Picking Up The Pieces

Bonus chapter- 7. A little mishap

A/N: I know, I know I should be updating the other books, but I have absolutely no ideas at the moment and college is once again kicking my ass...

Elias's POV

"Beau! Get over here!" I yell, whistling for the gray dog.

His ears perk up and he stops sniffling around the paint buckets that are standing against the wall.

I just got off work and decided to stop by my new security firms office building to check in on the construction progress before heading to the hospital to pick Maddie up from work.

I took over the business from Tom, my old boss, two years ago and because it's grown so much since then, we had to expand our premises.

Beau jumps over a pile of debris and wags his tail once he's in front of me, obviously expecting a treat for listening to my whistle.

I smile and reach into my pocket and give him a treat. "Here you go, boy! Now, come on."

I tap my thigh with my hand and start walking, knowing he'll follow.

The sun has already gone down outside, so the whole site is lit by lighting towers and other construction lights.

The sound of drilling, sawing and some chatter echoes through the empty halls.

"Elias, what are you doing here?"

I turn around to see one of the contractors, Mark walk toward me with a drill in his hands. His black shirt and cargo pants are dusty and have some paint on them.

I shake his dirty hand and smile, gesturing around the room. "Oh, you know, just checking out the progress," I say.

"Ah, I see. Would you like to see the solar panels we installed on the roof today?"

I nod and follow him up the stairs to the roof, admiring the view of Los Angels.

Beau always stays close by, peering into every room we pass.

"This is great," I say as we walk back downstairs and into the main lobby. I wave to the guys on the scaffolding above us and turn my attention back to Mark.

"Yeah, things are going very well. We're on schedule and-"

"Watch out!"

I look up to where the shout came from only to see a piece of wood falling right before it hits me in the head.

I groan and stumble backward, pressing the palm of my hand to my stinging forehead.

Beau whimpers in surprise and cowers behind me.

"Jesus, are you alright?" Mark asks.

I squeeze my eyes shut and open them again, taking my hand away from my forehead to look at it.

"I'm alright," I say, wincing a little when I see the blood on my hand.

"You're bleeding," Mark says.

I chuckle. "Well, I've survived worse. I should get going though. I'm supposed to pick my wife up from work."

"But what about your head?" Mark asks as I scratch Beau's ear who has calmed down again.

"My wife's a nurse. She'll take care of it," I say, shrugging off Mark's concern.

"O-okay," he stutters.

I wish him a good night and walk out into the warm night.

When I get to the car, I open the back door for Beau to jump in before grabbing a bandaid from the first aid kit in the trunk.