Disclaimer: I own nothing. The Ghost Bird series belongs to C.L. Stone.
Chapter Four
Victor pulled the covers over Sang, patting them gently in place to make certain she was comfortable, before stepping back from his bed. He was pleased seeing her there, as he always was, with her hair over his pillows, her face peaceful. Devoid of the worry and uncertainty that'd been dripping from it all day. She'd been out of it almost the entire time at Dr. Roberts' office, but he couldn't blame her for that. Victor had had a hard time keeping up himself-he could only imagine how overwhelming it must have been to be the one the doctor referred to. To be the one sick.
Sang. His Princess. Sick. With cancer. The pain he'd been fighting back all day shot through him at the thought, striking his chest, his heart. His Princess was sick, and there was nothing he could do. He hated how helpless he felt. When she'd broken the news to them, the emotion had crashed over Victor like a tidal wave and he'd wanted to rage in a way North would have been proud of. Cuss as if he were Gabriel. Heck, he'd even considered doing Kota's counting technique because his head would not stop rattling around with thoughts he didn't want to face.
All that had stopped him was her face. Unsurprising, considering she was Sang. He'd do anything for her. Including manage the grand task of not flipping out amidst the sea of fear the entire family had been drowning in earlier that day. Instead, Victor kept an eye out as things escalated, prepared to help keep it controlled. Sang needed a stable support system. Victor wouldn't be the one to shake that. Hopefully, once the situation settled into everyone's minds, all of his brothers would come to the same conclusion.
Victor suspected that was what the family meeting awaiting him downstairs was about. It was rare that they had meetings without Sang present, but after the day she'd been through, and with the struggle ahead, it made sense to not weigh her down with anything more than necessary. Victor and the rest of the men could handle keeping themselves together without worrying their wife.
Wife. Just thinking the word still made him beam with pride, even after four years. His Princess was his wife.
His phone vibrating in his pocket pulled Victor from the happy trail his thoughts were headed down. Pulling it out, he glanced down to see two messages.
Mr. Blackbourne: What is taking so long? Is Sang okay?
Gabriel: What are you doing up there? Did Trouble wake up? You lucky bastard.
Victor smirked. Honestly, he'd been shocked when Sang requested to stay with him tonight. They'd been home from Dr. Roberts' office for a couple of hours, lounging around the house-or pretending to lounge around the house. Tension had filled the air as everyone took their own time to process the day. Then they'd all sat down to a dinner, the entire family around their large table. Another rare occurrence. Normally at least one or two of them would be out on assignment during dinner, unless it was a holiday. Seeing Sang's appreciative glances around the table as she picked at her food made Victor want to encourage the practice to happen more often, though.
Afterward, she stood right up and announced that she was sleepy and wanted to snuggle on the couch to watch a movie. Aiming a cute little smile Victor's way, she'd added, "And then I want to stay with you tonight, Victor."
No one had questioned her, and Victor had been elated. He hadn't gotten her in his bed in at least a week. They'd eaten some meals together, but he missed falling asleep with her in his arms and waking up with her head against his chest, Sang's big, green eyes boring into his with heavy lids as she awoke. She was beautiful.
Barely five minutes into the movie, Sang had already found her way into slumber, nestled up against Victor's side. She'd stayed there until about halfway through the movie when Owen had stood and announced there was to be a family meeting for the male members, which would start just as soon as Victor got back down from taking her up to bed.
He tapped at his phone screen, assuring Owen and Gabriel nothing was wrong. Sang was asleep, and he was on his way. Pausing before leaving the room, Victor dropped a soft kiss on Sang's cheek, murmuring, "Sweet dreams, Princess."
All eight of Victor's brothers were again gathered around the large table downstairs, chatting amongst themselves while waiting for him. Once he took his seat, Mr. Blackbourne told them to quiet down. "The topic of this meeting is obvious, so I'm not even going to try to ease into it. Sang is sick. It is serious, the outlook is questionable, and we need to work through this together so we can help her through it." He narrowed his gaze on North and then Gabriel. "Fighting over her time and attention is not helpful. Nor is purposely keeping her to yourself. Sang needs us to be a source of strength. She needs to be able to lean on us. And she should be able to do that without harboring concern for how any of us will react."
"Cancer…" Sean choked out. "Cancer is a fucking beast, guys." He paused for a moment, seeming to get ahold of himself. Victor was somewhat surprised-the doctor wasn't one to swear often. That was more in North or Gabriel's wheelhouse. "We can't be fighting with one another. Pookie's already going to be going through hell. Do you really want to add to it?"
North growled, a fist falling onto the table with a bang. "Of course we fucking don't, Doc. I don't know if you noticed, but mine and Gabe's little spat happened barely five goddamn minutes after she let us know that she's fighting for her life. Cut us some slack."
Gabriel nodded in agreement. "And Lord knows you aren't perfect."
Dr. Green's brows rose in curiosity. "Oh, really?"
To Victor's surprise, Silas was the one to speak up. "That Academy chick at the hospital didn't exactly help matters."
Kota tried to break in then, to halt that veiled accusation in its tracks, but Dr. Green spoke right over him. "You are being dramatic. Pookie knows I've only got eyes for her. She's my one and only Mrs. Green."
"Then why the fuck do you have to act so overly friendly, huh?" Gabriel demanded. "It was funny when we were teenagers, but you can tone it down now, bro. We're fucking married."
The Doc's eyebrows slammed down as his face filled with anger. "I know I'm married. I love my wife. I've loved her since the day I laid eyes on her. Not that you would know how that feels…"
North was on his feet so quick, his chair fell backward behind him. He rested his fisted hands on the table in front of him as he leaned forward. "You better not be saying what I think you're saying."
"You aren't the only one who loves aggele mou," Silas said, clearly agitated but trying to keep calm.
Sean rolled his eyes. "I'm not stupid. I'm just saying...I was first."
North released a furious grunt, moving around the table and toward Sean. Silas, diplomacy winning over his own anger, stepped in front of North, stopping him in his tracks. He said something in Greek, to which North shook his head and grumbled something back. Victor couldn't understand a single word of it, but based on the way North was murdering Dr. Green with his eyes, Victor guessed it had to do with the doctor.
Though Silas had North contained for the time being, Gabriel was still spitting mad. "Get down off your damn high horse. At least we don't put her in situations like that."
"She was fine!" Sean exclaimed. North and Silas stopped their rumbling to glance over at him. Victor had a feeling they were all thinking the same thing, except for Sean. "Hell, she probably thought it was kind of funny. She knows how I am. She knows I'd never…" he trailed off before repeating, this time less certain. "She was fine."
Victor, remembering the way his Princess had been speechless, the way she'd pressed herself tighter into Sean's side, couldn't hold back from saying, "She actually seemed sort of uncomfortable." He hated to add to the argument-this was definitely not the topic he wanted to focus on-and his tone held a tinge of apology.
Kota, also seeming reluctant to feed the fire, said, "She did."
Sean, mouth set in a firm line, which was so out of the ordinary for him, looked over to Owen. "They're overreacting, aren't they? Just being extra protective because Pookie's sick and all."
Owen's steely gaze held none of the hesitancy Victor and Kota had expressed. "Actually, they're not. She appeared uncertain during that confrontation. I do think you handled it well, however. Maybe it might be a good idea to dial back your flirtations, but that is something to think about by yourself later." He looked around at all of the men. "We aren't here to argue. We are here to prepare ourselves to help Miss Sorenson. Mr. Taylor, Mr. Korba-return to your seats."
North took a second to budge, but Silas murmured something to him that got him right on moving. With everyone back in their places, the scene was nearly identical to how it'd been when the meeting had started. Only now Dr. Green appeared lost in thought, North looked like he wanted to run around punching brick walls, and Gabriel glared at Sean every time he looked in Sean's direction.
If Owen noticed the change in atmosphere, he didn't comment. Like Victor, he was obviously more interested in what was important. "With Sang having surgery next week, and then beginning chemotherapy soon after, I believe it would be wise to cut back on assignments."
There was a minute of silence as they took that in, but no one disagreed. "I know I want to be around for her," Nathan said. "So, yeah, less assignments would be a good idea."
"We'll still need to pick up some," Kota said, seemingly lost in thought as he considered the situation. "Keep our favors up."
Victor responded "Not for money reasons. I know what I have, what we have, isn't worth much right now, but…" He released a strangled half laugh. "At least we don't have to worry about that."
Kota's gaze was gentle as it settled on Victor. "No, not for anything money related. It's just good to keep our Academy relations strong when we can."
"Even so," Owen said, reaching up to adjust his glasses. "I am positive they would understand cutting back."
"Family first," Luke recited.
"Exactly."
To Victor's surprise, Kota turned back to him. "We all feel useless right now, you know that, right?"
Victor felt the urge to let out another bitter sound, but his throat closed up. He did not doubt that his brothers were struggling with similar emotions to his own. Knowing that didn't make it any easier to deal with, though. Sang was sick. Victor, who would give anything and everything for her, could not fix it.
"Seriously," Sean spoke up, coming out of his reverie. "I'm a doctor. A doctor. And the best I can do right now is reiterate her medical predicament so she understands."
Along with the pain he felt in his chest, a trickle of sympathy filled him for Sean. And then, glancing around at the faces of his brothers who were obviously feeling the same as both Sean and Victor, that trickle turned into a surge. "This sucks."
"It does." The agreement came from Mr. Blackbourne, and Victor's lips almost twitched into a weak smile. Owen, agreeing with saying something sucked? Had he ever done that before? "But I can assure you Sang is feeling much worse about her condition."
And with that, any chance of humor left Victor. "We need to be a stable support unit for her. It's not going to be easy for any of us, but we need to make this as easy for Sang as we can."
Kota nodded in agreement. "And we can always talk to each other if we have a problem. We don't need to resort to fighting."
North grunted. "Blowing off steam isn't always a bad thing."
Luke grinned mischievously. "There are better ways to blow off steam, little brother."
"Shut the fuck up."
"Now is not the time," Gabriel warned. Then he added, "Though that is so true."
"Shut up," North repeated.
Owen ignored the exchange and said, "We need to keep things controlled. We are all Sang's support system, but it is also important to remember that we are supporting one another, as well. Which adds more to the reasoning behind taking on less assignments. We need to be here for our family. For each other. All of us."
"Plus," Nathan said as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "It'll probably be harder to focus knowing Peanut's going through shit. Wouldn't want to botch a job because our minds are somewhere else."
Owen nodded. "Good point."
Victor was on board, but one concern tugged at his mind. "Sang is not going to like that."
Luke barked out a short laugh. "Yeah, she's going to hate us taking off work because of her. You know how she is." They did. If she thought they were holding back from anything due to her, she'd be upset.
"We're not just doing it for her," Nathan said. "We're doing it for all of us. And, as I said, the sake of the assignments."
"Sang's not going to see it that way," Luke replied.
Owen sighed. "I see no reason for any of us to bring it up."
Gabriel frowned. "You want us to lie?"
North rolled his eyes. "No. We just don't point it out to her."
"If she asks, feel free to explain it to her. We are not hiding anything." Owen looked around the table. "We listed our reasoning right here. If she wonders, any one of us can tell her what we discussed. If she disagrees or gets angry or upset, send her to me. I will talk her through it."
The men sat there, silent for a moment. Then Silas blew out a breath and all eyes turned to him. "Poor aggele."
North glared at Silas. "She will be just fine."
"It's going to be tough, but I think Pookie will make it through this," Sean said.
Gabriel added, "And we will be right by her side every fucking step of the way."
"Miss Sorenson is strong. Do not count her out yet." Mr. Blackbourne stood. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some calls to make. With Sang's surgery next week, I think it prudent to begin our cut back as soon as possible."
As soon as he was out of the room, Silas said sadly, "I wasn't counting her out. I am just saying...poor aggele." Victor saw the sorrow in his brother's expression-not for a loss, but for the fact that their wife had to go through this at all. Victor could definitely relate.
Luke leaned over and pat Silas' shoulder reassuringly. "I know, bro. But she'll be fine."
"She will," Victor agreed, hoping with everything in him they were right.
Thank you for reading!
