Letting Lox In

by S. M. Donaldson

  “You think it’s about-?”

  About that time, Dr. Franz comes in the room. We all turn our attention to him. “She did wonderful. I’m glad we got in there when we did, that little time bomb was about to explode. She’s headed to recovery now, she’ll be there for a little bit. Then we’ll be taking her to a room on the third floor. She’ll be here for a couple of days, not too long though. Lox,” he motions to my mom, “I’ll let your mom know when we figure out her room situation. She’ll come over and tell you.”

  Meredith smiles and hugs him. “Thank you so much.”

  “Hey, it was all this young man’s quick thinking.” He motions to me.

  Meredith hugs me tight. “I know, I’m just so glad you were there.”

  “Hey, if we want to thank anyone, it should be my mom. She was always afraid the three of us would burn the house down or kill each other so she drilled being ready for emergencies in our heads.”

  Dr. Franz laughs. “That is very true. I’ll make sure to thank Elaine.”

  A few minutes later, Doc walks in. “Hey, Lox. Kara, how’s our girl?”

  Kara smiles, filling Doc in on the details. He shakes his head. “I knew she wasn’t feeling great today. I just thought with all of the weekend excitement she was just tired.”

  I look at him. “She scared us half to death.” I turn to her family. “Doc, have you met Sloan’s family?”

  “No, I’ve heard all about them but no, I haven’t had the pleasure.”

  “Doc, this is Meredith and Derek, her parents. This is her big brother, Jacob, and you know Slick.”

  He chuckles. “Yes, I know Slick.” He shakes Derek’s hand and then Meredith’s. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I want you to know you’ve raised a wonderful daughter. When Kara and Sly called, I was going to leave my relatives and come on up. The parent in me was worried. Then he told me you guys were here, so I hung out with my in-laws a little longer. My wife, Gloria, will be here later, she had to finish getting her family gone. She just adores Sloan and Kara.”

  Kara smiles. “We adore Mrs. Gloria, too.”

  Her mom smiles. “She really has made some wonderful friends here.”

  A few minutes later, Kara’s sister Jade arrives. Slick runs to her. “Jade!”

  “Sage. Buddy, how are you doing? I’ve missed you,” she says, hugging him tight.

  “My momma is sick.”

  She brushes his hair back. “I heard. I brought you my portable DVD player and some movies.”

  He jumps up and down, fist pumping. “Awesome! Sly, we’ve got movies to watch!”

  Jacob shakes his head. “Man, he’s full of energy.”

  I laugh. “Yeah, I wish I had that much.”

  We’re suddenly cut off by Sly and Slick chanting, “Transformers!”

  A little bit later, my mom comes to let us know that Sloan is in her room. Looking at the clock, she lets us know that it’s close to the end of visiting hours.

  We all make our way up to her room, letting her parents, Jacob and Sage go in first.

  CHAPTER 26

  SLOAN

  The room is foggy. I can barely hold my eyes open. When I finally do manage to open them, I see the most beautiful little boy in the world. “Hey, Bud,” I croak out.

  He smiles. “Hey, Momma. Are you feeling better?”

  My momma hands me a cup of water. “Here, honey. Take a sip.”

  I sip and turn to Sage. “Yes, Bud, I do.”

  My momma smiles. “So the doctor says you’ll be in here for a couple of days. I’m thinking we’ll be doing Thanksgiving here.”

  Lox steps out of the corner of the room. “Meredith, we’d be happy for you guys to join us at my mom’s. We always cook too much for just the four of us. It’d be nice to have a house full.”

  I smile and so does my mom. “We’ll talk about it, Lox, thank you for the invite.”

  He steps over closer to my bed, brushing my hair off my forehead. “Hey, pretty girl. You scared the shit out of me.”

  I smile up at him. “Just trying to keep you on your toes.”

  “Kara grabbed your purse on the way out of the gym so she has your keys and all.”

  I nod. “I rode here in your truck, didn’t I?”

  He smiles. “Yep. In my lap.”

  I chuckle a little, but it hurts. “Jacob, can you ride back to the gym with Lox and take my car to my house? My house keys are on the same key ring.”

  “Yeah, sis.”

  “That way you can open the door for Momma and Daddy.”

  My momma smiles. “I’m staying with you, baby. Your daddy is taking Sage to your house. Jade offered to keep him, but we can handle it.”

  “She’s sweet. She loves him and he loves her.”

  My momma snickers. “I think he has a little crush on her.”

  I nod. “Well, why don’t you ride home with Daddy and then just bring my car back up here? That way you aren’t stuck here.”

  “Well, I’ve got my overnight bag with me. I’m good. Your daddy is coming back first thing in the morning so I’m not worried about being stuck. There are a few people that want to see you before visiting hours are over, though, so we’re going to step out and let them have a couple of minutes.”

  “Thanks, Momma.”

  Everyone but Lox leaves the room. “Hey, pretty girl, my momma is going to keep an eye on you tonight for me. Just don’t scare me like that again.”

  I smile. “I’ll try not to. It wasn’t fun.”

  He gives me a cocky grin. “I think you were just trying to get out of our date.”

  “What date?” Was I really that out of it? “I remember agreeing to hang out, but I remember no date.”

  “Well, that’s because I was going to ask you tonight.”

  I laugh and then cringe. “Don’t make me laugh, I’m still a little sore.”

  Doc comes in the room with Mrs. Gloria. “You guys didn’t have to come. You had family coming over tonight.”

  Gloria comes over to my bedside. “Oh honey, he was about to throw all of my relatives out and run up here. He was worried about you being alone. An hour later, I wished we would have just thrown them on out.” She laughs. “I love my family. Just not all at one time.”

  Doc steps over. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay. I think you took a few lives off of Lox, Sly and Kara.”

  Mrs. Gloria smiles. “We are going to go let you rest. We just wanted to check on you. You take care, sweetie, and if you need anything you call us. Okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  My next visitors are Marco, Elizabeth and Huck. I don’t know what all the tension is in the room, but it’s thick. Huck steps over beside me. “If you didn’t want to do self-defense training tonight because I wasn’t there, you could have just said something. You didn’t have to go the medical emergency route. Ya know?”

  “Ha ha. Yes, I wanted some new scars. You know scars are good for the rep.”

  He laughs. “Well, I’m glad Tweedledee and Tweedledum got you here okay.”

  I shake my head and Marco smiles at me. “You had them boys scared to death. I’ve watched both of them have the hell beat out of them and poor Sly was white as a sheet. I thought he was going to pass out.”

  Elizabeth smiles, we have been becoming friends and I have a feeling whatever the tension is in this room is between her and Huck. She steps around her dad. “If you need anything, just call me. Even if it’s just to talk, okay?”

  “Thanks.”

  They all step out, leaving only Kara and Sly to come in. Once it’s only Lox, Sly and Kara in the room, I look at them. “Okay, what was all of that tension about? The temperature dropped below freezing when they walked in here.”

  Sly laughs, shaking his head. “Dude, we have no clue. Huck and Elizabeth squared off right before you guys came in today. Something about Huck seeing her having lunch with Sergio. My brother probably thinks she’s a spy or some shit. He doesn’t trust women at all.”

 
Kara laughs. “Could you get more dramatic about it, Sly? I don’t think we get the essence of it all.”

  “You can ask Lox, I’m not playing. Our real mom fucked him up real good. He will not have sex without one of his own condoms. He won’t trust the chick’s condoms. He only uses what he brought or he goes without, and he double bags every time. I don’t see how the boy feels enough through two condoms to get off. Hell, he only has one or two girls he goes back for seconds with. He tokened our old catch phrase hit it and quit it.” Sly shrugs as if the mouth full he unloaded was just no big deal.

  I start laughing and wince. “Sly, please stop, laughing hurts. Plus, I DO NOT need to know all of this.”

  He shrugs, “I’m just saying, he has issues.”

  Kara pulls his arm. “Okay, girlie, I love ya and I’m gonna round these guys up and get back to your car. They said we’re taking Jacob to your car?”

  “Yeah. Thanks, you guys were great. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

  Kara and Sly slip out, but Lox hangs back for a second. He steps to my bedside. “Sweet dreams.” He leans over, kissing my lips lightly. “I’m serious. When you get better, we are going on a date. A real date.”

  He doesn’t give me time to dispute, he just heads out the door.

  CHAPTER 27

  LOX

  “What in the hell do you mean you invited them over for Thanksgiving?” Huck sneers.

  Sly shrugs his shoulders. “What’s the big deal? It’s just a couple of more people.”

  “Because I don’t want her here. That’s the big deal.”

  It’s like I’m watching a crazy episode of some damn reality show.

  “I do not want our mother here at Elaine’s house.” He glares around the room. “And surely not with her latest crack head boyfriend. Lox has Sloan and her family coming over. I don’t want Slick around her.”

  Sly steps up. “Look, she may not even come. She hasn’t gotten back in touch with me.”

  I step in. “Look, Huck, it’s okay. She may show, she may not. You know Mom won’t care.”

  Huck looks at me with his hands together. “That’s not the point, man. It’s disrespectful to your mom. She raised us. She took care of us when we were sick. She made sure we ate, had clean clothes. All of it.”

  I put my hands on his shoulders. “Man, just calm down. We will deal with it, if we have to deal with it. Come on, man. It’s just like before a fight. Deep breathe in and let it out.”

  He follows through. “Okay.” He turns back to the food he’s prepping on the island. He’s the cook out of us. He’s really good at it, too. It makes me wonder about his dad. What would their lives have been like if he’d lived?

  A knock at the door interrupts my thoughts. I answer the door to find Marco and Elizabeth. “Come in, guys. Huck is in the kitchen prepping. Sly is setting up his gaming crap in Mom’s living room for him and Slick.”

  They walk into the living room and I go back into the kitchen. “Who’s here?”

  I grab a carrot stick and pop it in my mouth. “Oh, Marco and Elizabeth just got here. They are in the living room with Sly.”

  He shakes his head. “Great, this day just got even better.”

  “Are you going to tell me what the conference was about the other night?”

  “Some time. Not today,” he says as he throws some chopped vegetables in a pan.

  “Okay, man. We’ll talk later,” I say as the doorbell rings.

  I hear Slick come running in the front door. “Sly!”

  “Sage Eli Foster, quit running in Ms. Elaine’s house.” Her voice is like my calm.

  I make my way into the foyer and I see a slow moving Sloan. I make my way over to her and lean down into her space. “Hey, pretty girl.”

  “Hey.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Sore. A little tired still.”

  I put my arm around her. “Do you wanna go lie down?”

  She rolls her eyes like she’s in desperation. “No. My mom has been mothering me to death. I’ll come help in the kitchen if that is okay?”

  I nod and start walking us toward the kitchen. She sees Huck standing at the stove with one of my mom’s aprons on and starts laughing.

  Huck spins around. “What? You don’t like my apparel?”

  She smiles. “No, it’s really cute, that’s all.” I help her up on one of the stools.

  “Here, you can supervise.”

  “Do you doubt my cooking skills?” She grins.

  I lean down to her ear. “I have no doubt in any of your skills, but I want you to rest.”

  Meredith makes her way into the kitchen. “How can I help?”

  “Mom, they’re good. They just put me on the sidelines. Why don’t you go watch the video game tournament between Sly and Sage?”

  Her mom turns and walks back out of the room. “Wow, you were a little short with your mom.”

  She puts her head in her hands. “I know, I’m just tired of all the mothering. I need a break. I’m not used to it anymore.”

  “Okay, why don’t you ride with me to check on the gym? We’ll check on things and you’ll get a few minutes to yourself.”

  She nods and I let everyone know. Her mom looks as we are about to go out the door. “Honey, are you sure-?”

  Jacob looks up from the video game. “Mom, give her a few minutes. She’ll be fine. Lox was the one who took her to the hospital. You’re smothering her.”

  Her mom nods sadly. “Okay.”

  Sloan walks over to her mom. “I’m sorry, Mom. I just need a few minutes alone. You’ve been great and I appreciate it, but Lox and I are just going to check on the gym. We’ll be back soon.”

  “Okay, sweetie, I’m sorry. I know I’m smothering you a little.” Sloan laughs and so does her mom. “Okay, a lot. I was just really scared the other night.”

  “I know, Mom. I’m going with Lox, we’ll be back soon.”

  I take her hand and walk out to the truck, helping her up in the seat. Once I climb in the other side, she smiles at me and it makes me feel light and happy.

  CHAPTER 28

  SLOAN

  “So are we really going to the gym to check on things or was this just a way of helping me out?”

  He grins. “Yeah, we are gonna go check the gym. I have a kid that was coming in to work out today. I always like to stop by when someone is there without us.”

  I smile. “Okay. Thanks again, by the way.”

  “You’re always thanking me. Pretty girl, I’m digging just getting a few minutes alone with you.”

  I giggle. “Well, that is very flattering.” Oh my God, I giggled. I’m such a damn dork.

  Once we pull up to the gym, I see a single car in the parking lot.

  “Gibbs must be here.”

  “Why is he here on Thanksgiving? Alone?”

  “He’s a loner. He wanted to come work out by himself without all the pressure.” He shrugs. “It’s good for fighters sometimes.”

  We make our way in and I see a kid that can’t be more than nineteen drenched in sweat, pounding away at the heavy bag.

  Lox walks toward him. “Gibbs. How’s it going, man?”

  The kid stops and uses a towel to wipe his sweat. “Hey, man. I didn’t hear you come in.” He takes a big swig of water. “It’s good. Nice, quiet.” He takes another swig. “Who’s the chick? I didn’t know you had a sister, old man.”

  “She’s not my sister, you dick. She’s a - friend. This is Sloan. Sloan, this little shit is Gibbs. I’m training him. He’s working to get into the cage.” It’s funny he has trouble deciding exactly what I am to him.

  “I’m already in the cage, asshole.”

  “He’s a smartass who thinks he knows everything. He is in the cage some, but he’s working his way up to get his card.”

  I’m confused. “His card?”

  “His pro card. There are certain steps you have to take to get into some of the tournaments that we go to.”


  “Oh, okay.”

  “Come on, let’s go check on a couple of other things and then we’ll get out of here.”

  I feel like I need to check on this kid. Call it the mother in me, but I do. “Gibbs, would you like to join us for Thanksgiving?”

  “No, ma’am. I’m all set. I don’t do much around the holidays anymore.”

  Lox tugs my arm a little as the kid goes back to beating the shit out of a bag. “He’s been through a lot the past few years. He hasn’t worked his way back up to holidays yet. That’s the reason he’s here today.”

  “Oh, sorry. I guess I’m more like Mom than I thought. How old is he?”

  Lox smiles. “It’s okay. You are a natural mother. He’s twenty. He’s a cocky little bastard, but it’s all on the outside.”

  I smile and follow him through the facility checking on things.

  ~*~*~

  Several hours later, we are finishing up a delicious meal that Huck prepared. I have to say I’m really impressed, he’s an awesome cook. Elaine is working the night shift tonight so she’s leaving for work now.

  My mom pulls me aside, away from Sage. “Honey, I know you had some things listed for your black Friday shopping, but you really don’t need to try and go.”

  “Mom, the sales start in a couple of hours. I’ll go and get back home.”

  Lox, just stepping up, looks at me. “You don’t need to try and go black Friday shopping. Those people get crazy.”

  “I need to go. There are some things they’ll run out of and Sage wants them.”

  Lox sighs. “Okay, how about Sly and I go with you?”

  My mom smiles. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. At least with the boys, I would feel like you’d be a little safer.”

  I nod. “Okay, at least then I’ll have some people with me that are tall enough to reach over other people.”

  She laughs. “Okay, well we’ll be at your house.”

  “Mom, why don’t you guys go on home? Jacob and Daddy need to get back to work tomorrow. I’m fine. After tonight, I’ll stay home and rest.”

  She sighs, knowing that what I’m saying is true. Jacob works for a very big construction company and he’s running several projects for them right now. Daddy owns his own business, but when you own your own business, any day that you don’t work is money you’ve lost. “Well, at least let me take Sage back with us until the weekend. That way you can rest a little more.”