Three of A Kind
3rd Installment of the Lucky 13 Series
Chap. 8
~*The Next Morning*~
"Shhh, I think he's still sleeping…" I whispered as Brandon poked his head inside of Criss' hospital room.
He nodded and quietly made his way over to my side.
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be leaving." He said lowly. "I can't prolong my stay in Vegas any longer. I've got an appointment in Milwaukee."
"Oh, ok. Well, thank you for everything…" I stepped away from the side of Criss' bed and wrapped my arms around him tightly. "I mean, really… I can't thank you enough."
Brandon smiled. "Don't mention it. If you need anything, please call me. I'm glad that everything is settled with Criss… you're smiling again."
I grinned. "Me too."
His lips planted a gentle kiss on my cheek and he whispered, "Promise me you'll call?"
"I promise."
"Be safe and be sure to send me pictures of Carmela." He nearly begged as he headed for the door.
"I will. Brandon, wait…" I hesitated for a moment before I spoke as I watched him pause his hand on the door knob. "I love you."
He glanced back over at me and for a slit second I thought he seemed utterly shocked then he nodded slowly. "I love you too, however you've always known that."
And with that he slipped out of the door.
"Nice choice of words…" I barely heard Criss mutter from behind me.
My heart instantly skipped. "You're awake!"
He coughed a bit and fidgeted with the uncomfortable I.V. in his arm. "Only long enough for the juicy good-bye."
I half-smiled as I ran to the side of his bed. "You know I only meant that in a friendly way…"
He nodded, with his eyes half closed. "Of course."
The hospital bed creaked as I sat down next to him and planted a kiss on his forehead. "Are feeling okay?"
"Just peachy… I feel like I'm stoned. What kinda drugs are they pumping me up with?" He laughed.
"Morphine, about every hour." I replied. "You should feel pretty burnt out."
Criss nodded slowly. "Did my surgery go alright?"
"Just fine, sweetie. No worries…" My hand brushed through his tattered hair. "They told me that you should be out of here in about 3 days."
"3 days?" He exclaimed. "Fuck me."
"Well, I thought that was pretty amicable considering the fact that you were shot twice." I assured. "Not to mention that one of the bullets was just inches away from paralyzing you for life."
His eyes bugged. "Please tell me that nothing is permanently wrong with me!"
"You're fine! You should be able to walk right out of here…" I replied with a reassuring gesture.
"Okay. Thank God." He seemed to breathe again. "Where's Carmela?"
I smiled. "Down the hall. You're mom and your brothers are visiting her right now."
Criss grinned his eyes finally opening fully. "Can I hold her soon?"
"Of course! Actually, tonight Carmela and I are going to be released from the hospital." I explained.
"Released… without me?" His eyes wandered around the room for a moment. "That's not happening."
"Criss, don't start thinking anything drastic… you NEED to stay here."
He shook his head. "I'm not going to be staying locked up in this depressing four cornered room while my wife and child are sent home. It's not safe there anyway. Whoever did this shit is obviously still out there."
I sighed. "You WILL stay here… you have to."
Criss chuckled. "Sure, whatever."
The room was quiet for a long moment before I cautiously asked, "What all exactly happened that night, Criss?"
He shrugged and then groaned from obvious pain.
"Well, when I first got to the warehouse I saw Doug's bike there but no lights were on. So I unlocked the door and walked around inside to find it empty. I called his cell a few times but got his voicemail. We had mentioned practicing our pyrotechnic stunts in the run down parking lot behind the old cathedral because I was sick and tired of the business owners around my warehouse calling the fire department on me and as you saw there really wasn't anything located next to that cathedral but desert and weeds. I thought maybe Doug had decided to walk down there since it was nice outside so I figured why not walk down there myself. It was only a few blocks. When I got to the parking lot Doug was nowhere to be found. I scanned around the sides of the church and out of the corner of my eye I saw a person dressed in all black, I followed them inside, thinking maybe it was him. Then BAM! The next thing I knew I woke up on that fucking alter bound and chained and the place was about to blow up. I think that person must have chloroformed me or something crazy. I have no idea. After everything happened with you and Brandon and he got you out of there the entire place welled up in flames in no time. Fortunately, I was able to pick through those handcuffs with the bobby pin you gave me and one of the leg shackles in just enough time to get the hell out of there before the entire roof caved in. As I was running my way back to warehouse I heard the fire trucks approaching and I thought that maybe if I screamed fucking loud enough they would hear me… but instead no… nothing happened, so I figured since I was already closer in distance to the warehouse, I could just pop my keys back into my motorcycle and drive my way over to hospital. Once again, that failed. Whoever knocked me out was obviously smart enough to steal my keys. So, instead I turned around, completely enraged and exhausted and began to hustle my way back towards the charred church, then I suddenly heard a distinct pair of footsteps following me off in a distance. They stopped and I figured it was an animal or something and continued on my way. I didn't take more than 5 steps and that's when I got shot in the back. I don't remember much from there…"
He paused and took in a heavy breath, his hand slipping into mine.
"I know I stood up after falling to the ground and that's probably when I was shot in the leg. Anyway, before I knew it… it was nearly dawn. I basically drug myself out of that field and flagged down some random guy who was driving an old Chevy pick up truck. He hesitated a bit before he gave me a ride to the hospital, probably because I looked like a horror show. Then I stood there arguing with that bitch of receptionist for God knows how long."
My hand tightened around his and I sniffed back tears. "Seriously, you went through all that?"
He nodded, his eyes growing heavy again.
"Oh, babe… I love you. I'm so sorry." My lips pecked his cheek several times before he cracked a smile.
"I love you too. Hey, do me a favor, tell me where that button is for the instant drugs?" He moaned. "My freaking back is starting to feel like this bed is made out of Freddy Krueger's claws."
I frowned as I reached over him for the emergency call button.
"Get some more rest, I'm going to check on Carmela. I'll send your nurse in on my way out. Alright?"
Criss took hold of the call button and pressed it repeatedly. "Okay…"
I laughed. "And you wanted to come home tonight?"
He half-smiled through his pain. "Hey, the more pills they give me today the more ready I'll be for my escape tonight."
I rolled my eyes. "I'll be back in an hour, behave."
"Is Criss alright?" J.D. questioned as he carefully tucked Carmela into her bassinet and reluctantly handed her over to me.
I nodded. "He just woke up. He's doing alright. I sent his nurse in to get some more painkillers."
Dimitra shook her head. "Oh, poor Christopher. Did you tell him when they said he would be able to come home?"
I nodded again. "Yeah, he wasn't too happy about that."
Costa smirked. "He'll be gone by tomorrow."
Dimitra spoke something in Greek which I couldn't understand, however J.D. replied to her, "Mom, calm down."
"I swear to God, J.D.! If he even thinks about leaving this hospital!" She exclaimed angrily.
"He won't." I replied. "If he does, I'll personally send him back. I promise."
"Good. I trust you, Sarah." Dimitra placed a hand on my shoulder and added, "He can't be playing around with his life anymore like he used to… not with the baby."
"I agree." I replied.
"You two." Costa laughed lightly and grabbed onto his mothers hand. "Come on, mom. Let's go check on him."
"Hey, does anyone know if Doug is alright?" I questioned as we all made our way out of the neonatal unit.
"Doug's doing great. He left last night. He should be at home now." J.D. replied.
"Great. I didn't get the chance to mention him to Criss yet." I replied as I adjusted Carmela's bassinet underneath my forearm.
"That's alright… give him a chance to rest. Hey, where's what's his name?" He asked with a hint of speculation in his eyes.
"Brandon left this morning." I answered.
"I see…" J.D. nodded slowly as he paused outside of the elevator that rode back down to the floor Criss was staying on.
My eyes rolled. "Don't give me THAT look."
"What look?" J.D. shrugged.
"The bigger brother look." I pointed out with a chuckle.
He drew in a deep breath and replied, "I just don't like that guy, no matter what you say."
After I watched Criss' family make their way back down towards his room I went through the seeming endless paper work that was evolved in signing myself and Carmela out of the hospital. Some of it would have to wait for Criss to sign. At exactly 2 pm it was official that me and my daughter were free to be together alone without hospital care only problem was we still had 2 more nights that needed to spent there… God willing Criss didn't suddenly disappear.
NOTE: I AM CURRENTLY TAKING A POLL AS TO HOW MANY PEOPLE WOULD LIKE ME TO GO BACK AND RE-WRITE CHAPTERS OF LUCKY13/QOH IN CRISS' POV. IF YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO DO SO, PLEASE GO AND TAKE THE POLL ON MY PROFILE OR LEAVE ME A REVIEW. IF YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO THEN PICK OUT A CHAP. FROM EITHER STORY AND I WILL CONSIDER IT. THANK YOU!
Always,
Deppdeppendant