Page 7 of Wolf

Once Mack closed the doors, Alexis and I got as comfortable as we could. Within minutes, we were off to my house. Alexis must have been tired because fifteen minutes later, I heard her snoring softly. I felt bad about all of this uprooting and probably scaring her. The look of relief on her face when I awakened was one I would never forget. I had to keep my eyes on the road, but in between I snuck glances at her. Alexis’s brown skin glistened under the sunlight that peeked through the windows. She looked peaceful, and it was a look I always wanted to ensure she had around me.

An hour later we pulled up to my gate. I admired my home as we entered the gate. It was a shame I didn’t come out here enough. This place was my home away from home. It allowed me to reset and get away from the chaos of the city. The ambulance came to a stop, and I noticed Alexis was still asleep.

“Wake up, sleeping beauty,” I whispered in her ear. I watched as she stirred in her sleep.

“I’m so tired. I can’t believe I fell asleep as soon as I sat down.” She groaned. Alexis’s eyes fluttered as they adjusted to the sunlight. She looked around as she attempted to familiarize herself with the new surroundings. Mack got out of the ambulance then walked around to open the back doors for us.

“I’m glad you slept so well. All that snoring you were doing I couldn’t focus on my own thoughts,” I said followed by a low chuckle.

“I see you have jokes. I wouldn’t be so exhausted if I didn’t have to save someone’s life last night.”

“Touché, Doc. Touché.”

We made our way out of the ambulance. The meds were doing their job, so I moved a little better this time around. I grabbed my duffel and one of Alexis’s bags as I made my exit. Usually, I wouldn’t allow her to lift a finger, but in my current state I didn’t think she would mind.

“Thanks for the ride, my man. Remember to keep your eyes open when you leave here. Don’t forget what my peoples told you,” I expressed to Mack. I didn’t wait for a response, but I watched closely as Mack got back into the ambulance. Before I headed into the house, I made sure he was off my property.

I didn’t have my key for this house on me, so we had to go through the garage. Alexis followed me as I walked toward the six-car garage. I punched in the key code, and the first set of doors lifted. As we entered the garage, I took a moment to admire the cars I stored here. There were two Range Rovers, two Chevy Suburbans and two tricked out Mustangs, all black on black. I couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel of my Mustangs again.

As we walked past the cars, I walked toward the set of stairs that led to the back door of the house. There was another keypad there. I punched in the numbers and the door slid open.

“Welcome to my hideaway,” I said.

“This is nice. I see someone really likes gray and white,” she said while walking into the house.

“Yeah, my interior decorator. Come on, let me show you your room.” I walked from the kitchen to the living room toward the staircase that led to the second floor.

Once we made it to the room she would be staying in, I heard Alexis gasp. I knew she would like this room. She loved to read, and there was a built-in bookshelf over the bed.

“Wolf, your home is much more than I expected. I don’t know what I expected at all honestly, but this wasn’t it.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. The bathroom is to the left, and the walk-in closet is to the right through that set of doors,” I told her. She went through each space in excitement admiring everything. I was about to put her heavy ass bag down when she stopped me.

“That’s my medical bag. Take me to your room so I can show you how to change your wound dressing.”

“Show me for what? Isn’t that what you’re here for?”

“No, smart ass. According to my brother, I need protection. As my patient, you need to know how to change your dressing. I’m here to assist not be your servant,” she said with a hint of annoyance.

I didn’t know how long we would be stuck together in this house. In this moment, I wasn’t about to argue with her. So, I made my way to my room. Alexis was slow to follow but eventually she made her way over. I set her bag on my dresser as she took out the items she needed. Once she grabbed what I would need, she began her tutorial.

“It’s really simple to change the dressing. Here is the gauze and the tape. Don’t put anything on the wound. If the dressing gets wet in the shower it’s not the end of the world. Just try not to submerge it. Any questions?”

“No questions, but can I say you in doctor mode is hella sexy? I never knew I would enjoy the day you bossed me around.”

“Wolf, be serious. We don’t want your wound to get infected,” she said as she blushed.

“If I would have known I needed to get shot for you to be this close I would have done it a long time ago.” I laughed. What I thought was a joke caused Alexis to burst into tears. This wasn’t the reaction I expected but I pulled her in for a hug to console her. I gave her a few minutes to cry. She needed this release. I watched her fight back her tears more than once today.

“Lexxy, it was a joke. I’m sorry, please don’t cry. I hate it when you cry,” I said as I consoled her.

“I’m sorry, but when you came in the hospital, I had to put my fears aside to make sure you would be good. To see you so helpless when you’re usually the person I go to for protection and advice... Anything could have happened during surgery. I’m just grateful you’re here with us,” she expressed through her tears.

Her voice was laced with fear and concern. Now I felt like even more of an asshole. I figured she must have been worried about me but to hear her express it made me feel awful. The shooting was out of our control, but I owed it to her to not give her a hard time during my recovery. I broke our embrace and used my finger to lift her chin up.

“I know that must have been hard for you. I’m glad that you were there to work on me. I won’t make any more jokes about being shot. Thanks to you I’m still around to get on your nerves and kick your boyfriends asses like I used to. No more tears, okay?”

Alexis nodded in agreement. I hugged her again a little longer this time. Maybe she just needed some more rest. She lived such a simple life, and her brother basically turned it upside down in a day. Whatever needed to be done to get Alexis back to her routine needed to happen as soon as possible. This version of Alexis wasn’t one I liked to see. The version where she was a fraction of her usual lighthearted bookworm self. Tomorrow, I would reach out to the crew to see what they had found out about those First Street losers.

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