Fifty-One

“Darryl! Darryl!” Hank shouted, the desperation he felt transpiring in his voice. “Get your ass, here!”

“Oh, there! Where’s the fire, Hank?” Darryl’s tall stature appeared, being framed by the door. His bright green eyes narrowed at him in disapproval while he tried to get out of bed. “The fuck is wrong with you?” Scolding Henry, he reached him in three big steps, pushing him back into the mattress.

“I have to go after her! She’s not okay.” Hank let go of himself, pushing in vain against Darryl’s huge hands, keeping him in place.

“I’ll go to her, you stay put, or everything she fixed on you will be for nothing.” They stared at each other in mutual understanding, and Hank nodded.

“Please find her and bring her back. Melina is struggling. She is not herself.” Darryl didn’t even answer him, pivoting on his boots and leaving.

Melina didn’t answer him. He got puzzled by her tears, because they weren’t about the fact he made her take care of him, going against a code of ethics and morals in her career, or nervousness about the situation. There was something more in her semblance. An infinite grief, and every time she peeked at him, there was compassion and understanding shining there. He needed her to answer him, because if he wouldn’t bear to see gratitude in her face, pity, he might as well be dead.

***

Melina had slid to the floor, pushing the knees against her chest and hiding her face in them. She still shook to the core, inhaling fresh air and trying to calm herself down, but it seemed impossible. Her brain refused to let go of the images of Henry’s suffering, and she was the one inflicting it. His whimpers of pain, the strained face and stiff posture, and the nasty wound on his shoulder. She couldn’t shake from her mind it didn’t matter how much she tried!

A pair of boots stopped beside her, but she didn’t have the courage to face whoever was there, waiting for her to make up her mind, with all the patience in this world. “Melina, I brought you some water.”

“Thank you.” After a long minute, she tipped her head up, meeting his concerned gaze. Darryl stood there with a glass in his hands. She took it with shaky hands when he extended it to her. Melina drank the water in one big gulp, realising how thirsty she was. The cool liquid jolted her brain back into function, cleaning all the cobwebs that gathered in her mind. “Gosh! I’m a mess.” She forced a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes since she had no reason to do it, besides acting the ‘I’m strong role.’

“Come, let me help you up.” He pulled her to him once she extended her hand, and Melina leaned on the short wall. “Have some tissues. You don’t need to worry. He’ll be fine. This is not the first time he has survived a situation like this.”

“That’s the exact point,” she said, giving the glass back and grabbing the tissues. “He shouldn’t have to go through this torture, neither you nor me.” Blowing her nose, she faced him. “It’s all wrong, and I don’t know how to fix it. He’s a stubborn jerk!”

Darryl chuckled at her remark, and his jade eyes softened, staring at her. It was comforting to know Henry had someone to watch over him, and by Darryl’s semblance, they were brothers, maybe not by blood, but life given, and that kind of relationship one should never take for granted.

“I’m five years older than him. One afternoon, Matt walked into the warehouse after school with his new friend, a scrawny tall boy in his teens, just like Matthew. They were happy, talking about school and girls, but I felt sad, because they didn’t know what they got themselves in.” Darryl played the scene in his head, just as if it had happened yesterday. He tried to hide the boys, but they came in talking louder and laughing and Franco heard them. That day, Matt got the beating of his life, and Hank a choice. Join the mob or die.

“Who’s Matt?” Melina’s question took him out of the past. He shook his head, staring at her.

“Franco’s son, a nice boy, but unintentionally he brought Hank into this world. Once the boss saw him, he couldn’t get away anymore. He wasn’t supposed to bring friends over, but he thought his father was on a business trip. When they got there, it was too late to turn around.”

They hit it off right from the start. The boy had an easygoing personality, always laughing and telling jokes. Darryl took him under his wing, and when Hank had to pull the trigger on someone for the first time, his light faded with each passing day until he became a shadow of his old self. He didn’t remember how he got into that life, and the boy somehow reminded him of himself, so he stayed closer to him and did not let him snap.

“Franco put me in charge of Hank to teach him the ropes of the business. A lot has happened in his life, Melina. In this business we see, do, and lose a lot, but he didn’t lose the goodness in his heart, because Matt, Ella and Tom were there for him and each other until the last breath. When Franco tried to clip his own son, Matt disappeared. Hank didn’t stop looking for him until he found his lost friend.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“I’m not confiding in you this, so you give him a chance or take pity on him. It’s for you to understand who he is, and help you decide when the time comes.” Darryl sighed nostalgically. “He promised me once he got out of the life, he’d pull Eli and I with him, and he honored his promise, and I’m forever in his debt.”

“What happened to him? He ended up with an ugly scar on his back.”

“It’s not my place to tell you, but it’s a long story anyway, Melina. We don’t have time for it. I’m sure he’ll be here any minute if I don’t bring you back into the house. He was distressed and worried, and I caught him getting out of bed to come after you. Like you said, he’s a stubborn jerk.”

“Thank you, Darryl! I’m glad he got you out. It’d be a waste if you had stayed.” Melina stood up, still sniffling. She grabbed the phone from her back pocket, cleared her throat, then pressed the recorder. “Listen to me, stubborn jerk! I’m going for a shower and check on Eve. If you dare to get out of bed and mess my stitches in the meantime, I swear Henry, I’ll neuter you!” She huffed, putting her phone back and facing Darryl.

“I believe you made yourself clear.” Darryl chuckled, amused. Melina gave him a tentative smile.

“Please, just check if he got the message. By the way, can I count on you if I need to?”

“I’ll be happy to help.” Darryl studied her suspiciously, but her semblance gave nothing away, only exhaustion and sadness. He braced himself and went inside to tame the wounded tiger waiting for their return.

Melina headed to her house, going straight to the bathroom. She was filthy, with blood all over her clothes and smears on her arms. She needed the water to soothe her and help clear her mind. There was a good deal of new information in her head, all bits and pieces she needed to put it together.

The road of regret just didn’t appeal to Melina, and she wasn’t about to take that route. She had already enough details to learn she had judged him with no consistent proof, and by jumping to conclusions about his persona and wasting six years of their lives. Not even once she gave him the benefit of doubt, or let him defend himself, but how could she have known? Melina’s heart grew heavy with each thought flashing through her mind.

Shyness was her biggest problem back then. She was also an introvert and clumsy most of the time. A naive girl with a broken heart. Her instinct told he was a good person, but she didn’t listen to it, and when she received the first video and pictures of him, she panicked and didn’t stop to analyse the facts, and she hurt him.

Henry changed this past week, and Melina was still trying to figure out what could have caused it. It started with Eve's disappearance, but there was something else bothering him. She needed to find out what was going on and fix their relationship, but now that she came into her senses, he was the one pushing her away, but not letting her go, either. They suffered too much already, and it was time to put an end to all their past miseries.

Author's note.

I'm sorry for the late and few delays in uploading the chapters. My time in homeoffice ended, and I'm back in school most part of the day, teaching. I'll do my best to update at least 3x a week, but I can't promise. But I invite you to read Love Beyond Death and Blood bound - Alchemy of Time, both books are complete. Thank you for understanding. xoxo