Heart Beats

by Davidson King

  I hollowed out my cheeks, my silent way of telling him I wanted it all, every drop. And when he shook and came down my throat, my own climax followed.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Ledger

  The morning sun was peeking through the hotel blinds, making it look as though strips of light were painted across Shane’s milky white skin. His chest rose and fell, his red hair shimmered in the sunshine, and the longer I stared at his sleeping form, the more he took my breath away.

  I found myself wondering if I would be getting through this madness as calmly as I’d been if Shane wasn’t around. Last night as I showered and prayed the water would wash away all this shit, I remembered how my mind wandered to thoughts of Shane and how much he was starting to mean to me. Opening that bathroom door and seeing him sitting on the bed, a smile on his face and need in his eyes, I knew I wanted him. Only he could make me horny at a time when it felt like the earth was trying to swallow me.

  “It should totally creep me out that you’re watching me sleep.” Shane opened his eyes and smiled. “Perv.”

  This was Shane. The man who made me forget. The man who, like the sun, was bright, warm, and lifesaving.

  “Can’t help it, you’re gorgeous.”

  That seemed to stop him from taking the humor further. He lifted his head in invitation, and I met his lips with mine. It was a chaste kiss, but it consumed me.

  “I’m going to grab a shower,” he said as he slipped out of bed and, in his glorious nakedness, walked into the bathroom.

  As I dressed for the day, unfortunately in yesterday’s clothes, I was relieved that Lion had his special water and food dishes. I’d trained him early on that if he hit a button, food would fill his bowl and he had his fountain of fresh water, so he’d be okay. With any other animal I wouldn’t have been able to just decide to not go home that night.

  I had set up an old answering machine I had for when I was away and made a quick call home so he could hear my voice after the beep. He was so fucking smart, he probably understood every word I said. By the time I was done, Shane came out of the bathroom, fully dressed.

  “I wasn’t chancing coming out in just a towel. It’s become apparent resistance is futile with you.” He laughed and I joined him. Feeling this carefree felt like I was shaking off cobwebs stuck inside my chest.

  “I just need to brush my teeth. Did you see if the hotel had spare toothbrushes and toothpaste?”

  He nodded. “I did, very classy.”

  It wasn’t that classy, but it was extremely convenient given the spontaneity of our staying in Crestfox.

  “I’ll be a minute, and we can grab some breakfast and go to the hospital.” I rushed through finishing getting ready, and within ten minutes we were in the elevator, going down to the lobby.

  With full bellies, we drove toward the hospital. Shane was suspiciously quiet, his eyes fixed on the road. I knew he was trying to figure out in his head whatever he had to tell me. Maybe it was some pep talk about what we’d do if Ziggy didn’t wake up today. Perhaps it was about us and where he saw us heading. But when he spoke it wasn’t what I thought he’d say.

  “I have to tell you something, and I need you to understand that the reason I’m telling you now and not last night is because I knew you wouldn’t be able to sleep if I told you, and you really needed to sleep,” he rambled and normally, if my life wasn’t what it was right now, I’d find it endearing.

  “Okayyyyy…?”

  “When I spoke to Atlas last night, he told me that another gift arrived for you at the club.”

  “What?” My gaze darted to him; remorse and worry adorned his features.

  “Riordan and Ciro examined the video, and all they could see was a dark figure placing it at the gate of the parking lot but nothing more. The club was closed at the time they did it, and with you not being in Haven Hart, there wasn’t anyone there.”

  I stopped at a red light and took a deep breath. “So it wasn’t Trinity?”

  “No one knows. She could have arranged it all before she died.”

  That was a thought. The light turned green, and I accelerated down the long street. The hospital wasn’t far from the hotel, and I was replaying everything Shane had said in my head.

  “What was the gift?”

  “They didn’t open it. I guess they’re waiting for you.”

  “It’s not like it’s a birthday gift or something. I don’t give a fuck if they see what it is. Makes it better that I won’t have to.” I was shouting, and I could tell Shane felt like shit for keeping it from me. “I’m not mad at you, I get it.”

  “There’s more.”

  Of course there was. “What?” I turned into the hospital parking lot, glad to see there was ample parking.

  “Riordan and Ciro have guys keeping an eye on you. I know you probably don’t care or don’t want it, but after that gift and too many questions up in the air, no one wanted to chance it.”

  “Fine,” I snapped and put the car in park.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I said I wasn’t mad at you, Shane. I’m mad at this mess, this fucked-up situation I don’t seem to have any control over. I’m like a puppet, and the person pulling the strings hasn’t decided if they’re going to cut me free, light me up, or play with me a bit longer. It’s not feeling much like my own life right now.”

  Shane reached across the middle and grabbed my hand. “You’re not alone, and no matter what, we will figure out who is doing this and stop it. You will have your life back, I promise.”

  “Don’t make promises you don’t know you can keep.” I knew Shane was trying to help and I wanted to believe him, but it wasn’t easy. I got out of the car and started toward the hospital. Shane followed silently.

  We didn’t talk as we walked into the hospital, or up the elevator to the ICU. When we got to the nurses’ station, the same nurse from the day before was there, smiling.

  “Good morning.”

  “Morning, can I go see Ziggy…err I mean Jason?”

  “You sure can. Good news. He opened his eyes a couple of hours ago. Doctors have been in there. So maybe seeing your face will give him a jolt in a better direction.”

  I turned to Shane, who was smiling. “He’s awake!” I was excited and my voice rose a few octaves, but I didn’t care. Shane laughed and shook his head.

  “I’m standing right here. I know. Go, shoo, go see him. Give him a hand-squeeze for me.”

  “Okay, I’ll be back. You sure you’re okay?”

  “Me?” He waved me off. “I’ll read some fanfic in the waiting room. Take your time.”

  Shane walked away and I eagerly followed the nurse to where Ziggy would hopefully still be awake. I needed to see his face, look in his eyes and see the spark that lived there.

  “Oh, look at this, your handsome visitor is here,” Roma said, and while I heard her, all I could see was Ziggy. He was sitting up, had oxygen in his nose, and while he still looked like shit, he was awake.

  “Zig,” I whispered and ran to his bed. “I was so fucking worried.”

  He gave me a small nod and opened his mouth. “Tri…Trinity?”

  “Do you know?”

  He nodded. “She’s…dead.”

  “Yeah, I need to know what happened, but I want you to rest. You have to—”

  “No,” he whispered and swallowed. When he flinched, I knew he was in pain.

  “Zig, please, rest.”

  “Danger, Ledger, need help.”

  I looked up at the nurse who shrugged. “Sweetheart, you’re in pain. You need to sleep. We’ll figure it all out soon.”

  “Don’t…go.” He slapped his hand atop mine, no energy behind it. “Talk.” His eyes shut and he was sleeping.

  “Sometimes when patients have a traumatic injury, it plays in their head on a loop. He has a very serious concussion and as you can see, speaking isn’t coming easy for him.”

  “Yeah…”

  “He’s going to be out for a whil
e. If you go to the waiting room, I’ll have the doctor come and speak with you.”

  “Thanks, Roma.”

  As I walked back to the waiting room, everything in my being told me Ziggy wasn’t replaying what happened to him. He knew something and was warning me. I just needed to find out what he knew.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Shane

  When Ledger came into the waiting room, I knew the reunion with Ziggy wasn’t what he’d hoped.

  “What’s wrong? Is it Ziggy, did something happen?” I went over to him and was relieved when he made eye contact.

  “He was awake, and he spoke, but…”

  “But what? Ledger, you’re freaking me out.”

  “Let’s sit,” he said as he took my hand and we sat by the window on the small sofa. “The doctor will be coming in to talk to me in a little bit; Ziggy is sleeping.”

  “Is that what has you so worried?”

  He shook his head. “Zig was able to speak, but not well. I don’t know how permanent that is, or if it’s the drugs, but that’s not what has me upset. It’s what he said.”

  I wanted to give Ledger time, but I wanted him to spit it out also, so I gave his hand a light squeeze.

  “What’d he say?”

  “He said, ‘Danger, Ledger, need help,’ he said ‘talk,’ and that he didn’t want me to go.”

  “Do you think it was the drugs affecting him? Maybe it was the accident?”

  “Roma said the same thing, but—”

  “You don’t agree?” He shook his head. “You think he was warning you? That it wasn’t him in some sort of drugged-up hallucination?”

  His gaze met mine. “Yeah, what do you think?”

  “I think with everything going on, anything is possible.”

  We looked up when we heard a light knock. Ledger and I were alone in the ICU waiting room, and I suppose the intensity of our conversation had the doctor not wanting to interrupt.

  “My apologies for interrupting,” the doctor said. His white lab coat read Lawrence Reynolds, MD.

  “No, it’s fine. I’m Ledger.” He stood and held out his hand. Dr. Reynolds took the few feet toward us and shook it.

  “I’m Shane,” I introduced myself, smirking at Ledger when he apologized for not telling the doctor my name.

  “And I’m Dr. Reynolds. Now that we have the formalities out of the way”—he chuckled—“I’m here to tell you what’s going on with Mr. Zabel.”

  “I was able to talk to him for maybe a minute. I noticed his speech was choppy.”

  The doctor nodded. “Right. There’s no way to tell if that’s due to the drugs and disorientation or any head trauma. It’s far too soon to know. What I can tell you is that he is recovering well from his physical injuries. He has two broken ribs, which could also be making speech difficult, even with pain medications. He does have a severe concussion we are monitoring. No bleeding in the brain, and that is very good. We did have to operate to remove some debris from the car. It was embedded in his hip, arm, and back. Fortunately, he is healing well from that. No fever or infection as of now, and we want to keep it that way.”

  “That’s good news,” Ledger breathed out, and I took a gulp of air myself.

  “Yes. We will be keeping him in the ICU for at least a few more days. My hope is that early next week he’ll be in a room.”

  “Do you know how long he will be at the hospital and the aftercare he’ll need?” Ledger asked, and I was ashamed to realize I didn’t think about who’d help Ziggy when this was over.

  “He will likely need some rehabilitation after being discharged from here. We have a facility only a mile up the road that I’d suggest. After that, yes, he may need some help.”

  Ledger nodded. “I live in Haven Hart, but I have a large place. I can help him.” The fact that Ledger didn’t hesitate to help his friend spoke volumes about what kind of person he was.

  “That would be great,” the doctor said. “He will be going up for an MRI later this afternoon. And we will be monitoring him closely. Will you be in town for a while?”

  “I have to call work; I’ll let you know.”

  “Thank you. Leave your information with the nurse, and if there are any changes and you’re not here, someone will be sure to contact you.” Dr. Reynolds shook each of our hands once more and left.

  “Listen, Ledger, you stay here, try and go back in to talk to Ziggy again. I’ll call Atlas or Ciro and let them know what’s going on and what they think.”

  Ledger cupped my cheeks, his hands warm, and I wanted to sink into his whole body. “Thank you for being with me,” he whispered and before I could respond, he pressed his lips to mine.

  “Thanks for letting me,” I said after he broke away.

  Ledger sat with me and had coffee, since Ziggy would be asleep for a while. He told me to let Ciro open the gift and to just tell him what it was. He had zero interest in seeing it. When Roma called the waiting room to let him know Ziggy was awake and asking for him, he left and I called Ciro.

  “Hey, Shane,” Ciro answered.

  “Hi, so listen…” I explained everything to Ciro—from Ziggy waking to what he and the doctor said, all the way to asking Ciro to open the gift that was left for Ledger.

  “Hang on.” The way Ciro spoke didn’t let on whether any of the information I told him was worth being nervous over or anything. If I hadn’t seen Ciro smile, I’d have thought he was a robot.

  “Okay, I’ve got the gift, let me open it.” I could hear him tearing the paper. “Fuck,” Ciro whispered, and he may as well have just shouted it into the phone.

  “What, what is it?”

  “A tiny toy car, another USB, and a piece of paper. It says, ‘Everybody got a breakin’ point kid.’ ”

  “It’s gotta be lyrics, but I can’t place where I’ve heard it. Anything else before you plug in the drive?”

  “No,” he said. “Let me get this in my computer, hold up.”

  I waited for what was probably seconds but it felt like an eternity. Then he said he was hitting play. “Killing Me Softly” by the Fugees began to play. I knew Ciro would listen to the entire song in the hopes of obtaining more clues, but as I listened to a song I once loved, all I felt was dread and Ziggy’s words to Ledger playing on a loop in my head. Danger, Ledger, need help.

  When it ended, all I could do was sit there in silence. What did it mean? The car, was that…?

  “Shane,” Ciro interrupted my internal panic.

  “Yeah.”

  “I want you and Ledger to stay in Crestfox. Whoever did this to Trinity and Ziggy, I think for sure is Ledger’s stalker. Whether Trinity had anything to do with it, I’m not sure yet, but they don’t seem to know where Ledger is if they brought it here.”

  “But they may find out. I mean, they likely know where Ziggy is and that Ledger would come here.”

  Ciro released a breath. “I’m contacting Riordan and his guys who are on site there. You and Ledger only go from the hospital to your hotel until I get there, got it?”

  “Yeah…Ciro, be careful.”

  “I’m always careful,” he said before disconnecting the call.

  I wasn’t sure what, if anything, Ziggy was telling Ledger, but I really hoped it was something that would put an end to this all. If this person, whoever they were, was able to kill someone to get to Ledger, what’s to say they wouldn’t feel unstoppable and hurt Ledger when he rebuffed them?

  I sat in the waiting room, impatiently, and waited for Ledger. Pacing, drinking way too much coffee, and internally freaking out.

  “Please, Ziggy, give us something,” I whispered to the empty room.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Ledger

  Ziggy’s eyes were closed when I entered his room, so I took the chair I’d sat in earlier. I figured the drugs likely had him going in and out of sleep. He’d asked for me, which told me he was remembering just fine, and I hoped he had some answers, but in the same vein, I wanted him to rest and not
get upset.

  “Hey.” The sound of Ziggy’s voice made me jump. I was so lost in my own head, I hadn’t noticed he’d opened his eyes.

  “Zig.” I gripped his hand softly. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

  “Ledger, you need to listen to me.” He screwed his eyes shut in pain.

  “You need to rest; it’s not important, just—”

  “No, shh.” Ziggy took short breaths. “I’ll go slow. You need to listen.”

  “Okay, take your time.”

  I waited while Ziggy took his time. There was no hiding how much pain he was in, from the sweat beading on his face, to the way he clenched his jaw. I wished he weren’t in this bed. I wanted to see his smile and for him to tell me to stop fucking up and go after what I want. He’d been an amazing friend to me, so if me sitting here, being quiet was what he wanted, I’d do it.

  “I didn’t know Trin was going to say that in her speech. She told me she’d fix it.” He looked at me, sadly. “When it was over, we fought. I told her she made it worse. You know Trin, she rolled her eyes. Waved me off. But I didn’t let up. Told her she likely destroyed her friendship with you.”

  “Zig…”

  He shook his head. “Let me get it all out. I need to say it while I can.”

  “Okay.”

  “We fought all the way out of the building to the parking garage. When we reached her car, there was someone there. Leaning on the driver’s door.” Ziggy closed his eyes. “It was dark, I couldn’t see his face at first. I knew he was tallish, lanky. But he had on black pants and a dark hoodie. Trin started shouting at the guy to get off her car.”

  Sounded like her. She’d had so little care for repercussions.

  “The guy didn’t move. When we got closer, I stood between them. I saw his face then but didn’t recognize him…well, not totally.”

  “What do you mean not totally?” I asked.

  “He was familiar in that déjà vu kind of way. I dunno, I just knew I’d seen him somewhere.”