Starlight

Chapter 45: Frank

I started to wake to the sound of voices.

"Don't worry about it, I can make up an excuse," someone said.

"Good, thank you," Jai's voice said back.

"What about her?" The first voice asked.

"I haven't asked her but I hope she's willing to take the day after such a crappy sleep. She's stubborn though," Jai's voice spoke with humor. "Maybe mention it to Dave and I'll give him a final answer later."

"You got it, boss. If there's anything you need I'll keep my phone on me." The unknown voice said again.

Except the voice wasn't unknown. I recognized it from the phone call last night.

"Thanks, Frank," Jai replied.

I was on the small couch that was in the room. The one that Jax's stuff had been set on. It felt like someone put a blanket on me. I opened my eyes to see Jax was still in bed and still asleep. Jai was standing near the doorway with his back facing me. It must be Frank who was in the doorway looking into the room. Frank was on the shorter side for a man with a sturdy, bulky build. He had black hair, olive toned skin, and brown eyes. He looked to be in his forties or fifties.

"Sorry if we woke you, princess," Frank said to me when our eyes locked.

Jai whirled around.

"Mornin," I said to them both in my gravelly morning voice.

Frank laughed at me a little. "You look like you enjoy mornings as much as Jai."

"Mmmm, he's not so bad once you force coffee in him," I admitted as I sat up and stretched.

"Maybe that's the affect you have on him. I keep a wide berth for at least the first hour," Frank joked.

It brought a smile to my lips. I stood up and padded over to them. Looks like Jai took my sneakers off while I slept since I only have my socks on now. Once I made it to Jai's side he pulled me in for a hug. I sagged into him and let out a hum of contentment.

"Starlight, this is Frank. Frank, this is starlight," Jai introduced.

I forced myself out of Jai's arms so I could extend a hand for Frank to shake. Jai let me but he moved a hand to rest on my lower back.

"Pleasure to meet you, Frank. Sorry about bossing you around last night." I murmured.

"The pleasures all mine. Feel free to boss me around anytime," he teased before turning to Jai. "I'll give you a call as soon as I have an update."

Jai thanked him before he left the room. Once he was gone Jai tugged me into another hug.

"Morning," he whispered sweetly to me.

"Mmm, morning. Any news?"

"They're doing a scan of Jax's brain in an hour to see if the swelling is down enough to wake him. Jason started his detox an hour ago," Jai informed me.

"That's a lot. How're you holding up?" I muttered while I rubbed his back.

Jai let out a big sigh and rested his cheek on the top of my head. "Better now."

Dear lord it's too early for my heart to be skipping a beat. Although, it's probably not early anymore. I fell asleep around seven in the morning.

"What time is it?" I asked.

Jai pulled back and moved to his chair. He grabbed my phone from the armrest and passed it to me. It was eleven now and I had a missed call from Kairi. I'll have to call her back after I make sure Jai's okay. I hope it's a good news call.

"So what's the plan stan?" I questioned.

Jai's lips quirked up, "I'm going to get you some coffee and then I'm going to shower. Beyond that, I don't know."

"Did you sleep at all while I was out?"

Jai gave his head a little shake.

"Okay, then after the shower is nap time. You can't run on half an hour of sleep. I can stay awake to keep an eye on everything while you rest," I strategized.

Jai's brows furrowed. "Aren't you going home?"

"Oh," I feel a little stupid. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I just assumed you'd..... it's whatever you prefer"

"I'd prefer you here," Jai was quick to correct. "I just thought you'd be ready to go home."

"You haven't gotten the full Evelyn experience yet," I warned him. "Once you accept me and let me in I'm like a god damn barnacle. You're going to have to scrape me off your side once you're sick of me."

Something between a scoff and a laugh escaped Jai. "Okay my little barnacle, let's go get you some coffee."

* * * * *

Jai's finally asleep. It's almost three in the the afternoon now. He wanted to wait to see what the doctors decided about Jax. They decided to wake him up. The intubation tube came out and now it's just a waiting game. I had to remind Jai at least three times that the doctors said Jax wouldn't wake up on his own for at least four hours.

While he's asleep I should probably give Kairi and Dave a call. I slipped out to the hallway but made sure I was at an angle I could still see Jax. The first person I dialed was Kairi.

"Holy shit, Star. Holy shit," is how she answered the call.

"Uh...hi," I answered with a laugh.

"She said yes. She said yes and we've been together since Sunday. Oh my god, Star. She's fucking perfect." Kairi gushed.

I smiled into the phone, "Are you still with her now?"

"Yeah, she's waiting for me in the gaming room. I just didn't want to leave you hanging too long."

"I appreciate that," I admitted. "I'm so happy for the both of you. You deserve this."

"I do," Kairi said earnestly.

"Okay, get back to her! Give her a kiss from me, yeah?" I teased

"I love you, Star, but say that shit again and we'll have beef," she teased back.

"See ya, Kairi."

"Bye, thank you."

I stared at my phone for a solid minute just smiling. Then I dialed Dave. He let me know that Jai's people had already called and I had as many days off as I wanted. He was also very kiss assy to me, I didn't like it.