33. Switch

33

SWITCH

" T heo," Dr. Polunin says with obvious relief as I greet her by the back entrance to the rehabilitation unit. "I'm very relieved to see you." She glances at my wife. "And you, too, Sophia. I've had momentary envy over your escapades. While I would never advocate escaping rehabilitation, I have to believe you feel the adventure worth it."

"Doc," I say. "Thank you for seeing us so late."

"I think you should call me ‘Katarina.' I feel everything about this is unusual, so formality at this point seems trivial."

"You and I both know I'm sticking with Doc. This is Spark. If you think I'm reluctant to be here, Spark might be even worse."

Doc eyes him carefully. "Ah. I'm very pleased to see you, but I am not calling you ‘Spark.' I need a first name at least."

"Tyler, ma'am."

"I love it when he speaks all respectful," Niro says.

Vex puts his head down to hide the smile.

"As it's midnight, all the doors around the facility are locked to the outside. I have a schedule for each of you. I hand-picked a small team. Sophia, Lori has stayed to see you for physio, which I'm sure will make you both happy. And then you can follow up with Raheel for massage therapy. You know the way?"

"I remember." She starts off down the hallway.

"Soph. Wait," I say. "Niro will come with you."

"I will?" he asks.

I nod. "Yeah. I need someone I know will die trying to keep her safe. She took out three cans and can flip a switchblade. She's more like Cat than she is anyone else. Women like that are rare, and I know you can handle it."

Niro salutes. "I got it."

"I will be meeting with you first, Theo," Doc says. "I have scans arranged too."

Bates squeezes my shoulder, then reaches for his Glock. "Vex and I will split up and do a perimeter check."

Doc glances at him. "In my facility, you will put the gun away unless it is an absolute desperate last measure. I try to keep people alive in here, not kill them."

It reminds me of something Sophia said, and I smile.

"With respect, I'm trying to do the exact same thing," Bates says. He doesn't put his weapon away. He does concede to lower it though.

Vex and Bates begin to check the exits.

"Tyler, Theo told me a little about your situation. With that information, I asked Dr. Curran if he would see you. He's a veteran, purple heart. Retrained as a psychologist upon retiring from the military on medical grounds. I feel like he will be the perfect fit for you."

A tall Black man with the walk of an officer appears. He's Spark's size, and I see my brother's shoulders sag in relief.

"Walking to the other side together," I remind him.

Spark nods, but heads towards Dr. Curran.

"So, it's just you and me, Doc," I say.

"Yes, Theo. There are very few people I would stay awake until midnight for, but you happen to be one of them," she says. She unlocks the door to her office and gestures me inside. "I would prefer, in the event of future visits, that you and your…friends…come unarmed."

I take a seat on the beige chair. "You really need some color in here, Doc."

"It's restful."

"It's bland."

"I'm glad to see you are having fewer challenges with your speech. And I noticed you didn't respond to my comment about the weapons."

"That's because they'll be armed next time."

"Next time, I will not let you into the building if you have them with you. That is my boundary. Your friends can keep you safe from the outside."

"You're a tough negotiator, Doc."

She smiles at that. "I feel like the terms under which we are meeting mean I do not need to maintain my usual polished veneer. So, how have you been feeling, Theo?"

"Like I got bashed in the head by a rock. Twice."

Doc leans forward on her desk and rests her chin on her hands. "So, we're finally going to get honest."

I hand the envelope of cash I grabbed from our club secretary before we left to her. "I feel like this buys a lot of confidentiality."

She looks at it but doesn't reach for it. "It most certainly does. Are you still having headaches?"

I place it down on her desk. "Yeah. The worst fucking kind that nearly take me out each time. And when I get any kind of stress, my speech difficulties come back."

"Then let's see what we can do for you to pick up where we left off."

By the end of the evening, it's almost three in the morning. Thankfully, I see Raheel last and at Doc's instruction, he pulverizes every last kink out of my body. It's so far from a relaxing massage that I've felt better after taking on Clutch in a fistfight. Taut muscles everywhere are stretched and brutally encouraged to relax. Knuckles hit pressure and pain points.

And when I stand, I feel so disorientated for a second that I reach out to the medical bed I just lay on to regain my center of gravity.

"You okay?" Raheel asks, handing me a bottle of water that came from Tahiti or someplace.

"It can't be good for the environment to take this water from that far away, fly it here, and fucking bottle it in plastic," I say.

Raheel laughs. "I say the same thing every day. Even researched water in cans. Something about rich people not wanting canned water. But just drink it. That was a lot of muscle-release work. You're gonna feel sore and lightheaded for a while. But given I didn't know when we'd next be seeing you, I had to make it count."

I roll my neck from left to right. "You certainly did. My head doesn't even feel like it's properly attached to my neck right now."

"That's because your splenius capitis and splenius cervicis were rock solid. They're thick straps of muscle in the back of your neck. So were the rectus wapitis anterior and lateralis. We've loosened everything up. It might help with the headaches. Apply heat to them. Did Lori give you some stretches?"

"Feel utterly ridiculous doing them. I mean…chair stretches. What the fuck kind of exercise is that?"

Raheel shakes his head. "I know the kind of man you are, wearing that cut, but that won't make you any tougher than the next person who walks in here injured. You start where you are, Theo. My aunt lives out in Avon-by-the-Sea… about ten minutes past Asbury Park. I go see her every other weekend because she has no kids of her own. If you like, I can pop in and see both you and Sophia when I'm visiting. An hour treatment for you both every other week won't solve all your problems, but it might help some of them."

I shake Raheel's hand. "I'd like that. Cash in hand?"

Raheel laughs. "Yeah. That works. It'll be my off time from here anyway. My safety is guaranteed, yeah? I've watched enough outlaw gang movies. People like me aren't safe in many rooms filled with white men."

I crack the bottle of water open and take a sip. "Your safety is guaranteed. I promise it. And you might want to check your stereotypes."

"Please tell me you aren't ‘not all white men-ing' me."

"Fair. You can see us at my house. Don't even need to step foot in our clubhouse. But if you ever want a walk on the wild side, you can come as my guest sometime."

"Your house will be fine. My idea of walking on the wild side is not wearing matching socks."

That makes me laugh. "Thanks, Raheel. For doing this. It's appreciated."

"Anytime. I need to get some sleep. I'm on shift at nine. You know your way back to Doctor Polunin's office, yeah?"

I nod, grab Sophia's bag, and head down the corridor. I pass the family meeting room and step inside. Spark is sitting on the sofa, his back to me. He's texting someone, and my guess is it's Iris, even though it's late.

"Let her get some sleep," I say.

"She is. I just had some shit I needed to get off my chest before we left."

I sit down next to him. "Feeling better?"

"Define ‘better.' I feel like I just got sucked into a blender at high speed, then poured back into a mold of my body."

"That's pretty graphic."

"I've been pureed."

I laugh at that. "I feel like I just did ten rounds with Clutch."

"Clutch is a pussy who cheats," Spark says. "Last time I fought him, he started fucking pinching my nipples."

We sit in silence for a minute.

"Trouble keeps coming for our club, and it always affects the women. Not sure I know what I'd do if anything happened to Iris. Told Curran I'd probably take one of my weapons and put a bullet through my brain if anything ever happened to her. Not even sure if there's a fucking afterlife, but on the off chance there is, I'd kill myself to follow her."

I throw my arm over his shoulder. "What did Curran say to that?"

"Told me to put down a tarp and call the cops just before I do it so only a professional team has to deal with the cleanup, then write it into my will that I owed those first responders ten grand each so they could get therapy to deal with having to clean up after my dead ass."

I turn and look at him. "For real?"

Spark laughs. "It's cool. I got his point. He's a good guy. I'm going to have a call with him weekly."

"Good. Takes balls to confront your shit, man. I'm proud of you."

"Yeah. Well. I got a baby on the way who's gonna look up to me one day. Want to be the best fucking example I can be for them."

Those words really tug at my heart. I feel them as a man. As a son. And as a man who hopes he can convince the woman he loves to have kids with him one day.

I slap his back gently. "You've got this. I'm gonna go find Sophia, and then we can leave."

I see Vex in the hallway. "Just grabbing Soph and then we can go."

I approach Dr. Polunin's office. In the quiet of the night, without all the usual hive of activity, I can hear their conversation. I know I shouldn't listen in, but I'm only fucking human.

"…you think I was wrong to marry him?" Sophia asks.

"I have no opinion on that, Sophia. What I worry about is you both making permanent decisions that affect your long-term future while in a stressful period of your life."

"I was injured, fleeing a situation I believe was linked to me being married off to my father's best friend's son to secure the long-term success of my family. If you know who Theo is, then you also know who I am. You must have looked up my family."

I smile at that. I like this evolving feisty streak of Sophia's. There are glimpses of the Mafia princess her brother Alessio seems to think she was. It's not even memory. It's who she is.

"But…I hear you. I've fallen for Theo so quickly that I worry about what the future holds. I know who I am. I see who he is. He's recovered from his injuries far better than I have. There may come a time when my limitations bother him or hold him back. I know the path for us is far from smooth. It might even be treacherous. I'm falling in love with my husband while simultaneously preparing myself for the fact there may come a time when he decides I'm not the person for him."