Page 21 of Jacked and Jaded

“I am tired. Now that I know she’s going to be okay, eventually, it’s hitting me.” He stopped just outside her door, feeling he needed to prepare him for what he was about to see. “Just want to warn you. She looks bad.” His dad nodded his head and they entered the room.

Jackson stayed back, allowing his dad to greet Calliope. His dad did a quick head to toe scan then handed him the duffel bag with his clothes. “Calliope, girl.” He went to give her a hug, but ended up giving her a kiss on top of her head. Shaking his head, he said, “Gotta say, you’re a hot mess.”

Calliope started to laugh, but had to stop and clutch herself around the middle. Seeing his smile fall, she reassured him. “Hey. I’m fine. I appreciate your honesty. I haven’t seen myself yet, but if the way Jackson’s been looking at me is any indication, it must be bad.” She smiled, but still clutched her middle.

Jackson watched them from where he leaned against the wall. He stood with one boot against the wall and his duffel at his feet as he drank his coffee. Calliope still looked like she was in pain despite her efforts to pretend otherwise. He wondered if it was time for another dose of pain medicine.

“Have a seat, Maverick,” Calliope invited him to stay.

His dad dropped into the seat he’d been occupying off and on since he’d gotten here last night.

“What brings you all the way to Boulder?” she asked, as if nothing had happened to her and they were just enjoying a pleasant conversation.

“I brought your mom’s car up so she’ll have a way to get around and I wanted to check you out for myself.” He leaned over and squeezed her hand. “Jackson told us you were in an accident and in the hospital.”

Calliope shot Jackson a quick look. He knew she was wondering just how much he’d told his parents. His dad didn’t know all the details yet, but he soon would.

“Thanks. She’ll really appreciate it.”

“Calliope! Oh my God!” Maureen freaked out as soon as she entered the room and got her first look at her daughter. Tears filled her eyes, and her hands covered her mouth. It took her a second, but she got herself under control quickly and shook off the shock of seeing her battered daughter lying in a hospital bed.

Shit. He’d meant to send pictures of Calliope’s injuries to her mom so she’d be braced before she got here, but forgot. Although, it probably wouldn’t make any difference that Maureen worked as an ER nurse and had years of experience seeing the worst injuries. It was her daughter and nothing could prepare you for the sight of your own kid after she’d been beaten on.

Calliope groaned and rolled her eye. The swelling in her other eye was getting a little better and would continue to improve as the swelling in her cheek went down. That’s where she’d taken the hits to her face from her accounting of events. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on the asshole who’d done this to her. An eye for an eye and all that shit. Except it would be blow for blow times ten. He was going to see if Clint was as tough taking the hits as he was dishing them out.

His dad stood and moved out of the way to allow Maureen room to get to her side. He took up a position against the wall next to Jackson. “Tom.” He shook Maureen’s boyfriend’s hand. Tom then turned and shook Jackson’s hand.

“Thanks for being here for Calliope until I could get her mom here. We really appreciate it.” Tom grimaced at the sight of Calliope’s condition. “We just had dinner with her night before last. I can’t believe this is what she looks like now.” He shook his head. “God in heaven. What kind of a man does that to a woman?” He turned to look at Jackson. “Has she been able to identify her boyfriend as the asshole who did this to her?”

“Yeah,” Jackson growled, not liking Clint Maxwell being referred to as Calliope’s boyfriend. “She did.”

“Jackson,” Maureen walked over and tipped her head back. “Thank you for being here for Calliope. I can’t imagine her waking up and no one being here for her. It means a lot that you were.” She popped up on her toes and placed a kiss on his cheek. When she dropped back down, she squeezed his arm. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem, Maureen. I’ll always be there for Calliope.” Her mom didn’t need to know right now that he meant that literally. She was his woman and he was going to make sure everyone knew. “We’re going to take off for a little bit, grab something to eat and be back. We want to give you some time with Calliope. Do any of you want us to pick you up anything while we’re out?”

“No. Not that I can think of,” Maureen replied.

“Call if you think of anything,” Jackson reminded her.

“Here you go. I brought your car up, Maureen, so you guys would have a way to get home.” Maverick dropped the keys in Tom’s hand. His dad was old school in that he believed that if a man and woman were driving anywhere, the man drove, always, unless he was physically unable. Right now that was a good idea, Jackson doubted Maureen was in the right frame of mind to drive anyway.

“Thank you so much, Maverick. I hadn’t even thought of how we would get home. I appreciate it.”

“Not a problem.”

Jackson went over to where Calliope was watching everything going on. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Tell your mom. She can handle it.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be back.” He nodded his head at Maureen and Tom as he led the way out of Calliope’s room. He didn’t miss the surprised look on Maureen’s face as she watched him with Calliope. One side of his mouth kicked up. She better get used to it because he wasn’t going anywhere. He fucked up three years ago when he let her go and didn’t try to fight to bring her back. He thought at the time, he was doing her a favor by letting her live her life and gaining life experiences. This was one experience she should never have had.

He pushed the down button for the elevator, watching his dad out of the corner of his eye. The door opened, three people stepped off and he and his dad entered. He saw that someone had hit the lobby button and leaned against the back of the elevator. He glanced at his dad and could see he was dying to say something about what he saw upstairs.

He led the way to the back of the parking lot where he’d been forced to park and trudge through the rain when he arrived last night. Right now, it was nothing but sunshine and a few puddles left on the parking lot. He unlocked the doors to his truck as they got closer. He was inside, buckling his seat belt and the engine running before his dad spoke.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” His dad was watching him as he put it in gear and headed off the parking lot.

“Yeah. I’m driving by that motherfucker’s house.”

“Okay. I’m down with that. What I meant, and you know it, was do you know what you’re doing with Calliope?”

Jackson maneuvered in and out of traffic, stopping at a red light. He glanced at his phone to make sure he was going the right direction. After he’d gotten the address to Clint’s house, he’d walked out to the nurses’ station for a cup of coffee and entered it into Google Maps. Following the directions, he should be there in another twenty minutes, depending on traffic. The light turned green and he took off.

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