by Skyla Madi
He groped around for the remote nurses call button. A woman in blue scrubs entered the room less than two minutes later. “You need something for the pain?” She adjusted the IV bag. Mikey nodded. “All right, I’ll be back in a minute.” As the nurse exited the room, the doctor appeared and they almost ran into each other. “Oh, Dr. Slone, I was going to page you. He needs more pain meds.”
“All right, thank you, I’ll take care of it.” When he turned his face looked tight, and fear spiked inside Grace’s stomach.
“Is he—is everything—you said he’d be fine.” God, why couldn’t she relax?
“I’m only here to check on him.” He assessed Mikey’s vitals then put his stethoscope back around his neck. “Heart sounds good, pulse good.” He moved to the bandage and peeked underneath. “Looks good. On a scale of one to ten, how’s your pain level, Mikey?”
Grace adjusted her position on the bed and he hitched a breath. “Sev—eight.”
The doctor took out his cell and made a call, rattling off the name of a drug and its dosage.
Forever passed before a man appeared with a rolling tray of pharmaceuticals. Several needles lined the stainless steel. Grace’s eyes widened. Were all those for Mikey? No…
The man handed one of the vials to the doctor and a packaged needle. She always thought nurses dispensed the medications. What was going on? Sweat dripped down her back. Blackness slowly closed in around her.
“Grace!”
Her vision failed and she blacked out.
When she woke up she was lying on the bed next to Mikey’s, a nurse and Dr. Slone leaning over her. Mikey strained to see her and Brayden stood between the two beds. Her face reddened. She had actually passed out. Needle shock anyone? This had happened to her before, the lightheadedness, but never had she fainted. The nurse put a hand on her shoulder when she tried to sit up.
“Try to relax for a minute.”
“I’m fine,” Grace said.
“Has this happened to you before?” the doctor asked.
“Needle shock. But I’ve never passed out before. First time.”
He took her vitals and seemed satisfied with the results. “All right, you can sit up now. If this happens again I want you to see your physician.”
“Really, I’m fine.”
“Grace…if I…hear you say…that again, I’m going to get out of this…bed,” Mikey warned, his voice wavering.
Brayden looked at him like over-my-dead-body.
“I’m just stressed and seeing all those vials of whatever, needles—wait,” she glanced at the doctor, “did you give him the medication?”
“Yeah, I got…got it.”
Grace stood up then planted her butt back down.
Whoa.
“Can I get some juice or something?”
“You sure can.” The nurse patted her on the arm and left. She returned shortly with a cup of apple juice and gingerbread cookies.
“Thank you.” Grace’s head pounded all over. She waited for the extra people to leave before she dug into her purse for some aspirin.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Brayden asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. Needles freak me out and I forgot how much.”
“So you won’t be getting a tattoo then?” Brayden asked cheekily. “Oh man, Dad, can you handle it?”
Mikey fluttered his eyes in a feeble attempt to roll them. “I think so.”
“Knock knock.” Brad and his wife peeked around the door jamb.
“Can we come in?” Andrea asked. Grace waved them inside. “How’s he doing?” she whispered.
“He’s doing all right,” Grace replied. “Why don’t we ask him?”
Andrea looked at Mikey. “I think he’s asleep.”
“He was talking like a second ago.” Grace looked at her boyfriend. His forehead was creased between the eyebrows. She hated seeing him in so much pain, hated feeling weightless and out of control. She wanted a magic pill to put her life back the way it was before. Change sucked. Her mind began to swim again; she gripped the edge of the bed. The floor doubled, tripled and rotated around. The room distorted.
“What’s wrong with me?” she said aloud without realizing it.
Andrea got in front of her. “What are you thinking about?” Grace shook her head quickly. “Grace, if you need to leave, if this is too much for you, I think Mikey will understand.”
“But I won’t,” Brayden said.
“What?” Grace asked Andrea. “What are you saying? No. I’m not leaving.” For some reason Andrea’s comment woke her up. She wasn’t about to give up on everything she’d worked so hard to overcome? No way.
Mikey moaned in his sleep. Grace went to his side and took his hand. Maybe he sensed her emotions or felt alone, scared like her.
“I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
He settled again.
“Me neither, Dad,” Brayden piped up.
A noise by the door made everyone except Mikey look in that direction. Grace’s father stood outside the room. He waited for an invitation. Brad nodded, which apparently was enough of an invite for him.
“He’s asleep, so if you’re here to interview him, you’ll have to come back tomorrow,” Grace told him.
“Can’t a father check on his daughter’s fiancé?”
Andrea and Brad’s heads snapped in her direction.
“You’re engaged?”
“No, no…I only said that because I didn’t think they’d let me up here otherwise. Clearly, I was wrong.”
“That’s what I figured, because my Gracie wouldn’t get engaged without telling her ol’ man.”
“You know me well.”
“Gracie, I’m sorry honey.”
“Don’t be, you were just looking out for me,” Grace said.
“No, I mean for the other thing.”
“Oh, well, I’m still pissed about that.” She feigned looking stern. He approached her and they embraced. “Promise me you’ll consider asking Natalie out.” She patted him on the back before letting go.
“I hear he’s going to be okay.”
Grace wiped her tears with the tissue Brayden handed her. “Thanks. You’re really a great kid, you know that?”
“Uh huh. Someone has to be the adult around here.”
Everyone awake laughed, including Brayden.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
Harry
The door off Natalie’s kitchen was usually unlocked when she was home. This morning Harry found the house locked up tight. He even tried the front entrance. He could have sworn he saw her pull into the driveway earlier. Not that he’d been spying on her or anything. No, he wouldn’t do that.
He forced himself to ring her doorbell instead of running away like a pansy. The past couple of weeks weighed on his mind. Over and over he’d worked out how he was going to ask her out.
His palms sweated. Harry swallowed hard and pushed the button. His phone rang in his pocket.
Christ.
When he saw the number he turned around and answered the call.
“Yeah, this is Harry,” he clipped. The door whooshed opened but he was too rapt in listening to the shit the other person was saying to him to greet Natalie.
“What!” He cursed under his breath. “I can’t believe it. Is he awake yet? Medically induced coma, I see. Fuck…we’ll see.”
He’s gonna wish he was never born.
“Yeah, I hear you. Keep me in the loop if anything changes.” He stood facing the road after he ended the call. “Jesus. Christ.” He looked to the sky and ran his palms down his face.
The screen door creaked as Natalie eased it open. “What’s going on?” she asked, stepping outside.
“That fucker survived.”
“Who?”
“Cody Pollard, or whatever the fuck his damn name is.”
She paled. “What…is he—”
“Oh, he’s in ICU, but still breathing. Doctors say he’s going to be paralyzed.”
; “Good, he’ll never be able to hurt anyone ever again.”
Harry sneered. “That’s not good enough.”
“He hurt your daughter, of course you wish him dead,” Natalie said. “But sometimes less than what you want is okay too. Sometimes it is good enough.”
His gaze met hers. What was she really talking about here? “Well, maybe less than what you want isn’t good enough.”
“What are you talking about? Revenge?”
“What? No. I was talking about us, Nat. Us.”
“There’s an us?” She folded her arms across her chest. “There’s no us.”
“Yeah, there is…” He stepped closer to her. Very close. Natalie uncrossed her arms. His hand found one of hers and he put it up to his lips. She blushed.
She yanked her hand out of his grasp. “Harry Hunter, quit teasing me.”
“I’m not.” His words came out harsher than he’d intended. She spun on her heel and marched back toward the house. The door squeaked as it swung open. Harry caught the door and followed her inside. “What’s wrong? I thought you wanted me, us?”
“I do!”
“Then what’s your problem?”
“Are you going to keep seeing your sluts?”
“No, only you. You’re the only slut I want. I mean, the only one I want.”
“I knew what you meant!” Her eyes flared.
Harry neared her; she stepped back until her backside hit the wall in the foyer. “I’m going to kiss you now, is that okay?”
Her eyes focused on his mouth and her lips parted. “Ah, what about Annie?”
“What about her?”
“She’s…”
“This isn’t about her. I want you.”
Harry waited for her to nod and then pressed his lips to hers.
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
Grace
Mikey came home from the hospital two weeks after his surgery. Grace smiled at him from the other end of the couch. Brayden had already gone to bed.
“So what’s this you and my son have planned?” He smiled crookedly.
“He wants it to be a surprise. He wants to remember his mother in a way that will make others happy too.” She wanted to tell him, but promised Brayden she wouldn’t say anything.
“He said that?”
“Not in so many words, but he knows how you felt about her. He’s not an idiot.”
Mikey snorted. “I know. I wish he didn’t.”
Grace slid over next to him. “I think a part of him understands and he’ll figure it out someday or…not.” She took his hand. “It doesn’t matter, Mikey, at least not to me. I didn’t know her and from the sounds of it, we wouldn’t have been friends.”
Mikey chuckled and squeezed her hand. Grace could tell he wanted to say more but decided to leave whatever was on his mind unsaid. They enjoyed the background noise the TV provided, though neither of them watched the movie.
“Why did you come back? We never really talked about that.”
“What Brayden said that morning at breakfast? That I loved you? He was right.” She shrugged.
“So, um, are you saying you love me?”
She smiled. “No, I’m saying that’s what Brayden said. Yes, silly, I love you.”
“How’d that happen? What’s wrong with you?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you love me?”
“Hey, I’m just asking.”
She shoved his hand back at him. He winced and sucked in a breath between his teeth. “Ow—oh.”
“Oh crap, are you all right? I didn’t mean—”
“It’s all right,” he eked out barely above a whisper. “I still love you.”
Carefully, she leaned over him and kissed his lips.
“That’s not what hurts, but I like it.” He wasn’t breathing normally and his eyes were closed.
“You’re in pain.”
“Don’t…care. I want…you.”
Grace shook her head. “You’re incredible, you know that? Incredible.”
“I get it. I love you. Now kiss me.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
Harry
A picture posted on the six o’clock news of the man dubbed the tattoo killer because of his connection to Ink Addiction tattoo parlor. Mikey’s business received a spike with people wanting a tattoo from the shop a serial killer frequented. Go figure.
Harry hadn’t wanted to post a picture of the killer and give him any more fame except the guy refused to talk and give up his real name. Admitting defeat was something Harry disliked. He didn’t have a lot of hope they would discover Cody’s true identity without the use of a tip line.
God help us.
The designated email box flooded with people claiming they knew something concrete but the leads never panned out. He checked the folder one last time before leaving for the day, scrolling through the long list of subject titles.
His chair creaked as he sat up straighter when one of the emails caught his attention. In the middle of the bullshit emails, one stood out.
I KNOW CODY POLLARD
Harry immediately called the phone number included in the email. Mary Williams answered on the first ring.
“This is Detective Hunter, we received your email regarding Cody Pollard.”
“Is he…is he all right?” she asked, her voice cracking. “The news didn’t say much.”
Harry didn’t answer the question, but asked if she would come down to the station.
“Am I in trouble?”
“Just come down, we have a few questions to ask you.”
Mary showed up thirty minutes later all teary-eyed. Harry brought her into an interrogation room. She started sobbing the second he closed the door. He went back to the squad room and asked a female officer to come back into the room with him.
“You said you know Cody Pollard?”
“Yes. He’s my boyfriend,” Mary said, fiddling the gold cross around her neck.
Harry had to wonder why she bothered to email. Maybe morality over loyalty, given her necklace. “We have reason to believe Cody isn’t his real name.” Harry didn’t want to come out and say they had no clue as to his real name. However, the bastard was impervious to interrogation techniques. Harry had never seen anything like it. They’d tried everything to make him crack.
Mary blinked at him and nodded after a long moment of staring at the table. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card, her fingers trembling. Harry took the card and read it.
Cyber Systems Corp.
Lance Woolley, Senior Programmer
“I f-found this card on the floor in my house after the last time he was over. I was going to give the card back when I saw him again. I didn’t know if he needed it or not.”
“Thank you, Miss Williams.” Harry was willing to bet Lance was Cody’s real name.
“Is he all right?”
“He’s been charged with homicide.”
Tears fell from her face. Harry felt sorry for the girl and at the same time relieved that she wouldn’t be Lance’s next victim. “Is there anything else you can tell me about your boyfriend?”
“He had the name Jennifer tattooed on his arm.” She turned her wrist over. “Cody” had been inked on the inside of her wrist. Harry smirked involuntarily and would wager Mikey had been the artist.
Harry already knew about Cody’s arm but still shivered as he pictured the tattoo. Cynthia’s name was absent and it occurred to him that Grace’s name could have made it on that bastard’s skin. Good thing he hadn’t eaten recently. His stomach lurched.
Mary Williams left twenty minutes later, lucky to have survived even if she couldn’t quite appreciate it yet.
CHAPTER SEVENTY
Mikey
Five weeks after the stabbing, Mikey assembled as many people as he could to support Brayden. He looked around at all the faces and his eyes watered. Brad and Andrea, Davis, his neighbor from across the street, Harry and Natalie, and of course, Grace, had come to the Botanical P
ark Gardens to help his son pay tribute to his mother.
Brayden and Grace planned the whole thing together and he’d also found out she’d paid for everything. This bothered him somewhat. When he’d insisted on paying her back, she proceeded to argue with him. He threw his hands up and told her he’d pay her back in one form or another.
Although the affair was supposed to be casual, that didn’t stop the ladies from overdressing. Mikey glanced down at the t-shirt and jeans he wore. He held Grace’s hand as they walked to the newly expanded section of the park.
Brayden ran ahead of the adults. When he realized everyone lagged behind he stopped. “Come on…this way.”
“We’re coming. What’s the hurry?” Mikey asked. Brayden only stamped his feet.
“He’s excited and wants to show everybody. Humor him and try to relax,” Grace said.
“I’m relaxed.”
Grace gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Mikey spun around in alarm.
She laughed. “See? Not relaxed.”
“That’s not funny. You know I’m still fucked up about what happened.”
Harry gave Grace a disapproving look too. He’d reacted in the same manner as Mikey.
Her face reddened. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. You’re right, I am on edge.” Mikey sighed deeply.
Grace kissed his cheek. “Forgive me,” she whispered next to his mouth. “I know you want this to be over.”
“I don’t like seeing my son upset.” Although, Brayden seemed anything but upset. He looked happy to be celebrating Cynthia’s life.
Brayden finally stopped at the picnic pavilion. The long tables were covered in linen tablecloths. The smell of garlic and chocolate reached Mikey’s nose. Brad and Andrea had Cocoa’s cater a dinner? Now tears welled and threatened to spill over. He loved his friends. Mikey opened his arms and Brayden ran into him.
“I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too.”
