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She looks over to me, arrogance coming from her in waves. I drop all emotion from my face, and she gulps. Fucking good. I am not in the mood to be fucked with right now.
“It means that your brother will be able to get out of bed in a few days and try to walk around. He’ll be here a week, at least, so we can ensure there’s no infection or complications before we discharge him.” She looks back to East, who nods even though he still looks a little spaced out. “Then he’ll be allowed to go home and will need to start cardiac rehabilitation as an outpatient.”
“Cardiac Rehab?” Luc asks, and the doc jumps as if she forgot he was there.
“Yes. Basically, that is where they’ll give him an exercise regime to help strengthen the heart after the damage it sustained both before and during surgery. He’ll need to go twice a week to begin with, which may drop to once a week depending on how well he responds.”
“And how do we arrange that?” I ask, thankful that it doesn’t seem too restrictive.
“We’ll have the referral put in and his first appointment will be scheduled before he’s discharged,” she says, nodding.
East croaks, drawing everyone’s attention as he tries to speak. He looks like he’s struggling, so I hand him my phone. “Type it out.”
He takes the phone, his hands a little shaky. It takes him a minute, and he keeps blinking and shaking his head, but eventually hands the phone to the doctor, who laughs. “Mr. Saint, you’re lucky to be alive. Sex can wait.” I smirk and Luc barks out a laugh at the doc’s words. She just glares at me before continuing. “You’re looking at at least two months before your ribs and lungs are in good enough shape for that sort of activity. Anything like that before then could push your recovery back. You’re officially on light duty until further notice. Five pounds, Mr. Saint. I assure you, you will regret lifting anything heavier than that.”
East rolls his eyes as the doc hands me my phone back, and it takes everything I have not to laugh. Of course that was his first question. He doesn’t even know about Octavia yet and that’s what he asks. I guess the drugs really do have him feeling all the good things.
“If that’s all…” the doctor says, and I nod. She leaves with Luc on her heels.
“V…” he croaks, and I sigh as I drop back into the chair beside his bed.
Shaking my head, I run a hand through my hair. “She’s gone. We’re still looking for her, but whoever took her is a fucking pro. We have leads we’re working on, but I need you to focus on healing, because when I get her back she’s going to kill us both if anything happens to you.”
He laughs softly and nods before putting another ice chip in his mouth. “Not wrong.”
“Oh I know.” I scrub a hand down my face, his eyes flutter shut, and the pain meds drag him back to sleep.
I check my phone once he’s fully out and decide it’s time to call Harrison.
He’s not going to be happy, but he can choke on a dick. I’m getting Octavia back, and if that means a deal with the devil, then so be it.
East stirs again, as if fighting the sedation. “I need to tell you something.”
* * *
I straighten my tie, feeling all kinds of fucked up, but I pull on the monster inside of me and let that cold, stoic demeanor wash over me. I need my monster close to the surface when dealing with the Conclave. “You guys ready?”
“About as ready as I’m going to be.” Mav laughs from the back seat, while Finn just nods beside me.
“Then let’s get this show on the road shall we?” I climb out of the Porsche and look up at the office block the Conclave uses for meetings. I’m pretty impressed everyone convened as quickly as they did, but I’ve never called a meeting before and Harrison seemed pretty on edge.
Time to lay our cards on the table I guess.
We head into the building, the two of them flanking me. They wear suits as well, as expected by the Conclave. When you want to get shit done where they’re concerned, there are some rules you play by no matter how trivial they may seem. Especially when you’re about to fuck shit up in the way we are about to.
No one stops us as we walk through the lobby to the bank of elevators and head straight to the private one that requires a keycard to use. I swipe my card and push the button. It only takes a few seconds until it dings and the doors open. We enter the car and make the ride up to the forty-fifth floor in silence.
I gave Mav a quick breakdown on the way here so he doesn’t look shocked when we get in there. He has one of the best poker faces I’ve seen, but still. Better to be safe than sorry.
When the car comes to a stop and the doors open, we walk into the reception area. This place looks like a swanky law office, but really, it’s just a place for dealings and meetings with prospects and the Conclave. Or the Board, on the exceedingly rare occasion they deign to grace us with their presence.
The sound of our shoes on the marble floor echoes around the space as we head toward the main conference room. Voices filter down the hall and I’m pretty sure we’re the last to arrive, which was the plan.
I push the door open and the room falls silent as we enter. Harrison sits at the head of the table, the other senior Conclave members flanking the seats to his left and right, so I head to stand opposite Harrison. Finn and Mav stay flanking me, and none of us bother to sit.
“Lincoln, good of you to finally grace us with your presence, considering you requested this meeting.” My father glares at me as if we’re late, but the clock literally just hit nine as we entered the room, which was the time he gave me.
“I like to be prompt,” I tell him. “If you’re ready, I’ll begin.”
