Mended Hearts

by Tammi Lynn

  “We’re already getting ready to leave. I’ll be there as soon as I can okay. I love you Miklo.”

  “Love you, Mom.” The line goes dead and I toss the phone on the bed so I can put my bra and shirt on.

  “What the fuck? She’s just a little girl, and she’s already so tiny. Who would want to hurt her? This is so fucked.” Seriously? I don’t even know how to feel right now my heart is hurting for that little girl and her mom. She’s become like a daughter to me and I’m so angry that he could do this to her. The tears start coming and I start pacing until Cade wraps me in his arms.

  It’s okay, Baby Girl. Let’s all just go over to the hospital and be there for her. Be there for Miklo.” He’s pissed too. I can hear it in his voice and can see the vein throbbing at his temple.

  I wipe the tears from my face and grab Jesse’s phone from the bed. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s go.” Grabbing my jacket we head out the door to find Jesse waiting with Roman and Jayson. I love that they’re all here, here for Andie and Miklo both. None of us even say anything, we just get into the truck and head to the hospital.

  ∞∞∞

  Miklo sees us as soon as we enter the waiting room and he jumps up and runs to me. I give him a big hug and hold him tight. With how much bigger than me he’s gotten it’s starting to feel like he’s the one always comforting me.

  “Any news?”

  He steps back and speaks to all of us. “Her arms broken, they’re going to keep her overnight and let the swelling go down before they can put a cast on it. Her ribs are bruised but not broken.” He keeps twisting his hands together and looking everywhere. My poor baby doesn’t know what to do with himself. I can’t imagine how he’s feeling having seen one of his best friends like that. “She wanted to see you Mom, but with the painkillers they have her on she fell asleep. You can go in there if you want, her mom’s in there right now but they said only two can be in at a time.”

  I give him a kiss on the cheek before walking towards the hospital room he points out to me. I walk in slowly, I’ve never liked hospitals, they’re so cold. Andie is asleep on the bed her arm in a sling, and her mom, Jessica, is sitting in a chair next to her. I like Andie’s mom, we’ve been able to talk and get to know each other a little over the past months. She’s a real hard worker and works two jobs to help keep the bills paid. When she looks over at me I have to hold in my gasp. Her left eye is swollen purple and bruised, her right swollen from crying. She stands as I rush over to her and hug her.

  “I didn’t know. I didn’t realize he’d been hurting her too.” She bubbles out the exhaustion, guilt, and sadness a literal weight, making her body sag.

  “It’s okay, you don’t have to explain.” I hug her closer.

  “She never said anything to me. But when she came home tonight she told me, she said Miklo convinced her to say something. When I confronted him about it he went off on me and she tried to step in to help.” She sobs and I lead her back to the chair to sit down. “They say he can get out on bail.” No fucking way. He should go to prison. “I already talked to my sister and we’re going to move in with her in Montana. We just won’t be able to leave for a week while we pack up and she brings a trailer.”

  No way can they go back to that house, when that asshole could get out. “You guys can stay with us for the week. Miklo can sleep on the couch or next door and you and Andie can have his room. It’s a full bed so you’ll both fit.” They’re both tiny, even shorter than I am.

  “Are you sure that would be okay?”

  “Of course, it’s no problem at all. I’ll go talk to Miklo about it so that everything’s ready for when she gets released tomorrow.”

  “Thank you, Mia.”

  I can see a portion of the weight has been lifted off of her shoulders, and I give her a smile before walking back out to the waiting room. I really just needed to get out of there. Seeing Andie like that was tearing me up. I felt like I was going to start hyperventilating and still feel kind of light headed.

  I just get in front of the guys and Miklo when my vision starts to flicker in and out, right before going black completely and I hear them all shout out at me before silence.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Future Love

  Miklo

  “What a fucking night!”

  “Lil Man…” Jayson catches me on my language. They don’t really care if I cuss but they know Mom hates it. Jesse’s trying to hold in a laugh from his seat next to me and Roman looks like he’s doing the same. Even Cade manages a smirk from his seat across from me. The man looks like he’s going to lose it, they all do, but Cade’s two seconds away from barging in that hospital room they put mom in whether they want him to or not.

  A nurse comes out and stands in front of me. “Miklo? You can come in to see your mom now, she’s just fine.” She has a huge smile on her face.

  I stand up and go to follow her and every one of the guys gets up and follows behind me. When we get to the door the nurse turns and is surprised to see that they all followed, her eyes widening. Now I’m trying to hold in a laugh. We haven’t come across a lot of instances yet where people find out that my mom is dating all four of them, but it’s always comical.

  I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way though, I love our new life here in Washington, my two new best friends, and my Mom’s crazy love life included. I always wanted more of a father figure around and these four guys have more than filled that role these past months.

  “Which one of you is Mia’s boyfriend?”

  A chorus of deep voiced “I ams,” were heard from each of them and I couldn’t help but snort, something my mom does often.

  “They all are, and I wouldn’t even try to get them to go in one at a time. It’s not going to work.” I hear a grunt from Cade and Roman both and once again I’m trying not to laugh. There is no way any of them are going to stay behind. I love that about them, how much they all care for her. I prayed she’d find someone to love her like she deserves, maybe I prayed a little too hard, but I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. I would be even happier if I wasn’t feeling panicked over her and Andie.

  She turns without commenting, not bothering to argue, and leads us into the room. Mom’s in a hospital gown and bundled under covers. She’s always cold. She wipes at her face and it looks like she’s been crying. Crap. That’s never good.

  “Hey Bubbs, come here, I’m sorry if I scared you, I’m alright, you know how my anemia gets bad sometimes.” She pulls me in for a hug and I hold her tight. When she releases me she keeps her eyes on me. It’s like she’s trying to not look at any of the guys on purpose. What’s going on?

  “Sweetheart, what happened? Why’d you faint?” Jayson is the first to say anything and I see a flash of worry go across Mom’s face.

  “My iron just got really low. I’m anemic, and sometimes it makes me dizzy and faint. It hasn’t in a long time though, that’s why I wasn’t expecting it.”

  “You haven’t been fucking eating much either.” Cade looks pissed now. “No wonder you fainted. Don’t think you’re going to keep getting away with that not eating shit. I’ll make you eat.” Shit, he looks serious. He walks to the other side of the bed from me and grabs her jaw gently in his hands and makes her look at him. “You scared the shit out of us, Baby Girl.” She immediately starts crying. I knew she’d been crying earlier too. Something’s up but I have a feeling she isn’t going to say anything. At least not yet. I think he freaks out a little at her sudden tears and he pulls her into him. Her head on his chest.

  “I’m so sorry, and I know, it’s just I really haven’t been feeling very well. I’ll eat, and the doctor is prescribing me some pills that’ll get all my levels up. I’m sorry.” She’s starting to hiccup with her tears and Jesse looks over at me in confusion. I shake my head back at him, he can tell somethings off too. Actually with the way Roman, Jayson, and even Cade are looking at her they all seem to think the same. Honestly, it is really nice to have four other people who
know mom as well as I do. Plus, they usually know what to do in situations like this. Right now she needs a little space.

  “When can you get out of here, Mom?” She still looks exhausted and I know she won't let getting my room ready for Andie and her mom go until morning. It’s already two am now.

  “We can leave now, I just need to get my clothes on and then sign out and get my prescription at the desk and we can leave. How’s Andie?”

  “She’s okay, they put a bed in her room for her mom and they are both sleeping now. Killian’s mom came back and picked him up. I just want to go home with you guys now.” I don’t think I’ll get much sleep, seeing Andie broken and bruised keeps running across my mind. “Okay I’ll let you get changed and see you out there. I love you Mom.”

  “Love you more, Bubbs.” I turn to leave as she says. “You all can go out now, I’ll be right out.” She’s so funny. Cade sits down in the chair closest to the bed and Jesse sits at the end of it.

  Roman and Jayson walk out with me, allowing her some privacy.

  “I’ll be right back. I just want to check on Andie real quick.”

  They both give me big knowing grins and I can’t help the stupid blush that creeps up my neck, and I turn towards Andie’s room, it’s just down the hall from my mom’s. When I get to her door I take a deep breath before slowly opening it. I don’t want to wake them but I just want to see her one more time before we leave.

  “Hey Miklo.” Andie startles me, I wasn’t expecting her to be awake. Her mom is sleeping, and she’s sitting up in bed watching tv. She looks like she’s in a lot of pain and she’s cradling her arm resting in the sling.

  “Hey Andie. We’re leaving and I just thought I’d…” Just thought I’d creep in on you real quick, Ugh, Stupid Miklo. “Well I just wanted to make sure you were okay before we left.”

  She blushes and I barely notice it with the other dark colorings currently maring her cute face. Don’t tell her I said it was cute. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her blush before. Andie is one of the toughest girls I think I’ve ever known. “I’m fine.” Mom says when a girl says she’s fine, she’s really not.

  I walk closer to her bed and feel awkward. I don’t know where to put my hands. I put them behind me but that doesn’t feel right. I cross them in front of me, but no, I don’t want her to think I’m angry. I settle for placing them on her bed, and her eyes go to where I’ve placed them so close to her uncovered leg. Oops. They go back to my sides.

  “My mom said we’re going to be staying at your house for the week before we leave.” Ouch, that hurts way more than I expected, I don’t even know what I’m feeling. I don’t want her to move though.

  “Yeah, it’ll be fun. We can binge watch some tv, and I’ll grab your work from school for you. Wait, will you even need it anymore?” I continue. No, I’ll never get to see her in classes anymore, never get to hang out with her after school, play basketball with her, Killlian, and Jesse. We only have one more month of school left too.

  “Probably not. But will you clean out my locker for me? I don’t really want to have to go like this and be seen by everyone. I already know they’ll all be talking.” Her voice is low and soft, her brow dipping. Was it just me or did she look extra small in that bed? I didn’t understand how I felt but I did know that Andie needed to be kept safe. Maybe she should always stay with us. If Killian and I were with her, she would never get hurt. We would just have to get bigger… or more scary. Like Roman and Cade. Actually all of them. What was I even saying anymore?

  “They won’t be saying anything in front of me.” No way, they’ll have me, Killian, and Sean to deal with. Sean doesn’t hang out with us much outside of school but I know he’ll have her back too. Nobodies bothered her since the fight at lunch last month.

  A nurse comes in to administer Andie some more painkillers and I step back from the bed. “You’re going to have to leave now young man, it’s way past visiting hours and she’ll probably be falling back asleep soon here anyway.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Miklo.”

  “See you tomorrow, goodnight.” I give her a dorky wave before leaving the room and heading back to the waiting room.

  ∞∞∞

  Just as I thought, as soon as we got home mom got straight to work on changing my sheets and covers, lighting a candle to cover what she called “boy smell” And had me put all my dirty clothes in the laundry room. She kicked me to the couch and Cade offered his room at their house but I wanted to make sure I’m home when Andie gets here. As soon as I’m settled in with a blanket, Cade sweeps mom up and carries her down to their room. When did I all of a sudden start referring to it as “their” room? Weird.

  I try really hard to fall asleep but I see the sky begins to lighten through the curtains before I finally do.

  “Miklo baby, wake up. Andie and her mom will be here in about ten minutes. I had Roman go and drive behind them just to be safe.” I awake to my mom shaking my arm. Blinking, I try to peer at the clock on the wall, and can just make out that it is almost noon. Crap! I jump up and run to my room, throwing on a pair of sweats and a black T with the Briggs Brothers Construction logo on it, I take a quick look around my room to make sure nothing embarrassing is left out when I hear the front door open.

  Taking a quick look in the mirror, I see my head is a mess of bed hair, my curls wild on my head. Stupid curls. I try to pat them down but nothing short of water is going to tame them now.

  “Hey Miklo, they’re here.” My mom shouts down the hallway. Dangit, I was going to sneak into the bathroom real quick.

  Coming out into the living room I see that everyone has already gotten settled in on the couch. Everyone but Jayson is here, he went into Seattle to do a daddy/daughter date with Emma, and the brothers showed up when Andie and her mom did. No way had Cade gone anywhere. He hasn’t let Mom out of his sight.

  I choose a spot between Andie and my mom, careful not to bump into Andie’s arm. The adults are all talking about going and packing all their stuff up from their house today before her asshole dad gets released. Sounds like a good idea to me.

  “Do you want to watch a movie?” I grab the remote from the coffee table and hand it to her. She’s been over here enough, even for sleepovers, in the past that she knows exactly how to use it. She turns on Netflix to search through the movies. I want to say something, but I don’t know what to say. Even during all those sleepovers I never felt weird in front of her. Now I feel awkward as fu..dge. Hey, I try. Something feels different now.

  “You want to watch old episodes of That Seventies Show?” She knows I love watching those, my mom got me hooked.

  “Yeah.” She keeps looking at my hair and I run my hands through it which only makes her laugh. I probably made my curls worse. She looks cold. “Are you cold?” I take the blanket off the back of the couch and drape it over her legs.

  “Thanks.” There’s that blush again.

  “Baby Girl, will you please go get my wallet from the nightstand for me?” I turn to look over at Cade, his tone was slightly off, his face is as neutral as ever though. I need to work on my Cade face. Mom always knows when I’m lying.

  “Yeah, I’ll be right back.” She gets up and goes down the hallway.

  As soon as she gets in to the room everyone gets up at once but Andie and I. “Miklo where’s her truck keys, and her spare key she thinks we don’t know about?”

  Ooh they are going to get in so much trouble. “Purse on the counter, and the spare is in the back of the tupperware drawer.” Hey, I never said I thought she should go either.

  They have her truck keys and are all out the door in less than two minutes. As soon as the door shuts mom comes back down the hallway. “What’s going on?” Looking around and seeing only the two of us she gets a frustrated look on her face, “Son of a biscuit eater.” She heads to the island and searches her purse, cursing under her breath she turns to the tupperware drawer and sees it left open.

  My crazy mother starts l
aughing. “What’s so funny Mom?” I look over at Andie but she looks just as confused as I am.

  “They didn’t know I had a spare, spare key made.” She runs to her room in excitement.

  “This ought to be good.”

  “Your mom’s hilarious. There’s never a dull moment over here is there?”

  I laugh. “Nope.”

  We watch as my mom comes flying back out of the room and grabs her purse. “We’ll all be back soon! Order pizza if you get hungry.” She runs out the door.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Actually, I’m getting really tired.” She does look tired, I hope she’s not in pain.

  “Okay I’ll…” At that moment my mom comes back in the front door, she looks like she’s plotting revenge. “What happened mom?”

  “Stupid mechanic.” She goes into her room and shuts her door. Probably to pout. That woman is not afraid to put on the force of the pout. I feel bad for when the guys get back, they’re suckers for that.

  Andie and I look at each other and both start laughing. “Never a dull moment.” I help her up from the couch and lead her down the hallway and into my room. I turn the tv on for her and then turn to leave so she can go to sleep.

  “Miklo will you stay with me for a little bit?” I swear I instantly start sweating.

  “Um, yeah, okay, yeah I can do that.” I go and sit at the edge of the bed,

  “Um, Miklo? Will you hold me for a little bit?” I almost didn’t hear her, she said it so low, but I couldn’t hide my surprise anyway. I was always careful not to touch Andie because she usually tensed or flinched. How had I not seen that before?

  I don’t say anything. I don’t know what too, say. I lay next to her on the bed and wrap my arms around her. I don’t even know what I’m doing, I’ve never laid down and held anyone before, but she sighs and relaxes into me, laying her head on my arm. Wow...