Here's the first chapter in my new story that's been a while in the making. I have a good number of chapters finished so hopefully I'll be updating soon. Please review.
Enjoy!

Take Notice
"Something is always happening, but people when it happens people don't always see it, or understand it, or accept it." -Fallen

Billy Darley definitely had a presence about him wherever he went. Sitting in the hospital waiting room, everyone was giving him a moderately wide berth, which was just as well since he was highly annoyed. Heco just had to go and fall down a flight of stairs cuz his drunk ass couldn't even see straight. Usually they took care of their injuries, but an arm with a compound fracture was a little out of their expertise. At least it wasn't a leg…he'd be less useful with a temporary gimp. Still, this was going to put a hitch in their work for a bit.

'Fuckin Heco…'

At least he wasn't high on anything, then he'd actually be in trouble. This way he got to leave as soon as they stitched him up and got him a cast and some pain killers.

'Shit; if he gets hooked on some pills I'm killin' him…'

He should be all set soon, so Billy got up to see if anyone could tell him. The nurse looked up at him to see what he needed, but concern swept her face before she could even say anything as she looked past him. Annoyed, he turned to look over his shoulder to find what got her attention only to see someone being wheeled in with a knife in their side.

The sight did nothing to shock him, as he'd seen far too many similar things.

"Left," the nurse directed.

"No, that's full," another nurse chimed in.

The bed ceased movement for a moment as they figured out where to go, and Billy's eyes skimmed up to see who'd been unlucky enough to get stuck tonight. He found a young woman, but she didn't look from the streets like he was expecting. Her jeans were clean and her shirt looked like it was clean, too, back before the left side got soaked with blood.

He remained detached and relatively disinterested until he looked into her face and their eyes met for a moment.

Her look was a little frantic from the shock of adrenaline and her eyes were pained. Pained and scared, but they looked to be growing a little weak and her face a little pale.

Out of nowhere, it occurred to him that was how Joe must've looked, and then he couldn't look away.

She closed her eyes, unaware of the fascination that suddenly overtook him. Still, he watched what he hadn't been able to see Joe through. Even as they got themselves organized and wheeled her away, his eyes watched her and he was completely distracted.

"Can I help you?…sir?…sir!?"

Billy snapped to attention and whipped back towards the nurse so quick it startled her, making her almost cower under his stare.

"…nah, I'll just keep waitin'," he decided, slowly drifting back to his seat, taking a last glance down the hall the stretcher has disappeared down.

He dropped back into the stiff chair heavily with a sigh, mind drifting to his little brother. Joe had made it through, but unfortunately through no help of Billy's; it was little more than blind luck. Actually, if anyone was to thank it would be the police but Billy would never actually admit to that aloud. That little fucker Nick Humes had stuck Joe after Joe had killed his son in that gas station. Billy and the boys had taken-off by then, thinking they were leaving Joe to foot it home, or maybe take the subway, but they'd really left him to be stabbed in the gut with his own damn knife. When the police showed up, Nick was holding his dead son and Joe was bleeding on the sidewalk while a bystander had called 911. The killer was there, stuck at the scene of the crime…slam dunk case and Joe was in jail, though he'd lucked out immensely with only a couple years to serve.

Billy groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. If they'd just stayed a minute longer then Joe could've gotten in the car. Billy and the boys had hunted down Nick Humes straight away after the conviction…they should've done it before the hearing.

Joe had patched up fine but Billy hadn't been there for any of it…hadn't been there to see that panicked, pained look on his face…hadn't heard those painful gasps escape his mouth. But he'd seen that girl…heard her, and it brought the memory back, though the incident was over a year old now.

It wasn't like he didn't know blood was part of the lives they'd gotten themselves into; he knew it better than some people…he'd experienced more than most, spilling others' and having his own spilt. Everything was a little different when it was his brother, though; though he might as well be family with all his boys, Joe was his actual family, his brother who he'd protected ever since they were kids. Every time he thought of Joe toughing it out in a cell, he wondered if Bodie's warning had been right…maybe they'd initiated Joe too soon for his own good.

He was the leader; he was supposed to have his hand on everything, keeping it from hitting the fan.

He was glad to be pulled from his thoughts by a commotion through the waiting room. A tall man with a receding hairline and a woman with short brown hair bustled in and straight up to the nurse's station; the woman looked panicked, the man clearly meant business as he addressed the nurse sternly.

"Where's Natalie Shepherd?"

"Who are you?" the nurse checked.

"We're her parents…was she really stabbed? We were told she was hurt at a party…"

That got Billy's attention and he gave the couple a once over. The woman's slightly disheveled hair is what gave away that they'd been woken in the night. They wore simple clothes, clearly whatever they'd first laid hands on, but the coats they donned were nice and were the one thing about them, besides the lady's purse and the dignity the man held himself with, that told Billy they had money. So princess had found herself in trouble.

"Alright, you're going to have to wait for a doctor to come out, just like anyone else…"

"Listen, I'm Christopher Shepherd; I'm a lawyer. I'm sure I know some people I could call around here…. can we save the time and get a move on?"

The nurse looked a little aggravated that he threw that out there, but strode off to go check as per his request. Billy didn't catch exactly what she said when she returned but she directed the agitated parents to a seat to wait for the doctor. Well at least there was something happening to interest him now…

"Yo, dawg, lets get outta here," he heard Heco groan.

Billy turned and saw Heco trudging over looking like shit. His arm was in a white cast and his shirt and jeans both had blood on them. Sure; right when Billy found something interesting about the place was when Heco would be done.

"Alright; lets get the fuck outta here," he nodded, not letting it show than anything going on was of relevance to him.

"Gotta pick up some 'scripts, man," Heco added, holding up a paper.

"Perfect; ya know you're lucky I was even around tonight, right?"

"I know; I apologized for all this…"

Billy nodded and lead the way out to his car. The injury had sobered Heco up pretty quick and he knew it was lucky Billy had the time; he knew he'd fucked up, too, and apologized profusely on the way over for not thinking. Billy was highly annoyed and pretty pissed off, but they'd all had their nights of drinking too much

He took Heco to pick up his prescription and then dropped him off as his apartment complex. Then he had to go by the office and figure out how everything was going to go now. He wasn't sure how much he trusted Heco while he was doped on painkillers, so he sure as hell wasn't letting him run any corners or the underpass on his own. That meant re-allotting when people would work where, so he had to think it all through and then let everyone know.

He put in an hour or two doing some business and then went back to his apartment, where it was just him ever since Joe had been put away. He dropped to sit at the end of his bed and run a hand over his bald head, sighing deeply. His thoughts drifted back to the hospital…to that face and the look in those eyes.

So, in the middle of the night, he got back up and went back down to his car to go back to the hospital.

Nicole Shepherd slowly began to wake up. Again.

She'd been drifting in and out ever since her hovering, worried parents left. After the commotion of the evening she would've thought she'd completely conk out from exhaustion, but she couldn't seem to just stay asleep for the night.

Her eyes cracked open and she blinked slowly into the dim room. She had never really been in hospitals much, but she was deciding she wasn't a fan. She didn't particularly like something about the way it smelled…mostly she just didn't like the way she'd gotten there.

She blinked again and finally realized she was looking at someone. Jumping slightly, she stiffened in the propped-up bed only to cringe and bring her hand up quickly to cover her side.

"Who're you?"

Her eyes focused on a tall man standing just inside the door, leaning back against the side of the door jamb. A moment or two of silence lapsed and he didn't look inclined to answer. Slowly, recognition flitted through her mind the longer she looked at him. She knew him…no, no she didn't…but she'd seen him…

"You were here when I came in…"

He nodded affirmatively.

"..what're you doing in here?"

Billy opened his mouth and then shrugged, changing the way he was going to proceed.

"So what happened to ya?"

"Well I was stabbed; you saw," Natalie frowned, internally wondering if she was just dreaming this whole thing.

"But how? Ya don't really look like ya go around gettin' in fights…"

"Oh…just walked into the wrong room at the wrong party at the wrong time," she answered hesitantly, looking him up and down confusedly.

"Hmmm…"

"…who are you?" she asked again, straightening up and adjusting the oxygen tube under her nose; she wasn't really sure why she had it.

"Doesn't really matter…" he shrugged.

"Well why're you here?"

Billy gave a sort of half shrug to that and grabbed the chair nearest the door, twisting it around to sit in it backwards, straddling the back of it. He just sat there, so Natalie just sat there. She relaxed back and drowsiness began to take hold, making her fight for consciousness because she wasn't sure she wanted to fall asleep with him around to watch. She didn't know him, she didn't understand why he was there…but she also didn't feel like she was in danger, so she didn't press the call button to get a nurse. Still, she didn't want to sleep…but she slowly drifted off, anyway.

Billy watched this, wondering why he even stuck around. He just wanted to see…her? He didn't know what; just wanted to see. There wasn't much to observe but he stuck around until she fell asleep…he was even surprised that she fell asleep with him there. Maybe it was the lighting or maybe she was groggy and didn't really process the way he looked, but he'd sort of thought she was going to find some way to kick him right out. Yeah…she was probably doped up on some drug

____

The next time Natalie woke it was to an empty room. She'd actually slept a few good hours so it was a pretty appropriate time to be awake now. Visiting hours started up not long after that, but she had no more strange visitors, only her parents and her best friend Paige, who showed up hesitantly. The party Natalie had gotten hurt at was at Paige's cousin's house so Paige felt responsible for inviting her over and was nervous Natalie would be mad….worse yet, that her parents would be mad. As it was, Paige wasn't to be blamed and Natalie was glad she came by to help her pass the time before she was discharged. Her injury wasn't serious, despite the loss of blood, as nothing serious had been hit by the knife, so she'd only stayed overnight for observation before being released.