M83 – Wait : is the song to go with this chapter.
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Tayte's POV
What had just happened?
What the hell, had just happened?
My best friend.
The love of my life.
Had just been taken away from me, in front of my very eyes.
We heard footsteps and then Angelo, Talina, Parker and George came running into the room. They took one look at us and the empty bed,
"Shit" Parker said. I got up off the floor and ran past everyone,
"Keane...KEANE..." there was footsteps coming after me, but I didn't stop. I dashed down the stairs, "KEANE," through the hospital and out of the door, "KEANE" I sank to the ground, arms soon wrapped around me and hugged me tightly. "He's gone," I began to cry, "My baby's gone"
"It'll be okay" Noah cried, I could hear in his voice that he was trying convince himself, more than he was trying to convince me. We stayed in that position for a little while and then I stood up. Noah's eyes were full of sadness and I could tell he was doing everything he could not to break. But I'd already broken, I was broken inside. Noah did however manage to persuade me to come back inside, he took my hand and guided me like a zombie, I was lost. The room was solemn, Parker, George and Tammara were all missing, all eyes turned to me,
"Tayte..."
"No one say anything to me...because I don't want to fucking hear it..." I snapped, "Look around the room. Look at the empty bed, Keane is gone. My boyfriend, my best friend, the love of my life is gone. He was taken away from us, from me. In front of my very eyes and you can't see how much I want to tear the place down...You can't see how much my life has just been turned upside down. So I don't care what you have to say, and I don't want to hear what you have to say, unless you know where Keane is," I looked at Arlo, his face was that of devastation.
"Tayte, you need to calm down,"
"Don't you fucking dare tell me to calm down. Keane is fucking gone. Galviao, Arlo's father and Rhina's lover has him somewhere and we are stood around doing shit all about it," I shouted kicking over a chair angrily and storming out of the room, again, slamming the door hard behind me,
"I'll..." Noah began,
"I've got this" Talina said, Angelo put his hand on Noah's shoulder, the whole room was again silent.
"Lolo" Noah whispered,
"It'll be okay,"
"Keane's really gone"
"And we will find him. You should go to your brother, he needs someone right now," he whispered kissing him softly.
...
"Tayte..." Talina said softly,
"He's gone...He's really gone Auntie and I feel. I feel so cold, there's a piece of me missing and it hurts so much...I can't...I just..." I cried sinking to the floor, "I need him...what if...what if they..." Talina took me in her arms and held me as I cried,
"We are going to get him back. I promise you that. He is going to be fine and so are you, I am going to be there with you the whole time until Keane is back in your arms,"
"What if he kills him? He's been trying to for the last year. He has him now, he can do whatever he wants and I can't do anything about it," I cried, Talina rubbed my back softly as I was still cradled in her arms,
"I can't see the future Tayte and I'm not going to pretend I can. But you can't think like that, the battles already been lost if you're going to have thoughts like that,"
After I had calmed down enough, she told me to wait here and that they'd all be down soon and that we'd head to the hotel to figure out where to go from here. Arlo appeared before anyone else, he still looked devastated and I fully knew why. He sat down next to me, I rested my head against his shoulder and I knew he was taken aback by my actions,
"We're going to need to be each other's rock through this. I can't imagine how hurt you are, or what you are experiencing, after finding out about your Dad and then him kidnapping your brother. But I've just lost the love of my life, I've just lost the one person I open my eyes for every morning..."
"I know that, I've just lost my little brother. I don't even want to get into finding out about Galviao being my Dad. I just want to find Keane, because he's all that matters right now,"
"Are you going to forgive Rhina?"
"I don't know?" He answered softly, I took his hand,
"I take back all my bad thoughts about you"
"What bad thoughts?" I couldn't help but smile,
"They are in the past now," he smiled too, "I know Noah has Angelo, but he'll need you too,"
"We're all going to need each other," Noah and Angelo came next with Talina close behind.
"Rhina and Joey told us to go on," Talina said, I nodded, she squeezed my arm and left,
"I'm here for you Tayte," Angelo said, "I don't entirely know what you're going through, but I've been away from Noah and I know what it's like to be apart and worry about someone you love dearly..."
"I know," he hugged me and then we left the hospital,
"TAYTE" I span around to be ploughed into by Arii, "Oh my God, I've heard what's happened. What Keane's been through...that....that Galviao has him and...and..." She trailed off. I didn't speak, I just hugged her. "I'm sorry I haven't been in contact. I'm sorry that I've been so non-existent in your life...If I would have got in contact with you all I would have known what has been going on and..."
"Arii...It's fine," I said walking past her,
"Who's the girl?" Arlo asked as I walked towards him and Noah,
"That's our little sister Ariiayla"
"Oh"
"She looks like you just broke her heart" Noah said. I looked at him,
"I didn't obviously tell her what she wanted to hear" I sighed looking at the floor.
"Let's get to the hotel and then we'll make introductions and have a little talk okay," Talina said coming over with Arii, she looked at me and then Arlo, "Is that okay with everyone?"
"Yes Auntie" Noah said taking Angelo's hand. Arii came to my side, she didn't say anything, so we all walked in silence. When we arrived at the hotel we followed Talina to our floor and the rooms,
"Tayte, Arlo this is the key to your room, but I think we should have a chat first. As much as I know some of you might not want to," so we all went into Talina's large room. I sat on the bed next to Arlo, Noah and Angelo took the chair, Noah sat on his lap, Arii looked awkward and unsure of what to do, Talina patted the sofa so that's where she sat,
"I think we should begin with the introduction of Arlo to Arii,"
"Do I have to be here?" I said looking at the floor,
"I'd like you to" Arlo said placing his hand on mine, I looked up and nodded,
"So Arii this is your older brother Arlo,"
"It's nice to meet you Arlo, I didn't think I was going to have another older brother looking out for me" Arii said,
"Well it's finally nice to put a face to the name of my little sister. It's a shame under the circumstances we are meeting under, but...I look forward to getting to know you..."
"Me too, I'm so sorry I walked into this...I..." she began to cry,
"Go to her," I said quietly to Arlo, he got up and she stood and embraced each other, Noah was watching me,
"I'm just going to the toilet," I said standing up,
"Don't lock that door," Noah said, my heart fluttered, Keane would have said the exact same thing. I always told him that. I shut the door but didn't lock it.
"Keane, where are you baby?" I said, "I'm trying to stay strong...But it's so hard," I washed my face with cold water, staring into the mirror.
Arlo, Noah and Arii were talking amongst one another on the bed and Angelo was quietly talking to Talina over by the window, "I'm going to go for a walk," I said, "Alone" I added before anyone could say they were coming with me,
"Tayte..."
"I'll be okay. I promise I won't be long. I just want to be alone for a little while,"
"Keep your phone on and with you at all times," Noah said,
"I will"
I bumped into Rhina and Joey on my way out,
"Tayte..."
"I'm just going for a walk," I said and carried on walking, Joey caught up with me,
"We are going to get him back, if it's the last thing I do. My son will be with us again," he said with his hand on my shoulder, "this family has been torn apart in more ways than one, don't shut me out. This is probably one of the hardest times in our life. Therefore we cannot be distracted, I don't know how Rhina and I are going to get through this, but for now we will be civil and do everything we can to get the rock of the family back," I hugged him, holding back the tears,
"I'll be back soon" I said and left the hotel. The London air hit me, the noise deafening. All my emotions surfaced and I did everything I could not to completely break. I just let myself walk, "Send me a sign Keane...Let me know you're alive..." I said as I came to a stop on London Bridge, gazing over at the Thames. I pulled my phone out, Keane's grinning face hugging me on a beach in Barbados met my eyes, as my background. I could feel the tears slip down my cheeks.
...
When I got back to the hotel room, I managed to grab a card from reception for my room. I texted Noah to say I was back and in the room and then led on the bed and shut my eyes.
Keane's POV
My head was thick and heavy, my eyes too, I had to force them open, which was only met by a dark blurriness.
"Tayte..." I tried to say, "Tayte..."
"He's waking up," I heard a distorted voice say,
"I don't want to deal with him right now, give him something to knock him out until we land..." land, we were flying then...I just... Couldn't. I felt a sharp prick...Keep, my eyes open. The world around me soon again became black and I was alone with my thoughts once again.
...
The next time my eyes opened, I was more successful, my vision eventually cleared and my surroundings gradually came too. I was in a semi dark room, the stone floor I was on, was cold, ice cold. I could hear muffled voices as the pounding in my head, slowly began to creep into my senses. I groaned and hauled myself up, I was surprised I wasn't tied up, but it wasn't like I could just run away. My whole body was screaming at me, my shoulder burned, head pounded, stomach ached and leg stung. My first thought after digesting the pain was Tayte. He had to be going absolutely crazy, he was going to be a mess and that added to my pain even more. I tried to assess my situation, I had no phone and only the clothes on my back, the cast on my leg was half chipped and hacked off, the sling I had securing my arm and shoulder was nowhere to be seen. I heard footsteps and then lights shot on, I blinked and looked up,
"I see your awake...My men didn't roughly man handle you to much?" I didn't reply, "You can play the silent treatment all you want Keane. I'm sure you're in pain, I can help you out with that"
"I don't want anything from you," I said,
"Not even a phone call to Tayte? I'm sure he's going out of his mind,"
"Shut up"
"Well...If you change your mind I'll be around. I'll leave the lights on for you so you can get acquainted with the room," he walked back up the stairs and the door shut. I did everything I could not to cry, not to scream. The room had a single bed in the corner, with a blanket folded neatly on it, next to it was a small wooden bedside table, a small window the size of 4 A4 pieces of paper, a little half cracked mirror on one wall, there was a brown door which I assumed led to a small bathroom, then a rugged worn out sofa. I dragged myself over to the wall below the window, slumping against it and shutting my eyes,
"Stay strong for me baby. I promise I won't ever give up," I let the pain overtake me and I slipped into unconsciousness.
Tayte's POV
Flash back
"Tayte do you remember when we were in Canada, we had that two-week skiing break away from the city?" Keane asked me, his head was resting on my chest, we were lead in a hammock together, and the cool breeze complimented the hot sun, it tingled on our skin.
"How could I forget, I took out two innocent skiers and you didn't stop laughing for around 10 minutes," he chuckled at my reply,
"That was a good day," I smiled,
"Because we ended up skinny dipping in the Jacuzzi and running to and from it to the snow?"
"No," he laughed, "but that did top it off,"
"I love you" I told him, playing with his hair,
"I love you too babe, always have done and always will do,"
End of flashback
My eyes opened and I realised I was crying, the door opened,
"It's Arlo..." I wiped my tears, he came in and shut the door,
"Are you hungry?" He asked, perching on the edge of the bed, I couldn't help but give him a small smile,
"No, but I know I should eat something,"
"That is a good answer. Noah, Angelo, Arii and I are heading out to grab some food somewhere. Talina, Joey and Rhina are having a, as what I can only put as a heated heart to heart and there are some other people around the hotel I assume you know, but I don't know what they are doing," I knew he was talking about Tammara, Parker and George,
"I'll meet you in two minutes," I said,
"We'll be by the main reception," Arlo said, I nodded and he left me alone. I got up and headed to the window,
"Oh for it to be that day again Keane," I sighed. I quickly pulled off my shirt and stuck on a fresh one and then left the room. Noah hugged me tight when he saw me,
"I love you," he whispered,
"Love you too kiddo," I told him kissing the top of his head. Arii looked at me, I held out my hand, she happily took it. We left the hotel and entered the evening air.
"Anywhere anyone had in mind?" Arlo asked,
"Just a nice pub with a warm atmosphere," Noah said looking up to the sky. I knew he was trying to mask his pain by being his happy bubbly self, but the relationship Keane and Noah had was unique and just by looking at him I could see he was crushed.
Noah's POV
As I looked up to the stars, I had to swallow my tears, wherever Keane was I just prayed he was okay, I just prayed that we would get to him in time. That he would be back with us soon. Angelo took my hand and brought me back to the world. As we walked down the street, my numbness began to subside, for a little while anyway. We found an out of the way and not too busy pub called The Fireplace,
"Sounds cute and it's doesn't look to busy," Arii said as we walked in. We straight away knew where the name came from, a giant coal fireplace was the center piece of the room, it was spectacular. We found a table in the corner, a wooden bench type with soft cushioned inserts. Once sat and settled, we gazed through the menus. Tayte and Arlo went to order the food and get the drinks in, no one had gone alcoholic which I was tad surprised about. Didn't they say that alcohol numbed pain?
"They said it won't be too long," Arlo told us as he and Tayte sat down. There was silence at the table and not the comfortable type either, it was awkward and sad. I knew it was wrong of us to be sat here eating whilst we had no idea where Keane was. Once the food came, the silence was a bit more palatable, but it soon became too much for Tayte,
"I'm sorry...I thought I could do this but I can't, sit around and pretend that Keane hasn't just been taken away by Galviao, that he isn't God knows where having who knows what done to him," he stood up,
"No one's pretending Tayte and no one isn't not thinking about Keane, tomorrow is a new day and we will all come together to find him, but right now, you need to eat, you need to drink and you need to not spiral into a place we can't you out of. Because we're all going to need each other. And just to let you know, being happy, smiling and laughing, doesn't mean we've forgotten about Keane, plus I know he would hate it if we didn't do those things, he wouldn't want us to wallow, he'd want us to stay strong, knowing that we will all be together in the end," Angelo said, I squeezed his hand under the table, it was well said. Tayte sat back down,
"I know your right, but it just hurts so much"
"I know how you're feeling," I told him and he couldn't look at me.
Keane's POV
I awoke with a fright as cold water hit my face and soaked my body,
"Fuck," I gasped, I heard laughter,
"My apologies for the fright, I just had to make sure you were still with us," Galviao said, he had a minion next to him,
"Fuck you," I said as my teeth started to chatter,
"Now now, I know for a fact you were brought up better than that,"
"Why haven't you killed me?" I spat shivering,
"Saia" he said to his minion who left the room. "Who said I wanted to kill you?"
"You did and you tried to...Many times, you tried to stab me in Rochina, you said you'd blow up the plane I was getting on, it was your men who made me crash which put me in a coma,"
"We all say and do things we don't really mean now don't we," he said with a smile, "I'll send someone down with fresh clothes and some food for you and if you behave graciously, which I know you will, some pain relief that you so desperately require,"
"I told you...I don't want anything from you..."
"I'm sure I'll change your mind. I'm not really the bad guy here Keane..." he left the room, my head spinning, I wanted to scream. The door opened again 5 minutes later and a young lady around 19/20 walked in carrying a bag. She closed the door before coming over to me,
"I have come to help you..." she said in a thick South American accent, but my brain wasn't working properly for me to decipher where she was from. It was a start though, I was in South America, "I no hurt you...I just here to make you feel better. There's a bathroom, go change and I will then see to your pain..." she handed me a pile of clothes, I took them from her, "do you need help?" I nodded and she helped me stand and then I leant on her for support, "I wait out here for you," I shut the door, it didn't have a lock, I smiled to myself, Tayte hated me locking doors. It was small, with a bath, little sink and toilet, I perched on the edge of the bath, taking a breath, before slowly pulling my wet t-shirt off, trying to keep my left shoulder and arm as still as possible. I shut my eyes, head pounding, I felt sick, but managed to get changed.
"What's your name?" I asked, I was sat on the bed and she was cutting my cast off,
"I get called Linah,"
"Is he keeping you here?"
"Mario? No, he a good man. I help him out when he needs,"
"Good men don't try...To kill people,"
"Not all good men are good. Not all bad men are bad," she told me as she injected something into my leg before I could argue, "How you get like this?" She asked,
"I was in a car crash," I answered,
"And you say Galviao caused it,"
"I don't know anymore" I said, eyes becoming heavy, "What's happening?"
"Do not fight it...I will take care of you," my eyes closed and darkness took over. When I next awoke my leg was in a brand-new cast, my left shoulder was secure in a sling and I was led on the bed, a plate with a bread roll and what looked to be tomato soup in a small metal bowl, was sat on the side. I sat up slowly, I was thankful the pain had gone. I picked up the bowl and set it on the bed and took the spoon. The hot liquid ran down my throat, it tasted nice and the bread was soft, I tore it with the help of my left hand. I hoped Tayte, Noah and Arlo were eating, I'd hate for them to stop because they were worrying themselves silly over me. The door creaked opened a few minutes after I'd finished.
"I see you enjoyed the food" it was Galviao, "You are looking a lot better, I hope Linah looked after you well,"
"She did," I said, he smiled,
"I'm glad...Keane...I..." The door was bowled open,
"Boss...We need you," I looked at him,
"Linah will see to anything you need until I come back,"
"Where are you going?"
"Nowhere you need to know," he soon left. That man really confused me. I lay back on the bed, just wishing and praying that the man who had just left the room, was going to prove everyone wrong.
The man who just left the room, wasn't who everyone thought he was.
Tayte's POV
We left the pub a couple of hours after entering and took a gradual walk back to the hotel. The night had fully rolled in, I looked up to the sky,
"Wherever you are Keane, I know we're all sleeping under the same stars,"
When we got back to the hotel I headed back to Talina's room with Arii,
"Tayte... I hope we're okay? You and I? I don't think we left truthfully on the greatest terms, I know Keane he...We aren't as close as we used to be and he probably feels that I don't...that I don't care as much, but I do. I've never stopped thinking about you all, not once and I would have called you. I just didn't know what to say,"
"Keane and I both love you so much, we always have done and always will do, perhaps in different ways, but no more or no less. So never worry about how we feel about you, because the way we feel hasn't faltered from when we were all together running almost 3 years ago now, to us being without you these past months. We're okay Arii and I can promise you that," she hugged me tight. Talina wasn't in the room when we went in, but the door opened a few minutes later, "how did the talk go?"
"Heated, but Joey and Rhina are going to put their matters behind them until we find Keane," I nodded, "Come back here tomorrow morning at 8am. We are going to lay out our plan of action,"
"I'll tell the others, I'll see you in the morning"
"I love you" Talina said,
"I love you too," I was back in the room after telling Noah and Angelo about tomorrow. "I think this day is even worse than the day I found Keane half dead in front of the car wreck," I said sitting on the bed.
"This is definitely the worst day of my life" Arlo said.
"The day we left the house and got in the car to run away from a man who...a man who deserved everything he got, was almost 3 years ago and I never thought I'd be here today with you and without Keane,"
"Fate and destiny. I know you won't want to hear it, but I think everything happens for a reason," I led down,
"I believe that too... the way Keane and I ended up together, fate had a helping hand,"
"It's just at that moment in time, you wonder what the hell you've done to deserve this," Arlo said.
Arlo's POV
Tayte had gone into the shower, I was sat on the chair by the window shirtless. I knew Tayte was doing everything he could possible not to completely break. I could see it in Noah's eyes that he was devastated, Angelo was the strong one, the glue holding them all together, Arii just looked lost.
No one stopped to think about me, or about how I felt, how I feel. About the revelation of who my father is, about finally meeting my siblings for the first time, about how Joey would have taken me in as his own. I have been through more than I think anyone knows and now...now my little brother has been kidnapped by my Dad, my Dad who has been trying to kill my brother, who has been after my Mum and Joey, who...I took a deep breath,
"Calm down Arlo. You're okay, it's going to be fine," I told myself. "You won't break, you can't break..."
"Arlo?" Tayte said softly, I turned around, "I haven't forgotten about you, you know... about all that you've gone through we don't know about. How you've only just met your younger siblings, how you've just found out your Mum abandoned you in a way, how Joey would have taken you in as his own and that Mario Galviao...Is your father" I could feel tears slip down my cheeks and I quickly brushed them away, "I have thought about you in all this, don't you dare think otherwise," I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and hugged him.
"I can tell why Keane's with you," I said with a smile,
"Because I'm awesome," he replied,
"Yes... because your awesome," I went off for a shower, I came back to Tayte watching TV. He was incredible and I was just as lucky as Keane to have him in my life.
"So where do you think he is?" Tayte asked me, we were both led in the beds, he turned to look at me,
"100% they are not still in the UK, he's probably gone back to places he knows, where he's comfortable, where he knows people. So I think somewhere in South America, I wouldn't necessarily say Brazil, that's too predictable, but a surrounding country maybe?"
"I think you're right. I have this feeling he's somewhere in South America, Brazil is going to have to be a start for us I feel,"
"If it takes us one step closer to him, Brazil sounds like a perfect place to start. We'll make sure to say that tomorrow,"
Tomorrow was another day and I hoped another day closer to finding Keane!
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Chapter one gets us rolling!
Exciting!
Copyright © Georgia T R Wing