‹ Prequel: mobster mash
love in the time of trash fires
three
Athena had been listening to Rudy tell a story about his glory days as a card hustler when she was joined by Lion, Bobo and Jeffrey. Of all the Hellhounds, she saw them at the races the most often. She beamed and hopped up from her seat to hug them.
“There’s our girl,” Bobo said, lifting her off her feet and nearly snapping her spine in half.
“Good to see you too,” Athena wheezed. He set her back down with a grin. The Hellhounds were a rough bunch but after being with Max for over two years, they felt like family to her. They’d been happy to hear that she and Max were together, and had been nothing but welcoming of her after that initial incident when half of them pointed knives at her thinking she was a spy.
Athena sat back down, listening to the rest of Rudy’s story before it was time for the race to start. There was a sort of excited hush over the crowd as the starting flags were raised. Then they dropped and the racers zoomed off down the track, sparking wild cheers. Athena was smiling and just as excited as anyone else, until it became clear that something was wrong. She stood, frowning in concern when Max’s tires blew. At first it seemed like he’d be okay; he just had to maneuver to the side of the track. She was about to ask Rudy what might have happened when Valerie was suddenly sailing through the air.
There was a lot of commotion around her but Athena barely heard or noticed anyone else as she started running toward the track with her heart in her throat. She was nearly to it by the time Max’s car hit the ground and came to a standstill, but someone grabbed her and pulled her back.
“Let go!” She flailed wildly, trying to wrench free of whoever had grabbed her.
“Athena, you can’t just run onto the track during a race!” someone shouted at her.
“I have to check on Max!”
“The medics are on their way, just wait. Dammit, Jeffrey help me hold her back before she gets herself killed!”
Athena was only vaguely aware that it was Lion practically wrestling her to the ground. Her eyes were glued to the crumpled wreck that used to be Valerie. She sank the rest of the way onto the ground and Lion practically fell on her, righting himself and keeping his arms around her shoulders in case she tried to bolt again.
“What if he’s dead?” she asked, her voice strained.
“Hey, come on. He’s gonna be fine.”
Athena realized she was starting to hyperventilate from crying and Lion told her to breathe.
“He’s gonna be fine,” he repeated. “Athena, hey, look at me. Look at me. He’s going to be okay.”
“You don’t know that,” she said. “You can’t know he’s fine we won’t know if he’s fine until I see him.”
“They’re taking him out of the car now,” Jeffrey said. The track had been cleared so Athena pulled out of Lion’s grasp and ran toward the wreck before anyone could stop her again. One of the paramedics tried to tell her to stay back.
“Miss, please don’t—“
“He’s my boyfriend, I have to see him.”
“I understand, but it might be upsetting to see him like this—“
“I’ll be more upset if you don’t let me see him,” Athena snapped, watching anxiously as they loaded Max onto a stretcher. “I’m a doctor and I want to see him. I need to know he’s alive.”
The paramedic sighed. “You can ride in the ambulance with him.”
Athena scrambled to follow the stretcher, scanning Max’s injuries. There was a lot of blood in his hair and down the side of his face, and his left leg was broken. No doubt he’d have broken ribs too; and maybe internal bleeding. Athena wanted to hold his hand but was afraid to touch him. He was unconscious, but he was still alive. The ambulance took him to the closest hospital, which was small but had an ER. Athena wanted to follow the medics into the surgery room, but of course they didn’t let her. She was forced to pace in the waiting room.
Michael showed up half an hour later, Rudy, Lion, and Bobo in tow.
“We sent Jeffrey to tell the others what happened,” Lion explained. “What’s happening?”
“He’s still in surgery,” Athena said. “They made me wait out here.”
She burst into tears again and Michael grabbed her to keep her from crumpling.
“It’s okay,” he said while she sobbed into his shirt. “Come on, Max is gonna pull through.”
He helped her sit down in a chair and sat next to her, patting her hair gently while they waited for someone to bring news. Eventually she stopped crying, and just sat there staring blankly at the wall. Michael tried a few times to get her to eat or have some water but the idea of putting anything in her stomach made her nauseous. Athena leaped up when a nurse finally came out.
“He’s not out of the ER yet, but we have him stabilized,” she explained.
“How severe was the head injury?” Athena asked. “Was there internal bleeding? What kind of medication will they be administering for his pain?”
“Uh, my daughter and I work in the medical field,” Michael explained when the nurse gave her a wary look.
“We won’t know the full extent of his head injury until he wakes up,” the nurse said. “There was some mild internal bleeding, but we were able to stop it. He broke his left leg in two places, but it’s nothing that won’t heal with time. Four broken ribs, and a hairline fracture in his left wrist. There’s some bruising to his right lung, but no permanent damage there. Some other minor cuts and bruises, and no severe injury to the spine. As long as he pulls through the head injury, he’s actually quite lucky to have survived a crash like that.”
“I want to see him,” Athena said.
“I promise I’ll come get you as soon as we move him into a room.”
Athena sat back down, staring at the wall some more. Sprains and broken bones could heal fine, but if the head trauma was bad enough, Max could fall into a permanent coma. Or hemorrhage and die. It felt like years before the nurse came back and led Athena to the room where they were keeping Max.
He still looked pale, and there was a bulky cast beneath his blanket and a bandage around his head. At least they’d cleaned up the blood that had been all over his face. Athena sank into the uncomfortable plastic chair. Eventually her father came in, and tried to get her to come home and rest.
“I’m not leaving until he’s awake,” she said. “I will not leave this room.”
He looked about to argue, but seemed to sense that there’d be no reasoning with her right now. He kept coming back to check on her when he could, but Athena didn’t budge. She slept only occasionally, and annoyed the nurses by micromanaging whenever someone came to check his IV and take his vitals.
On the afternoon of day three, Athena had fallen asleep in the chair, her head resting on the edge of the bed. The chair was killing her neck and back but she still stubbornly refused to go home and sleep in her bed. She tossed fitfully as she felt something tickling her ear. She made a noise of protest and then opened her eyes to find Max, awake. And tickling her with the wrapper from a juice box straw.
“You’re awake and the first thing you do is stick a wrapper in my ear?” she said irritably.
“Well you were sleeping and I didn’t want to shake you.”
Athena raised her head and then started crying as it hit her that he was really alive and awake. She wanted to hug him but didn’t dare.
“You’re awake,” she choked. “I thought you were going to die and I meant to be awake when you woke up but I fell asleep I’m a horrible girlfriend.”
Max looked alarmed, trying to shift around so he could reach for her arm.
“Don’t!” she exclaimed. “You can’t move around, you might tear stitches or pull out an IV.”
“But—“
“Ah, he’s awake!” Michael came into the room and beamed. “How are you feeling, Maxwell?”
“Uh, I’ve been better.”
Michael caught sight of Athena huddled in her chair crying and hurried over to pat her back.
“Honey, what’s wrong? Max is awake. See, he’s fine.”
“I was asleep when he woke up,” Athena hiccuped and Michael sighed.
“Athena, you’ve got to go home and rest. You haven’t eaten in three days and you’ve slept maybe nine hours all together.”
“I don’t want to go,” she sniffled.
“I’ll stay here for now and look after Max,” Michael promised. “You need to go home and get some sleep. Besides, someone has to get the living room ready for him, right? They’ll probably keep him one more night for observation and then discharge him tomorrow and the apartment will need to be ready.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Athena mumbled, still sniffing.
“We boys will keep each other company for a while. I’ll call a taxi to take you home.”
“Okay,” she said dully. She looked over at Max, afraid he’d be unconscious again. But he was still sitting up and watching her. Michael pulled her to her feet and she felt a little dizzy.
“You’ll be okay?” she asked Max anxiously. “If I go home to get everything ready?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“And you’ll call me if anything happens?”
“I promise,” Michael said. Athena nodded, then she very carefully leaned over to kiss Max very gently before Michael shuffled her off to get a ride home.
“There’s our girl,” Bobo said, lifting her off her feet and nearly snapping her spine in half.
“Good to see you too,” Athena wheezed. He set her back down with a grin. The Hellhounds were a rough bunch but after being with Max for over two years, they felt like family to her. They’d been happy to hear that she and Max were together, and had been nothing but welcoming of her after that initial incident when half of them pointed knives at her thinking she was a spy.
Athena sat back down, listening to the rest of Rudy’s story before it was time for the race to start. There was a sort of excited hush over the crowd as the starting flags were raised. Then they dropped and the racers zoomed off down the track, sparking wild cheers. Athena was smiling and just as excited as anyone else, until it became clear that something was wrong. She stood, frowning in concern when Max’s tires blew. At first it seemed like he’d be okay; he just had to maneuver to the side of the track. She was about to ask Rudy what might have happened when Valerie was suddenly sailing through the air.
There was a lot of commotion around her but Athena barely heard or noticed anyone else as she started running toward the track with her heart in her throat. She was nearly to it by the time Max’s car hit the ground and came to a standstill, but someone grabbed her and pulled her back.
“Let go!” She flailed wildly, trying to wrench free of whoever had grabbed her.
“Athena, you can’t just run onto the track during a race!” someone shouted at her.
“I have to check on Max!”
“The medics are on their way, just wait. Dammit, Jeffrey help me hold her back before she gets herself killed!”
Athena was only vaguely aware that it was Lion practically wrestling her to the ground. Her eyes were glued to the crumpled wreck that used to be Valerie. She sank the rest of the way onto the ground and Lion practically fell on her, righting himself and keeping his arms around her shoulders in case she tried to bolt again.
“What if he’s dead?” she asked, her voice strained.
“Hey, come on. He’s gonna be fine.”
Athena realized she was starting to hyperventilate from crying and Lion told her to breathe.
“He’s gonna be fine,” he repeated. “Athena, hey, look at me. Look at me. He’s going to be okay.”
“You don’t know that,” she said. “You can’t know he’s fine we won’t know if he’s fine until I see him.”
“They’re taking him out of the car now,” Jeffrey said. The track had been cleared so Athena pulled out of Lion’s grasp and ran toward the wreck before anyone could stop her again. One of the paramedics tried to tell her to stay back.
“Miss, please don’t—“
“He’s my boyfriend, I have to see him.”
“I understand, but it might be upsetting to see him like this—“
“I’ll be more upset if you don’t let me see him,” Athena snapped, watching anxiously as they loaded Max onto a stretcher. “I’m a doctor and I want to see him. I need to know he’s alive.”
The paramedic sighed. “You can ride in the ambulance with him.”
Athena scrambled to follow the stretcher, scanning Max’s injuries. There was a lot of blood in his hair and down the side of his face, and his left leg was broken. No doubt he’d have broken ribs too; and maybe internal bleeding. Athena wanted to hold his hand but was afraid to touch him. He was unconscious, but he was still alive. The ambulance took him to the closest hospital, which was small but had an ER. Athena wanted to follow the medics into the surgery room, but of course they didn’t let her. She was forced to pace in the waiting room.
Michael showed up half an hour later, Rudy, Lion, and Bobo in tow.
“We sent Jeffrey to tell the others what happened,” Lion explained. “What’s happening?”
“He’s still in surgery,” Athena said. “They made me wait out here.”
She burst into tears again and Michael grabbed her to keep her from crumpling.
“It’s okay,” he said while she sobbed into his shirt. “Come on, Max is gonna pull through.”
He helped her sit down in a chair and sat next to her, patting her hair gently while they waited for someone to bring news. Eventually she stopped crying, and just sat there staring blankly at the wall. Michael tried a few times to get her to eat or have some water but the idea of putting anything in her stomach made her nauseous. Athena leaped up when a nurse finally came out.
“He’s not out of the ER yet, but we have him stabilized,” she explained.
“How severe was the head injury?” Athena asked. “Was there internal bleeding? What kind of medication will they be administering for his pain?”
“Uh, my daughter and I work in the medical field,” Michael explained when the nurse gave her a wary look.
“We won’t know the full extent of his head injury until he wakes up,” the nurse said. “There was some mild internal bleeding, but we were able to stop it. He broke his left leg in two places, but it’s nothing that won’t heal with time. Four broken ribs, and a hairline fracture in his left wrist. There’s some bruising to his right lung, but no permanent damage there. Some other minor cuts and bruises, and no severe injury to the spine. As long as he pulls through the head injury, he’s actually quite lucky to have survived a crash like that.”
“I want to see him,” Athena said.
“I promise I’ll come get you as soon as we move him into a room.”
Athena sat back down, staring at the wall some more. Sprains and broken bones could heal fine, but if the head trauma was bad enough, Max could fall into a permanent coma. Or hemorrhage and die. It felt like years before the nurse came back and led Athena to the room where they were keeping Max.
He still looked pale, and there was a bulky cast beneath his blanket and a bandage around his head. At least they’d cleaned up the blood that had been all over his face. Athena sank into the uncomfortable plastic chair. Eventually her father came in, and tried to get her to come home and rest.
“I’m not leaving until he’s awake,” she said. “I will not leave this room.”
He looked about to argue, but seemed to sense that there’d be no reasoning with her right now. He kept coming back to check on her when he could, but Athena didn’t budge. She slept only occasionally, and annoyed the nurses by micromanaging whenever someone came to check his IV and take his vitals.
On the afternoon of day three, Athena had fallen asleep in the chair, her head resting on the edge of the bed. The chair was killing her neck and back but she still stubbornly refused to go home and sleep in her bed. She tossed fitfully as she felt something tickling her ear. She made a noise of protest and then opened her eyes to find Max, awake. And tickling her with the wrapper from a juice box straw.
“You’re awake and the first thing you do is stick a wrapper in my ear?” she said irritably.
“Well you were sleeping and I didn’t want to shake you.”
Athena raised her head and then started crying as it hit her that he was really alive and awake. She wanted to hug him but didn’t dare.
“You’re awake,” she choked. “I thought you were going to die and I meant to be awake when you woke up but I fell asleep I’m a horrible girlfriend.”
Max looked alarmed, trying to shift around so he could reach for her arm.
“Don’t!” she exclaimed. “You can’t move around, you might tear stitches or pull out an IV.”
“But—“
“Ah, he’s awake!” Michael came into the room and beamed. “How are you feeling, Maxwell?”
“Uh, I’ve been better.”
Michael caught sight of Athena huddled in her chair crying and hurried over to pat her back.
“Honey, what’s wrong? Max is awake. See, he’s fine.”
“I was asleep when he woke up,” Athena hiccuped and Michael sighed.
“Athena, you’ve got to go home and rest. You haven’t eaten in three days and you’ve slept maybe nine hours all together.”
“I don’t want to go,” she sniffled.
“I’ll stay here for now and look after Max,” Michael promised. “You need to go home and get some sleep. Besides, someone has to get the living room ready for him, right? They’ll probably keep him one more night for observation and then discharge him tomorrow and the apartment will need to be ready.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Athena mumbled, still sniffing.
“We boys will keep each other company for a while. I’ll call a taxi to take you home.”
“Okay,” she said dully. She looked over at Max, afraid he’d be unconscious again. But he was still sitting up and watching her. Michael pulled her to her feet and she felt a little dizzy.
“You’ll be okay?” she asked Max anxiously. “If I go home to get everything ready?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“And you’ll call me if anything happens?”
“I promise,” Michael said. Athena nodded, then she very carefully leaned over to kiss Max very gently before Michael shuffled her off to get a ride home.