CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO: AUSTIN

I was looking through my phone when I heard a knock on the door. Hm! I wasn't expecting anyone, so who could it be? I wondered as I stood up and walked towards the door, rubbing my tired eyes. When I opened the door, there stood Nurse Sam on the other side, with a small smile on her face.

"Hey Leo, how are you?" Nurse Sam asked, her worried gaze fixed on me.

"I'm fine, nurse Sam, just a little tired," I answered

"You need to get some rest before you crash. Don't make me sedate you, Leo,"

"I promise, Nurse Sam, I will; what brings you here?"

"Oh, I almost forgot, there are some detectives in the waiting room who said they want to see you."

"Oh, what are their names?"

"I believe they said their names were Sloan and Adams; I wonder what they want?" Because they don't look like locals,"

"You and me both, Nurse Sam, thanks, I'll go see them now."

"No problem, kid, let me get back to work and remember to get some sleep," she said as she walked away, leaving me to my thoughts.

What do they want now? I haven't seen them since they arrested Dalton. So their unexpected appearance seems suspicious. Did something happen? I wondered as I made my way to the waiting room.

When I arrived at the reception desk, I instantly noticed the detective since they looked out of place in the little waiting room.

"What do you want?" I asked when I arrived at where they were sitting.

"Not even a hello, and here I thought we were friends, Austin." Detective Adams said in a sarcastic tone.

"We both know you're not here to visit, so tell me why you're here. Did anything happen to Dalton?"

"Getting right to the point, I see," Detective Sloan said, "we are here to tell you that Dalton is going on trial for attempted murder and drug possession."

"OK, isn't that a good thing?" I asked, trying to keep my face calm as I rejoiced within me, that the mother fucker was finally going to pay for what he did to my mother.

"Yes, but we'd like to ask you a few more questions," Detective Sloan added.

"Okay, ask away"

"Did these men happen to pay you a visit?" Detective Sloan inquired as he took out a photograph of Ford and Mist and gave it to me, his gaze never leaving mine.

I tried not to panic and made sure I was cool before I answered,"Yes, they said they were friends of Dalton,"

"What exactly did they want?" Detective Adams asked.

"They wanted to know where he was,"

"What did you tell them?" Detective Adams asked.

"Obviously, I told them I don't know where he was," I replied, rolling my eyes at her. Does she really think I was stupid enough to give up Ford and Mist? For goodness sake, they're drug traffickers; I'd rather go back to jail than meddle with them.

"Did they ever tell you their names while you talked?" Detective Sloan asked.

"Nope, why do you ask?"

"Two men came to see you, asking about your stepfather, and you didn't bother asking their names or why they were looking for him"

"First, don't call him my stepfather because he isn't, and second, I had other things on my mind, so it didn't occur to me to ask for their names because their friend is the reason my mother is in the hospital."

"I see, you're very lucky they just asked questions, this men are really dangerous people"

"I've been told that I'm a very lucky guy,"

"This isn't a joke; if they come here again, don't hesitate to call us." Detective Sloan said as he handed me his card.

"You say these men are dangerous, so why are you dragging me into this?"

"They rarely come out into the open, so coming to meet you indicates that they want something and may return, so keep your eyes peeled." Detective Adams elaborated

"That does answer my question, ma"

"You're our only hope of apprehending these guys, does that answer your question?" Detective

"All right, if we're done here, I'd like to go back to my mother now."

"Yes, kid, take care, and remember to contact us if they reach out to you, which they will undoubtedly do now that Dalton is in custody."

"OK, goodbye," I said as I watched them go before returning to my mother's room.

I waited a few minutes before dialing Leo's number, and after a few rings, he answered.

"What's up, Austin?"

"Leo, those Detectives came to see me and asked me strange questions about two men named Ford and Mist," I explained, hoping Leo would understand why I was speaking in this manner,

"Hmm, I'll be right over," Leo responded before the phone call ended.

A few minutes later, Leo texted me that he was on his way, so I opened the door for him, when I heard him knock.

"First, did they look suspicious of you?" Leo asked as he sat down.

"I don't think so, because if they did, I'd be at the police station answering more questions."

"Okay, so what did they say, start from the beginning and don't leave anything out?" Leo said, and I told him everything we talked about up until they left.

"So they want you to contact them in the event that Ford and Mist return or contact you?"

"Yes"

"Will you?"

"Fuck no, I'm not messing with gangsters, Leo"

"Good because the beef between the cops and those people is none of our business; let's just stay out of it," Leo sighed and suggested that we switch topics, so I brought up the bash.

"How did the bash go?" I asked, hoping they had a good time, but Leo frowned.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Leo responded angrily,

"What happened?" I asked.

"Diana made Sam; the bastard whom Athena broke his face, push Athena into the pond at the party because she hinted that we were dating."

"What the fuck! Is Red okay?" I asked, what had she ever done to them to deserve such cruelty?

"She almost died Austin, she stopped breathing for a few seconds, if i hadn't gotten there in time i don't know what would have happened" Leo continued, and I could hear the sorrow in his voice; he must have been terrified.

"Fuck! I should have been there."

"Don't you dare blame yourself, it was all that bitches fault; if Athena hadn't stopped me, I would have killed that bastard."

"You should have, they nearly killed her, those bastards have gone too far."

"Athena, on the other hand, did not let her get away with this one."

"What exactly did she do?" I asked, curious as to what Red did to get her revenge.

"She slapped the shit out of Diana, man, you should have seen her," Leo stated proudly.

"That's fucking awesome, our little Red is finally standing up to those mother fuckers." I was do fucking happy that she fought back because those jerks no longer deserve to walk over her, and their days of bullying her are over.

"I'm just glad she's okay; she doesn't deserve it, no one does." Leo murmured as I rested my head on his shoulder.

"She'll be fine, don't worry, Red is a fighter,"

"I know," Leo said as he rose to his feet, "I need to go pick up Shane from school, would you like to come to clear your head?"

"I think I need to leave this room, so it sounds like a good idea," I replied as I unplugged my phone from its charging station before leaving the room with Leo.

Leo and I waved as we reached Nurse Sam's desk.

"Hey guys, Leo, make sure your friend gets some sleep before returning here, or I'll have to sedate him."

"I'll nurse Sam; you take care of yourself."

"And you, too," she replied as she gathering up some files before disappearing behind the desk through the rear door.

"Come on, it's almost time," Leo urged as we both exited the hospital and made our way to Shane's school with the truck.

When we arrived at his school and I got out of the car, Shane and Summer came running up to me, when their eyes locked on me.

"Austin!" Summer yelled as she and Shane jumped on me and wrapped their small hands around me.

"Hi guys, I missed you," I said as they moved away from me.

"We missed you, too," they both signed, beaming.

"How is your mother?" Shane signed.

"She is fine, hopefully she will wake up soon,"

"Don't worry, she'll wake up," Summer whispered as she pulled me into another hug.

"Thank you, Summer," I murmured as I returned her hug, "when is your mother coming to pick you up?"

"Today I'm going with my aunt; she's inside talking with the teacher."

"All right, see you later, Summer, and say hello to your aunt for me."

"Okie dokie," she shouted as she ran back inside the school, and three of us got into the vehicle and drove away.

Shane told me everything he did today and everything I missed while I was gone, and it felt nice to do something normal instead of being locked up in that place. I adore my mother, but everything has been too much for me thus far.

When we came home, Shane took a shower and did his schoolwork with Leo and my help before dragging me to watch the one piece episodes I had missed. I didn't realize I was so tired until I fell asleep a few episodes later.

Three hours later…

I woke up to the sound of the doorbell ringing, sat up and looked towards the door; Leo was chatting to someone at the front door, then he closed it holding a box of pizza in his hands.

"Oh, you're awake; how did you sleep?"

"This was one of the best nights' sleep I've had in weeks,"

"Glad to hear that, come on we are having pizza for dinner" Leo said as I got up to accompany him to the kitchen where Shane was already seated; as his sight fell on me, he grinned.

"Hello, Austin!"

"Hi kiddo, sorry I fell asleep"

"No worries, you were tired" Shane signed with a smile on his face.

We talked about anime stuff while eating till the pizza was gone. Shane went to bed early because it was a school night, so I helped Leo clean up. Leo offered to drop me off at the hospital after cleaning up because it was too late to catch a bus.

When we arrived at the hospital, Leo and I said our goodbyes before he drove away, and I went up to the ICU department.

The first thing that greeted me was Nurse Sam's lovely face, "Hi Nurse Sam"

"Hey Austin, you look better than before, I can tell you've had some sleep"

"Yes, I did, and thank you for worrying about me."

"It's not a problem, Austin; you remind me of my son Zack, so I felt obligated to look after you."

"Your son is very lucky, thank you again, and take care of yourself."

"And you, too," she replied as I was about to walk away when she called me back

"Austin, I almost forgot this letter arrived for you," she said as she handed me the letter with only my name written on it.

"Do you know who brought it?"

"Nope, it was a dispatch rider"

"Oh, I see, thanks, and good night"

"Good night, dear"