Chapter 8 – 2 A.M. Visitor
Kira could hear the siren's for the ambulance down the street. There was never such a great sound in the world when a little life was being held in the balance of your own fingertips. "Please Koa, breathe for me." She was up to begging now as she was repeating the child CPR movements.
Regret flashed in Roman's eyes for the first time in his life as worry slid down his spine. He already knew his actions caused his little nephew to be worried about his father; what Roman was actually doing to his own older brother – his only brother.
Kira frowned as she continued to repeat the child CPR chest compressions and breathing. On the fifth set the little boy finally coughed up the pool water he ingested. She sat him up immediately as she patted his back softly. "Good boy Koa; cough it all out sweetie. You're going to be okay."
Kira sighed with relief as the siren's stopped in front of the house. She watched as Koa was wrapped in his mother's arms. "He might have a concussion – let the ambulance take him as a precaution." She stated to Mandy who nodded in understanding.
"T-Thank you Kira." Mandy sniffled out as tears slid down her cheeks.
"Momma, can Kira come with?" Koa asked as EMT's placed him on the stretcher and started checking his vitals.
Mandy looked at Kira and Kira smiled. "You know what little man I don't think there's enough room for all of us. I'll meet you there though I promise. I'll be right behind the ambulance - ok?" She watched as Koa nodded as the EMT's took Mandy and Koa to the front of the house and took off.
Matt walked over and helped Kira to her feet before he engulfed her into a near bone crushing hug. "God thank you so much Kira. I will never be able to repay you for saving Koa."
Kira shook her head. "You don't have to repay me Mattie. Seeing Koa still alive is payment enough." She stated honestly.
Kira walked into the Emergency Room; after having pulled dry clothes on and stepping into her flip flops she drove to the hospital. Her violet eyes looked around and saw the other members of Koa's huge family all waiting. She noticed that Roman was sitting off by himself a grave look on his face his shoulders were slumped and she could see the guilt eating away at him.
She made her rounds in talking with everyone. Matt let her know Koa had a mild concussion and was asking for her; they were going to keep him overnight for observation. Once she'd been in to see him she assured him she would be by to see him the following day once they released him and his parents had his safe at home.
Matt watched as Kira walked out of the Emergency Room door needing fresh air; she loathed hospitals. His curiosity got the better of him as he watched his baby brother follow her out of the building. Matt growled under his breath as he stood and followed his little brother outside.
Kira stopped as she felt someone following her; she spun around to see Roman standing there with his hands in his pockets. "What do you want?" She asked.
Roman felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't believe it took almost losing his youngest nephew because of his stupidity to see she wasn't as evil as he originally thought she was. "I wanted to say thank you, for what you did for my nephew."
Kira shook her head. "Do you understand that today could've gone worse in so many more ways? Do you understand you scared the hell out of your nephew when you attacked his father because of your childish and petty assumptions about thinking that I'm screwing your brother or that I'm some evil bitch who showed up to fuck up your family?"
Roman nodded. "Don't think I don't know what could've been lost today had you not been there. I was being an asshole like always and I picked a fight over something monumentally stupid with my brother and my nephew could've died at the bottom of that pool. Believe me I know and I'm never going to forgive myself for what I caused today."
Matt stood listening to the conversation before he cleared his throat and walked up. "Little brother, it was an accident. And while you already know you've got as ass chewing coming from just about everyone in the family; you won't get one from me. I can see the guilt written all over your face so now I'm going to explain something to you and beyond what I tell you if Kira wants to fill in the blanks that's her choice."
Matt spared a look at Kira and she nodded in understanding. "You remember my friend from high school who became a Florida State Detective?"
Roman pursed his lips as his eyebrows furrowed. "Dain Matson? Yea I remember him."
Matt sighed heavily. "Dain came to me and said he had a girl who needed to be hid for a while. After speaking with mom and dad they decided to take Kira in. She only stayed with them for a few weeks, until I hired her at the restaurant; I know you're the protective one out of all of us, but I figured if you knew mom made her part of the family you wouldn't try to go all Sherlock Holmes on her. But you did. Mandy knows about her as do most of the adults in the family. You are always gone so mom and dad didn't think you would need to know, but clearly after your display today you did."
Roman nodded in understanding. "I really wish you guys would've told me. You've got no idea the bullshit I've been talking to her. I was being a righteous dick to her and it all could've been avoided if you were just straight with me. I might be the baby of the family but I haven't been a baby for quite a while. I'm a grown ass man and everything that happened today probably could've been prevented had I had prior knowledge of everything that everyone in the family seemed to know except me." Roman walked around Kira and Matt towards his Tahoe before he turned back around. "Tell anyone with an ass chewing for me on their agenda that they can shove it." His eyes went to Kira. "I know I'm sorry isn't going to cover everything but I hope you will allow me to make it up to you eventually."
Kira frowned as she just nodded. "It's a start." She stated honestly knowing she was letting him off the hook for a lot of bullshit he had put her through. She watched as he continued out to his vehicle and left before she turned and looked at Matt. "Do you think now we should've told him?"
Matt sighed heavily. "Yea, but there's no going back and changing it; now I have to go in and explain that I confessed everything to Roman and that they are probably going to get silence from him. I think the only one he might be verbal with for a while is you."
Kira spared a glance to the parking lot as she watched Roman drive off. "We shall see." Before much else could be said she found herself being squeezed to death nearly by Sika and Patty. "Oh my gosh you two really I need to breathe." She laughed out as they both stepped away from her.
Patty wiped her tears. "Thank you so much for saving Koa."
Kira shook her head. "I didn't do anything for him that I wouldn't have done for anyone else. You guys forget I'm going to school to be a nurse; knowing CPR is a give in when you want to be in the medical field."
Sika shook his head as well. "No we should still thank you. Matt told us Roman's been on your case since you started cleaning his place. That will be rectified."
"Please don't. He just found out everyone in your family been keeping a secret from him regarding me and he's pretty much allowed to be upset right now. Believe me I know how to handle myself with him and I've done a pretty good job up until now; so just let me handle him." Kira requested. She watched as they both nodded before going back into the hospital to spend time with their grandson before visiting hours were over. Kira turned and went to the parking lot to head home.
Kira sat straight up in bed with a start. She breathing was shaky as her wide eyes searched the room. She jolted as the lightning lit up her room followed soon by the clap of thunder that grumbled and rumbled through her entire apartment. She hated thunderstorms. Granted it hadn't started raining just yet, but the lightning and thunder would keep her awake until it settled down.
Throwing her legs over the side of the bed and pushing up she got to a vertical base and padded down the hallway into the kitchen as she grabbed a glass and filled it with water. She sipped from the glass as she looked out the kitchen window. She jumped out of her skin as she glass slipped from her fingertips when a loud knocking on her front door nearly scared her to death. The glass shattered as her feet got soaked.
"Shit." She mumbled and jumped again as the knock came again at the door. She reached over and flipped the kitchen light on as she looked down and stepped around the glass shards. She looked at the microwave clock and saw it was 2 AM.
Who the hell is banging on her door at 2 in the freaking morning?
She walked over after she quickly dried her feet off with paper towel and looked through the peep hole in the door. "Oh my God." She unlocked the dead bolt she pulled the door open.
"HEY!" Roman practically yelled. "CAN I COME IN?" He questioned in a booming voice.
Kira put her hand over Roman's mouth as she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the apartment before closing the door and pushing him against it. "Are you drunk?" Kira asked wide eyed as Roman stared back at her.
"Ummm…Just a little." Roman slurred slightly. He held his hand out and when she didn't move he grabbed her hand and placed his Chevy Tahoe keys in her hand. "Don't let me drive home." He stated.
"Jesus Christ, please tell me you didn't drive here Roman." Kira all but begged.
"Well I sort of did, but I promise I drove slowly." Roman admitted.
Kira didn't think her eyes could widen anymore until Roman verbally admitted he drove to her apartment. "Did you actually make it into a parking space or did you just park on the grass?" She asked; when he shrugged she cringed. "Okay, I'm going to go check your vehicle, sit down on the couch and relax for a minute."
"Sure thing." Roman said as he walked away.
Kira watched as he sauntered into the living room and plopped down on her black leather sofa with a sigh. She slipped on her flip flops and ran down the stairs and out the front door and cringed again as she noticed not only had Roman NOT parked in a parking space labeled guest, but he actually backed up onto the curb; shaking her head she got in and moved his vehicle over and parked it next to her Toyota in the guest spot. She relocked it and set the alarm and jogged back upstairs.
She walked into the door and placed his keys in the first drawer of the table by the door just so he wouldn't know where to look before he sobered up. She walked over as she leaned against the arm rest of the couch as Roman's grey eyes opened and looked at her. "Would you like some water? Or maybe coffee to sober you up?" Kira asked softly.
Roman scrubbed both his hands up and down his face. "God you must really think I'm the family fuck up huh? Not that I've given you a reason to think different either way."
Kira wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm in no position to judge anyone else's life when mine isn't all wine and roses to begin with." She stated truthfully. "And if you're going to stay you should probably take that rubber band out of your hair or you'll have a worse headache in the morning which will not help whatever hang over you're going to have." Kira leaned over as she carefully un-wound the black rubber band from his hair before leaning over further and placed it on her glass coffee table.
"I'm going to make you some coffee. Have you eaten or did you drink on an empty stomach?" Kira asked softly.
"Empty, but if I eat now I'll puke later; well I'm going to puke later anyways. Can you skip the coffee and just do water?" Roman asked in a soft tone.
"Sure give me a minute, you're knocking scared me and I dropped my water glass. I'm going to clean it up real fast." She informed him as he nodded in understanding before she turned and went to the kitchen. She got everything cleaned up and grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the fridge before she turned the kitchen light off and turned the lamp on at the far corner of the living room. She walked back in and sat on her feet on the couch a full cushion length between her and Roman as she handed him one of the bottles and set the other one the coffee table.
"Thanks." Roman mumbled as he twisted the cap off and took a couple of long drinks.
Kira waited for him to say something but he didn't. She watched as he leaned forward and tossed his cell phone and wallet on the coffee table as well. "So you want to tell me why you've decided to get shit faced and show up on my doorstep at 2 in the morning?"
Roman shook his head. "No, but I at least owe you some kind of explanation." He sighed heavily as he gingerly pulled his fingered through his thick raven hair. "This afternoon when Mattie and I were exchanging blows in my parent's backyard. My childhood came back. Matt and I used to duke it out in the backyard all the time. Hell my dad would throw us out and lock the doors and make us work our problems out before he would allow us to go back in and clean up bloody noses while mom tended to our black eyes and busted lips."
"That sounds very familiar." Kira stated.
"I came to a point where Matt landed a couple of good punched to my ribs and it pissed me off because if I break ribs it's going to fuck up my performance in the ring when I go back to work. I asked Matt why he was defending you and he said he had to get the bullshit out of my head or I was going to regret it. I said the one thing I never would've thought I'd ever say. I told him I would regret noting and then I speared him into the ground and heard my nephew cry out for his dad because I scared him." Roman explained. "I don't regret a lot of things in my life, because I've had a full enjoyable life, but today watching my nephew sink to the bottom of the pool and then have to be rescued because I was being a dick; because I just couldn't stop thinking you was some stranger who was going to purposefully cause harm to my family."
Kira watched as Roman leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees his hands clasped together as his forehead rested against his hands. "I don't know what I would've done had Koa not made it."
Kira frowned as she slowly moved over as her hand reached out and covered both of his. "Roman, no matter what happened today; Koa is alive and he's going to continued growing up and graduate high school and then go to college and get married. But alcohol isn't, wasn't and never will be the answer to anything in life. You need to sleep it off and sober yourself up, because when Koa gets released from the hospital tomorrow a hung over uncle is not going to help him. He's going to want to see you and Matt acting like the brothers you should be; he needs reassurance that you guys were only playing and that you're both ok."
Roman turned his head slightly as those amazing violet eyes locked with his. "I know this is probably too much to ask, but…will you come with me tomorrow; when Koa gets released?"
Kira smiled softly as she reached up and softly ran her fingertips over the top of his head and followed the flowing mane down his back. "It's not too much to ask. If that's what you want; I'll come with you." She patted his knee softly. "Now I have a spare room or you can stretch out on the couch, but either way you need to get some rest or you won't be any good to anyone tomorrow."
"I think I'll stay here. The coolness of the leather actually feels good against my alcohol heated skin." Roman admitted. He watched as she stood and left and a few minutes later she returned and handed him a pillow and a blanket. "Thanks."
"Just an FYI the spare bathroom is right down the hall in case the hangover hits you harder than you think." Kira advised before she smiled softly. "Night Roman."
"Night Kira." His low voice rumbled. He pulled his sneakers off and laid down on the couch as he threw his right tattooed arm over his eyes and let the alcohol lull him to sleep.