Broken Souls (Love Letter from Thief X FanFic) [ON HOLD]

Chapter 3

The next morning, I creep into the bathroom to check on Mat. He's laid out in the bathtub, one arm tossed over his eyes, head half off the pillow and blanket bunched up by his bare feet.

Crouching down beside the tub, I press a hand to his forehead. The hotter he is, the worse headache he'll have. He doesn't shift any at the contact. Hm. He's burning up. What did he drink last night? It's usually only this bad with vodka, but I didn't think he had any.

I leave the bathroom and get started on a pot of coffee and some breakfast. About halfway through frying up the last of the bacon, Matthew stumbles into the living room, face planting on the couch with a groan.

"Morning Sunshine."

He mumbles back something incoherently. I pick up a cup of coffee along with two Tylenol and set it on the coffee table. "Breakfast will be ready in ten. Take your pills." I pad back into the kitchen, the cold tile making me go from walking flat footed to tip toed.

After it gets done, I make two plates, filled with eggs, bacon, and some biscuits. I slide one plate onto the table, sitting back into the the recliner. Matthew sits up, eyes opened barely a crack, he reaches for the biscuit. Breaking it in half, he offers one piece to Nico, who had hopped up onto the cushion beside him.

"What the hell did you drink last night? And my dog is not supposed to have table scraps." I keep my voice low and quiet, but he still winces.

"I got into some moonshine. And it's just a biscuit."

I snicker behind my coffee cup. "Dumbass."

He half heartedly glares at me.

"Who'd you get it from?"

"The fucker I almost fought."

"Wooooow."

"...shuddup."
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After eating, I load them both into the truck. "We'll go and get your truck later. I gotta stop by the ranch first. Got a text from Jade. Something about Speedy's foot bothering him."

"So you're playing Vet Jessica today?"

"Keep running your trap and I'll blare the radio."

"Shutting up now."

"Smart Blondie smart." I reach over and ruffle his hair like I would Nico.
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I pull into a parking space in front of the stables and step out of the truck, unloading Nico.

"Jessica?!" I turn around to meet a panicked Jade. Her shortly cropped rainbow hair looks like she's ran her hands through it multiple times and I hear Speedy whinny.

"What's wrong?" I take off at a light jog, heading towards the stallion's stable. As I go by, some of the mares whinny and neigh, trying to get some attention.

"I don't know! He's freaking out and I can't even get in the stable and I don't know thehorsewellenoughtogetinandIthinkonehoofisbloodyand-"

"Alright! Go into the medical storage and get me the red tool box looking thing. It has a silver handle. Bring it to me, along with some gloves." I turn right has she nods and takes off running down towards the left.

I have a slight panic attack at the group of people standing outside Speedy's stable until I spot Aiko's bright pink hair.

When she turns and spots me, she ushers the group of men out of the way. I don't bother looking at them as I rush past and stop outside his door.

They grey dapple stallion is tossing his head and half rearing up. I see red coloring down by his left front hoof and he's putting most of his weight on his right side.

"Speedy...Speedy..." Pitching my voice low and steady, I open the door just enough to slide in, never taking my eyes off of him. "Aiko, make sure Jade doesn't rush up here. She'll only spook him more."

"Hey Speedy. It's me, Jessica." I hold out both hands, walking towards the wide-eyed horse slowly, and talking softly. "Easy boy easy." I reach out and let him sniff my hand, his nostrils flaring quickly and breathing heavily. "It's ok." I run my hand up and down the white stripe on his face, from between his nostrils up to between his eyes.

I step closer and to the side of him, keeping one hand on his face and one hand on his neck. "Easy Speedy. You're ok. It's gonna be ok."

"Jessica?" I look up at Jade, my eyes immediately noticing Hiro and Kenshi behind her.

Well fuck my life.

I quickly compose myself. "Jade open the door quietly and slowly. Come in and move slow."

She does as I say. "Hold out your hand and let him sniff you." I ease away from him, slipping the medical box out of her hand.

Squatting down, I slip on a glove, pulling out spray antibiotic, disinfectant, veterinary stitching supplies and horse wrap. Standing back up, I walk over to his left side, placing my hand on his shoulder and easing down to his hoof, where his fur is sticky with blood. "What the hell did you do, Speedy Gonzalez?" I slowly move my hand around the pastern, where the thickest amount of blood resides.

I find a short but deep cut. "Dammit Speedy. Jade, go ahead and go get me a wet and dry rag please."

"I've already gotten them." I look up as Matthew hands them to Jade through the bars.

"Thanks." I take the wet rag, quickly wiping off the blood. Taking the other rag, I pour some disinfectant on it, lightly dabbing along the cut.

Speedy jerks, letting out a low whinny and a snort. "I know I know. Sorry buddy." I rub up around his knee, waiting for him to settle.

I pull out a pre-sterilized needle and quickly stitch up the cut, and then apply the spray antibiotic. After that, I wrap it and then leave the stall.

"Jade go put this back please." I hand her the medical box.

"What do you think happened?" I look at Aiko, who is standing beside Hiro.

"Looks like he was pawing and maybe cut himself on something. Barbed wire maybe? Which field was he in?"

"The very back. But he didn't look bloody when we brought him in."

"It was probably shallow but tore it open at some point."

I look around, seeing all of the guys, along with Taiga, Hyosuke, and a petite blonde who stands closely to Takuto.

I look at Aiko, one eyebrow cocked. "Oh. Well you already know Riki." I roll my eyes as said Raven smirks. I already know all of the guys. She runs through each of the guys. Turns out the woman is named Vicky. "-and this is Jessica Greene, our resident animal whisperer, along with Matthew Novak."

"It's a pleasure." My eyes gravitate to Kenshi but he refuses to look me in my eyes.

"Animal whisperer?" Hiro asks with a ghost of smile playing about his face.

I shrug. "They're easier to understand than people. This..." I pet Nico's head. "Is Nico. He's kinda touchy so don't touch him unless he touches you first."

As if to prove my point, Mat goes to touch him. Nico growls, and then wanders over to Vicky, sniffing and then nuzzling her hand.

She laughs. "He's adorable."

"He's evil." Matthew pouts.

"He is not!" Jade squats down and Nico comes over, licking her chin. Well Riki's eyes haven't left her.

"You're an annoying Assbutt but we still put up with you." I look at him and flash him an evil smile.

"Oh god. You two don't start."

"Too late." We both say at once.

I turn and glare at him. "Will you fucking stop? It's creepy when we do that shit."

"Well, it ain't like I do it on purpose!"

I stick my tongue out at him.