deuxième amour

II- the deserted bus stop-

Aldrin Ledger

I woke up with a jolt and immediately noticed the pain in my neck, probably from sleeping in a chair with my head tilted back.

I look at Nathan. Still in a coma. not even a little movement.

A few weeks my ass, its been years

I look at my watch and see that it's almost 6 meaning visiting hours will be over soon. I grab my jacket and with one final look at my best friend, I left the hospital

I got in my car and called Carl as I drive out of the parking lot

"any news?" I ask as soon as he picks up.

"no, we still have no news about who is trying to attack us," he says in his business voice

"okay try asking the victims again. do you need me there?" I ask

immediately his business voice was replaced by his more normal voice "no aldrin take a break. I'll look into it- you just go home and relax for today". I sigh

after Nathan was shot, Carl was the one who helped me through it. of course, he could never take Nathan's place but he was the closest thing I had to a friend as I couldn't be 'friendly' with the other men who worked for me. the 'friendship' between me and Carl was both ways, I helped him get back his girlfriends and his wedding as well

"okok just call me if you need anything at all and you go home soon too," I said with no emotion in my voice but he knew this was as caring as it got

"yeah ok. I'll try. bye" he replied. I hung up without answering him.

I drove around for a while before I found a quiet place, a deserted bus stop. I parked my car a little away from it so no one passing by would question me about why I was sitting here if I had a car.

I got out of my car and walked to the seat. I tilted my head back again and closed my eyes to try and find some glimmer of peace. my neck was still sore from sleeping with my head back at the hospital so I wasn't really comfortable but I was used to it, unlike some other mafia leaders who I've heard about- I'm not afraid to fall asleep just because someone might try to kill me. I was raised to be in this position so my father made sure that I would wake up at the sound of a pin drop.

it was scarring as a child to never have comfortable sleep but now I'm glad for my reflexes because I know I'm alive because of it.

when I first met Nathan, he was the son of a mafia leader, who happened to have an alliance with my father. we used to train together, mend each others' wounds and kick people's asses together.

being in the mafia, you can't trust mostly anyone but when we were 11 we made a blood pack to never turn on each other. it didn't really make sense at the time but we followed through with our promises then when we were 12- Nathan's dad married another woman and she had a daughter- Vivian. Nathan really hated both of them which made me hate them as well. Vivian was 2 years younger than us and she never really talked to us.

then when we were freshmen in high school- we found out that Vivian was bullied at school. at first, I thought Nathan wouldn't care but he ended us helping her a lot, we beat up the kids who were abusing her and took her home

from then it was like someone switched a switch inside of Nathan, he was now the big brother. we happily let Vivian join our group after that.

I still remember the time I actually noticed Vivian. I was putting some alcohol on her wounds and then she hissed in pain and grabbed my hand. at first, I thought it was just my stupid teenage boy brain but in a year, I had realized that I was actually attracted to Vi.