Happy was over every night for the next three weeks before he got called away. He was two shots in at the bar with Kozik when his phone rang. I'd seen this song and dance before, knew what was coming as I quickly printed their checks and had them laying on the bar as Happy ended the call. Kozik was hurrying to chug the last of his beer and grabbing his sweatshirt off the back of the chair, getting ready to head out.
"Headed out. See ya in a couple days." Happy said gruffly before throwing back his last shot and standing up to pull out his wallet. I nodded and picked up the glass to deposit in the bin for Eddy to wash.
"Kick ass. See ya when you get back." Happy looked surprised by the statement before a smile took over his face for a split second and then the two were out the door, the cash left laying on the bar the only indicator they had even been there. I could just make out the roar of their bikes over the jukebox and sighed when the bikes were no longer audible. I called out last call and set to work pouring the last round for the night. Closing down was strange, knowing that I was going to be truly alone for the first time in over two months.
Since the shooting there had been someone nearby whether in the apartment or outside every night and not having Iris or Happy around brought about the fear that had been there the first night after Iris went back to Seattle. As I pulled out the cash from the drawer I also grabbed Greta out from underneath the bar. Uncle Al had bought her as a means to keep things under control here in the bar, but I had plans to use her to scare away my own fears.
It felt silly to be afraid, before the robbery I had been living on my own in this apartment for the last three years without incident and the break in had obviously been a fluke. It could have just as easily been the neighbors that the junkie could have hit instead of me, but on the off chance that something like that ever happened again I wasn't going to be caught by surprise. I refused to be a victim, I never liked the feeling of weakness and I wasn't going to let it take over my life now.
I slept that night and the next three with Greta stashed between the mattress and the headboard. My sleep was restless and I was on edge, but each night was a little easier when nothing happened and I woke perfectly fine the next morning.
Diana came by on the second day Happy was gone and put me through hell with all her exercises. She was impressed with how far I had come since she'd started coming to the house. She promised that I wouldn't need the crutches for much longer. The damaged muscles in my leg were getting their strength back and my leg would be able to hold more and more of my weight. The news was music to my ears, I had missed complete independence more than I could express.
By the fifth day I was starting to wonder what Happy's definition of 'a couple days' was, because mine obviously didn't match his. I felt like a fool looking forward to Happy coming back to town, it felt like another hit to my independence, but I couldn't help that it was nice to have someone else around. The apartment had been starkly silent since Uncle Al's passing and it had never been more apparent than after the last month when there had been so much noise with someone always being here. Even Ace couldn't make up for the lack of human noise.
I hadn't had the slightest trouble with patrons at the bar since Happy and Tig had started coming around regularly, which was a relief since I was now at a clear disadvantage should a fight break out and I'd always hated calling the police. They were usually more hassle then help as they ruined business for the night and required reports and taking a look at the surveillance footage before leaving. A process that I was saved when I could just clank the heads of the two drunks together and send them in separate directions. It would definitely be a while longer before I could do that again without risking getting hurt myself.
With the bikers hanging around, the drunks knew to take it out to the parking lot if they didn't want their asses kicked inside by an overeager biker. It had only happened once while Tig and Happy had been at the bar. Two of the usual drunks got into an argument over a pool game and one threw a punch. The brawl was over before I could get out from behind the bar. Tig had jumped into the fray, knocking the one drunk over the back of the head with his pool stick and knocking the other on his ass with a quick right hook. Both had been sent out and didn't come back for over a week after that and I hadn't had a problem since.
I had shut down the bar and had made my way upstairs a little earlier than usual. I figured I'd try to finish the book Iris had gotten me while I was in the hospital. I wasn't a very fast reader and more often than not I didn't get the chance to pick it up with running the bar and being too tired to read before going to bed, but the last couple nights I had been able to get at least a chapter in before drifting off.
I put some soup in the microwave to heat up and went into my bedroom to change before heading back out. Looking at the pathway I had to take to get from the bedroom to the kitchen, the desire to walk it without using my crutch was strong. The apartment wasn't big and there was plenty of furniture between here and the kitchen to brace myself on if I needed the support. I wanted to test how much weight I could put on my leg and figured now would be the perfect time to try with Ace laying on the couch and the path to the kitchen being completely clear. I left the crutch where it was leaning against the doorway to my room and gently stepped onto my left leg.
The pressure made the leg ache, but the pain was manageable. I slowly stepped away from the door frame and extended my hand toward the back of the couch. About mid-step a spike of pain shot through my leg making me stumble, but I caught myself on the couch, I took a breath and braced myself for the next step, now knowing what to expect I took a shortened step and only suffered a sharper ache in the leg. I smiled at the progress and gimped my way across the room where the microwave was beeping that the soup was ready.
When I finally made it across the room I pulled out a kitchen chair and collapsed into it, more tired than I had expected. Maybe that book was going to have to wait a little longer. Pulling the bowl of soup out of the microwave I realized I had forgotten a spoon, carefully getting back up I startled at the loud pounding on my door. I bit my lip to keep from screaming while my heart felt like it was beating wildly in my throat, a pit of fear forming in my gut.
"Robbers don't knock on the door." I whispered to myself and took a deep breath to try to settle my nerves. I knew, logically, that it was less than likely to be someone that wanted to hurt me, but the fear I had been beating back for the last five days was suddenly overpowering. I picked Greta up from the counter and gimped toward the door. I cocked Greta and held her against the door as whoever was on the other side pounded on the door again. Aiming at whoever was on the other side, I unlocked the door and slowly opened it.
Peaking around the door I released the breath I had unconsciously been holding when I recognized Happy. I leaned back and opened the door more while putting Greta's safety back. The nerves that had almost made me shake seconds ago disappeared with just the sight of him.
"For fuck's sake, Happy! You scared the hell out of me." I said and took a gimping step back so he could walk inside. He let out a low chuckle as he stepped inside.
"If someone's going to hurt you they're not going to knock on the door." Happy stated and I rolled my eyes.
"Well pardon me for being a little jumpy since I've been shot." I said and gimped back toward the table. I could feel Happy's eyes on me, but he didn't say anything till I was once again sitting at the table and this time with a spoon in hand.
"Where the hell's your crutch?" Happy asked and I rolled my eyes before looking up and getting a good look at his face for the first time.
"What the hell happened to your face?" I asked back, startled by the blood and bruising. His lip was busted and swollen, a large bruise was forming on his cheek and steri-strips were holding the skin above his eyebrow together and I could already see the black eye starting.
"They got a lucky punch in." Happy grumbled as he toed off his boots and left them on the mat next to the door.
"Really? Just one?" I snarked as I looked at the damage.
"Don't avoid the question." Happy said with a glare and I sighed as I leaned back against the chair.
"In my bedroom." I answered and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Why?" He asked as he walked over to the fridge to pull out a beer.
"Ice packs are on the top shelf in the freezer. Therapist said I wouldn't be needing it for much longer and quite frankly, it hurts to use it." I said and leaned forward to start eating my soup before it got cold. Happy grunted and opened the freezer, but stopped short when he got a look at the ice packs.
"The fuck? I am not using this." Happy said, shooting me a glare as he held up the Sponge Bob ice pack. I giggled at the ridiculous picture he made holding up the little ice pack with a brightly smiling Sponge Bob.
"There's a bigger one without Sponge Bob in there." I said through my giggles as Happy threw the ice pack back into the freezer like it had personally offended him and pulled out the solid blue ice packs. The giggles got worse as Happy looked it over to make sure there weren't any cartoon characters on it before taking a seat at the table and pressing it to his face. We sat in silence for a moment as I ate my soup and Happy nursed his beer.
"Does the other guy at least look as bad as you do?" I asked with a smirk and Happy gave a dark smile with a nod.
"Much worse." I nodded.
"Good." I said and stood carefully to rinse my bowl and place it and the spoon in the dishwasher before stepping over to the fridge and pulling out a beer.
"Good?" Happy questioned and I looked toward him as I sat back down. He looked cautious and calculating as he watched me.
"Yeah, good. Wouldn't want them to get away with what they've done to your face." I said with a shrug and used the ring on my right hand to pop the cap off my beer. When I looked back to Happy, he was still looking at me like he was doing a difficult math problem.
"What?" I asked.
"You're strange." I raised an eyebrow.
"What a sweet talker you are, Happy." I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes. He smirked and took another drink from his beer.
"It's not like I thought you were some sort of angel." I defended and Happy scoffed at the thought, making me smirk.
"You don't care why the guy took a swing at me?" Happy asked and I rolled my eyes again.
"Club business right? You wouldn't tell me even if I asked and I'm not in the business of wasting my breath." Happy smirked again and nodded as he finished his beer. He got up to put the bottle in the recycling and to get another from the fridge while I finished my own. I yawned and stood up gingerly before wincing as the ache in my leg got worse. Before I could take another step I was suddenly being picked up and squealed at the unexpected motion.
"Why do you keep doing that?" I demanded as I clung to his shirt. Happy didn't say anything has he walked across the apartment and into my room. He gently set me down on the bed and stepped back to grab the crutch that was still leaning at the door frame and placed it against the bed where I could grab it.
"Do us both a favor and don't go without your crutch till the therapist says you can." Happy said gruffly and I raised a brow.
"And I'm just supposed to take orders from you?" I asked, fighting back the smile that would give me away. Happy shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets.
"A suggestion. Or I'll just have to keep carrying you when you push yourself too hard." I knew I was losing the fight with the grin that was making my cheek twitch.
"Good night, Happy." I said as I pulled myself back into the bed.
"Night, Jade." He said, walking out and pulling the door around behind him.