by Anna Paige
When I closed in on Ali's 'room', I nearly ran into Vanessa as she made her exit, clutching a tear-soaked tissue. She and Ali weren't close, having only met the one time, so I had a hunch that her tears were mostly about Gran. I pulled her into a hug and softly shushed her, telling her everything would be alright. Whether Gran had gotten there five minutes ago or five hours ago, there was nothing she could do to help. None of us could do anything but wait. Ali had to do this on her own, and she was going to come through with flying colors.
I had no doubt in my mind that she'd recover twice as fast as expected, it was just the way Ali was made.
Overachiever to the core.
I CAME AWAKE slowly, feeling disoriented. Faint remnants of my dream lingered at the edge of my awareness, images of flames and smoke, and the sound of Ali's screams. I didn't get to her in time in the dream, the door was too strong, like steel that I battered myself against until I was broken and bloodied. Instead of saving her, I feebly pounded on the oak barrier with bloody hands as I listened to her screams.
The soothing sensation of fingers running through my hair made me want to drift back to sleep. I'd dozed on and off all night, each time fighting flame-filled nightmares as I lay huddled in the waiting room, letting everyone get their turns visiting. But I wasn't in the waiting room as the warm hand stroked my disheveled hair, lulling me back into a warm floating state somewhere between consciousness and oblivion.
When I realized where I was, I sat up with a jolt, surprised when Ali's green eyes greeted me. They'd taken the breathing tube out hours ago, but Ali had remained unconscious. I'd fallen asleep slumped over the edge of her hospital bed, her scraped hand held carefully in mine.
Seeing her shining eyes blinking back at me, I launched myself at her, folding her into a tight hug that had my arm screaming in protest. She gasped and coughed in my arms, and I released her immediately, embarrassed at my impulsive actions. "Sorry, baby." I scanned her face for signs of discomfort. "Are you in pain? Do you need me to call the nurse?"
She tried to speak but only emitted a jagged croaking sound, wincing and putting a hand to her throat.
"It's okay. Don't talk. I'll see about getting you something to drink." I pressed a chaste kiss to her parched lips. "Your parents are here. Talia, Gran, Spence, Vanessa, Teach — the whole gang. Even Brant flew in from Charleston. I need to let them know you're awake. Who do you want to see first?" I paused. "Or would you rather they come back later?"
She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes at the mention of all the people gathered here for her.
I cupped her cheek and smiled. "We love you, Ali. Where else would we all be?" I tipped her chin up and kissed her again. "I'm thinking you either want your dad or Talia first, which is it?"
She mouthed the word 'Dad' and I stood to leave, excited to tell everyone she was awake. Her gaze fell on the sling across my chest, and her hand shot out, stopping me. She raised a brow and pointed at it, expecting an explanation. I shrugged my good shoulder and told her not to worry before setting out to find the others.
As soon as I told the packed waiting room the good news, everyone jumped up at once, vying for the first spot at her side. I chuckled and held up my hand, staving off the stampede. "Whoa, whoa. Not all at once." I surveyed the crowd and pointed. "Jeffrey, you're up first." Everyone seemed to respect the decision, well, everyone except Ali's mom who scoffed indignantly before plopping down on the industrial looking couch in the far corner, the furthest she could get from her ex-husband.
Holden had been noticeably absent, allegedly downstairs taking care of important business all night. Eileen, Ali's mom, went on and on about how inconvenienced they were by the need to return to Virginia, saying her husband was repairing the damage done by their hasty departure.
I didn't buy that for a second, though. He was avoiding my partners and me — and for damn good reason.
He may have also been avoiding Ali's dad. From what I'd gathered, there was no love lost there either.
Jeffrey smiled as he approached. "Good call, son. I was going no matter what, and I'm sure you remember what I said about fighting dirty." He winked and tugged me out the door with him. "I also remember saying something about kicking your ass if you didn't get checked out. She's awake... now go do what I told you." His tone brokered no argument, so I grudgingly left Ali in the capable hands of our family.
Our family.
Odd as it was to think of them all that way, it fit.
NOTE TO SELF: Refusing pain medication when someone is forcibly snapping your bone back into place is a bad fucking idea. Especially when it takes multiple tries. If the flash of white light I saw was any indication, the bastards tried to kill me.
The only good news was that the pain was greatly reduced once the bone was back in its proper place. One more round of x-rays to be sure it was seated properly, a fist full of ibuprofen, and I was on my way back to Ali's room.
I'd just exited the elevator on her floor when Spencer rounded the corner and gave me a cautious glance. "You okay, shithead?"
"It's nothing a few weeks in a sling won't cure but next time I'm driving the damn truck through the front of the house. Resetting? Yeah, not fun." I cocked a brow as he fell into step beside me. "Remember those old action movies where the hero would dislocate his shoulder and then reset it by slamming it into the nearest wall?" He gave me a sly smile and nodded. "Yeah, I used to think that was so cool when I was a kid. Know what I think now? Bull. Shit."
He laughed briefly and stopped, putting a hand on my uninjured arm. "I'm glad you're alright, but I kind of wish they would have doped you up."
"What the hell for?"
He glanced down the hall, an unreadable expression on his face. "Because Lauren just showed up asking to see you and Ali."
Well, fuck. Maybe a little Valium or something wouldn't have been a bad idea
Luckily, everyone else had gone down to the cafeteria before Lauren's arrival, so she hadn't had a chance to alienate our family. Spencer headed off to join them, trusting me to handle the situation with tact, if only for Ali's sake. I entered the waiting room and wordlessly motioned for Lauren to follow me. I resented her showing up here, but Ali insisted on hearing what she had to say. One look at Lauren's subdued expression told me I didn't want to hear a damn thing from her. If she was here to start trouble, she'd fucking regret it. Now wasn't the time for her attention-seeking.
The sound of her footfalls behind me grated on my nerves, and I was on the verge of sending her away despite Ali's wishes when she cleared her throat and said, "Thank you for this. I know you both hate my guts, but I wouldn't be here if it weren't important." Something in her tone gave me pause. She sounded... remorseful.
I turned to look at her, but she dropped her head and stepped into Ali's newly-appointed room ahead of me.
Not liking that she was standing so close to Ali, I circled the bed and took Ali's hand, pinning Lauren with a stoic look. Ali squeezed my hand but otherwise ignored me as she spoke to the woman who had been making her miserable for months. Her voice was hoarse and gravelly when she spoke. "Hello, Lauren. Spencer said you wanted to speak to us." Her tone was cool but civil. "We've had a long night so I'd appreciate it if you could make this quick."
Lauren didn't flinch at the insinuation that she wasn't welcome. Instead, she dropped her head slightly and nodded. "I understand. I just wanted to come here to let you know it wasn't me."
Ali's frown matched my own.
She was really coming here to discuss the break-in now? I narrowed my gaze on her and asked, "Don't you think this could have waited? The shit happened almost two months ago. We already asked you about where you were, and you lied."
She shook her head, looking between Ali and I. "No. I mean the fire. I just wanted to make sure you both were okay and tell you I had nothing to do with it."
Ali grasped my hand tighter, and a flicker of fear crossed her face. "Why would you think anyone would accuse you?" She turned to me
. "Wasn't the fire an accident?"
"I haven't heard anything from the fire marshal, but I assumed so." I watched Lauren as she dropped into the chair by the bed, looking apologetic for the first time since I'd met her. "Why would you think otherwise, Lauren?"
She glanced between Ali and me, "Because of Keith."
You could have heard a fucking pin drop as we processed what she was saying. What his name implied.
I leaned forward, jaw clenched as I growled, "What would Keith have to do with the fire? And how the fuck would you know about it?" I had to let go of Ali's hand to keep from crushing it. A white-hot rage was boiling up inside me as the scenario in my head played out.
"Because I've been helping him."
Ali jerked back with an angry gasp, causing another wave of coughs that looked as painful as they sounded. Even Lauren reached up in an attempt to soothe her before I pushed her hand away and barked, "Don't you fucking touch her." Ignoring our uninvited guest for the moment, I picked up the foam cup beside the bed and offered Ali a sip of water. She sipped and coughed, sipped and coughed, until finally the spasms stopped.
When she settled back against the pillows, she looked over at Lauren, a wounded expression on her face. "Do you really hate me that much? I know you were never particularly fond of me, but to team up with him?" Her voice broke in a way that had nothing to do with her injuries. "Why?"
Lauren raised her arm and looked as though she wanted to reach for Ali's hand but thought better of it, dropping it back to her lap. "I don't hate you." She looked Ali in the eye and shrugged. "Okay, maybe I hated you a little. You had everything, and you acted like you didn't want it. Back in college I watched your rich mother climb out of a Bentley and beg you to go celebrate your twenty-first birthday with her. You shot her down and walked away like she was nothing. That's when I started really hating you. Before that, you were just annoying, soaking up all Teach's attention but when I saw you do that, I hated you." She looked up, eyes red as if she was fighting not to cry. "Some people would give anything for the chance to have a mother who cared that much."
Ali's face was unreadable. I wasn't sure whether she was ready to choke the woman or hold her fucking hand. She didn't comment, didn't tell Lauren how wrong she was about her parentage. Instead, she simply asked, "And Keith? How did that happen?"
For the first time since I'd known her, Lauren looked afraid. "He looked me up around the time you came here. He remembered me from college and knew I was Teach's niece. I didn't think much of getting a friend request from him but when he asked for my number, I had to admit that I was curious. Mostly because I knew the two of you had been together for years."
She sighed and gave a thin-lipped smile. "He was charming at first, we talked on the phone a lot, met once or twice for drinks." She raised a brow at Ali. "He liked to talk about how horrible you were to him and how he wanted to get even. Eventually, we decided that undermining you at the diner would be a fun way to make you miserable. He said you hated to admit mistakes, so he suggested I screw with the books, payroll, ordering, whatever you were in charge of so it made you look incompetent."
I leveled a lethal stare in her direction. "But you didn't stick to the diner, did you?"
She wouldn't look at me, knew there was no sympathy to be found with me, so she gave Ali a pleading look. "I didn't want to do that. By then, I didn't have a choice."
Now anger radiated off of Ali in waves. "No choice?" she croaked out. "No choice? Do you have any idea how much damage you've caused? Not just the things you've destroyed, things I can never replace, but what you did to Talia? How can you sleep at night?"
Lauren searched Ali's face, genuinely confused. "Talia? What did I do to Talia?"
Ali sneered, gripping the thin sheet in her fists. "The frame you broke from her bedroom? Did you notice anything other than my face? Did you not see the little girl in the picture with us? The only picture of that little girl in the whole apartment?" Tears streaked down her face as she shook. "The only picture Talia had here of the daughter she buried."
Seeing Ali's pain, and remembering Talia clutching that same picture in the waiting room the night before had my own eyes burning. The look on Lauren's face was one of shame and devastation. For once, I didn't think she was acting. She was genuinely remorseful, if only for Talia's sake.
"Oh, God. I didn't know." Her face crumpled, and tears streaked down her cheeks. "I swear, I didn't know. Keith was blackmailing me, and I only did what I did to keep him quiet." She wrung her hands and stared at the floor, repeating, "I swear, I didn't know. I remember her being pregnant back in college but I assumed the kid didn't live with her, like shared custody or something. I had no idea."
"No, I'm sure you didn't but you still knew what you were doing was wrong." I refused to feel sorry for her. "So, what did Keith have on you? Catch you out stealing puppies?"
She shook her head, wiping away guilty tears and meeting my gaze. "Not to be a bitch, but if I wanted to talk about it, he wouldn't have been able to use it against me now would he?"
"So you set out to destroy innocent people to save your own ass? Why am I not surprised?"
"I never said I was protecting myself. I'm not that narcissistic, despite what you must think of me." She wasn't being snarky, she was serious.
I'd only ever seen her act like she gave a damn about one other person besides herself, one person to whom she was close enough that she would want to protect them.
Ali reached the same conclusion that I had, whispering, "Teach."
Much as I hated it, I could see the truth in Lauren's eyes when she nodded, swiping at the tears rolling down her face. "I had to choose, and I chose him." Her eyes shifted, and she stared out the window, seeming far away. "I know you think I'm some kind of monster, and I probably deserve that, but I'd never intentionally set out to hurt anyone. I did what I had to do to save my uncle. He's the only person in my life that matters anymore, and I wasn't putting him at risk."
Touching as her impassioned speech was, I needed fucking answers. "So, you think Keith started the fire? Why? How did things go from ransacking the apartment to attempted murder?" I just didn't see him having the balls to do something like that.
"I don't know for sure, but the things he was trying to get me to do were getting scarier and scarier."
"Scary how?"
She looked from my shoulder to Ali's injured leg, and dropped her gaze to the floor. "He wanted me to tamper with vehicles, slash tires and stuff like that. Then he asked if I knew what a brake line looked like..." She trailed off, frowning. "That's when I told him I was done. I refused to do anything that could physically harm anyone. He threatened to use what he knew, but I could tell he wasn't ready to give up his leverage. He thought he could coerce me into it, so he backed off for a while."
"And then?"
"He tried again, telling me that it was just meant to scare you and no one would get hurt. I told him to fuck off. He made a few threats and hung up." She looked me in the eye for the first time since she sat down. "That was three days ago. I haven't heard from him since."
Ali looked up at me, real fear in her eyes. "What if...?"
I ran my hand over my jaw, scraping along the stubble that had accumulated there as I paced the floor beside her bed. Had I pushed Keith too far? Was it possible that he'd wanted to torch the house to get even with me? I certainly couldn't rule it out.
Lauren sat with her back straight, and her eyes downcast, looking resigned to her fate as she picked at the hem of her skirt. I rounded the bed to stand beside her chair then thought better of towering over her like that, so I sat on the edge of Ali's bed. I still needed more information from this woman and intimidation was a good way to assure that I got nothing further. I had to play this very carefully. "Aren't you worried that telling us about this will put Teach in more danger than he already is? Why risk it?"
She looked past me to speak directly to Ali. "Because the fire scared the shit out of me. The thought that you
could have died."
"Because you didn't want to be charged as an accessory to murder?" I asked.
"No, because she doesn't deserve to die for leaving an abusive piece of shit." She cast a scathing glance in my direction before refocusing on Ali. "I had no idea what you went through with him until he told me about the night Clay helped you outside the hospital." She swallowed thickly, giving Ali a sympathetic smile. "He told me what he'd done to you, tried to make it out to be your fault. I wasn't in a position to argue the point with him, but it made me physically ill to see the sickening gleam in his eye when he talked about how he hurt you. It was like he got off on remembering it."
An involuntary snarl escaped me, and she jerked in her chair. "Sorry. I guess you didn't need to know that." She timidly looked up at me. "And I'm sorry for what I did to you both that day in the parking lot. I know you think I enjoyed trying to destroy your relationship, but I didn't. And I think what you did, trying to save a stranger from a bad situation, was one of the most heroic things I've ever heard." She sniffed and turned to smile at Ali. "The world needs more people like that. That's why Teach is so important to me. He was my hero when I needed one and I won't let anyone hurt him because of that."
Ali reached out her hand on the bed beside me, and I started to take it in mine before I realized it wasn't my touch she sought. Stunned, I looked down at her slender fingers, an offering I wasn't sure Lauren deserved. Ali's eyes never left Lauren's, didn't waver or show the least hint of hesitation.
I watched from the corner of my eye as Lauren leaned forward and haltingly reached out her hand, obviously as disbelieving as me. Their hands joined together, and Ali placed her other hand over Lauren's in a gesture of comfort. "Lauren, I owe you an apology, too. I should never have slapped you like that."
Lauren shook her head vigorously, black strands flying. "No, you don't owe me anything. I deserved it."
"You're wrong," Ali said in her gravelly voice. "No one deserves to be hit. Not ever. And I of all people should never have forgotten that. I didn't deserve what Keith did to me, and you didn't deserve what I did to you. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize."
