I oomphed and then groaned. My rear was going to hurt, but my shoulder—it really hurt already. I had no time to fathom what happened. Chance knelt down next to me, grabbing me and pulling me to him. “Fuck. Giovanna, are you okay?”
“Think so. I don’t know. My shoulder.”
Chance touched my head. “You didn’t hit your head right?” He felt all around it. “Where does it hurt? Your shoulder? I’m sorry.”
I swallowed. Yes, the pain was real, and it was there. I hadn’t made this all up in my mind. “Why are you sorry?”
“I didn’t catch you.”
I shook my head. “Not your fault that I fell. Not your job to catch me.”
“Yes, it was.” He picked me up. “How bad does it hurt? Do you need a doctor?”
I tried to think past the ever-increasing, gnawing ache. “I don’t know.”
“That means you need a doctor.”
The door to the house opened and closed. Maven came down the stairs fast. “What happened? I heard you yell.”
That was impressive, considering the noise all around us from the cars driving by. Banyan rushed outside. “Everyone okay?”
“No, Vonni fell. There’s ice. Careful. I didn’t catch her. I think she needs a doctor. Her shoulder.”
Maven nodded. “Let’s get in a cab.”
That was how I managed to end my night in the emergency room. Instead of drinking margaritas.
Chapter 11
The ER buzzed with activity. Next to me, Chance couldn’t sit still in his chair. He bounced his leg and shifted around constantly. Maven was on his cell phone by the doors. I wasn’t sure who he was talking to, but he hadn’t come over to sit with us since I’d filled out my paperwork. Banyan was still and focused on something on the ceiling.
“Why is this taking so long?” Chance asked again. Maybe it was the tenth time he voiced that question.
Banyan closed his eyes. “It won’t be much longer. Maven is on it. Cool your jets.”
“On what?” I’d been quiet. What was there really to say? I’d screwed up and ruined everyone’s night. Tears pooled in my eyes, and I shut them. No one needed to be burdened with my emotional outbursts.
Banyan didn’t answer me, so I pulled it together and lifted my lids. Once he had my gaze on his, Banyan spoke. “Pain, sweetheart?”
“Yes.”
Chance put his head in his hands. “I’m so sorry.”
Banyan sat forward. “You should be considering this is entirely your fault, Chance.”
“What?” I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right.
“It is. If he hadn’t gone storming outside like that, you never would have worried about him and gone out there in the first place.”
Chance nodded. “I’ll take full responsibility for this. But you pissed me off, and you knew you were doing it.”
“You have to talk about him, or it’s going to eat you alive from the inside out.”
A sharp pain rolled through me, and I hissed in a breath. They both got quiet. Chance put his hand on my leg. “Not too much longer.”
I closed my eyes again. “It’s not your fault I’m clumsy.”
Maven came back over. “Any second.”
I lifted my lids, and a few tears slipped out. I wiped them away quickly, but all three of them saw. There was nowhere for me to look that let me glance away. “I don’t like hospitals. I think I’m going to die in one. In a lot of pain. Alone.” Oh, the drama was moving through me now. Once I opened those floodgates, I had trouble shutting them off. I batted at my tears, but they kept coming. “And now you’re all wishing you’d left me at the hotel in Pennsylvania.”
“No,” all three of them spoke at once.
Chance pulled my head toward him, laying it on his shoulder. “Nothing’s going to happen to you here. I should have caught you.”
“It was so fast. I’m sorry. I really am.”
Banyan kissed my cheek. “You’re going to be okay. Do you want us to call your parents?”
“No,” Maven answered and then looked away. “Sorry. Ignore me. Not my decision.”
I wiped at my eyes. “I haven’t talked to them since they dropped me at school. I heard from them a few times through the apps that work internationally. They put more money in my account two months ago. Then nothing. I really am afraid they got killed by poison darts.”
And there I went again. Blubbering like an idiot. This time, Maven got on his knees in front of me in the hospital. “They’re not dead. They’re just selfish. Narcissists live forever. Only the good die young.”
I snorted, and the tears stopped, but it jarred my elbow, and I ended up groaning. Just then, a man stepped in front of us. He wore a suit and a white jacket. “Maven. Good to see you. Is this the patient?”
Maven rose to his feet. “It is. Giovanna, this is my Uncle Don. He’s going to take care of you and not mention to my mother that he saw me.”
I nodded. “Thank you. I could have just waited.”
Maven shook his head. “Maybe you could have, but I couldn’t. Come on.”
I got to my feet. “I’m sorry I ruined tonight, guys.”
I’d started out thinking I was having one kind of day. It had taken a million stops. And now it was ending in an ER. Life was funny like that.
My shoulder had been dislocated. It turned out when Maven’s uncle was the doctor, you got in and out of the hospital in under an hour. I was sent back with over the counter drugs and an appointment to see his colleague for a follow up later in the week. By the time the taxi dropped us off at Chance’s home, no one was talking.
I was so tired I wasn’t sure I could keep my eyes open another minute. By the same token, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to turn off my brain. I ached. The medicine I’d taken before leaving the hospital helped. I was sure if I could just relax, I could ignore the discomfort.
When we got to the house, Chance went into the kitchen and Banyan into the living room. Maven got a text and went up to his room to deal with it. I took the stairs slowly, ending up in what Chance had jokingly referred to as my room. I changed out of the underwear Chance had bought me and put on my flannel pajamas. I climbed into the bed.
Sex with Maven was great, dislocating my shoulder really sucked. Lots of highs and lows to the same day, it would seem.
I tried to sleep, but it wouldn’t come. Instead, I grabbed my phone and sent my parents a message through the app we communicated through.
Hi there. Not sure if you are getting my messages. You haven’t responded to the last two. Maybe you’re busy. Just wanted to let you know that I am spending the week in New York City with friends. We had to leave campus. You might see emails about fires. I was in one, but I’m okay. I just dislocated my shoulder falling on ice, but the doctors fixed me up. Hope you are well. Merry Christmas. Love you.
If some future daughter of mine was hurt, I’d want to know.
I closed my eyes, and eventually, the day drifted away.
The bed dipped slightly, and Maven climbed into it. “Hey, don’t wake up. Just missing you.”
I rolled toward him, and he wrapped his arms around me. It was better that he was there. Nights didn’t have to be lonely. A few moments later, or maybe it just felt that way because I dozed, the bed dipped again. Chance tucked in behind me, his hand on my side.
“This okay?”
I nodded. If Maven was okay with it, then so was I. Maven made a noise of consent, and I closed my eyes completely. Darkness was warm, and I wasn’t alone in it.
Daytime came too soon, poking at my eyes, insisting I greet reality when all I wanted to do was stay right where I was, nestled between Chance and Maven. Chance muttered something, and I turned slightly to look at him. He talked in his sleep, and the last time we’d shared a room, he’d woken himself up. I snuggled against him a bit, and he settled. I closed my eyes. We didn’t have to be up yet.
The next time I woke was because Maven did. He let go of me, and the movement jerked me out of my la-la
land. I smiled at him, and he kissed both my eyes.
“Morning. Or should I say afternoon?” He smiled. “We did something last night after you came upstairs. How’s the shoulder feeling, by the way?”
I tried to follow what he said, but I hadn’t had coffee yet. “Slow down a second.”
“Maven always wakes up at a million miles an hour. He’s not mortal like the rest of us.” Chance dug his head into the pillow. “Morning.”
“You did something? Is it another margarita machine?” I’d barely gotten to drink any of the glass I’d been given.
Maven leaned up on his elbow. “We got show tickets. You liked Broadway, right? Tonight we’re going out.”
I sat up straight, the covers coming off me. “You did? I don’t know what to say. Thank you. I’m not sure if it suffices.”
Chance grinned at me. “That smile is all I needed. I cannot believe you got hurt on my steps. I…”
I touched his cheek. “Not your fault. Let’s leave that where it belongs in yesterday. No bringing it in today.”
Banyan stumbled into the room. He staggered a bit and then climbed into the bed next to Maven. He muttered something and dug his face into the pillow. I stared at him for a second. “Is he okay?”
Maven nodded. “Yep. He stayed up. Binge watching some kung fu thing he likes. I bet he did some damage to the margarita mix. He’s just not really awake. Tends to sleepwalk when he’s drunk.”
Chance got out of bed. He was fully dressed. So was Maven, who had to scoot around Banyan to get out of the bed. He yawned. “See you guys downstairs. I’m ordering breakfast delivered. Speak now, or you’re getting bagels and you’ll be happy with it.”
“Bagels are fine,” Chance answered him. Neither of them were being quiet for Banyan. He didn’t stir. They must be used to this.
I pointed to him on the bed. “Is he okay?”
They both nodded. “Yep. He’s probably not all that drunk. Just out cold. Banyan could sleep through a bomb.”
Only he hadn’t. Not the night I’d woken up terrified of fire. He’d gotten up then. Plus, he’d been awake when they’d come to get me from the dorm.
I got up from the bed, and Chance bent to whisper in my ear as Maven went downstairs to order breakfast. People delivered bagels? I had that random thought before Chance’s words emptied my mind of all things but him. “Blue today. I want to think of you in blue. You got hurt, so I never got to see lavender.”
I leaned my head against his arm. “Do you know what you do to me when you talk like that?”
“I can imagine it’s pretty similar to what happens to me when I think about it. Blue, Vonni. All day. Okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Good.” He tilted my chin to look at him. “Feeling okay? Are you in pain?”
“It’s sore. Leave it to me to fall on the ice when you’re always so good about reminding me to be careful.”
He sighed. “Leave it to me to place you in that situation to fall on the ice.”
I shook my head. “Would love you to stop blaming yourself for what was clearly not your fault.”
Chance grinned, a piece of his brown hair falling over his eyes. I reached up and brushed it away. “I’ll put on the blue.”
“I’m going to spend all day hard, thinking about it.”
Just then Banyan muttered something on the bed and flopped over. Chance shook his head. “He’ll sleep it off and be down by dinner. Just in time to go see the show.”
Chance winked at me before he left the room. I took a deep breath, my gaze traveling to Banyan. What had made him want to stay up all night watching kung fu movies and drinking margaritas? Was that just something that guys did? Or maybe girls did it, too, and it was one of those things I was out of the loop on.
I kissed him on the head, and he smiled in his sleep. I needed coffee. My phone flashed, and I walked over to it. My parents had actually responded.
Don’t slip on any more ice. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Things here are amazing… Mom.
Well then. I supposed that was that.
Except it wasn’t. I sunk down to the floor, putting my head in my hands, and I cried. As hard as I could, silently. Banyan was asleep, so he wouldn’t see it. I’d been hurt, and granted, I was going to be fine. But the best they could do was to tell me not to slip on any more ice?
Anything would have been better than that. Didn’t they miss me? Didn’t they care?
I put my head on my knees. I was so lost in my pity party that I didn’t hear Banyan get out of the bed and come over to me. He dropped down on the floor, which was when I noticed him. His arms came around me.
“Whatever it is”—his voice was low—“it’ll be okay eventually. That, I can promise you. Whatever it is.”
I sucked in my tears. “Sorry. I don’t do this. I don’t cry.”
“Me neither.” He laid his head on my shoulder.
“I didn’t mean to wake you.” I wiped my eyes. “Sorry.”
He kissed the side of my face. “Say sorry one more time. That’ll be three times in thirty seconds. Then you can officially stop saying it altogether. You didn’t wake me. Or if you did, it’s okay. How did I get up here?”
This was nice, sitting with Banyan. I’d assumed he’d be out cold all day. “You sleep walked in this morning. Maven and Chance said you do that when you’re drunk.”
He rubbed his eyes. “I wasn’t drunk. I stayed up watching movies. Fell asleep on the couch. Maybe I just sleepwalk when you’re too far away from me.”
“Then you’re going to be walking the streets to my dorm when we get back to school.”
He stuck his bottom lip out. “I’ve gotten used to these past days. You can’t really be going back to your dorm.”
I laughed, the thought making my shoulders rock. “I can’t live in a frat house.”
“I suppose not.” He patted my leg. “There, I made you laugh. So, why were you crying?”
I almost couldn’t speak the words. “I told my parents what happened to me, and they didn’t care. All pretense of giving a shit about me has fled. I’m just feeling… sorry for myself.”
He didn’t answer me for a second. “My parents never gave a shit. Poor little rich kid, I know. I don’t have it so hard. But I know how you feel. I care that you slipped on some ice. You’re in now with me. With Maven. With Chance. We’ll always care.”
Until they went back to school. The thought hit me hard, but I kept my face passive. There was no way this could continue, not when they were back to being SPiI brothers and I was lost in my books with whatever part time job I found.
“Thanks, Banyan. I like being in.”
I didn’t lie. That was going to make being out so much harder.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out around Chance’s house. I walked room to room with him. He’d point out how he saw each room, and I took notes on my phone. I leaned against the wall in the third bedroom when he nudged me with his shoulder. “What are you thinking?”
“A million things.” There were hundreds and hundreds of stories in this place. Every room could be a different story. Maybe a woman was locked in this room for fifty years.
Chance walked over to the window. “Give me one. The most prevalent at the top of your mind.”
“This is going to be your forever home, right?” I moved until I could look down through the window with him. The street was quiet. Occasionally, a car drove by. Maven had told me earlier that if I went two blocks from here the traffic would be so bad I wouldn’t want to go near it.
He turned to look at me. “My forever home?”
“Maybe this is a concept that is… middle class?” My mother would able to speak on this subject better than I could. “But there’s this idea that you have a home and you stay in it forever. That’s home. Period. You might, I don’t know, get a beach house or a cabin in the woods, but you still have that central place. Your forever home. You live and die there. Raise your kids.”
&nb
sp; Chance nodded. “I get it. I hadn’t thought of it like that but, yes, this will be my forever home if I can manage it. I want to live here. I don’t know if I’ll have kids, but if I do, I’d raise them here.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Assuming that’s what your wife or husband wanted? Or partner? Whatever.”
He smirked at me. “I want you, Vonni. Or did you miss that when I came in your hand? People are attracted to whatever they’re attracted to, and I’m all for that. For me, that’s always been female.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t want to assume. It could be both.”
“Not so far.” He drummed his fingers on the windowpane. “So you wanted to know if this is my forever home, and I said yes, and you said as long as my wife wanted it. Yes, I suppose. I mean, I hope she would want it.”
He was right. A girl would have to be crazy not to want to live here. Unless she loved the country or she was richer than he was and had an even bigger place. I shrugged. This was getting off base. Assuming they’d worked that out before they got married, she wanted to live here. “I guess my only point is that she might have some decorating thoughts. Like maybe you should leave something for her to do.”
“So just the basics then and let her put her touch on it when this hypothetical wife moves in here with me?”
I patted his arm. “Yes. That was it.”
“Vonni, are you wearing the blue ones?”
I pulled down the side of my shirt just a bit so he could see the strap. “You asked. Of course I did.”
“You might not. I mean”—he sucked in his breath—“you might pick another color to torment me just a little bit.”
Oh, so this was part of the game. “Huh. Well, maybe I will. Just not today. I wore blue.”
He thumbed the strap he could see. “I’m going to take you out of your panties tonight. After the show.”
I leaned against him. “Sounds like a plan.”