Page 21 of Denial

“Killer isn’t gonna do shit to him if Hope doesn’t want him to,” Kim grumbles as she looks at her brother-in-law who is picking his wife up and putting her in his lap.

“Why do you say that?” Killer asks, his voice a low growl as he looks over Gwen’s shoulder at Kim.

It’s always entertaining to watch these four together. Kim is unpredictable and harsh, Killer is silent and deadly for the most part, Gwen is shy and reserved, while Fox is usually lost in his own head. Get all four of them together and sparks usually fly because Kim is always goading Killer and he takes the bait every single time. Gwen and Fox are like the rest of us and just sit back to watch the entertainment.

“Because it’s the truth. There are only three people in this world who can stop you from doing anything. Two of them are in this room. Faith is back at the clubhouse getting her sister’s bag ready to go. If Hope tells you to leave Jinx alone and let them fumble their own way through a relationship, that’s what you’re gonna do because your girls always get what they want,” Kim says as the rest of us nod in agreement with her.

“Aunt Kim isn’t wrong, Dad. We all know all we have to do is give you some puppy dog eyes, add in a few tears, and you won’t do whatever it is you’re hellbent on doing. I’ve used it over the years and I know Mom has too. Faith hasn’t used it as much, but she has when she’s really wanted something. You give in every single time and don’t even realize what we’ve done,” Hope says, laughter filling her voice as Killer’s jaw drops in shock and he thinks back over the years to when his girls have wanted something.

“Son-of-a-bitch!” he finally explodes as Gwen wraps her arms tighter around his neck and starts laughing harder with the rest of us. “You’ve all fucked up now, though. Now I know what you’re doin’ so it won’t work.”

“Yeah, it will,” Kim states while trying to stop laughing. “You can’t help yourself, Killer. These three girls will always come first with you and now that you’re actually letting them go to live their lives, you’ll fall for it even harder than before.”

“Motherfucker!” he mumbles while hiding his face in Gwen’s neck.

For the rest of the day, we all hang out in Hope’s room. Faith comes in around lunch time with some food from Shy and the rest of the ol’ ladies. Hope eats it faster than anything else she’s eaten since waking up. I can’t blame her because the food here is decent, but it’s nothing compared to the food the ol’ ladies make. Hope hasn’t had any of it until today. Dr. Smythe is starting to lift the soft food mandate he put on her diet a few days ago when she woke up. He wants her to start eating more foods that will add on some of the weight she lost while in a coma. Today, the ol’ ladies made her favorites. She’s got macaroni and cheese that’s homemade, a chocolate shake, and biscuits that Annabell makes from scratch. For dinner she’s getting Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. Hope’s mouth is already watering with the thought of another favorite meal.

I remain against the wall most of the day and just watch Hope as she interacts with everyone. Her smile lights up the dim hospital room and her laughter is soft and melodic when she isn’t trying to force it down to keep from hurting herself. When she looks at her parents, it’s with nothing less than pure love. I love that she’s so open and free with them no matter who’s around. All day I remain against the wall until everyone leaves for the night and I can finally move over next to the bed. As Hope falls asleep, I lace our fingers together and rest my head by our linked hands after pressing a soft kiss to the back of her hand.

“I’ve got you, Sweet Girl. I’ll keep the demons away while you sleep,” I whisper to her as sleep finally pulls her under and she sighs.

Chapter Fourteen

Hope

AFTER WAKING UP, I’ve been in this hospital for over a week. The swelling is almost completely gone from around my spine and I’m now working with physical therapy to ensure that there’s no damage from laying in bed for the last month without moving around on a daily basis. Currently, I’m using a walker to walk around with and I’m okay with that. It’s just temporary and as I rebuild my strength, I’ll be able to get rid of the walker. Jinx and my parents take me for short walks around the floor I’m on in the hospital every day. I try to go just a little bit farther each time one of them walk with me so I can build myself back up. My dad and Jinx don’t like me pushing myself, but they ultimately understand why I’m doing it. In order to recover, this is part of the process and they’ll support me no matter how much they hate that I’m doing this shit.

Officer Monroe came in to ask me about what happened that day in the store and I went through everything with him. He let me know King already turned in the footage from the security cameras and that they’ll be using that as evidence to put the hitman away. Apparently the technicians in the police department tried to bring the audio back with no success. I knew they wouldn’t since King and Fox couldn’t pull it up. Officer Monroe assures me that he’s going to personally take on my case and ensure that the hitman is captured and brought to justice. He lets it slip that he can’t stand Becker and his family because they throw their money around as if they’re better than everyone else. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be to go over everything with him because there weren’t a ton of people looking at me and trying to get me to mess up by not believing my story from the beginning.

Faith spends every day with me and gives me all the gossip from the clubhouse while I’m stuck in the hospital. I love listening to my twin share her stories because she puts her own spin on the stories to make them more outlandish. Every memory I have of Faith is her telling me some kind of story that she’s made up and embellished for one reason or another. When it comes to her, it’s one of the many ways she shows she loves people and gets them to laugh when they can’t get out of their heads. It’s honestly my sister’s love language and I’m happy for her to share her stories with me every single day.

“Faith, have you ever thought about writing stories?” I ask my sister as Jinx heads into the bathroom to take a shower because I’m supposed to be getting discharged today.

“No. I want to go into the medical field so I can help others,” she says, her voice almost a whisper as she looks at me.

“That’s about the fifth different thing I’ve heard you say you want to do,” I state as Faith looks up at me with wide eyes as if I’ve shocked her with my words.

“I know. I just can’t seem to make up my mind about anything. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do after high school. Now that it’s here, I feel as if I’m wasting Mom and Dad’s money because I can’t make up my mind,” she says, guilt filling her voice as she snuggles deeper into my side and keeps her arm gentle where it lays across my torso.

“Faith, you have multiple people you can talk to about writing. Keira will answer any questions you have. Aunt Kim will help however she’s able to. And they can point you in any direction you need to go. Talk to Mom and Dad about taking a break from college and try writing a book. If you like it, Keira and Aunt Kim can point you in the direction of the classes you should take in college to help improve your writing,” I tell her as Faith looks up at me once again with a small smile on her face.

“I’ll do that, Hope. What are you gonna do when you’ve healed and can go back to work?” my sister asks me, worry filling her voice with the thought of me going back to Phantom Auto after everything that I’ve been through while there.

“I don’t know. Once everything has been dealt with, I’ll sit down with Vault and see what he thinks about me doing something else. Or I could always go to school and see if I can find something I like doing. But, like you, I don’t want to waste Mom and Dad’s money to pay for an education when I’m undecided. I don’t think I want to work at Phantom Auto again though. I love it there and Bronx makes each day so much fun. Every time I step through the door, I’ll remember what Becker did to me and then the attack,” I answer my sister honestly as I look down at her before turning my attention to the door that’s slowly opening.

Morgan stands in the doorway with slumped shoulders as she looks up at us from where her hair covers her face from view. Shock fills me because I have no clue why Morgan would be here in the hospital trying to enter my room as Jinx is in the shower.

“I know I’m the last person you want to see, Hope. That’s why I haven’t come before now. However, I think the two of us need to have a conversation so you know the truth about a few things,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper as I strain to hear her words.

“I’ll leave you two alone. Morgan, don’t fuck with my sister. I might not look like much, but our dad and uncles have taught us both to fight over the years and I will beat your fucking ass,” Faith warns the girl as she climbs out of my hospital bed and squeezes my hand before leaving the room. “And Jinx is in the shower. You don’t have long to say what you need to.”

Morgan walks in my room very slowly and makes her way over to the bed. She doesn’t take a seat as I was expecting her to. Instead, she remains at the end of my bed and paces the floor a few feet in either direction.

“I thought this would be easier than it is. I don’t share my story with anyone. Your dad, Jinx, and the guys in the club know so they would help me. Still, I didn’t go into detail about what truly happened to me. When I was sixteen years old, my mother sold me to a group of men and I was enslaved by them. One of the guys was younger than the rest and he paid attention to me every single day. He made me feel special and loved. I’d never felt loved in my life so everything from this man made me believe it was the real deal.

“Instead of being locked in a cage like the rest of the girls, I was kept in a bedroom that I shared with him. It didn’t take long for him to show his true colors though. He would beat me on a daily basis and there was no reason behind the beatings. I have scars on my body from the torture I lived each day at his hands. A few times, he took me to where the other women and girls were held. Those days, I was forced to watch him torture those women before he’d sexually assault them. My heart broke because I wanted to help them all and I couldn’t do anything. I was just as much of a prisoner as they were.

“For the last four years, I’ve tried to escape multiple times only to be captured and almost killed for my attempts. The beatings got worse than ever before and the guy would take what he wanted from me without any regard to how I felt or if I wanted to have sex. I lost more and more of myself every second I spent in his presence with no way to break free from the chains he used to hold me with. When the storms rolled through, I saw my chance to escape and took it. That’s when your dad and Jinx found me buried under a pile of rubble where two buildings used to stand,” Morgan says, my heart breaking for all the pain she’s been forced to endure over the years with no thought to what she wanted by anyone in her life who was supposed to love and protect her.

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