Complicated

by M. M. Koenig

  “I’d rather not find out, since I have nothing to bring back up. The dry heaves are the worst part of this whole damn thing. That being said, stop being so stubborn and get over here.”

  Bri turned on the warm water and shoved my hands into the sink. I inhaled deeply before rubbing soap on my hands and elbows. She grabbed paper towels and wet them down with water and soap before gently cleaning the bloodstains on my cheeks.

  The blood on my hands was like a thick paste. It didn’t want to come off easily. I watched the sink fill with reddish water and began to comprehend just how much blood Micah had lost. It’d be a miracle if he survived. I frantically scrubbed my hands to such an extent that they became raw. My breathing became non-existent as my head dropped to the sink. Bri shut off the water and rested her hand on my head.

  “Don’t, Mia,” she whispered.

  “Bri, you didn’t see him. There was so much blood,” I rasped.

  I was frozen to the floor when my phone started ringing again.

  “Mia, I know that’s Ethan. You should answer it or he’ll just keep calling.”

  “I can’t right now,” I stammered.

  “Fine, I’ll talk to him. Where’s your phone?” Bri asked impatiently.

  I feebly pointed to the front of my sweatshirt. She had the fakest smile I had ever seen on her face. She was just as terrified as me. She tried to steady the uncontrollable shaking coming from my body, but gave up and grabbed my phone.

  “Hi, Ethan,” Bri answered before taking an agitated breath. “I understand that you’re worried about Mia,” she said, stomping along the bathroom tiles. “Yes, they found Micah. He’s in bad shape. Mia needs a minute to process this so stop being an arrogant ass!”

  Bri pulled the phone away, muttered a string of profanities, and shoved it in my direction. “Ethan’s starting to piss me off. He’s demanding to talk to you.”

  I shakily brought the phone to my ear to hear his rigid breaths. It sounded like he was as exasperated with Bri as she was with him.

  “Mia?” Ethan asked, his voice thick with worry.

  “Yeah,” I scratched out before leaning against the wall next to Bri.

  “You were supposed to check in with me hours ago. What happened after you left?”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t call. I meant to …I just … I haven’t … I don’t …”

  My hands continued to shake as if I was having a seizure. Truthfully, I wasn’t ruling anything out because my head was ready to explode.

  “Where are you?” What happened? How bad is he?” Ethan asked, disgruntled.

  “It’s pretty bad. Micah’s in surgery,” I whispered, as my hands shook even more.

  My body had reached its limit. My vision started to fade and I was positive that I had started swaying back and forth. When my knees gave out, I slowly slid down to the ground. Bri grabbed my cell before I hit the floor.

  “I warned you, but you had to push her.” I heard Ethan’s voice loudly ring across the line as she held the phone away from her ear. “Now that you’ve got that off your chest, can we carry on this conversation like adults?” Bri snapped.

  Their conversation was becoming one of the more bizarre exchanges I’d ever heard. It could have very well been me. I was pretty sure my marbles were all but gone. I buried my head into my knees and let the waves of pain take over.

  “Give her time Ethan. She’s in shock. I know you love Mia but being here isn’t going to help her.” She pulled the phone away from her ear again as his voice kicked up to a higher volume. “Seriously, if you scream at me again, I’m hanging up on you,” Bri warned.

  “Listen, she’ll check in with you soon. If she doesn’t, I’ll call you, but you can’t be here. Think about it Ethan. Micah’s family doesn’t need her current boyfriend hanging around while they wait to hear if their son is going to make it.”

  Bri chewed nervously on her lip. “Thank you. You’ll hear from one of us within the hour.”

  She sank down next to me and returned my phone to my sweatshirt. She rested her head on my shoulder and ran her hands along my arm before grabbing my chin to face her. “You need to give him a call when you can talk to him without it sending you into a meltdown.”

  I gave her a slight nod. She rose to her feet. I looked at her and tried to find the will to move. She crouched down with her hands on my cheeks.

  “Mia, you need to get up. We need to see if there’s any news. Come on,” Bri coaxed.

  My hands shoved me upwards. I leaned against the wall for a minute with my eyes closed. They fluttered open as I took an unsteady step forward. Bri stepped backwards, keeping an eye on me as if she expected me to fall over. We made our way back to the waiting room.

  Trey is with Jackson and Shane. Micah’s dead. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be sitting there.

  My knees started to buckle and I began hyperventilating. The boys rushed over. Trey was the head of the pack as he grabbed my arms when I started to fall backwards.

  “Mia, it’s not what you think. Micah’s still in surgery, but they won’t let me stay back there. They said they’d be out soon with an update,” Trey said, squeezing my arms.

  Jackson secured an arm around my side and Shane did the same. Trey released me as he grabbed Bri’s hand. Jackson and Shane sat me in a chair and took the seats next to me. Trey sat down with Bri in his lap.

  “Are you OK? You look a little pale,” Trey said to Bri, clearly concerned.

  She rested her head on his shoulder. “I was worried about you, but I have you now, so I’m fine,” she reassured. Her gag reflex was getting the better of her as she eyed the blood on Trey’s clothes. “You should really wash up. You look as bad as Mia did.”

  “I’ll be right back,” Trey replied, kissing her forehead as he gently set her on the chair.

  Bri hunched forward and took deliberate breaths. After a few minutes, she turned to me with a small smile before resting her head against the wall. Trey returned several minutes later and sat her on his lap again. We sat in silence for what felt like forever. Trey was about to get up to check for an update when Micah’s parents ran into the room.

  “Trey! Mia! Where’s Micah?” Mrs. Ivers asked hysterically.

  After gazing between Trey and me, she gasped and started to sway backwards. Micah’s dad stumbled into a chair with a hand clasped to his mouth. We had removed the blood from our bodies, but there wasn’t much to be done about what was on our clothes. Trey set Bri to the side as he lunged forward to keep Micah’s mom from crashing to the floor.

  “Micah’s in surgery. We don’t know anything yet,” Trey said, shuffling up with Mrs. Ivers in his arms. Mr. Ivers grabbed his wife and gently placed her in an open chair. Trey crouched next to them. “They didn’t tell me much. Mostly, they said they’ll do everything they can to save him.”

  “I’m so grateful that you found him,” she sobbed. “Mia, I’m so sorry for what my son did to you. He never meant to hurt you. If you only—” she rambled. Another wave of hysteria captured her before she could finish her train of thought. Mr. Ivers glared daggers at me. It was more than obvious that he blamed me for Micah’s disappearances.

  My body became the shattered mess I was after Micah vanished the first time. Mrs. Ivers’ eyes met mine. The love in them for me was indisputable. Like Trey’s mom, she had taken me in as her own and never stopped loving me. When the going got tough for me, I had cut her out of my life completely. My heart sliced open all over again as the agony of the last year hit me like a ton of bricks. Unlike last time, I owed it to Micah’s family to actually be a decent human being, so I made my way over to her. I kneeled next to her with my hand on her leg as Trey moved out of the way. Mr. Ivers rose to his feet and mumbled something about finding out more about Micah’s condition on his way out of the room.

  “I’m sorry this happened to him,” I said in an anguished whisper.

  She wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks and pulled me close to her. I went willingly into her arms
, hoping it’d be enough to keep her calm until we knew Micah’s fate. She held me snugly for a long time.

  “Micah Ivers’ family,” a deep voice rang.

  Everyone turned to the man in scrubs that had walked into the waiting area looking exhausted.

  “How is he?” Trey asked, jumping from his seat as everyone else followed. I gathered the strength in my legs and gently pulled Mrs. Ivers up to join them.

  “He’s out of surgery. He’s unconscious, but we’ve managed to stop the internal bleeding. There’s still more work to be done. For now, he’s stable. We’ve sedated him until we can go back in to repair the rest of the damage,” the doctor confirmed.

  “Is he going to be OK?” Micah’s mom cried.

  “I’m sorry Mrs. Ivers, but I can’t give you an answer until we have more time to determine the extent of his injuries. He has quite a few that need to be treated. We can’t continue any further until his body’s able to handle it,” the doctor explained.

  “He’s my son. I want to see him,” Mrs. Ivers demanded.

  “That’s fine, but it’s only immediate family. The rest of you need to remain out here.”

  Mrs. Ivers disappeared down the hallway with the doctor. I stumbled backwards until Jackson caught me and settled me into a chair. Trey remained in the same spot. His neck started to flush as he ran his hands through his hair. After several minutes, he spun around and dragged Bri over to Jackson and me.

  “Come on,” Trey commanded, yanking me out of the chair.

  “What are you doing?” Jackson questioned, releasing my arm.

  “I’m not going to just sit here. We need answers,” Trey snapped.

  “Trey, I can’t …” I rasped.

  “Mia, we were shot at tonight. Harrison has kept you scared shitless for too long. It’s time to find out what the hell is going on here!” Trey exclaimed.

  His temper continued to climb as he stared me down. Bri ran her hand down Trey’s arm to prevent him from completely flipping out. He softened at her touch. Her hand drifted to his cheek as she asked, “What are you suggesting Trey?”

  “Mia has a company computer. It’s time we break into that thing. Ian tortured Micah to keep quiet. There has to be a good reason for it.”

  Jackson was ready to run for the door. “I agree. Let’s go see Jayden.”

  I refused to move as my head shook nonstop. His suggestion was a suicide mission. Jackson grabbed my arm, but I angrily shoved it aside. Shane approached me as well, but I shot him a look to step away. Trey looked to Bri for assistance. I tilted my head to her with my death stare. She shook her head on her way around Trey. She sat down next to me and gently took my hand.

  “Mia, we need to know more. If we keep flying blind, we’re all going to end up here,” Bri reasoned. My eyes filled with tears as the pain in my chest became intolerable. She grabbed my chin to force me to look at her. “Trust us Mia.”

  I no longer had the will to fight this path. I had always doubted that we’d reach the end of it unharmed. It didn’t seem to matter anymore though. Micah had got hurt anyway. I slowly nodded while wiping away my tears.

  We stopped at the house to retrieve the laptop before going to Jayden’s. As we flew down the interstate, I rested my head against the window. The constant buzzing in my head, coupled with the weights upon it, made it hard to stay upright. My phone started to ring, but I was nowhere near ready to talk to Ethan so I shut it off and tossed it aside.

  Bri grabbed it and turned it back on. “Mia, I’m not doing another round with him.”

  I ignored her and kept my eyes on the passing cars.

  Bri cursed continuously as she dialed. “Hey Ethan, Mia’s still trying to cope. Give her a little more time.”

  Ethan’s anger seeped through the line for all of us to hear. Trey quickly snatched my cell and punched the window before settling the phone against his ear. “Ethan, we understand you care about Mia, but consider this your last warning. If you don’t back off, I’m going to beat your ass to a pulp. Mia doesn’t need this right now. Oh, and just so we’re clear, if you ever yell at my girlfriend again, I’ll make sure you walk with a limp for the rest of your life!” Trey remained on the phone for several more minutes before pounding the window again. “Yes, I’ll have Mia call you soon.”

  He hung up and flung my cell at me. It bounced off my shoulder and down to the seat. I glanced over to see the rage literally pouring out of him. Bri placed a hand on his thigh and rubbed it gently to calm him. His rapid breathing evened out as he grabbed her hand.

  Trey looked over at me, still utterly exasperated and snapped, “Your boyfriend is an asshole. He wants you to call him.”

  My eyes drifted outside again as I shoved the phone in my pocket. I knew my refusal to talk to him was pissing him off more by the hour. My reluctance came from the part of me that carried a large amount of guilt for what I was about to do. I just promised him that I believed he’d always protect me. Going behind his back to snoop around was pretty much a violation of that trust. Fresh tears streamed down my face as I thought about the options life had given me. It was a no-win situation. I couldn’t continue to make excuses for not go down this route any longer, but it didn’t mean that a huge part of me hated myself for doing it.

  Jackson slowed to a stop as we hit Jayden’s driveway. His hacking empire had allowed him the luxury of living on the shoreline with some of his buddies that worked for him. With the laptop in hand, I opened my door and slammed it with every ounce of my frustration. Everyone hastily departed the vehicle. We carried on in silence until we hit the doorstep.

  A white fog ran along the shore in the darkness. It was hard to say what time it was at this point. I had lost track of that simple detail hours ago. Jackson rang the doorbell as the rest of us surrounded him. There was no movement for a good five minutes. He continued to ring the bell in between pounding on the door until a light flickered on. Jayden peeked through the blinds before answering.

  “Fuck. Jackson, what do you want this early?” Jayden mumbled, rubbing away the sleep from his eyes.

  “Listen fuckface, we need your help. I need you to do this for me, no questions asked. Can you do that?” Jackson snapped.

  Jayden looked at the rest of us and paled when he saw the blood all over Trey and me. He placed a hand on Jackson’s shoulder and gave us a welcoming nod. I handed Jayden the laptop as we followed him into the house.

  “Get whatever you can from it. It’s from the crooked company Mia has been working undercover at,” Jackson said evenly.

  Jayden turned on some more lights in the living room before crossing over to a desk containing a computer that could probably run our defense department. He sat down in his leather chair while flipping everything on. As multiple screens came to life, he plugged the laptop in with a series of cables before running his fingers along the keyboard and said, “I’m in. What am I looking for?”

  “Anything connected to Mia. There seems to be an interest in her that’s unexplainable,” Jackson said hoarsely.

  Bri started to shift uncomfortably as she stood next to Trey. I glanced at her to see that she was about two seconds away from puking. Her eyes begged for help.

  I nodded and asked, “Jayden, where’s your bathroom? I need a moment to gather myself.”

  “It’s down the hall. The last door on the left,” Jayden answered, but his eyes never left his computer screen as his fingers flew across the keyboards. It was enough chaos to make me want to puke alongside Bri. I shuffled away from Jackson and grabbed Bri. Trey released her with a disgruntled look.

  “I need Bri to come with me. We’ll be back in a minute.”

  We barely made it to the bathroom before Bri lost everything. I stayed back this time. Her body language clearly showed that she didn’t want any help. I slid to the floor with my back against the tub. I felt as miserable as she sounded. She remained silent for several minutes before the flush of the toilet echoed through the room. She crawled over to me and rested h
er head on my legs.

  “Are you OK?” I whispered, massaging her head.

  “I’m going to slap you if you ask me that again tonight, this morning, or whatever the hell time of day it is right now,” Bri retorted.

  I let out a quiet laugh and continued to rub her head. Taking care of her kept me from thinking about anything happening outside the door. Eventually, she sat up and joined me alongside the tub. She looked at me with fear in her eyes before letting her head fall back to my knees. Tears started to drip down her face. I’d never really been a crier but I felt like that was all I had done in the past year. As I watched her silently sob, my own tears began to fall. The sharp pains stabbing away at my heart made them impossible to turn off.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Truth Be Told

  After a good round of crying, we forced ourselves to move. I scrubbed my face to get it back to a presentable state, rather than blotchy mess it had become. Bri did the same before we returned to the guys. As we neared the living room, I heard the boys talking quietly. I paused to eavesdrop. Bri’s eyes grew wide, but she stayed with me.

  “Fuck. They’ve been watching Mia for well over a year. Some of these photos are time-stamped before her expulsion from Eckman,” Jackson muttered.

  “The amount of close-ups they have is creepy,” Shane pointed out.

  “No, what’s fucked-up are the thousands of photos they have with her and everyone else in her life. If they have this much, I wonder what Harrison has on file,” Trey pondered.

  My throat closed at the idea of anyone having any kind of ‘file’ on me. Even more disturbing, it lined up with Colin’s interest. Bri started to tremble. I held a finger up for her to remain silent.

  “Do you think Harrison’s working with them?” Shane questioned.

  “It wouldn’t make any sense for Harrison to be in league with these guys if he made a deal with Ethan. The only other explanation is that Ethan’s planning the ultimate screw-over, and he’s using Mia to do it,” Jackson answered angrily.

  “I don’t know man. I think Ethan really loves her,” Shane disputed.