by Apryl Baker
Were all the Kincaids outright beautiful? She wanted to hate them or envy them, but she couldn’t. They’d been too nice to her and her family.
Nik didn’t touch Lily right away. He gave her a second, and she blew out a breath before nodding slightly. Then he pulled her to him, giving her a quick kiss. “Good morning, Lily Bells.”
“Good morning,” she whispered. “Is there any news on the baby?”
Nik looked over to them, and Keith shook his head. “Last I heard, the doc took Ava into surgery. There were some complications. I think your family is in the chapel right now.”
“Thank you. We’ll come back and see you in a bit, Jo.” Nik took his wife’s hand and led her out of the room, presumably to find the chapel.
“That is just awful.”
“We’ve been praying for them,” her mother said. “They have to be so scared.”
“About as scared as we were when Keith told us you’d let the lawnmower run over your leg,” her dad said, the anger still in his voice.
“I didn’t let the lawnmower do anything.” She sank back against the pillow, starting to become irritated herself. “It decided to run away on its own.”
“How do you even fall and get your whole leg under the thing?” Keith leaned forward, propping his elbows on the bed. “I mean, I could understand a foot or something, but your whole leg? Lawnmowers are pretty close to the ground, Sis.”
“You know me.” She tried for flippant but failed miserably.
“Yeah, we do.” Keith laughed, his blue eyes alight with merriment. “I think you are going to die before you hit thirty in some kind of freak accident caused by you tripping over your own two feet.”
“That is not funny, Keith.”
He flashed his mother a smile, one that tried to be innocent, but totally wasn’t.
“So, what’s the prognosis?” She gestured to her leg. “How much damage did I do? I know the surgeon explained it to me yesterday, but I can’t remember any of it. I was too scared to pay attention.”
“You tore the main tendon that goes from your knee to your ankle in half. All the ligaments in your lower leg are pretty much shredded.” Her mother winced as she spoke. “They said you won’t be walking on it for at least six weeks, and then you’re going to have to go to physical therapy.”
“Holy shit.”
“Language, young lady,” her mother reprimanded her, but there was no force to it. This was a situation that called for cursing.
“What am I going to do about school?”
“Mason said he’s going to talk to the dean on Monday to see what can be worked out.” Keith sat back and stretched.
“Mason seems to be a stand-up guy.” Her father dragged the chair Nik had been in over to the one her mother sat in.
“He is. Stayed with me through everything. He was the only one with the sense to wrap my leg and hold pressure in the worst spots.”
“That boy saved your life.” Her mother gripped her hand. “You lost a lot of blood, Jojo. A lot. You nicked an artery, and had he not done what he did so quickly, they told us you could have bled to death before they got you here.”
Holy shit. This time she said it in her head, but holy shit. She’d been that badly injured? She remembered feeling woozy, but she had no idea she’d lost that much blood. Sure, the doctor had ordered blood, but it hadn’t registered with her why he’d done it.
She was a walking death trap.
How had she survived this long?
There was a knock on the door, and Sara came in with what looked like a menu. “Good morning.”
“Hey, Sara.” Jo finally smiled. She liked Sara and Viktor.
“How you feeling, honey?”
“I’ve been better. How’s the baby?”
Sara’s face darkened. “She came through surgery, and they have her in NICU. She’s hanging in there, but she’s very sick. Her organs are underdeveloped, and her intestines were outside her body when she was born. Thank God the doctor was able to fix that. She has a heart defect they’re going to go back in and try to repair in a few days when she’s stronger.”
“I am so sorry.” Her heart broke for the family who was already dealing with their patriarch having lung cancer. They didn’t deserve any of this.
Sara smiled sadly. “She’s a fighter, and we’re all praying for her. No one is giving up on her.”
“We’ll keep her in our prayers as well.”
“Thank you, Evelyn. That means a lot. Ava needs as many people in her corner as she can get.” Sara blinked and cleared her throat. “I came to get everyone’s breakfast order. Nik knows a great place a few blocks down the street. He had a menu in his car. He’ll go get breakfast and bring it back.”
“You don’t have to do that,” her father protested. “We can find our own breakfast.”
“I’m sure you can,” Sara said and handed the menu to Jo, “but not this morning. I refuse to let this girl eat hospital food. It’s rank. We’re all tired and hungry, so I’m not taking no for an answer. Circle what you want or write your name or whatever.”
“It’s very nice of you. Thank you.”
Sara yawned. “Jo’s family, so that makes all of you family by default.”
Jo frowned and looked up. Sara laughed at her confused expression.
“Mason says you’re his family, so as such, you got adopted into the Kincaid clan, and the rest of your family did too by default.”
“Mason thinks of me as family?” She got all warm and fuzzy at the thought.
Sara laughed, outright laughed. “Sweetheart, that boy’s in love with you. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed it.”
“What?” Her mouth dropped open. “He is not. He’s just my friend…”
This time Keith laughed. “Why do you think I asked him to come look out for you? He was in love with JoJo the YouTube star. I knew if he got to know the real Jo, he’d fall hard.”
She looked at her brother, and instead of confusion, anger simmered in her gut. Why couldn’t he stop? She was not a little girl to be bossed or told what to do or who to love.
“This has to stop, all of you. I love Ray. Mason is my friend, and he’s not in love with me. He’s my best friend. That’s all.”
“Did Mason tell you anything about my past?” Sara startled her with the question.
“A little. He said your ex was abusive.”
“Roger was. I told myself for years I loved him. I didn’t listen to anyone who tried to tell me things weren’t right. It’s taken quite a few therapy sessions for me to realize I stayed because I was afraid of being alone. That fear drove me to let him wear me down until I had nothing left. I know your situation isn’t the same. Mason’s told me Ray’s not physically abusive, but being apathetic can be just as bad.”
Sara came over and stood by the bed to stare down into Jo’s face. “Before you write Mason off because you’ve convinced yourself Ray is it for you, think about a few things. Compare the two of them. But more than anything, who stayed on the lake to fish while you were here having major surgery, and who hasn’t left this hospital even once? I think that’s a very telling thing.”
“I…”
“Don’t say anything right now, sweetheart. Just think about it. Now, let’s get these breakfast orders in, okay?”
Jo’s family wisely left her alone after Sara’s statement. Perhaps they understood it was more profound coming from a basic stranger than it was from her family who seemed hellbent on controlling her. At least it seemed that way to her.
She told them to go get some rest after Viktor delivered breakfast. They’d checked into the hotel last night before coming to the hospital. As much as she was glad they were here, she wanted them out of her hair with their determination to make her break up with Ray.
Not that she wasn’t thinking about it already. She’d given him an ultimatum yesterday. He chose to stay on the lake, and it hurt so much, it felt like she couldn’t breathe. Had the roles been reversed, she would hav
e gone through hell and high water to get to Ray.
And then all that stuff about Mason being in love with her? No. That wasn’t true. She ignored the sharp little pain in her chest her denial caused. She knew deep down she had feelings for Mason, feelings that were getting stronger and stronger every day. But at the same time, she’d invested years in her relationship with Ray. She couldn’t just give up and walk away.
Even if he chose fishing over her?
How could she stay with him after that? He’d obviously cared more about fishing with his dad than he did her. How was she supposed to respond to that? To get past it?
Her head ached with all the questions.
“Knock, knock.”
Her entire body tensed at the sound of Mason’s voice. She looked up to see him standing at the door, holding two cups of coffee from Starbucks.
“Hey.” Even her voice sounded strained.
“You okay?” He looked so concerned. Why had Ray never looked at her with that much care? It wasn’t fair.
“Yeah, just a rough morning.”
He walked into the room and sat down, handing her one of the cups. “Just the way you like it with all that junk in it.”
“Thanks.” She took the cup and sipped. Her favorite mocha. Mason always remembered.
“You feeling better? I can get the nurse to get you more pain meds if you need them.”
“No, no more pain meds. I don’t want to get hooked on that stuff.”
“I don’t think a few doses during the first couple days can hook you.”
“Yes, they can. My friend Abby’s brother was hooked in less than a week. Drug addiction is nasty stuff.”
“Well, how about some high-powered Motrin or something?”
“I’ll tell the nurse when she comes in.”
Mason frowned. She was being weird.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked again.
“Yeah. Just tired and in some pain.” The smile she offered was watery at best. “I heard about the baby. I’m sorry, Mase.”
He took a deep breath, trying his best not to think about the baby. He’d seen her earlier, and as soon as he was out of Dimitri’s sight, he’d locked himself in the bathroom and lost his shit. Ava was so small, barely three and half pounds. Hooked up to wires and machines. She had to make it. For all their sakes.
“Thanks, Josephine.” He took a sip of his coffee and stared at the blank wall. “Ray called my phone while I was getting coffee.” As much as he hated letting her know, he had to. She’d get mad if she found out later. Pulling it out, he tossed it to her. “Go ahead and use my phone to call.”
“No, I don’t think so.” She picked up the phone and placed it on the foot of the bed. “He didn’t bother coming yesterday, so I’m not going to bother to return his calls today. If he wants to talk to me, he can get his ass down here.”
Mason wasn’t sure whether he should be surprised at her backbone or be damn proud of her. Maybe both. Either way, he liked this new sassy side to her, even if she was acting weird.
“Want to see pictures of Sasha and Ava?”
That brightened her up. She sat up and let out a hiss. “Damn, that hurts.”
Mason grabbed his phone and pulled up pictures of a very healthy Sasha and showed it to her. “This is Sasha.” Then he scrolled to Ava’s photo in the “toaster” with all her tubes and wires. “Ava is hanging in there. She’s our little fighter. I think I’m gonna nickname her Rocky.”
“She needs a tough name. Rocky’s good.”
“Becca didn’t think so.” Mason chuckled, remembering her horrified reaction when he said he was going to start calling her that.
“Well, Becca is her mom, and moms can get a little testy about these things.”
“She’ll get used to it. I called one of my frat brothers, and he’s going to bring over my gaming laptop for you to use while you’re stuck in here. At least you’ll have something to do.”
“You don’t have to, Mason. I have my own laptop.”
“True, but I’ve seen your laptop. It’s shitty. Mine’s an ASUS Republic of Gamers laptop. Seventeen-inch display. You’ll bow down and worship at my feet later.”
“Hardly,” she scoffed. “I’ll just beat the high scores on your shit.”
“You can try. I don’t play fluff games. Hardcore, baby, hardcore.”
She gave him a what-the-fuck look. They both knew she could kick his ass any damn day of the week on any game she chose. He was just trying to get her to smile. The pain on her face was a mixture of physical aches and the emotional pain Ray had caused her.
“We need to lay down a bet on that.”
“Uh, no. I like to keep my hard-earned money, thank you very much.” He stood to throw his now empty coffee cup away, and he heard her gasp. “What’s wrong?”
“Your shirt…it’s all bloody.”
Oh. She’d scared him for a minute. “You asked me not to leave you, and I didn’t, Josephine. That meant no going home to change.”
“You stayed all night?”
“Yeah. I slept on the floor. Nik needed the lounger more than I did. Fucker doesn’t get much sleep since Rose came home.” He came back over and sat down, finally catching the expression on her face. It was filled with shock, wonder, and something he couldn’t put a name to.
“No one’s ever done something that nice for me except my family.”
Mason leaned up and kissed her forehead. “You deserve a little nice here and there.”
His phone buzzed again, and they saw it was Ray. He was tired of the fucker calling his phone, so he answered it. “Ray.”
“Can I talk to her?”
“She doesn’t want to talk to you.” He hardened his voice. “Now, stop calling my fucking phone.”
“Asshole, let me speak to my girlfriend.”
“Why the fuck aren’t you down here at the hospital instead of calling my damn phone?” Fucker didn’t know when to quit.
“Because I had to clean up the mess in the front yard.” He said this like he was talking to a five-year-old. “Mom said the neighbors had been gawking at it since yesterday and gossiping. Mom hates to be gossiped about.”
“So, your mom’s feelings came before your worry for Josephine?” This time the anger was hard to hold back. “You fucking shit-faced bastard. When Keith and I get our hands on you, you are going to learn how to treat a woman instead of being some pansy little mama’s boy.”
“Mason!”
He glanced at Josephine. Her face was screwed up with worry.
“Not a word, moye dragotsennyy. It’s time someone taught him to be a man.”
“Is that Jo?”
“Yeah, and she doesn’t want to fucking talk to you. Come on over here, I dare you. Keith and I will be waiting.” He hung up on the bastard and tossed his phone back on the bed. Fuck, he needed a good fight. If Jo went to sleep later, maybe he and one of his brothers or Keith could hit the ring. Anything to get rid of this pent-up anger.
“Don’t hurt him, Mason. Please.”
She was crying, and it wrenched his heart apart. She still loved the bastard. Didn’t mean he wasn’t going to teach Ray the lesson of a lifetime.
“Don’t cry, JoJo.” He jumped up and sat with her on the bed, pulling her close. “It’s going to be okay.”
“No, it’s not.” Tears spilled, and great heaving sobs came out of her chest. “I have to leave him, and I don’t know what I’m going to do. I love him, but I don’t think he loves me as much as I do him. It’s not right, Mason. I try to ignore how much it hurts because I love him, but him putting his fishing trip ahead of being here with me, this time it was too much. I gave him an ultimatum. He chose fishing.”
That fucking bastard. He was going to beat him bloody.
“Josephine, I need to ask you something, and I hope you’ll be honest with me.”
She nodded, her face scrunched up.
“Like I told you before, I make my own decisions about people based on my own
experiences with them. When it comes to Ray, your family is right about him. He’s shit.”
Her face crumbled, but he didn’t let it sway him.
“I need you to explain to me how a someone as smart, independent, and honest can stay with someone who treats them like Ray does you. You know better than that. You were raised like I was, to respect yourself and everyone else. I talked to your parents and to Keith yesterday, thinking maybe you’d had a boyfriend before Ray who treated you the same way. I thought maybe you had it in your head that was how women were treated or something, despite the very good relationship your parents have. I don’t understand how you can love Ray when he treats you like a second-class girlfriend on a daily basis.”
“There’s more to the story than you know, Mason. Something I never even told my family about.”
“Will you tell me? Because I’m having a hard time here, Josephine.”
She was silent for so long, Mason thought she was going to say no, so he was surprised when she nodded.
“Ray and I had been together for about a year when I got pregnant. It was an accident. The condom tore, and the antibiotics I was on screwed with my birth control.”
“Did you have an abortion?”
“God, no. I don’t believe in that, but the miscarriage was my fault.” She took a shuddering breath. “Me, and my klutzy curse.”
“Josephine…”
She held up a hand to stop him, and he retreated into silence. “We were camping, and I decided to hike up the hill. I was bored and wanted to do something besides sit and look at the lake. My feet got tangled together, and I fell, bouncing down the hill, and landed on a rock. Hard. The cramping started soon after that. By the time Ray got me to the hospital, I’d lost the baby.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”
“It was my fault I lost our baby, but Ray never blamed me. He took care of me. He was there when I needed him, stood by me through my depression and rage. He was sweet and kind even when I didn’t deserve it. I’ll always blame myself for it. I owe him my loyalty, Mason, because he was loyal to me during the worst moment of my life.”
