Taking Chances (Blackrock Book 2) (6 page)

I
look at him with surprise. “I can get these things off.”
I point to my legs and he nods.

“Yes,
but not yet. I’ll let you know when the scan is scheduled for.”
He puts my chart back in the metal pocket at the foot of the bed then
walks out.

A
few minutes later my dad enters the room smiling at me.

“Morning
son.” He takes a seat beside the bed looking at me.

“Hey
dad,” I reply, still thinking about getting my casts off.

“How
are you feeling?”

I
shrug in answer scratching my shaved head. “Like shit. I want
to go home; this place is depressing me.”

Looking
over, he smiles at me. “Yeah hospitals do that to people. Have
you heard from Knox?” he asks, looking a little wary.

“Not
yet, but I am sure I’ll see him some time today.” My dad
looks a little confused and sad all at the same time. “What’s
up old man?” I joke with him and he smiles back, relaxing into
the chair.

“Nothing
much, I just wanted to know if your brother ever plans on talking to
me again?”

Rubbing
my hand over my face, I feel the couple of day’s growth. I
don’t know what to tell him. As far as I know Knox never wants
to see him again, making me the go between and I don’t want to
be that guy.

“I
don’t know, dad. Things are a little tough for him right now.
He is only just getting his shit back together.”

My
dad nods at me then frowns. “Max, you swear too much.”

I
bark a laugh at him and shake my head. “Yeah and you sound like
mom,” I tell him.

Dad
and I talk about school, work, and everything in between, avoiding
the topic of Knox and Lindsey, but I know it’s weighing him
down. Eventually he stands up and hugs me goodbye.

“I’ll
drop by tomorrow in the afternoon,” he says on the way out as
two male nurses walk in.

“Hey
Max, we are going to take you down for your scan now,” one of
the guy tells me, looking at his silver nametag I see it says Victor.

I
just nod as they begin to push me out of the room and down to the
elevator. We reach the basement level, which is kind of ominous and
they roll me into a large room with a huge contraption sitting in the
middle of the floor.

“Okay,
on three” Victor says to his co-worker and he counts to three
then they lift me up and transfer me to a thin hard metal surface.

The
pain in my mid section makes me cry out, clenching my teeth I breathe
hard until it becomes a dull ache, but still the waves of pain make
me want to black out. Victor and his minion exit the room leaving me
alone until I hear a disembodied voice.

“Hey
Max, I’m Peter and I am the MRI technician. Just hang tight for
a few.”

Hang
tight! What the heck else am I going to do? I hear the machine kick
into life with a whir and then a boom, boom, boom as it rotates. My
heart pounds in my chest as I lie there wondering what the fuck is
going on?

“Lie
still, Max. I am going to load you in now,” says Peter’s
voice.

I
take a deep breath as the metal platter I am on gets reversed into
the mouth of the booming monster. Closing my eyes, I wish my mom were
here. Yes, I am a twenty-one year old guy wanting his mom, but I
don’t give a shit. As my head enters the monster a loud boom
causes me to jump and instant pain rolls through me.

“Chill
out, Max,” says the voice again.

He
needs to come in here and fucking to see how chill he is. I can feel
the sweat on my skin as I roll in and out of the machine. Panic and
pain are keeping me still but mostly this thing frightens the crap
out of me. Finally after three trips into the mouth of this monster I
stop. Sighing with relief, I wipe the sweat off my brow.

Victor
and his pal come back in and place me into my bed. Gritting my teeth
I am ready for their jostling. Okay, so I wasn’t and I still
groaned with the pain when they lifted me. Now I am just tired. When
we get back to my room I ask them to close the door and send in a
nurse. A real nurse who doesn’t want to cause me pain.

“Hi
Max,” I hear as a young nurse bounces into my room.

“Hey.”
I smile.

She
is cute with her light brown hair up in a ponytail that swings when
she walks and her big brown eyes that are staring at me. Shaking my
head I smile again.

“You
need some pain meds?” she asks and I nod. She whips out a
needle from her pocket and pulls down my blankets. “Just a
little prick.” She smiles and I can’t help but laugh out
loud.

She
smirks at me then jabs me in the thigh.

“Ouch!”
I jump then rub my leg as she leaves. What a rouse; send in the cute
nurse to cause pain. Laying my head against the pillow, I close my
heavy eyes, relaxing into an afternoon nap.

Bailey

Driving
through town I spot Paige walking into the bookstore so I pull into
the next free parking space and jog back to find her.

“Hey
Paige,” I say from behind her.

She
is sitting on the floor crossed legged in front of one of her kiosk
machines typing furiously on her portable keyboard.

“Hey Bailey,” she
says flatly so I sit down beside her.

“What’s
going on?”

She
flicks me a look from the corner of her eye and sighs. “I have
to update the kiosks.”

“Oh
okay, well I called you and left notes for you.” I smile but
she doesn’t return it.

“Yeah
I got them, thanks. But I was staying with my parents.”

After
a few more keystrokes she unplugs the cable and moves around me to
get to the next machine.

“You
okay?” I ask and she nods.

“Yeah,
just want to get this done.”

I
watch her type away and see crazy code flying across the screen. I
have no idea how she can even keep track of what is moving across the
screen at warp speed.

“Okay,
then I guess I will leave you to it. I was just on my way to the
grocery store and saw you so I thought I’d say hi.”
Standing up, I clean the seat of my jeans with my hands.

“Hey
sorry, I am done now can I tag along?” she asks, pulling the
cable out of the second machine. I nod and we walk back to my car.

Walking
into the store we grab a cart each.

“Okay
Paige, this is how it works.” She looks at me like I have lost
my mind “I hate the grocery store, so it is now 1100 hours. By
1120 we will be at the checkout, ready?” I ask.

She
stands there nodding, Then we take off. I hit the fresh produce
first, putting fruit and veg into bags then load up the cart.
Swinging it around I move towards the freezer section.

“Oh
my gosh, Bailey.” Paige laughs as she runs behind me.

I
pass the next aisle.

“Oh
I need this isle,” she calls out.

I
use my left arm like one of those guys that taxi an airplane at the
gates. “Go Go Go!” I yell as she runs down the aisle.

I
continue on to the next aisle and when I turn I see Paige at the
other end. We stop and stare each other down like the Wild West, then
we both run down the aisle towards the middle skidding to a stop. We
are both laughing as we grab some booze. Checking my watch I see we
have five minutes left.

“T
minus five minutes,” I say turning for the meat section.

By
the time we check out we both run through the parking lot laughing.

“Oh
my god Bailey, you maniac! That was the most fun I ever had in a
grocery store.” Paige laughs, slightly panting as we load up
the car.

“I
know. Awesome, right?”

We
stop for coffee on the way home and, although Paige was having fun,
she seems really down.

“Is
everything okay?” I ask, taking a seat beside her.

“Yeah,
just thinking about stuff.”

I
nod sipping my coffee.

“So
do you want to come out to the bar tonight? I miss my wing man.”
I smile at her.

“I
don’t know.” She looks down at her hands on the table
then back up to me, “How is Max?” she asks, looking like
she is about to cry.

“He
is okay. You know, hospitals and all.” She nods and drinks her
coffee.

I
drop her home and ask again if she wants to come out tonight.

“I’ll
let you know.” She smiles and walks towards her building.

By
the time I get home and put away the food it is after two o’clock.
I decide to hit the trail for a run because I skipped out this
morning. Ten minutes later I am on the trail, feeling the wind on my
face. I can smell the dirt under my feet as I run, a deep earthy
scent with a mixture of rot from all the fallen leaves. When I reach
the house I am pumped. I feel like I could run for another couple of
miles and it reminds me of a time when I entered my first cross
country race with Summer back in high school.

Reaching
the porch of the house, I notice another white box sitting there
looking innocent, but I know all too well what I will find inside.
Lifting it, I open the lid as I walk to the trashcan and see my
weekly delivery of dead roses and a note. Pulling it out I throw the
flowers away.

RIP Bailey

Those are the only words I get
this week, which I suppose is good in respect to some of the creepy
stuff that has been on them. Reaching my room, I put it in the box
with the others and hit the shower, washing away all of the sweat and
tears that I didn’t realize I was releasing. I have no idea who
is doing this or why. And I have to admit it is starting to get me
down.

Dressing
in shorts and a tank top, I clean my room, bathroom and then decide
to attack the rest of the house. I scrub, wipe, and vacuum every room
and surface. By the time I am done it is after five o’clock.
Making myself some dinner I sit down and watch some TV when my phone
beeps with a text from Paige telling me she will meet at the bar by
eight thirty. Sweet, now I have someone to hang with. I smile to
myself and finish my dinner. I get dressed in my satin shorts and a
black strappy tank top, leaving my hair down. I grab my purse and
leave the house. When I arrive at the bar, I can just about make my
way over to the end of it; there are so many people in here. I find
Paige waiting and give her a hug.

“Hey.”
I smile.

She
nods towards the bar where Knox is making drinks and I see a new
bartender,

“Huh,
who hired Clark Kent?” I ask and she laughs.

“I
was thinking the same thing.”

Sitting
down, I notice a girl with a tray has stopped beside me. Knox makes
his way over carrying a few beers and places them on her tray. She
leans, in talking in his ear and he nods a few times, then she
leaves. “Hi beautiful,” Knox says kissing me. “You
look nice.” I smile at him and wipe my lipstick off his lips
with my thumb. “Drink?” he asks and I laugh at him.

“Yes
please, babe.” After he walks away I turn to Paige. “So I
got another bunch of dead roses today.”

Paige
frowns at me. “Why on earth would you buy dead roses?”
She looks baffled, and then I remember that I never told her about
them. I fill her in and she gasps.

“Shit
Bailey, you need to call the police.”

I
shrug as Knox returns with my drink.

“It’s
nice seeing you two back together.” He smiles at us.

“Awe look at you, trying to
get a good tip,” I tease him and he takes my drink away. “Knox,
stop messing around. I will give you a very good tip later.”

He
strolls back over putting the glass down and slides behind me,
putting his arms around my waist.

“So
who’s the new guy?” I nod over to the barman.

“Chase,
I needed extra help until Max gets back.”

Paige
and I nod in appreciation as we watch him move around behind the bar.

“See
something you like darlin’?” Knox chuckles in my ear.

Craning
my neck, I look at him. “Yes I do, but it’s not in that
direction.”

I
see a female hand slide over his shoulder and he turns. “Hey
Amber,.” He says to the female and she smiles at him. “Shit,
forgot to make the drinks.” He kisses me quickly and walks
behind the bar.

I
smile at Amber and do a quick once over. She has beautiful caramel
skin with big hazel eyes and a natural pouty mouth that stretches her
face when she smiles.

“Hi,
I’m Amber and just started tonight.” She holds out her
hand and I shake it.

“I’m
Bailey and this is Paige.” They nod at each other.

“So
I guess you and the manager are together?” She smiles again,
looking at Knox.

“Yeah
can’t shake him. He keeps coming back,” I respond and she
laughs at me, shaking her head.

“Dang girl, you’re
kinda fiery” Amber says and Paige laughs beside me.

“You
have no idea,” she says hugging me.

Knox
fills up her tray and gets back to work the bar is packed tonight. I
look over at the dance floor and see that too is pretty full.

“Want
to chance a dance?” I ask Paige and she follows my gaze.

“Sure
why not. No point sitting here.” She shrugs and we find a
little space by the stage.

We
dance for a while as the DJ plays and a few people sing.

“You
should sing!” Paige yells at me over the music.

I
shake my head no and point to the bar. We go back over and finish our
drinks.

“You
should sing, Bailey,” Paige tells me again just as Chase
arrives.

“Hey
beautiful, what’ll it be?” he asks.

I
glance at Paige who has her head stuck in the songbook giggling. “Oh
just ask Knox for our usual.”

He
looks behind him at Knox, who is busy making cocktails and I can tell
by the look on his face that he is not happy about it.

“Guess
he is busy.” Chase leans down on the bar and Paige laughs
harder. I give him our order and he winks at me.

“What
are you laughing at?” I ask Paige, pulling the book away from
her as she wipes her eyes.