Page 6 of Axel

Waking up in a dark room, she didn’t move for fear of waking up her pounding head again. The longer she laid there the better she was feeling. It wasn’t until her mom said her name that she realized that she wasn’t alone in her room.

“You feeling better, honey?” She said she thought so. “Well, you’ve been down for four days. Idon’t know what you were given, but you sure did need the rest that went with it.”

“Four days? Great. That’s going to put us behind now.” Mom told her to hush that it had been taken care of. “I think I can sit up now. Not too quickly, but I can sit up.”

With her mom’s help, she was not only able to sit up but she could sit in a chair as well. Her head wasn’t hurting her at all, either. It was almost as if she were a real person today.

“With the shots that Doctor Gimble gave me, it would be four or five days before my headache would go away. I’ve never felt this good, Mom, in a very long time.” Mom told her because Doc Gimble was nearly seventy years old and told her once why mess with success. “I remember that. You wanted something stronger for your anti-depression, and that was his answer. I had forgotten about that.”

“I didn’t. Every time I take my medication, I think about that. Had it not been for your dad telling me to find a real head doctor, I do believe that’s what he called her, then there is no telling where I’d be right now. I know that I’d be hiding away from people again.”

Her mom had suffered terribly from depression. It got to the point that she wouldn’t leave the house and didn’t shower unless someone made her. And eating, too, was out of the question for her mom. She was still seeing her doctor and it seemed to have been a perfect fit for her. She might have to look for a doctor herself. Maybe Kahana would be her doctor as he seemed to have his head out of the past and working to be a better doctor than most.

After having some lunch with her mom, she headed to the downtown building. A lot of work had been done while she’d been gone, and she was glad that the carpets were all torn out and the floors were being sanded. The work on the drywall was started but without the wire there, they were at a standstill for that.

“Did you call them to see what the holdup was?” Mark, her foreman just under her said that he’d called several times and was put on hold and forgotten. “I’ll take care of them. I’m headed out that way here in a few minutes. I’ll drop by. Is the company truck around?”

She was nearly there to bash in some heads when she heard from her dad. “They delivered too much here so when we get this finished up, then I’ll send the rest to you. Damned contractors.” She told him that she couldn’t wait and was headed to the cable office anyway. “You tell them, honey. And I might just keep the cable that’s going to be left over for their screwing things up.”

There wasn’t anyone in the office when she arrived at the cable company. After getting the run around for about twenty minutes, she finally had had enough and put her fingers into her mouth and let go of her infamous whistle. Dad told her that it could make trains look bad. It was so loud.

“I want the cable that was ordered a week ago delivered to this address.” She carefully wrote out the instructions and what she needed. “If it’s not here by the end of the day, then—”

“We delivered it three days ago.” She asked the man who seemed to have a chip on his shoulder where he’d delivered it. “I’ll have to look.” When he didn’t move, she took several steps in his direction, and that got him moving. “What will you do if we don’t get it there by the end of the day? It’s not like there is another cable company around to meet people’s needs.”

“Ah, but you’re wrong on that. I’m thinking that from now on, I’m going to be telling people about satellite and the benefits that it will bring to their homes. Do you have any idea how many houses we work on that need an upgrade? What if we told them that it’s better to go to a streaming service rather than depending on your company to get news and movies coming into their homes?” He told her to go ahead. “Good. I’ll tell Mr. Hathaway that you’re not going to be his provider, and that will make it so his brothers, all five of them, aren’t going to use you either. Then there are the people that come to see them. How much business do you think you’ll lose when they start telling people what a piece of work you are?” Mac made a decision she hoped that she’d not regret later. “You know what? Forget it. I’ll just put a satellite in.”

“Yeah? What are you going to tell that Hathaway person when it all goes to shit? You’ll be begging me to come out to your little job site and put the cable in. You’ll see.” He walked away laughing, and she pulled out the phone and called Axel. After telling him everything that was going on, he told her that he was going to put her on hold, to hang on for a few minutes.

She could see the man she’d talked to answer his phone. Without a thought as to who he could be talking to, she made her way out of the offices and back to the parking lot. She hated being indoors more than she had to be, so she was glad for the small reprieve. It was then that Axel got back to her.

“Okay. If I don’t miss my bet, Mr. Landry is going to be begging you to put the cable in. If he can’t persuade you to do that, he’s going to be out of a job. It’s not your fault if that was where you were going with your thoughts. My dad owns the franchise here in town, so he’s going to be making a couple of calls. If you think that satellite would be better, I’m all for it.” She said she didn’t want anyone to lose their job over this, but if anyone deserved it, it would be that prick. She also told him that cable internet was less spotty at times than having a dish atop your home. “Good, I was hoping you’d say that. I’m sure that within the hour, you’ll have all the cable you need for several projects you have going on.”

When Landry came out of the building, she could tell he was pissed. Telling Axel what he was doing, coming toward her had him laughing. Then out of nowhere, the punch to her face had her falling back on her ass, then nothing. She was sure that he was going to hurt her, too, when she was down. And she’d only just gotten her headache to go away.

Waking up, she wasn’t surprised to see her parents in the emergency department room with her. What did surprise her was that Axel was there as well as Kahana. He was shining a light into her eyes, and it was annoying.

“Did you know that you talk to yourself when you’re unconscious?” She told him that she didn’t since she was out. “Good point. Anyway, I’ve had to have fourteen stitches put in the back of your head. Also, two in your lip. I believe, too, that you have a hard head. You should have had plenty more stitches than just the few that I was able to squeeze in.”

“Gee, thanks.” He laughed and told her that she was welcome. “When can I go home? I have a lot of crap that needs taking care of.”

“You’re not. At least tonight, you’re not. As I was going to say, you have a concussion. As well as those stitches in your pretty head.” She didn’t think this day could get any worse than it was right now. “My dad has taken care of your cable guy. It’s doubtful that he’ll be able to work anywhere once this gets out. He’s been arrested, too, by the way.”

“Good. I’ve never met someone so arrogant in my life than that guy. How is it that he’s been working there more than a day.” Charlie said he’d never been told about him before. “Well, you need to make sure that whatever other businesses you own know that you’re around to help them out if you need them. I’m betting, too, that the turnover rate for that place is high as well.

She was brought up to date about what was going on, and she was ready for them all to go away so that she could have something for the pain. As soon as she was thinking about how to be nice without feeling like shit, Kahana told her that she should take something for the pain. Thankful that it was taken out of her hands, she didn’t have to be mean again and tell them all to get the fuck out. Her dad lingered a bit as she was drifting off.

“Baby, I just wanted to tell you how much I love you and am so proud of you.” She smiled at her dad, the only thing that she was sure that he’d understand. “I’m going to leave when you’re asleep. Don’t scare me like this again.” She nodded, then drifted off to a painless sleep.

~*~

“You like her.” Axel looked at his brother, Stamos, and asked him what he was talking about. “I’ve never seen you like this before, and the only thing that has changed is that you met Mac. She is making you a lot less tense, too.”

“I don’t know what it is you’re talking about.” But he did. It just occurred to him that he loved hanging out with her no matter how prickly she was. He found that he wanted to say things to her that would get her going, and that was just stupid, he told himself. “She is the most odd woman I’ve ever met. She just tells it like she thinks too.”

“Yes, she does. Are you going to ask her out? If not, then there is a long line of us that would love to take her out on a date.” He felt his temper flare, and that surprised him. He’d not thought of Mac inthat way before. “You’re angry. Good. I was hoping that you’d get off your ass and see what the two of you can do together.”

“I don’t want to date her.” Stamos called him a liar. “Okay, so I do but until you mentioned it, I never thought of her like that before.”

---