Chapter - 35

"Sir. Excuse me, Sir… We are here." The voice was foggy, but when someone grabbed his armd and shook him, Mike woke up with a groan. "Wh—what?" he asked, looking around.

The cabbie was looking at him in concern. "Daily Planet. We are here. You okay?"

Mike sat up straight and pulled out his wallet. "Sure. Yeah, I'm fine. How much do I owe you?"

The cabbie could see dried up blood on Mike's arm, but didn't ask him about it. Once Mike paid the fare, he got out of the car and winced in pain. Pulling himself together, he made his way in. Instead of taking the elevator that he usually took, he walked a little further and pulled out the special card used for the elevator that opens near the boss' office.

Mike mentally thanked Clark for giving him the access card. Once he got in and pressed the twentieth button, he felt the wound in his arm open again as blood crept out. Mike pulled out the bandana from his pocket and tied it over his arm. He would ask Winn to bandage that later.

When he reached the twentieth floor, Mike walked out, leaning an arm against the wall for support. The closest to him was the break room and he knew he just had to go there, and figure out later how to call Winn.

Just as Mike was about to walk into the break room, he saw someone get up from their desk. It was Kara. She was talking to Brax about something. Mike wanted to call her, but then again, he wasn't sure if she would be willing to help. Sighing, he held his bleeding arm to his chest and walked into the break room.

Kara had been working on a new case with Brax. They had gotten an anonymous call that Brax didn't want to be traced. 'Privacy should be respected' was what he had told her. But Kara had convinced him they needed information first. With Winn's help, they had managed to track down who it was. Turned out to be a teen calling for fun. The case pretty much went out of hand after that. Kara wished Mike had let her tag along. He was much easier to work with. Although serious at times, he was still better than Brax.

Talking about the man, she hadn't seen him in a while. Kara decided to talk to him about the list of the names he had given her. She would help him out, that's the least she could do after he gave her credit for the case they worked together, where she didn't do anything important.

Just as she turned to go back to her desk, Kara saw Mike scrunching his face and making his way into the break room. He was in pain! Dropping all her stuff on her desk, Kara ran to the break room and walked in to see Mike sitting on the couch, his face scrunched up in pain.

"Mike!" Kara called in horror when she saw blood on his arm. He was struggling to remove his jacket. Kara ran to him and helped him remove his jacket. She gasped when she saw the torn shirt and all the scratches on his chest. "We need to get you to a hospital!" she said when she saw the nasty cut on his arm.

"NO!" Mike groaned. "No, I hate hospitals. Just call Winn. He will put a bandage."

"Well, I can do that myself! Get up, Mike!" Kara tried to pull him up. She helped him towards the small room in the corner, the same place she had caught him with Cat. But now was not the time to think about it. She helped him sit down and rushed out to get the first-aid kit. Kara knew that Clark always kept spare clothes in his office, so she went to grab a t-shirt from him. Since he wasn't there, she texted him and promised to return it.

When she returned, she saw Mike examining the wound on his arm. Kara pulled another chair next to him and started to clean his wound, making him wince lightly.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" she asked as she started bandaging his arm.

"The bike skid, and I fell." Mike shrugged. It wasn't like he was lying, but he didn't have to tell her everything. He stiffened when he felt her fingers on his chest. Kara noticed scars on his chest, not the newly formed bruises. She didn't really remember seeing those scars the first time she saw him without a shirt. He pretty much wore a white tank inside all the time. But this was the first time she was paying attention. Kara moved behind him to see more scars on his back. She gasped when she realized what these could have been.

"You are hurt," she said moving back and picking up the cotton to clean the bruises on his chest.

"Does it pay to state the obvious, Blondie?" Mike smirked.

"Were you hurt before today? Those scars—"

"Battle scars. I wear them proudly."

Kara sighed and went back to cleaning his wounds and bandaging his chest. She was careful with him, knowing just how badly he had scratched his body. She was almost done when she asked, "Will I be seeing you at Clark's wedding?"

Mike looked up at her as she cleaned the scratches on his hands. "Donna sent me an invite last week. I don't think I can make it."

"Why not?"

"Umm… mostly because I barely know the bride and groom. And remember the engagement party? I know Barry is going to be there and no one wants a repeat of what happened before."

Kara shook her head. "That won't happen! And you will have me there! Donna and Winn too. It will be fun, I promise."

Mike smiled. "Blondie, I have better things to do he—."

"Will you be my date?" she blurted out.

"Wh—what?" Mike started laughing loudly, but when he saw Kara's serious look, he controlled himself and asked, "Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

Mike sighed and said, "Fine. I'm listening."

"Okay so, my relatives… they are the most judgmental beings to walk this earth. They know that I was with Barry for five years. And he's going to be at the wedding, but not as my date. So they will put two and two together and know what happened. And they would taunt me till the day I die for not even having one successful relationship. If you just come along with me, they won't talk."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Really sounds like you want me to be there to make Barry jealous."

Kara's eyes widened and she slapped his chest, making Mike groan. He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, so close that her face was right in front of his. Kara leaned closer, her lips inches away from him. "Careful, Blondie," Mike spoke softly. "Or you'll end up falling in love with me."

Kara moved back with a small smile. "You're good to go," she said as she walked out of the room. She had washed her hands and brought him Clark's t-shirt and along with his backpack. Kara helped him put on the t-shirt. When she saw the scratches on his motorcycle jacket, Kara said, "I can get this cleaned for you. And I think you need to rest. Don't forget to take the medicine."

"I'll nap in that pod," Mike said before popping the pills with some water. Kara was about to walk away when he grabbed her arm. She turned around in surprise. "Thanks… Kara," he said before leaning closer to place a soft kiss on her temple. Mike then walked out of the room and made his way towards the sleeping pod. Once he lay down, the memory of helping that young guy came back slowly.

Mike had reached the hospital and the guy had collapsed on his back. With a help of a nurse, Mike managed to get the guy inside.

Another nurse was asking him to fill out details about the patient, and Mike was lost.

"I don't know anything," he called.

The nurse looked up in surprise. "Aren't you family? Not the boyfriend?"

"No. God! No, I just found him in the street." Mike facepalmed himself. "Check his pockets, must be an ID or something there."

The young nurse frowned at him. "Don't tell me how to do my job, mister." Saying that, she walked away to check if the guy had an ID on him.

Mike went and sat down in the lounge, waiting for the nurse to come back and tell him how the guy was doing. He had to wait for almost twenty minutes to see the nurse walk out.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked in surprise. She was older, probably in her early twenties and she couldn't help but check him out.

Mike smirked. "How is he doing?"

The nurse, Quinn (as the name tag read) smiled at him before moving closer. "Really not the boyfriend?"

"Do you want me to kiss you and prove it I'm not?" Mike flirted back.

Quinn blushed and looked away. "Look, you are not family, so I can't tell you. You said you found him on the street."

"I did. But I really want to know how badly he's hurt."

"What's your name?" she asked softly.

"Mike."

"Mike, listen. He's a… he's got two bruised ribs and a bad concussion and some minor cuts. We have to keep him here for two to three days. We managed to find out whom to call in case of emergencies, they will be here soon. Why don't you wait? Meet them."

Mike shook his head. "No, I need to be somewhere. Thanks for letting me know." Smiling, he said, "Thanks, Quinn. See ya!"

The nurse smiled back and went back to her desk.

Mike headed outside and quickly started his bike and left. He headed home straight. When he reached home, he saw someone waiting outside. Mike cursed. It was Daryl, the debt collector.

"Man, I told you I don't have that cash!" Mike called, walking towards him.

Daryl frowned at him. "And I told you, Matthews, that I need my money today!"

"Look, my dad was the one who took money from you. He never told me about it! How can you expect me to pay it back?!"

"I don't know, you little jerk. You get my money now or else I'll trash you and your stupid bike."

Mike charged at him and had him pinned against the wall. "Don't you dare, Daryl. Hell hath no fury like a Matthews scorned. You will have your f*cking money this weekend. Now get your ass off my porch!"

Daryl glared at him and walked away. "This Saturday, Matthews. Don't make me remind you again."

Mike rolled his eyes and watched Daryl get into his car and drive away. Without thinking twice, Mike ran back to his bike and got on. He drove straight to Hell's garage and walked in to see if Blaze was there. The whole debt issue was going to kill him someday and right now talking to one of the older guys would help.

Mike walked in to see that no one was in the garage, when he walked back out, he saw Duke getting off his bike.

"Mike? What are you doing here, kid?" Duke asked in surprise. He had sent Mike home, why was the kid back again?

"Oh nothing, I was just here to see if Blaze was here." Mike went back to his bike but was stopped by Duke, who grabbed his arm.

"What is it, kid? I'm sure no one told you this, but your old man made the same face when he was in trouble. What happened?"

Mike sighed loudly. "The debt collector was at my place. He wants the cash and the amount is big."

"How big?"

"Selling the house big."

Duke nodded quietly. Then he finally said, "Do it. Sell the house. Pay it off."

A/N: Mike's life was no bed of roses. :( So... do you think Mike will be her date at Clark's wedding? What will Barry say?

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