Page 49 of Blaze & Ajax

“He’s going to be okay. He’s got a broken leg, a concussion, and some bruises and abrasions, but he’ll be fine.”

“Okay. Thank fuck.”

“I’m here with him now. Stone and Stix are off to get Pippin to bring him to the hospital if they can.”

“What do you mean?”

Alpha sighed on the other line. “Let’s just say Pippin has issues with… hospitals and shit. I’m not supposed to say anything, dammit, but Pippin needs help, and he needs all our support right now. Nacho, too. But… especially Pippin.”

No one knew Pippin’s story other than he’d been in foster care with Nacho, and they’d both run away, living on the streets for two years. Other than that, we were all clueless about Pippin before that or what landed him in foster care. Nacho was raised in foster care since he was an infant.

“What do you need me to do?” I asked. In times like these, we all came together as a family.

“For now, just go to the bar, open up for the night tonight, and I’ll be there when I can. After Nacho is released from the hospital, I need all of you over at their apartment to help out when you can. Don’t kill yourselves, but… just make sure Nacho is getting his meds and shit.”

I read between the lines. Pippin struggled with ADHD, and he blanked out a lot. He could forget things and got easily distracted unless he was bartending, which he was brilliant at. Nacho had always taken care of him, keeping Pippin going in one direction, but now the roles reversed, and Pippin needed to take care of Nacho.

“You got it. Tell Nacho I hope he gets better, and I’ll see him soon.”

“Thanks, Ajax. I knew I could count on you.”

As soon as I hung up, Blaze called.

“Hey,” I said when I answered.

“I, ah, heard what happened. Cueball and I were at the skatepark, and I’d been kind of pissy with him because he was… well, it doesn’t matter. Anyway, we were there with Pippin when it all went down. The dude nearly passed out when he found out Nacho had been hit by a car and was sent to the hospital.”

I stood and paced. “You were there?”

“Yeah, man. Pippin had been really stressed, told Cueball all kinds of crazy shit about his past. But Cueball is fucking good about getting out your secrets. Hell, if he told someone to kill a person, they’d probably do it in a heartbeat.Anyway, Pippin is… I thought you and I had it bad… Fuck me. It was some conversion therapy, Ajax. They hurt him badly when he was a kid.”

I suddenly needed to sit, so I dropped to the floor and ran a hand through my hair.

“You there?” he asked.

“Yeah… Jesus fuck. Poor Pippin.”

“No, shit. He said he ran away from home when the therapy didn’t ‘take,’ and they dumped him in foster care, where he met Nacho. Anyway, we barely got him home, and he refused to go to the hospital. He’s got some phobia or something.”

That explained what Alpha meant earlier. I had no idea it was that bad.

“I’m… sorry,” Blaze said, snapping me out of it.

“Thanks for calling me.”

“It’s okay if you can’t meet up. Just… call me when you’re free.”

“Thanks,” I said again, appreciating him more for his patience, which he wasn’t exactly known for. Hell, neither was I.

Right now, my priority was with my friends.

I hefted the bag in my arm and knocked on the door. It took a while before Pippin answered it. He looked like shit, with his red hair a wreck and all stressed out, his green eyes wide and a bit wild. When was the last time he’d slept? Hell, I could ask myself the same question.

“Ah, hey, Ajax.”

“Hey, Pip. Can I come in?”

“Oh, yeah…” he stepped aside, and I walked in. Their apartment wasn’t the nicest, like mine, but they added nice touches to make it homey with throw pillows and some curtains.

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