CHAPTER SEVEN
Levi
Los Angeles, California
B EEP…BEEP…BEEP…
The constant buzzing in my ear is making my head hurt. It feels like the morning after an all-night drinking binge. God, I wish someone would shut off that stupid alarm. Where the hell is Saylor at? She must hear it too.
Trying to open my eyes is like lifting a car up by the bumper using only your upper body. Christ, what did I drink last night?
BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…
I let out a groan and hear voices from afar.
“He’s waking, call the doctor.”
I’m barely able to open my eyes. When I finally do, I see I’m in a dark room and the smell of disinfectant spray hits my nose. Tina has truly gone overboard on the cleaning.
“Call everyone and let them know,” I hear a voice again, and then the sound of a door latching shut.
“Levi? Levi, it’s mom. Please baby boy, wake up. Come back to us.”
Mom? What is she talking about? I’m right here trying to wait out this annoying hangover. I really want to sleep some more, to maybe bypass the excruciating pain I’m suffering from right now.
BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…
I groan and try to call out for someone to shut off the alarm.
“Saylor,” I try to say, but it comes out a whisper as my throat feels like sandpaper. “Saylor!” I try with a little more force.
“Oh dear,” I hear mom gasp.
The door opens and I vaguely see a blur of a person in a white coat.
“Mr. Thorne, I’m Dr. Legend. Can you open your eyes for me all the way?”
Doctor? What doctor? Why is there a doctor in my face?
I try to force them open, as they sting, but a bright light flashes into them, forcing them shut to stop the shooting pain.
“Okay, I’m going to order some tests and scans to be run, and then we’ll be able to tell where we’re at.
Can you squeeze my hands?” I do the best I can.
“Good, now can you feel this?” I feel a sharp object against my feet and jerk away. “Great, great.”
“Saylor,” I say again, wanting to find out what the heck I’m doing here and why I can’t feel her presence like I always do when she’s in a room.
“We’ll get to that in a moment, Mr. Thorne. I need you to open your eyes again and focus on my finger.”
With the strength of Hercules, I open both eyes and see a hazy man in a white doctor’s coat with Mom standing at the end of the bed. I follow the finger and sip out of a straw before addressing him and mom. The cool liquid is exactly what I need at the moment.
“Mom, where’s Saylor? Where am I?” I see my mother look ashamed for some reason and then look down at her feet. “What’s wrong?”
“Honey, you’re in a private wing of the hospital—”
“Mr. Thorne, can you tell me what the last thing you remember is?”
I bring my eyes up to the ceiling and try hard to think back to last night, but I don’t get the chance because the door bursts open with Dad, Lincoln, and Reid all rushing in and pushing each other to get closer.
“It’s good to have you back, Bro. Three months is a long time to not see your scowling face,” Reid jokes.
I’m not in the mood to deal with him, as my head feels like it’s on fire. Wait. Did he say three months? My eyes frantically search the room but don’t find my blue-eyed beauty. Where is she?
“Three months? What the fuck happened to me?” I demand, now that I’m able to talk a little better.
“Mr. Thorne, I’m going to need you to calm down and try to remember the last memory you had,” the doctor repeats again, but my mind is racing all over the place.
I try to rack my brain. Saylor. I remember having amazing morning sex, then meeting with Dr. Jordan, and then after that was seeing that horrible bottom feeder, Blaire. My brain is a little hazy but I continue on.
The threat. My stupid plan. The meeting at the restaurant with Saylor and it turning to shit. She left and I had to leave for a meeting in San Diego with Mitch. Not finding Saylor. Being in the back of the car. The ticking and the heat.
The explosion.
I was in an explosion.
“Saylor. I need to see Saylor, right now,” I say, and everyone stops as if they’re frozen in place. Did my world just hit a pause button? No one says anything, but everyone slants their eyes over to dad. Lincoln looks pissed and crosses his arms over his chest.
“Yeah, Dad , why don’t you answer that one,” Reid hisses.
“Reid don’t you start that right now. Your brother has just woken up and doesn’t need the added stress,” Mom chides him, but he’s not having it.
“What the fuck do you think is going to happen when he finds out, Mother ?” He shakes his head. I’ve never seen Reid speak to our mom like this before. “Can’t you see he’s already worked up wondering about her?”
“Where is she?” I ask interrupting their hateful banter like I’m not in the room.
“Son,” my father starts, but there’s a hint of remorse in his voice. “There was a big misunderstanding and I’m afraid—”
He’s interrupted as the door flings open, and a woman wheeling in a wheelchair comes barreling in. I notice right away that it’s Tina, and Mitch is the one in the chair.
“Mr. Thorne, we came as soon as we heard,” Tina says, a little out of breath like she just ran here.
She maneuvers the wheelchair past the others and catches my father’s foot as she comes up to the side of the bed.
My father winces and does a small hop. Tina doesn’t even acknowledge anyone else in the room, which is odd.
Am I having a crazy dream? What the hell is going on and where the fuck is Saylor?
“Mr. Thorne it’s good to see you finally awake,” Mitch comments.
“Thank you, Mitch. Is everything okay with you?” I nod at the wheelchair.
“I should be good as new in a few weeks. Physical therapy is helping build my muscles back to normal.” He pauses and looks around the room at my family. He leans in and tries to quietly talk. “We need to speak as soon as you’re able, sir.”
“Speak now, Mitch.” It seems important.
“I’m not sure you’re going to want an audience for this one,” he nearly whispers again.
“Can you give us the room?” I ask, not giving them a chance to respond.
“I’ll have the staff come by in twenty minutes to collect you for a few scans.” The doctor informs me, and then turns to leave the room.
“Son, there is something I’d like to say first, before you hear what Mitch says. I need you to understand where I was coming from.”
What could he possibly have to explain?
I look over at Mitch and Tina, and see them shooting daggers at him. They aren’t trying to hide their distaste for him at all.
“You have to understand, when we got that call to come back home, it was the worst thing a parent could go through. Finding out that their child could die before you can even get a plane ride home was the most helpless feeling in the world.” He loosens his tie from around his neck.
He looks like he’s aged ten years. “We landed here in LA and I received a call from one of the partners at the firm. They had someone from the police tell them of the arrest that was going to be made in connection with your car bomb. When I found out who it was I didn’t believe it at first, but then they sent me the videos of the fight you had at the restaurant and my mind started to go all over the place.
No one ever wants their child hurt, and when it does happens they want to hurt the person right back.
I am so sorry and you have to know that I’d take it all back if I could. ”
What is he talking about? What does the fight Saylor and I had at the restaurant have to do with who put a bomb in my car?
“Okkkkay?” I’m still confused.
“What he’s trying to say is that he did nothing when Saylor was arrested as the number one suspect for the bomb, right here at the hospital, in front of your room,” Tina spits out while continuing to stare holes into my father.
“WHAT?” I yell, despite my sore throat. My chest begins to hurt, and I move my heavy hand to try and relieve some of the pressure.
“They handcuffed her and paraded her out in front of the press before driving her to the police station.” Tina seethes, not trying in the least to curb her distain for him.
The guilty look on my father’s face says it all.
“I…you…” I can’t even form words, much less a sentence. “Where is she now? Still not there, I hope. You better pray to God that she better not still be there!” I grit towards my father. How in the hell could anyone think Saylor would be responsible for something like that?
“She’s not there, son. She was…released,” He solemnly states, and then hangs his head.
“Oh, thank god!” I say, and let out a deep breath.
“Tell him the rest Daniel Thorne,” Mitch pipes up. He’s never used my family’s first name before, and he’s been with me for many years.
“There’s more?” I question. How can there be more? What in the ever-loving hell is going on?
“Oh, there’s more, little brother. A lot more.” Lincoln chimes in.
“I… I thought she was the one who set this entire thing into motion. I wasn’t thinking clearly.
You have to understand, I was in a really bad place thinking that you were never going to wake, or even make it through the night.
” He tries to justify his actions. “The Detective said they had enough evidence, and it was a solid motive.”
“Just say it.”
He huffs then starts, “I went to the station and she was just starting to be questioned by Detective Ford, so I interrupted them and got the room cleared. I…we spoke for a few minutes and then I told her that I couldn’t represent her, due to a conflict of interest.”
“Okay but you could have had one of your other associates be her attorney,” I say, trying to move this along so someone can bring her to me. “Or Lincoln could’ve had someone from our firm handle it.”
“I couldn’t do that because we were representing you.”
I know I just woke up after three months, but none of this is making any sense. Why would he represent me when I have my very own law firm with my brother?