Accessory Wars

Chapter 32-Ki

            Two weeks after admission to the psych ward, I walked back into the open air of a cold, late February. What happened to the weather warming up? Clearly my phone lied to me. The wind cut through any opening in my clothes and waiting for the bus was brutal. When I got home, I texted all my friends and called my parents to let them know of my release. I received a round of smiley faces and some verbal hugs from my mother. I even talked to my Gran and told her I would be visiting soon. I could hear the twinkle in her eye when she said she was going to make me more sweets. So much for my diet over spring break.

As I went about tidying my apartment, I received a knock on the door. When I opened it, I found Derek standing on the other side. "Hey, welcome back," he greeted. He handed me a plastic container. "Reagan wanted me to give you these. He had to get to class but he said he'd come visit once he's done.

I cracked open the lid and found a hoard of biscotti inside. Bless that man. I let Derek inside and helped myself to a biscotti. Chocolate almond, my favorite. I offered one to Derek and he accepted, holding his hand underneath so not to spill crumbs on my carpet. Still the shining knight. If I hadn't seen him trip on the stairs one time, I would think he could do no wrong.

"How's Jay?" I asked, sorting laundry in my hamper.

"Not as bad as I expected him to be. His arm's in a sling with a broken collar bone and he's been having trouble sleeping. A little rude but he's been trying. He even talked to Reagan when he stopped by with the biscotti."

I raised an eyebrow. "Like an actual conversation or did Reagan just ramble?"

Derek hummed. "Well, Jay managed to get a couple short sentences in." At least Jay tried. "The trial is next week so Jay's been pretty on edge. He's been throwing himself into his studies pretty hard to distract himself. I think he studied for twelve hours yesterday."

"Whoa," I gaped, spraying crumbs over my bed sheets. At least they were already in the laundry.

"Yeah. I've been nervous too. This Mondue guy is pulling a lot of strings to get Jay acquitted," Derek said before taking a bite of his biscotti. Mondue. Now where did I hear that name before?

"Mondue. As in Perry Mondue, the billionaire?"

"That's the one."

I frowned. "What's he doing out here in Bailey?"

"I don't know. I got to talk to him when he stopped by our apartment a week ago. He said he heard the news of the attack and came straight over to help out any innocent Elicits who weren't getting fairly prosecuted. I think he's doing it for the publicity but we don't have much else of a choice. Mondue's got one of the best lawyers in the country coming in for the trial. If he can't get Jay acquitted, then Jay's facing fifteen years minimum. If he wasn't on house arrest, I'd take him to one of my games to give him a change in scenery."

Scenery. Now there's a thought.

"Hey, Derek. A lot of this will rely on the trial results but what if I took him away somewhere? Somewhere safe?"

"By all means, please do. He's had too much negative energy in Bailey the last four months. Where are you thinking of taking him?"

"I'm going home for a week to visit my parents. I would need to owe a million favors in order to get permission to allow Jay to come with but I think I could do it."

"I think that might be what Jay needs," Derek replied. He stared at the last bit of his biscotti. "I think having some positive parental figures in his life would help lift his mood too. Ones he didn't know before his parents disowned him."