Harley’s Achilles(22)

“Hey, Mama. How are you?”

“Your father is not doing so good. He would like to see you.”

I looked back at the emergency room doors. Shit. I couldn’t leave Harley, but there was no way I wasn’t going to see my father.

“I’ll be there, Mama. Just give me a few days. I’ll be coming with Harley.”

“Oh, I would very much like to meet this man. You make him sound very funny.”

“Oh, yeah, he’s a barrel of laughs, Mama.”

“I am looking forward to seeing you. So is your father.”

“I’ll see you soon. I’ll send you all the info as soon as I know what day and time. Love you, Mama.”

“Love you, Achilles.”

I hung up and groaned, staring up at the night sky. This wouldn’t be easy. Harley was as stubborn as a fucking mule. He needed to get the fuck out of Dodge for a while; and after his accident, I knew I could talk Stan and the guys into letting me take him. My mother would dote on him and my father would keep him busy. Now I just had to figure out how I was going to get him to come with me. I headed back into the hospital and into Harley’s room. A nurse was checking his IV bag and his vitals. Harley was out, sleeping peacefully.

“Did you give him something?” I asked the nurse.

“Yes, we gave him a mild sedative after the ‘incident.’” She used her fingers to imply invisible quotation marks. “He was extremely upset.”

“Yeah, I got that.” I nodded, taking Harley’s hand.

“Are you his boyfriend?” she asked.

Gareth snickered in the chair next to the bed and I shot him a look.

“I’m his bodyguard,” I informed her.

“Lucky guy.” She winked as she left.

“The way you acted, I’d have thought you were his boyfriend, too.” Gareth reclined in the chair with a yawn.

“He scared the shit out of me. Rebel and I were talking about Holden, how we knew he’d have left Harley a letter. According to Harley, his parents never gave him one. I know for a fact Holden would have written one. We all have to in case we die.”

“I agree, Holden would have written a letter.”

We both turned to see Jinx in the doorway. He walked over to the bed and caressed Harley’s cheek.

“There’s no way in hell Holden wouldn’t have written Harley a goodbye letter. They were as close as Gareth and Ransom.” Jinx sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. “Those fucking assholes.”

“I need to take Harley out of here,” I announced. “I’m going to Greece to see my parents, I want to take Harley with me.”

“I think it’s a good idea.” Gareth nodded. “Get him out of here for a bit.”

“He could have died tonight,” Jinx said, his voice a little shaky. “What the fuck was he thinking?” Jinx leaned in to Harley’s ear. “Don’t do that shit again.”

“How long are you here, Jinx?” I asked.

“As long as he needs me. London Boys are wrapping up their tour, but if you’re taking him to Greece, I’ll go back to be with Jayden. You’ll take good care of Harley, right?”

“Don’t I always?”

Jinx turned to look at me. “I trust you, Achilles. Do what’s best for Harley.”

“I intend to.”





~*~

By late afternoon, the doctor was releasing Harley. He looked a little banged up, but he was walking on his own. I still held him around his waist as I helped him into the waiting wheelchair. He gave me the stink eye as he sat down.

“Not my rules,” I explained.

I hadn’t talked to him about leaving with me yet. I wanted to get him home before we sat down and talked about it. My truck was waiting out front as I wheeled Harley out of the hospital. I helped him in and then shut his door, turning to find the nurse there with a smile and a bag of Harley’s belongings.

“You take good care of our guy, yes?” She grinned.

“Of course.” I took the bag and gave her my best smile.

Harley was looking out the passenger window as I got in and pulled out of the hospital. After five minutes of silence on the drive, I finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“Harley?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you okay?”

“Oh yeah, sure. I busted my brother’s motorcycle and ended up in the E.R. where my dad went bat shit crazy and slapped me. I’m all good.”

“Holden’s motorcycle is not busted. I had it sent to a garage. It will be perfect when they’re done with it.”

“Yeah, right,” Harley snorted.

“Don’t you trust me, Harley?”

Harley turned in the seat to look at me. I glanced over at him and was shocked to see a look of anger on his face.