Chapter 22 #4
I stand, walking over to the bed to fist bump Kai and knock elbows with Dax. Leaning in, I whisper, “There are guys here, no need to worry. We will be in touch if we need anything.”
Before I make it to the door, Dax gets my attention, as I turn back around, I see the question forming in his eyes, “What about work?”
“You are not working there. You were never supposed to be there. For now, heal,” I say.
“Daniels is gonna insist I work somewhere. And he’s the one who put me there because my dad said to,” Dax continues.
Rubbing the center of my forehead, ‘Who the fuck is this Daniels and why is Mack calling shots? Blyad, more to talk to Vanya about,’ I think, sighing heavily at the shitshow I’m dealing with. “Okay, but detail will go with you. Short shifts. 12-4. No more.”
Dax smirks and replies with “Da, that works.”
I chuckle, turning to leave again, ‘Spending time with Anton definitely rubbed off on him,’ I think as I leave the room. Before rounding the corner I glance back to see the boys smiling at each other, so much love showing on their faces.
I leave them to whatever it was that they were doing before I arrived. I’m a little apprehensive about things, even while I show nothing but calm. I have good news to give Vanya but something doesn’t feel right.
‘Only time will tell.’
Maddox
Watching Zak leave, I pull Kai’s attention to me. “Lay with me, Kitten? I need it right now.”
Kai looks at the size of the bed then back at me.
I feel my cheeks pink as I scoot over, lifting the blanket to invite him in.
He rolls his eyes but the sweet smile on his face as he lays his head on my chest, bending his knees to fit in the small space next to me, lets me know that he’s happy to give me this.
Wrapping my casted arm around him, I play with soft red curls with my other hand as I think about the information Zak left us with.
I feel myself relax as I realize that, for the first time in a long time, I have a support system.
Kitten and I are solid and I may actually have a shot at a normal life.
Kissing the top of Kai’s head, we lay there in silence for a bit. After a few minutes I feel him shift, glancing down I see him looking up at me. “What ya thinkin’ ‘bout?” he asks as he cups my face.
“Mel. We gotta get her out too. She needs to be…” I start rambling.
Kai leans up and kisses me, cutting me off and essentially shutting me up. “Mel texted earlier, Seb took her to Dani’s. Diana is lettin’ her stay there ‘til graduation. She leaves for New Platz in July. She found a nanny gig there ‘til classes start. She will be with us.”
Taking in the information I wonder, ‘How didn’t I know this? How had I been so distracted that my own twin didn’t let me in on things goin’ on with her?’ Before I can ask, Kai answers as if he’s reading my mind.
“The nanny gig was just finalized yesterday. She was gonna come by the hospital today to let you know. She asked me to text her when the best time to stop in was,” Kai says with a knowing look.
I shrug, saying, “Okay, why don’t you text her and tell her to swing by the house tomorrow when I blow this joint instead of coming here?” Kai pulls his phone from his pocket and starts typing out what I said, he’s about to press send when I add, “Tell ‘em to bring pizza?”
Kai chuckles, adding the request before sending the message.
He tossed the phone on the bed, sitting up, he leans in and kisses me before getting out of bed.
I watch as he moves around the room, a warmth spreading through me at the thought that this boy isn’t running from all the crazy happening around me.
Kai goes to the bathroom when the night nurse pops in to check on me. With the all clear from Zak and with how busy the day has been, I’m beat. Weird to be thinking about a day being busy when I spent all of it in bed, but this feeling calm stuff is exhausting.
Kai comes back into the room, climbs back into his spot next to me and curls up next to me. “I love you,” I tell him softly. As he snuggles into my chest, I hear a muffled “Love you too.”
The night is filled with people in and out, waking me up to check something every few hours. I think I’m more tired than rested by the time the sun comes up. Kai slept soundly in my arms all night, so at least one of us got some rest.
Shortly after I give up trying to sleep, Kai starts to shift around. Watching as he slowly comes to life, he scrunches his face and rubs his eyes. ‘Adorable fucker,’ I think as the orderly brings in breakfast. I get more excited as it gets closer to the time for me to get the fuck outta here.
It’s not until the good doc finishes rounds that I finally get my walking papers.
As Kai makes sure we have everything, I check my phone and see a text from Zak letting me know that Tomas will meet us out front to drive us home.
Zak’s last message was to let us know he would be close by if we needed anything.
Tomas drops us off at the house and Kai helps me out of the SUV as he tells him “thank you” before shutting the door.
Once we were settled inside, Kai texts Mel letting her know they could come over whenever.
A few hours later Mel and Dani showed up with pizza and we headed out to the van to eat and hang out.
‘If this is my new life, I could get used to it,’ I think, taking in everyone surrounding me.
∞∞∞
The first night at Kai’s was weird. I can hear the family moving around as I wake up. The most confusing thing to me is hearing laughter mixed in with the yelling. ‘Are they fighting?’ I think, feeling Kai shifting next to me.
I turn to watch Kai as he leans up on his elbow looking down at me. When he sees I’m awake, “You okay?” he asks.
I look at my arm in the cast, take in the room around me and meeting his eyes I answer, “All things considered? Yeah. Ya think there’s any coffee down there?”
Kai climbs over me, grabs a t-shirt from a drawer and tosses me one as he says, “Only one way to find out.”
We head down into the chaos that is the Sullivan house.
As we reach the bottom step, the kitchen goes silent.
Kai looks around, "Seriously? That’s all it took to get some peace and quiet?
Damn, Dax you shoulda moved in sooner,” he says, making his way to the coffee pot, tugging me along behind him by the hand.
A couple of looks are tossed our way, but everyone goes back to finishing their breakfast before leaving for the day.
Kai squeezes my hand to get my attention back from watching everyone else.
He hands me a cup of coffee, tilting his head to an empty chair by the table and letting my hand go so I could go sit while he fixed himself a cup.
He sits beside me, squeezing my knee as he takes a sip of his coffee. As we sit at the table, he interacts with his siblings and I just watch the chaos around me. Soon, chairs are being pushed back and people are scattering. It doesn’t take long for the house to clear and for us to be left alone.
Kai refills our coffee cups, motioning for me to follow him as he asks me to grab the smokes and opens the back door.
We move our conversation to the porch, sitting on the steps with Kai settling behind me as he passes me my cup.
He sits his coffee down, reaching for the pack of cigarettes and lighter.
He pulls one from the pack, lighting one for us to share.
“So, do we just return to our regularly scheduled programming? Do I show up at school with a body guard following me around? How’s this work, Dax?” Kai asks, blowing smoke out as he passes me the smoke.
I look up at him, my head cocked sideways, ‘Fuck if I know. Why does he have so many questions this early?’ I think, shaking my head before I take another sip of my coffee.
“Darlin’, I don’t have one fuckin’ clue what happens now. I know you need to get back to school.” Lifting my good hand, passing back the cigarette, I exhale and continue, “I also know I have to go see Daniels on Friday.”
Kai leans forward, wrapping his arms around me and placing the cigarette between my lips as he speaks. “Okay, so tomorrow I go back to school, you hang out here for a few days. Maybe we can text Zak later and find out how all this works?”
I lean back into him, soaking up his body heat in the chilly morning air, “Yeah that’s probably the best place to start. But today, we hang out here. I’d hate to see that red Jeep have to go anywhere.”
As Kai spots the red Jeep Cherokee at the corner he laughs. I look at him quizzically, “Wanna let me in on the joke?”
He points down the block at the jeep, “That must be the company approved vehicle.”
“Wait, you mean Zak drives a Jeep?” I ask, barely able to control my own laughter.
As our laughter dies out my phone ‘dings’ with a notification. Pulling it from my pocket, I see a new text message.
Ollie: hrd abt schedule chng, c u at 12.
∞∞∞
The next day is weird going into the pump palace and seeing Ollie there instead of Nik. “You heard from Nik?” I ask, walking behind the counter.
Ollie shook his head, “I don’t expect to. There’s a lot happenin’. I don’t understand any of it,” he says, looking at me, eyes assessing, “Are you okay?” he asks.
I shrug my shoulders, responding, “I guess. I still don’t know who this ‘big guy’ is, but I don’t think it’s Zak.”
Ollie bobs his head, “Yeah. But what I don’t get is that Dad always made it seem like he was the one in charge. But…he’s not? There’s so much I don’t get,” he says, sounding confused. “I’ll be back at 4 so you can leave.”
“Sounds good,” I say, giving Ollie a one armed hug. I settle in to do my four hours as he leaves. Kai sends a goofy selfie of him and the girls, so I send one back. Then I hear the bell ring.
I look up to see Mack in the store with a duffle bag in his hand, glancing around him I see Tomas coming through the door right behind him. Raising his hands, he says, “I’m just here to drop off your shit. You can call off your guard dog,” he snarls, throwing the duffle bag on the counter.
Pulling the bag towards me, I open it up to find my stash of toys and some women's underwear. I shove the bag back across the counter, “Get. Out.” I say in a low growl.
“Big man now that you have a body guard ain’t ya, boy?” Mack says, eyeing Tomas as he moves closer.
“I’m goin’, I’m goin’,” Mack says, grabbing the bag and tearing out the door. I sit back in the chair shaking. I can’t wait to get home to Kai and forget about all of this.
∞∞∞
The days passed and we hit a rhythm with work, school, family time, and time for just us in the van. Some nights we even slept out there after my nightmares started up again. Sleeping in Kai’s arms has been amazing.
Daniels had been acting more and more squirrely every time I’ve met with him over the past few weeks. My shifts got a little longer at the Pump Palace and Zak dropped by a few times to check in with me. Even Anton popped in once to introduce me to Alina.
Things were getting back to normal, but the closer I got to a normal life, the itchier I got. Things were quiet. Too quiet. No one had heard from Nik and sightings of Mack were getting fewer and far between.
Graduation was just two days away and I was on edge. Kai sensed it. We were so close to getting out, but I couldn't shake this feeling that something was coming.