Midnight Flock

Chapter 17: Team Ito

A/n: Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter! I've been really busy with work these last two weeks and the hubby has been buried in work too, so it's been a hectic time irl. But, thank-you everyone for your patience and sticking with me and this story. Now that I've got all my players on the board, it's time to progress a few of these storylines!! yay!!

My arm aches horribly. It's the first thing that registers as I wake up. Then, I catch the irish spring scent surrounding me. My eyes open in a blink, as I try to remember how I got into Owen's bed. Things come back to me in flashes and I groan as my hands scrub my face trying to wake myself up. Usually once I'm awake, I'm up, but I'm having a little trouble convincing my body to get a move on. I feel the bed depress behind me and a warm body snuggles up to me. Owen's arm snakes around my waist and pulls me back into his chest, careful not to jostle my injury.

"How are you feeling?" He whispers into my ear.

"Achy." I confess.

"Let's get you a little breakfast and then you can take a pain pill. Sean instructed me to cut them in half for you to see how you react." Owen brushes a few strands of hair out of my face gently. "He was afraid a full one might be too much given your reaction to them last night. We can talk about your evening while you eat."

"What time is it?" I'm still a little groggy and my head feels foggy, like I didn't get enough sleep.

"It's just after nine. Sean and I wanted to let you sleep, you needed it."

"O.k., I need to get up, I feel stiff." I cover a yawn with my hand. Owen kisses down my neck and then pulls away from me. I quirk an eyebrow when I see he's still in pajama pants and a t-shirt. "We are being rather lazy today, aren't we?" I ask, a sly smile upon my lips.

"I've been quite productive this morning, I just haven't gotten dressed yet. By the way, I think I was able to get the blood stains out of your uniform." He calls over his shoulder as he pads to the door.

Downstairs, a feast is waiting for me. My mouth waters at all the delicious smells that assail me at once. There are scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, chocolate chip pancakes, cut up strawberries, and a frappuccino is waiting for me as well. I sit down at the granite island where the food is laid out for me and I take a little of everything. Owen is leaning against the counter facing me, his eyes are hungry, but I don't think it had anything to do with the food because he isn't getting himself anything to eat. I suspect it has to do with his button down dress shirt I have on. It's held together precariously by a few buttons, exposing an extraordinarily large amount of skin. My arm was too sore to do up more than a few buttons once I managed to shrug the discarded shirt on.

"This is a lot of food for just me." I gesture to the spread between us.

"The guys were over this morning for their hours." I stiffen, waiting for the other shoe to drop. "We told them you had a very late night and you weren't to be disturbed, but they wanted to do something for you, so they made you breakfast. I got you up right after they left."

"Thank-you for not telling them about the injury."

"I don't have the full report as to what had happened yet, so I wasn't going to say anything until I knew. Why don't you start at the beginning of your evening and take me through until I get to the hospital last night."

So, I obliged and told him everything. From the moment I got to the club, to the conversations that I had with the waitresses, to Machete showing up with some of his crew. Then, I hesitated. Body shots. Gawd, he's going to go ballistic about the body shots. He probably already knows about them though. Sean probably narced already. It wasn't that I didn't want to tell them, I just didn't want the negative reaction me telling them was sure to have. It was the only reason I tried to omit it last night to Sean, that and I was drugged up and in shock from the stabbing. Mentally, I wasn't in the right place to discuss it like an adult. But, I didn't have that excuse this morning.