A Mended Man (The Men of Halfway House Book 4) (17 page)

She unlocked the wheels and pushed the chair out the door and down the hallway.

He waved goodbye to the staff and rolled through the hospital hallways until he finally exited the doors and was greeted by the waiting cab. He settled in with minimal help then waved goodbye, finally on his way back home. He leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes, anxious to settle into the space he had called home for the last few years. Twenty minutes later, he shimmied out of the backseat and balanced himself with the single crutch, fumbling with the plastic bag of medication. The driver reached out and tied the bag to the crutch.

"Thanks," he mumbled and reached into his back pocket for his wallet to pay for the cab fare and tip. He stood and waited as the car pulled away then steeled himself for the next few moments. He would finally be on his own for the first time in months since that night. He gripped the crutch and turned to enter his building. He balanced himself and held back a flinch of pain that jolted through his body with each forward shift of the heavy leg cast. Times like these he wished for more bulk and strength. He didn't know what hurt more—the bruise under his armpit from the crutch, his biceps from overcompensating and holding the crutch too tightly, or the pain shooting across his shoulders from the combination of it all.

A few steps later, he wiped his brow of the beads of sweat that had surfaced and pressed the elevator button.

"It's busted," someone said as they passed him and started heading upstairs.

"Excuse me?" Jessie bit back the arc of fire that shot between his shoulders when he turned.

The man stopped on the third step. "The elevator. It's been busted for two days. Building manager posted a memo. It's supposed to get fixed tomorrow. Something about parts getting ordered," the man finished with a shrug and continued his trek upstairs.

Jessie walked over and made his way to the base of the stairs. Somehow, the half dozen steps to the first landing seemed as if they had multiplied.
"Don't-push-yourself" my ass
. He was glad he had ignored everyone's suggestion to pace himself, otherwise, he wouldn't dare take another step. He squared his shoulders the best he could and focused on one step at a time.

* * * *

Aidan darted out of the hospital elevator toward Jessie's room, finally releasing the breath he had held since receiving the short text from Bull.

Jessie's discharged.

Why the hell had he found out about Jessie's release through a third party?
He
should have known Jessie was leaving today. Why the hell hadn't Jess called him?

He swallowed heavily and stood stock-still after he stepped into the hospital room.

Empty.

He exited the room and sped out to the nurses' station, visually scanning the new day staff for a familiar face. He spotted Nancy down the hallway and beelined to her.

"He was discharged a while ago," she said with her usual smile.

"When?"

She looked at her watch. "About an hour and a half ago."

"He didn't call me," he said, absently.

Nancy reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. "He called a cab to take him home and he told the guard you had at his door to leave."

He lowered his head, processing the information.
He
wanted to be the one Jessie called. The one who would come to mind first if Jessie needed a ride home or…anything. "He could have called me," he said, trying to bite back the words after they had escaped. This was all his fault. He was the one who'd driven the wedge between them, the one who'd taken time away with the bullshit excuses. All because he was too chickenshit to take a chance.

He met Nancy's gaze and tried to ignore the sympathetic expression on her face.

"Thanks."

She gave him a sad smile and squeezed his arm before walking away.

Aidan grabbed his phone and dialed a number, speaking before giving his friend a chance to respond after answering the call. "Tell me you're with him."

Bull's laugh echoed through the line. "He's as stubborn as you are. He can tell me to go away all he wants, but that's not his call. I'm at his apartment building now. I can monitor the main entrance and parking garage from my location."

"Thanks," he said before disconnecting the call. Aidan rubbed his chest to fight off the sudden ache. He couldn't be angry at anyone but himself for the distance he'd shoved between them. Jessie was simply granting him the space he had—in not so many words—demanded. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks to stop fidgeting. He surveyed the staff as they ran through the hallway, oblivious to anything around them other than the clipboards in their hands. So much had changed in the last two weeks. The staff shifts had adjusted and so had most of the familiar faces. He felt out of place. He took a deep breath and fisted the hands in his pockets. He looked upward and blew out a deep breath, hoping for some sign or guidance on what he should do next.

He thought of Jessie and the look in his steady, warm, caring blue eyes. Always strong, always supportive…always patient. There was nothing he wanted more in the world than to be with Jessie, but the fear, the pain, and all the other crap that circled in his mind kept his walls firmly in place.
Fuck it
. He withdrew his hands from his pockets and tugged on the cuffs of his shirt. He worked his way out of the hospital and jumped in his SUV. He turned the key and made his way onto the expressway, absently passing each exit without a second thought before finally taking an exit. He shook his head and scoffed at himself for being so stubborn. Even though he sat behind the wheel, a fundamental need to be near Jessie drove his actions.

* * * *

"You can't just lock me out," Jessie said, still trying to take in enough air to settle his breathing. The two flights of stairs had seemed like a climb up Mount Everest. His good arm was numb from firmly holding the crutch and the ache under his armpit a clear sign the crutch had left its mark. Hobbling around was bad enough, but climbing the steps with the cast on his lower leg felt like lugging around an iron weight wrapped around his muscles. He couldn't seem to catch his breath or settle the current of pain radiating in his shoulders and arm.

"Mr. Vargas, I don't have a choice," the building maintenance man said. "I was asked to change the locks. I put the personal stuff I found in the apartment in the box and stored it in my office for you so I could give it to you when you arrived."

Jessie leaned against the wall for balance and tried to steady his shaking hands. "I've lived here for years and you still don't know my name? It's Vega. And you can't just pack my things in a box and kick me out. I've been current with the rent and you have no legal justification for evicting me." He looked down at the medium-sized box holding his belongings. How had his life been reduced to a box no bigger than one of the banker's boxes he used for case files?

"I'm sorry, sir. It wasn't my decision," the pudgy man said in a broken accent.

"Who decided?"

"The board made that decision," a new man said as he walked up the stairs.

Jessie glanced over to the man in the suit as he stood alongside the shorter, stockier maintenance man. "And you are?"

"I'm the building manager, and I asked Mr. Gonzalez to call me when you returned. You have a safety hazard clause in your lease agreement that has been violated so we executed remedies we've been granted in such instances."

"The board is kicking me out?" Jessie absently asked, trying to mentally recall the term from his lease. "Safety hazard?"

"We haven't had a break-in or crime reported in this building. Your…situation has caused a great deal of safety concerns among the other tenants. And to be quite candid, they voiced their opinions during our last meeting. We were left with no choice but to remedy the situation."

"You think the person who did this to me is going to wreak havoc on
all
your tenants or suddenly lead to a rise in your precious building crime statistics? That's ridiculous. Your elevator is broken, and I had to climb up the stairs and risk falling. Now
that's
a safety hazard that can affect your tenants!" He clenched his fists and instantly winced at the spark of pain in his hand.

"Sir," the suited man said, not caring to hide his distaste. "The board met this month and formally made the decision. I instructed Mr. Gonzalez to change the locks and to contact me when you arrived. I did not, however, ask him to put your items in a box." He turned to the smaller man and delivered a chastising look.

The shorter man reddened.

Jessie closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could legally fight this, but that wouldn't resolve the problem right now. Besides, he certainly didn't want to live where he wasn't wanted. He had already done that in life and it never ended well.

"What's going on?" 

Jessie turned at the familiar voice, trying to avoid making eye contact with Aidan as he walked up the stairs, but nothing could keep his focus from shifting back to those piercing hazel eyes.

Aidan reached the top of the stairs and stood next to Jessie. "Are you okay? You should have called me," he whispered.

He should have. He'd wanted to. But he was trying to respect the distance Aidan obviously needed. He looked into his box and his breath hitched when he saw the photo of them with the glass cracked. He closed his eyes as the tightness in his throat suffocated him. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
I'm sorry I didn't call you. I'm sorry I couldn't take care of this on my own. I'm sorry—

"Don't apologize. None of this is your fault."

In the midst of the pleading expression in Aidan's hazel eyes, there was regret, frustration and…a slight openness that hadn't been there in the last two weeks.

"Tell me what's going on," Aidan said.

"They're evicting me."

Aidan's focus snapped to the two men. "If you want to evict him, you need to follow the law."

The suited man straightened. "The board agreed—"

Aidan took a step closer to the building manager. "I don't care what the
board
agreed to. You can't strong-arm him out onto the street. He's been paying his rent so—"

Jessie reached out and placed his hand on Aidan's arm. "I'm not staying."

Aidan turned to Jessie, the questioning expression in his eyes transitioned to understanding. No doubt Aidan would suspect he wouldn't want to be where he wasn't welcomed. "Do you have a place to go?"

Did he? Not really, he hadn't thought that far ahead yet. Maybe Cole would take him in, but he wasn't sure being in Cole's domain was a good decision. Who knew what Cole with his beanie and superhero undies, or lack thereof, would do under his own roof.

He turned to the two men. "Is my car still in the parking garage?"

Mr. Gonzalez winced. "It was impounded after the board decision."

"Jess?" Aidan prompted.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Screw it. He'd call another cab. He couldn't let all this beat him down. "I'll call the hotel on—"

"You're staying with me."

"I can't," he whispered. If Aidan wanted distance between them, there was no way this would work. Aidan was a protector by nature. He'd offer his home even if that meant pitching a cot at the precinct to avoid him.

Aidan leaned in and forced Jessie to make eye contact. "Please."

Now he understood the power of that little word.
Dammit
. It was no wonder Aidan always caved when he used it. There was nothing he wanted more than to be near Aidan, in his personal space, to hear his voice and see that rare smile that brightened his entire being. He met Aidan's gaze. He would never deny Aidan anything. Ever. He cocked his head slightly. He could swear the openness had returned and stared back at him, not the coldness that had recently dulled the life in Aidan's eyes. If that slight gap was in his iron wall, then dammit, Jessie was going to take that chance and squeeze through that tiny opening.

He nodded.

"Good," Aidan said. He pointed to the box on the floor between them. "What about the rest of your stuff?"

Jessie faced the building manager again. "What did you do with my clothes?"

The building manager turned to Mr. Gonzalez.

"I left them there." The paunchy man shrugged.

Aidan took a deep breath, obviously trying to control his temper. He turned to Jessie. "What about furniture, appliances, anything else?"

Jessie shook his head. "The apartment was furnished, so that stays. The bedroom set was mine but…I don't want it anymore after what happened. I've only got the microwave and my office desk, but I don't care. Leave it. I want my clothes. In my closet and in the dresser drawers. I just…want to go," he finished quietly, looking down, hoping to avoid Aidan's piercing gaze.

"You're going to open that door and let me in there to grab anything that he's mentioned is his property. You'll pitch whatever the hell Jessie didn't want to keep considering you've already taken certain liberties. And you're going to refund the rent he's paid since he's left."

"We're not refunding the rent. We haven't been able to rent the apartment and he's still committed to the term of his lease."

Jessie took a deep breath trying to calm his frustration.

Aidan reached into his jacket and withdrew his badge, holding it up to the suited man's face. "Care to repeat that?"

The man's Adam's apple bobbed. "I…" He cleared his throat and tugged his suit jacket. "I can ensure the last payment is refunded considering that's when the board reached their decision. And…and we can officially release Mr. Vega from the financial responsibility for the remaining months."

"And you're going to prepare a letter to that effect officially terminating the lease. You're also going to include the parking and maintenance fees he's paid from the date the board reached their decision. And you're going to pay the fees from impounding his vehicle. Now nod your head in agreement before I haul you and your sidekick in for unlawful eviction, harassment, breaking and entering, and anything else I can think of on the way to the precinct."