Etched in Glass

by Nyxie Marrs

  “I’m sorry. If there’s anything we can do, let me know.” I nod. Like there’s anything that can be done to help Vega right now. If there was, I’d be doing it already. I head back to see Elara. Damnit, Red should do this. I’m sure his soothing voice would be better to hear than my emotional try at one. I stop and consider it. Anya went home hours ago. I assume Red was too worried about my state of mind to leave me here alone.

  I text him that I’ll be watching Elara, and will stay with Vega. That I’ll let him know what room she’s put in. He should go home and rest, I’ll be fine.

  *​​*​​*

  “Miles.” Red nudges me.

  “She up?” I sit up straight and frantically look around. I fell asleep?

  After talking with Elara last night, I came into Vega’s room. I watched this selfless woman recover after taking a beating that nearly killed her to save those women. This strong woman who was able to take out two men and endure what she did.

  “No Miles. Not yet. You should go home. Shower, get some actual rest.”

  “No. I can’t leave her.” I adjust my posture and rub the sleep off of my face. Then look to her. Hoping she will wake up the longer I stare.

  “Miles. I’ll stay with her if you’d like. Anya's talking to Elara anyways, might be a while.” He seems amused at how well Elara and Anya get along. It’s nice they have each other to talk to.

  “Red.”

  “Go on Miles. I’ll call you if anything changes.”

  Chapter 53

  Vega

  “You sick fuck.” I weakly say.

  My words make him laugh. Makes his kicks stronger, and the hate in his eyes darker. My body gives in, I can’t take much more of this. It’s getting hard to breathe and I can feel myself weakening. That first throw into the wall really knocked me down. By the third time, I don’t know how much more I can take. I hear the cracks in my chest, along with the pain. When the kicks started, I feel my ribs give in with each swift contact. Failing to protect me. I know it won’t be long. My body fades, my muscles turn heavy as I try to cling to the bed. Those women better have taken off. There’s one more swift kick into my chest before I hear a loud bang.

  “Fuck.” I nearly scream as my body jumps and I sit up. Where the hell-? Jesus, what the hell happened? I can’t focus my vision, I can’t see a damn thing, hell I can’t think. My head is pounding the faster my heart beats. My breath escapes me before I have time to replenish my oxygen.

  A large hand rests on my leg. No, no, no. No. Fuck no. I throw my fist and make whatever contact I can despite the hellish pain.

  “Vega.” That pained voice is familiar. The deep pitch invades my thoughts and stops me. “Vega?” His soft voice hits me.

  “Miles?” My dry and unsure voice doesn’t sound like me at all.

  My blood rushes and a small beeping noise corresponds to the quickness of each beat going through my heart. A sudden rush of pain burns inside my abdomen, and my head pounds, keeping up with the thumping in my chest. I lay back down and press my hand against my head as hard as I can.

  “Fuck.” I whisper, as a doctor hurries in.

  He touches my face and pulls my eyelid open, shining a light in my eye, and asking me a question I just can’t focus on. “Do that again asshole and you’ll regret it.” I mutter as a warm chuckle meets my ears. Miles.

  “Ms. Carson.”

  My body jolts with worry. “Elara! Those women. Did they-.”

  His hand grazes my face. “They made it, Vega. You saved them. Elara will be in shortly. Listen to the doctor, okay?” His soft voice of his relaxes me, his eyes water as he attempts to smile.

  “Ms. Carson. You’ve had some complications. Internal bleeding, a few cracked ribs. The bleeding on your brain was minimal. Should be no lasting damage. We’ll run a few more tests, but I’m confident you’ll make a full recovery. Gave us a few scares since your initial surgery.” Bleeding on the brain? Initial surgery? How many damn surgeries have I had?

  I look to Miles who is trying his hardest to remain calm and forcing tears back while he holds my hand, but his quivering lips tell me he can’t hold back for long. What the hell happened? I can’t even hear the rest of what this doctor says as I watch Miles. Once the doctor sets foot outside this room, he wasted no time to briefly place his hot lips onto mine.

  “Okay. What the hell happened?” I quietly ask.

  He sits and scoots the chair as close to me as possible. Holding my hand and staring at me for a few seconds.

  “Case closed?” Are those tears?

  “Okay. I get that part. What the hell kind of 'scare' was it this doctor mentioned?” I refuse to relax. I need to know what the hell happened while I’ve been here.

  “Um. Well. You needed emergency surgery as soon as I got you in here. Later the next day, there was more bleeding so you had to go through another. Said your ribs will be fine in a few more days.”

  He’s shaking. His hand on me is shaking and he looks worried. Or relieved. Hell, is it possible to look both worried and relieved at the same time? Because that’s what I’m seeing on his face right now.

  “Elara?” His light laugh at my question confuses me. What the hell type of emotions are running through him right now? I don’t need confusion, I need straight answers. He looks at me like he knows my thoughts.

  “She just went to grab us coffee with Anya.” He puts his soft, subtle charm on and smirks.

  “Anya? Is she okay? What happened Miles? I can take it.” I need to fill in the blanks I’m currently having.

  “I don’t want to go there. At least not right now, Vega. Yeah? Like I said, you’re unpredictable and that scares me.” He squeezes my hand.

  I take a second to look over his disheveled appearance, wrinkled clothing, and a hint of darkness under his eyes making the redness stand out. “When’s the last time you went home? Not that I’m complaining, that scruff is actually looking pretty good, but you look like you need some damn sleep.” He kisses me again.

  “Sleeping beauty? Or what the hell am I witnessing here, Miles?”

  Her voice. The second I hear her voice I push Miles off quickly to see Elara. Tears immediately found their way down my cheeks and I can’t stop. I sit up on the edge of my bed ignoring the pain and she hurries to me. Wrapping her arms around me and crying. Her body doesn’t feel as thin as she was. She has a lot more power in this hug than the last.

  “How long have I been in here?” I cry into her shoulder. For her to gain this much strength, it must have been a while.

  She lets me go. “Too damn long, Vega. Did you know Miles made me move into his house? Said something about our apartment not being safe anymore. All your things were already there too. Care to explain?” Her eyes move to Miles for a second then back to me.

  “Anya, how long?” I look to her as she takes small, careful steps towards me.

  “Too long. Like Elara said.” She wraps her arms around me. Crap. What went on? Why are these two backing each other up?

  “Three weeks actually. Well, about nineteen days, but who’s really counting?” He walks over to the side of the bed and sits next to me. His arm grazes my back sending a warmth up my body.

  “Am I glad I don’t remember all of it? I mean. I remember telling everyone to get the hell out of there-. Oh, no.” Those missing thoughts come back as I place my hand to my head for a few seconds. I look at my hands, red marks remain on one hand and deeper red marks on the other. With what appear to be scars on my arms. Unfortunately, now I remember. Now the images of that night rush to me. At least my head and abdomen are the only things that ache. Most of everything else has healed.

  Miles puts an arm on me and pulls me into him while he stares at them. Damnit. I can see the uncomfortable look on their faces. Miles seems to be having difficulty sharing time with me right now.

  “We’re going to come back. I’ll um. Yeah.” Elara says shyly as her and Anya walk out. I hope Miles explained to her a few things that happened while I w
ent crazy looking for her.

  “You okay, Vega?” That charming voice is back with a vengeance, and it’s making me relax.

  “I’m fine. Now. A few fuzzy details, but I’m remembering a few things. Sorry to worry you like that.” His arm tightens on me.

  “Worry me?” A small wry laugh escapes him. “Vega, it damn well better not happen again.”

  “Well, I’m fine now. So what questions did Elara have for you? I can imagine she was confused a bit. Where’s Redmond? How long has Elara been out of the hospital? How are the-.” He stops me with a light kiss.

  “Just calm down. We’ll get to all of that, one at a time. You need to relax.” He makes me lay back. “The other women are fine.” He says steadily. “Elara spent about a week and a half in here. Redmond is out doing a few things. And I’ve been terrified out of my mind waiting for you to wake up.” He grabs my hand and rubs my arm.

  “What happened?” By the look on his face I can see it’s something he doesn’t want to talk about. It must have been bad if I’ve been in here unconscious for three weeks.

  “Well, all the women spoke about your last conversation with them. Sounded like a goodbye talk.” He glares at me. He’s not happy about that. What was I supposed to do? They needed out of there and I was their only hope.

  “I ran into them as I was trying to find you. Scared the hell out of them because it was so dark outside. Dante put Rocky in his place at the last body we found.” He pauses. That’s a nervous pause. I don’t like that look.

  “Thirty-two looked a lot like you.”

  I remain silent. There’s nothing I can say to that. All I can do is hold onto his hand as I see those tears.

  “You took two men out.” A short smile from him, but I’ll take it. “One was Officer James Miller, and the others were friends, Allen was a new recruit, and Paul.” I can’t stop the shiver in my body as he says that bastard’s name.

  A feeling of dread and hate engulf my thoughts as the bits of information I remember creep in. “I was too late getting to you. After I shot him, I realized you were unresponsive. It took forever for help to get there.” He’s shaking as he thinks about this.

  “Miles. You saved me. Yet again.” Now I’m starting to cry.

  “You need to stop putting your ass in danger. I swear my heart breaks each time. Damn near killing me with this last one.” He kisses my hand and smiles. Holding on tighter, he leans in for another long kiss that was interrupted earlier. Once he pulls away I hesitate on what I need to say.

  “Um. James mentioned Rocky. That Paul knew? Or his brother?” Another shiver of dread runs through me as I try to remember. Miles is pissed. “He was the man I rescued Holly from. I think that’s what he said. He sure didn’t look like the asshole I beat up.”

  “I will take care of that, Vega. Guaranteed.” I’ve missed that growl and how it hits my body. What’s wrong with me?

  “Miles.” His aggression fades and a softness comes back to his eyes. “I may not have handled things well between us. I’m-.”

  An ear to ear grin forms on my face as Redmond knocks and enters before I can finish that thought. Miles lowers his head and takes in a deep breath. Not sure if he’s trying to calm his nerves or refrain from killing Redmond for interrupting once again. I chuckle as Miles looks to Redmond, who then lost that soft smile on his face.

  “Damnit.” He walks in and sits in the chair opposite of Miles. “Well I wanted to see Vega.” He hands me the four flowers he’s holding.

  “Aw. Thanks, Redmond. That’s very sweet.” I reply as a small warmth creep over my cheeks. Miles lets out a frustrated breath bringing my attention back to him, with that possessive, and damn jealous look in his eyes.

  “Seriously, Miles.” I look back to Redmond.

  “How are you feeling?” Ha. He has the nerve to use that soft voice after the look Miles just gave him.

  “Better. Thanks.”

  “So, Anya and Elara seem to be getting along. They’ve been out to lunch a few times. Elara’s even gotten her to go shopping. When they’re not in here, of course, but no one wants to disturb Miles. He’s basically stood guard over you this whole time.” He smiles.

  “Yeah. I figured that.” I run my hand over the small scruff on his handsomely rugged face and smile.

  “Okay, you two. I’ll see you later.” He became uncomfortable quickly. “I’m going to take the girls to lunch. We’ll be a while. Yeah?” Is that a hint? Indicating it will be a while so we shouldn’t have any interruptions.

  Chapter 54

  Red

  “So. Red.” Elara hesitates.

  “Yeah?” If she’s anything like Vega, I’m screwed with what’s coming next.

  “How was Vega? You and Miles helped her, right? She didn’t do anything stupid, did she?” Did she? That woman did a lot of things while she searched.

  “Maybe she should-.”

  “She won’t tell me. I know that. What did she do?” She looks to Anya. Anya has no idea what Vega did either. Now both of them are waiting for my reply. Those strong looks are intimidating.

  “You didn’t hear this from me. She scouted bars for the abductor. Only thought there was one to lure in. Miles saved her from three bar fights since he met her.” Elara laughs and slightly covers her face. Guess that’s not surprising if you know Vega well. Anya looks floored and shocked. “Basically moved her in with him when she was slipped something one night. Drove herself crazy with little sleep.” The shock in their eyes now is what I expected. Should I have told them? What’s the worst that can happen?

  “Do you know what happened after we left that house?”

  I knew that was coming. I know most of it I think. Miles explained what he saw, some of the women who were in there told me what they witnessed when Vega was tied up with them. I’m not entirely sure what Vega actually went through, but given her condition, I assume it wasn’t good.

  “No.” I’m not explaining that. Vega has to do that.

  “Elara?” A woman’s soft voice moves from behind me.

  “Talia?” Elara jumps up and hugs her. “You’re okay?”

  “I think we all are thanks to your sister. Physically anyways. I think it’ll take a long time, if ever, to recover mentally. How is she?” Elara motions for her to join us. I have no problem with that. It’s nice to see these women recovering.

  “Just woke up from the coma today actually. I’ll get more details later, but I assume she’ll be okay.” She shies away from all our eye contact. I know it wasn’t easy to see Vega like that. Anya looks unsettled too.

  “I can’t find a way to thank her enough. The others as well.” There’s a pained look in her eyes. No one can believe what Vega did. She accomplished what she said she would. ‘Kill those bastards and save those women’. Her words, not mine.

  “I know my sister, Talia. The fact we are all out of that situation and alive is enough. She won’t accept anything else.” A small smile flashes on all three of their faces.

  “I think I might know how.” I reply, interrupting their conversation. They look at me with a bit of shock. I’ve thought about it too. They aren’t the only ones who think Vega deserves recognition for that.

  Chapter 55

  Miles

  “Vega, relax.” She glares at me. It’s nice to see that hard look. I’ve been waiting to hear her resistance too.

  “Hell no. I get out of here today. I desperately want out of this place. You should have gone back to your house and rested.” She paces in the small space next to the bed.

  I laugh. “Is that your way of saying I look like crap right now?”

  “Maybe. Keep this though.” She rubs my face. I had no idea she’d be into this rugged look I’ll keep that in mind.

  “If you didn’t hear Elara, it’s your home too.” I knew that death stare was coming. I’m damn glad for her attitude. We never finished that conversation Red interrupted the other day, that’s on my to-do list.

  “Don’t start with that,
Miles.” The doctor steps inside and she meets him at the door. His eyes are wide and he looks to me with worry. She’s given him a hard time since she’s been awake, and he didn’t know what to expect from her as she basically rushed him. He cautiously hands her discharge papers. My heart stops as she turns to me with that smile on her face, it’s what I’ve been dying to see.

  “Home?” I reply with a smile. Rolling her eyes as I grab her things.

  *​​*​​*

  “Miles, back off. I’m perfectly capable of doing this on my own.” She says as I help her out of the car.

  “Not a chance. I’m helping you.” I grab her hand and bag.

  “Ugh.” She says lightly, trying to make me let her go.

  I smile and pull her to me. “Come on, Vega. Elara said she’ll be at Anya's tonight. It’s just you and me. You need it. Dinner, a movie, and a relaxing, uneventful night.”

  We walk inside and I lead her into the living room. “Miles.” Her low voice catches me while she tugs on my arm. I drop her bag and immediately turn to her.

  “Yes, Vega?” The soft look on her face isn’t what I expected from that light voice. I push her hair away from her face and wait for her response.

  “I just.” She sighs heavily, with minimal eye contact. I can tell she really hasn’t had this much help from anyone. I stop her before she even has a chance to say another uncomfortable word.

  “Go shower. I’ll cook, and we’ll relax. Yeah?” She studies me and nods hesitantly, then goes down the hall.

  Chapter 56

  Vega

  “Yeah, yeah. I got it, Red. We're just relaxing tonight.” He’s whispering. He’s never whispered like that. “Tomorrow. Yeah.” He hangs up.

  Well, what did I just hear? It can be anything. Of course after what I just went through, I don’t like this.