Taking Chances (Blackrock Book 2)

Taking Chances

Copyright © 2014 Elizabeth Kelly

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead is coincidental.

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Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33

I
would like to say thank you to my family for their support and
encouragement on this journey.

I
would also like to thank my husband and daughter for putting up with
my mental absence while physically present!

Knox

Watching
my brother lay in the hospital bed is torture and I wish I could help
him in some way. The sound of the breathing machine, and heart
monitor are a constant reminder that he is not out of the woods yet.
I can’t believe this happened; the night was going great. We
rang in the New Year with our girls, which was a far better night
than last year. Last year I was still a bit of a mess. Although Max
was helping me, I didn’t want to celebrate anything, never mind
a new year. I hadn’t thought I would have a happy new year back
then.

I’m
tired and pissed off - my best friend and only brother is laying
there fighting for his life. I can hear Bailey shuffle around behind
me, she is restless too, but won’t leave. Max’s hand is
limp in mine but I can’t let it go. I need him to know I am
here beside him, waiting for him to wake up; we have so much to do
still. I watch his face, looking for any sign of movement but nothing
happens. The sudden sound of Bailey’s gasp makes me turn to
check on her. Following her line of sight, I see him and I can feel
the blood drain from my face.

“Hi,
son” he says to me, as if that will make it all better.

“What
are you doing here?”

He
nods towards Max.

“I
got a call from the hospital. I am here to be with my sons.” He
is still standing by the door, unmoving watching me with wary eyes.

“Yeah
well, maybe we don’t need you.” I grind through my teeth.

“Maybe. Maybe not but I am
not leaving one of my sons to fight for his life alone,” he
says walking to the other side of the bed taking Max’s other
hand.

I
am still pissed off with him but Max is his kid so I can’t do
or say anything to stop him. Bailey walks over to me, looking a bit
scared.

“Hey
I think I will go let you get caught up.” She nods towards my
dad who notices her. I pull her out of the room, away from his
fucking prying eyes.

“Okay,
darlin, I will let you know when I am home.” I kiss her on the
head hugging her for dear life.

“I
love you, Knox. Call me and I will come get you, okay?” she
says looking at me with concern.

“Okay.”
I nod kissing her again.

She
walks away slowly like it’s too much effort to move her legs. I
hope she will be okay to drive.

Turning,
I go back to Max where my dad is still in the same position, staring
down at my brother. I have questions for him but I am too angry to
ask them.

“Knox,
what happened?” he asks as I stop at the other side of the bed,

“I
don’t know. I wasn’t there. I need to find Paige and ask
her, she was with him.” He looks over at me; it’s like
looking at myself in twenty years.

“Who
is Paige and how can we find her? I want to know what happened to my
son.”

I
throw myself into the chair letting out a breath.

“Her
parents came to take her home, but I will get Bailey to call her
later. I am sure she is upset considering it happened in front of
her,” I say to him with a bit of attitude, fuck him coming in
here like he never wrecked our lives.

We
both sit in silence, listening to the machines and watching Max. He
looks so pale and half of his head is shaved. It looks fucking
ridiculous; I will have to show him when he wakes up. I don’t
know how long I am sitting here watching Max, when a nurse walks in.

“Visiting
time is over gentlemen,” she announces as she messes with the
machines.

“What?”
I ask her, looking at her like she just spoke a foreign language to
me. “Time to go,” she snaps at me.

“Nice”
I say standing up. “You don’t need to be so rude about
it,” I snap at her,

“It’s okay, we are
leaving now. When can we come back?” my dad asks her and she
glares at me for a few minutes.

“Visiting
hours are between one – four pm.”

Checking
my watch, I see it’s only eight in the morning. I am not going
to call Bailey back so soon, so I’ll have to find a cab.
Stopping at the desk, I ask a nurse for the number of a cab company,
and watch as she rummages through a pile of crap on the desk. She
keeps looking at me through her eyelashes and I let out a sigh. I
have no interest in her or flirting with her. I just want to go home
to sleep.

“Do
you need a ride back to Georges?” I hear from behind me,

“Nope,
I’ll get there myself.” Still looking at the rummaging
nurse, I swear she is just fucking around.

“Knox,
I haven’t seen you in over a year. I’d like if we could
talk,” he says stepping beside me.

“I
don’t think we have all that much to say to each other.”
Jesus, she is taking forever “You know, forget it,” I say
to the nurse, walking away from the desk and through the doors.

“Knox,
wait please.”

I
am exhausted and don’t need this shit right now,

“Fine,
take me home,” I say, following him to his car. I sit in
silence as he drives. I just want to rewind time, to go back to last
night and ask my brother if he wanted a ride to Paige’s place.

“Do
you mind if we stop for coffee?” he asks and I shrug, because I
really don’t give a shit right now.

He
stops at a Cafe in downtown, which is actually across from Mortenson
Engineering. Looking at the building shining in the morning sunlight
reminds me of Bailey, my beautiful sunshine. The only good thing
about today is that I know this year will have her in it, and
hopefully many more. We walk into the Café, which surprisingly
is nearly full. I find a table by the window and sit browsing the
menu.

“Can
I take your order?” I hear a chipper voice ask and, looking up
I see none other than Red. “Well well I thought you were above
manual labor?” I ask, cocking my eyebrow at her.

“Fuck
you, what do you want?” she sneers at me, holding her pen and
note pad.

My
dad is watching us with a smirk. “I’ll have a coffee and
the breakfast special,” he announces, handing her the menu.

I
purposely make her wait a few more minutes. “I’ll have
the same.” I hand her my menu and she huffs.

“Yeah
you could have said that five minutes ago, asshole.” She snaps
the menu from me, walking away. What an evil piece of work.

My
dad looks at me, laughing. He looks older, with more lines around his
eyes and some grey at his temples.

“Didn’t
work out, huh?” he asks.

Rolling
my eyes I shake my head. “No way, she wishes. My girlfriend
punched her in the face and she is still mad I guess.” He just
laughs some more.

A
few minutes of silence pass when a different waitress brings our
coffees. “Food will be a few more minutes,” she says then
walks away.

“So
how is school?”

Really
he is going to start with that,

“Good, with the exception
of a bad penny turning back up.” I stir my coffee, watching him
but he looks like he doesn’t know anything.

“What
bad penny?”

I
snort; I can’t believe this guy.

“Lindsey, the bad fucking
penny.”

He
looks uncomfortable for a minute but recovers. “I imagine she
is,” he says drinking his coffee.

Red
brings our food over, dropping mine down so some of my eggs spill off
the plate.

“What
the heck is wrong with you, Red?” I ask and she places my dad’s
plate down nicely.

“I
don’t know, asshole. What is wrong with me?” she barks at
me.

“You
have a bad attitude and I didn’t hit you,” I say grabbing
the ketchup.

“No but your crazy
girlfriend did and she stole my best friend too. So excuse me if I
don’t fucking like any of you.” She turns to walk away
but I grab her wrist.

“Red,
Bailey didn’t steel Paige away from you. Maybe if you treated
her better you’d still be friends.” I tell her and she
pulls her arm from my grasp.

“Yeah
right, as if that blow-in can be a better friend than me. Who is
going to be here when she leaves and Paige is all alone?”

I
don’t get this chick; she is weird “Max,” I answer
and she glares at me then walks away.

“Is everything okay with
her?” my dad asks, watching us spar again.

“I
don’t know, she is fucking weird”

He
doesn’t say anything more as we eat. I can feel my eyes closing
and can barley finish my food.

“Let’s
get you home,” he says, paying the check. Standing up, I get a
head rush and have to wait for my eyes to adjust. “You okay,
son?”

“Fine!
And don’t call me that,” I say to him, walking towards
the door.

“You
are still my son, Knox. As much as you hate me, you will always be my
son.” Climbing into his car, I ignore him. Otherwise I won’t
be able to stop myself from beating his ass again. He drives me to
Uncle George’s house, pulling up out side and kills the engine.

“Knox,
do you want me to come get you later on my way to the hospital?”

“Why
are you here, dad? If Max wasn’t laying in that hospital, would
you have even turned up?”

He
looks through the window watching the trees sway in the breeze.

“I
have come here plenty of times over the last few months, but George
told me to leave, said you didn’t want to see me,” he
says leaning his elbow on the window.

“He
never told us you came by but he was probably right. I don’t
think either of us would have wanted to see you,” I say and he
nods

“What
about now?” he asks looking at me.

“I
don’t know, the jury is still out” Opening the door I
climb out.

“I’ll
get to the hospital myself later. I will have to go up the hill
tonight anyway.” He nods as I close the door and walk away.

He
stays in the driveway for a few minutes before pulling away. I let
the curtain drop as he pulls onto the street, grabbing my phone, I
text Bailey.

Me:
just home Darlin going to bed now. Love you.

Bailey:
Ok babe I will come over later, what time?

Me:
Going to see Max at one.

Bailey:
Ok I will pick you up at 12.30 xxx

Me:
ok xxx

Putting
my phone on the pillow beside me, I close my eyes.

Bailey

I
didn’t get much sleep and it’s noon when I get out of the
shower. I have texted Paige but she hasn’t replied at all. I
look like hell. Dabbing some concealer under my eyes doesn’t
really help, but at least I don’t look like death warmed up
anymore. I pull on my jacket as I walk into the kitchen.

“Morning,
sweetheart, late night?” dad asks me.

I
grab my dad’s travel cup from the cupboard filling it with
coffee.

“Oh,
dad, it is a horrible start to the New Year,” I sigh.

“Already?
It is only twelve hours in.”

“Yeah
and about three hours in, someone ran over Max with their car. Now he
is in a coma,” I say, trying not to cry and ruin my bad eye
cover up.

“Jesus, Bailey, you should
have called me. Is he going to be okay?”

I
shrug. “I hope so, dad, I really hope so. I am going to get
Knox now, then go back to the hospital with him.”