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Chapter One Hundred-One
Point of View: AJ


Before Zoe woke up, Kayla and I played Boggle for like five hours in the little room after the hug. For those hours, it kind of felt like we were sitting at home in the living room, like nothing crazy was going on around us. It didn't feel like we were in a hospital, or like we were worrying about Nick being in jail. It didn't feel like the world was on our shoulders. It just felt like we were having fun.

"Did you get the word pickles?" she asked.

"Where the hell do you see pickles?" I demanded, looking at the board, confused.

She took the end of her pencil and tapped out the blocks that spelled her stupid long-ass word. I frowned. I had pick but not pickles.

"Damn," I muttered, adding up my score. She'd blown me out of the water again. Playing Boggle with Kayla was way harder than playing it against the fellas. Especially Nick.

Kayla grinned, "You had enough yet?"

"Enough of getting my ass kicked by a woman?" I asked, laughing. "Bring it on." Kayla picked up the board and put the plastic cover on it, and started shaking it to reset the tiles.

Suddenly, a nurse stuck her head into the room. "Excuse me," she said, "Are you here with Zoe Sinclare?" she asked. Kayla dropped the game and nodded attentively.

"We're fairly certain she's about to wake up," she explained.

Kayla looked at me.

"Well, let's go," I said, sliding my chair back and standing up. I picked up the two breakfast trays - which were amazingly empty considering the amount of food I'd gotten - and dumped out what little bits of trash and food particles there were left into the trash.

Kayla jumped up, too, and we left Boggle behind to follow the nurse back to Zoe's room. I hovered nervously behind Kayla.

As Kayla entered the room, I walked in behind her, unsure I should’ve come all the way to the hospital room. I couldn’t picture Zoe wanting me there, particularly after she’d outright told me on Nick’s front lawn that she didn’t like me. I glanced over Kayla’s shoulder as Kayla laid her hand on Zoe’s arm and said, “Aunt Zoe? … Zoe?”

Her eyes blinked opened. “Kayla?”

Kayla sank into the chair beside the bed, and I stood there, back to the wall, staring at the back of the chair. “You’re awake,” Kayla breathed in relief.

Zoe’s eyes traveled from Kayla to me. She stared at me. “AJ, what are you doing here?” she asked.

“I was uh, getting breakfast, for Kayla,” I said awkwardly.

Zoe’s attention left me quickly once I’d explained my presence. She looked at Kayla. “Is Nick okay?”

Kaya hesitated.

Zoe’s eyes widened. “He’s okay. Tell me he’s okay. Please, he didn’t go back in…”

Kayla shook her head, “No. They… they took him to the jail.”

Zoe didn’t look any less panicked.

“But we found Desi,” I added quickly from behind Kayla. I thumbed at her head and then at me, “We found him…” I paused, remembering. “…and –uh- then I lost him.”

Kayla turned around. She hadn’t heard this part yet either. “Lost him?”

“….I don’t know where he’s at.”

“You misplaced him?” Kayla asked.

“I.. uh…”

A nurse came in – the one that had come to get Kayla and I from Boggle – and she set to work changing the medicine on the IV that hung over Zoe’s head. The distraction was perfectly timed, because it gave me a chance to figure out how to explain what happened.

“In the rush of the fire and he commotion and shit,” I said after the nurse had left and both Zoe and Kayla had turned back to me, “I kind of just lost track… of him.”

Kayla’s face was blank.

I looked down at my shoes. I felt like a complete idiot. I let Nick’s only hope slip between my fingers. We were gonna have a fuck of a time trying to find him a second time now. I could feel Kayla glaring at me.

“It’s okay,” Zoe said. I looked up. Zoe was looking directly at me, her eyes piercing, searching me, like she was reading a book. “You didn’t mean to lose him,” she added.

“It took us forever to find him,” Kayla complained.

Zoe looked at Kayla, “Kay. AJ feels bad enough, okay?”

Kayla looked at me. She sighed.

I inched towards the door. “I’ll go,” I said.

Zoe shook her head, “Nawh, c’mon over here. I haven’t gotten to know you yet and seeing as Nick’s very much a part of our lives,” she said it with emphasis, “I might as well get to know his little buddies.” She waved at the chair on the other side of her bed.

I hesitated.

I could still feel the chill radiating off Kayla as she stewed, angry that I had misplaced Desi.

“AJ, I won’t take no for an answer, so it’s up to you: you can either get your ass in this chair, or you can make an old woman with bad knees and a bullet in her leg chase you down the hall.”

I went over and sat down.

“Good,” Zoe said. I sat there awkwardly. Kayla wouldn’t look at me. I looked at Zoe. “So what does AJ stand for?” she asked.

“Alexander James,” I answered, pulling a face.

“Can I call you Alex?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat, babe.”

“You not calling me babe would help to float it,” she said pointedly.

“Sorry… Zoe.”

“That’s better.” She paused, “So. What is your family like?” she asked.

“My mom’s great. So’s my stepdad. And my stepsister. Amazing people. I have dogs that’re like my kids.” I shrugged.

Zoe nodded, “And your father?”

I stared at Zoe. I tried to decide how to word what I was thinking about him. I took a deep breath. “….Is a fucking dickhead and I don’t associate myself with him,” I finally summarized.

Kayla’s eyes glided toward me.

Zoe looked surprised. “What makes you say that?” she asked.

“He’s just not a good person,” I said after a long moment. “He took off on my ma when I was just a little tike and ditched her to take care of me alone. She had to work a shitload of jobs and I never got to see her, but it wasn’t her fault, it was his. And it was fucking shit. Then I get famous and who’s ass is on my door step?” I shook my head. “He’s a joke.”

Kayla looked at Zoe, then back at me. “That’s awful,” she said finally.

I shrugged, “He’s a dick and that’s that.”

“My dad took off on me and my mom, too,” Kayla said.

“Zara thought he was a dream,” Zoe said, rolling her eyes. “But he was no dream. He was a bad guy. I tried to warn her of that, but…” Zoe shook her head, “She thought I was jealous of her.”

“Jealous?” Kayla laughed, “I’ve seen pictures of my dad, he was a ugly weasel. Why the hell would you be jealous?”

“I dated him once,” Zoe said quietly.

Kayla’s eyes widened. “You dated my dad and then he married my mom?”

“He said he originally met the wrong twin,” Zoe snorted. “It was only because I caught on to him, so he had to suck the life out of Zara.”
I smirked, “Sounds like a soap opera plot line.”

Zoe and Kayla both raised an eyebrow at me. “Not that I know soap opera plot lines,” I added hastily as both of the women laughed, smiling at me, warming up to me.