Could she have an abortion? Damesha’s hand went to her stomach, not even bulging yet, and knew she couldn’t do anything to harm it. She wasn’t going to judge anyone, but she knew that she simply couldn’t do it. No, if Kane decided fatherhood wasn’t for him, he’d just have to suck it up. They had a baby coming.
As she sat in the terminal, waiting for her flight to be called, Damesha started to wonder about other things. Why did they only visit two restaurants in town? There were quite a few. Maybe he only liked those two? And where did he go on those jogs he went for at night? Where was he running? Why did he run in the middle of the night? Who did that, even out in a safe place like rural Kansas? It was all so very strange.
Kane definitely had secrets and she wasn’t sure she could live with him without knowing them. What if he was a spy or a secret agent? No, that was too far-fetched. Kane just had a lot in his head and he liked to run at night. Maybe his parents had been abusive? As far as Damesha knew both of his parents were dead but she wasn’t entirely sure.
Groaning in frustration, she couldn’t believe the kind of mess she’d gotten herself into. What was she going to do? It was almost as though she’d been under some kind of spell. Back in Kansas, she’d been curious, but the curiosity had faded, became irrelevant as her feelings for Kane grew. Now, in New York and on her way back to Kansas with far more in tow than just her belongings, reality set in. How had all of this happened so quickly?
“Flight 863 to Wichita is now boarding first class passengers…” Damesha tuned the woman’s voice out as she froze in place.
She’d been waiting for hours for this flight, now was the time to make the decision. She could get on and see what the future held, or she could go back to her apartment, renew her lease if it hadn’t been taken already, or go back to Erika’s. Erika would love to have her back. She could go back to normal, call out for Thai food at two in the morning, get her life back in New York and raise her baby with Annie there as her companion and defender. Or she could be brave.
Damesha was the last person sitting in the terminal when the desk clerk looked up at her inquiringly. Everyone else had boarded. Damesha looked away from the woman, back towards the airport exit. Which way should she go? Standing up, fear tightening her features, Damesha made a choice and took the first step into her future.
Chapter 8
Damesha walked through the terminal, so brightly lit the darkness outside was almost day. She hoped she’d made the right decision as she went to collect her bag, trying to remember where the luggage collection was. She followed the signs, nerves jangling and on edge as she drew closer to the area. She reminded herself of the reasons she’d made the choice she had and knew by the time she stepped through the arched walkway that she could have only made that choice, it was the only one that made sense.
Collecting her bags, she quickly walked towards the exit. It was time to go home. Pulling the wheeled luggage behind her, Damesha made a striking figure as she stalked through the terminal; beautiful, but the fierce look of concentration on her face was captivating.
Where was Kane? He had to be here. He’d said he was coming to meet her. Spotting the love of her life in a corner, staring out of a plate of glass and on the phone, she walked over to him quickly with a happy laugh, wrapping her arms around his waist. The moment her fingers touched the material of his shirt she knew the man wasn’t Kane.
Stepping back, preparing to apologize, Damesha wondered how she’d gotten it so wrong. When the man turned around her mistake kind of made sense. It was Cade.
“Where’s Kane?” Damesha felt a cold sliver of fear pierce her spine, her world beginning to quake at the edges. Yet her normally buzzing senses were quiet. All she felt was the anxiety of not knowing where Kane was.
Cade didn’t answer; instead he turned back to the glass, continuing his phone conversation out of Damesha’s hearing. She analyzed those few seconds when Cade had looked at her before he’d turned away. Cold burning rage filled those eyes, not sadness or grief. Just rage. What was going on here?
Cade ignored her question about Kane so Damesha wondered if she’d missed the man she was looking for somewhere along the way. The way Cade blanked her made her think he wasn’t there for her at all. Maybe he was there to pick someone else up. Slightly embarrassed at the mix-up, Damesha started to walk off, but Cade turned and snapped his fingers at her as he shook his head.
Stunned, Damesha stood there with her mouth hanging open. When he pointed at his feet and made a wiggling motion with his fingers she decided she’d had enough. Turning and walking off, Damesha left the terminal, ignoring Cade calling out behind her.
“Look, there are things happening that you don’t know about. Just stop will you?” Cade’s voice, so similar to Kane’s but oh so different, didn’t stop her walking towards a taxi rank, but his arm at her elbow did.
Turning back to the man with an angry slash of her other hand to push him away, Damesha looked into the man’s eyes.
“What is so desperate that you can’t even get off of the phone to talk to me? And that snapping fingers thing?” Damesha shook her head and turned to walk away. “Oh hell no!”
“Damesha, stop! Kane was in an accident. I was on the phone with his doctors at the emergency room. His truck rolled over on the highway when he came to get you. He’s not in good shape.” Cade’s cold façade broke for a second, his voice thick with emotion, but then he caught himself. His back went straight again and the cold mask returned.
“What? Accident?” Damesha’s vision narrowed to a thin tunnel where all she could see was Cade standing in front of her, then narrowed even more until all she saw was his eyes.
“Come with me, we’ll go to the hospital.” Cade’s fingers were far more gentle this time as he took her elbow once more, and helped her with her bags before taking her to a waiting car.
Cade opened a door as a driver popped out of the front to take her bags. Damesha slid into the luxury town car, not noticing how supple the leather of the seats was; only trying to take in the meaning of Cade’s words. Kane had been in an accident, things didn’t look good.
Damesha felt cold inside, deep down inside of her abdomen and she knew she should be sobbing, crying, begging for answers but somehow she’d gone still instead. Her brain could only analyze those few words Cade had spoken, nothing more. She almost felt as though she was a robot that had been turned off. All emotion had fled, all that remained was cold reality. Kane was hurt.
The sights of the city passed her by, unseen and forgotten as she sat numbly staring ahead, only vaguely hearing the words Cade spoke on his phone. He’d taken it out before the car had even pulled away, speaking in a low forceful tone. He wanted someone to do something; he didn’t care what it cost.
Damesha sat silently as the miles rolled past. Soon enough they were entering a hospital’s parking lot, pulling up to the emergency entrance. The driver popped around to open the doors. Cade didn’t say a word as he strode through the sliding doors and into the brightly lit reception area. They took an elevator up to the fifth floor and Damesha followed along quietly, still too numb to speak. How had she not known? She’d had visions her whole life, not always of fatal accidents, why hadn’t she known with Kane?
Cade stopped at a closed door and pushed the handle. Damesha followed him into the doorway but didn’t enter the room. Another virtual clone of Kane stood at his bedside, his face an exact replica of Kane’s. The only difference was the lighter shade of his dark eyes, almost brown, not quite so black. Beside him stood a tall blonde man with green eyes. She noticed their eyes only because both men were full of a fury she didn’t understand. She couldn’t understand why that rage was directed at her either.
Damesha was almost afraid to step into the room, their fury almost a presence it was so strong. They looked like angry dogs, wild and feral, and she wouldn’t be surprised if they started snarling at her. Damesha knew they could sense her fear but her spine hardened as she took a step towa
rds Kane’s still form. Each step brought her peace, a quiet that blocked out the rage of the now quietly departing men.
They left her with Kane and Damesha took his hand, the only uncovered bit of flesh he had. His head was swathed in bandages that ran even under the blankets over his chest. She pulled the blanket away from his body gently, and saw blood starting to seep through the bandages along his abdomen. Bruising could be seen through the lines of the gauze covering his arms and legs. A sob welled up in her throat as she examined him.
“Kane? Baby, I’m here. Wake up for me, my love.” Damesha stared into his face, his eyes, nose and mouth the only parts of his face left uncovered. She hoped he’d open his eyes, needed to see the laughter that always filled them, needed that reassurance. Nothing happened. He didn’t even stir.
A soft noise behind her made Damesha turn. A man in a white medical coat was standing at the door.
“He’s in a coma. I can’t tell you much, you aren’t family, but you obviously have a relationship. He has a head wound we had to stitch, ribs broken on both sides, and a very deep laceration to his abdomen. The coma is worrisome, I’ll admit, but it’s common with injuries like his. I’ll let the family tell you the rest if they choose to, but any more than that I shouldn’t really tell you.” The man, in his late 50s and very short with dark hair and eyes, gave her a kind smile then left the room.
Damesha sat down on the chair at the side of Kane’s bed and took his hand once more. Tears flowed down her cheeks and the urge to sob was becoming uncontrollable. She held his warm, strong hand to her cheek and the first squeaky sound of pain finally passed her lips. Her shoulders shook as she bent over his hand, the pain of her heartache pushing her into a bend.
“Kane! Kane, please wake up, baby. I can’t lose you, not now. I love you, you know, and we’re going to have a baby. You have to wake up. Please wake up.” Damesha sat with him throughout the night but he remained motionless.
She cried until her nose blocked and her eyelids began to swell. She could not stop the river of tears, not until she ran out of tears to cry. The nurses came in and changed his bandages, gave him shots into his IV line, and took his vital signs. One brought her some fruit, a carton of milk and a blanket. Damesha smiled vaguely and thanked the nurse, but her eyes never really left Kane.
The brothers came back, sitting in chairs against the wall, but none of them spoke to Damesha. She could feel a wall of anger behind her but ignored it. As the night passed the anger started to thaw, and melted down to something closer to a simmering resentment. Damesha didn’t care, all she could concentrate on was Kane. He was all that mattered.
Kane didn’t make any noises throughout the night, he didn’t shift in his bed, he just lay there, arms to his sides. Motionless. Damesha couldn’t let go of his hand, only allowing the nurses to take it as the night progressed. The darkness outside his private room window started to lighten as the hours wore on, and as the first beam of sunlight spread over Kane’s legs, climbing his body slowly, he began to stir.
Damesha made a happy sound and climbed from her chair, pushing the gate on the side of his bed down so she could sit beside of him as his eyes opened and he stared up at the ceiling. His eyes, wobbly for a moment, finally focused and who looked down to see who was holding his hand.
“Mesha,” he said, the bandages all but holding his mouth shut. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, Kane!” She leaned down to touch the side of his face, the bandages preventing skin contact. “You were in an accident, baby, but you’re going to be alright.”
“Oh. Okay. Love you.” He let his head fall back to his pillow and closed his eyes.
Damesha stood stunned for a moment. Kane had never said those words to her. Was it just the drugs talking? Then she realized she needed to let the nurses know and rang the buzzer. The woman soon came in, checking his vitals once more and checking his eyes with a penlight. She pressed the intercom and when the other nurse at the desk answered told her to call the doctor to tell him their patient was awake. The other nurse’s smile came through in the sound of her voice as she said she would.
“I’m glad he’s come out of it. I’ll call the doctor now.” The voice that came from the wall was kind of eerie but Damesha was happy. Kane had woken up!
“He’ll be able to go home once the doctor has approved the move. You might want to start arranging transport and he’ll likely need a nurse for a few days, just until he’s completely out of the woods.” The kind woman stood in front of Damesha, stoically ignoring the brothers still stonily sitting in their chairs.
“I’m sure we can arrange whatever he needs. This is just natural sleep that he’s in now, right?” Damesha was concerned he could slip back into the coma and the snores now coming from the bed were reassuring.
“Indeed it is, but we’ll keep an eye on him until the doctor gets back.” She gave Damesha’s arm a reassuring squeeze then left the room.
“I’m awake, I’m awake. Not sleeping, just resting my eyes.” Kane protested as Damesha sat back down beside of him on the bed and took his hand.
She looked at the wall of brothers in front of her, not sure of what to say to them. They were all still stony-faced but the anger was gone. They all came to stand on the other side of Kane’s bed. She realized they hadn’t even introduced themselves yet. Damesha ignored the slight and clung to Kane’s hand, watching his eyes as his brothers spoke.
“I’ll see about getting you home. One of the drivers will bring you. Hopefully, they’ll let you out soon enough.” Cade patted his brother’s shoulder gently then stepped out of line, heading out of the room.
“Get better little brother. I’m glad to see you awake.” The other Kane-clone said before beating his own retreat.
The blond one stepped up and touched Cade’s face. “That’s the last time you get to do that. Use the driver’s we have, they’re there for a reason!”
Kane garbled something at him and closed his eyes. When he opened them the other brother was gone and Damesha was all he wanted to see.
“I was coming to get you.”
“I know. I guess that’s why they’re so angry.” She sighed deeply before continuing. “We’ll worry about that later. Rest, get better so we can take you home.”
“I’ll be out of here in no time. And yes, I do love you.” Kane gave a weak smile before his eyes closed once more and he fell into a natural sleep, not the coma of the last hours. His chest rose and fell, a slight snoring sound coming from his nose. He’d said it again. With meaning this time, not just the grogginess of drugs and just waking up. He loved her!
In a few hours, the doctor arrived, and the nurses began removing bandages. Kane was already on the road to recovery, the deep gash that had been circled on his skin already well away from the edges of the ink marks. Traveling from his lower hip up to almost his belly button, the red line sutured with stainless steel staples marred the right side of his body. It looked painful and Damesha couldn’t help but wince as the nurses cleaned it.
His head wound was cleaned and the stitches checked. Damesha wanted to cry as she noticed countless bruises, scratches, and shallow lacerations marring his front and back. Even his legs were covered in deep bruises that would take weeks to heal. He never complained as his bandages were removed and replaced. Kane just stared into Damesha’s eyes, happy to see her once more.
“Do you remember the accident?” Damesha asked after the nurses dropped off their breakfast trays and left.
“Just parts of it. I can remember someone running into me, something running into me, I can remember the impact, I remember sounds more than anything. And you. All I could think of was you until the world went dark and I stopped thinking.” Kane sighed before he picked up his fork.
“How did Cade know to come and get me?” Damesha had been wondering it all night but the brothers hadn’t said a word to her.
“I’d been to see him before I left. I guess when he was called he knew someone had to go get you.” C
ade wouldn’t meet her gaze and Damesha wondered what had happened in that conversation, but didn’t push.
“That makes sense. I guess I’ve met them now anyway. Sort of.” She shrugged, picking at the cold eggs on her tray.
“What do you mean? They were all here this morning.” Kane looked confused as he picked up something that could be a biscuit, or a paperweight.
“They were here, but Cade was the only one that spoke to me. They didn’t even introduce themselves.”
“Oh, that’s about to change, as soon as I can stand on my own. I’m not having this anymore.” Kane shifted around in his bed, his agitation rising.
“It’s okay Kane, later baby. Not now.” Damesha calmed him as the doctor came back in.
“Well, for such an injured man yesterday, Mr. Alexander, you’ve healed well.” The doctor looked confused but pleased. “With the nurse your brother’s arranging for you, we feel it’s safe to send you home today, but you’re going to have to listen to the nurse and do everything she tells you to.”
Kane looked flustered but agreed. Papers were brought, signed, copies made, other papers given to Kane, and phone calls made. A van arrived soon enough and Kane was loaded into something that looked more like a mini-caravan than a van. Settled into a bed with a strap over his legs, Damesha at his side, they left the hospital that evening and headed home. Finally.
Chapter 9
Damesha stretched out in the bed with Annie that evening, Annie’s warm body a reassuring pressure against her legs. Kane was beside them, the room blessedly cool after the heat of the day, and all was well. Annie snuffled softly beneath the covers, Kane’s breath came in gentle waves. She was where she was supposed to be.
Kane had three nurses scheduled throughout the day, the night nurse now downstairs watching television. Kane had tried to insist the woman go home, but Cade threatened to have the doctor drag him back to the hospital when he called to complain. Kane shut up and told the woman how to turn the television on to keep her downstairs.
Kane (Alexander Shifter Brothers Book 1) Page 7