Thrive (17 page)

I was sitting on the sofa in silence, dressed in pyjamas and a Curtis’ sweater from the back of the bathroom door, staring out at the city with a hot cup of tea, when Jesse emerged from the bedroom and sat opposite me.

“Jesse the Gentleman,” he said, extending his hand towards me.

“Skye.” I took his hand. “Is he okay?”

“Yes. I’ve given him a mild sedative and something butt-kicking for the pain. He’ll be out for a while. I’ve packed out the wound, but he’ll need you to replace the dressing. The medication will make him…spacey. But it’s all I had left in the box. I’ll re-stock when I can.”

“And Curtis happens to have medical equipment, sedatives and kickass painkillers lying around the house?”

“Something tells me you’re not shocked to discover that.”

I shrugged in response. I wasn’t, and I knew whatever connection Jesse and Curtis had, it went far beyond Jesse’s ability to shove gauze in open wounds. Why was it even the done thing?

“He needed you,” I said, meeting his gaze and assessing his body language. He gave nothing away – he was a closed book. “He’s needed you for a long time.”

“I know.” He laced his fingers together and one leg began to bounce. “I got his messages.”

“So why, if you’re his friend, would you leave him and ignore him when you knew he needed you here?”

“Things happen, Skye, and it’s better if we go our separate ways for a while.” When his eyes met mine, I saw the pain I hadn’t seen before. “I’m in hiding.”

“From what?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet.”

“We can help you.”

We had enough on our own shoulders, but whatever it was that Jesse and Curtis shared, it was mine, too. He felt like family; Curtis would offer our help without a second thought, so I would, too.

“There are things I have to find out first,” he answered, with what would have been a soft smile, were it not for the darkness that swirled in his eyes, and the sense of haunted detachment that tainted his voice. “And I get the feeling you and Curtis have your own answers to find, now that you’re back together.”

“He needs you here. There are things he won't let me help with. He thinks I’m too weak to save us.”

“He doesn’t think that,” Jesse muttered, getting to his feet. “You’re
his
weakness. He’s vulnerable because of you.”

I stared blankly at him, blinking once to let his words settled. He tossed a slip of paper on the table and moved out of view. When I tucked the sheet of aftercare instructions into the pocket of the sweater and stood to find Jesse, he was moving closer to the front door.

“You’re leaving him,” I said as his hand froze above the handle.

“Our paths will cross again.” He opened the door and shot a look over his shoulder at me. I didn’t know if it was hatred, or pity, just that it made me uncomfortable, like I was under assessment. “But for now, I'm dead. I’m a ghost and you have a mission to complete. Don’t be his weakness, Skye. He’s going to need you to patch up the wounds impossible for me to reach.”

He nodded once. It wasn’t a look of empathy or hatred, or the distrust I was worried about. It was a look of alliance.

I nodded in return, pledging my loyalty to Curtis, to our mission, and to Jesse – to help him when we’d fixed what was broken here, and scattered the ashes of our past. The three of us were a team, bound by our hunger for the truth.

“Until then, Skillet.”

“Just say the word.”

He left and the sound of the door closing echoed around the apartment before silence descended.

I got to my feet and went to Curtis. He was sleeping, patched up, wrapped up and safe. Someone attacked us. Someone wanted to hurt Curtis and just needed me out of the way. I had to find out who and why.

As I bent down to pick up our blood-soaked clothes, a piece of paper fell from his pocket and fluttered to the floor. I picked it up and turned it over; the word ‘
snap
’ was written diagonally across it and a red kiss stained the corner. There was only one person who wore red lipstick.

And she was going to pay.

Even now I felt nothing. The darkness moved in and I was allowed to sleep, but my mind wouldn’t let up. I was trapped somewhere between being alive and being blissfully unconscious. Sleep brought dreams, but my dreams were never nice. They weren’t even nightmares – they were an alternative reality, and they only cropped up to tell me I’d failed. I always failed. I was supposed to be the knight in shining armour, swooping in to save my princess from the fire-breathing dragon. Instead I was trapped, in a sedated body, with no choice but to listen to the sobs of my damsel in distress as she fought through the darkness alone and tried to come up with the next phase of the mission.

~Curtis~

It was early morning when I made my decision. I’d sat for the last three hours, holding another bedside vigil, as Curtis slept, and dreamt, and cried out in pain both physical and mental. I didn’t touch him, or call for him to rouse from sleep; Jesse had given him enough medication to keep him comfortable, so all I could do was let him sleep and allow the dreams to fade away in their own time. When they’d gone, I was left in silence, with only the sound of my teeth, chattering as I shook with rage, to keep me company.

When I couldn’t take anymore, I grabbed Curtis’ phone from where it sat on the bedside cabinet, left the room and crossed the apartment to the spare bedroom at the other end. I hadn’t stepped foot in here before; there was no question I’d be sleeping with Curtis, in his bed, and I wondered why he had an extra room in the first place. I doubted Charlie slept in another room. The thought of it brought the anger to return in full force. I slumped onto the plush double bed in the centre of the room and called the number Curtis had for Charlie.

“I wondered when you’d come running back,” she answered.

“Do you ever fight your own battles?”

“You.”

“Yes, me. Hello, Charlie,” I said with a sarcastic humour and crossed one leg over the other. “When will you get it? You’re not getting anywhere near him.”

“I think tonight has proven I can do whatever I want.”

“No you can't. I’m assuming it wasn’t
you
who plunged the blade into him.”

“Stop…”

I didn’t.

“I’m assuming it wasn’t you who stood by while he fell to the floor bleeding out and gasping for air.”

She sucked in a shattered breath. I felt sick. I didn’t want to relive tonight, but she didn’t know he’d survived. She had no idea if she’d played a part in his murder and I intended to keep it that way.

“Were you there to see the look in his eyes when death approached and tried to steal him away?” Silence was all I got. “Answer me.”

“No.”

“Was it you, Charlie? Did you have to wash the knife of his blood and scrub your hands clean?”

“Is he…?”

“Did you?”

“No.”

Her voice cracked and a sob squeaked through the phone. It was too late for remorse, and I wasn’t buying it.

“No, because you paid someone to do your dirty work, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Because you’re a coward.” She didn’t respond. I knew she wouldn’t. She wasn’t about to admit to anything other than her own perfection. “I think it’s about time you did something for yourself.”

“What are you talking about?” she spat, getting over her moment of humanity and allowing the witch to return. “You have no say here.”

“Oh, I believe I do.” I knew I’d got her. And I was going to ruin her. “I’ll be texting you an address and a time. If you don’t turn up, I’ll find you. Charlie, I will find you.”

I ended the call and tossed the phone to the bed as I fell back and closed my eyes, just for a second…

It was almost midday when I woke up and rushed out of the room to Curtis. He was awake and lying in bed with his iPad.

“Jesse knew I’d get bored,” he smirked and tossed the tablet aside.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, perching on the edge of the bed and handing him a glass of water.

“Like I’ve been ploughed down by an eighteen-wheeler.” The concern returned when he tried to move and froze in pain. “What happened?”

“Charlie,” I said, handing him the paper. “We shouldn’t be living a life where it’s a game of
Guess Who
trying to find out who tried to kill you.”

Curtis took a sip of water. “She didn’t try to kill me. She does this. She knows I’ll get back up.”

“She’s done this before?”

“Just to check I’m still with her. She’s never attacked me, though.” His eyes welled up and he squeezed them shut as a tear escaped and ran down his cheek. I stroked it away with emotion of my own halting my next breath. My poor, lost animal. “This is all fucking with my head, Skye.”

“I know, baby,” I soothed, stroking his hair away from his face.

“Snap,” he murmured. “Snap.”

“Does it mean something?”

“Charlie’s a violinist. She says I’m like her violin. She uses me to make music – or steal from people, but she’s in control, not me. She told me once that all it would take is a little pressure from her and I’ll snap…like the strings on her violin.”

I sighed and squeezed the bridge of my nose. “I think this may be my fault.”

“It was inevitable.”

“I saw her,” I confessed. “The night you were at Joe’s, she came here looking for you and I…I was less than passive.”

“You were with her?” His body stiffened. “Without me?” I nodded and chewed my bottom lip. “Fuck. What happened?”

“I told her you were mine. She threatened me and I told her to bring it on.”

“Jesus, Skye.”

“I know. I’m so sorry.”

“What if she’d have hurt you? What if you hadn’t survived?”

“I’ll survive anything if I have you.”

He relaxed and winced, rolling his eyes closed to wait for the pain to subside.

“No more, okay?”  He reached out to cup my face and I nuzzled into his hand. “Leave Charlie to me.”

“You need to rest. We have Phillip to deal with.” We shared a look as the dark thoughts we’d temporarily pushed aside crept back in. “I have some things to do today. Can you use your iPad to search for Geoff’s aftercare? We have to get him the best.”

“Yeah, we do. Where’s Jesse?”

“He had to go. We’ll see him again soon.”

“Is he okay?”

I smiled with more confidence than I possessed. “He will be. I’ll have my phone. Just call me if you need me.”

I kissed his forehead and held my lips there to inhale the scent that was my own personal opiate. I was about to betray him and if he ever found out, this may have been the last time I’d get to kiss him. I pushed the tears aside, grabbed another new outfit and slipped into the main bathroom. I couldn’t look at him or I’d snap, like the strings on Charlie Alexander Tattersell’s violin.

***

“Skye!”

To say Geoff was surprised to see me was an understatement. He paled further than I ever thought possible and terror flashed across his tired eyes as he took in my appearance – training equipment from the shop down the street from the gym.

“Geoff, I need a trainer. I need a crash course in kicking ass.”

“I can't,” he coughed. “Curtis will kill me before the Big C gets a chance to.”

My heart clenched and dread settled in my stomach. I wasn’t just betraying Curtis, I was asking Geoff to, too. But there was no time for guilt or second guessing.

“Please.”

“Curtis made his wishes quite clear. He doesn’t want you in the ring.”

The creaking doors of the lift behind me caught my attention and I looked over to see Benny enter the gym. His eyes locked on me and he grinned wickedly. I winked. I was about to use him as much as he was me.

“Benny will do,” I said, turning back to Geoff.

“You’re treading dangerous ground.”

“So was the person who stabbed Curtis last night.”

His eyes widened in shock, but he didn’t ask questions; he knew he could plead the fifth later, if he kept quiet now. I nodded my acknowledgment and turned around to walk towards Benny. He tossed his things to the side and climbed into the ring.

“If you touch me, in any way other than to teach me, you’re done,” I said stepping between the ropes he held open and pointing at his swollen and bruised nose. “Understood?”

“I'm smart enough to know when the lady is calling the shots.”

He held out a pair of worn gloves and helped me put them on. Head and mouth guards came next, and I was soon in the middle of the ring, standing opposite Benny, who wore nothing but a pair of navy blue shorts; no shoes, a smooth stomach and chest, leaner and softer than Curtis, but when he flexed and stretched, throwing punches into the air, I found myself staring.

“You can lick it if you want,” Benny said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. My gloved fist hit his chest with a huff and he grunted, laughing. “Easy.” He raised his hands in defence. “So, boss, what do you need?”

“I’m going to Joe’s tonight. I need to win.” His face dropped and he stepped back, shaking his head. “Don’t pretend you care. Either you help me or I go in there unprepared.”

He hesitated and I wondered if maybe he did give a shit, when his tight expression remained clouded with conflict. I wouldn’t let the fear in. I couldn’t. There was no time. I smiled, realising he didn’t give a shit when two ripped arms folded over his chest and he cocked a brow. He was up for the challenge.

“First lesson…take the gloves off.”