouth, slinking back into his chair, but Lake keeps his confidence. “No idea what you’re talking about, Angel.”
I squint. Are they going to play this game with me? I’m just a girl. I want details. Assumption isn’t enough. “Phoenix.”
His grin grows. “Angel.”
I wonder if Lake put on a suit and tie to negotiate with Brooks beforehand. When did Brooks go after Caleb? Earlier tonight or last night in the parking lot? While Caleb strutted back to his BMW, proud as ever for another day of uninspired doctor-work? Did Lake signal Brooks to attack using a flashlight from the window? Or did Lake stay up all night with that fury circling his iris’ as he thought about how to handle it? How to help me?
I’m unsure how to feel. On one hand, I’m upset that the two of them resorted to violence.
“Listen, Angel, what’s done is done.”
I tilt my head. “Why?”
We’re friends and he wanted to protect me, but arranging an entire plan to bash Caleb’s face in seems too far. Maybe. Honestly, I’m not sure. I guess someone cornering me in a locked room could be considered ‘too far.’
“Because now he won’t mess with you. If he so much as looks at you again, I’ll break his jaw.”
My knees pinch together. Lake doesn’t smile. He’s being serious.
Yes, on one hand I’m upset with the violence. On the other, it’s kind of… sweet.
“Why the hell were you dating that shithead?” Brooks pipes up.
Lake’s expression shifts, and he nods along, equally curious.
“He seemed nice back then.” I scrunch my nose. “Please, I’d rather not remember it.”
Brooks waves his hand in the air. “Alright, so Lake, you’re moving in with Serenity?”
Lake pulls his blanket over his shoulders and shuffles lower onto his mattress. “Not my place.” Lake grabs onto his pillow and starts swatting a fist into it, becoming avoidant on the new conversation topic.
Brooks’ eyebrows drop, and he centers his focus on his brother. “Well, either that or you move back with me.”
Lake stops punching at his pillow. It’s now buffed up, like the feathers inside started taking steroids. He tilts his head and grimaces. His expression reads; I’m not moving in with you because I’ve invaded your space enough already.
Brooks shrugs. “Then you’re going to heaven with the angel.”
Lake whips his head back and slumps onto his pillow. “When did you two discuss this crap?”
“At the vending machine. You have no other choice, Lake. You’re not living out of your truck.”
Lake huffs at me. “I’ll figure it out, Serenity.”
I dig my nails into my arms. “We agreed to worry about each other, Phoenix.”
His wavy hair flips around once again. Instead of bickering with the wall, he’s now burning a hole into the ceiling. He claps his hands onto his cheeks and groans into the room. “I’m a bad roommate.”
I glance at Brooks. He’s shaking his head. “He gets mad if you leave a dish in the sink and cleans it.”
I clap my hands together and smile. “Perfect! I’m super messy.”
“Doubt that, Angel.” He sways his head. “Sure you’re fine without me.”
“My laundry baskets are so full, they’re overflowing.”
Lake keeps his hands on his cheeks. He slowly turns his head towards me. “That bothers me.” It clearly makes him disturbed. His entire body has gone still and his sleepy eyes are shot wide open.
“Did she say baskets, as in multiple?” Brooks whispers.
Lake nods his head, unable to avert his eyes from me.
“You gotta help her with that, man.”
I giggle at myself, but Lake is still refusing to agree to the terms of living with me.
“You are so damn stubborn,” Brooks spits, running a hand through his hair.
“No. You’re both stubborn.” Lake’s hands turn into two pointing fingers, digging at me and Brooks.
The tiredness of my shift is holding me down. I unfold my arms and stumble to my feet, because my patience is running thin. Plus, that chair is so uncomfortable I think it’s given my butt a permanent reshape.
“Phoenix.”
He tries to turn his head away from me, but I grab onto his chin and yank him back. His eyes shut. I open my mouth to call his name again, but I’m met with his soft lips spasming, like they’re indecisive.
Is he trying not to smile?
“Hardly know me, Angel,” he murmurs. “You work hard for your home,”
The smile on my face is gentle. Two excellent points. Neither gives me reason to not have him live with me. Especially not when he’s meeting me at the courthouse the moment his release forms are in. Marriage usually means cohabitation, fake or not.
“I know enough about you. You’ve helped me a ton. You can clean my house. We’re equal.” My words make him open one eye. “I am terrible at doing my laundry,” I add.
Lake’s chest rises for what seems like a century. “Fine. Now shush.”
“There! You are so confusing sometimes, Phoenix.”
He gives me a look. “You’re the one confusing me.”
I wonder what he means by that, but an explanation never comes.
***
“I need more details on how you two ruined Caleb’s face.”
Lake scoffs. “His face was already ruined, Angel.”
A giggle escapes my mouth, swiftly turning into loud laughter. “That,” I inhale, “doesn’t answer my question!”
“You wanna order some burgers?” Brooks asks.
“Yeah, I’m starving.” Lake leans away from me.
I shake his arm. They’re both still ignoring my pleas for answers. Lake smiles the tiniest bit as I shake him more aggressively. He’s less pale today. There’s color in his skin and plops of it on his cheeks. He doesn’t break out into cold sweats nearly as much. Every day, he’s a bit more alive.
“You hungry, Angel?” He asks without looking at me.
I’m not getting any details. I can sit and whine for the next four hours, and neither of them will say a single thing. They just don’t crack.
But I guess I’m okay with that. Even though the unknowing details of how Caleb got his ass handed to him will eat me up inside. I can at least imagine scenarios in my mind.
I sigh, watching the light hit Lake’s eyes as he looks at me with an eyebrow raised. Color in his skin and life pumping through him as he takes my arm and mimics the shake I gave him earlier, forcing a response to my lips.
“Yeah, I am.”