Harley
Heather took my arm as we were led down the hall. The nurse met us at the door to Woody’s room, she said, “there is a chair beside the bed for you Mr. Winslow, and you are welcome to use the bed, the doctor said you may want to spend the night?”
I said, “yes, I’m staying until Woody wakes up.”
She said, “fine, but we ask that you don’t wake him, he needs his rest. He has been sedated anyway and probably won’t be awake for at least another 8 to 10 hours.”
I nodded, “I understand.”
Jack said the nurse, “did the doctor fill you in on the situation?”
She said, “yes, we have two chairs outside the door for your officers, and we will allow no one in the room without their approval.”
Jack said, “yes, thank you. Please notify me as soon as Mr. Woodson is awake, I would like to see what he remembers.”
The nurse nodded, “yes, of course, detective.”
I said, “can I please go in now?”
Heather led me through the door and as we got closer to the bed, I heard her stifle a gasp. For the first time since the accident, I was glad that I couldn’t see. I know I would not have wanted to see Woody looking like this.
I asked, “how does he look?”
She sighed, “not good Harley, here, put your hand here, this is the arm rest of the chair.” She helped me sit down.
I asked, “can I hold his hand?”
She said, “sorry Harley, but that hand has a cast on it, he has an IV in the other arm. Don’t worry, he knows you are here.”
I sighed as I sat back in the chair, a steady beep sounded in the background, I assumed it was a heart monitor. There was a low humming sound from some other machines. Again, I assumed they were hooked up to Woody. I still felt so helpless, I have no idea what to do right now.
Heather was still holding my hand, she asked, “are you going to be, ok?”
I nodded, “I don’t know what to do, sis.”
She said, “there isn’t really anything you can do Harley. Woody knows you’re here, that’s all you can do right now, be here for him.”
I took a deep breath, “I know, but it just seems like…”
Heather interrupted, “you are doing all you can. The doctors are doing all they can. I know it’s not easy Harley, but we just have to wait, Woody is young and strong, he’s going to be fine.”
I squeezed her hand, “thanks, sis.”
She asked, “do you want me to stay with you?”
I shook my head, “no, you need to go be with your kids.”
She said, “Todd’s mom is with them now, they are fine.”
I said, “thanks, but I’ll be fine, you should go home. I’ll call if anything changes.”
She kissed my forehead and said, I’ll be back first thing in the morning.” I heard her walk out the door. I also heard Jack giving instructions, I assumed to the officers that would staying for the night outside the door.
Was I really in danger? What would Murphy gain by hurting, or killing me? His brother wouldn’t be released if I was no longer around. I guess he was trying to send a message to the Prosecutor’s Office, in case we were able to build a case against him or any of his other men.
My memory raced to when Woody and I first met. When I showed my gruff side, he just gave me no pity. I chuckled as I thought about how our exchanges have grown into the jabs that we now share. I truly love the way we communicate with each other. I know a lot of people might not understand, but it was how we showed we cared for each other. I sighed as I thought about the first time in the shower. I really wanted to know what he looked like, I just knew he was handsome. When I was able to run my hands over his body, a better picture was starting to emerge. I almost was relieved that I didn’t have my sight, because if I had, I may never have given him a second look. I had never really been attracted to guys like Woody. I mean, I may have thought he was good-looking, but I have always been drawn to more of the jock type, tall, with strong arms and chests. I was really glad that I had to get to know Woody as a person and not rely on my sight to judge him. He has such a kind heart and from what I already knew about him, he was dealt a pretty shitty hand in the card game of life.
God, I felt so helpless, for the first time in my life, I wasn’t in control. It was a completely different feeling than when I lost Sam. Sam was already gone by the time I regained consciousness after the accident. I had to go straight to grieving, I didn’t have a chance to feel helpless. Not to mention that I was dealing with all of my injuries. Jesus, Woody, you just have to be alright, we were only just getting to know each other.
I leaned my head back and thought I should try to get some sleep. I dozed off and on, but I was awoken every hour when the nurse would come in to check on Woody. She tried to be quiet so she wouldn’t disturb me. I had no idea what time it was, but it felt late. The next time I woke up, I was covered with a blanket. I guess the nurse must have thought I looked cold.
She noticed I was awake when she made her latest check. She asked, “can I get you anything?”
I asked, “what time is it?”
She said, “it’s a little after 6 am.”
I asked, “how is he doing?”
She said, “he’s still stable, but his vitals are showing improvement.”
I said, “that’s good, right?”
She said, "yes, it is a good sign. But we still need him to wake up to see if there is any…”
I sighed, “brain damage?”
She said, “the doctor will be in this morning to talk to you about everything. It’s not my place to give that information.”
I chuckled, “yeah, but be honest, you nurses know a hell of a lot more than the doctors do.”
She patted my shoulder, “the doctor will be in this morning, you can ask him any questions you have. Are you sure I can’t get you anything? At least a cup of coffee?”
It suddenly dawned on me, I hadn’t eaten since noon yesterday. I said, “I could use something to eat, and yes, I would love a cup of coffee.”
She said, “I’ll see what I can find, I’ll be right back.”
A few minutes later, she returned with a muffin and a cup of coffee, she said, “we will bring you a breakfast tray in about an hour, this should hold you until then.”
I said, “thank you.”
I heard the door close as she left the room. I ate the muffin and was finishing my coffee when I heard the door open again.
Heather said, “good morning, Harley, did you get any sleep.”
I said, “a little.”
Todd asked, “have they said anything about his condition?”
I said, “the nurse said his vitals were improving, the doctor will be in soon to give us an update.”
Todd said, “that’s good. I’ve taken the morning off, so Heather and I can stay with you. We’d like to hear what the doctor has to say.”
I nodded, “thanks.”
All the new information that Jack had given me last night was still running through my brain. I was still upset that the police had not told me that Murphy may have been responsible for my accident. I remembered another comment that Jack had made.
I asked Todd, “What did Jack mean when he said that he didn’t think they would hurt Woody, they only talked to all the others. What others?”
Todd didn’t answer right away. Heather said, “Todd! What else are you not telling us?”
Todd sighed, “the other caretakers we hired to help Harley, they didn’t leave because of Harley.”
I said, “I told you I wasn’t being an asshole, I admit I was still pissed at my situation, but I was never unkind to those women.”
Heather asked, “why did they quit Todd?”
He said, “because Murphy’s men threatened them.”
Heather said, “what?”
I asked, “what do you mean, how did they threaten them?”
Todd said, “they just called and told them that if they didn’t want to get hurt, they should find someone else to work for.”
Heather yelled, “and you didn’t think that Harley and I deserved to know about this? Jesus Christ Todd.”
Todd said, “Jack kept telling me that it was best that you didn’t know. I’m sorry, I know it sounds bad now, but I thought I should listen to the police. I really thought that they would have gotten Murphy by now. I’m sorry.”
Jack had entered the room as Todd was trying to defend himself.
Jack said, “he was only following my orders, if you are pissed at anyone, be pissed at me.”
I said, “no problem, that won’t be too hard to do.”
He said, “I’m sorry Harley, I know it won’t make a difference now, but I thought it was best for everyone to keep you out of the loop.”
I said, “who the hell do you think you are deciding what is best for me? You don’t even know me or what I can handle.
Jack said, “I just though you had been through so much already, I just knew we were going to get enough on Murphy to put him away soon.”
I took a deep breath, “if anything happens to Woody, you will find out just how much I can handle, because I will kick your ass.”
Just as I was going to continue my tirade, I heard a raspy voice, “Where am I?”
Woody
I heard voices getting louder and louder. They were starting to yell at each other. There was a constant beeping sound, and my head was pounding. I opened my eyes and as I was trying to focus, I asked, “where am I?” I blinked my eyes again and saw Harley was standing over me.
He asked, “Woody, can you hear me?”
The last thing I remember was getting the shit kicked out of me in that dark alley. I took a breath as the pain ran through my chest.
I said, “yeah, where am I?”
He said, “you’re in the hospital, how do you feel?”
I croaked, “like hell.”
A nurse suddenly appeared and checked my pulse and asked me if I knew who I was, what day it was and a bunch of other stupid questions.
Harley was right behind the nurse, a tear rolling down his cheek. As soon as the nurse stepped aside to go get the doctor, he was standing over me again. I reached up to take his hand and saw the cast that went all the way up my arm. He took a hold of the cast and said, “try not to move too much, you were hurt pretty badly.”
I sighed, causing pain to once again rush through my ribs. I said, “yeah, I figured that out by all the pain.”
Another man stepped beside Harley, he asked, “do you know who did this to you?”
I searched my memory, where had I seen this man before? I shook my head, “I didn’t know them, but the guy that pulled me behind that store, was following me and Harley around the grocery store a few days ago.”
He asked, “did he say anything to you?”
I said, “he didn't, but the other guy that was in the shadows told me to tell Harley that he shouldn’t have messed with his family. He said Harley was supposed to die in that car wreck and he was coming after him as soon as the cops let their guard down.”
Harley interrupted, “why didn’t you tell me we were being followed, is that why you took a different route home that day?”
I said, “yeah, I wasn’t sure we were being followed. Yesterday when I went to get the bread, the same man was in the store following me again. I ducked into another store and waited, but the manager thought I was going to steal something, so I had to leave. As I got past the last building, that’s when they grabbed me.”
The man asked, “they? How many were there?”
I said, “the one that followed me and two others, beside the guy that told me to give that message to Harley.” Then I realized who the man was. I said, “you are the other guy that was in the room when Todd hired me, who the hell are you?”
The man said, “I’m detective Jack Harrison.” He then proceeded to tell me about the guys that he thought beat me up. I learned the house across the street was full of cops, watching Harley’s house and they had followed us to the store that day too. They somehow didn’t notice the guy following us, they said they were too busy watching us.
I thought back to that day in Todd’s office, I remembered the file that Jack had. Of course, it was my police record, that’s why it had my picture in it. He then told me the real reason the other caretakers had quit working for Harley.
I said, “so that’s why you didn’t care about my experience in being a caretaker, if I got hurt, no one would care or if I was killed, no one would miss me.”
I saw Harley’s face turn red, He yelled, “you son of a bitch, you hired Woody because you thought he was expendable. You knew there was a good chance that he would get hurt. How the hell could you do that?”
Heather jumped in, the same look of disgust in her eyes, that Harley had in his, she said, “you assholes. What were you thinking?”
Jack rubbed his face, “the other caretakers had families, kids and spouses, we needed someone that didn’t…”
Harley interrupted, “someone that didn’t have anyone that cared about them, right? Well, he does have someone that cares about him, you heartless bastard.”
Todd jumped in, “ok, everyone needs to calm down. We know this was a bad plan, I’m sure everyone is sorry. We need to figure out what to do now. I think we need to get Harley and Woody somewhere safe, where Murphy can’t get to them. We can all be pissed at each other later.”
It all started to make sense to me, and why they weren’t worried if I could do the job. I should have known it was all too good to be true. Then it hit me, did Harley say that I did have someone that cared about me? Was he saying that he cared about me?
Jack said, “Todd’s right, we really should get you two to a safe house. As soon as the doctor says Woody can leave, we will get you out of town.”
The doctor stormed in and said, “you all need to leave, Cyrus is in no condition for all of you to be in here yelling and screaming. I’ve tried not to interfere with your investigation, detective Harrison, but his wellbeing comes first right now. Now, everyone, get out.”
I asked, “doctor, will you please let Harley stay with me?”
The doctor looked at me, then at Harley. He said, “fine, if you really want him here.”
I said, “yes, I do.”
He nodded, “ok. Everyone else out and if I hear any more arguing, I will kick you all out of the hospital.”
Everyone hung their heads and filed out. The nurse helped Harley move to the other side of my bed so he could hold my hand, the one that wasn’t in a cast. The doctor asked me a bunch of questions, many of the same ones the nurse had asked me earlier. He told me about my broken ribs and all my other injuries.
He said, “you have a bad concussion as well, you are going to have a bad headache for few days. We will need to keep you here for a couple of more days to monitor that.”
I asked, “would it be ok if Harley stays here with me?”
The nurse said, “we already have the extra bed set up Doctor, with the guards outside, we won’t be able to bring another patient in here anyway.”
The doctor thought a moment, “I guess that would be ok, Mr. Winslow, are you ok with that?”
Harley let out a sigh of relief, “of course I am, there is no place I would rather be.”
The doctor said, “but if there is a repeat of drama that happened today, I was not kidding when I said I would kick whole lot of you out.”
Harley nodded, “understood doctor, thank you.”
The Doctor said, “ok, now Cyrus, you need to get your rest, I’ll have the nurse give something for the pain, but broken ribs just have to heal on their own.”
I said, “thank you doctor, but will you please call me Woody?”
He smiled, “of course, please tell the nurse if you need anything, I’ll be back later to check on you.”
He turned and left the room, telling the nurse to call him if anything changed. I heard him scold the others that were in the hall. After he left there was a knock on the door, Jack Harrison poked his head in.
He said, “is it ok if I ask you a few questions Woody, I promise it won’t take long. The doctor said it was ok, if you were up to it.”
I nodded, “yeah, it’s fine.”
Harley squeezed my hand, “if you want him to leave just let me know.”
I squeezed his hand back, “I will.”
After jack apologized again, he said, “I have some pictures, do you think you could pick the men out that assaulted you?”
I nodded, “I think so, I know I could pick out the guy that was following us.”
He pulled out an iPad that had about 10 pictures displayed, I quickly found the man that had pulled me behind the building and the man that stepped out of the shadows to give the message for Harley.
Jack nodded, “that’s what I thought, that is Phillip Murphy and his right-hand man, Thomas Mills.”
I pointed at two of the other pictures, “I didn’t get as good of look, but I think those are the other two guys that helped Mills beat me.”
Jack said, “thank you Woody, I am truly sorry things went this far. I certainly didn’t intend this to happen. Believe me, we will not let these scum bags get close to you again.”
Harley said, “if there is nothing else detective.”
Jack nodded, “no, that’s all for now.” He stood and left the room.
Harley said, ‘I am so sorry Woody, I didn’t know about any of this.”
I kissed his hand, “I know, thank you for staying with me.”
To be Continued…
