Chapter 11

 

This is bad. This is beyond bad. Pacing the hallway while the Doc is in with her, my mind races. I don’t know how to control it or what to make of the things hovering around inside of it either.  My heart slams in my chest. Tugging at my hair, I wander. How did she get here? There was no car out front when Trick went to run a perimeter check.  There are no signs of anyone being out here. How the hell did she get here! Dragon pulls the door closed behind him as he talks to me. “She’s stable. Doc said whoever it was, beat her up pretty bad. She’s awake, though.”

“Did she say anything?” I ask. Shaking his head, he looks at me.

“Just wants to talk to you.”

“You think that’s a good idea?” I ask.  Dragon laughs before leaning against the wall.

“I didn’t say to run in there and fuck her. Talkin’ ain’t shit, Ghost.” He’s right. I’m getting worked up over nothing. She’s here because she needed help. She called, because she needed help. And I didn’t help her. I hung up on her. I told her to stay away. I told her not to come near me or call.

“Fuck!” Slamming my fist into the wall, I don’t know what to do.

“Calm the fuck down, man. Just see what the hell’s goin’ on and we go from there.” Nodding once, I reach for the door when the Doc comes out.

“She’s been beaten badly. She won’t say who did it to her. I left pain medicine. She wouldn’t take it.” Dragon follows the doctor down the hallway talking when I reach for the handle. My nerves are on high alert. My stomach churns within me. It’s been two long years since I’ve seen her. And yet, here she is. Lying on that bed looking like hell.

“Hey.” That’s all I can say. I don’t know what to say to her. Her head turns slowly, her half-swollen eyes coming to meet mine.

“Ghost.” Just hearing her say my name sends shudders throughout me. I can’t do this, though. I scrub my hand over my face, moving closer to the bed.

“Who did this to you, Mel?” She closes her eyes, taking a deep breath.

“My dad. I tried to call you, you didn’t want to hear anything I had to say. I can’t blame you. I was a bitch.” Fuck, I don’t want to do this.

“Just rest, Mel. We’ll figure it out.” I see her shake her head before she opens her eyes again.

“No. You have to go after him, Ghost. You have to get Jordan and raise him. I fucked up. I did things I shouldn’t have, and I will take that responsibility. You can’t let them warp Jordan. Please, Ghost.” I don’t know what the hell she’s talking about. I wonder how hard she hit her head?

“Melanie, I don’t know what you want me to do but I have a life now.” Shoving herself up, she stares at me.

“I left you because I was pregnant, Ghost. We have a son. Jordan, is your son. My father took him away from me when I threatened to end his little reign.”  

It feels as though someone plunged a knife straight into my stomach and with every word that leaves her mouth, it twists.

It’s cutting me so deeply.

I nearly fall to the floor when the words leave her mouth. It’s sucking the life right out of me.

“You’re lyin’,” I say.  Melanie moves, reaching into her pocket. She pulls a small photo out, holding it out to me.

When I look down, I almost cry. She’s not lying. That’s my son. He looks just like me.

“You kept him from me? Why?” I ask, feeling slightly pissed. Looking at the photo, I refuse to look up at her.

“I didn’t want him to grow up like this. I didn’t want him to be in the middle of any wars. That’s what he got, though. He got stuck in the middle of my father’s war. He never wanted a daughter, he needed a son. One to take over for him. You can’t let him have Jordan, Ghost. You can’t.” She talks as if I’m his only parent. What about her? Why didn’t she protect him?

“I see the look in your eyes, Ghost. There was nothing I could do. I tried, and this is what I got.” Looking up at her, I can’t believe it. I can’t believe her father did that to her.

“You guys were always so close, Mel. Why would he do that to you?” I watch her face now. I watch for any sign that she may be lying to me. I will kill her myself if she’s lying to me right now.

“I made you think we were close. We weren’t. My mom left him a year ago—he blamed me for it. He made everything that happened, my fault. I tried to leave, I thought running away with Jordan would be the best for everyone.” That pisses me off. How could she do that to me?

“After all that time we were together, you thought keepin’ my son from me was a good idea?” My voice rises. How could it not? She lied to me for years!

“It wasn’t like that, Ghost.” I begin to pace the room once again. She’s a liar. She took my child away from me like it was nothing.

“You lied! Our whole fuckin’ relationship was a lie! How the fuck could you do that to me?” Forcing myself to look at her, she doesn’t cry or flinch. Cold hearted bitch.

“I did what I had to do to live. You wouldn’t understand.” Shaking my head, that’s the biggest load of shit.

“I wouldn’t understand? I live in this cynical fucked up world, Melanie! What the hell is wrong with you!” Her eyes slowly fill with tears before she blinks them back.

“I won’t be in your way, Ghost. Just get your son.” 

***

As I tug at my hair, my mind wanders. I don’t even realize that I’m standing in front of my room.  Opening the door, my stomach churns. My heart hurts but when I see Nessa standing by the bed, it drops to my feet.

“What are you doin’?” I ask.  My voice shakes as I watch her pack a bag.

“You don’t need me here. You need to handle your problems,” She says, and my head bows forward. She wants to leave me. She wants to take my baby too, just like Melanie. I can’t let that happen. I can’t. No, fuck that, I won’t let her take my baby.

“You aren’t leavin’ here,” My voice sounds firm. Nessa turns to look at me, knowing I’ve never taken this tone with her.

“Don’t talk to me like I’m some club whore.” Is that what I’m doing?  I take a step toward her, she backs up a step.

“You aren’t takin’ my baby anywhere.” I won’t lose another child because of some woman.

“Don’t you dare tell me what to do, Ghost! Your whore of a girlfriend is right down the hall!” She snaps. I move swiftly. I have Nessa pinned by the shoulders against the wall in no time. She didn’t even see me coming.

“She took what belonged to me! She fuckin’ stole a life from me. You won’t fuckin’ do the same thing!” Screaming in her face, she studies me. She’s trying to read me. Do I let her? I can’t hurt her, and I know that’s exactly what I’m doing right now. I slowly release her shoulders, my hands falling to my sides.

“She said I had a son. She took him from me. She took my son, Nessa. I never knew I had a kid. How can someone do that?” I say, feeling like I’m lost. Her mouth hangs open before snapping it back closed.

“She took him away from you?” She asks. Nodding slowly, I feel sick. The room spins around me.

“I don’t feel so good, Nessa.” I start to take a step back but Nessa grabs a hold of me.

“I’m never going to take your baby away from you, Ghost. You have to trust that.” Dragging my eyes back up to meet hers, there’s a sadness there but I can see it in her. She wouldn’t take that away from me.

“You won’t?” Nessa shakes her head, her hand coming up to my cheek.

“I’d never do that to you, Ghost.” A tear slides down my cheek. I rest my head against her shoulder before slowly sliding to my knees in front of her. I wrap my arms around her waist as she holds me around my head. My stomach trembles, bile rises in my throat. I’ve never felt so fucking sick in my life.  I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m losing myself.

“I’m sorry, Nessa. I’m so sorry.”