Constance
When we arriveat the hospital parking deck, I start to walk inside when Trenton gently taps me on the arm. “Stay with us,” he cautions me while we wait for Tony to maneuver his bulk out of the front seat.
The three men close ranks around me, and then I’m swept along with them as we head to the main entrance. Once we’re inside, Tony, who is a huge fleshy wall in front of me, steps aside to let me speak to the hospital representative sitting at the help desk.
“Hi,” I greet the older gentlemen behind the computer. “I’m looking for the room number for Melissa Neilan.”
He nods to me, types on his keyboard for a moment, then writes down her room number on a small card and passes it to me. Tony glances down at it, then the three men retake their positions around me and sweep me along towards the elevators.
After we find her room, Joey and Tony take up positions on either side of the door, while Trenton knocks and then waits in front of me until the door opens. A middle-aged woman with curly red hair graying at the temples opens it, then stares up at Trenton anxiously.
“Mrs. Neilan, it’s good to see you,” I call out as I peek around Trenton’s tall, narrow frame.
“Oh, hello Constance! It’s good to see you, dear. Who are your…friends?” she asks as she glances nervously at the three men with me.
“I know that asshole!” I hear Melissa call from further inside the room. “His name is Trenton. It’s okay Mom. Let Constance and her dumbass bodyguard come in.”
Melissa’s father appears at his wife’s side, then holds the door and waves her aside as Trenton leads me into the room. Trenton goes to stand over by the window, while I rush to the bedside and sweep Melissa into a hug. “God, it’s so good to see you,” I gush. “Are you hurting? Oh, damn, that looks awful!”
“Thanks,” Melissa huffs, but smiles at me when we let each other go. “I’m all right. I mean, my face hurts, but they’re giving me the good stuff through the IV to help with the pain. None of that matters, though. You have to tell me what happened to you. A detective came by last night to talk to me, and he said that you were safe. He said that the men who did all this are dead, but they wouldn’t tell me anything else about what happened.”
“The police called Maximo and me last night and told us that there’s actually a third man that they’re trying to track him down right now. He was following me, and he’s the one who set those two on us while we were eating.”
“There’s another one they haven’t caught yet?” Melissa’s nose and one of her eyes are so badly swollen I couldn’t really read her expression, but her voice sounds terrified.
“He’s not going to be a problem for you.” I take her hand and squeeze it in assurance.
“Is that why you’ve got three of Maximo’s goons walking around with you?” Melissa’s one clear eye is piercing as she stares at me.
“We’re just taking precautions,” Trenton interjects from his position in the corner of the room. “Maximo regrets what happened to you and wants to make sure there are no further incidents.”
“As far as what happened after… after you were attacked, well…” I glance around the room, and Mr. Neilan clears his throat behind me.
“Come on, let’s leave the girls to talk,” Mr. Neilan tells his wife. “Let’s go get something to eat.”
“All right. Dear, if you need anything, you just text us,” Mrs. Neilan tells Melissa. “We’ll be back in just a bit. Do you want anything to eat?”
“Maybe later.” Melissa smiles at her. “Be careful. I love you.”
“We love you too, baby.” Mr. Neilan pats the blanket over her foot as his wife hugs Melissa, then they both leave the room.
“So, after they hit you and dragged me out the back of the restaurant,” I begin, until I notice that Melissa is staring fixedly at Trenton. “Is everything okay?” I ask her.
“You have a lot of balls showing up here after what you did yesterday.” Her one good eye narrows in a glare I recognize. She’s really pissed off for some reason.
“I didn’t do anything to you,” Trenton retorts, but there’s a mocking grin playing around his lips that he tries to restrain.
“Oh, didn’t do a thing, did you? What you didn’t do was tell me that vape of yours was marijuana…if that’s really what it was.It knocked me on my ass! The detective thought something was wrong with me when he arrived, and the doctors were afraid I was having a reaction to one of the medicines they gave me!”
“It’s just weed.” Trenton shrugs. “You asked for it. You didn’t ask what it was.”
“Yeah, I know now that it was weed, after they ran a bunch of tests. My doctor thinks I’m a druggie because of you! Asshole,” she adds for emphasis.
“Wait,” I say. “When Maximo and Trenton came by the hospital to talk to you yesterday, he let you smoke weed?”
“Maximo didn’t have anything to do with it, just this prick.” Melissa cocks her thumb at Trenton.
When I glance over at him, the grin on his face has won out over his restraint, and he’s clearly on the verge of laughing. He digs around in his suit jacket and then pulls out his vape, holding it out to Melissa. “You sure I can’t interest you in another hit? You look like you could use it.”
