“I sure as hell hope not.”
“In that case, I’m kind of liking the idea you had about the couch in your office. In fact, there’s a couch in the living room that I think might be the perfect height…”
“Oh? Do tell…”
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Wild Angels
Ellen Graves
“I want toast, Mummy!” Angelia sat on the floor in front of the TV by her sister Rebecca. Zoe put two slices of bread in the toaster and watched her two daughters. They were watching some children’s program on the TV before they went to school.
The toaster popped the toast out and Zoe spread jam on one slice and chocolate spread on the other before cutting them into fours.
“Sit at the table please, girls.” Zoe placed the plates on the table and watched as they both scrambled to the table. It was a good thing that she hadn’t dressed them for school yet when she saw Rebecca drop a dollop of jam on her nightdress.
Zoe took a sip of her coffee and leaned against the counter. Today was going to be a relaxing day for her. She had no house work to do; her mother was taking and picking the girls up from school so Zoe planned on spending her day relaxing in front of the TV and in the bath.
“Sticky, Mummy.” Angelia held her hands in front of her with a frown. Zoe scooped her little girl into her arms and sat her on the counter next to the sink. Cleaning Angelia’s face before Rebecca’s.
“Let’s get you girls dressed then.” The girls rushed up the stairs as fast as they could without tripping up and headed into their bedroom. Zoe allowed her children to choose what they wanted to wear as long as it wasn’t out of order. Rebecca liked to dress girly whereas Angelia tended to stick to jeans and a t-shirt.
By the time the girls were dressed and their teeth brushed, it was nearly time for school. She helped the girls into their shoes and slid their backpacks on a few seconds before the doorbell rung. Her mother, Pamela, opened the door with a smile at her and her daughters.
“Are my lovely grandchildren ready for school?”
“Yes!” both the girls shouted at once and Zoe couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.
“I’ll see you at home time.” Zoe crouched down and kissed each of her daughter’s cheeks and waved them off as they were strapped into her mother’s car and she was alone for the first time in a while. She had just sat down when her dog Terrence started barking at the door.
“Really?” Zoe heaved herself from the sofa and wrapped herself in a jacket before opening the back door so the dog could go out. It was the middle of October and the weather had taken a turn for the worse. Every time she breathed out she could see her breath.
“Come on, boy.” Zoe called to the dog but he was sniffing something under the jungle gym at the back of the garden. Zoe squinted and made out a black shadowed lump. She slid her feet into a pair of slippers before heading towards the said lump. Terrence was whining when she reached the jungle gym.
There was a fully grown man lying on the cold, solid ground. A leather jacket was thrown across his face. Zoe reached out hesitantly and tugged it away from him.
His face was covered with dried blood and dirt. She could quite figure out where the blood had come from and if it even belonged to him. She could, however, tell from the look of him, that he was in severe trouble and if she didn’t get him out of the cold, something serious might happen to him.
She reached down and placed her hand in front of his nose and let out a relieved breath when she felt warm puffs of air against her fingers. While they were shallow and not coming as often as necessary, they were still there. She reached out again and gently shook the man’s shoulders, hoping to get a reaction from him.
“Excuse me? Can you stand?”
The man’s eyes fluttered open before squeezing closed again with a groan of pain. Zoe frowned and stood up. She needed to get this man inside but knew she wouldn’t be able to carry him inside and she didn’t want to ask her neighbours to help for fear of what they may say.
“I need to get you inside where it’s warmer.” Zoe watched as the man rolled onto his back and gasped before he held his hand to his ribs.
“Please, just let me get you inside.”
The man made a grumbling noise and somehow managed to heave himself from the ground, to lean against a wooden beam attached to the jungle gym. He nearly fell down again, so Zoe slid one arm around his back and gently urged him across the garden.
Terrence was still whining and didn’t stop until she had managed to get the large man inside and sitting on her sofa. The man slumped on the sofa and Zoe wasn’t sure what to do now. She should check for injuries but she couldn’t see past the dirt and dried blood on his face.
Clean him up. That’s what she was going to do first. She took her jacket and slippers off before filling a bowl with soap and warm water. That would be enough to get the dirt off him and if she found any cuts she would deal with them later.
She dipped a washcloth in the water and dabbed his cheek, jumping in surprise when his hand flew out and grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t bother. There is no point.” Zoe’s heart broke at the sound of defeat in the man’s voice. She knew she should call the police or at least an ambulance, but there was something about the man that told her that he wouldn’t appreciate it.
“Just let me get you cleaned up. What’s your name?” Zoe wanted to get the man talking. She wanted to know what had happened that he had ended up in her backyard, beaten and nearing death.
“Mason.”
“I’m Zoe.”
Zoe realised that she should really get the man out of his clothes. His black leather jacket, blue jeans and white shirt were soaked with dirt, blood and rainwater. It had been raining pretty badly last night and she wasn’t sure how long he had been out there.
“Can you get into the bathroom?”
“Why?”
“I need to get you cleaned up and out of these clothes.”
“Maybe you should get out of your clothes too.” Zoe saw a flicker of a smile on Mason’s face and smiled. At least he was smiling, that had to be a good sign. Zoe placed the bowl on the table and held her hand out to Mason.
“Come on, you need to get warmed up.” Zoe wiggled her fingers as Mason just stared at her. He groaned as he lifted his arm and placed his hand in hers. She supported him as best as she could but he was nearly a foot taller than she was and was built like a house. Mason sat on the toilet as Zoe ran the shower for him.
“I need to get your clothes off. You could be suffering from hypothermia.”
“It’s fine.” Mason shrugged and winced in pain as he did it.
“It’s not fine. You could die if you don’t warm up.”
“It’s fine.”
“Mason, just get out of the damn clothes and in the shower. I will not have a dead man in my home!” Zoe yelled to get through to him. She saw one side of his lips kick up in a half smile and a small chuckle slipped out of his lips.
“Whatever you say, doll.” Mason knocked the jacket off his shoulders with his good hand and stood up. The white shirt was wet and was nearly see-through. Zoe saw a small cut below his ribs and noticed the way he was holding his left hand.
She suspected that something might be broken when he winced as she moved his hand out of the way so she could get his shirt off.
“I’m going to have to cut it off. It’s the only way to do it without causing you pain.” When Mason didn’t reply she took the scissors from the cabinet on the wall and sliced down both sides of his shirt before tugging it away as gently as she could.
“Do you think you could get your jeans off? I think I have something you could wear.”
“I can do it from here.”
Zoe waited a few minutes before leaving the room to make sure that he didn’t fall over or pass out. When she was convinced that that he would be fine she
headed to the spare room and pulled a pair of her ex-husband John’s old boxers and jogging bottoms out, a bit small but should fit okay.
It had been three years and she knew she should really move his stuff out but she hadn’t had the heart to do it. It was the only thing that her daughters had of their father. She shook away the nostalgia and returned to Mason in the bathroom.
“These should fit you okay. I’ll be in the living room when you’re finished.” She placed the items on the counter next to the shower and left Mason to finish. She took his clothes and planned on putting them in the washing machine. As she picked the leather jacket up a small phone fell from the pocket and flashed alive.
A text was on the screen and it read: Mason, there is no point running. We’ll find you. We always find traitors.
Zoe emptied the pockets to his jacket and placed the items on the counter next to the clothes. She picked the ruins of his shirt up and tossed them away when she ventured to the kitchen. She flung the clothes, along with Angelia and Rebecca’s nightshirts in the wash and put the kettle on. He’d want a hot drink once out of the shower.
Usually she wasn’t the type of person to care for another unless she truly loved them. With Mason she felt a pull unlike anything she had felt before. When Mason didn’t appear from the shower, she started to get worried; what if he had fallen over or passed out?
She left the coffee on the table as she opened the bathroom door. Mason was sitting on the toilet, his arm across his ribs and a towel wrapped around his waist. He was breathing heavily and Zoe could see the pain etched into his features.
“Are you all right?” she knew it was a stupid question and wasn’t sure why she even asked it but she felt the need to express her concern.
“Fine.” Mason grunted and Zoe saw his fist ball up. She stood in front of him and forced his head up so she could look at his face for injuries. While one eye was swollen shut she could see from the other that he had pale green eyes. She found herself staring at him but couldn’t look away until she felt something drip onto her hand.
She removed her hand from the back of his head and grimaced when she saw blood on her hand. She gently urged Mason’s head back down and moved his damp hair out of the way, searching for the spot where the blood had come from. She felt him wince when her fingers brushed over the back of his skull and her fingers came back bloody.
“I don’t think it’s going to need stitches.” Zoe held a tissue to the back of Mason’s head and applied as much pressure as she dared to without hurting him.
“I’m thirsty.” Mason grunted and Zoe nodded her head even though he couldn’t see her.
“If you can make it back to the living room there is coffee there for you.”
Mason sighed and leant his head back, his eyes closed. Zoe saw the pain on his face and it wasn’t all from physical pain. She could see Mason fighting something inside him and she was willing to help him fight his demons. She felt protective of Mason and she wasn’t sure why but she knew that she would do anything she could to help him.
****
Mason watched as Zoe left and groaned again but not from pain this time. Zoe was stunning. Her black hair swished around her body as she walked and her blue eyes seemed to take in everything he said or done.
He took a breath before standing up. His whole body ached and he was pretty sure that at least two of his ribs were broken if not more. His mind was fuzzy with what happened the previous night but there were bits and pieces. He certainly remembered the word ‘traitor’ being thrown around a few times.
Mason shook away the thoughts and focused everything on getting into the living room without passing out. He could really use some painkillers but he didn’t want to seem rude. He’d already used Zoe’s shower and apparently her washing machine by the sounds of it.
He managed to get into the living room and onto the sofa with a great deal of pain and almost losing the towel wrapped around his waist. He picked the coffee up and took a deep breath, the scent hitting him and making his stomach growl. He hadn’t eaten since the night before.
“Now that you’re clean can I take a look at you?”
“Take a look at me?” Mason returned the cup to its spot and shuffled on the sofa. The pain in his ribs was becoming almost unbearable but he didn’t want to show weakness in front of someone he didn’t know. That never ended well.
“Your injuries. I would like to see if anything is broken and I can give you some painkillers once finished.”
“Oh, go for it.” Mason waved his good hand before adjusting the towel. He didn’t want to flash Zoe, after all she had been a wonderful host. He felt flashing his privates wouldn’t get him in her good graces.
Zoe sat on the sofa to his left and reached out to poke at his ribs. He hissed and jerked away when she prodded a particularly sensitive area. She muttered an apology but kept her examination going until she had finished and was at the back of his head again.
“What’s the verdict, doc?” Mason took another sip of the coffee, his stomach growling at him angrily again.
“I think you might have at least two broken ribs, you could have a concussion and you’ve sprained your wrist pretty bad. I’m not a doctor though, so don’t take my word for it.” Zoe stood up and disappeared back into the kitchen. Mason couldn’t help but at stare at the way her backside moved in the tight jeans she was wearing.
“Down boy.” He grumbled when his body tried to react to Zoe’s body.
“Would you like to get dressed? It’s a little nippy today.” Zoe returned with a glass in one hand and a small cardboard box in the other. Mason eyed the box and could have jumped for joy at the sight of the painkillers she held.
“Once the painkillers work, I will.” He swallowed two pills before resting his head back on the sofa. Zoe sat beside him but didn’t say anything. He could practically hear the cogs whirring in her pretty head.
“How did you end up in my garden?”
“I don’t know. I can’t remember. All I can remember is my club members want me dead.” Mason closed his eyes and the throbbing behind his eyes reduced. The light wasn’t helping the headache that he felt forming.
“Well, where were you before you were in my garden?”
“At a club.” It wasn’t a complete lie. He was at his old club and he was a little hazy on the details but he did remember the beating he’d gotten before he managed to get away. The rest was a blur from there. The last thing he remembered was running from the club and then waking up in Zoe’s garden under the jungle gym.
Zoe was a little bit too old to have a jungle gym so that must mean that she either had children or she looked after children on a regular basis. He was too tired to think of it at the moment. He tried to answer Zoe’s next question but his body was forcing him to sleep. So he did.
****
Zoe watched as Mason stopped talking and drifted to sleep. Obviously the man had had a hard time and needed to sleep. She stood and pulled the blanket from the back of the sofa and tossed it over him. If he wasn’t going to put clothes on then the least she could was cover him up.
She wasn’t complaining that he hadn’t put any clothes on yet. It allowed her to see his amazing body and the tattoo that spanned his entire right side. From under his armpit to the top of the hip that she could see, a green and red dragon stared back at her.
Zoe was almost disappointed to cover up the beautiful masterpiece but knew if Mason didn’t cover up soon his body temperature would drop and he could become seriously ill.
Zoe wasn’t sure how long Mason would be asleep but she knew that he had to be hungry. It was nearly one in the afternoon and he hadn’t eaten.
Before returning to the kitchen though she called her mother. She couldn’t have her mother and daughters coming home and seeing a half naked man on the sofa.
“Zoe, how are you?” her mother answered the phone and Zoe smiled. Her mother had that voice that calmed anyone no matter the situation.
“I’m fin
e, mother. I was just wondering if you could keep the girls for a few days. “
“Of course, but can I ask why?”
“I just need some ‘me’ time. I hope you don’t mind.” She hated lying to her mother but if she found out that she was caring for a man then she would be around immediately trying to play matchmaker.
“It’s about time you took a break. You’ve been looking after these girls for five years. You deserve a rest. Don’t worry about them. They’ll be fine with me and your father.”
“Thank you.”
“Any time.”
Zoe hung the phone up and opened the refrigerator. It was time to feed her guest. She didn’t want to give him too much in case it upset his stomach but she didn’t want him starving under her care. What type of women would she be if she let the young man starve?
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