The Power: Building the Circle - Book 2 Page 15

  "I know," Joann responded. "It doesn't matter if people look, though. It will startle the bad people, Henry. And we'll be looking."

  ✽✽✽

  "Henry, my man! How's life?" A hospital orderly on his way out the door bumped fists with Henry as they walked through the main entrance.

  "Life's rockin', Gerald. Rockin!" Henry exclaimed.

  Lucy looked at Henry in surprise. He grinned up at her. "Adrian has lots of friends." He giggled gleefully, which made Lucy smile as he directed her toward the lab.

  "I know where it is!" He said, "I know my way around, Adrian showed me."

  Walking through the halls, random people greeted Henry and looked at Lucy appraisingly. She wasn't sure why, but Lucy wanted to blush every last time.

  After signing him into the lab, the desk clerk told Lucy it'd be a short wait, and they sat down.

  "I didn't grab a book to bring with us, buddy. I'm sorry," she said.

  "We have to take our books back to Ms. Leti," Henry said.

  "I forgot about that," Lucy admitted, wondering if they'd be taking the books back or if someone else would. The library branch wasn't in the worst part of town, but it wasn't great, either. They could return the books at a different location, but Leti had been kind to them - one of the few people to contribute to Henry's go-fund-me. Lucy would like to say goodbye.

  At that moment, it clicked in Lucy's brain. She wasn't going back to their old life. Regardless of what happened with Adrian, she was confident they'd never be in another apartment where the people next door sold drugs. They were going to exhaust all possible treatment options for Henry. She wasn't going to watch his beautiful spirit wither because of money. They were going to find a way forward and have a real life. Maybe even a home.

  Wrapped up in her thoughts, she started when Henry stood up. "Come on, Aunt Lucy, they're calling us."

  Lucy hopped to her feet, following Henry to the door and back into the room.

  As the technician sat Henry down, another technician stuck his head in the room. "Hi, Henry!" he called.

  "Hi, Jose!" Henry answered.

  "You know who this is, right, Jackie?" Jose said to the middle-aged woman setting up Henry's blood draw. "Dr. Adrian's boy," he said with a laugh, heading on his way.

  Jackie's eyebrows climbed her forehead.

  "Oh, no. No. Adrian's not his-" Lucy started.

  "Psh. Girl, shut it. I know that's not what he meant. No. The gossip mill is all a buzz about our Beloved - pun intended - Dr. Adrian shacking up with some woman and her sick kiddo." She was clearly biting back laughter at the stunned expression on Lucy's face.

  "Apparently, he was here on Friday, doing Dr. Adrian things, kiddo in tow, introducing him around like a proud papa. Every last person that knows this kid is eyeballing you with either wonder or envy," Jackie was openly laughing now.

  "That one's been at the very tippy-top of the most eligible list for years. Even before the money hit with the super-freak brother. He has a secret fan club - and, yes, the only one it's a secret from is him."

  Lucy's mouth was hanging open. Holy fuck. What do I say?!

  Henry was giggling like a maniac. "Uncle Sam's not freaky!"

  "Don't you tell him I said that," she laughed. "Don't want to get on Uncle Sam's bad side. Uncle Sam, even. This is just too sweet!"

  Lucy blushed red as Jackie continued to laugh at her discomfort. "Henry and I were just staying in the extra bedrooms. Ah-"

  Jackie snorted. "Yeah, OK. We'll pretend like Uncle Sam doesn't own like 85 hotels and half the greater Chicago area. 'You just needed a place to stay.' If you aren't snuggling with him, you should be."

  "They were kissing yesterday," Henry reported. "Aunt Lucy, why are you all red?"

  Lucy started laughing and couldn't stop. "Whatever," she said, eventually. "I don't work here."

  "Yeah, that's the right outlook! Now give me the goods on the bruising, so I have truly juicy gossip. No way Dr. Adrian had a hand in that."

  "No, nope, he did not. Squash that shit if it comes up," Lucy instructed.

  "Psh," Jackie said again. "No one would dare to think it. So, what happened?"

  "So, not this just past Saturday, but the Saturday before, I was at Northwestern Memorial in the billing department…" Lucy began.

  "... then Will broke his knee cap and knocked him out. The cops came. I was a mess."

  "Wait now, which one is Will. There are a lot of those boys-"

  "Blonde, shoulders as wide as he is tall, looks like He-man," Lucy clarified.

  "Mmm. That one's my favorite. Strong, silent type!"

  Lucy laughed. "We ended up back at Northwestern to get my nose set and stitched and then back to Adrian's house to get Ree. I think I literally fell asleep at the kitchen table."

  "She did!" Henry confirmed. "Adrian caught her before she fell out of her chair."

  Jackie laughed and clapped. "It's perfect."

  Lucy shrugged. "I've done a lot of sleeping in the last week. Henry's been hanging out with Adrian. He took the stitches out of my face this morning."

  "I love this story," Jackie said, putting a Band-Aid on Henry's little arm. "It's just so Dr. Adrian."

  As Lucy and Henry headed for the door, Jackie followed behind Lucy. "Girl, you need to crawl in that man's bed and not get back out. Looking all ashamed and embarrassed. What's wrong with you!" she muttered. "Wrap them long ass legs around him and go for a ride. Move your ass into that man's house and stay there. He's way too good of a person to not be married with like fifteen kids. Get on that. Better gossip by Friday, Aunt Lucy."

  ✽✽✽

  After a stop for lunch, Ree and Lucy spent a long time in Walmart, replacing things left behind at the apartment. Lucy bought some makeup, Ree got bath fizzes. An alarming number of toys were acquired, along with new pajamas for Henry and new stretchy pants for Lucy. Henry selected a Gonzo t-shirt for Adrian. Lucy opted for a tray of cupcakes.

  As they got back into the car, the two security consultants were laughing.

  "What?" Lucy said.

  "I don't know how to break this to you, Lucy," Joann said. "But, rich people don't shop at Walmart or buy Suave."

  Lucy blushed as she shrugged. "I'm not rich."

  "You clearly have no idea how much money I'm paid per hour, and there are four of us following you around," Joann continued to laugh.

  "That wasn't my doing," Lucy said, slightly defensive.

  "No, it was-" Joann paused to correct her language in front of Ree, "freaking HENNESSY, which just makes it that much better. The only way that gets better is if it's the Reaper. Who, by the way, rolled our asses yesterday because you were in the backyard unaccompanied. The Reap is batshit crazy about protecting his ladies. I love this gig."

  ✽✽✽

  Adrian came into the house talking to the dog again. "Hello, pretend dog, how was your day? My day was stupid again. Ignorant people kissed my ass and told me dental care was not important for a person's long-term health and wellbeing. Rich people suck."

  Lucy met him at the side door again, laughing.

  "If there were an actual dog here, I'd be scratching her ears right now," Adrian continued.

  "Is this going to be a daily thing?" She asked.

  He grinned. "I figure if I keep it up, you'll let me get a dog by the weekend."

  "It's your house," she reminded him. "If you wanted a dog so bad, why don't you have a dog?"

  "Historically, I've not been home enough throughout the day to take care of a dog. I'd be getting a dog for it to be alone all day and then sit in the basement and watch me workout every night. Not fair to the dog. But, there's a little kid, now. Little kids need a dog!"

  "Noah said the same thing when he walked into the backyard on Monday," Lucy admitted.

  "Speaking of little kids, is he sleeping again?" Adrian asked as they walked into the kitchen.

  Lucy nodded.

  "How did blood work go? No problems, right?"

  "Oh no,
you tell me about your day first, and then I'll tell you about blood work. Everything went fine, but every last woman in the hospital gave me the stink eye."

  "Really?" He asked, laughing. "My day really was stupid. I got in an argument with entitled rich people again. Same story daily."

  "Poor you," Lucy laughed at the repetition from the day before.

  "Poor me," Adrian grinned as he kissed her. "What happened at the hospital?"

  "I totally spilled the dirt on us, and you have a secret fan club," she laughed.

  "It's not a secret. They leave various bits of undergarments in my office, which makes me extremely uncomfortable," he said, chuckling as Lucy shook with laughter.

  "Poor you," she said again.

  "Poor me," he agreed again.

  The next kiss got more serious. The happy energy was mixing with Adrian's hormones in new and exciting ways. It zinged around his body in response to Lucy. It craved her, zapping to wherever skin met.

  Adrian had no intention at all of taking this little makeout session further. Henry was sleeping in the next room. It was 4:30 in the afternoon. This was not going any farther; he was not getting a hard-on. He shut his baser instincts down.

  Not happening, he told his body.

  The energy surged anew, in previously unvisited areas.

  Not happening, he told the energy.

  Then, Lucy nibbled his ear. Adrian was not prepared for the wave of raw lust. The energy, the power, tried to take over. As Adrian warred with his inner-self, his body got confused. He started to lose control.

  Adrian stepped back, pulling Lucy's arms from around him. "OK, need a time-out," he gasped.

  ✽✽✽

  "Uh, yeah," Lucy mumbled.

  OK, Jackie. I am aligned. I will crawl into his bed and stay there. Sounds good. Let's do that. Right now, Lucy thought.

  It must have shown on her face.

  Adrian gave her a sheepish smile. "There's a small, impressionable child asleep in the other room. It's not even dinner time."

  "Yeah," Lucy said, nodding, not looking at him. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

  "I didn't mean for that-" he started.

  "Later?" She asked.

  "Later," he agreed, eyes flashing with heat. "Remind me to never again make fun of Jake and Matty."

  "Huh?" She asked.

  "OK, I will absolutely still make fun of them, but not as much," he laughed as he started telling her the story.

  Ree woke up to the sound of Aunt Lucy, laughing hysterically.

  "NOTHING is sacred to you people. NOTHING!" She cackled.

  "They were in an office with intentionally thin walls with no sound blocking insulation! They spend all day, every day throwing tennis balls at the walls to irritate each other. Sometimes Sam attends meetings in Jake's office without leaving his desk!" Adrian laughed.

  Ree wandered into the kitchen, still waking up. "Uncle Jake has a pool table in his office."

  "OH MY GOD!" Lucy yelled, laughing again.

  Chapter 13

  William was making hamburger patties when his doorbell rang on Wednesday night.

  "I need to know what you love, Will," Sam said as the door opened.

  Will sighed. Sam had been asking this question every hour, on the hour since Sunday night. Including in the middle of the night.

  "Sam, I swear to God. I would tell you if I understood what you were after. I need a better question to help," Will said. Again.

  "I need to know. I need it, Will. I can't think straight until I know. I don't know why. It's imperative, and I need to know. It's just you and me here. Can you tell me now? I won't tell anyone. I just need to know," Sam begged.

  "When did you last eat, Sam?" Will asked, looking at his little brother. His eyes were sunken. "When did you last sleep?"

  Distracted, Sam had to think for a minute. "I had macaroni and cheese for lunch when we had lunch."

  "That was Monday, Sam. Come on. I'm making hamburgers," Will said gently. "We'll eat and try to figure out what you need to know."

  "I don't think I can eat them anymore," Sam said, eyes glassy.

  That startled William. Sam usually ate with him, ate his food. "Why?"

  "It tastes like fear, even when you put Fear away. I can still taste it now. It didn't use to be like this." Confusion and frustration were apparent in Sam's voice.

  "Since Jake moved out?" Will asked.

  "Before that," Sam said. "It started getting worse before that but got much worse after he moved out and even worse after I answered Matty's call. I can't find the girl now. Even in dreams, I can't find her. She has to pull me to her. I can't go to her. Something's wrong with it."

  "Wrong with what, Sam? What is there something wrong with? Come on, let's sit down. We'll talk through it together, OK?" Will asked.

  Will and Sam didn't talk about weird shit. He was surprised that Sam knew about the fear. This was the first one-on-one conversation they'd ever had about the girl.

  Hank and Darla thought the girl wasn't real. That she was a figment of Sam's weird brain, like it made up a dream friend for Sam to talk to in the nightmares.

  Will had no doubt whatsoever that the girl was real. He had looked for violet-eyed girls and Wile E Coyote in every bar he'd ever been in, across the globe.

  The terror radiating off Sam was tangible to William. He tried to pull it away from Sam and into himself, but couldn't. He'd never been able to help Sam, even as kids.

  "You'll talk with me about this? It doesn't give you the creeps?" Sam said.

  Will's eyebrows shot up. "Does it give you the creeps?"

  "Holy God, yes. Daily," Sam admitted.

  Will shrugged. "Me, too. We'll be fine. What is there something wrong with Sam? Go back to that."

  "With me. With whatever this is with me. I can't stay in one time anymore. I don't always know when it is or where I am. I used to be able to stay. I could force it to stay in one time. But now there's more, and I can't make it stop. Like I'm in a lot of times at once, and none of it makes sense," Sam whispered.

  "Can you eat in the other times?" Will asked.

  Sam shook his head. "My body's not there. I'm just visiting."

  "Are you hungry?" Will asked.

  "I'm so hungry. So tired. But I can't find the girl, and everyone suffocates, Will. I can't rest because everyone dies."

  Holy fuck. I thought my lot in life was hard. I spent all this time worrying about Adrian. Fuck. Poor Sam, William thought.

  "Can you eat food that you make, Sam?"

  "Not anymore. It tastes like terror, pain, and hunger. Jake's food tastes like Matty's campfire. Ethan's food isn't happy anymore. Adrian's food is angry-"

  "Still angry? Even with Lucy there?" Will interrupted.

  Sam paused. "I don't know."

  Holy God in Heaven, how do I help him? Terror and Pain and Hunger and suffocating dreams. How is he still sane?

  "OK. Mom? Dad? Beth? Luke? Matthew?" Will asked.

  "Luke won't help. He won't answer my questions, either," Sam said, eyes sad again.

  "Sam, I know Luke would cook for you. Have you asked him?" Will asked.

  Sam sighed. "I make him wary. He's worried people are going to hurt me. I don't know why. He avoids me. It's why I moved seats at dinner. I wanted to talk to him."

  "Matthew - no. He is afraid of me. Afraid of himself. Afraid of everything. Can you do that thing?" Sam asked.

  Will was puzzled. "I don't feel fear from him, Sam. I'll see if I can find it, OK?"

  Sam nodded. "Beth's heart hurts. Dad is terrified for Mom. Mom's love tastes like medicine. Do you know what's wrong with Mom?"

  Will sighed. "I was going to ask you that. OK. If I wore gloves while making your food, and thought of nothing but what I love in life, do you think you could eat? Can we try it?"

  "OK. Thank you, William," Sam said, sounding defeated.

  Usually so self-assured, confident of what should and should not happen, seeing Sam vulnerable and lost ma
de Will more than a little afraid for the future.

  Twenty minutes later, Will watched as Sam literally gagged on his burger.

  "The cow was sick. The cow was sick and suffering; they didn't treat it. Is this our meat?" Sam asked.

  William nodded.

  "Do you still have the packaging? We have to find this farm. It was horrible. Horrible pain. Oh, God," Sam ran to the bathroom.

  ✽✽✽

  Sam couldn't eat again after that.

  "Stay here tonight, Sam. Stay with me. Maybe it'll be easier with me here," Will said.

  Sam nodded. "William, what do you love? It might help."

  William sighed. "I love Mom. I love Dad-"

  "NO. It's a WHAT, not a WHO. WHAT do you love?" Sam insisted.

  "I love my family. I love my friends. I love dogs. Warm sun on my face. Italian Beef sandwiches. My country. My home…"

  Will stopped listing things after Sam nodded off. Twenty minutes later, when his cell phone vibrated, Will headed into the back bedroom, as far as he could get from Sam. He didn't want to disturb the rest that was so badly needed.

  "Hello, love," he said quietly.

  "Woo, why are we whispering?" Pip whispered back.

  Will sighed. "Sam is sleeping on the couch. I don't want to wake him."

  "Did he eat with you?" She asked, still quiet because he was whispering.

  "No, I made burgers tonight. I wasn't expecting him. The cow was in too much pain. It fucked him over," Will said.

  "What about fruits and vegetables? Organic fruits and veggies? No pesticides or anything. No animal life involved. He could even eat them raw," she suggested.

  "I tried that last week. Made vegan pasta. He could taste the decay in the soil. Over the years, he's actually had an easier time with meat and grains than fruits and veggies."

  "Did he figure out what you love?" She asked.

  "No, I don't know what to do with that," he admitted. "I keep thinking it's you, but he keeps telling me it's a what, not a who."

  ✽✽✽

  Sam fell asleep on William's couch, listening to the sound of Will's calm voice.

  He dreamed of the house with ever-changing views.