Kane Page 3

  “Where are the lads?” Bronagh asked as she opened her roll.

  Keela shrugged her shoulders. “They weren’t here when I woke up half an hour ago. I thought they’d be outside so I checked when I went to the deli to buy the rolls, but they weren’t out there either.”

  I yawned. “They’re with Kane. When you were all sleepin’ last night, the nurse Keela tried to kill came in. She felt bad for upsettin’ Keela, and pulled some strings with the night staff. They let the brothers go be with Kane and let us stay in here. We have to leave soon though because they’ll need this waitin’ room for other families of A&E patients. Kane is on St. Peter’s Ward and they have a waitin’ room there that we can use.”

  Bronagh cheered a little as she bit into her roll.

  “What?” I chuckled.

  She chewed and swallowed her food. “St. Peter’s Ward is on the first floor. All wards on the first floor aren’t trauma wards, so whatever is wrong with him isn’t too serious—trauma wise, anyway.”

  I blew out a big breath of relief.

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  Bronagh nodded her head. “It was on one of those hospital adverts on the telly last night. All the wards were listed and what floor they were on. I pointed it out to Ryder and said I hope Kane is in a ward on the first floor so we know it’s nothin’ too serious.”

  I was delighted with that news.

  “Thank God,” Alannah breathed.

  We all nodded our heads in unison as we agreed with her. I was about to speak when the door next to me opened. I turned my head and watched as Nico, Alec, and Ryder walked into the waiting room looking tired but put together, which was better than how I felt.

  “You’re all up.” Ryder smiled.

  “Thanks to Aideen and her vocal abilities.” Alannah grinned.

  I glared at her and the other girls when they started laughing.

  “Do we want to know?” Nico asked, amused.

  “No,” I growled. “You do not.”

  Nico snorted and stretched his arms over his head. “We’re going home to shower and get some food then come back with some stuff for Kane. Are you all ready to come with us?”

  I frowned. “You want to leave him on his own?”

  Everyone looked at me.

  Alec sat next to me and dropped his arm around my shoulder. “He hasn’t woken up yet, he’s still out cold.”

  I shrugged. “So? That doesn’t mean he won’t wake up today, and what if none of us is here when he does?” I asked and shook my head. “No, I’ll go up and sit with him, then when you all come back I’ll leave and go get showered and stuff.”

  I caught Nico grinning and looking down. Alannah looked away smiling, too.

  “What are you grinnin’ about?” I asked Nico then looked at Alannah.

  Both of them said nothing; they only shook their heads with their silly smiles still in place on their faces. I narrowed my eyes at them, but shrugged it off as I stood up. “Go on, get goin’. I’ll go up to his room and wait.”

  I hated when everyone else started to smile at me.

  “I’m not doin’ this because I care or anythin’. I just don’t want to listen to him complain that he was on his own when he wakes up. That’s all. I’m doin’ this for me own benefit when you really think about it. I’m savin’ meself a future headache.”

  The fuckers just continued to smile at me. Alec was smirking though, and I wanted to wipe the stupid look from his face. I shook my head, dug the car parking card and keys out of my back pocket, and handed them to Ryder.

  “Fourth floor in the multi-story car park, closest spot to the stairs and elevator.”

  Ryder winked at me.

  “He’s in room nine, right?” I asked the brothers.

  They all nodded, still smiling.

  I opened the door and walked through it. “I hope your faces get stuck like that,” I threw over my shoulder.

  Their laughter didn’t fade away until I got into the elevator next to the waiting room. I shook my head as I pressed the button for the first floor and watched the elevator doors close. They reopened a few seconds later when it brought me to the first floor. I nervously swallowed as I stepped out and looked up at the signs on the wall in front of me. I saw St. Peter’s Ward was to the right so I turned and walked down the hallway and straight through the set of double doors for the correct ward.

  I walked by the nurse’s station and avoided eye contact with them. I didn’t want any of them to stop and ask me questions. I continued to walk down the hallway and followed the room numbers. Room number nine was down at the very end of the hallway with the door closed. I swallowed as I reached for the handle, pushed it down and nudged the door open.

  I looked at Kane as I entered the room and closed the door behind me. I stood motionless and stared at him for a few minutes. He was too big to be in the bed they had him in. He’d lost weight and muscle mass over the past year, but he was still a big lad, and seeing him lying down on a small bed with a hospital gown on looked weird.

  I walked over to the large chair next to the head of the bed and quietly sat down. I flicked my eyes over Kane to see what else was different about him. He had an IV drip in his arm to give him fluids, I assumed, and a dressing on his forehead. It was spotted with little red dots. I figured that was from when he fell and hit his head.

  Other than the drip and bandage, he looked okay. He was pale, and his face looked sullen even in sleep, but that was how he always looked. At least how he looked over the past year. I leaned forward and pressed my hand on top of his.

  “Kane?” I murmured. “It’s me, Aideen. I just want you to know... you aren’t alone. I’m here with you.”

  I removed my hand from his and sat back in the chair when he gave me no reaction. He was deep in sleep, so I decided not to speak anymore. He needed his rest. When he decided to wake up that was when the real tiredness was going to start because everyone would be breathing down his neck.

  I relaxed into the big chair and was so pleased to find it had cushions. It wasn’t plastic like the ones in the waiting room—it was a real chair. I snuggled back and folded my arms across my chest. I was aware that my eyes felt heavy, but not surprised, because I had the worst night’s sleep on the chairs in the bloody A&E waiting room.

  When I was sure Kane wasn’t going to wake up, I closed my eyes, and like the flip of a light switch, I was out.

  I awoke later when a God-awful pain struck my stomach and caused it to churn and roil. “Oh, fuck!” I grumbled as I jumped up out of the chair and ran over to the sink in the hospital room.

  I vomited into the sink until I was dry heaving and nothing else came up. I ran the water in the sink and splashed some of it on my face. I filled my mouth with water, gargled some of it, and spat it out before I shut the tap off and got some tissue papers to wipe my face and mouth dry.

  I felt disgusting.

  “Aideen?” a raspy voice behind me grumbled. “Are you okay?”

  I spun around.

  “Kane,” I whispered and moved over to the side of his bed. “Hey, you’re awake.”

  He blinked up at me. “You were throwing up.”

  I waved my hand. “Don’t mind that, I’m fine.”

  Kane frowned, then reached up and touched his bandaged head. “What the hell happened? Where am I?”

  I frowned. “You collapsed. You’re in the hospital, but you’re okay. This is just a precaution.”

  Kane furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “I don’t remember much. I was with Keela and we—” I jumped when he gasped. “Did it happen while I was driving? Oh, God, Keela! Is she okay? Is she—”

  “Shh. Stop. She’s okay,” I cut him off and took hold of his hand in mine. “It happened while you were inside Tesco. The car was parked and you were both in an aisle inside the shop. She is okay.”

  Physically okay, anyway.

  “Thank God,” Kane breathed in relief. “That’s good.”

  I nodded my head and
let go of his hand when he glanced down to my hold on him. I busied myself with moving a chair closer so I could sit and talk to him.

  “I’m... I’m a little surprised you’re here,” he said after a few seconds of silence.

  I looked up at him and frowned. “Why?” I asked, slightly offended.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t like me, Aideen.”

  I huffed. “So? That doesn’t mean I want to see you dead.”

  Kane smirked. “If I remember correctly, the last time we were alone together, you said you’d kill me yourself if I—”

  “Do you want me to hurt you while you’re in this state?” I snapped. “We agreed to never talk about that night.”

  Images of our bodies moving together from that night filled my mind, but I stopped that train of thought. I forced myself not to think about what happened. I pretended if I didn’t think about it, then it didn’t happen.

  He lost his smirk and glared at me. “You agreed. Not me.”

  I groaned. “Please, Kane. What good will come from people knowin’ what happened between us? I can tell you. Nothin’. Nothin’ will come of it because it was nothin’.”

  “Kick a man while he’s down, why don’t you,” he growled.

  I placed my head in my hands. “I didn’t mean it like that—”

  “Then what way did you mean it?” he cut me off, his voice raised.

  I kept my head down. “It was drunken sex, Kane. It was a mistake.”

  “Yeah, well that mistake may be growing inside your body right now. I’m not stupid, Aideen. I may not remember fainting, but I remember everything else about yesterday. You might be pregnant, and we didn’t use protection that night. I can put two and two together. I’m not as dumb as you think I am,” he hissed. “Did you take a pregnancy test yet?”

  I felt my eyes well up as I nodded my head. “I did, but then Keela phoned and told me what happened with you. Everythin’ was a little crazy after that. I forgot to look at the results.”

  Kane’s voice was stern. “Go take one now. Ask a nurse for one; they will have them in their supply rooms.”

  I looked up at him and frowned. “I can’t do it here.”

  “Why not?” Kane asked, his face twisted in rage. “If you are pregnant it’s just a mistake, right? What do you care about taking a test in a hospital?”

  I wasn’t sure why I was so upset, or why he was so angry with me. He agreed what happened between us all those nights ago was just an impulsive act. He knew we weren’t suited as a couple just as much as I knew it. We were the polar opposites of one another, and butted heads more times than not. We weren’t good together. We didn’t even like one another.

  “Please, Kane,” I whispered. “I’m... I’m scared, okay?”

  Kane remained silent for a long moment. “Fine. I won’t tell anyone we fucked, but I want you to go home and take a pregnancy test today and then come back and tell me the results. Do you understand me, Aideen? If you’re pregnant, that’s my kid in there too and I will have a say in what happens. Understood?”

  I was frozen to my seat as Kane spoke. I had never heard him use that tone of voice before. It was cold and threatening and not at all the Kane I knew.

  “You seem pretty confident that if I was pregnant the baby would be yours,” I began, “I want to know why you’d just assume it’s yours? I could have been with someone else around the same time.”

  I wasn’t with another man before I fell into stupidity and slept with Kane. I would normally never lie like that, but his arrogance and controlling demeanour both scared and pissed me off.

  “Were you with someone else?” Kane snarled, his hands balling into fists.

  I kept my head down so he couldn’t see the truth in my eyes. “It’s not relevant unless I turn out to be pregnant. I’ll keep you posted.”

  Kane sat up in the bed and I heard how laboured his breathing was.

  “Aideen.”

  One word and I was shitting myself.

  “I understand you, okay? I’ll do as you asked and take a test, then let you know the results. Jesus.”

  “Good,” he quipped.

  I didn’t know what to do then. I was surprised with how I felt in his presence. I was uncomfortable being alone with him. There was no room for jokes or insults between us right at this moment, it was just a dark space filled with nothing. He wasn’t the same person I was so used to being around, and I could tell all this from the tone of his voice.

  “I’m going to go now,” I said, my voice low.

  I slowly eased myself up from the chair but halted when Kane said, “No... just stay awhile, okay?” He sighed and like the click of my fingers, he was changed back to the Kane I knew. “I’m sorry... you just... made me a little angry.”

  That tone was him when he was a little angry?

  Damn.

  I was so screwed if I ever really pissed him off.

  “Will you look at me?” he whispered.

  It took me a minute but I lifted my head and brought my gaze to his.

  “There she is,” he murmured.

  Oh, God.

  His mouth was in a frown and he was still a little pale, but fuck, he was gorgeous.

  Scars and all.

  I hated with everything in me that I found him attractive. Hating somebody and still finding them stunning in appearance was torture. Utter torture.

  “Things are so fucked up,” I breathed and sat back in the chair. “One of us girls might be pregnant, you’re ill, Keela’s head is turnin’ against her, Nico is workin’ for Brandon Daley and so is me little brother. What fuckin’ else can happen to us?”

  The room was silent for a few moments.

  “We’ll figure it out. All of us will figure it out,” Kane said. “We always do.”

  I blinked. “Yeah, but still, this is a lot of shite to deal with.”

  His lip quirked a little. “We’ve been through worse things, babydoll.”

  I widened my eyes to the point of pain. “We discussed you never callin’ me that again.”

  Kane grinned. “You only get one pass. Either I keep quiet about us fucking, or I don’t call you babydoll. You choose which one you want, but if I was you, I’d hurry because time’s a wasting.”

  I hated him.

  I hated every fibre in the sick bastard’s body.

  “The stupid sex,” I growled. “Keep that to yourself.”

  Kane winked. “You got it, babydoll.”

  What. A. Prick.

  “If you weren’t so ill, I’d kill you meself,” I angrily snapped.

  I jumped with fright when laughter sounded from my right.

  “He must be okay if she’s threatening to kill him,” Alec’s voice sang with laughter.

  I looked up and playfully rolled my eyes as the brothers and girls filed into Kane’s room.

  “Good to see you awake, you bastard,” Alec said and leaned in to hug Kane. “You frightened the shit out of us.”

  Kane made jokes as each of his brothers hugged him, followed by the girls. After Bronagh hugged him, she walked over, closed the door of the room, and leaned against it. Nico tried to get her to move over to the seat near the window so she could sit on his lap, but she was having none of it.

  “I told you no,” Bronagh snapped. “Kane is awake now and I’m not blinded with fear for his safety anymore, so I can remember perfectly fuckin’ well the deal you struck with Brandon fucking Daley. I was serious when I said I’m done with you, Dominic. I want no part of that poxy life, and if you insist on being part of it then I’m sorry to say fuckface, but I’m cuttin’ you loose.”

  Oh, bollocks.

  They were breaking up?

  “Cutting me loose, huh?” Nico said, his voice cool and calm. “Like I’m some snot-faced little boy you sunk your claws into?”

  Bronagh glared at him. “Somethin’ like that.”

  Nico moved so fast that none of us had time to react. He got Bronagh backed into the corner of the room a
nd blocked her from our view with his body.

  I looked at Kane who shook his head at me. “Let them hash it out,” he murmured.

  I looked away from him and at Nico’s back.

  “You think I want to be involved with Brandy and that fucking life? I fucking don’t, Bronagh. I grew up in it, and all my life I just wanted my brothers and me to have a normal life, but that isn’t on the cards for us. As much as it sucks, this crazy fucked-up life—is my normal. I’m trying to make the best I can out of a shitty situation. And, sweetheart, the fact of the matter is that we’re broke and my job at the gym and with clients isn’t cutting it anymore. I don’t know how, but I blew all of my money and I refuse to get loans from my brothers or to scrape the bottom of the barrel to support us. But fighting... it’s what I’m good at, Bronagh. It’s really good money. It won’t be like it was before—you just have to trust me when I say that. Please. I’m doing this for you. For us.”

  Bronagh’s cries were evident then, and so were Nico’s soothing murmurs of his love for her and the promises he swore to keep.

  “You promise me,” Bronagh whimpered. “You promise it won’t be like before. You won’t go from country to country fightin’ or be involved in shady shite. Promise if you’re fightin’ that it’s just on that fuckin’ platform in that stupid bloody nightclub. Promise me.”

  “Look me in the eyes,” Nico breathed. “I promise you.”

  Bronagh cried again, “I love you.”

  Their kissing could be heard then, and so could my sniffles.

  “Aideen?” Kane murmured. “Why are you crying?”

  I waved him off and everyone else who was looking at me. I wiped the tears as they fell from my eyes. “I don’t even know why, but I can’t stop.”

  I covered my face as I began to sob.

  I was upset and mortified at the same time.

  “Ah, darling, everything is okay,” Alec’s voice chuckled as he hunkered down in front of me and pulled me into a hug.

  I put my arms around him and hugged him tightly.

  When I calmed myself down and Alec stood up, I got up, walked over to Keela and put my arms around her. Keela placed her hands on my back and rubbed up and down. “What’s goin’ on with you?” she murmured in my ear.