Chapter 37 Winona Bishop
Chapter thirty-seven
Winona Bishop
Forever Again — Matt Hanson
We walk through a dark, hollow space until a faint light filters in from the exit.
The briny smell of the ocean coats my nose, followed by the warm, earthy scent of wet sand. I inhale it until the shore comes into view. The early morning peaceful shades of blue envelop me in a sense of tranquility, unlike the chaos beyond this cave we just stepped out of.
My shoulders tremble as little shivers race down my spine.
“The airfield is on the right. Come on,” Braxton says, pulling me that way.
“Get away from me, Mitch.” Reeve slaps his hands away, almost falling down.
“Hold on, princess.” He hoists Reeve over his shoulder with a mischievous grin. “No man is left behind, but fuck you’re heavy.”
“Put. Me. Down.”
“Come on, you can take it.” I giggle, and Reeve gives me a dirty look.
I’ve never seen him lose control, ever, not like that. It’s comforting that he has friends who love him deeply and would do anything for him. He deserves to have people who will stand by him no matter what.
He’s my everything.
I want him to have the world.
After a few good miles, the sand turns to concrete, and two helicopters wait for us feet away.
Thick, resonant barks grab my attention when a familiar four-legged beast runs my way at lightning speed.
“Titan,” I say around the lump in my throat.
I crouch down with my arms wide open, and he jumps on me, knocking me backward. He buries his big head into the crook of my neck.
“Hey, baby boy, I missed you so much.” I stroke his fur, giving him all my attention as he wipes my face with his tongue. He goes to sniff my injured hand, licking it gently. “It’s okay, I’ll be fine.”
“Titan!” Reeve says happily, then lowers his voice, thinking we can’t hear him. “Why does he look like a chicken?”
“I think you’re hungry,” Mitch’s voice is laced with humor.
“It can’t get worse now, can it?” I utter after a Titan mini-attack.
“It probably will,” Grandma’s crisp voice captures my attention, and I slowly straighten up, meeting her cobalt blue eyes.
Her long hair falls to her sides. The creases around her eyes deepen.
Her eyebrows pinch together, forming a silent question before she opens her mouth to say, “How much do you hate me right now?”
Her expensive pair of stilettos clicks against the floor as she approaches me.
“Grandma.” I look into her eyes with tears in mine.
“Damn right.”
I chuckle, tugging her to me and hugging the hell out of her. “I missed you so much.”
She wraps her arms around me, tucking me close to her warm body. “Oh, sweetie. You are my world. So are you, kid.” She gives Reeve a gentle tug of love, smirking, and he breaks into a smile. “Did you get all your answers?”
We look into each other’s eyes, understanding flashes within them.
“Yeah,” I reply with a small grin, as Reeve stumbles and leans on me for support.
She arches a brow. “Is he…?”
“High,” I confirm, and she gives him a pointed look.
“I don’t have the patience for this because you all look like donuts right now, and I don’t even like them, but I want a bite.”
“Man, they gave you the good stuff,” Mitch pats his shoulder. “We should get you high more often.”
“Boss, we have to go,” says one of the pilots—a balaclava covers his face, with a skull imprint on the front. “The medical team is there.”
Grandma nods and tells us to go with him, while Braxton and Titan leave with her in the other helicopter. I take one last look at this place. My chest tightens. It seemed unimportant when we first arrived here, but I will never forget it now.
It forced me to go down memory lane and claw my way out.
I can finally leave the past behind, knowing it won’t haunt me anymore.
I’m free now.
The helicopter kicks up dust around us as we take off.
I grab a pair of wireless headsets and snuggle with Reeve as we watch the forest. Its beauty shines through every tree, down the mountains, along the flowing stream, and around the towers that hold countless memories.
A large hand sneaks around my waist, silently begging for my attention. I turn my head to Reeve, bringing my hand to cup his cheek.
“Are you okay?” I ask, taking a shuddered breath. My eyes become glossy. My lips are dry. My heart swells as I watch him mirror all my emotions.
“I am now.”
My insides scream his name over and over again.
“Can I keep you?” he whispers.
“Forever.”
We lean into each other back and forth. I giggle as I watch him struggle with himself.
He huffs in frustration, then grabs my throat and presses his lips to mine.
Nerves twist inside me as if it were the first time.
It always feels like the first time with him, and each one feels more special.
His mouth moves against mine; the kiss is slow and deep.
We taste the sweet memories we’ve made and the bitter ones.
It will always be us.
A loud boom shudders through the entire forest, and I jump against Reeve. A blast wave emerges behind us. Thick smoke hangs in the air. Fires begin to spread among the trees.
The bombs.
“It’s time to leave the past behind us,” Grandma’s voice is calm and accepting.
I gulp down the sudden grief as the helicopter speeds ahead of the destruction, carrying us away from it.
“I owe you a collision of our worlds,” he whispers. I furrow my brows, trying to decipher his cryptic words again. Our worlds have collided more than once, several times, and oh…
He wants to turn me into a mama.
I squeeze his hand in response and press my head against his chest.
Our pilot, Phoenix, lands the helicopter on the second helipad at the edge of an island. Palm trees and lush greenery encircle a stunning coastal cottage with pale blue and white siding, giving it a dreamlike appearance.
A gentle breeze sways the hammock in the front yard, while a pool sparkles in the backyard.
I hope out, walk along the paved trail, and whistle for Titan to follow while Grandma makes a few phone calls.
Grass is sprawled on either side. Mitch helps Reeve get out of the helicopter and walk the short distance.
We climb up the two-way staircase leading to a porch.
The medical team runs to us and quickly takes me and Reeve inside.
They gently lower us onto a powder blue couch, check our vital signs, run a few tests, and insert a port into my arm for a blood transfusion.
The living room smells like vanilla and freedom as I lean back and relax.
Reeve crams everything he can find into his mouth, sending Mitch back and forth a few times.
I laugh at that.
A tall woman in a white coat brings a chair next to me to examine my hand and decides I need stitches.
An hour and a half of intense care ticks away, and then everything slows down.
“Reeve fell asleep in the guest room with Titan,” Grandma tells me, settling beside me on the couch with a steaming mug of tea. “Did the painkillers start to work?”
All the adrenaline in my system masked the pain, but once it wore off, it hit me like a tsunami.
I hum in approval, putting aside the book I tried to drown my thoughts in. I take the mug from her outstretched hand with both hands, still hooked to the IV stand.
I contemplate my following words. There are so many things I want to ask her, but I don’t know which one to ask first.
“Just say it,” she blurts as if she resides in my head.
“Do you know where my biological parents are?”
She shakes her head from side to side. “I tried to find them for years. I went to hospitals in Europe, checked police records for missing kids, and even hired a private detective. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” My gaze travels to the light-gray, hard floor. “You saved me. We don’t know where I would have ended up without you.”
She brushes my hair.
“I wonder whether I have siblings or if my parents are still alive.”
“I will never stop looking, and if I ever find a lead, you’ll be the first to hear about it.”
I nod at her and sip my tea.
“Did you eat something? Did Reeve eat?” she asks, concern contorting her features.
I chuckle softly. “He kind of crashed after he ate a donut, two burgers, and a basket of strawberries.”
Her soft laughter fills the air, and it almost sounds unreal. “I made sure my team brought you plenty of food options.”
“Thank you.” I flick my eyes back to her. “He really needs a break. A long break until his soul is fully rested.”
“Agreed.” She purses her lips into a thin line. “His contract is over. He can do whatever he wants to do. I won’t take him away ever again.”
“You better not,” I say with a sly grin, arching my brow, yet I mean every word.
A wide grin spreads across her face. “You can still go on missions if you want to. You have a great team. But I won’t force any of you.”
“We will consider it months from now.”
“Okay. Sounds like a plan.” Her eyes flicker with something I can’t decipher as she pushes the words out.
“I want you to know,” she pauses, “Getting you out of that sick cycle was a victory for me because, on most days, I lose, even when I try my best. It’s never enough. You don’t get to save everyone.”
She reaches out to cup my cheek, her thumb gently caressing it.
“It wasn’t about ending lives. It was about saving them.
But sometimes, we have to end lives to save lives.
The first time I held you, it just felt right, calling myself a Grandma.
I wasn’t going to replace your parents, whoever they may be; they gave me a purpose.
They gave me my greatest treasure. It’s not about the empire I built, as you like to call it; it’s you. It was always you.”
Tears well up in my eyes, and my voice breaks with each word. “You were my entire family.”
“I wanted to be. When I found you, I realized how much I wanted a family.
A sense of belonging. I lost that, and it was horrible.
“ She shakes her head. “When I brought you into my life, I made you my weakness, but I wouldn’t have changed that, Winona. You may not be my blood, but I raised you like you were.”
My trembling hands grip the mug tightly as I try to avoid spilling its contents. The past twenty-four hours have been intense, eventful, and forever imprinted in my memory.
“Tell me more,” I request.
“I killed a lot after my husband and daughter were murdered. I wanted revenge. I wanted someone to pay. I wanted to wreak havoc. And I stopped when you came into my life.”
She had a daughter, too.
“That’s why you trained Reeve, because you wanted someone to protect me so you could be my Grandma.”
“Something like that. But he wrecked all my plans when he fell in love with you.
The look in your eyes... I knew you found what I lost. That hurt a bit, but it also made me grateful.
I wanted you to have a normal, boring life.
“ She chuckles. “But the truth is, we can never make plans. What is destined to happen will happen regardless of how much you try to plan for it.”
“Were you happy when I married Reeve?”
A smile slowly tugs at the corners of her mouth. “I was over the moon. You deserved each other. Honestly, there’s no one else I trusted more around you. I mean… maybe Koy. But he was mine.”
A wave of excitement rushes through me. Finally, she admits it.
“Do you know why I trusted Reeve more than anyone?”
“Why?” I reply.
“He had to take care of himself his whole life. Even with his parents around, he couldn’t rely on them.
He was alone from the beginning, but kept overcoming the hurdles life threw at him.
There’s nothing more remarkable than that.
But if you ask me again,” she pauses, wiggling her eyebrows once, “you needed someone young with stamina.”
“Grandma…” I laugh.
“Remember that.”
“What?”
“Every person who walks the earth is its finest creation, but also its greatest enemy.”
That truly resonates with me.
I hug her tightly for a few minutes, unable to release her. I don’t think she wants to either.
“One last thing,” she announces, “This house is yours and Reeve’s. Go travel for a while, clear your mind, and when you want to come back, you’ll have a fresh start.”
“Really?” I stare in shock.
“Yes.”
“I love you,” I say.
“I love you more. Get some rest, sweetie.” She pushes off the couch, her heels about to clack away, when she drops something beside me.
A joker card.
I stare at it with a smile.
Everyone has a reason to be a Joker.
The door clicks shut behind her as Mitch and Braxton walk past me.
“You need a shower.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“You good?” Mitch asks, turning halfway toward me.
I slowly lift my head to meet their gaze. “Yeah. Definitely.”
They both nod.
Braxton winks and playfully shoves Mitch into the hallway.
How can we tell who is a Joker and who isn’t? We all play our roles until we clash. We’ll never know who makes it to the other side or whose game is over.
I know mine has just begun.