Tessa's P.O.V:
I drop down on the blue mat and wait for the next guard to come. I quickly get up on my feet and run towards the door at the sound of footsteps. I look out at the small window and wait for the guard to walk towards me.
"Excuse me!" I call for the guard.
"Go to sleep." I hear the man shout back.
"I haven't got my call yet!" I state.
"You talked to your daughter, husband and lawyer half an hour ago." He states, making me sigh.
"Yes but I get two calls." I state. "I need to make this call. Please just let me." I say.
"You have two minutes for this call." I hear the man say before he unlocks the door. I let him cuff my hands before he walks me towards the phone in the hallway.
"Thanks." I mumble.
"I'm going to be in a lot of shit for this. The only reason i'm letting you do this is because my daughter is a fan." He says, making me nod. "It's her birthday next week. I want you to write her a letter and sign her this cd." He says and hands me my album.
"Okay." I nod.
"You got two minutes." He adds, making me quickly turn around and pick up the phone. I dial Karla's number and a few seconds later, she picks up.
"Hello?" Karla says. Sounds like I just woke her up.
"Karlz. Hey." I say and hear her sigh.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" She asks.
"I know. It's late." I say.
"Why are you awake and...." She stops talking and I hear her move around before she places the phone next to her ear. "Where the hell are you calling me from?" She asks.
"You won't believe this Karlz but I got arrested." I say and let out a sigh.
"I do believe since it's not your first time but damn it, Tess! What the hell did you do now?" She huffs. I let out a sigh and explain the full story to Karla.
"....I couldn't sleep so I thought I would call you." I state.
"You are such and idiot, Tess." I hear her sigh. "What's going to happen now?" She asks.
"Well, I guess Marshall will get bail money and then...We'll see what happens." I shrug.
"You're fucked up." She says.
"Oh fuck off-" I start and stops talking when Karla starts to cough hesterically. "You okay?" I ask and listen to her cough.
"I'm fine." She says breathlessly. "I need to go." She says.
"Okay. I'll let you sleep." I say.
"Tessa." Karla says quickly.
"Yes?" I say and wait for her to speak.
"I love you." She says, making me smile lightly.
"Are we having a little gay moment here?" I joke as I smile lightly and hear her laugh.
"Thank you for ruining the moment." She says, making me laugh softly. "Thank you for everything. I...You did so much for me and I could never repay you back." She says, making my smile slowly fade away. "I love you so so so much-" She starts, making me cut in quickly.
"Karla. Are you okay? I mean, where is this coming from?" I ask.
"If something happens to me please will you help Chris with Jameson and Milo?" She says.
"Karla. Stop-" I start and get cut off.
"And if....God forbid it but if something happens to Chris, please will you and Marshall take care of our kids?" She says, making my heart drop. "Right now it might seem hard for you two to stay together but I know one day you and Marshall will make it." She says, making me shake my head.
"Wh-Why are you talking like this?" I say and get ignored.
"Give my love to Marshall and Iris too." She says. "And you and Marshall will be great parents to Ryder too." She says, making me shake my head.
"Karla. What the hell are you saying." I say.
"I love you, Tess. I hope you remember this." She says before the line goes dead.
***
I let out a sigh and stand up from my seat the same time Nick and Marshall do. Nick hugs me and kisses my cheek before he mumbles something about getting me out and walks away, leaving me alone with Marshall.
"Did they say who he assulted?" I ask and watch him shake his head.
"No." He sighs. "But I have a feeling Iris knows what happened?" He says.
"What makes you say that?" I say and pull away from him.
"Ay! Hurry up!" The guard knocks on the door, making Marshall sigh before he looks back down at me again.
"She keeps telling me that it's not Ryder's fault and that he got assulted first." He explains.
"You think she was there when it happened?" I ask and watch him nod.
"What's going to happen if they find out that Ryder assulted the man?" I ask.
"He's gonna get sent to juvenile." Marshall says, making my eyes go wide.
"What?" I ask in disbelief. Nick left that part out. We turn to face the door when it opens.
"Your times over." The guard says as the door swings open. I let out a sigh and turn to face Marshall again.
"Can we have a minute." Marshall says. I don't hear the man say anything but a second later the door closes. "Look. Nicks helping Ryder. Don't worry about him. Just stay calm in here and don't stress out too much. You'll be out tomorrow." He tells me as he cups my face and makes me look at him. "I'll see you then." He says, making me nod. Marshall wraps his arms around me and we kiss for a few seconds before I step to the side and let him walk past me.
"Just one more day." I say and nod.
"One more day." Marshall nods. "I love you." Marshall says as he picks up his jacket from the back of the chair. He walks towards me and kisses me one more time before he walks past me and out of the room.
"I love you." I mumble.
***
"You assulted a cop!" Alexander hisses, through the phone, making me roll my eyes.
"Two cops actually." I state and hear him groan.
"Liam. Talk to your stupid sister." Alexander says, making me roll my eyes before I here Liams voice.
"Ignore him. He's being an idiot." Liam says to me.
"She punched two cops!" Alexander yells.
"You got a lawyer?" Liam asks.
"Yeah. Nick." I shrug.
"No need for a lawyer. I booked a flight to Detroit. I'll get you out of there tomorrow morning." He says.
"Well, there's a bonus to having a brother who works for the FBI." I say and here him let out a chuckle.
"How are they treating you?" He asks.
"Mmm...Alright I guess." I say and look up at the same guard that let me make the phone call. "Will they not have a problem with you...Letting me go?" I whisper the last three words so the gaurds don't here.
"No." He says. "Well, yes." He adds quickly. "But Alex is the head of our office. He'll get you off. You leave it to us." He says.
"Thank you, Liam." I sigh.
"No need to thank me." He says. It goes quiet for a few seconds and I can hear Alexander talking quietly in the background. "Listen, Tess. Alex wanted to talk to you about Iris' brother." Liam says to me.
"Okay." I say before the phone gets passed back to Alexander.
"Tess." Alex clears his throat. "Do you know what happened?" He says, making me shake my head.
"No. They just arrested him." I say.
"Do you know anything about the man he assulted?" He asks.
"Nope." I shake my head. "He's barley said a word ever since he first stayed with us." I explain and here him hum. "Why? What's up?" I ask and hear Liam say something in the background.
"Nothings up. Listen. Stay...ehr...Strong in there and I will see you soon." He says, clearly hiding something from me.
"Alex. What is it?" I ask.
"Nothing. I was just asking." He says, making me roll my eyes. I can tell he's hiding something from me but instead of saying anything, I changed the topic because I have a favour to ask.
"Alex." I call him and wait for him to speak.
"Hmmm? What's up." He says.
"Could you do me a favour?" I say slowly before it goes quiet between us.
"What is it?" He asks after a long pause.
"I want you to go see Karla." I say.
"What?" Alex says in confusion
"The last time I saw her...She...She looked really sick. I phoned her yesterday and she started to talk about....Me and Marshall becoming taking care of her kids when her and Chris passed away." I say as I shake my head lightly. "She sounded...I don't know how to explain it to you and it's been forever since I had a proper conversation with her and Chris hasn't re-" I start and get cut off.
"I'll check on her, Tessa." Alex says quickly. I let out a sigh and lean back against the wall.
"Thank you." I say.
"No problem at all. It's late. You should get some rest before tomorrow." He says, making me nod.
"Night." I say and stands up straight.
"Night." He says before he hangs up the phone.
***
I cross my arms across my chest and raise my brow at Iris. Iris sighs and stands up from her seat before she walks towards the sink and places her dishes down.
"So, you're telling me that Ryder didn't do anything at all?" Marshall asks.
"Yes." Iris nods without looking at us.
"Iris. In order to help your brother we need you tell the truth." I say to her.
"I am telling you the truth." She says, making me sigh.
"So you're telling me that he got arrested for no reason?" Marshall asks.
"Yeah." Iris nods, making Marshall sigh.
"Iris. Your brother will get sent to juvenile and they might ban any visits from family if he is guilty." Nick says as he walks into the kitchen. "You need to tell us the truth in order for us to help him." He adds, making Iris sigh as she sits down on the the chair and drops her head ontop of the table.
"He's guilty, isn't he?" I ask.
"He wanted to go to our old neighborhood." She explains, making Marshall sigh.
"What's wrong with that?" I ask him.
"Have you been to their old neighborhood?" Marshall says. "Firing bullets and murder is like a normal, everyday thing for the people who live there." He adds, making me look away from Marshall and at Iris.
"What happened then?" I ask.
"His foster dad was there, near our old house." She carries on. "He started to chase us and we broke into our old house." She explains, making me push down my anger. "We waited in the house until we thought he was gone. We sneaked out from the back, only to find him waiting for us. He got a hold of Ryder and that's when I started to throw rocks and other...stuff at him." She says the last part slowly before she goes quiet.
"What happened next?" Nick asks when she doesn't speak.
"Next." Iris sighs. "I threw a rock at him which hurt him pretty hard. He threw Ryder on the floor and ran towards me but before he could get him, Ryder hit him with a plank of wood. He wouldn't stop beating him whilst he lay on the floor. I started to push him away when his foster dad started to bleed all over the place and...And..." She stops taking and clears his throat.
"I've heard enough." Nick says and clears his throat before he leans off the wall and walks away.
"He was only trying to protect me!" Iris says quickly. "Uncle Nick he can't-" Iris starts but I cut her off.
"Nick will help your brother." I say to Iris and watch her sigh.
"Even if he does, they'll send him back to his foster family." She says.
"They won't do that." Marshall shakes his head.
"They will." Iris says.
"No, sweetheart. They won't." Marshall says, making me look away from him. Stop promising her that, you idiot. "I promise." He adds, making me look up at him quickly.
"Marshall." I hiss. "You can't just promis-" I start and get cut off.
"I can because we're going to foster him. Ryder is going to be where he belongs, with his sister. With us." He adds, making my mind and body freeze.
Alexander's P.O.V:
I knock on the door and a few seconds later, the door swings open before it gets slammed back into my face, making my son Harry laugh as he swings my hand up and down.
"Emily. Come on. Open up." I say as I knock on the door. Emily and I have been best friends since we were kids. It was always Emily, Julian and I since day one.
We drifted off for a couple of months with our friend Julian died of Cancer.
Julian left his daughter Katy behind and since he was a single father, I stepped in and with support from my now ex wife, we adopted her.
"Did you end up sleeping with her too? Is that why she's mad at you?" Jessica, my oldest daughter asks. I glare at her, making her hold her hands up in defense. Before I can tell her off, the door swings open and my bestfriend walks out.
"Emily! Nice off you to finally open the door to your guest!" I say as I gesture towards my six year old son Harry, my 11 year old daughter Katy, my 13 year old daughter Stephen and my 17 year old daughter Jessica.
"Hey kids." Emily smiles at them before they all hug her. "Bye Alex." She says and walks past me. I throw my head back and curse under my breath.
"Stay here. Don't move." I point at them before I quickly jog after Emily.
"What did I do?" I ask her when I catch up to her.
"Are you seriously asking me that?" I say in disbelief.
"I don't know what I did!" I say in disbelief, making her stop and face me quickly.
"You chased my date away!" She hisses as she stops and turns to face me.
"Oh come on! He was an asshole." I shrug.
"Go away, Alexander." She says as she walks away again.
"Emily. Please, I need you to do me a favour." I say as I run after her.
"You always fuck it up for me." She says.
"I just need you to watch them for a short while." I add.
"This is my third date you ruined for me." She says, making me roll my eyes.
"I'll be back in an hour." I say as I look down at my watch and back up at her.
"The guy was really nice an-" She starts, making me cut in quickly.
"He was a fugitive, Emily." I say just when she's about to speak again. Her mouth snap shut and I watch her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "He was using you to blend in. He ran away from jail a couple of days before. He used you and when he saw me, he tried to run but I arrested him. Now he's locked up again." I explain. "Now please do me this one fav-" I start and stops talking when she unlocks the door to her car and sits in the front seat.
I run my fingers through my hair and throw my hands up in the air as I walk towards the car and knock on her window. Emily starts the engine before she pulls on her seat belt.
"Emily! Come on!" I yell and watch her turn on the radio. "I'll pay you back. I promise." I say and watch her reserve before she starts to drive away slowly. "You don't have licence for this! I can get you arrested for that!" I yell after her.
"Fuck you!" I hear her scream before she speeds away.
"So. What are we doing tonight?" Stephenie says, making me turn to face her.
"Can we go to KFC?" Harry asks, making me sigh as I walk back towards him and take out my car keys. "Or McDonald's?" He jumps up on my back.
"I wanna go get chinese food." Katy says.
"I want a curry." Jessica mumbles.
"Get in the car." I sigh and unlock the door.
***
"I hate hospital." Katy says as we walk down the white hallway. "And cancer. Dad died of cancer. I hate cancer so much." She adds.
"Me and you both, my love." I say as I wrap my arms around her. I stop at door 21C before I turn to face the kids who are still sipping on their McDonald's drinks. "Wait there for me." I add and point towards the chair at the end of the hallways.
"I'm tired papa." Harry whines. I look at my watch and let out a sigh. It's almost half one in the morning. They should be in bed. I never thought being a single father would be so hard.
"I know buddy." I say as I push his hair back and smile down at him. "I won't be long. I promise." I add.
"Okay." Harry sighs and starts to walk away, making me quickly stop him by standing infront of him.
"I'm not finished just yet." I say. "Jess, you're in charge. Everything does and says, you three do." I add.
"What if she eats too much candy?" Harry asks.
"Then don't copy her." I say.
"Welll, what if she jumps out the window?" He raises his brow and smirks.
"Okay. Jess if anything does happen, give me a call on my mobile and I'll come out." I say and watch her nod. "Go. Get out of here. Shoo!" I say and watch them as they laugh and run away from me.
I smile lightly and watch them all sit down on the bench before I turn towards the door. I look down at the flowers and clear my throat, just when i'm about to knock on the door, the door swings open.
"Oh." The red head quickly takes a step back. "I'm sorry, did I keep you waiting?" She asks as my eyes scan her perfect figure.
She's got a british accent. Hot!
"No." I say quickly and clear my throat. She looks familiar.
"Oh...Right." She says slowly and looks back at my kids.
"Do I know you?" I ask and watch her head snap back towards me.
"No." She shakes her head.
"Really? " I say. "I'm sure i've seen your pretty face before." I say. I hear Jessica gag in the background, making me glare at her when the British woman drops her head and laughs softly.
"I have never seen you before." She says and walks past me.
"Well, how about we get to know eachother?" I say as I turn around and follow her with my eyes.
"How about....No?" She says as she turns to face me before she turns her back towards me.
"One drink?" I say and watch her walk away. "How about a meal?" I say. "Just a drink then?" I ask as I smile lightly.
"Goodbye Alexander." She says.
"It's not goodbye, sweetheart. More of a 'i'll see you later when I pick you up for that drink!" I say and hear her laugh softly once again before she turns the corner.
I turn my back towards her, only to quickly turn around again. She knows my name when I didn't even tell her my name. So we do know eachother. We did meet before? I thought she looked familiar. Maybe it was a one night stand and she was too embarrassed to say it.
Or maybe she's a criminal and you worked on her case, Alexander.
"Papa! I'm bored." Stephenie whines, making me turn around to face her.
"I won't be long, hermosa." I say and watch her nod and sigh before she sinks down in her seat.
{Translation: Beautiful.}
I clear my throat and fix my jacket before I push my hand down on the handle and walk in. I fix the roses as I close the door behind me and close the shutter.
"Hey." I say as I keep my eyes fixed on the roses. "I'm sorry I came unannounced." I say as I walk further into her room. "I've been busy so I didn't have time to come with anyone else." I say and finally look up at her. "Tessa was worried and-" I start and stop talking.
The roses drop down by feet as my heart starts to beat fast in my chest as I lock eyes with Karla. I slowly take a step foward before I stop at the end of her bed. I look up at the time and let out a sigh.
1:26am.
"Ka-" I start and stop to clear my throat. "Karla. Wake up. Please....Look at me." I say softly. She keeps still as she lays down on the bed with her face in the pillow and her back facing the sky.
I place my hand on her shoulder and slowly turn around. She looks like she's sleeping. I feel her pulse and let out a sigh. I shake my head as tears flush my eyes. I shake her lightly and swallow hard.
"Nurse!" My words come out as a whisper. "Nurse!" I need a nurse!" I scream. I grab her wrist and feel her pulse again and shake my head. "You stay alive." I say to Karla as I take my jacket off. "You stay alive Karla Rose Jackson." I say through gritted teeth as I push my hand down on the emergency buttpn the same time I yell for the nurse. The door swings open a few seconds later.
"What's wrong Dr Kin-" The man starts but I cut him off.
"Get a crash cart!" I say quickly.