Inspiration Point (24 page)

“I can’t deal with this yet Dad, not with Zeke upstairs,
and I don’t know what’s happening.” 

“I know Hayln, but I don’t think we have much
choice.  Just stay there and I will start.  Hopefully that will be
enough for now.”

I curled into a ball on the chair, wrapping my arms
around my legs, and listened for any sounds of Zeke upstairs.  I couldn’t
hear anything, and I started to get even more worried.  Finally, I heard
footsteps entering the lab and turned to see who it was.  I was
disappointed to see Davis.

“Spencer has left for the day, but I have instructions
to make sure you are both working down here.  So get up.” 

He was watching me with a smug superior look in his
eye – I wanted to smack it off his face.  Then Tyler spoke before I could.

“Davis, I think we should let her go to check on
Zeke.”

“He’s alive, he doesn’t need babying,” he spat out
angrily. 

“I know, but until she sees him for herself, I doubt
we will get anything productive from her.  Just a few minutes.”

He seemed to give up, but I am sure it wasn’t for my
benefit.  Perhaps he knew Tyler was right or perhaps he wanted me to see
Zeke so I would know just what he was capable of.  He signaled for me to
go upstairs.  I went to thank Tyler, but he had already turned back
towards Dad.  I took a deep breath and went up.

They had him on the lounge, he looked pale but not as
terrible as I expected.  I stood behind Emin and Mum who were working on
him, they hadn’t noticed I was there.  His face was only lightly bruised
with blood coming from his nose.  I could tell there had been more blood,
but it had been wiped away, in a rush to check for injuries I suppose. 
Then I saw his chest and fell to my knees once again.  His torso was
covered in the worst bruises I had ever seen.  Almost every inch of him
had blood under his skin or was black and blue.

“It’s all right Hayln,” Emin reassured me.  “He
will be okay I promise, Mum is taking good care of him.”

I looked at Zeke’s face, he didn’t register we were
here – he seemed to be unconscious.

“What wrong with him?” I asked as I crawled over to
his side putting his hand gently in mine.  Even his hand was swollen, I
imagined he had been protecting his face with it, then shuddered at the
thought.

“He’s unconscious at the moment, which is probably a
good thing until we patch him up, but his vital signs are clear.  It’s
just his bodies was of dealing with the trauma,” Mum responded.

“We need more ice Emin,” Mum ordered before she
continued.  Emin left the room.

“I think he has fractured at least one rib, which is
what I am taping now.  The rest is just bruising.  Painful of course,
but superficial more than anything.  The tops of his legs are the same.”

I rested my head on his arm and brushed the hair out
of his eyes.

“We are lucky he is so fit and strong, I doubt anyone
besides Emin could have taken a beating like that so well.”

“When will he wake up?” I whispered, I was desperate
see his eyes open.

“When he’s ready, it is best that he rests at the
moment.  I will let you know as soon as he wakes, I promise.”

I looked at her kind eyes and then noticed as she
glanced behind me.  Davis was there ready to drag me back to the lab.
 
“Time’s up.”

I didn’t argue because I wanted to be able to come
back when he woke.  I kissed his hand and forehead and whispered in his
ear that I loved him.  I hoped he would know I was here and that I was
sorry this had happened to him.  Emin came back with more ice and towels.

“Take care of him,” I whispered wiping a tear from my
eye.

“You know we will,” he said empathizing with me.

I nodded and walked with Davis silently returning to
the lab.  As we passed Ian I thought I sensed some remorse in his eyes,
but I could have been wrong.

I paced around in the lab not being able to concentrate
on anything except Zeke. 

“How is he?” Tyler asked after a moment.

I stopped walking and put my hands on the bench for
support. 

“At least one fractured rib Mum thinks and the
bruising is horrible over his chest and the top of his legs too apparently. 
He is unconscious – although Mum doesn’t seem worried about that.  She
said she would let me know when he wakes.”

“He’ll be fine Hayln, your mother will take good care
of him, you know that,” Dad reminded me.

“I know, I suppose I’m still in shock.  He
shouldn’t even be here, and he didn’t deserve that.”

No one said anything for a few minutes, and then Tyler
reminded me that I should at least try to look busy.  I agreed and started
making some pretend notes on Dad’s pretend experiment he was doing.  After
an hour or so, Emin came down to the lab with some food.

“He’s still under,” he said before anyone could ask.

“Mum is with him, she asked me to make lunch.” He
looked glumly at his offering.  “This is all I could manage, I hope he
wakes up before dinner.”

I know this was his attempt at humor, but it just made
me more worried about how long is too long to be unconscious.

“Should we be worried – I mean how long should it
take?” I asked desperately.

“Mum hasn’t left his side, she’s monitoring his vital
signs.  She will let us know if there is reason to be concerned,” Emin
assured me.  “We’ll let you know though Hayl’s, I promise.”

“Thank you,” I said weakly reaching for some food.

Minutes and hours past whilst we played our roles in
the lab.  Dad working tirelessly, I was taking notes and Tyler checking
our progress periodically.  My thoughts were always upstairs with
Zeke.  Every minute he didn’t wake made me more fraught with worry. 

Late afternoon Emin bounded down the stairs with the
news I had been waiting for - Zeke had woken.  I looked to Tyler who
seemed to give me permission to go see him, although I wasn’t sure if Davis
would be so accommodating.  I was relieved to see he wasn’t waiting for me
when Emin pulled me to the stairs to our bedrooms rather than the lounge.

“What’s going on?” I asked anxiously.

“He’s not in the lounge anymore,” he explained. 
“Ian and I took him upstairs to his room – we thought he would be more
comfortable.”

“Is he alright?”

“Mum had to give him some painkillers, but he will
pull through.  I thought I’d better get you up here before dozes
off.  I think it was pretty painful for him when we moved him up here.”

“Why couldn’t we have left him there – we shouldn’t
add to his pain.”

Emin’s voice lowered.  “If we are to have a
meeting tonight, we need him in his room.”

Of course, I thought to myself stupidly, I am glad
Emin was thinking for all of us.

“Mum made me change his clothes, I’m not sure how long
that will take to erase from my memory,” he said shaking his head.  “We’re
lucky they didn’t hurt his face too, or that would have been a dead giveaway
tonight.”

We were at his door now, and I noticed that Emin
looked thoughtful.  “I’m sorry I have given you two such a hard time
Hayl’s, I can see now what you mean to each other.”

“You were just protecting me,” I assured him.

“I’m not saying the kissing and stuff won’t bother me,
but I promise to behave.”

I laughed a little, “thank you.”

He left me in the hallway, giving us some
privacy.  I knocked lightly and walked into the room.  Zeke’s eyes
were shut, but there was still a sign of pain on his face.  I walked to
the bed and sat on the edge not wanting to disturb him.  But he stirred
immediately and happiness flew through me to see the emerald of his eyes again.

“Hayln,” he croaked.

“I’m here, but try not to talk if it hurts alright,” I
said holding his hand.

“It’s fine really, I’m just happy to see you.”

I smiled, but my smile quickly turned to guilt, and I
let go of his hand.  “I'm so sorry Zeke, this never would have happened if
it wasn’t for me – I will never forgive myself.”

He tried to sit up, but I stopped him.

“You have nothing to apologize for Hayln, besides I
wouldn’t be anywhere else.  I’m just glad he did this to me and not you.”

I shook my head to disagree, tears filled my eyes, the
last thing I wanted to hear was that he did this for me.

“Hey, no tears okay.  Besides, shouldn’t I be
getting all the attention here?  I was hoping you might be here to nurse
me back to health.  It was a little scary with your brother in here
earlier.”

“You’re unbelievable,” I said kissing his hand.

“How about you come up here and do that,” he said
playfully.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” I insisted, although there
would be nothing I would rather do.

“Your Mum has found some wonderful drug to take my
pain away leaving me perfectly capable of accepting your kisses, and whatever
else you may like to do with me.”

I rolled my eyes at his enthusiasm, but I wasn’t about
to deny him.  I leaned over him as carefully as I could, trying not to put
any weight on him. 

Kissing him again was heavenly, especially after the
day we had.  He reached up to help keep my hair from falling forward and
then his hands traced down my shoulder - then he stopped kissing me.

“Are you alright?” I said panicked.  I surveyed
him, I was sure I hadn’t leant anywhere I wasn’t meant to.  I looked back
at him for some answers only to find the most playful smile spread broadly
across his face.

“What?”

“And here I was thinking I might never get to see
this,” he said playing with my yellow lace bra strap. 

I realized then what he was talking about and smiled
too.

“It was meant to bring us luck – so much for that
idea,” I grumbled.

“Don’t be too quick to judge, from here I’m feeling
very lucky.”

I was still laughing as he pulled me towards him with
more force than I thought he could handle, but I didn’t refuse.  I lay
with him on my side, and he mirrored my position without complaint.  He
pulled me closer again, my lips were urgent but so were his and when our
tongues touched a new wave of desire crushed over me.  Without thinking, I
wrapped my leg around his closing the small gap that was between us.  If
it hurt him, he didn’t say. 

His hand found its way into my shirt and was tracing patterns
on my back playing with the bra.  I suddenly felt dizzy, I had never
wanted anything so much, which is of course when his kisses slowed.  I
sighed, and I am sure he knew what I was thinking.

“I wasn’t ready for that to end,” I whispered in his
ear.

“Believe me, I know,” he said.  “I want to be
with you more than anything, but not like this.”

“You’re in pain?” I said leaning back, worried that my
desire to be with him might have hurt him.

“Hardly Hayln, pain was the last thing I felt.”

I looked at him a little confused.  His eyes
flicked to the camera which I had totally forgotten about.  I suddenly
hoped my family weren’t in the lounge room.

“I want everything to be perfect when we are together
Hayln,” he explained.

“And dosed on painkillers after a beating, while being
watched on camera with your family downstairs hardly fits that picture. 
No matter how perfect you look at this moment.” His hand was now warm cupping
my face.

I'm sure I blushed, but I hardly noticed.  All I
could think of is that he wanted me the same way I wanted him – I was
blissfully happy.

“Maybe you should get some rest,” I suggested.

“Would you stay?” He asked, his emerald eyes trapping
me.

“I’ll just go down to let them know,” I promised,
holding his hand.  “Do you need me to bring anything?”

“No, you will do just nicely,” he said as he settled
back into his bed.

I made my way downstairs wondering how many of them
saw our display. Davis and Ian obviously, but hopefully no one else.  I
was glad to see Mum and Emin both in the kitchen neither seemed aware anything
had happened.

“How is he?” Mum asked.

“Tired, I think, although he would like me to stay
with him.  Do you think that would be alright?”

“I will talk to Ian if there are any problems,” Mum
said confidently.

“Thanks, I might take some water too I think,” I said
grabbing the jug and some glasses.

“That’s a good idea, I’ll bring dinner up soon,” Mum
said as I left the kitchen.

I had just about gotten to the stairs when I heard
Davis’s voice.

“Needed some water to cool off did you?”

I knew he would have to say something.  Well, it
could have been worse I suppose.  I ignored him and went to Zeke’s
room.  He was already asleep when I got there so I just pulled the covers
up over his wounds and sat across from him in a chair, happy just to watch him
sleep.