Chapter 3
Hunter
I awake with a start, disoriented for a moment. I exhale as I realize I'm okay, and, more importantly, that Pretty Girl is alive and fine, sleeping in the bed right beside me.
I wince a bit as I feel the pull of the stitches, but it’s not horribly bad. Slowly getting myself up, I limp my way to the bathroom inside the office. I relieve my bladder, then tiptoe up to Pretty Girl’s bed, climbing in with her. I need to hold her—touch her.
Sighing, I very gently wrap my arms around Pretty Girl. I feel better already.
She stirs in her sleep, muttering, “Hunter, yes Daddy.”
I chuckle softly, loving she’s dreaming of me.
I never really told her this, but I am more dominant in the bedroom than she’s already aware of. I insist on total submission. I'm not heavily into pain but thrive on control.
Pretty Girl mutters something incoherent, interrupting my thoughts. Her eyes flutter open. She sees me and smiles beautifully.
“Hi.” She blushes adorably. “Did I talk in my sleep?”
“You sure did, baby. And believe me, once we’re both healed up, I’ll be shelving that for our next sexy encounter.”
“Oh my God.” Pretty Girl blushes harder. “I am so embarrassed.”
“Never be embarrassed with me, Pretty Girl. Nothing you say or do could make me see you any differently.”
She smiles again, leaning in to place a soft kiss on my lips. “Have I said thank you yet for getting us out of that hideous place? You really came through.”
“No need to thank me. I did what I had to do. I was getting you out no matter what.” My eyes swim with everything I feel for her.
“So, what happens now?” Pretty Girl asks, her gaze alight with life and love.
“Once we’re released from here, we’ll be staying at the ZYGOS compound for as long as we need to. We'll figure things out from there.”
“All of us?” She raises a brow.
“Yes, baby. You, me, Cynthia, The Six, Valley, Bryan, and 3.”
“Yay,” she says cheerily. “I’ll say thank you to Jax when I see him.”
Before we can talk more, the door opens, and I see Cynthia attempting to sneak back in. I don’t think she’s left my side once.
“Bathroom,” she giggles, answering my unspoken question, pointing to the door leading out of the room.
I am really worried about my sister. She has moments of lucidity but then spirals back into being all over the place.
I can’t even begin to imagine what she went through in The Retreat, down in The Morgue.
The trauma must be beyond words. I have so many questions.
How long was she in there? Has she been there the whole time? What did they do to her?
“Hunter? What 'cha doing in 11’s bed?” Cynthia whispers loudly, making Pretty Girl giggle.
“Um... first of all, sis, her name is Phoenyxx,” I say. “She is also the love of my life.”
Cynthia’s jaw drops open, and she squeals. “No way! How how how? I thought she was in love with meeee. And those other guys...” Her brow wrinkles in confusion, and her head whips to Pretty Girl. “How many boyfriends do you have? And are you still going to marry me?”
“Aw, Cynthia. Yes, they’re all my boyfriends, Hunter included. So that’s seven guys, I guess.” Pretty Girl shrugs, and I grin. “And, honey, we can’t get married. But I’ll be your best friend—me and Valley both. Deal?”
Cynthia’s face falls in disappointment, then lifts again right away. “Okay. Maybe I can find a bunch of boyfriends at Hunter's friend’s place, too.” She claps her hands together in glee.
“I don’t think so. No boyfriends, and definitely no harem,” I insist.
“Sure, sure,” Cynthia mutters. Her eyes bright; she announces, “I'll go get food. Yummy food. Okay, bye.”
“Oh boy,” I scrub my hand down my face. “She’s going to be a handful.”
Phoenyxx laughs in agreement. “You can handle it.”
Ghost
I’m getting so damn annoyed at being a babysitter for this 3 guy. I thought I was a mess! He whines and whimpers constantly.
He tugs my sleeve, pointing to the room Malishka is in with Harris.
I shake my head, again. “No, man, we need to let them sleep. We'll go in soon, okay?”
The others decided to stick the responsibility of babysitting duty with me, since I’m the closest to 3 in “emotional demeanor”, whatever the hell that is supposed to mean. Fuckers.
Unfortunately, it also seems I’m the only one 3 semi-trusts right now. He doesn’t attempt to communicate with anyone else; he just snarls at them.
All I want is to hold my Malishka. She said she forgave us, which makes my heart somersault in my chest.
I'm getting impatient waiting. I might just sneak in there. Cynthia did it. I bet I can slip past the Doctor.
I push forward, towards the doors. 3 grabs my arm to stop me.
“What?” I grit out. He just shakes his head, miming a sleeping posture with his hands tucked under his chin.
“For fuck’s sake, man. We'll be quiet, okay? I've been without her for way too long.”
3 just stares at me, then sharply nods his head once, to indicate his agreement on going in. Before I can move, he blocks me with his arm, and gestures towards the area the others are waiting, then makes a slicing motion across his throat.
“Huh?” But then I get what he’s asking me.
What we did to Valley; what we made Malishka believe.
“We had to, man. Our families are powerful and evil. They made us do that to her. Valley was always okay. It was fake; get it?”
3 sneers at me.
“Judge much?” I can’t help the snark that enters my voice. “So, what’s your story, anyway?”
He just looks at me, then rolls his eyes. He shrugs, clapping a hand over his mouth. The guy has jokes—good to know. I'll file that away for later.
“Yeah, yeah—I know you can’t talk.”
I pause outside the doors, hearing voices. “They’re awake; I’m going in.” 3 clings to my damn sleeve, scurrying in after me. “Malishka.”
She sees me, face lighting up. “Ghost!”
Malishka holds her arms out to me in invitation. I run to her, bending to hug and kiss her.
Harris is next to her in the bed; Cynthia at the bedside.
“Fuck off, Harris,” I bite out, wanting to cuddle my girl.
3 moves closer, shoving at Harris’s body.
“Oh my God...” I laugh. “Take the hint man.”
Harris grumbles but climbs out of her bed. He gets back in his own, his sister fussing over him.
I climb in where he was, and 3 squeezes into the other side, making Malishka gasp in surprise.
“3. Hi, how are you? I am so glad you’re okay.”
He makes a content sound, burying his head in her chest.
I wind myself around her, too. “I love you, Malishka. Forever and always.”
Trikk
I let myself inside the room Bambi and Harris are in. I need to see for myself that she’s doing okay.
As I’m opening the door, Synn and Purge join me. “Need to see her too, bros?”
“Hell fucking yes.” Synn looks at me like I’m retarded; I just laugh.
“I need to hold her,” Purge adds, determination on his face.
We push our way inside, seeing her fast asleep with Ghost on one side, and 3 on the other.
Synn freaks the fuck out. “The fuck is he in bed with her for? This shit is not happening.”
“Calm down, bro. The poor guy is barely human. Can't blame a dude for wanting some love, right?” I toss up my hands.
“Really, Trikk?” Purge smacks me upside the head. “She’s ours. It's bad enough that Harris has been added, dammit.”
“Yeah, yeah. Good luck telling her that. If she’s dead set on him joining us, what the fuck are we going to do?” I snipe back.
“Kill the little motherfucker,” Synn emphasizes, nodding his head.
Before I can get another word in, Bambi wakes up. “Synn— if you touch 3, I’ll never forgive you. And I will slit your damn throat.”
Ghost chuckles softly next to her, looking at us with bleary eyes. “I’d listen to her. I, for one, am not telling her ‘no’ again.”
I just laugh out loud. “What he said.”
3 wakes up, looking around at us. He dead-ass looks Synn right in the eye and tightens his arm around her. Then, 3 kisses Bambi’s shoulder, slowly and deliberately.
I choke on my laughter. “I like your style, 3.”
Synn works his jaw. “No one touches Pazessca but us.” He stalks towards them, intent in his movements. He snatches up 3; depositing him out the door. Then he stands in front of it, arms crossed, blocking anyone else from getting in.
“Dammit Synn. Grow the fuck up,” Bambi yells at him, heat in her eyes.
There's a grunt from Harris, who’s just now waking up. His sister is by his side. She just giggles and blushes.
Harris deadpans, “This is why she fell for a real man.”
Pounding on the door interrupts Synn’s rebuttal. His face is beet red with anger.
The Doctor’s voice filters through. “I need in this room. You cannot bar the door. I will throw you out, if I have to!”
Synn steps away, clenching his fists, planting himself right next to Bambi.
Ghost gets out of the bed, kissing her softly.
I scoot over to her, kissing her also. She smiles at me, and my chest warms with love. I am so gone for this girl.
The Doctor walks over to Harris first, checking up on him. “Your vitals are good, and the stitches are looking good. Your blood test is back, and your numbers are all satisfactory. You're going to be fine, son.”
The Doctor comes to Bambi, checking her out, too.
He scans the file he’s holding, nodding to himself.
He then checks her bandages and stitches, cleaning the wounds and changing the dressing.
“Your wounds look clean, not getting infected, which is good. Your vitals are good. Your blood test is encouraging. The blood we gave you is helping to raise your hemoglobin nicely. You're still a bit anemic, so I’m going to give you an iron infusion.”
He pats her shoulder, looking at us to address the room. “I want to keep them both here for a couple of days for observation. I anticipate everything going well. They both need more time to heal; but otherwise, they’ll be fine.”
I smile, relief rushing over me.
“Let’s leave them to rest now. I will be bringing food shortly,” the Doctor insists.
We grumble, but move towards the door, including 3.
Cynthia, however, doesn’t budge.
“Cynthia, leave him to rest, love,” Bambi calls out to her.
Cynthia shakes her head; her lips set in a firm line. “No. I need to stay with my brother.”
Surprisingly, 3 walks over and puts his arm around her. He urges her up, pointing to the door, then pats her back. She stands up.
“Okay, but only because you asked nicely,” Cynthia tells 3, then turns to Harris. “Love you, Hunter.”
Harris smiles. “I love you too.”
“Have a good rest, Bambi,” I toss back as I leave the room.
I smile to myself, still so happy to have her back.