Memphis and Knox ate a dinner of hospital cheeseburgers and fries, which Memphis admitted wasn’t half-bad, and watched a movie in Knox’s bed before the boy drifted off to sleep. The nurse said it was a mild sedative the doctor prescribed to help him get the rest he needed.
Memphis didn’t need any help getting to sleep. He fell into a restless slumber almost immediately, dreaming of being chased by his father through a parking garage of never-ending cars, their alarms blaring and tires leaking air, making it impossible for him to do anything but keep running through the cacophony of noise, doing his best to keep one step ahead. A hand reached out of the darkness, grabbing him around the neck, squeezing until the air leaking from his lungs sounded like that of the leaking tires.
Memphis sat up with a gasp, his hands clawing at his chest, forcing the oxygen back into his body. That was when he saw him—a bulky figure leaning over Knox. At first, Memphis thought it was another aide there to take vitals or get labs, but then he saw Knox’s hands tearing at the man’s forearms, his legs kicking, his heart rate sending the machine beside him into a series of loud dings that had to be alerting the staff.
“Get the fuck away from him!” Memphis shouted, lurching to his feet, crossing the room without any thought as to what he would do when he got there.
The figure turned on him. “Memphis?”
He had just enough time to realize he was looking at his brother, Nash, before the man’s fist connected with his nose and mouth hard enough to send his teeth clacking together, dropping him onto his ass, the impact reverberating through his whole body. Before Memphis could even get back on his feet, Nash was sprinting down the hallway, knocking over the linen cart and dodging a nurse pushing a child in a wheelchair.
“Hey!” Memphis shouted, but Nash didn’t look back. He barreled into an elderly black woman with a hairnet and the cart of trays she pushed, drawing more attention than Memphis’s shout had.
“Memphis…” Knox’s voice sounded scratchy.
He slammed his hand down on the light fixture on the wall, blinking as the ugly florescent bulb flared to life. Knox had fresh bruises on his neck. Nash had tried to kill Knox with him sleeping less than ten feet away.
“I’m so sorry. He wasn’t supposed to be able to get in here,” Memphis promised, pushing the button for the nurses.
Before he was even done sounding the alarm, Annie and another woman ran in, both breathless. “What happened?” she cried. “Who was that man?”
“My brother, Nash. How was he able to even get in the building at this time of night?” Memphis snapped.
Annie shook her head, shrugging helplessly. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
The older red-haired woman intervened. “Sir, I’m Marguerite, the night shift supervisor. I assure you, we’ll get to the bottom of this. I’m going to alert security and have them call the police.” She looked to Annie, who still looked stricken and a bit confused. “I’ll page the on call doctor, you stay with them. I’ll have Heather look in on your other patients.”
With that, the older woman was gone. That was when Memphis saw Preacher standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. His stomach did somersaults when their eyes met.
“What are you doing here?” Memphis asked.
Preacher shrugged. “I never left. I was in the visitor’s lounge. They have a shitty couch in there. I just didn’t feel comfortable leaving you two alone. Looks like I was right.”
When Preacher walked towards him, Memphis had to fight the urge to take a step back. Preacher cupped his face in his hands for the second time that day, this time to wipe the blood from his nose and lips. “Yeah, he really clocked you. Nothing like the element of surprise.”
Memphis broke away from Preacher’s hold, hating the way this stranger made him feel. “What am I supposed to do? He can’t stay here. He needs to go back to LA with me.”
“You really think that’s a good idea? We found out everything we needed to know about you with ten dollars and a thirty-second Google search. Your whole life is on the internet. If we can find you, so can they.”
“So, what the fuck am I supposed to do? We’re not safe here. We’re not safe in LA. How am I supposed to protect him?”
“Stay with me.”
Memphis did a double take, instantly regretting it as a wave of dizziness swept over him. “What?”
“Your family doesn’t know me. They’ll never look for you at my place.”
“I don’t know you,” Memphis reminded him.
Preacher ignored Memphis’s logical response. “There’s plenty of room for you. My German Shepherds are trained attack dogs. I have a security system, and I know how to take care of myself and the two of you. If you don’t want to stay with me, then I’ll ask Cy and Nicky if you can stay with them. Nicky works for a protection agency.”
Memphis didn’t want to stay with any of them. He liked his tiny one bedroom apartment over the flower shop back in LA. He looked at Knox. The nurse was fussing over him, but any joy Memphis had seen earlier was gone, once more buried under a somber expression.
This wasn’t about Memphis. This was about Knox. He needed to feel safe and protected. Clearly, Memphis wasn’t up to the job. “Fine. We’ll come stay with you on one condition.”
Memphis knew he had no right to demand conditions and that he sounded like an ungrateful asshole, but he didn’t care.
Preacher’s smile was a barely-there smirk. “What’s the condition?”
