“Yes, sir. She was close, anyway.” He told his dad he was dressed. Instead of telling him they were headed someplace, his dad turned and hugged him tighter than he ever had before. “I love you too, Dad. With all my heart and soul, I love you so very much.”
“I love you too, son—all of you. I’m gonna make sure I tell you that more often now. I had three of my boys out there in dangerous situations, and I decided I don’t care for that very much. I know it was necessary, but I don’t like it.” Wesley told his dad he didn’t much care for it either. “You remember that too. I love you, Wesley. I’m here for you too. We’ll get you to the hospital now. That Penny, she’s going to be upset if you’re not there when she wakes up. You tell her I love her too. All my girls.”
Once he was at the hospital, he was taken directly to the room Emmie was in. She had wanted to see him. After hugging him three times, she told him to tell Penny she loved her and would see her soon. He didn’t tell her Penny had been hurt as well.
The wait to see Penny seemed to take forever. They had to make sure she was all right. They were, as he’d been, concerned she seemed to be drugged up. Once they came out to tell him she was all right, that as the medics had said, it was stress, he could go and see her. It took him five minutes to get her to stop crying before he was able to hold her.
“You saved me.” He said that was his job. “Yes, it was, and you did a wonderful job of it. However, I don’t want you to do it again. Unless I’m being kidnapped by a deranged idiot.”
“They’re all dead, but Tony.” She said he’d been by to see her when she got to the ER. “Good. Do you remember anything after James took you from the house?”
“Not too much. Dutch hit me then, James did.” He nodded and told her he loved her again. “I don’t want to talk about it either. I do want to talk to you about having a baby. Soon. I don’t want to wait another minute.”
“All right, love. As soon as we can arrange it.” Penny laid her head on his hand as he held hers. “You’ll have to stay here for a couple of days. After that, we’ll practice at making a baby. All right?”
“I love you. I love you so very much.” She closed her eyes then. “I’m exhausted. They said since you changed me, I can rest, but boy, I’m tired.”
He watched her all night, terrified that if he turned away for even a second, someone would take her again. Wesley spoke to his family, telling them she was all right and resting. They promised they’d come to see her tomorrow. He was glad for that. Wesley wanted to spend time with her alone until she was better. Christ, it had been a nightmarish last few days.
Chapter 9
Penny was trying her best to be brave, but this was the most difficult thing she’d ever done. Going with her father to the place he was going to be living for the rest of his days was tearing her apart inside.
“This is the best place for me.” She told him she knew that. “I’ll get help in controlling my urges to kill myself, and I’ll have doctors here all the time that will make sure I’m in control of the people here with me.”
“I feel as if I’m only just getting to know you, and now I have to send you away.” He hugged her again. It wasn’t helping her to stop crying, but she’d not give up on this time with him for anything. “They said you have a phone in your room that you can call out whenever you want. You’ll call, won’t you?”
“Every day, if I can.” She knew there were going to be times when it would be difficult for him. This place was going to do him so much good that she wanted him there as much as she wanted him home with her. “You can call me too, honey. I’m going to look forward to that.”
Tony had slipped away sometime after James was killed. He didn’t want to be the host any longer. So while he sat in his room, just staring at the wall, the others had taken a vote and elected someone to be the one in charge of decisions. It was Presley that had been voted in by the others.
They hadn’t been close, Tony and James. However, Tony had been unable to deal with life after feeling responsible for the death of so many. He’d not been, of course. James had caused his own death by taking her. That was another reason he’d been willing to come here. The rest of them—seven total personalities, including Tony—needed to deal with the deaths as well.
“Your father-in-law is going to come and visit me and bring along Joe. I think this will be more fun than I’ve had in a while. Us old people need to have friends around, so when we don’t answer our door, they know to come look for us.”
The funny thing was that Presley claimed he was in his late eighties. But in reality, the man was only forty-six, the same age Tony was. It was one of the reasons he’d been voted as host. He had “lived” a lot longer than any of the others.
While she didn’t have any idea how that worked, she was happy for them all. Sometimes it got confusing as to who she was talking to at any given time. For the most part, they would tell her who she was with when she asked. Penny had fallen in love with all of the others with her brother. The one that she had the most fun with was Joey.
Joey was the youngest of the seven and a jokester. She loved the fact that he could make her laugh about anything. Joey was also the one that dealt with stress by making the others laugh at whatever the stressor was. It would get them evened out again. Joey was only fifteen.
“They told us you’d be able to leave to come and visit us too. I do hope you’ll be able to come to the house for Christmas and the other holidays.” Presley told her he was looking forward to that more than anything. “I was worried you’d tell me you’d be safer here. I hope you know you’ll be welcome anytime you want to visit.”
“I know that. Even Wesley told me I could come around at planting time, and he’d show me how to drive the tractor. I think we’d enjoy that. He surely is a farmer, isn’t he?” She laughed with Presley. “I’ve never seen a man so excited when a seed catalog comes in. He must have looked that thing over fifty times before the end of the day it arrived.” She told him that he’d made a list. “Yes, I saw that. He said he has a system. That when the catalog comes in, he marks everything he wants. Then over the next few months, he pares it down. However, he did say that with his new tractor, he might well not have to pare it down that much. I guess it’s much quicker than his old tractor. He called it Old Man. Appropriate, I guess. He said it was older than his father.”
“They’d been nursing it along for years. Getting the new tractor has saved them so much time. I’m so proud of him for going around helping other families out. Did he tell you he’s going to help with the upgrade to the football field this spring? He’s going to use some of the equipment that came with the tractor that he’s not been able to use yet.” Presley said she looked to be excited about it as well. “I am. It makes me happy when he gets like that. He loves me.”
“Of course he does. You’re a wonderful wife for him. The two of you, you’re perfect for each other.” She told him she thought so as well. “Good. You have so much more than any other family just starting out. I don’t mean the tangible things, but love—laughter too. It does this old man a great deal of good to hear you two putting your heads together in fun.”
There was that old man again. When Presley was speaking to one of the doctors who was going to be doing his care, she watched him. He did look like an older man, from the sandals that he wore with white knee socks to the big sloppy sweater he was forever in. To her, that was a hint that it was Presley. He slipped the sweater on as he did his personality.
“They want me to check out a couple of rooms they have open. The doctor said I could take you with me.” She stood up when he did, even going as far as to helping him move. “I know this body is young and fit, but I’m not sure what to do with all that energy it has. It’s hard for others to believe I don’t get around better.”
“I don’t care what they think so long as you’re comfortable.” He said he was, but he did feel o
ld. “Then I’d say that to hell with what the others around you think. You are perfect the way you are.”
The first room he was shown was very girly. Not just feminine, but like a child had lived there and had loved pink. The furniture wasn’t yet taken out, but she could see that someone had even painted the wooden frame pink as well. He turned it down right away.
“There are no female personalities, Mr. Presley?” Presley told him not that he’d seen. “That’s good to know. You’ll let us know if that changes, won’t you? We’re here to treat all of you, not just the one we will see most.”
She liked that about this place. It was a safe haven for men and women like Presley. Penny wasn’t sure they believed him, but they were kind enough not to treat him like a freak when all he wanted to do was help himself.
The second room looked like it had been designed just for him. While the furniture was taken out of this suite of rooms, the wallpaper, as well as the carpet, was a nice shade of blue. Even the windows in the living part of it looked out over the back of the place. While they were looking around, a few deer made their way out into the little area. She was checking out the bathroom when she heard from Raven.
Did you know the place he’s staying at is one of the places I own? She asked her if that was all right. Yes. I didn’t know it was part of a land deal I made some years ago. Had I known, I would have been taking care that it was updated better than it was. There are a couple of work orders here that have been in a file for about four years. Can you do me a favor and have a look at the kitchen area? It says here that there is a common kitchen for them to use when they wish to cook for themselves.
Sure. Presley has a microwave as well as a small refrigerator in the room he’s going to be taking. We’ve been told he could swap those out, at his own expense, for larger models. I think I’d like to make that happen for him. Raven asked her to check on that as well. I will. Something I did notice, and it might not be a big deal, there aren’t enough wheelchairs to go around. Not that many need them here, but there is only one chair for the two that do. They have to be taken around, then the staff goes back for the other person.
I’ll look into that as well. Also, there is supposed to be a doctor on staff all the time. I’m looking to make sure that is happening. Penny asked if she wanted her to tell her anything else that she might notice. I would love for you to do that. As I said, I’m just being made aware that I own the facility. I honestly thought it was just the land, but apparently, the building and the things that go on there are my responsibility as well.
Presley decided he would take this room. The only thing now was getting him furniture that he’d like to bring in. They had already talked about things such as dressers and the like. Presley wanted new. He didn’t want anything to associate himself with the others. Penny didn’t blame him at all for that. She was going to make arrangements for the things he’d picked out yesterday to be brought in and set up.
The common area wasn’t much more than a single microwave, as well as another small dorm-sized fridge. The tables around the room needed to be replaced. Very few of them were without a small piece of paper under the legs to keep them steady. Penny told Raven about that as well as the kitchen.
I’d say this kitchen hasn’t seen a good cleaning for a long time. Raven asked her what she thought the issue was. I would say it’s the staff rather than anything else. There are four women and one man in the room, and they’re smoking around a table, not a foot from food that is lying out on the counter yet to be put away. It looks like breakfast stuff.
It’s going on two o’clock. Don’t they cook lunch? She said she didn’t know, but it didn’t look like it. I wonder what the deal with that is. All right. I’m adding it to my list. Christ, this couldn’t have been timed better. Thank you so much for helping me out with this.
Penny did her own kind of snooping and question asking while there. Presley seemed to be enjoying their sleuthing too. He would ask a question of one of the people staying there, and she would keep a running monologue with Raven. They were having more luck with the clients there than they were the doctor. Plus, they were having a good time.
Well, I thought you’d like to know what Presley has uncovered. The doctor showing the two of us around is the only doctor on staff. He is called in when they need him, even in the middle of the night. On occasion, he spends the night here, as he’s here mostly during the day. Doctor Bench—Jerry is his first name—has been trying to keep up with everything going on around here. I have to tell you, you’d never know he’s being overworked by talking to him. He’s as upbeat as Joey can be. Raven wrote down his name and said she’d look into that as well. There are a couple of things that you might put at the top of your list. There are no activities here. The few board games are things that children would play—no decks of cards. We’ve been told that twice now. No trips to the store for them either. The one bus they have that would take them places is working, but no one here will drive it.
That’s strange. According to the website that was recently updated, there are day trips once a month as well as trips to the town for groceries and lunch out if they want. Raven laughed. I have a warehouse full of games they can have—decks of cards, as well as poker chips. I bought a hotel once, and they had this entire floor of rooms filled with things like that. I’ll have someone look into bringing them over.
By the time she was ready to leave, she was sure that Raven had too much on her plate. Penny should have known better. As they were getting into their car, Jerry, the doctor, came out to get them. Raven apparently had given him a call.
“The new owner called. She told me that the two of you are sisters. I’m sorry if I might have sounded too bitchy earlier.” Penny told him he hadn’t, but without Raven knowing, there couldn’t be any changes to the place. “You have no idea how embarrassed I am, but also glad. You and your brother, you’ve really come through for the people here. Thank you.”
“You’re so very welcome.” She started to leave, but he stopped her once more. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Yes. Raven said she was coming up here in the morning to have a look around. She made me promise I wouldn’t try and hold back on showing her things. I know you were only trying to help us here, but—and this is no come on, I promise you—but would you mind accompanying her tomorrow? You have told her things I didn’t notice about this place. She also is bringing a crew with her, she told me, to start fixing some of the things that have been neglected.”
“She’s a wonderful person and likes for people to tell her straight up what they need. Don’t be surprised if she’s a little pushy.” Presley told him not to be afraid of her. “Yes, good point. Raven is very forward thinking, and can peel the paint off a barn when she’s pissed off.”
Jerry was laughing when they left the second time. She would come up with Raven tomorrow if only to see that Presley was set up. But she would enjoy, she thought, seeing Raven working. She had a feeling everyone in the place was going to be running for cover before she was finished with the place.
~*~
Gunner was sitting on his deck when his dad showed up. Dad told him that he’d been at the front door for a while and decided to see if he was back here. Being offered and turning down a beer, Dad sat down in the chair next to him. Neither of them spoke for a while before he finally asked his dad why he was there.
“I’ve been thinking about something. Nothing bad, but it’s been preying on my mind for a couple of days. What did you do in the service?” Gunner took a drink of his beer and thought about the answer. “While you’re thinking on that, I want to know if I have to keep reading the paper to figure out where you might be going next.”
“I can answer one of those questions. The other you’re not going to like the answer to.” Dad nodded. “You shouldn’t read the paper, Dad. There are all kinds of falsehoods there that will upset you. Most of it is tr
ue, but a lot of it isn’t. If you want to know if I’m in danger, then the answer would be yes. Every time I leave here and before.”
“I see. You know, when you told us you were home for good, I knew there was more to that than just you being out of the service. You’re still a serviceman, aren’t you, son?” He said he was. “Do you…are you still doing the same job you were doing before you came home? I’m thinking I don’t want to know what you were doing for the country.”
“You don’t. And yes, I’m still helping out with jobs for the country. I’m not careful either if that was going to be your next question.” Dad just looked at him, then looked out over the woods behind his house. “Dad, I’m not a good person. I’ve been doing things I’m not proud of for a very—”
“Don’t you dare say that. Don’t you dare tell me you’re not a good person. You are doing a job no one else wants, and that is keeping us safe. I’m sure there is a lot of blood on your hands. I would say there is a great deal of it, but that doesn’t make you a bad person, Gunner. That makes you a good soldier.” Gunner felt his eyes fill with tears, something that hadn’t happened to him in a good long time. “You hurt, I’m sure of that. Hurt for the things you’ve had to do. That’s what makes you think you’re not a good person. But you are. I raised you, and I know you’re the best of your mother and me. All of you are. Don’t even think that again, Gunner. Please.”
“I love you, Dad.”
He said that he loved him as well and patted him on the hand.
Gunner had to breathe in and out several times before he could speak again. It wasn’t hurt that he was feeling, but love. It filled his heart up so much it was overflowing into parts of his body that had been darkened for a long time. “Since Sasha made me an immortal like she did the rest of you, it’s kept me safer.”
Wesley: Bishop’s Snowy Leap – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance (Bishop's Snowy Leap Book 3) Page 12
