Heartaches
Chapter 22
By Kellyq
A tiny mechanical spider made its way through the hospital parking garage. It stopped and scanned the area. It spotted a motorcycle cop slowly pulling up. It watched the cop park his bike. The officer was Trudge. He pulled off his helmet, grumbling under his breath.
"That street slut better be grateful for what I'm doing for him."
The spider scurried toward him, seizing an opportunity to get into the hospital. Trudge straightened out his collar to his black trench coat and made his way in. The spider shot out a web in the officer's direction. The end of the web stuck to the back of Trudge's coat, and with a light tug, the spider sailed gracefully in the air without detection. It managed to stick itself to the back of Trudge when the officer started to walk into the hospital. The spider crawled up Trudge's back and peered over his shoulder, scanning. It noticed that Trudge was heading toward the front desk. The spider turned and crawled down the officer's back and jumped off. It crawled behind the desk to wait.
The nurse looked up. "How may I help you?"
"My name is Trudge. I'm an officer ..."
"Oh, that's right," the nurse interrupted, getting straight to the point. "You're here to look after that patient who fell down the stairs. He's on the third floor."
Trudge nodded. The spider peered behind the desk and watched the officer walk toward the elevators. It then decided to scurry after the police officer, barely reaching the elevator. The spider watched Trudge press the button for the third floor. It backed behind him and jumped on his coat.
The door opened, and Trudge walked out, reading the names. He came to the last door, which had no name.This has to be it,Trudge thought, noticing that the door was partly ajar. He peered in to see Kiryu sitting upright in bed and Martha standing at the end, pushing his legs.
"Come on, Kiryu. I need you to push against my arms," Martha ordered.
Now is a good time as ever,Trudge thought, knocking on the door. Martha sighed, stepped back, and opened the door further. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Kiryu has Restless Leg Syndrome," Martha explained. She turned and went back to the end of the bed. "And I'm trying to exhaust his legs so he can sleep."
The spider scanned the scene momentarily, turned and jumped off Trudge's shoulder, and scurried out of the room. The officer walked up and watched Martha put her hands on both of Kiryu's feet, having him push against her arms.
"I'll be around if you need anything," Trudge said, not even caring. He turned and walked out.
Carly found herself standing in front of Misty's Condo. She blinked, wondering how they ended up here. The sun was setting, and Carly couldn't make out the color of the Condo. On top of that, Misty had a protective hold around her. "Uh … Misty, what are we doing here?"
Amusement flashed across Misty's eyes. "I was going to show you where I live, remember? And you were going to show me where you live, right?"
Carly squirmed a little.Why does she want to know everything about me? I'm a nobody! She'll toss me to the side like Jack did when she finds out."Actually, Misty, I need to get home." She pulled out of Misty's hold, turned to face her, and bowed. "Thanks for the nice outing and new clothes."
Misty's expression softened. "I can have my butler take you home."
Carly looked over Misty's shoulder to see the butler opening the side door for her. "Uh …." Carly adjusted her gaze back to Misty. "I can get back home myself."
"I'd feel better if my butler took you home instead of riding the bus all by yourself," Misty said, taking Carly's hand and leading her to the limo. She stepped inside and sat down just before Misty closed the door. "Make sure nothing happens to Carly, is that clear? I care about you, Carly."
Yusei pulled his motorcycle to the side, and the others did the same. A warm gust of wind glided past them like a comforting embrace.
Crow stretched his arms and let out a delighted sigh. "That felt good!" He put his hands back on the handlebars. "Anyways, I need to get back to the orphanage. The little tikes are probably wondering where I have been for the past few days."
Yusei smiled. "I did drop by and told them you're doing fine." A kind look made its way to Crow's face but dropped when Yusei's expression changed. "The reason why I was there was because there was a boy named Rally who needed a safe place to stay until Jack and I found out who raped him."
Crow nodded his head. "What does he look like?"
"He's dressed up like a girl," Jack said bluntly. "He has curly-red hair and hazel-green eyes."
"I'll see what I can do for him," Crow said, starting the engine. "Talk to you guys later!" He veered his motorcycle toward the exit, leaving a dust and carbon monoxide trail lingering in the air.
After the dust cleared, Yusei and Jack glanced at each other. "I think he has the right idea. Why don't we head back and finish whatwe started," Yusei suggested.
A seductive smirk made it to Jack's lips, pleased that his boyfriend was ready to continue with what they started before Kiryu ended up in the hospital.
To Be Continued …