I remembered a little too late that I wasn't actually supposed to be there, and stayed all the rest of the afternoon and evening with Phil. He woke up a few times, but only barely and briefly, and then fell right back into fitful sleep. I was sitting beside him on the bed, gently stroking his damp hair and wondering what I could do. I was sort of at a loss for what was wrong with him; anything I could come up with didn't develop this quickly –he was completely healthy just a few days ago, and has been consistently ill since. I was stumped.
Sunny was kind enough to warn me when Dane was coming, but not soon enough that he wouldn't see me leaving. I panicked; I felt trapped. I was afraid of what the man would do to me if he saw me back here after quite literally throwing me out. With nowhere else to conceivably run to, I dropped down to the floor and scooted hastily under the bed. It was a tight fit but I managed to get close enough to the far wall, and yanked the bed sheet down a bit to hide what might have still been visible of me from the outside. Dane was very tall; I had to figure he wouldn't see me unless he got down on the ground to my level. I sighed a short breath of relief –as long as I was quiet, and no one ratted me out, there was no reason for him to find me down here.
The door opened just a moment later, and I didn't realize until then how lucky I'd been to get down so quickly. For the next few moments the only sound in the room was the crinkling of the greasy fast food bag as Dane handed out dinner to the girls.
"Is Kitten feeling any better yet?"
"Not yet, Daddy," Angel answered through a mouthful of cheap burger. "We were talking it over today, and trying to take care of him, but we're kinda at a loss for what to do. None of us ever been so sick before."
Dane didn't respond. I heard his heavy footsteps thudding closer and closer, and the bed shifted down under his weight. All else was silent as the rest of them ate, until Dane spoke to them again. "Think he's okay to work tonight?"
"I think so," Sunny lied. "He's better than last night," again.
The bed shifted again and I could only assume Dane was lying down with Phil, and I felt disgusted. I hated to think about how my Phil was being at all touched by this pig of a man, most of all when he was sick like this and physically couldn't escape. The way Dane sounded when he spoke to him –like he actually cared at all— only made it worse.
"I brought you your favorite, Kitty. Come on, wake up and eat something."
I heard a groan as Phil started to wake up a bit, followed by rough hacking coughs. He didn't say anything, but the way Dane continued to talk to him –when he really needed to get some rest— must've meant his eyes were still open, somehow.
"Are you gonna be okay to work tonight?" No answer. "You're burning up worse than before, baby, and you're looking a hell of a lot sicker than this morning or last night, especially. Do you need to go to the hospital?"
I heard something mumbled quietly, but couldn't make it out. I heard Dane pat his shoulder and get up off the bed, crossing the room and leaving. I didn't dare risk climbing out from under the bed, not until I knew he was gone for the night entirely. It was still way too early to take the chance.
I heard the girls mumbling indistinctly to each other. Everything else was silent for a long moment, until a groan from above me got my attention.
"Dan?"
I perked up. Did he know I was down here? He was asleep when I crawled under. Maybe he knew I wouldn't leave him unless I absolutely had to, and under the bed made a decent hiding spot that I'd probably use more often.
I reached my hand out to find Phil's already hanging there, and took it in my own, holding it firm but gentle. I stroked my thumb over the bony ridge of his knuckles, wanting to speak to him without running the risk of being found out. He squeezed my fingers and I smiled, until what little strength he had gave out. That was when I started to really worry. I squeezed his hand and got a much weaker clench back, which quickly went slack again.
I wiped at my eyes with my free hand and heard the door open again. Dane moved a bit more quickly across the room and laid down on the bed again, and I had to quickly withdraw my hand back under the bed. I heard a small whimper at that, which Dane must've mistaken for pain by the way he proceeded to coo softly to him.
"Tonight's Billy's gonna come and take you to the ER, alright?" No response, and Dane didn't continue. He got up off the bed to address the girls. "Let's go, ladies, get into uniform. We can get an early start tonight, I want you all looking your best."
They got ready, and I was a bit taken aback at a sudden realization. For what a scumbag Dane was, and how he was way too lowly and slimy to have any kind of control over five people's lives, and how he took most of their… maybe not "well-earned" money, because it was just sex, but it was supposed to be theirs nonetheless –he talked to them a lot different than, even for how sheltered I was, I would've ever imagined a pimp talking to his prostitutes. He was still a sleezeball, yes, but he didn't call any of them hoes or bitches –he called the girls by their pseudonyms, or "ladies" as a whole, like they were some pure high beings, and called Phil Kitten or Kitty, and almost always in a very fond voice that still made me sick. I guessed it was to keep them from wanting to leave, to keep them thinking he actually cared about them at all for any more than the money they made him –and that sort of only made it worse.
Like Dane had told them to, they did leave much earlier than usual. I waited a long moment, to see if he would come back. But the coast seemed to be clear, so I crawled out from under the bed and scrambled to stand next to it. I turned to Phil, who was awake, but seemed incredibly out of it. His eyes were glazed over and looking at nothing until they eventually turned to me. He gave a small smile seeing me, and reached out for my hand again, which I took happily.
"Why do you like holding my hand so much?" I asked, curious. I almost expected a long-winded answer like I'd gotten yesterday when I asked why he felt he needed to protect me. Instead, he just shrugged, smiling softly and staring down at our intertwined fingers.
"I dunno. Just like to remember you're here, I guess."
I smiled and leaned in to kiss his hot cheek, and felt him smile, too.
There was a knock on the door shortly after. I sucked in a breath, reminding myself that if it was Dane, he wouldn't knock, just use the key. I stood up to go answer it, being the only person there who could.
There stood a kind of ratty looking man with a graying mustache and beard and dressed all in denim. I figured this had to be Billy, who I remembered was coming to take Phil to the hospital.
"You one of Boss's new ones?" he asked me, and I didn't know what I was thinking when I answered yes.
Face draining already at what I said, I stepped aside to let him into the room. He headed over to the bed and sat next to Phil, asking if he was alright, and getting a similar response to what Phil had said every time he was asked how he was feeling. After a few more moments, Billy patted his shoulder, got back up and came over to me.
"My car's out back. Help him down, will ya?"
I nodded stiffly. I didn't know how I was going to help Phil out to the car, least of all without getting spotted.
I went over and sat down next to him. "I'm sorry about this, but you need to listen to me. Dane's downstairs, and I need to get you downstairs, and I'm terrified of what he'll do if he sees me. So I'm gonna help you over to the stairs and wait until the coast is clear, and then we're gonna have to move fast, okay? I know you're sick but you're gonna have to keep up." I stroked his hair back, still feeling bad about this but not willing to be separated from him yet.
He nodded shallowly, and I nodded, too. I put my clinic skills to use and pretty quickly got him to sitting up, tossing the blanket aside, and got his feet on the ground and pulled him up to stand, arm slung around my shoulder and my arm around his waist. I propped him up, getting him to the door and out to the stairs. I looked sat him down against the railing for a moment to look over the side. Dane was nowhere to be seen.
I picked Phil back up and told him we needed to move quickly, and he nodded a little sloppily. We hastened down the stairs, almost tripping a few times but ultimately staying upright, and headed around the corner of the building. I sighed in relief. We were in the clear, and Billy's car was right there.
