~~~~~~~~
4: Concussed
Max came to,
groaning. She put a hand on her head; there
was a large knot above her eye. She sat
up and the world started spinning. She
groaned again and lay back down.
Someone
placed a very cold compress against her head.
“Don’t sit up.”
Max blinked
as her vision cleared. She turned her
head in the direction of the voice. Bane
stared down at her, concern in his beautiful eyes. She sat up again and grabbed her head before
sinking back down into the bed.
“Owww! My head!”
Her skull felt enormous.
“I told you
not to sit up.”
“How…did I
hurt my…head?”
“You fell in
the bathroom and hit your head on the sink.”
She looked
at him. Her head hurt like a mad
bastard. Then, as things started falling
into place, she tried to frown but it hurt too much.
“Relax,” he
said. He kept his large hand on the
compress.
“I hate
you,” she moaned. “You…ruined my
evening. I was going to…to have an
excellent dinner…and even better sex…and you…you ruined it…I hate you…”
“Is he the
man that you spoke of?”
“Yes,” she
said, closing her eyes.
“He appears
to be quite fond of you. I asked him to come
back and check you out. He told me to
bring you to the hospital, and you’re going to be on bed rest for the next few
days.”
“Tammaro…he
came back?”
“I contacted
the hospital and asked for him directly. When I explained what happened, he
came right over. He was stressed and
it’s understandable, considering that I threatened him a couple of hours ago. But when he saw you, he immediately began
caring for you in spite of his fear.”
“You’re…a
fucking…asshole…” That was one of the
most trifling things she’d ever heard of.
“He’s in
love with you. But you’re not in love
with him. You use him for sex. You’re also using that other guy, and he’s
married.”
“Don’t
you…dare judge me,” Max said, adjusting the compress. “So what?
Men have been…doing this shit for…years.
And it wasn’t just…sex…between Tammaro…and me.”
“I really
don’t care,” Bane said. “I don’t want
you with either one of them. I am
jealous.” He would own it.
Max groaned
and turned away from him. She was
uncomfortable. Her dress felt too tight
and her head felt massive.
“I need…to
get home.”
“You can’t
drive.”
“I need…to
get home…to my son.”
“You can’t
drive.”
“Bane, I
need to go…home to Kyle.”
“You’re not
driving. So decide how you want this
scenario to end. I’ll do whatever you
say.”
Max tried to
sit up again but it was too much. Black
dots swirled in front of her eyes and she collapsed. She wanted her pajamas and her cool, Egyptian
cotton sheets. She wanted to hold her
little boy close and smell his hair.
Instead she was stuck in a hotel room with his idiot father.
“Did he…give
me a painkiller?”
“He wrote a
prescription, but you have better drugs at home. He doesn’t know you’re a rogue pharmacist.”
“I…can
drive…”
“If you can
get up and walk to the door without falling, then I will let you drive.” Bane knew full well that Max wasn’t going to
be able to get up without her head swimming.
The knot was the size of a golf ball.
She wouldn’t even make it off the bed.
“Okay. Okay.”
For her son, she would attempt anything.
Max closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She sat up slowly and looked around. Bane sat next to her, his eyes full of an
unfamiliar emotion.
“I hate
you,” she said, and passed out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When she
came to again, she was in her bedroom.
Her head still hurt; a dull, immense throbbing between her ears. Her curtains were drawn and the room was
dark, but she could hear the sounds of the sea, which meant the door to her
terrace was open. She looked down. Somebody had changed her clothes. She was dressed in a big T-shirt and still in the red
panties she wore for her date. Max
touched her forehead. Her head was
bandaged.
“Can you sit
up?”
Max gripped
her sheets. She knew that voice. He was here. He was in her house, in her bedroom. Quickly, her mind ran to her son.
“Where’s
Kyle?”
“Asleep. I took care not to wake him.”
Max moaned
and lay back down. She started to
cry. Bane, completely taken aback
because he had never seen the woman cry before, didn’t know what to say. Tears weren’t a part of his life.
“Are you in
pain? I have a syringe ready to give you
but I didn’t want to do it without you knowing.
I know how you feel about meds.”
“I didn’t
want you here,” she said. “I wanted to
protect my son. I didn’t want him
tainted by you. You’re an evil man, and
I don’t care if you think it’s necessary, you’re still responsible for the
deaths of a whole lot of people.”
“What about
the blood on your hands?”
“You think I
haven’t thought about that? I’m not
innocent, but I’m not you. I did what I had to do for my daughter. I had a reason
to do what I did. You choose to be a
dick just because.”
“So we’re murderers, but we’re also parents.”
“No. No. I’m a parent. You’re just my baby’s father. Soon you will be gone and Kyle will never lay
eyes on you.” Max moaned. “I’m so tired.”
“You
shouldn’t go to sleep.”
“I need to
see about my child. What time is it?”
“It’s still
dark. I took you to the hospital after
you passed out again. You have a
concussion. After you were examined, I
brought you home. You will get better
rest here and I didn’t want you to wake up in a strange bed without knowing
about Kyle.”
She didn’t
remember being in the hospital. “You saw
him?”
“Of course.”
“I hate
you.”
“You’re
entitled.”
“You ruined
my evening.”
“I know.”
“You ruined
everything.”
“He didn’t
see me, Max. But I did watch him sleep. He is…perfect.”
“Tell me you
don’t have that mask on.”
“You know
that I do.”
“Did you
have it on at the hospital?”
“No.” He didn’t bother to explain that he removed
the mask after taking an injection in the bathroom before taking her to the
hospital. That he had, in fact, put it back on shortly before she woke up.
“I want you
gone before he wakes up.”
“No.”
“Bane…”
“Your
housekeeper doesn’t work weekends. You
have a concussion and you’re going to need to rest. There is no way I’m leaving you alone,
Max. You’re just going to have to deal
with it. I told you to calm down, but
you wouldn’t listen. If you’re thinking
about our son, then think of him.”
Max looked
at the man. There was tenderness in his
eyes. He put a hand on her stomach. She frowned.
“What did you say to Rosa?”
“That you
fell and hurt your head. I asked that
she return in the morning to prepare meals for you and Kyle. I told her that I would watch out for you,
but that I didn’t know how to cook.”
“Did you
have the mask on?”
“Of course
not. Give me some credit.” The housekeeper was hesitant to let Bane in
until she saw him carrying her boss. Had
he been wearing his mask, it was very likely he would have been in some Italian
jail.
Max
sighed. “I was so mad at you. I’m still mad at you. You’re jealous. You don’t want me with any other man. You think that just because I had your baby
that gives you exclusive rights to my pussy.
You’re such a…such a…”
“You may
call me whatever name you like if it makes you feel better.”
“If I had a
gun, I would shoot you.”
“Where’s the
gun you used to have?”
“I won’t
keep a weapon like that in my house with Kyle running about.” Max threw her legs over the side of the bed. "But I do have knives and I know how to use them."
“Be
careful,” Bane warned.
Max stood up
carefully. She looked around and took a
couple of steps. Her vision started to
swim and she stopped to get her head right.
“I just need to see him for myself.”
Bane started
to get out of the chair, but stopped himself.
Max was just as stubborn as he was and ferocious when it came to her
child. He watched her walk out of her
bedroom and take a few steps down the hall to Kyle’s room. She opened the door and stood there for a
long moment. Then, satisfied, she
returned to her bedroom and went into the bathroom, closing the door. He waited patiently. A few minutes later, she came out and walked
back to bed.
“My head
hurts,” she said, touching the bandage.
“Something’s
wrong if it doesn’t,” he said. “Do you
want a shot?”
“I don’t
like taking meds.”
“You don’t
have to take a full dose,” he said.
“But, like you told me, you need to relax. I’ll stay here and watch over you.”
“I don’t
want you here when Kyle wakes up.”
“Get over
it.” Bane got up and came towards the
bed. He had one of her syringes in his
hand.
Max lay back
down. Her head was starting to
throb. “I hate you. You ruined everything.”
“As you’ve
said. I’m an evil, reprehensible,
brutish man and you hate my guts. You’re
allowed. However, I remember a time when
you wanted to assist me; when you wanted to spare me pain. I remember you doing a number of things to
help me manage my agony. You did it
because you wanted to do it, regardless of the man you knew I was. You spent your time, money and resources
helping a man you didn’t know. While I’m
not the nicest guy, I’m not so inherently evil that I could walk out on the
woman who helped me not be in constant pain." It wasn't a wise tactic to put his queen in jeopardy. "You and my son are the only ones I won’t abandon.” Everybody else was fair game.
She ignored
the last. “What are you giving me?”
“Hydrocodone,
5ccs. I know that you don’t like taking
meds, but this should alleviate some of your pain. You will simply have to get over it, Max. I wasn’t planning for it to happen like this,
but I also didn’t expect for you to get a concussion. But I do admit to being jealous. I did find you appealing in that dress, and
yes, I wanted to tear it off you.” He
swabbed her arm and gave her the shot.
She glared
at him. “You will never touch me again.”
“I don’t
know about all that, but we’ll deal with it later. You did promise to smother me in sex and I'm seriously considering holding you to it.”
Max grabbed
his forearm. “If Kyle wakes up, don’t tell
him who you are. Please, Bane. Please don’t tell him who you are. And don’t wear that fucking mask, either. You’ll scare him.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little
while later, Max was feeling a whole lot better. The hydrocodone worked great, and she was
relaxed. She wanted to sleep, but Bane
wouldn’t allow her to. She understood
that she shouldn’t sleep, but she was so tired.
She looked at him. Bane got up
from the chair and sat next to her on the bed.
It creaked loudly.
“Don’t break
my bed.”
“This is the
same bed you had when we were together last.”
“New
mattress, though. But you have the
potential for destruction and you want to fuck me.”
He put his
hand on her stomach. “If I didn’t break
it then, I won’t break it now.”
She closed
her eyes. “I want to go to sleep.”
“No,” he
said. He had to keep her awake. “You told me that you remember the night we
made my son. Tell me about it.”
Max looked
at him. Bane looked so different
now. There was compassion in his
expression, a sensitivity she didn’t think he was capable of. “You don’t remember?”
“You would
know better than I when you conceived.”
She smiled
tenderly. Once she knew that she was
pregnant, she calculated the date of conception and was amused by it. “The night you wore the mask for the first
time; when I told you it turned me on.
You came into my room wearing nothing but it and a rock-hard dick.”
Bane looked
at her. He remembered that night well.
“I remember
it being almost non-stop; we were all over each other. You held me down on the bed and I let you
have your way with me. It was so good,
so hot, so powerful; it made perfect sense that I got pregnant that night.” She put her fingers on the mask and stroked
the faceplate. “If you’re curious, it
still turns me on.”
He closed
his eyes, recalling her earlier statement.
“Don’t, unless you’re sure. There
will be no going back.”
“Isn’t that
why you came to the hotel room tonight?”
"If you didn't have a concussion, you'd be smothering me right now." He looked
around the room. The sun was starting to
come up. “It’s almost morning.”
Max sat up
quickly and her head swam. “Kyle’s going
to wake up soon. You need to leave.”
Bane looked
at her. She clearly wasn’t thinking
straight because he had no intention of leaving.
“He’ll be in
here in a few minutes; he always comes and gets in bed with me on Saturday
mornings and we watch cartoons. Please,
please go away.”
Bane got off
the bed and left the bedroom. Max sat up
and turned on the television. And sure
enough, five minutes later, Kyle came running into the room. Max wrapped her
arms around her son and pulled him under the covers. The boy was beautiful. Bane stared at him from the shadows of the
hallway, much as he had done last night.
The child was a miniature version of him, even down to the way he
walked. He had adored Talia, and she was
like a little sister. But this baby,
this child, this little boy was his…how
could he not already love him?
Things
were likely to get ugly between him and Max.
Bane listened quietly to Kyle’s morning chatter. “Mommy, what
happened to your head?”
“I fell.”
“Are you
okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Were you
playing?”
“In a manner
of speaking.”
“I fell
yesterday during recess, but I didn’t hurt my head.”
“You didn’t
tell me that you fell down.”
“I’m okay,
Mommy. I'm a big boy.”
Max kissed
his head. “Mommy’s going to lie down for
a while.”
“Are you
sleepy?”
“Yes, but
I’m not going to sleep. You can watch
television. Just don’t…just don’t turn
the TV up too loud, okay?”
“Okay.”
Kyle rolled
down to the foot of the bed with the remote.
Max lay back, her eyes closing.
She wanted to go to sleep so badly.
He started changing channels and settled in with The Backyardigans. Then after a minute or so, he looked up.
“Mommy,
there’s a man at the door.”
more...
Soundtrack:
"Heard it all Before" Sunshine Anderson
"Be Careful" Sparkle & R. Kelly
"G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T." Changing Faces
"Sugar" Trick Daddy
"Crown Royal" Jill Scott
"Trippin'" Total
"In My Bed" Dru Hill
"I'll Be" Foxy Brown
"Give it Up, Turn it Loose" En Vogue
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