“Thank you, Nurse…,”
“Frankie.” The woman smiles. My stomach rolls and flips. I’m disgusted and appalled with this shit.
“Thank you, Nurse Frankie,” John says with a charming smile on his face. “And I apologize once again for my son’s behavior.”
Ass kissing douchebag.
“Mia?” A different voice calls.
Looking behind me, I notice my father’s latest piece of ass. The woman he decided to “change” for, when he couldn’t be bothered to do that, or even a fraction of it, for his wife.
“Auntie? What are you doing here?” Mia demands, her eyes falling to where the woman and my father are holding hands.
Auntie?
“I—” The woman stutters, looking around, eyes wide. She looks up at John, then at Mia. “I came to give John, my fiancé, support because his son was just involved in a car accident, sweetheart.”
It’s then that her eyes widen, staring at Mia. “Oh my goodness, Mia, why are you covered in blood? Are you hurt?”
Like she has ants in her pants, Nicky springs into action, rushing toward her niece. They look so alike, it’s almost uncanny. Same nose, same lips, same mannerisms even. I glance at Cole and he’s also got a frown on his face.
Nicky is Mia’s aunt? All this time we were sure she was her mother.
“Wait, your fiancé?” Mia says the word as if it’s foreign, a frown on her face as she looks from her aunt to my father, then her gaze lands on me as realization dawns in her eyes. “You’re getting married? To him?”
“Yes, my love.” Nicky laughs lightly, trying desperately to diffuse the mounting tension. “I know it’s so sudden and I wanted to talk to you about it at home, but you didn’t want to talk. The next thing I know, you were gone. And now, you’re covered in blood. Mia, what happened?”
Mia watches her, taking a step back as horror and pain flash in her wide eyes. I narrow my eyes at her. Surely she knew about this. She knew that her fucking aunt was getting married to my dad, that’s why she acted out tonight.
“You’re engaged?” Mia murmurs, taking another step back.
“Yes, sweetheart, I—”
“To be married to John Fitzgerald?” Mia demands, the words coming out vile, angry, and clipped. It sounds to me like she’s angry and disgusted by my family name and that cements the sinking suspicion that she’s working with Matthews. “Since when?”
“It happened last week, my love,” the woman explains reaching for her niece but Mia evades her touch, looking repulsed.
“Does Mom know?” she demands instead. “Does she know about this?”
“I just told her,” Nicky murmurs, looking around.
I watch fascinated as Mia’s whole demeanor changes from one of a wounded, petulant child to that of a warrior goddess.
“Oh my fucking gosh, Auntie, who did you leave Mom with if you’re here?” Mia demands, stepping closer to her aunt.
Hmm, there’s a story there, I’d know that overprotective instinct from anywhere. Her mother is obviously her weakness.
Mia catches me staring, she narrows her eyes then grabs her aunt’s hand and steps away. They don’t go far, but I can tell whatever Nicky is saying is a shock to Mia. From here, I can see her body tense up, her face growing as pale as a ghost. She glances back at me, terror in her eyes, then her aunt grabs her hands again, a gentle, soothing look on her face but Mia shakes her off and with one look at me, she dashes out of the E.R.
“I think she didn’t know anything about this,” Cole whispers beside me as we watch her go, every instinct in me demanding to follow her.
“It seems so,” I mumble.
I expect her to run to her car but instead, from the glass doors of the E.R, I watch as she doubles over, leaning against the wall as if she’s having a panic attack and her aunt follows.
“What the hell happened here, Julian?” John questions, turning to look at me, a thunderous look on his face. “They’re saying a car, your car—”
No need for the emphasis, the visual is clear and vivid in my head.
“—went up in flames by those dangerous cliffs. Now, rumor has it that there’s an illegal street race thing that happens on that strip of asphalt. Please tell me that’s not how your brother got involved in an accident.”
His faux concern makes me grin.
“Ahh, is that worry I hear in your voice, Dad?” I mock, watching him back. “That little speech almost had me believing that you actually care for your children.”
“Julian, no matter what kind of monster you think I am, I’m still your father and I do care about you and Liam…”
“Like you did for Aiden?” I prompt. “Yeah, sure you do.”
“What happened with Aiden—” John starts, a pained look on his face.
“Fitzgerald family?” A doctor walks into the waiting room. I don’t stay to listen to whatever shit my father has to say. I quickly rush to the doctor.
“Yes. Is my brother alright?” I demand.
“You must be his older brother, Julian.” The doctor smiles, a look of recognition lighting his eyes. I know that look from anywhere. He’s a football lover. He looks to my left and notices Cole too. “You must be Cole Perry. Wow, it’s an honor to meet you both in person.”
“Yes, my brother?” I prompt, more than a little impatient.
“Oh yes.” The man shakes his head, then looks to my father. “You must be the great John Fitzgerald.”
The guy is a bright genius. John nods but doesn’t say anything, a look of irritation on his face.
“Your son, as you know, was involved in an accident that could have killed him. He dove out of the car before the car went up in flames—from what I was told by your cousin.” The doctor looks around. “Where did she go?”
“Cousin?” I start, with a frown on my face.
“Yes, the girl that came in with him,” the doctor says.
Fucking Mia.
“She’s not…” I start but my father effectively steps in.
“Oh yes, she went to get some air, Doctor. Please continue,” the asshole says smoothly.
“Poor young lady was in shock when she got here. Please let her know that we can still give her something for that if she changes her mind.”
What the actual hell?
“My brother, Doc!” I growl. “Is he okay?”
“Oh yes. His left arm’s broken, and he’s got four fractured ribs on his left side. Those were his worst injuries.” He looks serious for a moment, watching all three of us. “When your son dove out of the car, his body landed on a bed of rocks. As it is, one of those rocks was found at the base of his head. Thank God the paramedics moved him, after being warned of this by your cousin. It was so dark, the medics wouldn’t have seen that and would have forgone bracing your son, which would have inevitably led to your son being paralyzed.”
Holy shit, she was right. In my haze of anger and shock, I didn’t even see the rocks.
“Since your son was unconscious when he got here, your cousin told us that Liam is asthmatic, which is important information, since he did not have his inhaler on him when he was brought in.”
“Yes, my son is asthmatic, but he hasn’t needed his pump in a while,” John says and I roll my eyes.
“Actually, he runs out of breath, but only in the morning, otherwise he breathes just fine,” I step in. How the fuck did Mia know that?
“So, he’s alright?” A soft, concerned voice comes from behind me. We all turn around to see Mia and her aunt standing there, both of them looking tense and frigid.
“Yes, young lady. You were very heroic today.” The doctor smiles at her. She looks down as if shy, but I know better. Girls like her crave attention and praise.
Narrowing my eyes at her, I hold her gaze when she looks up. I hate heroes with a passion. Especially when they’re the authors of calamity and chaos.
“All things considered, your brother will be alright. He’s sleeping right now, but before he passed o
ut, he did say your name, Julian.” The doctor says. “I’ll let you see him soon.”
“How long will he need to stay here?” I question.
“I’d say just a few days, maybe a week, to monitor his recovery. But after that, he should take it easy this summer if he wants to make a full recovery for football season.” The doctor gets excited all over again. “I’m sure he will lead The Panthers to victory again like you two did…”
“Thank you, Doctor.” John cuts him off. “Now, I’d like my son to be moved to a private room—”
They walk over to the nurses’ station, leaving Cole and I to face Mia and her aunt.
“Congratulations on your engagement to John,” Cole starts after an awkward few seconds of just standing there, tension radiating in waves from each of us causing other people in the waiting room to steer clear of us.
“Oh, thank you…?”
“Cole.” The smirking bastard offers his hand, an easy grin on his face. “Cole Perry. I’m this rude guy’s best friend.”
“Yes.” The woman smiles, turning to address me, but she can’t look me in the eyes. “I heard about you and well, I wanted to meet you and your brother on better terms, but unfortunately it’s not. I’m sorry about the accident and I hope to God Liam makes a full reco—”
“Yes, thank you.” I stare blankly at her, then turn my gaze to her niece. “If it wasn’t for your niece—” I make a point to drag out that word, noticing the woman’s face go slack. “—my brother would have been a vegetable now.”
Mia’s eyes narrow on me, her hypnotic gaze pulls me in. Holding her gaze, I notice the barely repressed anger in her, almost taking over her tiny body. She looks like she wants to scream or punch something, frustration etched on her face so clearly.
Or maybe she’s just constipated.
“Well, it’s funny how fates align,” the woman says, looking from her niece to me, as if trying to figure something out.
“Why do you say that?” I question her, still watching her niece.
“Well, because soon we’ll all be living together. I’ve already started moving in to your beautiful home. My sister and niece will be moving in as well.”
As she says that, the horror in Mia’s eyes could freeze over hell, but she doesn’t say a word.
“And you boys will be helping with the move in.” John steps in, walking over to his bitch—sorry—bride-to-be.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Mia says, and with that, she leaves.
“Mia, wait,” her aunt calls but she doesn’t stop, storming off like the wind. I watch as she runs to the parking lot.
“Talk about dramatic.” Cole chuckles beside me. “But hey, congratulations. It’s going to be one hell of a wedding.”
16
That night, I get home—the very house I was born and grew up in—feeling a deep gaping hole widening in my heart.
Traipsing down the hall in the dark, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders as I go straight for my mother’s room, my mind racing with a million thoughts that I can’t compartmentalize or arrange.
All I know is, my life has just been upended on its axis and everything is suddenly upside down.
I just witnessed an accident which I’m sure I’m connected to, one way or another. I still have the damn remote, fucking lucky charm that Shane gave me at the tracks in my pocket. I wanted to talk to Julian about it but the way he behaved in the car when we drove to Liam’s crash site, told me all I needed to know. He blames me for the accident.
He might be right about that.
I saw the hate in his eyes at that hospital.
I saw the way he was looking at me, like he’s going to stake my head on a pike and leave it in the driveway of our house. He’s going to come for me and now that task just became easier for him.
We’re soon to be roommates.
I open my mother’s bedroom door and stand there quietly watching her. I can see her chest rise and fall from here, but even in sleep, she looks like she’s in pain or she’s having bad dream.
My chest cracks all over again. I feel like crying. I have so much to tell her.
I want to tell her about the crap day I’ve had. I want to tell her that I can’t dance for shit right now. I want to tell her that I got accepted to Ivy League colleges.
I want to tell her about the boy who gave me a hickey and embarrassed the hell out of me tonight.
I want to tell her what a jerk he is and that he’s also the sexiest guy with this uncanny ability to draw me in like no one has ever done before.
I want to tell her that I think he’s going to destroy me.
But most of all, I want to tell her not to leave me, because I feel it in my soul. She’s leaving me even right this second. I stand there, the agony of everything washing over me.
“I’m not ready, Mom.” I whisper, clutching the purse in my hand. “You can’t leave me.”
It’s easier to talk to her when she’s asleep. I can bare my soul, tell her all my secrets, all the things that I know, without a doubt, she’ll be mad at me for doing. Like being mean to people and being a bitch.
But when she’s awake, it’s hard to talk to her when she has a vacant look in her eyes. I’ve heard what the doctors say about her. They say she’s depressed, and I think it’s true.
One day, she was the best ballerina the world had ever seen, dancing with other stars, and the next, she couldn’t move her arm without the shakes. I knew she felt her life was stripped away from her, but I know what hurt her most.
The fact that my father quickly left her to deal with it all by herself.
“I love you, Mom.” I whisper and then step back, slightly closing her double doors. I stand there, waves of anguish washing over me, but I don’t make a sound. I don’t cry. I just stand there and try to breathe.
One…
Two…
Three…
On the fourth breath, I turn lightly on my heel and make my way up the grand stairs that lead to my room. Actually, it was my floor all my life. Being an only child does come with its privileges and I was fond of my space. Each room on this floor was designed by my mother for me.
Now, to leave all this behind?
“Mia.” I freeze at the landing, my back tensing up all over again.
“Are you following me now?” I sigh, feeling tired and weary, a combination that makes me cranky, but tonight it’s been amplified a million-fold.
“You drive so fast, I was worried that you might get in an accident like John’s boy.”
“You mean like your new step-son?” I question, then laugh. On the floor, I spot a lone paper. Dropping down, I pick it up and squint at it with the moonlight shining through the large windows in our mansion. I recognize the label, it’s from one of my mother’s doctor’s offices.
“Listen, Mia, I’m sorry for not telling you.” My aunt sighs, her voice drawing closer with each word. “It all just kind of—happened.”
“Yeah, because engagements just happen.” I sigh. “Congratulations, Auntie but I don’t think I’ll be moving with you. And my mother is not going anywhere.”
“It’s hard to swallow, I get that but Mia, there’s no way I’m leaving my sister in this house, where your bastard of a father abandoned her, mistreated her, and left her to be ill on her own.” She sighs. “Let’s not forget, he’s about to lose this house.”’
“We’ll find another place.”’
“Mia…”’
“My mother and I will be just fine,” I seethe. “I will get a job, two or three if I have to. We don’t need you and your hustle money.”
“Sweetheart, I know you’ve got drive and ambition, but what kind of a person would I be if I let you struggle through life like that?”
“The kind of person you already are.”
Silence stretches between us, bitter wounds opening back up. Her voice drops down to a sympathetic tone. “I understand that you’re mad at me for not being around and I know that this is the only
home you’ve ever known. So, if you’d like to stay here with your father, I understand. He did say you can stay.”
“Where is he?”
“He flew out to Vegas for a meeting. Well, at least that’s what he said.”
I don’t miss the contempt in her voice or the allusion that my father is having an affair.
“Well then, he said you’d poison me against him, then he just ups and leaves without a word.” I snicker, looking away.
“You did take his car,” she says with a smile.
“It’s a great time for him to start using Uber,” I mock. “We’re practically broke now.”
We fall silent for a while, but our thoughts are so damn loud.
“Nancy needs special care, Mia,” Aunt Nicky starts. “And you can’t possibly give it to her. Not with school and everything you have to do.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” I turn around and shove the paper in her face the moment she’s on the landing. “I’ve been here from the start. I know what happened within the walls of this house, and quite frankly, this house is what she knows.”
“Calm down, Mia,” she tries to soothe but I laugh instead. It’s bitter, jagged, cold, and empty. Like me.
“When I needed you, Auntie, you weren’t here.” I state harshly. “Where were you when she started losing feeling in her fingers and toes? Where were you when she couldn’t eat anymore, throwing up her favorite foods like she had a faulty pipe in her throat? Where were you when she needed help to shower, to move, to rotate her at night or to help massage her muscles every few hours?”
“Mia—”
“You see this prescription? I’ve got seven of these right now in my purse. All of them to be filled.”
“Sweetheart, I—”
“I know each medicine that she needs. I know what makes her throw up. I know what makes her feel woozy. I know which meds she likes because they make her high, not you!” I’m breathing hard, not caring that I’m near shouting. “Where were you, Aunt Nicky? Where were you?”
I’m breathing hard, pain piercing my heart.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” she starts, pain flashing in her eyes. “I was busy—”
Devious Kisses: A Bully Enemies -To-Lovers Romance (It's Just High School Book 1) Page 21