CHAPTER FOUR
Michael
limped down the hallway, his night security guard following him like a lost
puppy. Jake. His best friend since
the day they were born, rather, the brother he’d never had. He had been so damn
afraid he’d lose Jake. God,
I hate you, Yosef Sanna.
“You
need to sleep, Michael,” Carol chastised as he passed the nurses’ station.
He
only nodded. He would do his rounds no matter the consequences from his dad. He
pushed through the door to Jake’s room and was pleased to find Sophia at his bedside.
“Hey.” He went to her and kissed her cheek.
She
smiled a wan smile. “He is good. He woke again and spoke. Your father was
worried about his speech, but it is all there.” Her words were soft, a British
accent with a tinge of Greek.
A
little more relief eked into Michael’s heart as he looked at Jake’s bandaged
head. “Excellent. What’d he say?”
“He
loves me and he wanted to know more about you and Christy.”
Michael
did his best to mask a sudden welling of emotion and lost the battle.
“You
look as if someone rained on your day. This is good news.”
He
bucked up. “Yeah, it is. I’m glad he doesn’t remember the attack.” He took her
small hand in his. It looked so much like Christy’s delicate hand.
She
squeezed his fingers. “They’re both going to be all right.”
Afraid his emotional dam would break, he only nodded.
“Is
Christy asleep?”
“Mostly.
He woke up for a minute and....” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “He said I’m
thinking too much then said something that sounded like sa-ga-po.”
Sophia
laughed softly. “So, he did wake.”
“What’s
sa-ga-po mean?”
She
became serious. “You do not know?”
He
shook his head.
“Oh,
Michael. It means I love you.”
Tears
pricked his eyes. No matter how many times he’d said those words to Christy,
Christy had never before said them to him. He needed to hear them now, more
than ever, and his heart soared.
“They’ll
be all right and we will have a wonderful life,” Sophia reassured.
He
adored her ever more for her words. “I never did have a chance to say congratulations
on your engagement to my best friend.”
She
smiled wide. “It
is fantastic, don’t you think? We will be a family. You, Christy, me, and
Jacob. A wonderful family.”
“Not
for a few years yet. We have to get through college.”
She
cupped his cheek with a soft hand. “Perhaps, now, university is not so
important.”
He
swallowed audibly and nodded. Who knew what would be left of Jake’s brain after
a baseball bat to the head? They had two more months left in their senior year
of high school and he worried whether Jake would even be able to finish that. “Will
you stay...?” He couldn’t bring himself to ask the question.
“I could never leave him. I love
him as you do Christy,” she answered the unfinished question softly.
He
closed his eyes in an effort to stave off even more unbidden emotion. “Thank you.”
She
patted his cheek softly. “Married or not, we are a family now, Michael.”
European
culture was still so different to him. He’d grown up with Jake’s Italian
parents but never quite got used to their effusive manner toward family. While
his parents were committed to each other, to him, were totally cool with him
being gay, and they loved Christy, they weren’t as demonstrative as Europeans were.
He placed his hand over hers on his cheek. For one moment, one single moment,
he needed the contact. She was his only link to both Christy and Jake.
“Christy
is right. You think too much,” she teased.
He
opened his eyes and smiled at her. “How are you doing?”
“Me?”
she scoffed. “I am alive. I am well. I’m with people I love. This is all that
matters.”
“You’re
as much an angel as Christy is,” he marveled.
She
became serious. “No, Michael. You are the angel in our new family.”
He
shook his head and wanted to leave this conversation behind. “How are you
really doing?”
She
smiled. “I gave my agent a new idea. I believe I should model my scars in plain
sight,” she said through a giggle.
He stifled a grimace. She had been perfect, beautiful, the
feminine equivalent of his gorgeous Christy. Now she was badly scarred.
“Seriously?”
She
feigned haughty pride through another laugh. “Why not?”
Her
laughter was sultry, warm and round on his senses, and so reminiscent of
Christy’s laughter. “Why not?” he repeated softly.
She
brushed his unruly chestnut curls with a gentle hand. “Go sleep, Michael. It’s midnight
and you’re exhausted. I slept a good portion of the day and can check on them
while you rest.”
He
was exhausted. He’d kept vigils at Christy and Jake’s bedsides for two weeks,
and spent hours talking with Sophia, often failing to eat and sleep. Only Carol
and his dad kept him in any sort of routine.
“Yeah,
bro, go to sleep,” Jake’s deep voice rumbled.
“You’re
awake?”
Jake
opened his dark chocolate eyes to Michael and hit the control button to raise
the bed into a sitting position. “No, man, I’m talking in my sleep. Of course,
I’m awake. Sophia’s been regaling me with tales of your heroics and near arrest
for sneaking onto a plane.”
Michael
grinned. “I’d do it again.”
Jake
turned serious. “Like hell. How’s Christy?”
“Okay.
Dad’s keeping him sedated at night until the nightmares lighten up.”
“You?
What about you, bro?”
“Good.”
“What’d
your dad say about your knee?”
Michael didn't want to talk about his knee. “My
knee’s the last thing you should be worried about, man.”
“Screw
off.”
Michael
forced a smile. “We made it, bro. That’s what matters.”
Jake
gave him a long, considering look. “Pretty damn amazing, isn’t it?”
Michael had
never seen fear in Jakes eyes before and, if at all possible, hated Yosef
even more at that moment. He took Jake’s idle hand in his. “Takes more than this to keep us down, Jake.”
Jake
eyed him dubiously.
“Seriously,”
Michael reassured and changed the subject. “We’re going home tomorrow. You okay with
that?”
“’Course
I’m okay with it. We’ll be out of here in a day or two.”
Michael
squeezed Jake’s hand, still fighting his emotions. “Yeah, okay. I’m going to go
crash for a few hours.” He hobbled to his feet and bent to hug Jake.
“Get
off me, gay boy,” he teased.
Michael
straightened up with a smile. It was great to hear Jake tease him again. “You
know you love it. Get better. We’re not
going to miss prom, bro.”
“What
are you talking about? You hate dances.”
“Not
this one.”
Jake
looked at him as if he were a freak. “You’re serious.”
“Totally.”
“You
sure you weren’t hit in the head like me? You can’t even dance.”
“We’re
going.”
“There’s
something wrong with you, bro.”
“We’re
going,” Michael insisted through a half laugh.
“Oh,
man, I hate dances,” Jake mock whined.
Now, Michael did laugh. “Get over it, man.”
Sophia
hugged Michael. “We will not miss your prom.”
Michael listened
to Christy’s soft, even breathing for a few moments. He slept soundly,
peacefully, and Michael kissed his forehead one last time. “Sweet dreams.”
He
hobbled to his bed and, without too much difficulty or pain, removed the knee brace
and climbed into bed. He turned onto his side so he could watch Christy and was
asleep within seconds.
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