Page 21 of Torch
“Iamlosing my fucking shit. I need out of here, man. I need to be out somewhere.”
He nodded, eyeing the doc’s door curiously.
“You were going in?”
“What’s it to you?” Why did everyone want to know what the fuck was going on with me? Why was my business suddenly everyone’s?
“Chill, man. I was just checking you’re okay. You wanna grab a beer? I’m bored shitless too, but what can we do? Lockdown is lockdown, and at least you’re getting out to see Lissa daily.”
I flipped him off, heading for the stairs back down to my room.
“Yeah, because therapy is a fucking joyride. You do realise it’s not exactly fun, right? Lissa’s great, but she’s there to listen to us as we talk out all the shit in our heads. I don’t know how she does it, listening to the crap we must all be coming out with. The secrets we must be dumping on her, that she can never talk about. I mean, seriously, it still feels weird opening up and talking about shit, and it’s not like it’s even helping. I think I’m getting worse instead of better.”
Micro snorted. “Like anyone’d notice,” he muttered snidely, pausing on the stairs when I reached my room.
“Come on, man, seriously. Beer. It cures all your problems, definitely better than a fucking talk with a shrink will.”
“So just to be clear, you’re trying to encourage me into alcoholism, instead of the healthier route of talking out my problems with a medical professional?”
He paused, frowning for a moment, then he grinned widely.
“Fuck, yeah. Let’s do that.”
Whatever. The snarky fucker had me laughing at least, so I followed him down to the bar, and managed exactly one beer, before I was too uncomfortable staying there. Making nice with potential murderers just wasn’t as much fun as it used to be. I was almost at the bottom of the stairs, when I heard a voice I never expected to hear in this place, and stopped dead, turning to find her.
“Hello, darlin’, you seem to be lost,” Grease said, stepping way too close to my fucking woman. I was already crossing the room, ready to beat the fuck out of him, when I heard her speak up loud and clear.
“I’m not lost, but I’m looking for Torch, so do you want to back up before I introduce my knee to your nuts?”
Yeah, that’s my fucking girl.I grabbed his shoulder and shoved him aside, slamming my fist into his jaw, as he staggered back.
“What the fuck, man?” I stepped between Grace and that mafia douchebag, our undercover brother that only a few of us knew about, and jabbed a finger at him.
“Even fucking look at her, and I’ll remove your eyes. Got it?”
“Whoa! You’re a fucking psycho, man.” He lifted his hands and backed up, almost tripping over Micro, as he came to my aid.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, all good, man. You wanna keep him away from us, ‘til I get her out of here?”
Micro cast his eyes over Grace, comprehension finally dawning, as he recognised her.
“Hey, doc. Fancy seeing you here. Finally decided to slum it, eh?”
“Have I fucking punched you lately?” I snapped, grabbing Grace’s wrist and starting toward the door, to get her the fuck out of here.
“Wait, what are you-”
“What the fuck are you doing here? Are you out of your damn mind?”
She spluttered a bit, but I finally got her outside, releasing her wrist once we were clear of the door. She rubbed at her skin, finally glaring up at me, that sassy side of hers really appealing to me right now.
“You know, you’re really rubbish at welcoming someone into your home, Torch.”
“Hey, man, oooh who’s the piece?” I shoved Tommy behind me, and dragged her further from the door.
“Do you see what the fuck you’re doing? You’re getting their attention, and that’s not a good thing, trust me.”
