[discontinued] I'm Listening... (Book 4 of the Can't Say series.)

Change in scenery here... I'm warning you it isn't pretty. Proceed with caution and don't kill me. . . please... Been a while since I've warned y'all huh?

Italics - Thoughts
Underlined Italics - Speech through the phone
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Daniel: (see I said change in scenery.)

Another day. Another trip to the infirmary after getting beat up for being a rapist. It's laughable. The criminal hierarchy of crime approval and disapproval, rape and any sexual crime being at the bottom apparently. And the price? A visit to the infirmary. A daily visit. Yknow... I didn't want this. This life style. This name. This title. I wanted to start a family. A life, A stable job, A nice house, Middle class... maybe even upper class. And I wanted all that with Avi. I lied when I told him I didn't know he could bare children, I knew he could. I wanted a husband but I wanted blood kids too. Avi could've done both for me, for us. But it all went to shit. I wish I knew where--

No. I do.

Them. They are where it went wrong. I was so happy. I thought 'this is it. This is the man I'm destined for. ' They didn't want that for me. They wanted my life to be miserable. Well I hope they're getting a good nights sleep. They've done just that. Knowing they ruined me. Knowing they've ruined him. I don't even know if he's ok...

"You have a broken rib and a couple more fractured ones and your femur is torn. I can't sort those out so I'm transferring you to an actual hospital. "

Couple paramedics came in and wheeled me into the back of an ambulance my lawyer walked by to talk to me.

"I'll see if I can find out a solution to this. "

"Brian? "

He looked back.

"Call Kia. I'd like to speak with her. "

"Avriel's lawyer? "

"Mhm... "

I heard him sigh, like he didn't want to.

"I'll see what I can do. "

The doors closed and the ambulance took off.

***

3rd Person:

He had been in the hospital for about 3 hours. The door opened and a nurse walked in. Kia right behind her.

"Be careful with him. Half of his ribs are severely damaged and he is beat all over. "

"I want nothing from him. It's him who wants something. "

She walked over to him and his eyes flew open as he faced her.

"I'd like to have a word with Mr Rindler alone. Thank you, nurse. "

The lady nodded and scurried out of the room, Kia turning to face him.

"What did you want? "

He attempted to sit but ended up hurting himself.

"The nurse said for you to be careful. "

The breathing mask came off his face.

"i know... i don't really deserve it but... "

He stopped. He was struggling to breath.

"is there... any way... i... i could speak to avi? "

The face of the lawyer contorted to one of pure shock.

"And just how confident are you that he would want to speak with you? "

"scale of, one to ten?... m-minus five... b-but... w-what would... y-you knnnnow... know u-u... uhhh... "

Monitors went off and nurses and doctors swarmed the room, one nurse approached Kia, who had backed away from the commotion and to the corner of the room.

"He has a collapsed lung, the other is pierced. "

"Get him some oxygen and prep him for theater. "

By this time, Kia had already been escorted out the room and was now witnessing Daniel being wheeled somewhere else.

"What is going on? "

"His lung collapsed and the other is pierced. They're taking him into emergency surgery as we speak. Do you wish to stay and wait or...? "

"No thanks. I think I'll go. "

With that, she turned on her heel and left the building.

Kia:

It was warm, yet breezy... Decent weather here in Minneapolis. I was standing in front of the entrance, pending on what Daniel had said.

i know... i don't really deserve it but...

scale of, one to ten?... m-minus five

But... I know Daniel. I know deep in his heart he loves that man more than anyone could. Heck. Even Kevin. There's a small bench over there. I walked over and sat down, It felt like my legs were about to give way. I took out my phone and unlocked it. The wind was blowing really strong in my face, my hair was flying everywhere. I made the best attempt I could to make the call...

...

...

...

... It's ringing.

I placed it to my ear. Waiting for an answer. The wind was still hard blowing--

"Hello? "

"Esther? It's Kia. "