Page 72 of Derek
“I’m notthatbad of a guy. At least I wasn’t out there fucking everything with a cunt.” I whisper as not to draw attention to us. Ash thinks about my words before nodding.
“Very true. Fine, I will accept that you and my sister are in the Hallmark Disney Channel relationship where all you do is hold hands.”
“Well, that’s going to be awkward,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck. “Because I was about to go in there and make her scream,” I smirk and watch Ash’s face turn red. I’m about to deliver another comment when a crashing sound from Indy’s room gets our attention.
Ash and I rush in to see two nurses trying to coax Indy into the bed. Indy is sobbing in a corner; blood runs down her arm from where she must’ve ripped her IV out. I watch as another nurse walks in with a vial and syringe.
“No!” I bark out, causing the staff to jump and look at me. I point to the nurse holding the vial. “You’re not drugging her, everyone, calm the fuck down. Stop crowding her.”
“Sir,” one of the staff walks up. “Your wife is not well right now. A light sedative will–”
“She is not a danger to herself, and she certainly isn’t one to you people,” I say through gritted teeth. “Back away from her.” I look at Indy, her face is pressed into the corner, and I can hear her small cries. I see the blood dripping onto her hospital sock, and I just want to grab her and run away. Slowly, I make my way up to her.
“Hey, Darlin’,” I say softly. “I’m gonna touch your back.” I place my hand on her, and she whips around instantly and crashes into my chest. “Shhhh…” I whisper as I wrap my arms around her protectively. If any of these fuckers come near her right now, it will be the last goddamn thing they do.
“I’ve been banned.” She cries against my chest, and I frown before looking over at Ash. He shrugs.
“Indy, what are you talking about? Banned from where?” She lets out another cry.
“The…the children’s hospital. Liam got my non-profit banned. Derek, he took the kids from me.” She wails out, and I feel her knees give out. I pick her up and hold her to me as she sobs.
“W-what? Baby, you said that you knew–”
“She’s been on leave for a month, and her replacement made the call.” She sobs out as her body shakes. I guess I’m going to be murdering this fucker after all.
I look over at Ash, he’s staring at me, and his black eyes are somehow darker. The only thing keeping Indy happy and it’s been ripped from her.
* * *
“I’m goingto give Indy a tattoo,” I say from my chair at Hel’s. It’s been three days since Indy came home, and each one has been terrible. She won’t eat, sleep, or talk. Nothing. Ash warned me that depression could spike during a relapse, but I think this is more because the kids were taken from her. I have tried everything I can think of, and as much as I don’t want to tattoo Indy, I’m going to.
I don’t tattoo people I know. Tattooing is very intimate and can cause people to form a bond with the artist. We can become someone to help you heal and help you grow, and while that’s great, I don’t want to be that involved with people. Or, at least I didn’t. But as I sit here, sketching out a design to surprise Indy with tonight, I think that maybe it’s time to break my rule.
Ash stops tattooing the badass eighty-something-year-old woman to look at me. “Are you asking my permission?”
“No, I’m announcing it so that when you see her on my table, you don’t have a damn coronary.”
Atlas sighs, “Can’t be any worse than what’s been done to my table.”
“Really?” Fox snorts. “Like you didn’t get me back on my fucking bed and my table.”
“Don’t forget about that time in the bed of your truck.” Atlas beams as Fox glares at the idiot.
“Trust me,” he growls. “I haven’t.”
“I’m sorry you have to hear this,” Ash says to the old woman. She scoffs and waves him off.
“Sweetheart, I was burning bras and putting my tongue down women’s throats before your parents were conceived.” I lean forward in my seat to hide my laugh. Ash stares blankly at the woman, his eyes wide and twitchy. “I remember being forty and thinking, you know what I haven’t had enough of? Orgies.”
This can’t be real life. I am doubled over, Fox has become very interested in something in his station, and Atlas… fucking Atlas has wheeled his chair over and is engrossed in this woman’s story about how she’s had an orgy in every state and how not everything is actually bigger in Texas.
“Virginia, though,” she sighs wistfully. “Definitely for lovers. I think I had a train going on there unlike anything you’d ever believe.” Well, I feel dirty. Ash is still just staring at the woman, not tattooing, just staring.
The old lady pats his knee, causing him to jump. “So, don’t you worry! There’s nothing you can say to make me uncomfortable. I once started a massive protest in DC in the seventies where we all were under blankets on the steps of the capital having sex.”
“Wowwww….” Atlas is acting like he’s found his superhero in this woman. “Sex as a political statement. That’s amazing. I would’ve definitely been listening.”
“Well, back then, we had to shock and awe. Men wouldn’t listen to women, we didn’t have the same rights, and if you weren’t a white and straight male, you were nothing—a second-class citizen. So there was no listening to our side. All of our tactics may not have been the brightest looking back, but I don’t regret them. Sometimes the rules laid out were done so in blind fear. And you can’t trust anything done based on fear.”
