Chapter 2

"Hi, Doc Layla. I fell again." She knew better than that, and she was reasonably sure that he understood that she didn't believe him. Kyle Anderson had been in the emergency room four times in the last two months. All of the reasons for his wounds was that he'd fallen. "My daddy said I wasn't to have you do anything that would save my life. But that you were to just fix me up so that I can get home to my chores."

Deciding something then, she sat down on the little chair that was in the little room that she and Kyle were in. Thinking about what to say without getting either of them in trouble, she put her hand out, and Kyle put his much smaller, bruised-up hand into hers.

"I need you to tell me the truth. Please. I think I really know what is going on at your home, but I can't help you, and I will until I know the truth." He nodded and then looked around the room. "Where is your dad now? Work? No, that can't be it. I don't think he's worked at all for a long time."

"Mom told me that he has a disability. I don't know what the might be, but he's mostly laying on the couch so that mom can go to work." Kyle looked around again before speaking. "He don't have no trouble getting up when he thinks I'm doing something wrong."

"Tell me what he does when he's getting up off the couch. I promise you, Kyle, I'll protect you with all that I am." He nodded, and she wiped away the tears that were falling over his cheeks, his bruised mouth making him look as if he'd been painted up for a horror show. "Do you have any sisters or brothers?"

"No, just me. He calls me a mistake and tells me all the time that he should have had mom get rid of me before I was too big to do that, too. I didn't know what that meant until I looked it up in the school library." Layla asked him if he'd tell the police about how he was being treated. "Doc, I know that you mean well and all but I got to have myself around until I'm eighteen. I only have six years left, and I plan on getting myself a good job someplace and finding me a wife. I want to have lots of babies around so that I can love them. Mom said that it was a pipe dream, that no one would want me on account of her not wanting me."

She waited on him while he cried harder than she'd ever seen a kid be upset. Letting him have a moment, she pulled out her cell phone and held it in her hands. When he looked at her, his face battered and bruised, tears staining his cheeks, she had a thought to find his parents and kill them both. She'd gladly go to prison for their deaths.

"I want you to help me, Doc. Can you do that? I don't want to go home no more." She nodded and dialed the non-emergency number, and asked to speak to Officer Petrey. He had been in the hospital a few times, and she knew that he had children of his own and would understand what needed to be done. "It's good that you didn't call the emergency number. My dad has one of those scanner things and he listens for calls all day."

Glad now that she'd done that, she waited for him to answer the call. After telling him what was going on, without mentioning any names, he said that he'd be by in a bit. While she didn't have any idea what a bit was, she was happy to know that he was coming in. While waiting, she had Kyle lie down so that she could examine him better and to make notes on where she'd need to put in stitches. She also thought that his ankle was badly bruised and that he'd have to stay off of it for a while. Layla decided that she was going to run a battery of tests on him just to get to the heart of things before someone told her no.

Within half an hour, Layla knew a great deal more about Kyle then she thought his parents did. Even though they had caused the bulk of it, he had some older wounds that hadn't healed right, and she was going to have to make a decision on what to do for them. One of them that concerned her the most was a burn mark. She thought it was from a car lighter that looked to be infected even though it had healed on the surface.

The boil like wound needed to be opened up and see if there was festering under the skin. She was more concerned about it than even the cuts on Kyle's head and the two broken ribs. Sending in someone to do an ultra sound on the back wound, she was glad that Officer Petrey came in with another officer, this one having a camera with him.

Nodding at him when he tipped his hat, she left the room to get some results for the officer. Almost as soon as she was looking over the x-ray that she'd ordered, Mr. Wayne Anderson came into the ER to ask how much longer his boy was going to be. She had to ask him what his kid's name was before she'd answer him.

"Kelly or something like that. I don't keep track of that shit. I need him to come home. Only person I know that can locate the remote like he does. Even if he can't find it, at least he can turn the channels when I need them to be done. Where is he?" She asked him again for the child's name. "Jesus H. Christ. I already told you that I don't remember. How many kids can you have here that are whining about their boo-boos. He told you that he fell, didn't he? I'll wallop him good and hard if he didn't."

"He told me he fell. Which is what you told him to say, didn't you?" Mr. Anderson nodded and then told her that he did fall. "I see. Why don't you tell me the truth for once? Did he fall, or did you wallop him again?"

"He fell. Why do all you people have to be making mole hills out of every little thing? I didn't let him come in here for you to be questioning my ability to keep him in line. Just patch him up and bring him out here. And don't be telling me that he's going to be staying the night, either. I won't allow that." She didn't move when she saw the police officer with the camera come out of the room that Kyle was in. "Listen here, girly, I need him to get his skinny ass home to be my remote. If that don't work for you, then tough shit. And if I do want to knock him around, it's no business of yours. He's my kid, and I'll treat him the way I want to and make sure that he's minding his ‘k's' and ‘p's' while he's at it."

"And what will you do, Mr. Anderson, if I tell you that he has some wounds on his tiny body that look like he's been abused. By you, if I'm not mistaken."

The blow to her face had her falling back. Her last thought before the world just ceased to be alive was that she was going to have to learn to keep her mouth shut.

David was in the room with her when she woke up. Not moving because she honestly didn't know if she could or not, she asked him if Kyle was all right. The man burst into tears, coming to her bed to lay his head on her shoulder and to tell her that he loved her so much. That she was his only daughter that he loved. Putting her hand on his head to give him at least a little comfort, she was astonished to see that she had a cast on her wrist to her elbow.

After several minutes she was glad when he seemed to get some control over his emotions. When he sat back down, telling her several times that he was sorry. She asked him what had happened. Other than Anderson had hit her.

"Oh, he did at that. Before we could get to him to get his hands off you, he'd kicked you a couple of times, too. The monster." She asked if they'd notified anyone. "No, not at all. Your little man, Marlon Brando, cute little man if you ask me, he said that you were hiding out from your mate. Why? If I can ask you? You might well heal a good deal faster and be safer if you were to bond with him."

"He hates me and the fact that I'm human." David told her that she wasn't, human, he meant. "I believe he might know that too. But he doesn't want me around him. Not at all. Not that I'm all that thrilled about him either, but who cares. I'm not to contact him either for anything. Thankfully, Marlon Brando has made it so that none of the family can find me at all."

"You're playing with a dangerous thing, I hope you know that." She just rolled her head to the other side and looked at the blank wall. "Your young man, Kyle, has been admitted. You were right to be concerned with the boil on his back. I was in the operating room when it was cut open. We have it draining now, and hopefully, in a couple of days, we'll be able to stitch it up, and he'll be better. He's also dehydrated as well and malnourished. Which I'm assuming you found that out when you examined him. Also, he has three broken ribs as well as a plethora of other wounds consistent with someone beating him. A prefect shape of one of the marks on his back shows a boot print. While it could be from anyone, it is a match to the shoes that his father had on today or yesterday, I guess, when he came into the ER department to collect his son. Am I to assume that you'll press charges against him for hitting you? The hospital has. Simply because it's protocol when something like this happens. I want to shift and tear his throat out, but I'm like that. How are you feeling now? "

"Wow, that was a great deal of information all at once." He told her that he didn't want her to find out things before he could tell her. "I thank you for that. So where am I in going home? I know that I just woke up, but I have to work, as you well know."

"Speaking of which." He handed over her paycheck. "I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to make sure that you didn't have any issues getting your check on top of everything else. I think that it's ridiculous that they don't allow you to have direct deposit like they do the rest of us. They said that it was the way your accounting is. What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know that my dad is still in a nursing home, right?" David said that he did. He'd helped her get him in there. "Well, in order to pay for that, and it's about half of every check that I get, I need to divide my money up in four parts. The office said that it would be easier for them if I just got the checks so that I could divide the money the way I needed to. I hate it, too. I don't know why it would be so complicated for them to just divide my check up the way that I want them to into the four accounts. After they get it set up, that's the only time they have to work at it. The hard part is finished once they get it all set up, wouldn't you think? That way, I don't have to go to four different places to pay my accounts. I guess it's still all right. At least he's in a good place."

"Do you still visit him every day?" She said that she hadn't in a few weeks because of her being hurt. "Yes, I would imagine that even if he didn't recognize you, he would notice that you're hurt."

"I saw him two weeks ago. As a matter of fact, I had planned on going to see him today. Then I got hurt. What does it look like?" He told her that she had a couple of stitches in her lip and her nose was bruised. "Not nearly as bad as I thought that it would be. Why do people keep hitting me in the head? Anyway, I'm headed over to see my dad. If I need you or you need me, just call me."

Making her way out to her car, she noticed the trees were beginning to turn. Not so much today, but she'd bet by the end of the week that they'd be more beautiful than they were now. Getting in, she noticed too that there were people out blowing their leaves off their lawns into the street. It wouldn't be long until there was a report of a motorcycle accident. Shaking her head, she was nearly to her home when she saw Storm and another woman walking along the sidewalk.

While she knew who the elder Walsh was, she had an idea that the other woman was her famed daughter-in-law. Layla thought her name was Amy and that she was the soon to be queen of the earth, as Storm was now. Layla didn't care for Storm. She was pushy to the point of pissing her off and didn't wait for answers before assuming things. She thought that perhaps they were all like that but didn't know them all that well to make the assumptions. Driving home, figuring that she needed to get going on it to get the last of her things moved out, she was surprised to see the realtor, Ms. Jackson, pulling into the driveway ahead of her.

"The house has sold." She was so excited that Layla didn't have the heart to tell her that she didn't really want to sell it but needed the money. Asking how much they'd gotten for it, she was shocked when she answered. "Six hundred and fifty thousand. It was a nice bidding war for a little while, but I had one client just giving me a number to work with, and I had to keep going back to the other couple."

"That's a fair amount, don't you think? I mean, I was only asking for about a third of that much." Leaning against her car, she asked her if it was someone local. "Yes. You might well know the Walsh family. Mr. Madison Walsh wanted it and offered one million on it."

Layla didn't hear anything else as she had started laughing. The idiot had inadvertently bought her family home, and she couldn't have been more happy about it. And again, depressed about the sale. Not to mention, he paid well over what she'd been asking.

Going into the large mansion, she thought of all the times they'd had in this place. The holidays that she had been with her family. When her mother was still alive. Even her dad hadn't gotten ill by then, and they'd celebrated in style. Wondering what she was going to do with the things that she'd asked to have, she decided that she could barely afford all the money going out of her checks. Having to have a storage container would cripple her resources. Christ, she hated to be broke.

~*~

Madison didn't recognize the car in the driveway, but he knew that the other one there belonged to Ms. Jefferson. He was glad that he caught her. He needed to tell her how sorry he was for talking to her the way that he had. Madison had been apologizing a great deal this week, and he was frankly getting sick of having to do it. People were much too sensitive nowadays, he thought.

Ms. Jefferson was talking to none other than his mate. Trying to avoid her was likely the reason that she kept showing up all the time. He wanted to blame it on her, to tell her to stop stalking him, but since she'd been here first, that wasn't going to wash out. Taking his time walking up the front stairs to the large deck, he waited for the women to get finished before he did what he'd come here to do.

"Mr. Walsh. I was just telling Layla here that you purchased her home." He stared at Layla and asked the other woman what she'd meant. When she looked at Layla with a short nod, Ms. Jefferson continued. "The Marks family had lived here for decades before Mr. Marks became ill. When it was obvious to everyone that he wasn't going to get any better, the entire family seemed to fall ill."

"You lived here?" Layla told him that she had, most of her childhood anyway. "Why didn't you tell me that you'd fallen on hard times. I would have bailed you out."

"Not without some kind of strings attached, I'm sure. I didn't tell you because it wasn't then nor now any of your business what I do with my things." Madison wanted to pull her across his knees and paddle her hard. Then as if that was what he was going to do, he started thinking of her ass being pinkened by his hand, and he was hard again. She turned her back on him, and he wanted to scream. Why did she treat him like he was nothing to her? Then, it occurred to him that she might be too stupid to know. "You're my mate and it's my job from now on to make sure that you have everything that you want or need. Christ, this is going to cost me a fortune when all I had to do was—I'm not going to be blamed for you having to sell off your home. Do you hear me?"

"The entire town can hear you bellowing. And what does your supposedly being my mate have to do with me selling this house?" He explained again, as patiently as he could, that he was her mate. "Like that is supposed to make a difference? And if I were you, I'd take it down a few notches, you fuck tard. Your mother just pulled into the drive."

She left him there. Like he was nothing to her and that he'd not been speaking. When his mother and Amy came into the house, he turned on them. Before he thought of what he was going to do, even if he thought that he might have tempered his temper, he snarled at his mom and Amy then told them to get out of his house.

Neither of them said a word. Before he could apologize again for his behavior, Layla was standing in front of him with so much anger on her face that he took several steps back from her. It did him little good as she matched him step for step.

"You mother fucker, you do not talk to your mother that way. Do you fucking realize how lucky you are that she's around? Not to mention your sister-in-law? Though why anyone would claim being related to you after how you've been acting for the last few weeks is beyond me. Tell them you're sorry, or so help me, I will kill you where you stand. And I know how to do it, too. I'll have your head removed so quickly that you'll still be wondering how I'd done it as it slides off your shoulders." She took in a deep breath and he could see her own anger. See something that he doubted that anyone else in this room knew. His mate had one hell of a temper when pressed. "Tell them. Tell them right fucking now."

Madison dropped to his knees and walked to his mother and Amy that way. Letting his body get lower than them as he crawled on his hands and knees to get to where the two of them were standing. There weren't enough words for him to apologize to them he figured out. Also, he knew, for the first time in his entire life, that he was terrified by someone. Someone that he was supposed to be mated to.

He, however, didn't know if he was fearful of the anger that she'd shown him or the woman herself. Madison realized that he was going to lose her, not have her in his life and he suddenly figured out that he did indeed want her to be a part of everything he did from now on. And perhaps, if she could find it in her heart, be his other half forever more.

"Mom, Amy, I'm profoundly sorry for acting the way that I have for the last several weeks. More sorry than I think that I could explain to you right now." Mom told him that he wasn't the son that she had raised. "I know. I don't know what has come over me. I have a lot of making up to do and I will. From now on."

His mother didn't say a word to him, but he could see the hurt and disappointment on her face. Madison had caused that. All by himself. He couldn't even blame it on Layla, as he'd been doing for the last few days—hell, the last few months, because she'd not even been in the room with them at the time. He'd been, quite frankly, an ass to everyone that he came in contact with. But it was his mother who he'd hurt this time.

He watched as Layla left him there. She turned on her heel and left the room for him to do what he'd been told to do. Madison's body was on the floor with his arms and legs spread out needed to speak to someone soon. The only person that he knew that he could speak to was his very old and very powerful father. But for now, he had his mother to make happy again.

"I'm disappointed in you, Madison. I hate to say that. You've no idea how much it hurts my heart to say that. Not to mention to hear you speaking that way with someone that I thought that you'd love." He told his mom that he'd mistakenly done everything wrong in pushing her away. "Well then, you'll have to figure out, even if she'll take you back to make her love you someday. I doubt very much I'd want to be around you if you were my mate."

Madison was still on the floor when he realized that he was alone in the house. The keys that he'd come by to pick up where just where he'd been told they'd be on the counter in the kitchen. Yesterday, he knew all the furniture that had been making the house look livable was now gone, including the dishes in the cabinets as well as the plants that had brightened up the corners of the dark room. It was his and he couldn't have been any less happy about it if he'd just won the lottery.

He was a fuck up.

After wandering around the house, not really seeing anything through his anger at himself, Madison vowed that he was going to get to the bottom of the reasons that Layla had had to sell her family home. Why there had been a forty million dollar check from the same people that had shot at her when they had left. There were very little clues about her life as he'd never taken the time to get to know her. And for that, he was profoundly sorry for as well.

When he found himself in the back yard of his new home, he could see that the cover was still in place on the pool. He'd not noticed the pool house before. Nor had he realized that the home had a butler's home far enough back in the property that he thought that it would be nice to have a person living on the grounds when he was in residence.

However everywhere he looked, he would think about what kind of memories had been made here by Layla and her family. Where was her family, he thought. Why was the sale of the home, one that she obviously loved, so important? Too many questions that he had no answers for and it was completely his fault. Christ, he wondered at that moment if she'd ever speak to him again. He wasn't sure that he'd speak to anyone who had treated him the way he had her.

Going to his father to speak to him, he was sure that his mother had spoken to him before he had arrived. His dad was stiff with his own anger at him. But Madison couldn't fault his father. He knew that he'd brought it all on himself.

"I'm sorry." He looked at his dad when he sat down on the porch swing. A place that they'd been having little talks on with their dad since they'd been children. "I've fucked up royally. I know that, and so do you and mom. To be honest, I believe that everyone but myself understood that I was a major screw-up with this when I could have easily been a nice person and acknowledged that I had a mate. I also know that I'm saying this to the wrong person, and I'll get to that, too. I need to be…dad, I saw her anger today. I was both terrified out of my mind and impressed at the same time. It's not the only… Not the reason at all that I said I'm sorry, because I'm afraid of her. No, that's not right either. I'm here because I'm afraid on so many levels that I don't even know where to start. To get her that pissed off…well, I honestly hate myself for that. It was cruel and mean, and I don't like that I'd brought her to that point."

"I can understand that, son. I've only seen your mother truly angry and that was when we were first together. And it wasn't at me but Grail, that monster that Amy killed. I sometimes think about that and how your brother ended up killing his grandma, and I wonder how we came out to be unscathed. As much as I thought that her nasty disposition would have made Fowler sick, all he needed was a little bit of soda water to make him better."

The two of them laughed a great deal. Something that Madison had been missing without realizing it. He'd been a fool more than that. He'd tossed aside his family as if they were nothing to him. Yes, he thought to himself as he made his way to his car around midnight. He'd been a fool and hurtful to everyone.