《Paint with Me Among the Shadows (Book One, the Salvation MC Series)》12. Sleeping Pills?

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X-rays SUCK.

I mean SUCK.

SUCK.

They had to manipulate my limb that was obviously in pain to get the best picture. They kept telling me. "Big strong breaths sweetie."

How about I sucker punch you in the gut and tell you to breathe big strong breaths!

I'm not usually an angry person, but after everything that happened to me, it's brought out the snarkiness in me that usually lies dormant. Not long after the x-rays the doctor informed me that I have a distal radius fracture and severely bruised ribs, along with a very minor concussion. Another doctor brought me to the operating room to perform a "reduction" by making an incision and putting all the pieces of my wrist back together like a complicated puzzle.

It's now realigned, throbbing, and in a cast that is itchy.As if I don't struggle with itchiness already. Que in my restless leg syndrome and I can't decide which is worse, the shaking, throbbing, or constant need to scratch.

According to the doctor I need to come back for frequent x-rays to make sure the healing process is going smoothly and then as my swelling goes down I'll be changing into a new cast in 2-3 weeks. In 6-8 weeks, it should be all healed, but I will still need physical therapy.

My head pulses from the overload of information.

What am I going to do?

For most people, it's not a huge ordeal, but for me this means I might not be able to paint for a while. I have no idea how I'm going to be able to handle this. When my body sees a canvas and lunges to it in a desperate thirst I won't be able to quench it. I don't know how my brain is going to be able to digest all of this.

That's the real problem.

I was able to paint that horrible picture in my blood on the window with my left hand... and I'm not ambidextrous. There's also the fact my head is reeling from the weird dream I had in the car.

Everyone in the room watches me as I continuously shake my right leg and bite my cheek. My legs always become restless when I'm in need of sleep and there's no way I'm asking someone to grab my pills from Amber's apartment.

Dad just arrived and hasn't said much, Amber's sniffling, Lashes is looking dejected with her mom stroking her hair, and Arch stands next to dad in a calm but intimidating manner.

And apparently there are guards at my door.

I shift in bed as the door opens and all eyes snap to the nurse who awkwardly mumbles an apology. She brings a sling over to me and shows me how to operate it. Dad's jaw twitches when he sees me struggling. Once the sling is on she leaves and the room is back to being quiet.

My ribs ache as I reposition myself on the bed with my eyes glued to the bizarrely white sheets. Something about being in the hospital puts me on edge and unfortunately I'll be on edge all night seeing as how they want to keep me here for observation.

By now I'm almost twenty four hours without my sleeping pills and it's starting to affect me. Amber stands from her seat and gets into the bed with me like she senses my discomfort and I snuggle with my twin. It's weird how we're almost complete strangers yet she comforts me in a way no one else can. It's almost like we're back in our god-awful mother's womb helping each other grow.

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"Can I have a moment alone with my daughters?" Dad asks, disrupting the awkward silence.

Everyone gets up and walks out the door. Once dad hears the click he stands up. He digs into his pocket and the sight of my orange bottle of sleeping pills causes my heart to hit hard against my chest. They sound like a dangerous jar of skittles as he sits them on the moving tray at the foot of my hospital bed.

"What's going on Georgie? Ace found these in your bag when she was getting your stuff together."

I try to swallow down the dry rock caught in my throat. "I have insomnia issues."

Dad's eyes are rimmed with the same deep hue of blue and purple that I have almost every day. "Who prescribed these to you?"

Amber doesn't stop snuggling with me as her deeper blue eyes stare at me with concern. "Was it mom?"

I know better than to try to jog my memory with a minor concussion at this point. "I have no idea. All I know is that I've been taking them for a long time."

Dad's brow furrows. "Georgie, I looked at the pills and asked one of the nurses who found out for me. These are Quetiapine and are used for schizophrenia. These aren't sleeping pills."

I can barely hear him. He sounds like he's in a fishbowl. "What?"

"Dad!" Amber shouts as I start panicking and my chest moves up and down so rapidly I'm about to hurl.

"Amber go and don't say a word to anyone," Dad demands as he does his best to try to calm me. "Georgie, baby, tell me what's going on. Why are you taking these?"

He gathers me to him and brushes my damp hair out of my sweaty face.

"I don't know. I don't know." I repeat frantically. I was told they were sleeping pills." Everything hurts and my stupid brain pounds against my skull. "Why can't this stupid brain remember anything." I start whacking my head viciously with my good hand.

"Georgie." My dad grabs my hand and pins it to the bed gently. "Stop, you're going to hurt yourself."

My dad. The man with his wrinkles now permanently between his brows, wearing a black bandanna over his white blonde hair, who's a big muscular man that could probably take anyone on and has only few people he's probably afraid of, if any... is looking at me in terror.

He's afraid of me.

My eyes dart to his hand that's older than I remember, wrinkled and barely able to hold any moisture because they've dried so much from age and probably from riding his bike.

"I'm schizophrenic then?"

My crinkled curls fall in front of my face and dad pushes them away. "No, you aren't. I know you've been through a lot tonight and this is hard on you, but understand you aren't schizophrenic."

"How do you know that? You haven't been a part of my life long enough to know that. Why am I taking these pills? Why do I have episodes and why am I hallucinating?" I reveal too much and clamp my mouth shut.

Dad takes a deep breath. "I can't explain, baby, but just trust me okay? Promise to stop taking these. See what happens when they wear off and leave your system."

Looking in his eyes with those aged wrinkles at the corners and his mouth set in a firm line I whisper, "Dump them."

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Dad kisses my forehead and whispers against it, "Thank you."

The toilet flushes and dad walks back in tossing the orange bottle in the trash. "We'll get to the bottom of this, I promise. I'll find out everything."

Nodding my mind swirls and my eyes grow tired. There's a strong knock on the door and dad walks over, opening it to reveal a freshly showered Adonis with some bruises adorning his handsomely scared face. Leaning against the door he massages his ruby red and cracked knuckles.

"It's been dealt with... for now."

Dad's face morphs into relief. "Thank you. I know you probably handled the situation better than any of us could."

"It's my job." Adonis shoves his thumb behind him. "Ace isn't in a good place but won't say anything to us."

"I'll go talk to her." Dad glances back at me.

I wave him off drowsily. "Go, Adonis will make sure I stay out of trouble and not go fishing in the toilet." Dad goes ridged at that and I give him a small smile. "Don't worry, he knows about my episodes."

Dad slaps his hand on Adonis's shoulder, squeezing it, and whispers into his ear so that I can't hear. Adonis's expression gives nothing away as his pearl and smokey green eyes stare at me intensely.

Soon it's only us in the room and I watch as Adonis takes a seat in the chair beside my bed. He takes his cut off and puts it over the chair and I see a bandage barely visible behind his loose white t-shirt.

"What would you possibly be going fishing in the toilet for?"

My eyes don't stray from his side. "Medication I believed to be sleeping pills."

"What were they?"

My eyes shift to his that are flowing with various rays of emotion. "What happened to your side?" He doesn't answer and touches my bandaged cheek. "Is Dallas still breathing?"

"If he is it will be a miracle." His thumb slides along the bandage's outline. "This one was strictly for me wasn't it."

"It's my fault for being careless." I shrug. "But for some odd reason they think we're a thing."

Adonis remains silent and leans back in his seat, examining ever single speck of me. "What kinds of pills?"

The person I trust most in the world is the one person I don't want to tell, because the minute those words leave my lips, reality sets in and I have to stay away from him for good.

It doesn't help that with each passing day I'm growing more attached to him. No one should have to put up with my erratic behavior and episodes, especially Adonis. He's dealt with enough already.

"I think this is the first time you aren't saying what's on your mind." His voice is deep and soothes my aching muscles.

A small smile tugs on my lips. "I'm concentrating really hard to make sure I don't."

His brows raise. "What don't you want me to know?"

"Everything." I breathe out in a whisper.

A few seconds pass by and he leans in toward me. "You need to go to sleep, Tater Tot."

I shake my head. "I don't know if I can. Sleep doesn't come easily to me."

He moves slowly like a feline staring at its prey and my bed gives at the weight of his hand. The muscles in his arms pull and tense as he leans closer to me. "What will help you fall asleep?"

"Nothing." I sigh between us, feeling that pleasing tension coiling in my stomach at his closeness. I swear the hospital room is no longer cold but humid. He's quick and I squeak in protest as he easily, but gently maneuvers me to his chest and settles in my bed behind me.

Need I remind you when you're at the hospital as a patient you're in a hideous gown. Mine is a thick white fabric with dull green leaves all over it. Not only that, but I'm sweaty, probably smell like death, and look like someone's punching bag.

Before I can even comprehend what's going on there's a tug on the top part of my gown. It loosens a little exposing the skin of my back. I hear the snap of each metal clasp he pulls apart on my right shoulder, causing the chilly air to circulate back and bite it. My body prickles to life as Adonis's tender, butter soft lips trace my bare shoulder. His big hand slides between the knots of my gown and I come alive at his touch.

He scorches a burning trail with his breath all the way to the sensitive part behind my ear. He's everywhere and my body is so incredibly small in his hold. The strength in his arms causes that knot in my stomach to tighten as his mouth never stops teasing every sensitive area around my ear.

His hand slides up my bare back as his thumb presses against the sore muscles by my spine, loosening them with just the right amount of pressure. His callouses scratch my skin making a small but defined moan escape my lips. The aching of my ribs fades away as my mind can only concentrate on his touch.

It burns so much it's cool, making my goosebumps rise in need. The pleasing prickling touch travels further up and he hits a knot by my shoulder blade that makes me tense for a moment, but it's his hand barely skimming the side of my breast that causes me to gasp and turn bright red.

"I love it when you're that color," he whispers roughly in my ear, earning a whimper. I can't think, all I can do is feel him. It's like I'm not myself but an actual woman possessed by some primal desire only he can satisfy.

This intense tension I didn't even know was an issue begs to be released and as if he can read my mind he obliges. I gasp heatedly as my back arches at the contact from now both of his thumbs pressing into those knots and kneading and battling the tension off.

"So soft," he murmurs huskily like a sigh.

He's in tune to every little detail and sensation I need and knows the exact places every secret knot is hidden. It's like a deep tickle you never want to stop and soon my body is folding into him and something is building inside of me, pleading to be undone.

He face arches my neck as his lips find that sweet spot and whispers, "Let go, Tater Tot."

And just like that all my defenses I had been keeping in tight fists, loosen at his touch and my body grows heavy yet light at the same time as I fully let him untie all those secret knots. I'm completely unguarded and at his mercy. He could do anything he wanted, but his touch is nothing but respectful and purposeful in what my tense body needs. It's as if every good feeling I've ever had in the world shatters so beautifully, yet painfully inside of me.

He chuckles. "I don't think this is what your dad had in mind when he told me to get you to sleep."

"What? Seducing me to sleep with your mad massaging skills?" I ask as every nerve relaxes and my body grows heavy with bliss.

He buries his face into the crook of my neck and grasps my curls. "I warned you..."

My mind is starting to drift off, but I lazily ask, "About what?"

"Tangling with a devil." He kisses my earlobe and my whole body gives into the sleep I've been needing so desperately. "You're mine now."

His words echo in my mind that slowly drifts off into a black deep perfect void. I snuggle into Adonis with my body feeling weightless and well taken care of.

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