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" Let's just get her to the top of the bed then I need to monitor her heart and hook her IV up." Brian said, climbing off the bed.
As Murphy followed his example and slipped down to the floor while Brian moved to the dresser and started to gather up the supplies he had brought with him from his office in America. Murphy put one arm under her knees and the other across her shoulders. As carefully as he could, he lifted her off the bed. Her head fell back as her arms went limp with one behind him and one in front of him. Murphy stared down at her face while he walked around the bed to lay her down at the top. He leaned down, carefully placing her in the bed then covering her up. He stepped back as her dad moved in to take his spot.
" Can you either leave or turn around? I'm going to lift her shirt to took her up to a heart monitor." Brian said over his shoulder.
" Aye. I'll be just outside the door." Murphy said. He cast one last look at Tatum before he walked around the bed and crossed the room.
Brian waited until Murphy left the room and closed the door behind him before he pulled up Tatum's shirt. He closed his eyes and shook his head at the sight of her once pale, clear skin marred with healing bruises and the scar he had sutured up in the middle of her possession. Tears welled in his eyes again but the father refused to give in and let them fall.
" It's going to okay." He whispered to himself before he opened his eyes again. " It's going to be okay, my Babe." He unwrapped some of the cardiac sensors and started placing them on her chest. Two in the center of her chest, three under her left beast and another against her left side. " It's going to be okay, Joy. I promise I will keep our babe safe. I will promise I will get her through this, one way or another." He muttered as he attracted each sensor to a monitor.
He made the promise to his dead wife and his daughter over and over. It was the same promise he had made since he accepted that the possession was real. The promise he held on tight too. He had too, if he didn't...he'd lose it and he knew it. As Brian pulled down her shirt and reached out to turn on the monitor, he noticed his hand was shaking. He silently yelled at himself to pull it together then carried on with his work. A few minutes later, the room was filled with the sound of her heartbeat ticking away.
" We need to talk." Connor snapped when Murphy walked out of the bedroom. " You want to tell me why you were cracking fucking jokes with a demon?" Murphy frowned, looking to his dad then his brother again.
" Outside." Murphy said. " Father, will you stay here in case Brian needs you?"
" Aye." The priest said with a nod.
Murphy spared around look to his brother before he bushed passed the three men and headed towards the stairs. Without another word, Connor and Duce followed after him. They walked down the stairs in a single file line, with Murphy reaching into one of the pockets of his jeans and pulling out his pack of cigarettes. He slipped out one hand rolled and handed it over his shoulder, not at all surprised when his brother took it almost right away. He pulled out his own smoke then replaced the pack to his pocket.
None of them spoke as they hit the bottom level of the cabin. Murphy pulled out his lighter and brought it up to his smoke. He light it quickly and inhaled as deeply as he could, needing the smoke now more than ever. His lighter was passed over his shoulder and taken from Connor, only to be passed back after a few seconds. His brother's smoke flowed over Murphy's shoulder as Murphy stuffed the lighter back into his pocket.
Murphy reached the door first, pushing it open and stepping out into the cold, dark night. He sighed, walking over to the railing. He turned and leaned against it, grasping the smoke between his middle and first finger. Connor was out next then Duce. Connor shut the door behind his dad and leaned against it while Duce took his spot in his old rocker.
" I had a dream, right before this last possession." Murphy started when he pulled the smoke out of his mouth. " I was talking to an angel. She told me the reasons Tatum was taken and why she ended up here. When I woke, she was being taken over by C. C told me somethings."
" Like?" Connor asked impatiently.
" Like what will happen if they win. Her dad will kill himself, Father McMalloy will leave the church, I will drink myself stupid out of guilt, Connor leaves the house and Da kicks me out." Murphy admitted. Duce nodded, rocking his chair slowly.
" So she dies and we all just fall apart?" Connor asked. Murphy brought his smoke up, inhaled and nodded.
" How can you trust what a demon told you, Son?" Duce asked. Murphy turned his head away from his family and exhaled before looking back to his dad.
" The angel said that is she dies it will cause us all great pain." He said.
" So how does that explain you talking about smores with the demon?" Connor snapped.
" We are losing, in case you didn't notice." Murphy snapped back. " All this praying and bible reading helps with the possession when it hits but it's not getting ready of them. They keep coming back. We need to change what we are doing."
" So you decide to crack jokes?" Connor bit out.
" You saw how they reacted! Instead of us getting upset, they got upset!" Murphy defended.
" And gave her a fucking seizure!" Connor yelled.
" They are expecting us to pray and beg for her life. They expect us to order them to leave her. They aren't expecting us to laugh. They are trying to upset us, they are expecting us to be upset but if we aren't, they won't know how to handle it." Murphy said.
" That's the fucking stupidest idea I have ever heard." Connor snapped.
" I went along with your stupid, fucking rope idea and it worked!" Murphy shot back.
" My rope was a good idea!" Connor yelled, standing up straight.
" Boys." Duce said calmly.
" Nearly got us killed!" Murphy yelled, standing up to meet his brother's stare.
" But it didn't, so shut it!" Connor yelled back.
" Boys!" Duce said, sharply. The twins stopped yelling but didn't look at their dad, choosing instead to glare at each other. Stress of the past two weeks events making them all feel tired and on edge. " We will not fight between us. Now relax and step away from each other."
" He started it." Connor said, but did what his dad said.
" You started it." Murphy snapped, leaning back against the railing.
" Well taunting them didn't help this time!" Connor snapped.
" So maybe we don't taunt them, maybe we ignore them." Murphy said.
" I think Murphy has a good idea and I'm willing to give it a try." Duce said. " After we talk with Brian and Father McMalloy about it, we will do what Murphy says. We will ignore the demons and see if that does anything."
" I can't believe we are going along with this stupid idea." Connor muttered.
" Connor, listen to Daddy." Duce said, stopping the rocker to lean forward. He caught both his sons' eyes with that one word. Daddy was used only when Duce needed both their attention and had something important to say. " We will change tactics and do what Murphy has suggested. And we will do it without fighting between us. The last thing we need to do is fight. We have to be together and united. We will not let them come between us, is that understood?" Duce asked. The brothers shot each other another round of glares, causing Duce to clap his hands and thunder out, " Boys!"
" Aye, Da." Connor said, his shoulders dipping down as he looked back at his dad.
" Aye, we understand." Murphy said.
BDSBDSBDS
" So we are going to ignore them?" Brian asked as he sat down at the old table.
" Aye." Murphy said, coming up behind the tired, stressed dad and setting down a cup of coffee for him.
" Thanks, Lad." Brian said. Both his hands wrapped around the hot cup and he closed his eyes to sigh while bring it up to his face. He inhaled the comforting scent as deeply as he could before he opened his eyes and took a small drink.
" Nothing else we are doing is working." Connor said from his spot in the chair off to Brian's left. Connor had one arm on the table and one on the back of his chair. He leaned his head down to rub at his forehead with the fingers of the hand resting on his chair.
" We just want to try something new." Murphy said.
" Father, do you think the demons know anything she knows? Do you think if we told her what we are going to do, they will know it too?" Duce asked. The priest cleared his throat and made a grab for his own cup.
" I don't know. She knows things they have said so they might be aware of what is told to her although when they leave her, they might completely leave her to possess another. I have no way of knowing." He said.
" Should we ask her than?" Connor asked.
" I'll do it." Murphy spoke up, bring all the eyes to his face as he set his cup down. " I will ask her if she knows."
" Do it now, Son. We have no idea when they will come for her next and we need to try and figure out what we are going to do and say when they do." Duce said.
BDSBDSBDS
Murphy slowly pushed open the door to his dad's room and was quickly greeted by the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor and her labored breathing. It was always labored now. Over the past few days and nights it seemed like she was struggling more and more to breath and they didn't know why. Like everything else that was happening, they had no answers.
Murphy stared at her after closing the door behind him. He walked around the bed with a frown on his face. Tatum was laying on her back, with the cords from the monitors sticking out of the bottom her shirt and running up to the machine. Her left arm was out straight with an IV port and line sticking out of her forearm. She had the blankets pulled up to her waist and her head was turned towards the side. She was sleeping but was it was not restful. Her hands and fingers were twitching every so often and she was grimacing in her sleep as if she was in pain.
" Lass?" Murphy asked softly as he knelt down by the bed side. He reached out and gently placed his fingertips against her arm. " Wake up." He whispered, gliding his fingers down her skin until he came to the deep purple bruise that circled her wrist right above her bandage. Tatum moaned softly, rubbing her cheek against the the pillow slowly. " Tatum, open your eyes." he said again as his fingers continued to rub against her bruise. Tatum rolled to her side so she facing him and started to blink her eyes open.
" Murphy." She whispered before closing her eyes again.
" Aye, Lass. I need to ask you something. I need you to stay awake for a little bit, can you do that for me?" He whispered.
" I'm tired." Tatum whispered. " Will you hold my hand for a while? Just until I fall back asleep." His hand slipped down to hers as she spread her fingers. He interlocked their fingers together and leaned forward.
" If I tell you something, will they know?" Murphy asked. Tatum frowned but open her eyes again.
" I...don't know." She admitted.
" They didn't know they were here when you came too in the barn. Did you know you were coming here?" Murphy asked.
" My dad told me he had a friend here, in Ireland, and I knew we were taking a trip but I didn't know where." She said.
" Do you think they know? If you had to guess." Murphy urged.
" I think they know my thoughts when I think them. I know if I yell in my head when they are possessing me, they answer me." Tatum said. And that answer enough for Murphy. If he told her their plan, and she thought of it, at all, when she was possessed, the demons would know and the plan wouldn't work, so Murphy won't tell her anything. " Why?" Murphy reached out and placed his other hand on her arm.
" It's nothing, Lass. Rest now." He said. She sighed but closed her eyes and squeezed his hand.
" When I die, will you help my dad? Will you be there for him?" She asked.
" You're not going to die." Murphy said quickly. She opened her eyes again and smiled slowly, bring her other hand up to his face.
" You shaved and you cut your hair." She said, brushing her knuckles against his cheek. Murphy smiled and nodded.
" Aye, Lass. You said I didn't look like myself. Hurt this fella's feelings, you did." He said, making her laugh quietly.
" So you cut your hair and shaved your beard." She said.
" Aye, I did. My brother did too. You like me now?" He asked.
" I liked you before." Tatum said, closing her eyes again to sigh. " I always thought you were the hotter twin."
" Me?" He asked in surprised as he squeezed her hand.
" You." She confirmed. " Which one of you is the oldest?" Murphy chuckled and shifted his position so he could sit instead of crouch. He bent his knees and brought his free hand to the floor to help support his upper body.
" Well, our Ma has always refused to tell us but I know it's me." Murphy said while he rubbed his fingers against hers.
" How do you know it's you?" Tatum asked. Again Murphy chuckled. He shook his head to himself, feeling embarrassment creep over him.
" Ah...I asked my Da." He said, because there was no way he was going to tell her what his Ma had to them.
" Do you miss America?" She asked when she looked at him again. Murphy nodded, feeling himself grow serious again.
" Aye, I do."
" Tell me about your life." Tatum asked. Again, Murphy repositioned himself but this time so he face her. If they were going to be talking, then he wanted to look at her face. He brought his head to the bed so he could rest his chin against it.
" We worked in a meat packaging plant in Boston. We had bar we always went too, named McGinty. It was owed by a friend of ours, Doc. He always gave us free beer. Down right nice old man, he is." Murphy said.
" And why did you start taking out the mob?" She asked.
" We had a dream from the Lord, telling us too." Murphy said. He reached out and pushed some of her hair out of her eye, lightly gazing her skin when he did so.
" You know, before, if you had told me that, I would have laugh at that." She admitted.
" Tell me about your life now." Murphy said without taking his hand from her hair.
" I was a photographer. I did pictures of families, kids graduating high school but I hated it. I wanted to do nature works but there is no money in that if you aren't well known so...I guess I sold out." Tatum said.
" And where did you live?" He asked.
" Pennsiliva."
" Did you have a boyfriend, Lass? Someone special?" Because for some reason the answer to that question was important to him. He couldn't understand why but he found himself praying quickly that she had been single.
" I had a boyfriend at the start of this all but, he couldn't handle was happening to me and left. He was sure I was going crazy and said he couldn't deal with that so he cut out." Murphy frowned as she opened her eyes again.
" Right bastard he was than." He snapped, making her laugh.
" Right." She confirmed.
" That's not a proper man. A good man stands behind his lass no matter what." Murphy said.
" What about you? Did you have someone you had to leave?" Tatum asked.
" No. Our lifestyle didn't leave much time for lasses." He said.
" I guess not." Tatum sighed and rolled over so she was on her back. She tilted her head and looked to the ceiling. " I would have liked to have been a mother. I wanted at least two kids. My mother was an amazing woman and I wanted to be just like her."
" There's still time." Murphy said, watching her as she closed her eyes.
" Right." She whispered, feel sleep start to take her down. " Tell me more about you and your brother."
" There's not much more to tell." Murphy said.
" Than just talk. I like the sound of your voice. It's soothing." Tatum said.
And he give her what she wanted. He told her stories about growing up with Connor and his ma. He made her laugh and smile as she looked at him every once and a while. He laughed himself when she told him how stupid they were as young boys. He told them about their move to America and how they settled into Boston while she rolled back over to watch him speak. He talked until she had fallen back to sleep then he sat beside her rubbing her fingers and arm, unwilling to leave her.
