by Smoke, Lucy
"Grayson Caruso," I snapped at the woman stationed there. "Where is he?"
"Name?" she demanded.
"Harlow Hampton. I'm his fucking girlfriend and his emergency contact," I growled at her. "Where. Is. He?"
The woman typed in my name and then pointed. "Room 112," she said.
I didn't bother to tell her thanks or anything else. I darted down the short hallway she'd pointed to. As soon as I found 112—which wasn't even an actual hospital room but a triage area with several makeshift semi-private rooms—I jerked the greenish curtain back and nearly sobbed in relief as Grayson's somewhat murky blue eyes blinked back at me.
I hurled myself at him where he lay on the hospital bed, half propped up. "You're okay," I sobbed.
One of Grayson's wide palms reached up and touched my back. He sounded rough when he spoke. "Hey, Babydoll. You came."
"Of course I came!" I squeezed him tighter. "You scared the shit out of me!" More tears escaped. I was leaking snot all over the shoulder of his hospital gown.
"I'm okay. I'm alive," he reassured me as he patted my back.
"Harlow, Sweetheart, I think you're squeezing him a bit too roughly," Bellamy said as he reached out and urged me back.
"I'm hurting you?" I backed up immediately and looked him over. His face was bruised, one large lump forming on his forehead. His other arm was in a sling and he had several cuts down the side of his face. I touched his jaw gently as I bit my lip. "What happened?"
He grinned, but the look was rather pathetic when paired with the rest of his dissolved appearance. "I'm pretty sure we're not the spies we think we are," he grunted as he tried to sit up as more of the guys filed in behind me.
"What do you mean?" Marv asked as he moved up to the other side of the hospital bed.
"You need to stop moving," I snapped when Grayson paused and a groan echoed up his chest.
"Fuck," he hissed.
"That's what happens when you get into a car wreck," Texas commented lightly from behind us.
Grayson chuckled. "Yeah, that's what happens when your crazy mother finds out that you're the reason her accounts are frozen and all of the debt she's accrued isn't getting paid anymore. She goes batshit and tries to kill you."
"What?!" My eyes nearly bulged out of my head and I looked for some place to grab him. I snatched up his hand and held it to my chest as I sat on the very edge of the firm mattress. "Tell me what happened," I demanded. "Tell me everything."
"Yes," Knix agreed as he stepped into the shrinking room.
Grayson groaned again and flopped his head back. I felt like now was as good a time as any to let them know about what Alex had said. Maybe it would help. "Alex said that Iris was willing to help," I said quickly, causing not only Grayson's gaze to shoot to mine but everyone else's as well.
Grayson frowned. "What?"
I gave him a shaky smile. "Alex likes you," I said. "He told me that if we can't handle the situation with Teddi, then Iris has lawyers and other connections. I thought we had to do this by ourselves, but—"
"Baby, Baby," Grayson squeezed my hand to get me to stop. "It's okay. Whatever happens, it's okay."
I sniffed hard. "I'm really glad you're okay," I whispered.
Grayson lifted his head and grunted as he tried to sit up. "What are you doing?" I snapped. "You're hurt. Stop it!"
"No," he growled back. "My girlfriend is being really fucking sweet and worrying over me and I want to fucking kiss her. That okay with you?"
"Oh." I paused. "Well, if that's all." I stood up and leaned over him, pressing my mouth to his. He groaned into my lips—a different type of groan, a good feeling one. One that rattled up through my bones and made the place between my legs tighten.
When I pulled away, Grayson's eyes were hooded. "You're so fucking lucky we're not alone right now," he said.
"I doubt you'd be able to do much in your condition anyway," Marv commented dryly. "Now, are you going to tell us what happened or what?"
Grayson rolled his eyes before he grew serious. "I went to my dad's hotel tonight—it's where he's been staying since he's been in town for business. I told him that Teddi's accounts were frozen. He didn't seem shocked by it though. Come to find out—she's been racking up debt in his name for the last few years. He didn't come to town for business, he came to iron things out with his lawyer."
"Did you ask him to do something about her threatening you?" I asked.
Grayson shifted on the bed, pulling me closer until I was fully seated at his side. Bellamy moved up behind me, his hand falling to my shoulder.
"Apparently, she wouldn't have had any money to do anything except maybe expose the fact that we all live together. She can’t do anything,” he clarified.
I frowned, confused. “But…she tried to buy me off?” Though it was a statement, in my confusion, it came out as a question.
“She had a lot of pictures of you, Harlow—but nothing too incriminating,” Grayson explained. “In them, you weren’t doing anything major. Holding hands with multiple guys? To be honest, she made it sound like she had more. And, I mean, she could expose our relationship and the people around here would know. Everyone always wants to know everyone else’s business. You didn’t want that remember?"
I shake my head. “At this point, I don’t care anymore. Yeah, it’ll suck. But let her. I’m over it. Iris knows, right?” I turned and looked up at Marv and he nodded. “Then it’s fine. It’s not like Iris will fire me over something like this. It’s none of their business.” I bit my lip and then glanced over at Knix. “It wouldn’t affect your job, would it?” I asked.
"I can’t say for sure, but it doesn’t matter anymore. It sounds like it’s been taken care of?” Knix directed his question to Grayson. “What did your father say?" Grayson turned his head and met the taller man's gaze, but before he could say anything, Texas spoke.
"When the money in her account gets unfrozen, it's all going to be drained," he answered. "It'll go directly to all of the loan sharks she's been fraternizing with."
"What?" I turned my head. "What do you mean?"
All eyes fell on Texas.
He shrugged. "When I was stealing her identity, it wasn't so I could do anything nefarious with it, it was so I could figure out why she was so hell bent on keeping Grayson and getting to his inheritance. I mean, she's been spending money out the crotch just to keep tabs on us—"
"And we've been spending to keep her off of us," Marv said.
Texas nodded in acknowledgement before continuing. "Turns out, she was already in massive debt."
I turned back to Grayson. "Did you know?" I asked.
He shook his head. "I suspected, of course," he answered, "but I didn't know it was that bad."
“So, what happens now?” I asked. “Where is she? How did y’all wreck?”
“She called and demanded that I pick her up from a ‘friend’s’ house,” Grayson said. “She’s been sleeping with some men—married or otherwise, doesn’t matter—to get money. She’s been blackmailing people to keep money in her accounts.”
“Yup. Can confirm,” Texas agreed.
Grayson nodded. “When I went to get her, it was apparently because he had called things off. I’d never seen her so disheveled,” he admitted with a grimace. “She started ranting and…”
“And what?” I prompted, hurrying him along. I was tied to his every word. “What happened?”
“Well, it was kind of my fault,” Grayson said on a sigh. “I’ve only been with her for a few days, but I just thought it was just poetic justice, you know?”
“You told her?” Marv asked. He gaped at Grayson with a mixture of horror and confusion.
“Yeah, it just kind of slipped out,” Grayson said. “I told her she was getting what she deserved for all the shit she’d been pulling. She screamed at me, blamed Harlow…she said some things and then she attacked me.”
“What did she say?” I demanded, my hand contracting on his angrily.
G
rayson thunked his head back and huffed. “Just shit talk,” he said. “She called you a gold digger, a whore, etcetera.”
“And then she attacked you?” Bellamy asked.
He nodded. “She just started hitting me. It didn’t hurt—she’s so fucking small—but I wasn’t expecting it and I veered into the other lane and…well, you know the rest.”
“So…” Texas looked around as if expecting her to appear at any moment. “Where is she now?”
Grayson waved his one good hand—with mine attached to it. “She’s here somewhere. Last I heard they had to sedate her. She was hysterical.”
“I’ll bet,” Marv said with a shake of his head.
“How long do you have to stay?” I asked. “When can we take you home?”
Grayson looked at me, meeting my eyes and his expression softened. “I’d really like to go home,” he said. “My real home.”
I squeezed his hand and brought it to my chest, holding it close.
“I’ll go find out,” Knix said. “Bellamy, join me, it’s far too crowded in here as it is.”
Bellamy and Knix disappeared out the curtain, but not before Knix tossed the SUV keys to Marv. Marv deftly caught them and deposited them in his pocket. “You hungry?” he asked Grayson. “Thirsty?”
“Yeah, actually. I asked for a water, but the nurse hasn’t come back yet,” Grayson answered on a grimace as he shifted in the bed.
Marv shook his head. “Fuck water, I need some fucking coffee. I’ll grab you something while I’m in the cafeteria.”
“Thanks, man.”
Marv nodded and snagged Texas’ arm, dragging him out behind him as they went. “Hey, what’s the big idea!” Texas whined as he was pulled away.
I sighed and released Grayson’s arm to get up and close the curtain. I snapped it shut and though it didn’t do much, it did muffle the noise from down the hallway.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I said as I went back to Grayson’s bedside. “When Marv woke me up and told me you were here…” I trailed off.
Grayson sat up with a muffled grunt and scooted over. “What are you doing?” I demanded, grabbing his good arm. “Stop moving around so much.”
“I want you up here with me,” he said. “Just get in.”
“What?” I blinked at him and then shook my head. “No, I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Just get in here, Babydoll. Don’t make me spank you.”
I pursed my lips and lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t know if you could even if you wanted to right now,” I pointed out.
“Please?”
I rolled my eyes and gently eased onto the bed at his side. Grayson tucked an arm around me and held me close to him. I leaned forward and pressed my face against his shoulder, breathing him in. “Don’t ever scare me like that again,” I ordered. Tears pricked at my eyes.
“I won’t,” he promised.
I lifted my hand, pinky out and curled. “Pinky promise?”
He groaned, but withdrew his arm from around my back and hooked his pinky with mine. “Pinky promise,” he assured me.
“Awww. Isn’t that sweet?”
I jerked my head up at the same time as Grayson. Teddi limped in through the curtain, sliding it closed behind her. I stared in shock. When Grayson had said she looked disheveled, I hadn't pictured it being...well, she didn't look merely disheveled—she looked downright wild.
Her eyes were unfocused. There were bruises up and down one bare arm. Her hair was a mess, all over the place. I got up from the bed, but Grayson's hand locked on my wrist before I could move away.
"What are you doing in here?" I demanded.
"He's my son, you little bitch. I'm allowed to be in here," she snapped back.
"You're the one who did this to him."
"No, no no, Harlow, dear," she sneered, the lower half of her face twitched as she attempted to curl her lips at me. Too much Botox, though, made it difficult. "You did this to him. To me!"
Grayson struggled to sit up. "No, she didn't," he said sharply, his sharp eyes focused on the unstable woman across the room.
"If it wasn't for her, we would've been fine!" Teddi shrieked. "I had everything planned out! But then she came along—" Teddi broke off to shove one finger at me, and I realized that she was still hiding her other hand behind her back. "—and ruined everything."
“It’s over, Mom,” Grayson said as he discreetly swung his legs over the side of the bed. I moved to stop him. I didn’t know if he was allowed to stand just yet, but he just waved me away as his bare feet touched the cool tiled hospital floors.
“Oh, no,” Teddi said with a smile. I looked at her, not liking the glee in her tone. My eyes widened when she brought her other hand around her side. “I’m going to take care of the problem, sweetheart,” she said. “Don’t you worry. Mommy’s going to be alright. Everything’s going to be alright. As soon as we get rid of her then your daddy will come back and Mommy won’t be in debt anymore and everything will be just fine.”
“Fucking Christ!” Grayson jerked me back. “You’ve lost it!”
I stared at the needle in her hand. It wasn’t all that large and she didn’t hold it as though she knew how to hurt someone with it, but the point was sharp and I didn’t want it anywhere near me. I also didn’t want it anywhere near Grayson. I latched onto his arms—both of them—causing him to grunt in discomfort as I banged against his wrapped arm.
Teddi chose that moment to dive for me. “Just get out of the way, Grayson!” she shrieked. “And let Mommy help you!”
I dragged Grayson back, a wondering feat considering how much larger he was. He grunted and slipped, going down. We crashed to the floor, him on top of me as she darted forward. The curtain jerked behind Teddi as Marv came barreling through, followed by Bellamy. Relief poured through my system as Bellamy latched onto one of her arms and Marv onto the other. The needle fell from her grasp and I scrambled out from under Grayson, kicking it as far away from Teddi’s struggling form as possible before returning to help Grayson up.
“What the hell is going on in here?!” a booming voice yelled. All eyes turned towards a tall, dark skinned man—broad shouldered and serious faced—in a long white doctor’s coat.
“They tried to kill my baby!” Teddi screamed. She shrieked and struggled against Bellamy’s and Marv’s grip.
The man took a look at me and Grayson as I tried to help him sit on the side of the bed while he grasped at his side, wheezing and grimacing in pain and then at Bellamy and Marv as they fought to contain Teddi’s feeble attempts to escape.
“I can explain,” Knix said as he stepped up next to the man. Alongside him stood Texas, holding a tray of drinks and lifting a brow at Teddi’s wild display.
The doctor looked down at Knix—yes, he was that big—and nodded. “I think you better,” he said. “But first, let me help this young man back into bed.”
Knix nodded and together, they helped get Grayson back into the hospital bed. Though, by the looks of it, the doctor could have lifted Grayson back into bed completely on his own. The man leaned over Grayson, apologizing quietly as he pressed the nurse’s call button. When one came in, he approached her and they spoke in quiet tones. She shot Teddi a look and nodded, then quickly disappeared from behind the curtain once more.
“What—” I began.
“She’ll be right back with some sedatives,” the doctor answered my question before I could even finish it. I blinked up at him and then nodded.
The doctor approached Teddi with gentle formality as Bellamy and Marv held her still. Teddi struggled against them, attempting to kick out at them. When the doctor bent down and spoke in low, quiet, soothing tones, she settled slightly.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
She shook her head, letting it roll on her shoulders as if she were already drugged. Who knew? Maybe she was. Maybe she had just been running on adrenaline since the car wreck. The nurse returned and handed a filled syringe
to the doctor, going to Bellamy’s side as she helped hold Teddi.
Grayson’s mother began to struggle again, jerking her arms wildly in an attempt to get away. “No, no,” the doctor said. “You’re fine. Everything’s fine. We’re just going to give you something to help you sleep.” He reached for her arm and held it perfectly still as he injected her with something that made her sag in their collective arms, all of the fight draining out of her.
Knix explained the situation to the doctor—Teddi’s relationship to Grayson and mine as well. The doctor listened with a stone cold face and when Knix wrapped it up, he shook his head. “I’m going to have to call the police,” he said, looking at Grayson. “You realize that?”
Grayson groaned as the nurse injected him with some pain medication to help relieve the aches of his body. “Just do it,” he said. “I don’t really give a damn anymore. Send them to me when they get here. Soon as I can, I’m getting a restraining order put on that woman.” Then to me, Grayson turned and glared. “You’re getting one too,” he said.
I didn’t have it in me argue—I didn’t want to argue. I nodded my agreement and the doctor sighed. “This room is far too crowded. I’ll have you moved up to a room. This has been enough drama for the night—even in the emergency room.”
Marv and Bellamy relieved themselves of Teddi to the same nurse that had doped her up as well as a few burly looking orderlies. Exhaustion pulled at my frayed nerves. “Well,” Texas said, “I guess it’s really over now.”
“God, I hope so,” I replied as I crawled onto the hospital bed with Grayson.
Within the hour, we were moved a floor up into a much larger, private hospital room. Knix and Bellamy left to get everyone a change of clothes. I stayed in the bed with Grayson while Texas flipped through the channels of the television from a chair in the corner and Marv dozed on the couch.
It was in the early morning—around 8 am or so—when a man stopped by. He wore slick black business pants and a light blue collared shirt buttoned up to the neck. “Dad?” Grayson sat up as the man lightly rapped on the door and came in.
“I got a call from the police,” the older man said. I stared between the two of them, noting the similarities in their features. Mr. Caruso looked like an older version of Grayson—same blue eyes, same facial structure. He was handsome, if a bit more tanned.
