“Just give me some good drugs and I'll be fine. I don't like hospitals.”
Zack meets my eyes and there's a sad understanding there. We spent so much time with doctors when he was a child so I'm sure it's not easy for him to be here.
She finally puts the penlight away. “If you check out it will be against medical advisement.” At my nod, she sighs. “I’ll have the nurses prepare your discharge papers.”
As soon as she's gone, I turn back to Tank. "I broke into the place where Blade was staying about a month ago. My friend Cole was with me. Apparently he went back and stole something from Blade. He wants it back. That's what this is all about."
Zack's face is stony when he says, "We'll take care of it. I'll make sure Tank knows where to find him." By the look on his face he's going to enjoy letting Tank scare the crap out of Cole. After this stunt I'm not defending him anymore. Old friend or not, his actions put us all in danger.
It takes a while for the nurses to get my discharge papers together so it's almost noon before we can leave. Getting home is a long process that requires a stop at the pharmacy for prescription painkillers and the complete loss of my pride when Tank has to carry me upstairs. Thank god Zack didn’t tell our moms that I was coming home today. I remember bits and pieces of them at the hospital while I was so out of it. I can’t deal with anything else right now. Right now, I need sleep.
I take the pills and slide under the covers. My hand brushes something soft and I hold up one of Sasha’s hair ties. She uses them whenever she sleeps over to put her hair up in this ridiculously high ponytail that she calls “the pineapple.” I was never sure what fruit had to do with anything but I’ve gotten used to her strange nighttime rituals and having her soft body next to mine. I've gotten used to loving her, my sweet silly girl.
Squeezing the fabric between my fingers, I slip into the reprieve of sleep. Sasha’s face is the last thing on my mind.
* * * * *
The next morning, I feel worse, if that’s possible. Every inch of my torso aches like a bad tooth and I’m pretty sure the painkillers are making me hallucinate. When I ask Zack why there’s a frog eating my toast, he just laughs and gives me another pill.
I sleep until Zack shakes me awake again.
“What is it?” I mumble.
“You need to come downstairs. We have a visitor.”
I’m too weak to dress myself so Zack helps me get a pair of sweatpants on and forces a T-shirt over my head. Getting down the stairs is just as difficult but I draw the line at anyone carrying me again.
Once we enter the living room, I stop. Max sits on the couch, his assistant Carole next to him. Luke, Tank and Finn are here, too.
When he sees me, Max’s lip quivers. His hand comes up to cover his mouth. “This is what my lies have done. I had to see.”
Zack helps me sit on the couch and I let out a deep sigh when I sink into the cushions. I know my appearance is shocking. One of my eyes is almost swollen shut and the bruise has already started to turn interesting shades of purple.
“What are you doing here, Max?”
He struggles to gain control of his emotions. Tears shine in his eyes as he answers. “To right a wrong. You asked me about Blade and I wouldn’t tell you. Maybe if I had, I could have prevented this.”
As angry as I’ve been at him since he came back into my life, I don’t want him to bear the weight of this alone. “It probably wouldn’t have stopped me. But he’s a threat to someone I love so I’m asking you again. Will you tell us about him?”
Max contemplates us all before nodding slowly. Finn takes a seat on the couch next to me, stretching his leg out in front of him. Zack perches on the arm of the couch while Luke and Tank remain standing. Once he sees that he has our attention, Max starts talking.
“I came to this country without a shilling to my name. It was 1985.” Shockingly his voice sounds completely different, the flat, generic American accent giving way to a lyrical, rolling brogue. We all look at each other in confusion for a moment.
“Wait a minute … You’re Irish?” Luke blurts.
Max chuckles, toying with the head of his cane. “So are you, young fella.”
That gets a startled laugh from Luke. The tension in the room goes down slightly. For a moment Max looks younger, his face animated with pride as he looks around at all of us. Finally he takes another deep breath and continues.
“I was born in Belfast. My family seemed normal enough. My father had extremely strong political opinions, especially about Ireland’s independence. But throughout my youth, I was unaware of just how strong his opinions were until I was older. He was the founder of a secretive group called Le Fírinne' that plotted to overthrow British rule. The name means the truth. It started as a political group with high ideals but by the time I was an adult it had become something else. Something much more dangerous.”
“Like the IRA?” Luke asks.
Max nods. “I was groomed in all aspects of running the organization and soon was traveling around the world to foster connections that would help us get the supplies we needed. Arms, explosives, drugs … " He makes a disgusted face. "My brother handled things at home while I was gone. I was the charming one so they trusted me to get what they needed.” Max glances over at me.
I shift uncomfortably under his scrutiny. We’re definitely two sides of the same coin, Max and I. It makes me feel an unexpected pang of sympathy for him. Suddenly something that Blade said comes back to me.