Prez: A Wings of Diablo MC Novel
Page 3
Chapter 5
I don’t know how long I was in that bed but no matter what time I woke up, Mikki was there to clean the vomit from my face, give me more water or to give me more pain medication for the stab wound to my gut. No matter how bad I cursed her or took advantage of her help she was always there to help me. Part of me felt bad but then again I was lying in a foreign place with a stab wound to my gut because she was a bit too knife happy.
Incredibly for the first time in a long time I was clear headed. My gut still hurt but the body aches that I was sure I had for the longest time were gone. I was still thinking about going to get a drink or a few Oxy pills but I could breathe without them.
I put both feet on the floor and took a deep breath in, something smelt so good. I looked around the room and for the first time I didn’t see Mikki. There was a small package on the seat next to the bed, it looked like one of the wife beaters that you could buy at the corner store, the ones that were just a little bit off. I opened it and slipped it on, just moving my arms caused the wound in my gut to flare up in pain, but I had felt worse.
I padded to the door letting my nose show me the way. I opened the door and the conversation that was free flowing abruptly came to a halt and the three of them looked at me.
“I was wondering when you were going to get up.” Mikki turned back to the stove and started to stir whatever she was making. My stomach growled loudly. Loud enough that the two girls giggled.
“I’m hungry.” I said as I sat down at the table, not even bothering to greet any of them.
“I have some eggs and sausage here. I think the eggs will be ok for you to eat but the sausage may be a bit too spicy for your stomach to handle right now.”
I rolled my eyes, I wasn’t down with anyone telling me what I could and could not handle. “Just give me the food woman.”
“Ok, if you say so.” She pulled out a paper plate and dumped a huge helping of eggs and sausage on the plate.
“Mister, does your belly still hurt?” The little girl asked as she pushed around some food on her plate.
“Yes. It still hurts Angel.” I responded not really looking at the little girl. I was more concerned with tossing the still steaming eggs in my mouth. This shit was delicious or I was just that hungry. “I’m sorry,” the little girl said and dropped her head down.
“Hey!” I raised my voice, “Don’t you feel sorry for me, I deserved it.” I glared at her for a second until she went back to eating her food.
“You don’t have to be such an asshole about it.” The other girl to the side said. I looked over to her.
“What is your name?” I asked
“Vida, I’m Vida.”
“Ok great, nice to meet you Vida, I’m Alex, the asshole.” I gave her the fakest smile I could muster.
“You’re not very good at it.” Mikki said from where she was standing by the two-burner mini stove.
“What the fuck are you talking about.” I looked over to her.
“Playing the bad guy, you’re not very good at it.” Mikki shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the pan on the stove without giving me a second glance. I looked around the table and could see the two girls trying to stifle their laugh. They were laughing at me. Me! The same man that was going to shoot a liquor store clerk to fuel his need for booze, the same man who order his family into a bloodbath just so I could win a fight even I knew I wasn’t prepared for. Me!
I shook my head and picked up my near empty plate and shoveled the last little bit down. “You don’t know anything.” I tried to get up and leave but my stomach had other plans. Almost immediately after I finished chewing that last bite my stomach began to revolt against the food.
I groaned and pushed back from the table. “Fucking hell.” I walked slowly, my hand wrapped tenderly around my gut. Part of me wanted to curse the woman for letting me eat the food if she knew it was going to have my stomach doing all different types of flips and shit. Isn’t part of that dumbass oath that the doctor’s take say they’d do no fucking harm? I feel harmed. Full but definitely harmed.
“Wait a minute.” Mikki ran up behind me and put her hands out. I turned to take what she was giving me.
“What the hell is this.”
“Senna.”
“Am I supposed to know what that is?”
She rolled her eyes slightly, “It’s a laxative.”
“No, get the fuck out of here with that shit.” I tried to give the small brown pills back to her. “I don’t need that shit.”
“What the hell Alex, learn to accept that you don’t know everything.” She pushed my hand back to my body, “You have been on strong pain medication since you got here over 3 days ago. You just shoveled very rich food into your system that is going to want to come out sooner than later. You are going to be bound up. The laxatives are to help you shit easier or would you rather be so constipated that you push your own intestines out the still healing wound in your abdomen. Your choice.” She put her hand out to take the pills if I was stupid enough to give them back.
“That’s not possible, I couldn’t push my own intestines out.”
“Doctor here, remember?” She raised her hands timidly. “Just take them ok, please.”
I looked down at her and could see that there was no ulterior motive or uncertainty in her eyes, she knew what the fuck she was talking about. I popped the pills in my mouth so fast I didn’t even wait for her to give me any water.
“Brute.” Vida said from the table as she watched me turn to walk back to the room.
I couldn’t help but smile. I sucked in a breath as soon as I realized what I was doing. A lone tear fell from my eye. I shouldn’t be smiling; I didn’t deserve happiness. I didn’t deserve help. Those things should be reserved for someone who wasn’t as much of a fuck up as me. More tears gathered in my eyes, luckily my back was towards the women and they couldn’t see me turning into a blubbering little bitch.
“Hey are you ok?” Mikki had quietly walked up behind me and placed a gentle hand on my bicep.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” I tore my arm from her grasp violently, “I didn’t ask for your goddamn help, your food or your bed. Just stay the fuck away from me.” I stared directly into her eyes and instead of the fear I was expecting to see there, all I could see was sadness. She was pitying me.
She didn’t respond to me, just let her hands fall down to her side like she was waiting for me to finish.
I shook my head and just walked back to the room.
Fuck all of this.
“No, please. Stop, please get off of me.”
I woke up, the sweat on my brow from the dream I was having but nowhere near as bad as what I had experienced while I was detoxing. I had no idea what time it was but everyone else must be asleep.
“Please.”
My ears instantly cleared, I thought I was dreaming but I heard it again. Someone was hurting Vida. I could hear her begging and crying for someone to get off of her. I reached down for the gun, only to remember that it was still in my apartment above the bar. I had no weapon but there was no way that I was going to stand by and let anyone hurt that girl. I stepped out of the bed making sure to be as quiet as possible. I opened the door slowly as all I had was the element of surprise, I didn’t want whoever the fuck it was to hurt her more once they realized that they were caught.
I opened the door all the way but I didn’t see anyone. I looked closer and could see Vida laying there on the little couch. Her feet and arms flailing around fighting a dream. I let out a sigh and walked over to the girl.
“Hey, wake up, you’re dreaming. Wake up Vida.”
“No, no, stop, please stop!” She flailed harder and tears were pouring out of her still closed eyes.
“Vida!” I sat down on the couch near her head and I put my hands on her shoulders to shake her awake.
“Leave her the fuck alone!”
A loud crack sounded in my ears before I fell down to the floor, my eyes crossing
from the pain in my skull.
I grabbed my head and rolled over to my back. A large flat object came down again, on my legs. “Ah! What the fuck!” I screamed and tried to grab the weapon.
“Don’t you touch her!” Another whack.
Both of Angel and Vida were now awake and screaming. Tears coming from all of the women and pain coming from me. Mikki swung again hitting me square on my hip with what I finally made out to be a frying pan. I reached for it and yanked it out of her hand, but that didn’t stop the wildcat from fighting, she grabbed my arms and started to claw and swing at me. I wrapped her up in my arms as quickly as I could, there was no actual technique to her fighting more surviving then anything.
“Hey, calm the fuck down! What the fuck is your problem?” I kept her in a bearhug no matter what she did to me, the woman was snarling with purpose. She was trying to kill me.
“Don’t you touch her, I won’t let you touch her!” Mikki screamed out, her face red with anger. I looked down at the woman still trying to fight and get free then back to the girl who was huddled up with the other little girl on the couch.
She thinks I was trying to force myself on her.
I let Mikki go straight away, if there was one thing I never was for, it was rape. I knew some folks that ran with MC Clubs thought that pussy was theirs no matter who it belonged to and it didn’t matter if they were told no. That shit disgusted the fuck out of me. How do you even enjoy yourself if the woman is crying and begging for you to stop, it’s not attractive or a turn on in the least.
“Listen to me.” I put my hands up to show that I wasn’t a threat.
“No, fuck that! Get the fuck out of here, I’ll kill you. You don’t come near her!” Mikki picked up the frying pan again and raised it over her head, she was ready to swing.
“Hey!” I yelled out to get her to stop. “I didn’t do anything; I didn’t touch her like that. I was trying to wake her up, she was having a nightmare, that’s all.”
“Bullshit! I heard her!” Mikki glanced over to Vida who was shaking her head.
“I know what you heard, I heard it too. Ask her! Ask her if I touched her.” I gestured as calmly as I could manage.
She looked over to Vida, questions on her face.
“He didn’t Em, I was just dreaming.”
Mikki dropped the frying pan slightly “Peanut Butter?” she asked Vida
“Honey!” Vida replied instantaneously.
What the fuck did that mean?
Whatever it was that was just said between the two of them must have done the trick because Mikki dropped the frying pan all the way to the floor and ran over to the two girls. She grabbed them both up and they just cried while they all held each other.
I shook my head and raised my hand to feel the knot that was forming on the back of my head where she hit me the first time. That shit was going to hurt in the morning. I turned and walked back to the room where I had been sleeping, this was not what I was here for.
I tried to close the door but a hand stopped me.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?” Mikki asked her large eyes seeking mine.
“Look, I already said I didn’t…”
She grabbed my hand and put it square on her chest. The gesture itself wasn’t sexual and it completely blew me away. I felt her heart beating like a racehorse, I could feel her breath coming in and out of her chest in deep pants. On the outside she looked as calm as a bird but I could feel her fear.
“I know you didn’t, I knew you didn’t from the start. I see you Alex. Vida is my baby sister and it is my fault that she’s in this mess to begin with. I didn’t trust my gut when I should have and now we are stuck here. I heard her screaming for someone to stop but even as I struck you I knew you hadn’t done it but I didn’t want to take the chance I could be wrong.” She let my hand drop and I moved back a step. “I’m sorry, I hit you. Do you want some pain killers for the head?”
I instinctively put my hand back up to the bump even though I had already forgotten that it was hurting me. “You know for someone who knew I was innocent, you were sure swinging to kill.”
She gave me a smirk and reached down to her boot. She pulled out an ice pick at least the length of my forearm. “If I wanted to kill you Alex, you’d be dead.”
“Yeah, that really promotes good sleep.” I rolled my eyes and turned back towards the bed.
“So do you want the meds?”
“No, I think I want to stay away from any narcotics for a little while.”
“Ok, I think that’s a good idea. Well I am sorry again, try to get some rest ok.”
I told myself that what happened to those girls was not my concern but there was no way that I could go to sleep without knowing if they were really in danger.
“Mikayla, I won’t ask you who he is, but is the fuck who hurt Vida gone or is he still around?”
“Alex, I hope he’s gone. I really hope he is.” She shook her head and walked out of the room.
Well shit.
I laid on that bed for at least an hour trying to force myself to go to sleep but the sandman would not come to visit. I couldn’t stop going over what happened when I tried to wake up Vida. Then I started to look around my surroundings, no matter how far gone I was, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about how to protect those around me. The room that the girls were in was the main room. Meaning if anyone decided to break the door down they would go through them first. The room I was in had only two small windows that I was sure the girls could get through if they needed to escape and the window size would make it harder for a grown man to get through them to hurt the girls. I could keep the bastards away from them if I was in the main room long enough for them to climb out the window. I tried to not care, I tried to not think about it but there was no way that I was going back to sleep without switching rooms with them.
I got up for the second time that night and walked into the small main room.
Vida and Angel were cuddled up together on the couch while Mikki was curled up in a small chair. It didn’t even look comfortable.
I went over to wake Mikki up first, I learned my lesson the first time.
I tapped her softly on her shoulder. “Mikki, wake up.”
She stirred but didn’t get up. A lock of hair dropped down over her cheek and I had to stop myself from moving it from her face. Her beautiful face.
All the air was sucked out of my lungs. I hadn’t so much as looked at another woman since I had been with Laura at least not thinking they were beautiful.
Only Laura, no one else but My Laura.
My eyes filled with tears again, I don’t know why I couldn’t stop crying. The littlest shit would set me off and I would cry like a hormonal teenager.
“Alex? Alex, what’s wrong?” Mikki’s soft voice asked from behind me.
I raised my hands and wiped my face of any tears. I didn’t want her to see me crying.
“Nothing.” I started to walk back to my room but then I remembered what I came out for in the first place. “Actually, I was thinking we could move the girls into the room, you know just in case. Plus, it’s got to be more comfortable than the sofa.”
She sat up in the chair, “But you’re hurt. You need the bed.”
“I have had worse.” I shuffled from foot to foot, uncomfortable. I didn’t like this shit at all. “Look I just thought it would be safer for them and you in the room. Excuse the fuck out of me for trying to help.” I turned on my heel.
“Hey, hey, grumpy. I didn’t say it was a bad idea, I was just telling you our perspective.” She stood up and walked over to me. “If you think you can handle the couch then yes I think they would be more comfortable in the bed.”
“You too.”
“Sorry killer, all three of us would not fit on the bed. And there is no other furniture in there for me to sleep on. I’ll stay here on the chair.”
“Whatever.”
“You think you will be able to get Angel? She’ll never wake u
p.” Mikki walked over and started to caress Vida.
I walked over to the couch and picked up the small child, she was tall but she was so light. “How old is she?” I asked over the small girl’s head.
“Six.” Mikki finally got Vida up.
Six? The little girl felt like she weighed thirty or thirty five pounds. I could feel all her ribs. “She is so small.”
Mikki looked away, “I did the best with what I had.”
I brought the girl to the bed and laid her little body down. Vida got into the bed next her and almost instantly the two of them cuddled up closer to each other and went right back to sleep. I walked back to the couch and laid down, I looked at the door and instantly felt more at ease. If any of those fucks tried to come in they would have to go through me first.
Sleep came quicker.
Chapter 6
The next morning I awoke to the best smelling coffee. I opened my eyes and looked around my surroundings. The small main space consisted of the couch and chair, a dining table and the kitchen. The small bathroom was off to the side while the one bedroom was directly behind me. I didn’t see any windows so I guessed were in a basement. The place looked run down, and it was cold, but I could see that Mikki had done everything that she could to make it a home for those girls.
“Good morning, Alex.” Mikki walked over with a cup of coffee and put it down in front of me. “You sure do sleep a lot.”
“I’m tired.” I said gruffly as I reached over to grab the cup.
“Wait, let me take a look at the wound. I want to check on it before you do anything.”
“It’s fine.” I tried to reach for the cup again.
“Alex, stand up.”
“For fucking what? I just told you it was fine!” I said with more anger than I knew I had.
“Alex, you don’t know if you are fine, I don’t know if you are fine. You had a life-threatening wound that needs to be tended to. I know you feel like you can do it all on your own but you don’t have to. I am here. Let me help.” She stared at me until I gave up and stood like she asked.