Page 35 of Atlas
“That girl, your ‘wife’, ismydaughter. And you, a grungy tattoo artist with a family full of addicts and a criminal record… oh yes, we know all about you, Atlas. You somehow thought you were good enough to marrymydaughter? I know what you are, son, you’re a tumor.” She raises back up and rolls her neck. “And lucky for Lauren, I am the best of the best at removing them.” I look down, unable to say anything to fight her.
“Now,” She brushes the sleeves of her white coat before staring at me again. “Until such time as I remove you, you may as well be of some use to me. Can you afford smart devices?”
I don’t verbally answer, instead I glance at the iPhone sitting on the tray. Dr. Locklear nods and pulls a pad of paper out of her pocket and begins to write something down before handing me the paper.
“That is the app, the username and the password. That’s the monitoring app for her device. Set it up on your phone so that you’ll be alerted if something goes wrong again. And then, go buy you and her a smart watch so that she can monitor it there as well.”
I take the paper and look down at her instructions. “If you know all of this, if you know she needs a watch, if you know the app and the login information, why aren’t you monitoring it? Or your husband? Someone should’ve gotten alerted that she was going low.”
Dr. Locklear stiffens and she turns to go out the door. “Lauren is an adult. It’s not my job to bail her out every time she messes up. She’ll never learn that way. I have countless diabetic patients and they seem to manage just fine without their mother alternating between watching their monitor and trying to run a hospital. If she needs a keeper, she should get married… oh wait.” She gives me a hard look before walking out of the room, leaving me alone with my sleeping wife.
“You shouldn’t be here. Gin.”Howard states as he lays his cards down and takes his winnings. I scratch the back of my head as I sip on my energy drink.
“I like you Howard, but today I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have to be.” I look at my phone, no messages yet. Sunday and Janie are at the hospital while I’m here with Howard. They are supposed to text me when Ren is up. But so far I haven’t received a message.
Ren woke up right before I left, but was confused and combative. I found that to be an overstatement. She was scared and freaked out, but I guess it doesn’t matter what I think because they put medicine in her IV and she’s been out since. I already went to get her and I new watches, and I downloaded the app on my phone. Now I just need to hear her voice.
“I’m scared.” I whisper out loud without realizing it. Howard hums as he slowly nods his head.
“That’s understandable. The person you love is ill and you can’t fix it.” I wince at his words.Love?I don’t think I’m at the point that I’m ready to look into the process of love. Fuck, I haven’t even taken her out on a proper date.
An idea pops into my head so fast I have to reach for a pen on the table and write it on my hand before I forget it. This is perfect. I am going to ask Ren on a date.
I restmy cheek on my fist as I lazily trace the veins and lines in Ren’s hand. There isn’t a word for how tired I am. But even if I mentally told myself it is okay to fall asleep, my body is so jackedup on the energy drinks I’ve been shotgunning all day that I’m practically vibrating.
“Atlas?” Ren’s weak voice reaches through my exhaustion and brain fog and rips me back into the real world. I whip my head up and stare at her. She looks at me and winces. “You look like shit.” I can’t help the laugh of relief that forces its way out.
Standing up, I lean over her bed and cup her cheek softly. “You scared me.” I whisper before glancing at the monitor, her heart rate is increasing. I smirk as I turn my gaze back to her. “Something got you excited, Princess?” I watch cheeks redden as she glares at the monitor as if it ratted her out.
“I’m sorry.” She says weakly, and I feel her nuzzle into my hand. Fuck, I’m a goner with her. My obsessive crush with Ren is nothing new. I’ve been trying to fight down those feelings, playing them off as casual flirting for a long time. But this last year, it’s become harder, probably because she’s been in my life more since Janie took over Hel’s with Fox. And now, we live together, and…
“The person you love is ill and you can’t fix it.”
Howard’s words hit me again. Love. Maybe I might be falling, I don’t know. But I am sure of one thing, Dr. Locklear is right, I haven’t proven myself to be worthy of her, yet. But that will change.
I lean down to kiss her but stop myself. I can’t just take a kiss from her, she’s not my–
“Are you going to kiss me or just stand there?” She huffs out with all that fucking attitude that I adore. I chuckle as I place my lips onto hers, fully expecting a chaste kiss. But apparently Ren has other plans, and those plans include seeing how high she can get her heart rate to go.
Her sweet, warm tongue slips between my lips to explore my mouth and I groan into the kiss. She grabs my hand from hercheek and I freeze when I feel my hand traveling down her throat towards her chest.
Ho..ly…
“W-wait!” I hate myself for saying it, but I need to. Ren freezes, and I want to scream when I notice how close I am to her tits. “I– Holy God, I want this but, please, not here.” It’s at that moment I notice I’m talking to her chest, not her face. Glancing up I notice the look of rejection that she is in the process of masking. “No.” I state firmly as I grab her chin. “You knock that off immediately. Listen, if you want me to touch you,” I let out a breath at the thought while trying to get my hard as fuck cock under control. “I will gladly touch you everywhere, Ren–once you are out of here and feeling better. But don’t you dare take this as a rejection, you hear me?”
“I’m never going to be better, Atlas.” Her voice is tired and distant as she stares at her lap. “This is my life. Sure, there are days that I’m not unconscious on the floor, but hospitals, blood sugars, insulin, possibilities of transplants in the future. This is my life, and it’s a lot to handle. It’s a lot to ask anyone else to handle. Which is why I’ve never done that before.”
“So what are you saying? You don’t want anything with me because you think you are a burden?” I furrow my brows as I stare at her face, she rolls her pretty brown eyes and shakes her head.
“Of course I am a burden, Atlas.” She snaps while pulling herself up into a sitting position. “Look at you, you look like absolute shit, and it’s because of me. You don’t deserve that. You don’t deserve to be worried. I just thought, if I could make it up to you–”
“Stop.” It comes out harsher than I meant it to, but she hit a nerve and I feel myself becoming pissed off. I stand up and back away from the bed. “Let me explain something to you, Lauren. I am a fucking grown ass man, fully capable of making my ownfucking grown ass man decisions. Now, you are not a burden, I never want to hear you say that again, and I don’t know who made you believe that because you’re sick you are a burden, but you tell me who they are and I’ll beat their ass. Also, yeah, you are a lot to handle. I mean fuck, you’re too fucking smart and quick-witted, you’re fucking gorgeous as hell, you’re opinionated and your sense of humor is as dry as sand.” She snorts at the remarks, but says nothing as I continue.
“Youarea lot to handle, but that’s not a bad thing. I would give my left nut right fucking now to have the honor of being the one to handle you.” I say as I walk back over to her bed.
“Wait…” She looks up at me, uncertainty pooling in her eyes. “What are you saying?”
I take a deep breath as I try to hold on to this little bit of courage I have. “Ren, can I take you on a date?”
