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“No. I’ve got a few phone calls to make, and them I’m going to pack and get some sleep. Tell Liam I’ll call him tomorrow night some time. Okay?”
“Okay,” I say with a sigh. I know he’s not lying about having to smooth things over with some of our business associates, but I do wonder about whether he really has to leave so soon, or whether he is running away because he is terrified of confronting this thing between him and Jessie. But I wish the two of them would sort their drama out, because I fucking hate seeing him like this.
It’s another three hours before I go back to Mikey and Liam’s bedroom. I ended up staying in Shane’s office and keeping him company before I helped him pack. I can’t do anything about the situation between him and Jessie, but I can just be there for him. The way he always is for the rest of us.
The room is dark when I step inside and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust. Jessie is still in bed with Liam, but Mikey is in there too, lying right behind her with his body pressed up against hers. Each of them with a hand on Liam. I have no idea what any of us would have done if we hadn’t gotten Liam back safely, but especially Mikey. I swear either one of them would die without the other. I walk over to Mikey’s bed and crawl beneath the covers, not even bothering to undress because I’m so damn tired. By the time the three of them wake up, Shane will be on a plane to Chicago and things are going to get real hectic around here, especially with Liam out of action too. So I guess I’d better sleep while I still can.
I close my eyes and can’t help but smile as I listen to Liam’s soft snoring. It reminds me of a time when he and Mikey were about fourteen and they had been grounded by Shane for smoking weed in the house. He has always been anti-drugs, which is kind of ironic given what we do. The twins snuck out of the house and went to a party. They stole two bottles of tequila from the bar that we owned back in Ireland, and drank almost an entire bottle each. Mikey managed to call me, although he could barely speak, and I went to pick them up. Mikey was drunk and could barely walk, but Liam had completely passed out and I had to carry him to the car and then into the house. I’d been so worried about him choking on his own vomit, that I’d kicked out the girl I had staying over and put him in my bed instead. And then I had to listen to him snore all night. Neither he or Mikey have ever touched tequila since. When Shane came home the following morning, the two of them looked so ill and sorry for themselves, that he couldn’t even bring himself to punish them any further.
Mikey spent most of the day with his head in the toilet, while Liam had just lay on the sofa like a slug, puking into a bucket at half-hour intervals.
I chuckle to myself at the memory. We did have some good times when we were younger. Mostly when our father wasn’t around. He’d been on one of his many trips to Spain that weekend. Even when our mom was alive, he’d disappeared there with one of his lady friends every couple of weeks. I think she looked forward to them, much like we all came to, because it offered some peace from him. If only he had fucked off to Spain permanently, all of our lives would have been a whole lot happier.
Chapter
Twelve
JESSIE
It’s the sensation of Liam’s fingers twitching in my hand as I hold onto his gently that rouses me from my sleep.
“Jessie,” he groans and I untangle myself from Mikey, who has an arm and a leg draped over me, and sit up.
“Hey, sunshine. How are you feeling?” I smile at him.
“Like I got run over by a fucking forty ton truck,” he winces as he tries to sit up.
“Just lie still, and I’ll get you something to drink.” I glance at the clock and it’s after 6am so he can have some more pain relief now. “I’ll get your meds too.”
He mumbles something unintelligible as I climb over Mikey so I can get out of bed, waking him too.
“This is really not appropriate while my brother is at death’s door right next to us, Red,” he says sleepily as he places his hands on my waist. I roll my eyes at him and try to climb off him, but he holds me in place.
“Hey!” Liam croaks from beside us. “Death sent me packing, didn’t you hear?”
“Yeah, he couldn’t handle you,” Mikey chuckles as he sits up and lifts me off him and places me on the edge of the bed.
“He’s awake,” Conor says from the opposite side of the room and it’s only then I notice that he has spent the night in here too.
“Yeah,” Liam groans. “Fuck!” he shouts as he tries to sit up again.
“Will you stop trying to move?” I shout at him as I walk around to his side of the bed. “Dr. Lisa said complete bed rest.”
“And I’ll stay in bed, but I need to sit up,” he moans.
“Fine! We’ll help you, but just take it easy.” I nod to Mikey and we take an arm each and carefully pull Liam into a sitting position while fixing his pillows. He winces in pain but he doesn’t complain any further as we make him comfortable.
“You need to eat with these too. What can I get you?” I say as I shake two pills from the bottle, remembering what Lisa told me.
“I’m not hungry.” He shakes his head.
“You have to eat something. Just a slice of toast?” I offer.
“No.”
“Banana?”
“No,” he pouts like a toddler.
