“Michael, you were here for a medical checkup. You can’t be with her 24/7,” Jordan tried to soothe him.
“I should have waited for her. But no, I wanted to be here early for my appointment.”
“Stop it, Michael.” Jordan hugged him.
Seth Thomas entered with a new set of scans. “Well, there’s definitely swelling on the brain. We won’t know the extent of any damage until she wakes up, but I don’t need to tell you that do I, Dr. Youngblood?”
“No, that part you don’t.” Jordan sat down and ran a hand through his hair.
“Do we know what happened? Who did this?” Seth asked Michael.
“No, not yet. But the video is being reviewed and the parking garage has been sealed off to gather evidence.”
“Well, let’s hope the police catch this guy. I’ll be back.”
Michael faced Jordan. “This guy had better hope the police catch him before I do.”
“Even if they do, Michael, this guy is ours. I don’t care what it takes.”
~*~
Charlie woke up after three days, and she had woken up screaming. She didn’t want anyone near her except Bethany and the other female nurses. Jordan’s heart broke as she screamed and hid in the corner of her room; she didn’t know any of them. When Michael tried to approach her she hit him and hid. Bethany had to sedate her.
A week later, Charlie had gotten a few memories back. Her speech was limited and she struggled to write with her left hand. Mostly, it looked like scribbles.
Julia and Isabelle had come to see her and they had seemed familiar. On the inside Charlie still wanted to scream. Instead, she held on to Isabelle and cried.
More days passed and Charlie woke up one day with a mirror in her lap and a TV on a table beside her. She read the note that accompanied them and pushed the “on” button.A young man spoke to her from the screen.
“Hey, honey. I have no idea what you are going through right now. I know I scare you and I wish to God I didn’t. I love you with all my heart and all I want to do is help you. But for now, this is all I can do. I need you to pick up the mirror in your lap: you are Charlie Youngblood and you are loved by many.”
Charlie watched the video. There were pictures of her with the man on the video, and more pictures of her with people who she guessed were family. The doctor who had come to see her was on the tape; she was smiling at him. It was a video of her graduating, then moved on to a party.
“I’ll be here every day until you remember who I am, Charlie. I love you so much. Your family is here for you. We will wait until you are ready.”
Charlie turned off the TV and looked in the mirror. There was still an ugly bruise around her eyes caused by her broken nose. She closed her eyes and tried to summon a memory. Small bits came, but nothing huge. She lay back and closed her eyes.
When she woke up, Michael was in the chair beside her. In that instant, the memories flooded back. She tried to get his attention and finally threw a pillow at him.
“Shit.” Michael sat up. “I’m sorry, I’ll go now.”
Charlie waved him over. She grabbed her pad of paper and pen. Michael watched as she wrote something down. She handed it to him.
“Member u.” Michael read it aloud. “You remember me?”
Charlie nodded and Michael forced himself not to grab her and hug her.
“May I?” Michael came a little closer, he put his arms out to her.
Charlie broke into tears and put her arms out. Michael held her, his own tears soaking her gown.
There was a knock on the door and Jordan slowly inched into the room. “May I come in?”
“It’s your dad, hon.” Michael grinned as Charlie shot him a ‘duh’ look. “But you knew that, didn’t you?”
“Charlie, you remember me?” Jordan came closer. Charlie nodded and Jordan held her. “Oh God, baby.”
As soon as she held her father, everything rushed back. She took the pad of paper and wrote something down.
“Saw eyes, voice,” Jordan read. “You remember his eyes and voice?”
Charlie nodded.
“Did he say anything to you?” Michael took her hand.
Charlie nodded again and took the pad of paper. Her hand shook, and she let out a loud exasperated sigh.
“There’s time for this later, okay? Just rest for now.” Jordan hugged her and went into the hallway to talk with Marco and Antonio. “You keep someone on this room at all times.”
“Only family and verified staff, Mr. Jordan. No one else will get near her. You have my word.” Antonio eyed Jordan sympathetically. He was tired and could probably use some sleep. “Get some sleep, Mr. Jordan. Marco and I will watch over Charlie.”
Charlie’s eyes opened slowly. She realized little Stefan was climbing up on a chair and trying to crawl onto the bed. He glanced at her and smiled.
“Okay?”
Charlie nodded and he climbed the rest of the way up, where he snuggled in beside her and kissed her cheek.
“I love you, Lee.”
Charlie picked up the pad of paper and drew a heart for Stefan. He looked at it and smiled.
“There you are!” Heath had his hands on his hips. “I should have known, you little escape artist. I turned my back for five seconds.”
Heath came over to the bed and ruffled his son’s hair. He watched as his sister held him tight and felt a lump in his throat. She looked better; her face wasn’t as swollen and new hair was beginning to sprout.
“How’s my beautiful girlfriend this morning?” Michael walked in carrying roses, which he put on the table. He checked out Stefan. “What say we make one of those, eh?”
Charlie pulled the pad of paper out and scribbled on it, handing it to Michael.
He looked at it and frowned. “That’s not true! My swimmers should be working now.”
Heath laughed and picked up Stefan. “I have to get home. We’ll be back, Charlie.” Heath kissed her forehead. Stefan waved and smiled.
Michael sat on the bed and brushed her hair back. “I know you’re getting frustrated, but Dr. Thomas says your speech should return, and your speech therapist says you’re doing well.”
Charlie gave him a frustrated look.
“I have to say, it’s kind of nice you not being able to talk.”
Charlie hit him with a pillow.
“This way, I can ask you to marry me and you can’t say ‘no’.”
Charlie shook her head and looked at her hands.
“Hey.” Michael lifted her face to his. “Don’t you dare. I love you unconditionally. If you let me, I’ll make you happy the rest of your life.” He pulled her into a hug. “We’re meant to be, Charlie.”
Michael pulled away and noticed tears in her eyes. He kissed her softly.
“You really think being married to me would be that bad?” he wiped her tears.
“Ye —”
“Are you trying to say yes, as in yes you will marry me or yes it will be that bad?”
Charlie sighed in frustration. She pulled out the pad of paper and wrote on it, Michael took it and smiled.
“You won’t be sorry.”
“She won’t be sorry about what?” Jordan and Stefan stood in the doorway.
“Charlie has agreed to marry me,” Michael announced.
“Oh shit!” Stefan chuckled. “I’m kidding, Michael.”
“I think I talked her into a baby, too.” He winked at Charlie’s look of astonishment. “Oh come on, hon, you can still be a doctor. I’ll be the stay-at-home dad.”
She wrote on the pad of paper again and Michael smiled as he read it.
“Yeah, well, I’m loaded. I can afford to stay home and run the restaurants from there.” He winked at her.
Jordan kissed her cheek. “We’re discharging you today. You okay with that? Antonio and Marco will be staying at the house.”
Charlie nodded. She knew they were there. They had been outside her door for weeks now. She had seen her grandfather talking to them
and she wanted in on whatever was going down. She motioned to her father and wrote on the pad of paper.
Stefan read it and his head snapped up in shock. “Oh, Charlie, I don’t know. Look, this is something I don’t want you near.”
Charlie wrote again and Stefan read it. “All right, Charlie. I understand.”
Stefan, Jordan and Michael left the room when the speech therapist arrived. They gathered outside in the hallway and Michael narrowed his eyes at Stefan.
“She wants in on revenge, doesn’t she?”
“I think she wants to be in charge of it, Michael,” Stefan admitted.
“Well, let her.” Michael looked from Jordan to Stefan. “If it helps her heal, then by all means.”
“I don’t think you know the extent to which this family will go, Michael.” Stefan looked at him.
“Oh, Uncle Stefan. I know exactly how far this family will go. I heard enough stories from my dad throughout the years to know that. As I said, if it helps her heal — torture away.”
Stefan turned to Jordan. “I love him so much.”
Michael laughed and hugged Stefan.
Chapter Fourteen
The first weekend they could, the whole group gathered at the club. Damon and Tyler had been there for a while, dancing. Jason was behind the bar, and Quinn was on his way.
“Somebody got a tan.” Tyler winked at Jason.
“Bet that’s not all he got,” Damon added.
“We’re taking things slow, guys.” Jason smiled as Quinn approached.
“How’s my gorgeous man?” Quinn leaned over the bar for a kiss.
“I need ice.” Jason waggled his brows.
“By all means, let me help.”
Damon watched as the rest of the group arrived. “Well, well — if it isn’t the Greystones.”
Mark smiled. “Hey, Damon! How’s Charlie?”
“She’s doing much better. Back at the house with the dads and Michael. Recovery is slow, but the prognosis is good.”
Josh smacked Paul on his back. “You’re a married man, eh? Man, I owe a lot of people money!”
“Maybe you’ll be next, huh?” Paul grinned as he watched Tanner get drinks.
“Maybe,” Josh mused.
Greg and Jay talked about their trip to New York and Josh and Tanner chimed in about the Bahamas. They discussed the wedding in Ireland and Paul told them he wished they all could have been there.
“Yeah well, if we hadn’t already planned our trips we would have been there to see Mark all gussied up.” Jay smiled at him.
“How long does it take to get ice?” Tanner tapped his fingers on the bar and snickered.
~~
“You cold?” Quinn backed Jason into the wall.
“I’m never cold with you.” Jason nuzzled his neck. Quinn’s hand was rubbing his cock and the heat from his body warmed him.
“So, I’m thinking,” Quinn kissed him slowly, letting his tongue glide across Jason’s lips. “Maybe tonight we can get naked and really explore.”
“You ready for that?” Jason’s hands snaked under Quinn’s shirt.
“Are you?” Quinn slipped his hand into Jason’s pants.
“I think so,” Jason moaned when the big hand gripped his cock.
“Just exploring, though. I want us to take our time, Jason. I don’t want us to rush into anything.”
“I agree.” Jason closed his eyes as Quinn’s lips met his again as he withdrew his hand from Jason’s pants.
“Don’t forget the ice this time.” Quinn dropped a light kiss on his nose.
They came out together to find the whole group at the bar waiting them.
“They remembered the ice!” Tanner chuckled.
Everyone clapped as Jason and Quinn brought the ice bags to the bar.
“Oh fuck off,” Jason laughed.
They spent the night talking and laughing. Tanner watched Jason with Quinn and felt happy. Josh took his hand and kissed it. They exchanged looks and Josh kissed his mouth.
“You ready to head home?”
“Whenever you are.”
The group said their goodnights and every one headed home.
Paul tossed his keys in the bowl by their front door and went to the fridge.
“You want a drink, babe?”
“Yeah, sure.” Mark dropped onto the couch and kicked off his shoes as he turned the TV. “Hey, American Pie is on.”
Paul laughed. “I always thought I was Stiffler.” Paul joined him on the couch and tugged him closer.
“Babe, you are not that much of an asshole.” Mark laughed and put his head against Paul’s shoulder.
“You’re Jim.” Paul smiled and mussed his hair.
“I have never fucked a pie, Paul.”
Paul laughed loud and lifted Mark’s face. He kissed him, loving the taste of his mouth. “What did you eat?”
“Cherry sours.”
“It tastes good with Dr Pepper.” Paul pushed him back on the couch, slowly running his tongue all around Mark’s mouth. “You taste so damn good.”
Mark scooted his hands up Paul’s shirt and deepened the kiss. “You taste good, too.”
The kiss became more passionate and the clothes were flying off. Soon, they were naked and Paul was making love to him on the couch. Their mouths fused together, which was fine because Mark was having a hard time staying coherent.
Paul came hard, his biceps flexing as he grabbed the couch and buried himself deeper. Mark loved it and wrapped his legs around him; he cried out and Paul took his mouth. They kissed languorously as they came down from their highs.
“I want to go house hunting,” Paul announced suddenly.
“Really?”
“Well, we’re married. I expect us to have kids someday. Why not buy a house?”
“How many rooms?”
“How many kids are we having?”
“How many do you want?”
“How many would you like?”
Mark smiled. “Okay, fine — let’s have four.”
Paul laughed. “That’s it? I thought you’d want six.”
“We can adopt some.”
“Since we’ve met, Mark, I want to use my money for something good, something Mom would be proud of. I’ve already donated to orphanages around the area — quite a bit, actually. I would love to adopt.”
“Well we can have some biological ones, too. I would love to have a little Colin running around.”
“I’d better see a little Mark.” Paul smiled as he kissed Mark again and felt him respond quickly. “Bedroom?”
“Bedroom.” Mark affirmed.
Paul picked him up and carried him to the bedroom, where he lay Mark down gently and crawled on top of him.
“You know we can’t have kids doing this, right?” Paul smiled and winked.
“I can pretend.” Mark pulled him down.
*~~~*
Josh and Tanner were in the tub together and Josh had his lips fused to Tanner’s, trying to stop the escalating giggle fit he was having. They could hear Greg’s moans all the way in the back room and Tanner had let out a loud laugh. Now it was all Josh could do to quiet him.
“Shhhh!” Josh tried to stop his laughter as well. His brother was obviously very good with Greg.
“I’m impressed!” Tanner giggled.
“I don’t impress you?” Josh grinned and wrapped his legs around Tanner.
“Everything about you impresses me.”
“Speaking of impressing you with our future — I have to go to New York next week. Dad’s grooming me for the firm. I’ll be gone for a week.”
“I’ll miss you.” Tanner glanced up at him. “What will I do for a whole week?”
“I’ll call you every day. I promise.”
“I love you, Josh.”
Josh palmed his face and kissed him softly. “I love you, too. We’ve never been apart. Will you be okay?”
“I’ll just annoy Jason. And probably Mark. Maybe Paul.”
�
��Oh shit, don’t annoy Paul,” Josh laughed.
“He’s the kinder and gentler Paul. Mark has changed him.”
“Yes he has, just like you’ve changed me.”
Tanner looked at him. “I did? What did I do?”
“You made me fall in love.”
*~~~*
Charlie woke up to the smell of coffee and food. She looked over the tray next to the bed. Michael had made her a gourmet breakfast. There was a red rose on the tray with a note. She read it and smiled; he had gone to get her medication. She ate and finally managed to get out of bed. Her body was still sore and her father said it would take time for everything to heal. She still wasn’t speaking properly, but her cast was due to come off. She was worried her fingers were numb, and the thought of not having mobility in her hand scared her to death.
She knew Michael was rich, but that wasn’t the point. She was a surgeon; that was her life. She went out to the kitchen and noticed her dad with little Stefan. They looked so cute together.
“Lee!” Stefan giggled and put his arms out.
“Stefan, you have to be careful, okay?” Stefan smiled at his grandson, who put his serious face on. Charlie tried to laugh.
“Love Lee.” Stefan put his hand out and Charlie bent into his little palm. “Better?”
Charlie nodded and got her pad of paper. She tried to draw herself with Stefan and a big heart. He looked at the picture and giggled. He showed it to Stefan and Stefan laughed.
“Auntie Charlie is not an artist, is she, Stefan?”
Charlie’s eyes narrowed at her father. “Oh come on, Charlie; make your dad smile.” Stefan winked at her.
Michael returned with the bag of medication and handed the bottle to Charlie. She tried to grab it with her right hand and it slipped to the floor. Michael bent down and retrieved the bottle. He saw the look of frustration on Charlie’s face.
“As soon as the cast comes off, we’ll get it checked out, okay?” Michael pulled her in for a hug. He knew she was worried about the numbness. He didn’t know what would happen when the cast came off. If she couldn’t operate, Charlie wouldn’t know what to do with herself.
Charlie wrote on her pad of paper and handed it to Michael. He read it quickly.
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