A Price Worth Paying

Chapter nine.

The Boys.

"Sang's sleeping. I convinced her to take a pain killer. You could see the pain in her eyes and etched on her face. She was going to argue the point but I pulled the doctor card on her. I just hope she doesn't remember that when she wakes up. Although with the lack of focus and confusion I think I'll be right. I'm not used to a confused and argumentative Pookie. She shaping up well for the title of worst patient ever. How does it feel to know you'll probably lose the title by the end of the week Owen?"

"I wasn't aware I was ever your worst patient, Dr Green."

"Yeah, only because you didn't listen every single time I told you. Now tell us what happened after you took the call away from Sang."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up there a second Doc. Did you say the end of the week! Are you fucking kidding me! Trouble's going to be well, trouble, for that long? Well fuck!" Gabe exclaimed.

"Gabe, you know head injuries can take several weeks to recover from, exactly why are you so upset? This shouldn't be a surprise to you!" Dr Green explained.

"Because this is Trouble we're talking about here. I don't like it when she's sick or injured. Okay! In fact, I fucking hate it. I'm going to check on her." Gabe exclaimed as he bounced to his feet.

"No Gabe. Fuck that. Leave her be. You'll fucking wake her up."

"Oh fuck you North. Why would I wake her? I'm not some fucking loud mouthed idiot who only ever talks at a roar you know." Gabe raged before stomping off towards Victor's bedroom.

"North leave him be. He won't wake her and he needs this. She wasn't her usual co-operative self at the hospital today. It really upset him. He needs to see her again for himself, to know she will be okay." Kota explained trying to calm him down.

"We all fucking do, Kota. This is Sang Baby we're talking about. We're all worried."

Mr Blackbourne interceded. "Right gentlemen. This is what is to going to happen. North, you are to go in now and reassure yourself that Miss Sorenson is in fact alive and breathing. While you are there you will make your peace with Mr Coleman."

"You will do so without waking Miss Sorenson and causing any further distress. If you need to take a moment to calm yourself before you enter that room do so. Because Miss Sorenson is not to be caused any further upset by you or any of your brothers AT ALL. This has been a highly traumatic experience for her and it's not over yet."

"Once you have done as I have asked please return to our meeting with Mr Coleman. If anyone else wishes to see for themselves that Miss Sorenson is indeed alive, if not well, then the same rules apply. Disturb her in any way, you will all be spending time working out instead of having the planned downtime this week. Are we clear!"

"Fine", North huffed before heading off after Gabriel.

Everyone else just nodded whilst Dr Green grinned at Kota and said " 'Wasn't her usual co-operative self.' Kota! Really! What an understatement. Was that the best you could come up with? She was irritable, impatient and argumentative. I actually had a moment when I thought she was considering running me down with the wheelchair. It was like dealing with a completely different person."

"Yeah, well, it was the best I could come up with on the spot." Kota sighed.

"You did just fine, Mr Lee. Especially considering your best weapon for diffusing Mr Taylor's temper is currently asleep. When everyone has calmed down we will put all our information on the table and discuss what happens next, bearing in mind it will depend entirely on Miss Sorenson's approval. I don't like discussing plans concerning Miss Sorenson without her being present, but we are somewhat on a deadline as I will explain when we are all present."

##

"All right boys, Miss Sorenson contacted her grandfather's oldest friend. Mr Drummond confirmed some memories to her. Whilst the conversation had no meaning to us it certainly relieved Sang of her fear she was losing her mind. He also confirmed the existence of film of her and her grandparents."

"We don't quite understand the significance of the film but it is quite apparent Miss Sorenson considers it to be of the utmost importance. With this in mind I have made arrangements to obtain the film for her early tomorrow morning."

"Mr Drummond's son is apparently flying from Massachusetts, where Sang's grandparents resided, to Texas on business and is prepared to change his flight plan and detour to Charleston in order to deliver the film to Miss Sorenson."

"Mr Drummond was not prepared to place the chest that contains the film on any courier whatsoever. I believe he also plans to send a crate which contains certain possessions he feels Sang would like to see again. Quite frankly, if it assists Miss Sorenson recover from the trauma of remembering her past I am pleased he thought of it. The only reason he isn't already on his way here is because his wife is currently in hospital."

"Silas and North I will need you both to come with me to the private section of Charleston airport at 5 am. It would probably be best to bring the truck. I don't know exactly how much Mr Drummond plans on sending down but it's best to be prepared."

"We need to take identification and a letter from Miss Sorenson confirming arrangements. There will be a code word Miss Sorenson will give us. His son won't hand anything over without it."

"Mr Drummond is taking this so seriously, if I didn't know better I'd almost suggest these people are Academy trained. He is certainly protective of Miss Sorenson's interests. He was quite clear that if he believes we aren't taking care of Sang to his standards he will take over care of her. He was quite vocal about it."

"Calm down gentlemen." He exclaimed at the immediate uproar over this statement. "Please remember he is an older gentleman who is kicking himself for not realising there was something terribly wrong with Miss Sorenson. He has been lied to by Miss Sorenson's father and is not feeling too kindly towards him, so if we want her to stay with us we need to tread carefully."

"Nathan, I will need you to take over North's job in the morning. It should only take an hour and you are to then collect Luke and Gabriel from the diner when their shift ends and return here."

"Luke did you manage to obtain those boxes of books belonging to Miss Sorenson?"

Luke smiled. "No problems at all. Nate and I took them to his place. We put them on the bookshelf in Sang's room. Totally filled it too, but they'll be safe there."

Mr Blackbourne readjusted his glasses and asked what they revealed.

"There were various books on culture, history, dictionarys and textbooks on Japan and also Thailand and a CD as well. There were a couple of books in advanced math and chemistry. Way beyond me. Kota and Gabe might know at what level they're at. One was about computer forensics, two on astronomy and another ethics. There were novels in languages I don't recognise, but one at least was a Harry Potter translation and the writing wasn't the same as the Thai and Japanese textbooks, we both checked. The range was varied throughout each box. I think Cupcake may been hiding her light under a bushel."

Silas surprised us all by speaking up. "Well we all know she's smart. Maybe she's smarter than we knew and she just doesn't like to talk about it. Doesn't change the fact she's Aggele mou, and hell will freeze over before I let some stranger take her from us."

"Damn fucking straight bro." Nathan piped up while everyone else nodded agreement.

"So I presume we all accept these arrangements subject to Miss Sorenson's approval." Everyone vigorously agreed.

"Right, I'll contact Mr Drummond so flight details can be rearranged on his end. Dr Green will examine Miss Sorenson before he leaves and I'll have her write the letter of confirmation for us. She will need to speak to Mr Drummond again to do so. Gabriel go with Luke and North tonight."

"Kota I want you to stay here tonight with her and Victor, and before anyone starts protesting that decision please bear in mind Dr Green's advice regarding care of Sang's health. It won't help to overwhelm her at the moment with all of us and she will only become upset if she notices you all tiptoe around her. I'll see what I can find out about repressed memories tonight, although I think not much is known. If she sleeps well tonight we'll review the situation. We should be back here before she wakes up if all goes according to plan."