by A. J. Norris
Ink Addiction was still eight blocks away. Traffic became more congested toward the downtown area then dropped off closer to the place.
Finally, Harry saw the shop and the blaring sirens stopped. The only lights he saw from the down the street were a purple neon sign and tubing around the front window. He put his foot to the floor and whipped into the slanted parking spots two doors down. He drew his gun as he jumped out of his car. One of the police vehicles went around to the alley behind the strip mall.
Blood-splatters were on the glass door of the shop. Through the window, a few feet to the right, lay a motionless woman on the floor, a red pool spreading beneath her head.
Cody was poised over Mikey with a sledgehammer raised high above his head. The hammer started to descend.
Harry flung the door open.
* * *
Mikey
BANG! BANG!
Mikey covered his head with his free hand and grunted when a heavy weight collapsed onto his back. As far as he could tell, he was still alive. The weight lifting off his body relieved him although his side burned. He opened his eyes and found Cody moaning beside him a few feet away.
Someone above him was calling his name. Who the person was didn’t matter, he was still alive. He was rolled over and a board was placed under him.
Ouch! Mother! Fu…
Bright light was shined in his face a couple of times. The voices sounded friendly but semi-frantic. Intense pressure replaced his displaced hand on the wound above his stomach and he could suddenly breathe better. A mask covered his nose and mouth.
“B-B-Brayden…G-Gra…”
“Mikey try not to talk. We’re going to take good care of you.” The woman’s voice soothed him. Who was she and how had she known that’s exactly what he needed to hear? “We’re taking you to the hospital? Do you understand?”
He nodded.
CHAPTER
SIXTY-FIVE
Grace
Grace began pacing the second her father had hung up. The frantic phone call to 9-1-1 hadn’t slowed her down, it only increased her pounding movements.
Brayden woke up and came into the hallway by the front door. The lights were still out. Candles burned in the kitchen, living room, and on the slim table in the front hall.
“I heard you talking,” he said.
The doorbell rang. Grace glanced out the window more out of habit than necessity. The strobes gave away the visitors.
When she opened the door, Officer Rudy and his partner’s serious expressions stared back at her.
“Everything all right in here?” Rudy asked.
Grace opened the screen door to invite them inside.
“Have you witnessed anything suspicious?” the other officer asked.
“No, but the power went out.”
“Yeah, the lightning took out some power lines in the neighborhood.” Rudy’s shoulder radio chattered. How in the world they could understand anything the person on the other end said was a mystery. He responded with ‘10-4’. “Grace, Detective Hunter—”
“Oh God, what? Is Mikey all right? Is—oh my God.” She leaned on the wall for support.
Brayden reached for her hand. “Relax.”
She blew out a shaky breath. “Sorry, you were saying?”
“It’s all right. He said to tell you everything is secured,” Rudy said.
There sounded like a “but” in Rudy’s statement. “What the hell does that mean?” She looked at Brayden. They both paled but Brayden remained firmly planted to the floor. Grace held onto his hand. The wording her father used caused her panic to control her imagination. “Secured? Why not say everything is fine or Mikey’s alive? Or false alarm?
“Grace,” Rudy said, “that’s the only message, it means he’s fine.”
“How come I’m hearing a ‘but’ in your tone? What about my boyfriend? His father?” Her eyes misted over and Brayden squeezed her hand.
“He said the situation is secure. I’m sure—”
Grace glared at the cop. “You don’t know. You don’t know anything!”
“My dad’s fine,” Brayden told her.
“How do you know?” Grace spat out before she realized that wasn’t the best thing to ask a ten-year-old who’d just lost his mother, regardless of how precocious the kid.
“Because being an orphan is not a thing for me.”
“We don’t know what’s going on yet, let’s wait and see.” Rudy said. His radio chirped something unintelligible again. “10-4,” he replied into the handset.
Grace shook her hands at Rudy. “10-4, 10-4, what?”
“They are taking Mr. Hardin to the hospital to treat his injuries.”
“What kind of injuries? What the hell?” Grace’s nostrils flared as she breathed in and out of her nose. “Brayden, grab your shoes and…” She ran off toward the kitchen for her purse.
“We’ll drive you,” Rudy called to her as she dashed away.
When she returned to the front hallway, her hands trembling, one of the cops was tying Brayden’s shoes. He glanced up at her with shiny slate-blue eyes. “It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.” The sureness of his earlier tone had diminished.
They rode to the hospital with the siren wailing. The cops hardly had the car in park when Brayden screamed to be let out. Grace felt the same way too.
The white and red emergency sign shone brightly over the entrance. The fluorescent bulbs under the permanent awning hurt her eyes.
She and Brayden ran to the automatic doors faster than the sensor detected their motion and they had to wait for the door to slide open. Grace thought the Jeopardy! theme should have been piped in.
They rushed the triage station outside the doors leading to the ER. Her knees banged into the desk. Brayden’s fingers gripped the edge.
“Mikey Hardin, please. How is he?”
“How’s my dad?” Brayden said at the same time Grace spoke.
“He’s up in surgery,” the nurse replied after typing into her computer for his status. “I’ll let the doctor know you’re here. Are you family?”
“Yeah. This is his son and I’m his fiancé.” She wasn’t sure if they would allow her to see him if she hadn’t told the lie. And who knew what her dad may have told them. She looked down at Brayden and winked. His mouth formed an “O” as he caught her meaning.
“Your name?”
“Grace Bell.”
“Okay, Grace, you can have a seat in Surgery Four’s waiting room. The nurses at the desk up there will be expecting you both.” The woman in the pink scrubs told them what floor and color line to follow to get there.
The surgery level was too quiet, the mood somber. The waiting room consisted of emerald green office guest chairs screwed together around the perimeter of the room. A phone hung on the wall by the door. In two corners where the chairs came together were tables littered with outdated magazines and pamphlets about grief counseling. She couldn’t even look at them for more than two seconds before her intestines twisted into knots. She swallowed hard. Every time someone walked by she leapt out of her chair. Twice she and Brayden left the room to bug the nurses at their station. They politely told Grace and Brayden to wait longer and someone would be out to talk to them as soon as possible.
To pass the time, she and Brayden played I Spy, but that quickly got old.
Grace got her hopes up when she heard a man and a woman talking out in the hallway. Although she was grateful for Andrea and Brad’s arrival, they weren’t who she wanted to see.
Brayden went to Andrea. They hugged and Brad shook his hand. A sign of respect for Brayden, after all he wasn’t a baby anymore. Andrea glowered at her husband.
What? he mouthed. She shook her head mildly.
“Heard anything yet?” Andrea asked.
“Nope. And I can’t take much more of this.” Grace hunched over in her seat. Good under pressure, she was not. She’d always been one to get flustered without warning. She fidgeted in her seat and sighed repeatedly.
“Breathe,” Andrea told her.
Brad sat next to Brayden across the room, the whole ten feet. He handed his phone to Mikey’s son. Brayden played Angry Birds from the sounds the game made. Andrea asked him to turn down the volume. He complied without any complaints. Man, this kid amazed her. She was never that awesome.
Grace wrung her hands. Andrea flipped through a Glamour magazine. Brad occasionally blew hair off his forehead with an exhale. Brayden focused on his game.
The digital clock on the wall displayed the seconds. Grace watched the numbers increase then start back at one. She didn’t take her eyes off the seconds because knowing how much time had passed didn’t work for her. 1…2…3…4…5…As hard as she stared, she didn’t see the man in scrubs appear in the doorway until he spoke.
“Hardin family? I’m Dr. Slone. I’ve got some good news. Mikey did well in surgery. Fortunately, the stab wound—”
“S-Stab wound?” Grace stuttered; Brayden’s eyes teared.
“Didn’t anyone tell you?” The doctor looked from face-to-face.
“Nobody told us shit,” Brad chimed.
“Mr. Hardin was stabbed on the left side of his ribcage, but fortunately the knife missed most of anything vital. I had to remove his spleen, but he should make a full recovery.”
“Can you live without a spleen?” Brayden asked.
The doctor smiled. “Yes, absolutely. He just has to make sure he stays up on all his vaccinations for things like pneumonia and stuff like that. But he should be fine.”
“Can we see him now?” Grace asked, wringing her hands.
“He’s still in recovery. As soon as you can see him someone will come get you.”
“How long will that be?” Grace knew she was being pushy, but she didn’t care.
Dr. Slone smiled. “Not too much longer.”
CHAPTER
SIXTY-SIX
Grace
Brayden held Grace’s hand as they walked into Mikey’s hospital room. She imagined there would be all sorts of tubes hooked up and stuck out of him, or maybe a ventilator. A nasal cannula, an IV, and a heart monitor were the only things attached to him. His eyes were closed. Brayden slipped past her and took his father’s hand.
“Dad?”
Mikey’s eyes opened to slits. From what she could see of them, they were glassy. “Hey,” he said groggily. His eyes darted toward her. A lopsided smile picked at the corner of his mouth then faded as his eyes drooped.
Grace joined Brayden at the side of the bed. “What happened? No one told us anything?”
Mikey closed his eyes.
Oh, right, stupid question to ask right now. Even if Brayden weren’t in the room, this wasn’t the right time to talk about his stabbing.
Mikey’s unsteady hand reached for her own. “Grace…” he whispered.
“Yes?”
“You’re cry…ing. Don’t…cry.”
“S-Sorry,” she croaked. God, she wanted to throw herself onto the bed and wrap her arms around him. The massive bandage on his side was the only thing stopping her.
Brayden climbed onto the bed and made himself comfortable. She looked away and sniffled.
“What’s wrong?”
Grace snapped her head back up. “Wha—oh, nothing. I just—never mind.”
“No. What?” Mikey’s voice sounded hoarse.
“You need to get some sleep. I’m fine,” she said, choking on her sobs.
Brayden jumped off the bed. “Here, Grace, sit down. I think you need this more than me.”
“No, Bray, he’s your dad. I’m fine, really.”
“You keep saying that but I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t e-either.” Mikey tried to smile widely, but wound up squeezing his eyes shut. He took a deep breath which ended with a low groan. “Sit, Gra…”
Her eyes teared up and she carefully sat on the edge of the bed. “Should we call the nurse? Are you in pain?” Grace wasn’t aware she was holding her breath until she exhaled. The room spun. Mikey’s hand reached out for her again. He wanted to steady her, but wasn’t she supposed to be doing that for him? She squeezed his hand and let go.
He groped around for the remote nurses call button. A woman in blue scrubs entered the room less than two minutes later. “You need something for the pain?” She adjusted the IV bag. Mikey nodded. “All right, I’ll be back in a minute.” As the nurse exited the room, the doctor appeared and they almost ran into each other. “Oh, Dr. Slone, I was going to page you. He needs more pain meds.”
“All right, thank you, I’ll take care of it.” When he turned his face looked tight, and fear spiked inside Grace’s stomach.
“Is he—is everything—you said he’d be fine.” God, why couldn’t she relax?
“I’m only here to check on him.” He assessed Mikey’s vitals then put his stethoscope back around his neck. “Heart sounds good, pulse good.” He moved to the bandage and peeked underneath. “Looks good. On a scale of one to ten, how’s your pain level, Mikey?”
Grace adjusted her position on the bed and he hitched a breath. “Sev—eight.”
The doctor took out his cell and made a call, rattling off the name of a drug and its dosage.
Forever passed before a man appeared with a rolling tray of pharmaceuticals. Several needles lined the stainless steel. Grace’s eyes widened. Were all those for Mikey? No…
The man handed one of the vials to the doctor and a packaged needle. She always thought nurses dispensed the medications. What was going on? Sweat dripped down her back. Blackness slowly closed in around her.
“Grace!”
Her vision failed and she blacked out.
When she woke up she was lying on the bed next to Mikey’s, a nurse and Dr. Slone leaning over her. Mikey strained to see her and Brayden stood between the two beds. Her face reddened. She had actually passed out. Needle shock anyone? This had happened to her before, the lightheadedness, but never had she fainted. The nurse put a hand on her shoulder when she tried to sit up.
“Try to relax for a minute.”
“I’m fine,” Grace said.
“Has this happened to you before?” the doctor asked.
“Needle shock. But I’ve never passed out before. First time.”
He took her vitals and seemed satisfied with the results. “All right, you can sit up now. If this happens again I want you to see your physician.”
“Really, I’m fine.”
“Grace…if I…hear you say…that again, I’m going to get out of this…bed,” Mikey warned, his voice wavering.
Brayden looked at him like over-my-dead-body.
“I’m just stressed and seeing all those vials of whatever, needles—wait,” she glanced at the doctor, “did you give him the medication?”
“Yeah, I got…got it.”
Grace stood up then planted her butt back down.
Whoa.
“Can I get some juice or something?”
“You sure can.” The nurse patted her on the arm and left. She returned shortly with a cup of apple juice and gingerbread cookies.
“Thank you.” Grace’s head pounded all over. She waited for the extra people to leave before she dug into her purse for some aspirin.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Brayden asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. Needles freak me out and I forgot how much.”
“So you won’t be getting a tattoo then?” Brayden asked cheekily. “Oh man, Dad, can you handle it?”
Mikey fluttered his eyes in a feeble attempt to roll them. “I think so.”
“Knock knock.” Brad and his wife peeked around the door jamb.
“Can we come in?” Andrea asked. Grace waved them inside. “How’s he doing?” she whispered.
“He’s doing all right,” Grace replied. “Why don’t we ask him?”
Andrea looked at Mikey. “I think he’s asleep.”
“He was talking like a second ago.” Grace looked at her boyfriend. His forehead was creased b
etween the eyebrows. She hated seeing him in so much pain, hated feeling weightless and out of control. She wanted a magic pill to put her life back the way it was before. Change sucked. Her mind began to swim again; she gripped the edge of the bed. The floor doubled, tripled and rotated around. The room distorted.
“What’s wrong with me?” she said aloud without realizing it.
Andrea got in front of her. “What are you thinking about?” Grace shook her head quickly. “Grace, if you need to leave, if this is too much for you, I think Mikey will understand.”
“But I won’t,” Brayden said.
“What?” Grace asked Andrea. “What are you saying? No. I’m not leaving.” For some reason Andrea’s comment woke her up. She wasn’t about to give up on everything she’d worked so hard to overcome? No way.
Mikey moaned in his sleep. Grace went to his side and took his hand. Maybe he sensed her emotions or felt alone, scared like her.
“I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
He settled again.
“Me neither, Dad,” Brayden piped up.
A noise by the door made everyone except Mikey look in that direction. Grace’s father stood outside the room. He waited for an invitation. Brad nodded, which apparently was enough of an invite for him.
“He’s asleep, so if you’re here to interview him, you’ll have to come back tomorrow,” Grace told him.
“Can’t a father check on his daughter’s fiancé?”
Andrea and Brad’s heads snapped in her direction.
“You’re engaged?”
“No, no…I only said that because I didn’t think they’d let me up here otherwise. Clearly, I was wrong.”
“That’s what I figured, because my Gracie wouldn’t get engaged without telling her ol’ man.”
“You know me well.”
“Gracie, I’m sorry honey.”
“Don’t be, you were just looking out for me,” Grace said.
“No, I mean for the other thing.”
“Oh, well, I’m still pissed about that.” She feigned looking stern. He approached her and they embraced. “Promise me you’ll consider asking Natalie out.” She patted him on the back before letting go.