by M. D. Massey
Addie came back in, holding a couple short wooden rulers and a roll of medical tape. She looked at Claire with a raised eyebrow, watching her chow down on a small bag of potato chips. “Why did you run out so fast?”
Claire chewed and swallowed, trying to have some manners. I would have just spoken with my mouth full.
“Oh, he kept asking for more water. Plus, he said he was hungry.”
“Y’all just cater to him like he is the king, huh?”
“Oh yes. My King Henry.” I winked at him, and he smirked. I sat beside him and opened up the pack of crackers with peanut butter sandwiched in the middle. I held the cup to his lips, letting him sip, then handed him a cracker. He ate it in one bite.
Addie sat on the bed and unwrapped Henry’s injured hand. He hissed as she turned it, examining. “Oh geez. You really banged it up good.” Nick and Thomas chuckled a little. “I see,” Addie said when she heard them laugh. “So you punched something.”
“Yeah. It was a moment of stupidity. I have several of those on a daily basis.”
“Ms. Addie?”
I spun around with my Sig out, pointed at the door. The girl screamed.
“Who are you?” I demanded.
“Elaina…put away your gun,” Henry demanded. “Julianna. Come in. It’s okay. She won’t harm you. I promise. Well, she might if you try to steal that chocolate out of her hand.” He softly smiled at her. Julianna took a hesitant step toward the bed.
“I just wanted to see if Mr. Henry was doing all right.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. I’m doing better. Elaina, this is Julianna. She was at the school with Rosa. And that’s Justin, his sister Shay, and that, of course, is Rosa.”
“Hi. Sorry. I just got startled,” I mumbled over my embarrassment.
“It’s fine,” Rosa said, wrapping her protective arms around Julianna. She was very much like Addie with her mothering mannerisms.
As Addie finished splinting and rewrapping Henry’s hand, she said, “I cannot thank you boys enough for rescuing my daughter…and these wonderful kids.” Emotional, Addie walked up to Thomas and hugged him, then Nick.
Addie worked her way around the room, finally getting back to Henry. It was difficult for her to speak. “Thank you so much.” She gently hugged him. “I thought she was gone.”
She wobbled as she stood straight. I rushed to her side before she collapsed onto the floor. I held her tight in my arms while she wept. After a few minutes, I guided her toward the bed.
“I thought I lost her,” she said over and over again. I understood her anguish. I gazed over my shoulder at Henry. He curled his lips into his mouth and turned away from me.
Rosa sat next to her mother, taking her hands. “Momma, we tried to get out.”
“I tried to find you. I went everywhere, even Justin and Shay’s house. Their whole family…” Rosa grabbed her and pulled her close. I heard small cries, realizing that they came from Shay. Justin took his sister’s hand and held it tight, like he was never going to let her go. I looked over at my brother, who nodded, knowing we felt the same about one another.
All the sadness began to overwhelm me. In my head, I kept seeing my father coming at me on the street near the church. Then Jenna trying to kill Nick. Nate. Henry turning Nick. My mom dying at the hands of Kellan. Sophie taking that awful fall.
Then Henry and the pain he lives with every single day of his life. It tore me up, so I got up and excused myself. I ran out the front door to try to collect myself. I sat on the porch stairs, wrapping my arms around my legs, shaking, trying to hold myself together. I was afraid if I let go, I would fall apart.
Several minutes passed before the door opened behind me. I didn’t even look up, feeling his cool body sit beside me. A pain-filled sigh saturated the air around us.
“Hey, love.”
“You should be in bed.”
“I’m fine right now, but Addie said only for a few minutes. Any longer than that, she said she’d drag me back to bed, whether I wanted to or not.” He mocked Addie’s southern drawl and attitude. We both laughed. He wiped my tears away. “I have to say, she’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a mother, even though I’ve known her only twenty-four hours.”
I put my face in my hands again, muffling my words. “I thought you were going to turn, Henry. I can’t handle seeing you that way. I don’t think I can handle another loss, especially if it were you.”
“I know, love. But look. I’m all right.”
I shook my head. “Henry…you will never be all right.”
“I know.” He pulled me close, hissing in pain.
“What happened in there? Why were you so bad when you came back?”
“There were a lot of undeads. Hundreds, Elaina. Hundreds. Most of them were kids. I have never seen so many in one space. I was already hurting when we got there. I don’t understand why I’m turning faster than I used to.”
“Maybe it’s because of all your recent injuries.” I looked up at his eyes…beautiful, breathtaking.
“I don’t know. I’m so glad you didn’t come with us. It was terrifying, even for me. The smell was off the charts. Even Nick got sick. The kids had piled up the true deads on the stairs all the way up to the third floor. It was a brilliant move in order to protect themselves, but it was hell trying to climb over them to get up there. I don’t even want to get into the gore.”
“Yes. Please don’t.”
The door opened behind us. “All right, Henry. Come on now. You need your rest.” I stood and helped Henry up. I watched him walk into the house and head toward the bedroom, then started after him. “Uh…no.” Addie stopped me, waving her finger at me. I stared at her with bewilderment. “He needs his rest. I know what y’all will do if you are left alone.”
I blushed so much, my face felt as if it were ablaze. “But…I was just going to get him comfortable.”
“Promise?” Addie zoned in on me.
“Yes! I would never do that in someone else’s home, especially during waking hours.” I huffed and pushed past her. Henry chuckled then held his ribs. I closed the door behind us. “We aren’t teens, for pete’s sake. She does know we were supposed to marry, doesn’t she?”
I knew he thought it was hilarious because he took me the night before, but I didn’t find it humorous. I carefully helped him out of his shirt and unbuttoned his pants as he sat at the edge of the bed. I realized he was missing one essential article of clothing. As I gawked at his body, Henry said, “Hey. Are you trying to get me in trouble?”
“Oh, come on! You’re setting me up!”
“Setting you up?”
“Yes!”
“Because I didn’t wear boxers on purpose this morning because I knew this exact moment would happen?” He rolled his eyes.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me!”
“How do you like it?” He swung his legs around to lie down in the bed. I pulled the covers up to his waist, admiring his battered body. He still looked beautiful to me. I sat next to him and reached out, touching his chest.
His skin was so smooth and cool over those nasty bruises and scars. I gently touched each and every single one. Every bruise and scar happened because he battled someone, somewhere, at some point. Henry grabbed my hand.
“Hey. It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay. This is not okay. None of this is okay.”
“I understand that more than most, but we don’t have a choice.” He placed my hand over his heart. “This beats for you. Whether life is shitty or grand, my heart is always beating for you.”
I smiled sadly and kissed him on the forehead. “You need rest. I better get out of here before Addie drags me out by the collar.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me down. “Henry…please.” He held me close and kissed me as he pushed me down onto the bed. “Henry…stop. I have to go,” I mumbled between kisses.
“I don’t want you to go,” he said in that deep, sexy rasp that worked for me nearly every damn time. Then he nuzzled my
neck and ran his fingers under my shirt around my waist. “Take off your shirt. I want to see my black-haired beauty,” he whispered.
“Henry… No, I can’t.” I pulled away.
“Why? I want you.” He grabbed my hand and rubbed it over his thick and heavy manhood. “Feel what you do to me.”
I yanked my hand away. I knew if I lingered, it would be over. He knew what he did to me and was trying his best to make it happen.
“You can’t always have what you want, when you want it. Besides, you’re in rough shape right now. You need to rest.” He grumbled. “I’m sorry.”
“Pain or no pain, I think I can manage.” I glared at him. “I’m going to get you sooner or later.” I would buckle at some point. With that devilish look in his brilliant eyes, I knew I couldn’t resist him forever.
“Is that a threat, or a promise?” I added my own wicked look to the mix.
“Consider it both, my love,” he rasped. For good measure, I made sure I swayed my hips on the way out of the room. “Tease,” he mumbled. I snickered as I walked out the door.
Chapter 37
I walked out of the bedroom with a huge, cheesy smile on my face, along with quite a stirring deep inside. I headed into the crowded kitchen, immediately greeted with five pairs of curious eyes. Feeling self-conscious, I tugged at my tattered clothes, then fiddled with my fingers.
“Ahh… Well, maybe I will just go out there with them.” I thumbed over my shoulder and turned around to leave the kitchen, but Addie stopped me.
“Not so fast, young lady. Come back here and sit.”
I let out a great sigh because I knew questions were coming. Addie was going to try to drag the truth out of me, even if it were the last thing she did. Time to put my game face on.
I turned around, facing all those prying eyes once more. The sound was deafening as the chair scraped across the kitchen floor when I pulled it out.
“Now…give me your time frame.”
Say what? She wanted a time frame for us to leave? Fan-fucking-tastic.
“Well…” I paused and played with a string at the cuff of my sleeve. “I have to speak to Henry about that first but, obviously, he needs his rest right now. He’s the one who makes most of the final decisions.” That sounded good…I hope.
“Yes. About Henry… What’s his deal? Something is off about him.”
And there it was. We had barely gotten into thirty seconds of the conversation before she tried to worm all of Henry’s dirty secrets out of me. I sucked in a deep breath and let out a slow, long exhale.
“Henry has had a very rough and traumatic life. He would kill me…” They all looked at me wide-eyed. “Not literally…” I felt I needed to make that clear since Addie had witnessed some of Henry’s milder outbursts. “I meant, if he knew I was telling you this, he would be upset. His mother was murdered in front of him when he was five, and he was placed in an orphanage because his father was nonexistent in his life. He moved in and out of a number of foster homes up until he was a teen. He was a bit of a troublemaker, as you could probably guess. Then they decided to try one more home before they gave up on him. Well, this home was a horrifying experience for him.”
I jumped when I heard Nick’s voice behind me. “Do you think you should be saying all of this without Henry in the room?” He gripped my shoulder.
“It’s fine, Nick. Addie needs to understand what’s going on with him. Anyway, once he made it to the last home, he was severely mentally and physically abused. When I say severely, that’s a mild statement in comparison to what happened to him. He’s scarred, inside and out. He worked hard to save money and, eventually, ran away to the good ol’ U.S. of A. He did what he had to do to get dual citizenship by working his ass off and proving he could be a productive member of this society.”
“Where did you get all those weapons from?” Addie asked.
“We acquired most while traveling. Plus, he and I had a few prior to the outbreak. He’s a weapons enthusiast. A hobby, I guess.” I crossed my fingers under the table that she would buy it. Addie nodded. All the kids stared at me like I was some sort of freak.
“How did you meet?” Rosa asked.
I laughed. “Well… That’s a funny story.”
“So tell it!” Julianna said, full of enthusiasm. “I like funny stories.” She was so excited to hear it, but I had a feeling I would disappoint.
“Okay. Well, I was fired from yet another job, which was not a shocker for me. Then, when I got out to my car, I saw I had a flat tire. I’m hopeless around cars. I’m lucky I can drive one. So, I searched frantically for my phone to call my father. And…surprise, surprise…I couldn’t find it in the bottomless pit of my purse. I squatted onto the sidewalk and just about dumped out my purse when the most amazing creature knelt in front of me and offered assistance. Not with the tire, but with a phone. I was drawn to him. His eyes melted me. He let me use his phone and, of course, my wonderful brother here blew me off because he was out on a date.” Behind me, Nick sighed. “Henry offered to take me to the coffee shop down the street to wait there until a tow truck showed up. So I accepted.” I stopped speaking, everybody’s eyes still focused on me.
“I don’t understand what was funny,” Julianna whispered.
“Well, it’s more an adult humor kind of thing. I guess you wouldn’t really think it was that funny unless you knew us and how typical the incident was,” I added in a very nonchalant tone. Addie sat in silence, staring at me obviously running over the story in her head. I sat quiet, staring back, hoping her bullshit meter didn’t spike.
“And the day you were supposed to get married, all of this craziness began?” Addie asked. I tried to swallow my stomach back down. I gazed up at Nick, who had his head in his hands.
The tears rose to the surface. I could still see, hear, smell, and feel everything from that day. It still felt so fresh. Then I felt gentle hands on my shoulders. Claire whispered, “That day was very devastating for all of us. In the matter of few minutes, we all lost so many people we loved. That’s another reason Henry is the way he is.”
It killed me hearing that because it was the truth. I wilted and rested my forehead on my arms. Hearing her say that made me want to take all Henry’s pain away. Every last fucking bit of it.
“It runs deeper for him than most,” Claire continued. “That’s why, when he gets injured, he acts the way he does. It brings him right back to the moments when he was beaten near death. Like a flashback. I just said he was a big baby to avoid having to tell you all the gory details. Elaina has been trying to get him to seek therapy. We all believe he has post-traumatic stress disorder.”
I sat straight, my face wet with tears. I reached up and touched Claire’s hands. Nick still had his head in his hands. I knew that he was crying, as well.
“Well,” Addie said, “I see that life has been difficult for Henry, as it has been for all of us as of late. He seems to have had much more to deal with than we have, though. He’s a sweet man. You should treasure each and every day with him. Don’t take him for granted.”
Was Addie in the room when Sophie said that exact phrase to me? She paused, trying to work through her own pain.
“My husband and I used to take one another for granted, and now he’s gone. I’ll never get to apologize or see him again. So, please, go take care of that man. He needs you.” When Addie smiled, the relief washed over me. “Feel free to stay as long as you need. It will be cramped, but we will get through it.”
“I can never thank you enough. You have been amazing to us already.” I was so thankful, so relieved that our half-truths were good enough for Addie. I did feel a little guilty, but we couldn’t afford to tell her the truth.
“He brought me back my little girl. It’s the least I can do.” Addie stood and hugged me, Claire, and Nick. “It’ll be okay. Y’all are strong. It will be a long, tough road, but you will persevere.” She grabbed Nick by the cheeks, then gasped.
Shit, I thought. I looked a
t Claire, hoping she could come up with some explanation sooner rather than later.
“Your eyes…” Addie stepped back. “They are the same as Henry’s. I have never seen eyes that color before.”
“Oh.” Claire swished her hand through the air and let out a soft laugh, acting like it were a non-issue. “It’s pretty common up there. I’ve seen them all around.”
“It’s just so odd.”
I softly laughed. “Yeah, we’ve gotten that all our lives growing up. Mostly, people would say ‘Oh, how sad for you to not have the same eyes as your brother’. I have such ordinary blue eyes.” Addie still stared at Nick. “Well, I think I’m going to go check on Henry.” I swiftly walked out of the kitchen, touching Claire’s arm, hoping she understood I was grateful for what she had done.
I knocked on the door, getting no answer. With caution, and a little bit of fear, I pushed open the door. I relaxed when I saw Henry asleep, curled on his side and facing the window. I smiled for a moment until I heard him talking in his sleep, crying out for Sophie.
My heart broke. He relived the nightmare, night after night. I got into bed and snuggled up against his sweaty body, stroking his muscled arm with my fingertips. Then I focused on his hair. It was pretty much out of control by that point, much longer than he ever would like. The brown waves went in directions that defied the laws of physics.
Henry stirred slightly beneath my touch. He rolled over, slow and careful so as not to make himself hurt more than he already did. He opened his eyes, and they grabbed me, pulling me in.
“You were having a bad dream.” I reached up and brushed his hair off his forehead. He glanced away with a shyness that made me feel the warmth within his heart, then he looked back up at me and stroked my cheek, a soft smile crossing his face. It was moments like those that I cherished with him. That was the real Henry.
That Henry was my absolute favorite. He seemed content. I smiled at him when he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. Henry’s cool breath sent chills throughout my entire body, stopping at my core, leaving me begging for him to touch me.
