“I wasn’t actually in the room with him. In fact I don’t even know if he is even responsible or not.”
“Kari! Quit your babbling and tell me what’s going on!”
“Whose babbling?” Asks Doctor Mike, as he walks into the nurse’s lounge.
Oh no! His timing could not have been worse.
“Not really your business.” Adam says, before I can reply.
“Actually it is,” I object, since part of it happened here at work.”
“Spill it!” Barks Doctor Mike with surprising authority. I don’t think I’ve ever heard this tone before.
“Fine…you get the abbreviated version. I’m tired of telling this, so here it is. I think for a second, then take a huge breath. “Last night I walked into the nurses lounge only to find in effigy a blow up doll with my name tag on it and even though I was quite shocked it in no way eclipses my surprise at finding someone has hidden a video camera in my bedroom and has been secretly recording everything from the view point of my closet and I am pathetically saddened to report that nothing even remotely close to romance could have been captured during that lengthy period of time and while you may be thinking the person responsible for these intrusions is Adam, I believe the person doing these things is Ripper, the president of Adam’s club.”
I finish my little monologue with a gasp for much needed oxygen and wait for Dr. Mike’s reply.
Instead Adam jumps in. “Why would he think it’d be me?” Adam asks, obviously offended.
“Well you are an outlaw biker…”
“And you’re far too defensive to be completely innocent.” Dr. Mike comments aloofly.
“You’d better get defensive yourself doc if you’re gonna be talking like that.” Adam warns.
“Oh I have no problem staying safe here biker boy.” Doctor Mike says, puffing up his chest. “You’re on my turf now and I can protect both myself and Kari. I have the full security staff here at my beck and call and no one gets by here without my leave.”
“Well that explains this then,” Adam declares.
He opens up his jacket to reveal a long nasty looking knife strapped to his hip. As Doctor Mike’s eyes pop out, Adam pulls back his jacket a little further to reveal a very scary looking handgun.
The doctor actually takes two steps backwards in shock. “H-how’d y-you g-get that thing in h-here?” He stammers. “The guards will have searched you.”
“It’s all about the attitude doc. You walk in like you own the place and searching you would be akin to starting the next world war and they tend to leave you alone. And you can bet Ripper’s gonna walk in here much the same way I did tonight and if anyone thinks they’re man enough to get in his way he’ll just blow their heads off. Kari needs someone who can offer her-”
“Oh please,” Doctor Mike interrupts. “You don’t know the first thing about what women need. All women need to feel protected and taken care of. They need a shelter for when they want to nest. You think everything can be solved with your fist and your size 13 boot but that’s such a small part of the picture. They need the stability that money can provide. All women-”
I think I’ve heard enough. “Hello… still in the room guys. If you’re finished with your little psychoanalysis I really need to get back to work. I only get an hour for dinner, not the entire shift. Then I’m going to go home and forget about this business of the blow up doll slash home invasion. They’re just trying to scare me and it’s not going to work if you haven’t already noticed.”
“You really shouldn’t be alone,” Adam says.
.”He’s right.” Adds Doctor Mike.
“Fine, why don’t you two come by after work and you can camp on my front lawn and continue your discussion on what women need, but if either one of you even knocks on my front door I’m going to call the cops.”
Having said my piece I spin on my heels and leave the nurse’s lounge. The last thing I want right now is an over protective man and now I seem to have two over protective men in my life whether I want them there or not.
The remainder of my shift flies by and when I finally walk out I have completely forgotten about my lawn sitting invitation until I arrive at home to find a Harley Davidson parked in front of my house. Propped up against the front wheel is some sort of a duffle bag and sprawled out on the bike is Adam, using a backpack and his handlebars for a pillow.
“Do you have to take me so literally?” I say as I walk up. “I wasn’t serious when I said you could camp out on my front lawn.”
“And,” He says, sitting up. “I wasn’t serious when I said I would be camping on your lawn either.”
“Well great then. I guess you’ll be shoving off now?”
“Oh no. What I mean is, I won’t be camping on your front lawn because I’ll be coming inside to do my camping.”
“If he gets to come inside so do I!” Says Doctor Mike, appearing from out of nowhere.
“No body’s coming in!” I protest.
Adam turns to Dr. Mike. “Now look what you’ve done! I was about to go inside where I can really protect her and you come along like some lost puppy and ruin everything.”
I’ve had enough. I hurry inside before either of them can engage me again. Once I’m inside and they’re out there they can argue all they want. I sit up for a bit watching CNN and eating a light snack before deciding to just crash for a while but it’s so damn boring I find myself nodding off with a half full yogurt cup in my lap. About the third time my chin hits my chest I get the feeling I’m not alone. I open my eyes, sit up and spill yogurt down the front of my tank top. Standing in my doorway is Doctor Mike.
“Sorry,” he says, pointing to my yogurt mess. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Really?” I reply. “If you don’t want to scare me half to death then stay out of my room!”
“Here let me get that for you.” He replies as a towel materializes in his hands.
He walks over to the bed and makes like he’s going to wipe. I hold out my hands in front of me.
“Not so fast buster! I can do just fine without your grubby paws on me.”
“Grubby paws?” He asks. He looks at his hands like they’ve just been bitten or something. “These hands have been called a lot of things in my day, but never grubby paws!”
“Well keep those gropers away from me. Unless I’m lying in the ER bleeding to death you don’t have permission to touch the goods.”
“I’m sorry he says,” offering me my own towel. “Maybe I can get you something more comfortable to slip into?” He says, pointing to my ruined top.
“Fine,” I reply. “Turn around, take about fifteen steps forwards…then shut the door behind you. That’s what you can do for me.”
His ever present smile fades as he turns to comply and suddenly I feel bad for the guy. He is trying to help after all and it seems I could use a protector or two these days.
“You don’t have to go,” I say.
He stops in his tracks and turns back to me. I pat the bed beside me and smile. He comes over and sits down making sure to keep his paws in his lap. He does offer me the towel again. This time I take it and proceed to wipe blueberry yogurt from my top. He really does have a lot to offer…someone. I’m just not sure I’m the person he should be offering himself to. He is partially right. A girl does like to be cared for and protected and such and he being a doctor and all can certainly provide that.
I look into his face and my heart does a little flutter. He is handsome; no doubt about that. And some day all this insanity with the biker who wants me terrified or dead will be long past and then I will need something more from a man that just protection. The question is, can Adam provide that or is he just the ass kicking protection guy?
The sudden touch of a pair of warm lips on mine stops my train of thought dead in it’s tracks. My pulse quickens as his lips part and the tip of his tongue brushes my own lips. How did we get from me kicking him out to making out in such a short time? I seem to have
zero impulse control these days. I open my mouth to object but he takes it as an invitation to move in and camp. The second out tongues collide I’m ready for him to lay out his sleeping bag. Our mouths lock, my heart pounds against his chest. His hands are everywhere and my skin vibrates beneath his touch. Who needs protection when you’ve got this? When Doctor Mike reaches for my soiled top I raise my arms.
“Mike,” I breathe into his ear. “I think-”
And my car alarm goes off! I freeze mid-sentence. We both sit there on my bed motionless and waiting for it to stop. I’m just about to give up and go out to turn it off myself when it stops blaring. I take a deep breath and smile. Bullet dodged. I start to unhook my bra when a loud crash outside makes us both jump about two feet.
“What the hell?”
Mike jumps off the bed and back away from the window and motions me to do the same.
“Don’t make yourself a target by standing in front of your window,” he whispers. “You should probably hide somewhere-”
He stops at the sound of my front door opening. I hear a pair of boots clomping down my hall and suddenly I feel way under dressed. I’m really not prepared to answer Adam’s questions about what was going on in here.
“This isn’t what you thin,-” I begin.
My voice catches in my throat when I see who it is in my doorway and it’s not Adam. Standing in my room is another biker who is nearly as wide as he is tall. In fact I find later that is name is Brick; a fitting one considering his physical attributes.
“Who’s this namby- pamby?” He asks, pointing to Doctor Mike.
“Why does everyone keep referring to me as namby- pamby?” Mike asks.
“Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately?” The intruding biker asks.
“For your information I have a name and it’s Doctor Micha-”
“Get lost she-man,” The square biker says as he jerks his thumb towards the bedroom door.
“Michael Shanahan…” Doctor Mike finishes.
“Congratulations you know your name, now make like a banana and split before I have to split your skull.”
For a response Mike steps between myself and the biker. I don’t know what Michael thinks he can do here but giving the other man an ass kicking is definitely not on the menu.
“Really, little man? You and what -” He stops himself mid-sentence as his phone rings.
“Brick here, what’s up?” He says as he answers his cell phone. He listens for a minute then replies. “Fine, I’ll bring her in.” Then he pockets his phone.
“Brick?” Says Doctor Mike, who can’t help but snigger. “They call you brick? At least I’ve got a normal human physique. I don’t know what you call that!” He says, pointing to Brick’s body. “Wait I do know… Brick. This is too funny!”
Brick’s face darkens. Doctor Mike should not have pushed the man. Brick gets this ugly wild look on his face as he reaches behind him. Suddenly I can’t breathe. Brick pulls out a very evil looking silver handgun from his waistband. He racks the slide back chambering a round. Where is Adam when I need him.
Brick trains his evil stare on Doctor Mike. “This ain’t your lucky day she-man! I was gonna let you go since we’re only interested in the woman, but you just had to run your mouth off didn’t you? I bet this ain’t the first time your mouth has gotten you in trouble, is it?”
Mike doesn’t say a word. Obviously the gravity of the situation is hitting him pretty hard. I watch in horror as the biker aims his weapon at the trembling doctor. I should do something I know… but what can I do? I’m no superman. I’m not faster than a speeding bullet. I’m frozen in place. I can’t breathe, call for help, beg, or even blink. So this is what it’s like when you get caught in a fatal shootout. This is what it feels like when your number is up and you’re taking your final breaths on this earth. I think about my little sister and wonder how she’s going to take this, or my best friend Jenny; we’re practically sister. If only Adam were here instead of Mike. Adam is probably dead outside. He was probably killed while I was in here making out with Doctor Mike. That’s not the last thought I want running through my brain before I die.
My eyes blur as I look up at Brick and for a second I think I’m seeing things. Adam is here! I look past Brick and standing in the doorway is Adam; well, the bloody version of him at least. He is sporting a nasty gash above his left eyes and looks more like Carrie in that Stephen King movie when all that shit gets dumped on her head.
Suddenly Brick whirls around to face Adam. I must have given Adam away. Brick probably saw my expression change or something and he knew who was standing behind him.
Suddenly the fight is on! Brick and the wounded Adam are locked in this dance of death. Adam has his knife and Brick his gun and neither will release their weapon. I hear at least two gun shots and a cry of pain from brick. At one point I think I see Adam’s bloodied knife flashing by. Abruptly they’re on the ground rolling around trying to kill one another. I have to do something. Before I can even wonder about the wisdom of getting involved in a fight between two warriors fighting to the death, I’m scrambling across my bed trying to figure out how attack Brick. Out of the corner of my eyes I see Doctor Mike standing in the corner of the room watching the struggle. I can’t believe he’s just standing there.
I throw caution to the wind and leap! I reach out with both arms hoping I grab ahold of something useful and as it turns out, I grab Brick around his neck, hanging on for dear life. Suddenly my extra weight on Brick’s back is enough to topple us all backwards and on top of me. As my breath shoots out of my lungs I dig in with my claws and screech like a cat. Another deafening bang causes me to cry out letting go of my death grip on the Brick. At the same time I receive a hot and sickening splash of someone’s blood bathing my face and chest!
I pass my forearm across my eyes before I dare open them. The Brick has rolled off my and is lying face down next to me. His gun is still in his unmoving hand.
“Kari.” A soft voice calls me from the brink of insanity. “Kari are you hurt?”
I look away from the dead biker. Adam is studying me, looking for any signs that I may not be fine. He has this mixture of tenderness and fearfulness in his expression as he waits for me to tell him I’m okay. And I am… okay. Just not in the sense he is asking. There’s a dead man in my house. Lying not far from me is a man who came to either kidnap me or kill me or something like that. How can I even remotely be okay?
“I’m fine,” I lie. “I’m just fine. But you need to go to the hospital Adam. You’ve got a nasty gash there above your eye.”
I reach out to touch his face and he recoils for a second, and then relaxes. I rest my hand on his cheek.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?” I ask, fearing the worst.
“No…just a little banged up. Nothing a few stitches and a stiff drink can’t fix.
Suddenly Doctor Mike is standing next to us. He’s opening a makeshift trauma kit.
“That’s not mine,” I say, wondering if he carries one around like I do.
“Was in my trunk. You’d be surprised how many times I have actually used this.”
Without another word he begins to sterilize Adams wound in preparation for suturing it up. Adam refuses a stiff drink to dull the pain and doesn’t even blink when Doctor Mike begins cleaning the gash; and I’m pretty sure the good doctor was far from gentle either. Doctor Mike no doubt sees this as an opportunity to even the score with Adam. I will say it is convenient to have a physician on standby ready and able to fix you up. Not that I couldn’t have sutured Adam’s wound myself…
Suddenly a thought occurs to me. “Shouldn’t there be police on the way or something?” I ask.
Adam points to the Brick’s gun. “Silencer.”
At least I won’t be playing twenty questions with some cop tonight. When Doctor Mike is finished with Adam’s sutures I figure it’s a good time to invite them both to leave me alone now.
I’m just about to ask them to leave when
I hear a knocking on my front door. Great, I guess someone did call the police after all. Reluctantly I go to the door and open it. Instead of the cops it’s the guy next door to me. He’s a dad with two kids and recently moved in with his wife of ten years. They’re nice enough, but I just don’t want to be answering any questions right now.
“Hi Miss Kari,” he begins. “Are you okay?”
I can’t but help notice his eyes are straining in their sockets.
“Oh I’m fine…really.”
His eyes are still bugging!
“Are you fine?” I finally ask him.
“Sure…it’s just that I don’t usually see t-this much of y-you.” He stammers.
“Yeah, I guess I am gone a lot aren’t I?”
“T-that’s not it…you’re usually… w-wearing more…”
“More?”
Suddenly the ugly truth hits me and I cross my arms automatically. This is worse than the police showing up.
“I’m so sorry…” I reply lamely. I move to shut the door but he stops me with his foot in the way.
“You don’t look so good Ms. Kari. Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“Not at all. I was just in a deep sleep when you knocked on my door, that’s all.”
This time I succeed in closing my door. I lock both the knob and the deadbolt as well as hooking up the chain. Oh well…so he saw me in my bra with no shirt on; big deal. Feeling a bit better I head back to my bedroom when I pass by the one mirror in the hallway. My mouth drops open in shock. I look like the living dead!
What’s left of my bra is tattered and bloodstained. In fact there’s so much blood on my chest it looks like I’ve been stabbed in the heart! My so called blond hair looks like it hasn’t been washed or combed in months. There’s even dried blood in it. I slump to the floor as the reality of my situation sinks in. How does a person carry on with their normal life after an event like this one takes place? I start to get up but I just can’t. Instead I just burry my face in my bloody hands and let the tears flow.
My whole body shakes and great sobs are torn from me. I can’t remember ever crying like this except when my parents were killed in a car crash when I was nine. But this is different. I’m a responsible adult now. I have a life. I’m supposed to be normal. I’ve got a respectable career and I’m not supposed to be living on the fringe of society like an outlaw. Finally I get up. I’m going to tell the guys to leave and then I’m going to take a LONG hot shower and then go to sleep. Then I’ll go back to work and forget it all happened. Work is the perfect tonic for dealing with my fucked up life right now and I think when I get there I’m going to guzzle it down; that tonic. I’m just about to walk into my room when I hear the boys talking; civilly and instead of ragging on each other like is their usual wont.
Edge of Ashes (Sons of Ash Motorcycle Club) Page 9