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Her mouth fell open as she took the final turn that led to our street and finally pulled into not her driveway, but mine.
That’s when I saw all the letters, candles, and balloons. “I find it quite unnerving that people are putting stuff on my doorstep.”
“Those are just your friends and teammates,” she explained softly. “The security guy you had with you that first night, the one that knocked me on my ass?” She waited for me to nod. “He’s done a pretty good job about keeping anybody else away from our street. You should see the stadium.”
I winced. “I’d rather not.”
Seeing the stadium would be like a shot straight to the heart, reminding me that I had a very long road ahead of me before I could get back to playing the game that saved my life what seemed like a lifetime ago.
The moment she pulled to a stop in my drive, I got out and started heading toward the door. I got up there and drew a blank when I saw the screen door open.
“Who’s here?”
“Me.”
I looked up to find a woman that I’d never seen before.
“Who are you?”
“That’s my sister,” Henley explained.
“Why’s your sister in my house?” I asked curiously, reaching for the door handle.
I didn’t get it, Henley did.
“Go sit down,” she ordered.
“You really shouldn’t be out of the hospital yet,” the woman sighed. “You look like you’re about to pass out.”
“My sister, Alana, is a nurse, and I asked her to come over here and make sure you didn’t hurt yourself worse by leaving when you’ve just woken up.”
“Which was really fucking stupid, might I add,” Alana piped in.
I grimaced but didn’t object to her being in my house anymore.
“How’d you get in?”
My eyes went to Henley in time to see her blush once again.
“Uhh.” She bit her lip. “They entrusted me with your, erm, belongings. And, thankfully, your alarm wasn’t set.”
I started to chuckle and immediately regretted it.
“Fuck,” I cried softly, closing my eyes as a wave of pain rolled over me.
“You should call a home health agency,” Alana suggested. “They’ll come out, make sure you’re up to par, and you won’t have to spend any time in a hospital.”
“That’s a lot of money,” I told her.
Alana snorted. “You’re richer than God. Don’t think I didn’t notice that you got a twenty-two-million-dollar contract last season.”
I grimaced.
“I donate everything but about two million dollars every time I sign.” Thank you very much.
“Wow,” Henley gasped. “That’s pretty nice of you.”
I didn’t argue.
Though, it wasn’t because I was nice, but because morally I didn’t feel right having money when the first half of my life I’d lived with money I hadn’t earned via my father being a huge drug dealer and crime boss in Chicago.
After my father died, however, was a different story.
I’d never once felt the ache of losing like I did for those two years when it was just me and my sister on the streets.
To stay alive, I’d joined a gang, and had almost gotten everyone I’d ever loved killed.
My sister had nearly been raped multiple times, and it’d been only my status in that gang, as well as my willingness to kill anything and everything that came near me, that had saved her.
Then I’d met Barrett Lovejoy, my high school baseball coach.
He’d seen something in me that nobody else, not even my own mother and father, had seen.
He’d taken me under his wing, he’d helped me find my passion, and he’d educated me.
Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he’d done the same with my sister.
“Okay, so no home health agency,” Alana said. “Then you need a full-time nurse, and I’m sorry, but that ain’t me, babe.”
I snorted.
“As if I’d want you.”
Henley started to giggle.
Alana turned her glare on her, then the glare slid off and a place of contemplation replaced it.
“You know, Henley,” Alana said. “Weren’t you just saying that you were going to look for another job?”
My brain was a little slow to catch on, but once it did, I could see the merit of it.
Henley wanted a different job—one that took her away from her asshole boss and the men that groped her. She’d been looking for something different, she’d told me, for quite some time.
And she’d put a lot of effort into keeping me alive—though she didn’t know it yet.
I smiled.
“I’ll pay you twice what you make now, and pay for your health insurance, for the next eight months.”
“Why eight months?” Alana asked curiously.
“I’m just guessing, but I figure it’ll take me three to four to get back on my feet fully, and she can take me to doctor appointments, rehab, whatever needs done,” I explained, my eyes trained on Henley. “And the other four will cover her until she can find another job that offers it.”
Henley started to laugh. “Not to say no here, but I don’t even have insurance as it is. So that won’t be a hardship.”
