STEP DADDY 2: FAMILY TIES (COMPLETED)

#34: The Call

Friday, August 17, 2018
8:45 am | Freddie's POV
Graceland Hospital, Athens, Texas

            Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep.

            Where am I?

            Beep..Beep..Beep..Beep.

            It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the bright room that I was in.

I didn't know where I was, and my body is stiff. I glance over to my right and see someone asleep next to me.

            "Who's there?" I ask, groggy.

            "It's me, Neveah." She wraps her hand around mine and scoots closer to me.

            "Where am I?" I ask her, confused.

            "You're in the hospital," she tells me, caressing my face. "Mateo helped us escape."

            The last thing I remember before passing out was almost getting hit by a truck. Somehow, I manage to stumble on this road after dodging Zeus's men for hours. There were only so many nooks and crannies I could hide in before they eventually found and killed me.

My eyes focus on Neveah's face. She looks like she's been crying all night. Still beautiful as ever though. Behind her, Athena is wrapped in a blanket, asleep on the couch. Neveah turns to look at our daughter. "She tried staying up until you woke up." She says with a gentle smile. "You want me to wake her up?"

            "Nah, let her rest." I say, "She's been through a lot."

            "We all have." Neveah presses my bruised hand against her lips. "I'm so sorry, Freddie. You getting shot is all my fault."

            I cough, "It's not your fault. It's Rocko's fault. He's the reason why we're all in this shit."

            I couldn't blame or be mad Neveah had she been the one to pull the trigger. She made it clear in the beginning of our relationship that Athena came first by any means. I can't lie, I thought that was going to be the end of me, but God and Opal's prayers were on my side.

            "Have you heard from Kareem?" I ask once I realized he wasn't in the room with us.

            She shakes her head no, fighting back the tears. "We have a bigger problem though."

            "What's up?"

            "The police want to know what happened to you. You came in here eight hours ago with a gunshot injury. They don't take those lightly."

            If the police found out that I was shot by Zeus, they will have a hundred more questions for me that I wasn't trying to answer. Not to mention, my trouble history in Riverborn could have followed me here.

            Sitting up, "I need you to call this number."

            Neveah walks over to the whiteboard. "What's the number?" she asks with the marker in her hand.

            "555-324-3981"

            She jots down the number on the board, "Whose phone number is this?"

            "Opal's."

7:55 am | Kareem's POV

St. Louis, Missouri

            I should've taken the risk of flying. After seating in this truck for more than eight hours, my ass was going numb sitting on these leather seats, and to top it off, I still hadn't come up with a plan that involved all of us walking out alive. Keith and Opal spent their time getting to know one another and discussing their favorite books. I wasn't much of a reader, didn't have the time. My wife, Angel on the other hand, always found time to read even while taking care of Halo.