Leader: Book Three (Princes of Prophecy 3) (14 page)

I nod. “I’m not Brother.”

An hour later I’m holding Teller, Jeremy has Phoenix, and we’re walking to our new room. Dakota is still holding onto Lily. The nurses follow us in with bassinets and put them beside Lily’s bed. I thank them and put Teller on Lily’s shoulder with my hand on his back. Jeremy goes around the other side and moves her arm putting Phoenix against her. His hand goes to Lily’s arm. He looks at Dakota and smiles.

I can feel the energy. My dad stands beside me with his hand on my back. I jump holding us all together and soar over the reservation.

“Little Ben.”

I open my eyes. My hand is still on Teller. Jeremy is holding Phoenix and Lily is still sleeping. I turn toward Uncle Danny he has two bottles in his hand. “The boys need to eat.” I nod and lift Teller. I put him in the bassinet and take the bottles. I change him then tell Jeremy to put Phoenix in so I can change him. Once that’s done I wash my hands and give Jeremy a bottle and Phoenix. I pick up Teller and feed him.

“Is Phoenix okay now Jeremy?”

He smiles. “Yeah, he’s good.”

Dakota helps Aubrey onto the bed and she lays her head on Lily’s shoulder. My dad and Uncle Danny leave and Brenda comes in crying. Marty is right behind her, she gives me a hug and goes to Lily and Aubrey.

I look at Brenda. “This is Teller and Jeremy has Phoenix. He named him Phoenix because we lost him, but Jeremy wouldn’t let him go. He held him and now the little guy is doing okay.” I have no fuckin’ clue how to give her what she needs, but talking to her seems to help.

She comes closer and kisses Teller’s head. “They’re okay?”

“They’re good,” Jeremy says.

She takes a deep breath. “And Lily?” Jeremy looks at Phoenix.

I clear my throat. “They were waiting on some tests.”

She looks away and nods. Aubrey calls her over to the bed and I breathe easier. Jesus. I look at Jeremy and know he won’t answer so I don’t ask. I’m not letting her go.

No one asks to hold the boys. Everyone pops in and leaves, but doesn’t even try for them until my mom comes in. She takes Teller right out of my arms and kisses his head then mine. “Who is this?”

“Teller. Jeremy has Phoenix.” I’m so fuckin’ relieved she’s holding him. I don’t feel so alone right at this moment.

“I guess I have Phoenix.” Kate does the same thing to Jeremy kissing Phoenix then him.

“The doctor talked to Danny. He can tell you what’s going on while he takes you for dinner. Your father is waiting outside.” I look at Aubrey sleeping on the bed.

Making my feet move I kiss my boys then Lily. Walking out I think the only way to fix this is with as much information as I can get. The steps get easier. The waiting room is filled with MC and Princes. I thank everyone for coming and my dad hugs me. I don’t want to let him go, but I do. I need to do this as the man he raised me to be. I ask Chet to get Jeremy back to the Compound. Uncle Danny takes my arm and pulls me to the elevator.

In the cafeteria he sits and says a Prospect is bringing food. I sit. “What did the doctor say?”

“They’re doing another test in a few minutes. It’s to check the swelling around her brain. If she needs it, they will drain it again. She’s in a coma right now. It is not medically induced. With the swelling they can’t predict if there is any brain damage. She wasn’t breathing on her own when she came out of surgery. They will do a test to see if she’s able to breathe without the machine. They had to take the boys because she was in labor and the smaller boy...”

“Phoenix. His name is Phoenix.” For some reason I feel it’s important for him to have a name.

He nods. “Phoenix’s heart stopped. They didn’t expect both to make it.” I clench my jaw and take a deep breath. “Now I’m going to tell you what I think you need to know. Both boys made it and Phoenix is doing fine. You have Jeremy to make sure that everything possible and impossible is done for them. Doctors always give you worst case. Lily didn’t have any other damage to her other than the hit to the head. Alex said the blade bounced and hit her. It didn’t fall on her. That’s a lot less force. She can come out of the coma at any time. So many things might happen, but they might not. Focus on what you know and what you can do right now. You’ll drive yourself crazy with what might be. Stick with what you know and what you need to do. Plan and adjust.”

I take that all in and go over it again. The Prospect shows and puts trays in front of us. I’m still going over what I know. He’s right I need to stick with what I know. The doctors don’t know what Jeremy, Tess, Aubrey and Dakota are capable of. I’ll do what I need to, plan for what is necessary and adjust to the new information as needed. I open the tray and breathe deep. Meatloaf. My dad laughs. “Knew it.”

Uncle Danny looks at me. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll stick with what I know.” I start eating. He nods and devours his food. He must have come down before he ate.

Back in the room Lily is gone. “Tests,” my mom says.

I nod and take Teller. Jessie has Phoenix. “Did Chet come for Jeremy?” He nods.

“Brenda and Racks took Marty and Aubrey back too. Visiting hours are over. We didn’t want to push too far.” My mom smiles at me.

I laugh. “Cloud was walking around the NICU like he owned it. He brought Aubrey in. Jeremy was in surgery. I’m pretty sure we broke every fuckin’ rule they have.”

Jessie laughs and Kate kisses his head. “We’ll be at the house if you need us.”

She takes my mom’s hand and pulls her away. “Thanks Mom, Kate. I didn’t realize I was hungry until I saw the food.”

My mom blows me a kiss and gets pulled out the door. I shake my head. “I hope we’re as good as they are.”

“Yeah.”

“I have them Brother, you’ve been going forever.”

He shakes his head. “I slept earlier. I’m your Security. Pres through Darren has you covered until all the players are picked up. There’s some big money that’s pissed right now. All the reports aren’t in yet so we may have new shit brewing.”

Fuck. Just what I need right now. “Lily?”

“Jake is with her.” I breathe easier. “Your boys are like mine. No fussing unless they’re hungry.”

I smile down at my little man. “Yeah.”

“I’m not leaving her.” It’s taking everything in me to keep that hold on her and keep functioning normally. I’m not giving up and I’m not giving in.

Brenda has tears in her eyes. “I can stay.”

“You already do. You’re here in the day and I’m here at night. I’m not leaving her. I’ll get a nurse to stay with her at the house. I’ll stay here with the boys. I’ll do any fuckin’ thing but leave her.”

“She needs hospital care. She still has pressure that’s being drained,” the doctor says.

“Then I’m staying. I don’t need the nurses checking on the boys. I’ve done everything for them without help from the minute I held them. They’re healthy and strong. They can stay with me.”

He walks out pissed. Brenda just looks at me. “I am not leaving her. She needs to know we’re here. She’s going to get that from me. I have no problem with you staying in the day, but I’ll be here until she’s ready to come home.”

“She could have brain damage. They’re draining blood from her brain.” Tears are running down her face.

I put my hand up. “I’m not doing this. My boy died, he’s here and healthy. She’s still here and she’s breathing on her own. Nothing is written and I will not spend one fuckin’ minute of my time on a maybe. I’ll wait and deal with whatever the fuck happens when I need to, but I will not let her go and I am not leaving her.”

She walks out. Dakota looks at me. “I will not say anything that gets me kicked out too.”

I laugh and kiss Phoenix’s head.

“Today is the day little man. You ready for this?” I slide his little shoe on. I don’t know why I bother, it’s going to be off and lost in the next ten minutes.

I hear the door and turn. “You ready Brother?”

“Yeah.” I pick up Teller and my dad takes Phoenix. Orderlies push the gurney out and we follow. Jessie gets in the ambulance and we get the boys in their seats in the truck. I follow them to the house.

Jake opens the door and Samantha comes down the stairs. “Everything is ready.”

“Thank you.” She came down to set up what we need. I had no fuckin’ clue what Lily would require, but she’s not going to some center that we can’t be in. My dad helps me get my boys in, we go right to the room. Fuck. It’s like the hospital room with the same kind of bed, a machine that does the heart stuff and a metal cabinet that I’m guessing holds the supplies she needs. “I don’t want her in here, Dad. She needs to be with her own things in our room.” I put Teller’s seat on the bed.

“Need a minute.” He walks out. I get Phoenix from the chair and put him by Teller.

I hear the gurney rolling downstairs. My dad comes back. “Move the bed.” I push it toward him and we move it to our room. He moved the chair and a dresser so the bed can go against the wall. I put the boys on our bed and go back to get the machine. My dad has the cabinet and puts it against the foot of the bed. I plug the machine in at the top of the bed.

“It’s not pretty, but it’s better.”

He nods. “It’s right.”

Samantha laughs. I walk to the door. “I like this better. Sorry. She needs to be in her room.”

She smiles. “It’s perfect. Let’s get her on the bed and I’ll hook up her monitor.”

I start taking the belts off her and Jake helps. I lift her and carry her to the bed with Jake following holding a bag and the IV. Samantha does her thing while I get the boys unclipped. When she’s done I put the boys on each side of her. They’re all sleeping. It’s a good picture.

Samantha talks to the nurse and gives me a hug. “Call me if you need me.”

“I will, thanks for doing this.”

Jake slaps my back and takes Samantha’s hand walking out. My dad watches the nurse. She checks everything and writes shit on an iPad that will send everything to Nick and Samantha. When she’s done she starts for the door. “You come in when you need to and do whatever she needs.”

She nods smiling at me. “I’ll take good care of her Mr. Knight.”

“Thank you.” Phoenix starts moving around so I pick him up. It must be time to eat. I take Teller in my other arm and my dad takes Phoenix from me. “I got them Dad. I’ve been doing it right along.”

“Yeah. You’re good. Not alone now, so I can help.”

I laugh following him out. We get the boys fed and changed. I go to the office and sit them in the seats I had brought in. My dad laughs. “I could carry their seats all over or have them in the rooms I need. I got four sets so I wouldn’t be looking for them.”

“Where’d the trailer go?”

I look from the computer to him. “The Center. The stuff from the family is in their room. The Princes all got them cards. Joey started an account so we’re not dealing with truckloads of shit every holiday and birthday.”

He nods. “Brothers are fuckin’ crazy. Cards are better.”

“Yeah.”

“Will send food later. Danny’s cookin’.”

“Thanks Dad.”

He doesn’t move. “Proud of you. Still runnin’ your Club. Got two boys to care for. Lily. You’re doin’ it right.”

I get up and hug him. “I’m doing it how you taught me to. I love you Dad.”

“Love you too, Son.” He turns and walks out. I smile. It always feels good to get that from him.

I get back to work. When I get to the weekly reports, I hear the nurse moving around upstairs. I take the boys and visit with Lily for a while. I tell her about everyone helping to get her home. The nurse empties a bag that’s got urine in it and it bothers me. I want to carry her to the bathroom again. I shake it off and tell her about the boys making weird noises when they’re apart. When I’m done I take them back to the office and finish my work for the day.

Alex comes over to help get the boys a bath and fed. He’s good with them and likes to help. I was surprised when he showed at the hospital. He told me he was good with babies and showed me pictures of him with the babies on his phone. He’s been helping ever since. He leaves when Nick shows.

“Samantha said everything went perfect.” He follows me upstairs carrying Teller.

“Yeah. The nurse has been in to see her every hour.” I smile at her coming out of my room.

I take Phoenix in while Nick’s talking to her. I put him on the bed and he makes his little noise. Nick comes in fast. “Sorry, I forgot I had him.” He puts Teller beside him and watches them.

I laugh. “They aren’t hurt; they’re just looking for each other.”

“It’s fuckin’ weird.” When he sees they’re fine he turns taking the iPad out of the holder on the machine. “Everything looks good.” He checks her anyway. There’s no bandage anymore so all there is for him is checking her vitals. “You have a therapist coming daily.”

“Yeah, I helped at the hospital too. I’ll keep it up.” He nods. I liked doing something besides sitting and talking to her. It’s a good way to keep my hands on her, my mind busy and her muscles moving.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He man hugs me and walks out.

Everyone is afraid to talk about her. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing until something changes, whether they want to hear it or not. I smile. “I like you being right here. The hospital room was starting to look like an office. I bet it feels good to be here to you too.” I get the boys out and put them on each side of her then pull the sheet off her. “I love that shirt.” I smile. She’s always in my shirts because that’s all I brought for her. I sit at the end of the bed and hold her feet moving her legs like she’s riding a bike. The boys watch so I tell them what this is all about. They seem pretty alert for being early. I can’t remember Jessie’s boys this young. Taylor lets me know he’s here. I finish her bike ride and fix her sheet. “I’m going to the porch babe. I’ll be back in a little while.”

I put the boys to bed liking them in their own room. “It came out nice Brother,” Darren says.

“Yeah.” I turn away and hit the lights switching from the overhead to the low lights. Everything glows.

We head down the back stairs and right out to the porch. Taylor and Jessie are already here with a beer for me and Darren. “Feels good to be home.”

“I bet. There’s no patio at the hospital,” Jessie says.

Taylor laughs. “Or beer.”

I smile. It feels good to have this again. They all have questions about Lily, but they don’t ask so I just start answering them.

“For as long as it takes Jessie.”

“Nothing has changed. There’s no pressure, but they’ll do tests again in a week. She has activity but she’s still in the coma.”

“Yeah they said it could be years or days. I’m not looking at anything but what I have right now.”

Darren looks at me. “We don’t ask because we know you can see it. If you want to talk we’re here. If you don’t we get it.”

I look away blinking. “Yeah.” They always have my back. Lily has never been a subject open for discussion so I guess this isn’t any different. They are all happy I’m home and this will be easier on me. I let it go and just watch the water.

“Are you and Dakota good for tomorrow Jessie?”

“Yeah. Your mom has the boys; Hyde is on the compound with regular Security. Dakota isn’t thrilled, but he’s got Ops. We’ll be fine.”

I smile at that; Dakota always says he’ll be fine. “We’ll be back by noon and I’ll let Dakota go. He’s fuckin’ good on Ops, I don’t know why he doesn’t like it.”

Darren laughs but Taylor answers. “It’s fuckin’ boring. You’re chained to a console watching the same feeds all fuckin’ day.”

“You run four hour shifts. All fuckin’ day.” Jessie cracks up.

“Feels like all day.” They start bantering back and forth and I look at Darren.

‘You didn’t miss much.’ He’s thinking.

I can’t help but laugh. It feels fuckin’ good to be home. I look at the water and think about sleeping with her on my chest. It’s been too long and I can’t wait to get her there. She needs to feel me holding on to her with my arms not just in the spirit world.