Here's My Heart

chapter XIV

Nash POV

     When I woke up, I noticed that Laura was still in my arms, but she had the kid pressed up against her with a protective hold on him. She seemed like she would be an amazing mother. I got up and looked at my phone. It was only 6:00 a.m. so I went and took a shower. The water was warm when I stepped in. I washed up and got out. I hated taking long showers. When I walked out of the bathroom, laura was sitting at the table with tears in her eyes. I quickly walked over and hugged her tightly. I realized that she hated loose hugs so I made sure that she was always secure in my arms. "What's wrong?" I asked her gently, rubbing her back as she cried. "I had a nightmare. He was there. And he did it again." She sobbed into my bare chest. "Baby look at me." I told her. She looked up at me and her cheeks were red. "He can't hurt you now. I won't let him anywhere near you. I'll fucking kill him if he so much as looks at you." I told her. I wasn't fucking kidding either. He deserved to die a painful death. If it weren't illegal I'd do it myself. Laura nodded and slowly pulled away from me. I walked into the bedroom and got dressed as quickly as possible. I didn't want to leave her alone. I glanced over at the bed. Avian was still sleeping and ge looked scared. I walked over and gently rubbed his back. He calmed down a little bit. I walked out of the room and over to the fridge. I grabbed some milk and walked over to the cupboard for a few bowls and some cereal. I grabbed some spoons and brought it all over to the table. I placed the stuff down and went back into the room. Avian was sweating and looked scared again. I shook him a little and his eyes opened. He looked confused for a second before he realized what was going on. "Where's Laura?" He asked me. "She's in the kitchen." I responded, going over to the multiple bags and pulling out a set of clothes for him to wear. After helping him get dressed, we walked out to the kitchen. "Hey Logan? Why do you have so many coins on the table." I flinched as Laura asked me. "If I get a craving for a fix I'm supposed to play with coins to keep my mind off of it. I personally think it helps." I told her with shame. She nodded silently. She picked one up and started playing with it. I grinned as I sat down. Avian sat down too and we all started eating cereal. After that, Laura started getting ready. I grabbed Avian's backpack and put it in the chair along with my own. I started making him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and put a granola bar and a water in a small lunch box that I found in my closet. As I put it in his bag, i noticed some loose papers. I took one out and looked at the top. The grade was a %56. I looked at him and he looked right back at me with fear. "I'm not mad. Listen Avian, I know it sucks to fail so if you need help, just ask me or Laura. We can help you with your work." I told him. Laura walked out and I smiled we took turns in the bathroom and got ready to leave. As we headed out the door, we bumped into the man that came looking for Avian yesterday. "Why the fuck is that little brat with you guys?" He asked angrily. I felt Avian start to shake. Before I could say anything, Laura stepped up to him. "After what he told me, you should be lucky I haven't called CPS on you!" She said, matching his level of anger. "I'm willing to make a fucking deal with you." She told him. He rolled his eyes and looked at her expectantly. "I will keep him, free of charge, and you don't have to worry about him, but you change his address to our fucking apartment. I also want Nash and I to be added to his emergency contacts." She said in a cold voice. He honestly looked intimidated.  "Deal." He told her. She nodded and started walking downstairs. I followed her and we started walking to the elementary school. When we got there, he smiled up at us. "Bye guys!" He said excitedly. "Bye Avian!" We said at the same time. We walked to the high school. "Logan? How old are you?" Laura asked me. "I'm seventeen almost eighteen." I told her. She nodded. "I'm almost seventeen. I turn seventeen next month." She told me. I nodded. "When you turn eighteen, can you become his legal guardian?" She asked me. The question caught me off guard. She had met him yesterday and wanted me to be his guardian. I wonder if she knows something about him that I don't. "Why?" I asked her. She looked down and blushed lightly. "I think I already love this kid. His dad abuses him. He's been through hell and he's only 8. He lost his mom too." She told me. It made sense to me now why she wanted to have guardianship of him. She must feel a connection to him. We got to the school and walked in. Alice was at Laura's locker when we got there. She had a sad look in her eyes. "David is in the hospital." She told me. I felt like my world had fallen apart in that moment. He hadn't even called me and Kelly hadn't either. "What happened?" I said in panic. "He got into a car accident. He had some internal bleeding. I-I had just talked to kelly an hour- and- oh god" she said as tears started streaming down her face. "Bring me there." I told her. Laura looked at me nervously. Alice silently walked out of the building. I walked with her as quickly as possible. We all got in the car and she took off. My phone started ringing and I answered it. "Hello?" I said. "Hey Nash. D-David is in th-the h-" I interrupted Ezra. "Where is Kelly?" I asked her anxiously. "He was in the accident too but he just needs stitches." She told me. "I'm already on my way." I told her and hung up. We got there about 5 minutes later. The lady at the reception desk looked up at all of us. "We're here for Kelly Galren and David Mack." I told her. She nodded and typed that into her computer. "You can't see David but Kelly is in room 132 in the emergency room." She told us. I clenched my fists but didn't say anything as I made my way to Kelly's room. When I walked in, he was in tears. "What happened?" I asked him. He looked up and had stitches across most of one cheek as well as on his eyebrow. "A truck was speeding and hit ours! It was on David's side and the guy got out and fucking ran!" He yelled out. Tears started flowing down his cheeks again. I walked over and gave him a gentle hug. He started sobbing. In that moment, I realized just how much Kelly loved David. I felt a tear slide down my cheek, followed by others. I pulled my phone out and called the person I was dreading talking to. "Hello?" The voice said. "Hey Jeremy. David is in the hospital." I told my little brother. he was only 14. "Holy shit! Is he okay?" He asked me in worry. "He has some internal bleeding." I told him. "I've got to go Logan. I'll be there in thirty minutes." He told me before ending the call. Laura walked up to me and hugged me tightly. I started crying again. David was like a brother to me. He was one of the only people who knew everything about me. He was the only one who was willing to help me get clean. I owed him my life and right now his was on the line. A nurse walked in with a small smile. "The hospital is currently out of O- blood. Do any of you have that blood type?" She asked us. "I do." Kelly said. "Sir, you're not in any shape to be donating blood." She told him sternly. He burst into tears again. "I-I do." Laura said quietly, raising her hand. "Would you mind donating it?" The nurse asked her hopefully. Laura nodded and the nurse walked out of the room. Laura and I followed her out of the room and into another room. The woman started grabbing everything she needed and looked at Laura. "Which arm sweetie?" She asked in a kind voice. Laura put her right arm up on the arm rest. She looked anxious as the needle came closer. I grabbed her left hand and she squeezed it as the needle entered her arm. "Are you scared of needles?" I asked her. She nodded and closed her eyes. "Do you want to listen to music?" I asked her, pulling my phone and headphones out of my bag. She nodded and took one of the earbuds. I played Wrong Side of Heaven by Five Finger Death Punch. 'Arms wide open, I stand alone!' The music sang. Tears welled up in my eyes. I needed something and I needed it fast. "I'm going to step outside for a minute. I'll send Ezra in to sit with you." I told her. She nodded and I got up. I walked back to Kelly's room and over to Alice. "Do you have a pack of cigarettes on you?" I asked her. She looked up at me, surprised. "I have Glamours in my truck and I have Marlboro reds on me." She told me. "I'll take the Marlboros. The whole pack." I told her, pulling a $10 out of my pocket. I handed it to her and she gave me the cigarettes. "Hey Ezra? Can you go sit with Laura while I'm outside?" I asked her. She nodded and I gave her the directions to the room and walked outside. I pulled my matchbook out of my wallet and lit a cigarette. I took a long drag and held my breathe for a few seconds. The smoke burned in my lungs. I exhaled and took another long drag off of the cigarette, repeating the process until it reached the filter. I threw it on the ground, stomping it out. I pulled another one out and lit that one. All of a sudden, the cigarette was snatched from my mouth. I turned and my brother was taking a drag from it. He handed it back to me and I just stared at him for a moment. "You shouldn't be smoking." I told him as I exhaled smoke. He ginned as he exhaled. "You shouldn't be either." He told me. I shrugged and handed it back to him. He finished it in less than a minute. He pulled a joint out and tried to light it. Before he could, I took it from him. I threw it into the parking lot. "What the fuck man!" He yelled. "You're 14 and I was addicted to fucking drugs. Today is not a day for you to be bringing that shit near me." I told him angrily. He rolled his eyes at me. I walked inside and back to Laura's room. She looked at me and smiled. Ezra left and Laura looked at Jeremy, confused. "This is Jeremy." I told her. She nodded in understanding. I walked over and took a seat next to her, holding her hand again. "Is she one of those mutes?" Jeremy asked me. "I'm not mute." She responded. "Is he one of those assholes?" She asked me. I laughed and shook my head at them. "Jeremy this is Laura." I informed him. "What happened to baby?" Laura asked with a teasing grin. "That's for me to use. Not him." I told her. She laughed and looked at him. "Are you two dating?" Jeremy asked her. She nodded. "Holy shit! I didn't think Logan would ever find anyone!" He yelled. "You need to be quiet." She told him with a laugh. I checked the time and realized it was already 1:30p.m. "I have to go pick Avian up." I told her. The nurse walked back in. "You're all set to go now." The nurse said as she removed the needle from Laura's arm. Laura stood up and leaned against the wall. I pulled a water out of my bag and handed it to her. She chugged half of it within seconds. "I feel a lot better now." She said she pushed herself away from the wall and looked at me. "I'm going with you." She told me. "No you're not. Stay here with Laura. I'll bring him here." I told her. She frowned but didn't argue. Jeremy followed me out of the hospital. "Who's Avian? Is he your kid?" Jeremy asked me. I laughed and shook my head as we crossed the street. "He's our neighbor's son. His father is a prick so Laura took him in yesterday." I explained to him. He nodded. "Are you guys going to keep him?" He asked me. "Yeah. But don't tell Laura that. I want it to be a surprise." I told him. I wanted to help Avian and make Laura happy. If becoming Avian's guardian is the way to make her happy, then I'm willing to do it. He nodded and about five minutes later, we approached his school. Everyone was getting on buses. I saw Avian waiting and I walked up to him. He smiled and ran up to me excitedly. He hugged my leg and I smiled. He noticed Jeremy and got nervous. "Don't worry Avian. This is my brother Jeremy." I told him. Jeremy waved at Avian and he waved back. We started walking in the direction of the hospital. "Where are we going?" Avian asked me. "We're going to the hospital." I told him. He nodded. "How was school?" I asked him. His eyes lit up. "I told my teachers my new name and they started calling me it! My friends said that it was really cool! We also got to color an octopus!" He told me excitedly. I smiled and nodded. "What colors did you make your octopus?" I asked him. "I made mine blue and purple and red!" He told me. We got to the hospital and I brought him into Kelly's room. There was a nurse in there and Kelly was in tears. "What happened?!" I said a little louder than I meant to. "David is okay. The surgery went smoothly and he should wake up tomorrow." Kelly said in happiness. I walked over to him and hugged him. He hugged me back and more tears came down. I let go and pulled back. "Who is this?" He asked, pointing at Avian. Avian walked up to him and proudly told him. "I'm Avian Jones! I'm living with Laura and Nash!" He told Kelly. Kelly smiled and shook his hand. "I'm Kelly Galren. I'm Laura and Nash's friend!" He said with a smile. "Why do you have cuts on your face?" Avian asked him. "I got into an accident and I got hurt. The doctors had to fix me." He explained. All Avian said was "oh."

Author's Note
Avian is a name that was used in a book that I read. I loved the name and I think it works with Jones. This book honestly doesn't have a decided ending. I have a general idea of how it will end but it's not a solid ending yet. There are a few more events that need to happen before I can start to bring this book to a close.