Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Finley
“I see you’re being set free today, jailbird,” Orion sings as he saunters into my room, a bag swinging in his hands. “Brought you some shit the girls said you’d need. Warning, Mercury’s right behind me, he’s a moody bastard today, too.”
“When isn’t he?” I tease as excitement strums through me at the prospect of being released. I’m so over this hospital bed and nasty food they serve. But the drugs they administer have been helpful.
“When isn’t he what?” the man in question asks as he steps into the room, a scowl on his face. My eyes widen comically as Orion snickers. Mercury narrows his eyes at us as he scans our faces. “Who were you two talking about?”
“Nobody,” I quickly chirp out, acting innocent.
“A broody bastard we both know,” Orion snarks. “You wouldn’t know anybody like that, would you?” This man just doesn't know when to stop and not put his foot in his mouth.
Sometimes, I think Orion just says things to wind the others up from the little interaction I’ve had with everybody, and in this case, it works as Mercury’s face now looks almost thunderous.
I take pity on Orion and say, “You, Mercury. You’re not the easiest person to talk to, and this could be the drugs talking, but you always look a bit constipated. ”
Orion loses it and starts laughing so hard, he nearly hyperventilates.
He keeps trying to say something, only to stop again and slap his thigh.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think he had a seizure disorder or something.
Finally, he calms down enough and states, “Granny always said we should eat our prunes. Guess you forgot that little nugget of wisdom.”
“Shut the fuck up, asshole,” Mercury rumbles, his voice doing something to my body that I refuse to acknowledge.
“Give me that bag, Orion, so I can get out of this horrid gown,” I say, holding out my hand.
“Yeah, putrid green is not your color, so when I order our coveralls, I’ll be sure to get you something different,” Orion replies, smirking at me.
“Asshole,” I mumble as I make my way to the bathroom, doing my best to make sure I’m not flashing my ass.
I obviously fail when I hear Orion stage-whisper to Mercury, “She’s got a nice ass, brother.” I’m giggling when I close the door behind me because I hear flesh hitting flesh and Orion yelp out, “Hey, fucker, that hurt!”
It doesn’t take me long to take a quick shower.
I’m still moving a bit slow, but the hot water pouring down my body feels fantastic.
I think it’s because when I was laying out in that field, broken and bruised, I thought I’d never feel it again.
Regardless, in less than thirty minutes, I’m clean and dressed in an outfit meant for comfort.
Not that I’ll complain; leggings and an oversized shirt are perfect since they’re not rubbing against any of my surgical incisions.
Those are starting to drive me nuts because they’re at the itchy stage.
To me, there’s nothing worse than having something you want to scratch but you can’t because it’ll open up the stitches.
Been there, done that and would prefer never to have it happen again.
Walking out of the bathroom, I can feel the tension in the room, so I throw my hands in the air, the empty bag now swinging from one of them and say, “Tada! I’m ready to blow this popsicle stand.”
“You know, in Texas, we’d eat popsicles pretty much all year round,” Orion muses. “But here? It’ll probably be August before it’s warm enough to enjoy them.”
“Popsicles are for kids,” Mercury emphatically states.
“What’s your point?” Orion parries. “We know I’m an overgrown child, Merc, and as far as I’m concerned, life’s too short not to enjoy the things we like. So there.”
“You gonna stick your tongue out at me next, child?” Mercury asks, smirking at Orion.
“Expect the unexpected,” Orion retorts. “Which means, no, because you’re anticipating me doing that very thing, I’ll keep my tongue to myself.”
I snort and voice my internal thoughts, “You remind me of that commercial when Toys ‘R Us was still open and a kid's dream.”
“Hey! I resent that. I was a Toys ‘R Us kid. I had every matchbox car ever printed,” Orion says, looking affronted.
Laughing, I admit, “My cousins were like that with Barbies, me however, I went for all of the remote control cars and had them in abundance.”
“You and I would’ve been besties,” Orion announces as Mercury rolls his eyes and reaches out, placing his hand on my back to escort me out of the room. “Hey, what’s the rush? I was making friends, Mercury.”
“Y’all can do that in the truck,” he grumbles. “The smell of antiseptic is burning my nostrils.”
I sniff and look at him as if he’s grown a second head. This isn’t a traditional hospital, it’s more like a clinic. It has a clean, sanitized smell but it isn’t to the point that your nose hairs feel like they’re going to singe. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“Get used to it, he’s like a stick in the mud,” Orion says, snickering as he reaches out and plucks me away from Mercury, much to the man’s displeasure if the growl he emits is evidence of that.
“You need to stick with people who share your enthusiasm for life, Fin. Leave the surly assholes in the rearview mirror.”
“Why are you baiting him?” I lean in and whisper out the question.
“Because the fucker ate the last bowl of my cereal this morning. He knew I had been dreaming about eating it since dinner last night,” he complains.
“How would he know that?” I ask as we walk through the sliding glass doors.
“The asshole knows because I was drooling over it when I told everyone to keep their hands off of it,” he tells me.
“Y’all really are a bunch of overgrown kids,” I giggle.
Orion lets go of me, takes a step back and bows, using his best Elvis impression, he says, “Thank you. Thank you very much.”
“Jesus fuck,” Mercury growls as he hits the keyfob for the truck and unlocks it. “Would you two get in already?”
Placing my hands on my hips I give him my most surly look and state, “We just got here! Patience is a virtue, Mercury.”
Apparently, tired of our antics, he scoops me up and sets me on the seat, placing the small bag of things I’ve accumulated at my feet. Looking at Orion, he says, “Get in, fucker, or get left behind.”
I don’t know what I was expecting when I saw the clubhouse for the first time, but this was not it. I’m not a judgy person per se, but this place looks like it’s standing on a hope and a prayer. “Did you go buy out all of the bubble gum the stores had? Is that what’s keeping this place standing?”
“We inherited it. It’s a work in progress,” Orion admits as he cringes.
“It’s getting there. It’s not quite habitable yet, but there’s plumbing and electricity,” Mercury tacks on. “For now, we’re staying in the main house behind the clubhouse. But the driveway leading there is fucked up, so we park here and walk to the house.”
“Oh, this is what a girl who was just released from a doctor’s care wants to do. A trek through two feet of weeds,” I bellyache. Giving Orion puppy eyes, I ask, “Piggyback ride?”
“Hot damn!” Orion shouts. He crouches down and says, “Hop on, I’ll give you a ride you’ll never forget.” Once I’m securely on his back he turns to his cousin and says, “Last one there has to clean the toilets!” He races off with me giggling on his back.
Mercury is hot on our feet, picking up speed which has me leaning into Orion, hollering, “Pick up the speed or I’m gonna sell you to the glue factory!”
“They’d reject him, he’s got rabies,” Mercury prattles as he passes us, laughing.
“I didn’t know he could do that,” I say to Orion.
“Do what?” he asks, his tone pouty.
“Laugh,” I answer.
“He has his moments,” Orion tells me as he slowly lets me glide down his back. He stays steady until he knows I’m not going to lose my balance as Mercury steps back off the porch and comes over, lifting me up in his arms. “Well, looks like Merc has found his inner gentleman.”
“This gentleman is gonna go grab the cleaning supplies and deliver them to the bathroom for you, moron,” Mercury states, a half smirk on his face at getting one over on Orion.
“You’re too good to me, asshole,” Orion gripes, not so lightly smacking Mercury on the back of his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I know you’re next on the lineup, I’ll leave a nice surprise for you on your day.”
“Awe, you really shouldn’t,” Mercury warns as he sits me down on the couch before turning around and facing his cousin. “Payback is a bitch, Orion. Your list is adding up.”
“My list?” Orion asks, acting as if he has no idea what Mercury is talking about.
“Yeah,” Mercury says, stepping into Orion’s face. “Your list.”
I plant my face in my palms and shake it.
As I go to try and break the two apart before things come to blows, Gemini steps into the room, his voice thunderous as he hollers, “Enough!” Both of the guys’ heads twist in his direction before putting space between them.
“This is Finley’s first day with us and you’re giving her the impression you’re both neanderthals. ”
“In our defense, we are,” Orion justifies.
“I just want a little quiet,” I murmur when Gemini looks in my direction. “I don’t mind them joking around and cutting up, but I’ve still got a headache.”
“Shit. Sorry, Fin,” Orion says, sounding shameful.
“Damn, Finley. I’m sorry, he just has a way of getting under my skin,” Mercury announces. “Let me carry you to your room, it’s all set up and ready for you so you can just lay down.”
“Thank you,” I whisper. “Laying down for a little bit sounds good.”