Page 6 of Needing More
Sitting at a catty-corner angle as if hastily placed, the simple, almost modern black wrought iron bed sat sprawled in the middle of the room. With its simple white sheet and thin gray and white quilt, it seemed sparse yet comfortable. Sapphire blushed at the sudden unbidden image of Vic lying there at night barely covered by the thin sheets; his golden brown skin glowing in the moonlight as he slept sprawled across the bed. She immediately pushed the thought from her mind and burned it for good measure.
She had only thought it because he was sexy and so closely connected to her two guys, she reasoned.
Setting her down on the edge of the bed, Vic stepped back. For a few seconds he just stared down at her with a sudden intensity in his eyes that made her frown in confusion. Quickly, he averted his gaze and gestured with one hand around the spartan room.
"Umm, so yeah, make yourself comfortable. The guys should be back maybe tonight or tomorrow so don’t worry about that. The doctor said you're to eat something light, take your meds, and get some rest for the next week."
Sapphire wanted to say she knew all that since she was right there when the doctor told them both all of this, but she said nothing as Vic continued speaking.
"Julie texted and said she dropped off some food in the kitchen. Some are from Booker's wife and a few other customers who heard what happened."
The prickly sensation of dread spread through her at that and Sapphire winced. "People know already?" she moaned.
Vic stared at her. "You're in a small town, remember," he teased gently. "People find out that Joel and Hayden's girl gets shot at, best believe the whole town is going to know about it."
Sapphire deflated. She hadn't even thought of that. From waking up and remembering what happened, not seeing her boyfriends, and being looked after by the elusive third Heathen, she never had the chance to. The dread in her veins strengthened tenfold at the thought of the entire town having yet another topic to talk about when it came to her. It made her want to bury herself under the sheets and never come out.
Seeing her reaction, Vic stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don’t worry about that now. Let's just focus on what's in front of us. One thing at a time. It's what I've been telling myself every goddamn day I've been back to this hell hole."
Sapphire could see the tired determination in the man's eyes. Her heart reached out to him. From what she knew about Vic, she knew the man was drowning in responsibilities between his dad, this farm, and his friends. When she had asked the guys why they didn't help Vic on the farm, Hayden had been the one to gruffly explain that they tried. They had offered Vic help countless times, but each and every time Vic turned them down. For some reason he didn’t want anyone to have to be around his asshole father more than necessary, so he just took the burden on all by himself.
Nodding, she gave him a smile despite the returning pulse of pain in her head. "You're right." Pushing herself to stand up, she inhaled deeply and gathered her strength. She really did feel like a woozy pile of mush. "I can come and help you-"
Vic's hand on her shoulder cut her off. With little to no real effort, he pushed her right back down onto the bed.
"You sit. I’ll bring the food to you." Not giving her a chance to argue, he turned and walked out the door.
By the time he came back she was sitting propped up against the wrought rod iron headboard on a mound of pillows.
Vic lowered the tray into her lap. A bowl of steaming soup, a small dinner roll, and a glass of water next to a pile of pills.
"When you're done eating just put the tray on the nightstand," he instructed and she wondered how many times he may have said that considering his father was bedridden somewhere in the house.
She began to reply but jumped at the sudden banging noise from somewhere above them. Like a black cloud rolling in on the wind and blocking out the sky, Vic's face hardened into a mask of simmering rage. His dark eyes shot up to the ceiling like bolts of black lightning as if looking through the boards at the cause of the sound.
"Ignore that," he said as he turned back toward the door. "You'll hear that or probably worse occasionally. It's just my bastard father angry about something else."
"Okay," she said weakly.
Guilt pressed in on her as she watched Vic pause at the door, his hand still on the knob as if he wanted to say something more. Instead, he just gave her one last unreadable look and softly closed the door.
Chapter 4
Sapphirerolledoverinthe bed and stared up at the ceiling. The room was dark only a faint trace of evening light glowed around the curtains' edges reminding her of Hayden's room. Like him, Vic must abhor too much light while sleeping preferring to keep the room cave-like.
A little groggy, she sat up and looked at the nightstand where she remembered putting her tray and glass of water earlier. Sapphire stilled at the sight. The tray with its empty bowl and used utensils was gone. Only a glass of water sat in its place. The condensation and half melted ice told her it hadn't been there long.
Looking to the door, Sapphire bit her lip. That meant Vic had seen her while she slept. Not that it mattered much. He did see her while she was unconscious in the hospital. But still, she thought as she wiped at her mouth self-consciously. What if she had been snoring, or worse, drooling?!
Twisting her lips in annoyance, she slid off the bed. The world immediately began to spin around her and she reached for the tender spot on her head. The doctor said her scans and everything came back fine, but that she was to take it easy.
Wincing at the pain in her head each step brought, she found her phone in her bag on the floor. Sitting heavily on the edge of the bed, she swiped at her phone's notifications. Texts from Finn and Julie, missed calls from Blanche and even one from Mr. Hodgson from the school littered her phone, but none from the two men she wanted to hear from most. Her chest felt empty and painful at once. What if something happened to them while they chased down that asshole Tyler?
Her thumb hovered on the call button to Hayden's icon. What if she called them at the wrong moment and somehow got them shot and killed? Nausea crawled up her throat, making her break out into a cold sweat. Putting the phone down, Sapphire closed her eyes. She couldn't think like that. She had to believe they would be fine. She had to because she couldn't imagine her world again without either one of them.
Looking around the empty room, she spotted two doors. One was closed but the other was ajar. Walking over to it she could feel the cool air escaping through the crack in the door even before she nudged it open. Inside was an outdated but clean bathroom. Grabbing a handful of clothes from her bag, Sapphire stepped into the bathroom and closed the door.
Fifteen minutes later she was feeling clean and slightly better. Wearing a faded Green Lantern shirt and loose-fitting pants, she pulled her hair into a ponytail. She knew she looked as if she was ready for a slumber party. Slipping her phone into her lounge pants pocket, she stopped in front of the bedroom door. Gently she bit her lip and listened. She didn’t hear anything. Opening the door cautiously, she was surprised to find how quiet the hinges were. Even the doors back at the café were noisier than this.
