"Can I go home now?" asked Axky excitedly for the tenth time that morning.
"No." said Jack exasperatedly from beside Axky's bed. Some kindly nurse had given him two extra sugary doughnuts for his breakfast. Axky had also managed to sneak out a chocolate granola bar from Jack's side pocket and eaten that too. And now he was on an unending sugar high.
"But I'm borrrred. I wanna run around." complained Axky. "When is the doctor gonna come? I wanna hit the gym."
"Good Lord Axky, you know sugar doesn't gel with you. Why'd you have to eat so much of it?" groaned Jack rubbing his temple tiredly. A splitting headache was setting in and if the doctor didn't come soon, Jack was pretty sure he'd just kidnap Axky and get the hell out of here.
"'cause it's FUN!" announced Axky loudly adding further to Jack's headache. Honestly, if he heard him shout one more time, Jack was sure his head would burst.
Thankfully, the door opened just then and a smiling doctor came in.
"Mr. Palasqua, I see you are in good spirits this morning." he said putting the stethoscope cords in his ears. "And here I thought you might need some aspirin."
He was about to set the two aspirin tablets back into his coat pocket when Jack reached his hand out.
"Can I have them please?" he asked hopefully. "I've been awake all night and soon have to return home to twin sons and a very angry wife."
"That's tough." commented the doctor and gave Jack one of the tablets. "I recommend rest for a day. Maybe take some flowers home for your wife."
The two middle aged men looked sympathetically at each other, each acknowledging how futile it was to fight with a spouse who had a knack for winning arguments. After a while, the nurse who had accompanied him coughed from behind and the doctor hastily returned his attention to the patient...the patient who now was attempting to sneak away, in all his backless hospital gown glory.
"Axky, man we really don't need to see that." groaned Jack covering his eyes with his palms. "I think I have to bleach my eyes."
Axky stopped trying to run away and quickly turned around with a sheepish smile.
"Damn, I forgot there's no cloth at the back." he muttered. The nurse quickly helped him return to the bed and explained to him that he couldn't leave until the doctor said so.
"I really wanna go home." Axky protested verbally but obeyed the nurse anyway. He lay still, humming a popular pop song, as the doctor checked his vitals and noted the condition of his wounds.
"You need to limit activity for the next couple of weeks." the doctor said, finally removing the cold stethoscope receiver from Axky's chest. "You seem to be healing well. Make sure to take your medicines on time and come see me next week."
"You mean I can get out of here?" asked Axky happily.
"Yes, you can." said the doctor with a smile. "There are no broken bones. Keep applying the medicines in the prescriptions and the scarring should be minimal. There may be some trauma from the incident, so I've taken the liberty to set up a meeting with a psychiatrist next week as well."
"Thanks Doc. Yippee! I'm free!" announced Axky throwing away the covers and attempting to prance out of the hospital, but was held back by the vigilant nurse.
"Is he always this hyperactive?" inquired the doctor with eyebrows raised.
Jack sighed. "He's on a sugar high. Don't worry, his wife is on her way here. She can handle him."
***
Paula parked the car expertly and climbed out. Vicky was fast asleep at home and when the hospital called saying Axky was awake and in good health, she decided that Vicky need not be woken just yet. She left a small note by her bed and some money for a cab just in case.
She locked the car and started to walk towards the hospital gate. Paula had just crossed the entrance when a younger woman collided with her.
"I am so sorry." spluttered the poor woman. She looked distressed and harried, her clothes were creased and hair messily tied up in a failing bun.
"It's alright." said Paula graciously. "Is there anything I can help you with? You look worried."
"I am!" cried the woman. "My son, my only son has been hospitalized here since last night and it was just this morning someone actually called to inform me! Can you believe it?"
Paula sighed. "Yes, I think I can." she said. "Is your son's name Levi Walters?"
The woman looked extremely shocked and Paula guided her to sit on one of the benches outside.
"Yes." she whispered. "How do you know? Are you a doctor?"
Paula smiled. "No, no. My husband was hospitalized at the same time as your son. That's how I know. In fact, they both have a lot of explaining to do for both of us. What do you say, we go together? My name's Paula by the way."
"Thanks Paula." said the woman managing a weak smile. "I'm Anne. Let's go quickly so I can decide how many months Levi is going to be grounded."
***
Levi ate his croissant while nervously snatching glances at the door. What on earth was he going to do? His mother would be in any moment. She would be furious with him and not just for not telling her he was hurt.
She was going to expect him to explain everything.
Everything.
Starting from his discovery of his father's location, his convoluted plan of sabotaging him, his inadvertently hurting Vicky (who coincidentally was now his girlfriend) and losing an eyebrow to rescue her father.
Not to mention the scar on his cheek.
There was a knock and the nurse announced.
"Levi, your mother is here to see you."
If there was ever a moment that Levi was deathly afraid, it was this one. Honestly, jumping out of the window in his hospital gown didn't seem like such a bad idea.
The door opened and a steely faced woman entered, hands placed firmly on her hips.
"Well?" she demanded as soon as she thanked the nurse and shut the door behind her. "I want details. Of Everything. Now."
"Mom..." started Levi squirming uncomfortably on the bed. "I ... can't we just forget about ---"
"Forget?" snapped his mother. "Like forgetting to tell me you are going to get yourself killed last night?"
"I didn't die Mom, I'm fine really..." started Levi meekly.
"Shut up." she said inching closer so she could look at him properly. "This person you rescued...I just met him and his family. They are very nice people. Too nice. They said it wasn't their place to tell me why you did what you did."
"Mom..." sighed Levi. "You are not going to like this."
"I know." she said sitting down on the bed and taking out a mascara stick from her bag. "Hold still."
She proceeded to draw a fake eyebrow over the singed one. The pencil felt cool against his skin and Levi calmed himself down. It would do his conscience a lot of good if he just told her the truth.
"I found out a few months ago that Dad became the new owner of Walt Games." said Levi abruptly jerking away from her grasp. His mother nodded, her face encouraging, urging him to continue. "When I read about the millions of dollars he was swimming in and his luxurious presents to dozens of girlfriends I just...I lost it. I've never hated him as much as I did right then. And God...this hatred just consumed me. I wanted revenge in any way that I could."
His mother stroked his hand softly, her face revealing no emotion other than that of acceptance. That was all Levi needed to continue.
"I've always been a moderately good hacker, nowhere near as good as Axky of course, but I tried. I got an internship at Walt Games last summer and found out about the loopholes in their cyber security. Their work was pretty shabby in those initial days and I got all the details I needed. Later when Axky came on board and fixed all those loopholes, I could still wreak havoc because most of the data was still the same."
"It was unethical, stupid and may possibly have landed me in jail. In fact it still very well could. But I didn't care about all that. I kept thinking of how that poor excuse of a man left you and me like way. We were living on the streets, hungry, alone and so close to being separated. He didn't bother about the fact that he fathered a child with you. He never gave you half the respect he gives to those escorts of his. It made my blood boil and I couldn't think straight anymore."
"I destroyed his servers, cost him a lot of money in terms of losses. But I wasn't skilled enough and I made a mistake." said Levi shaking his head at the memory. "I ... fell in love with Vicky and found out that her father was head of cyber security at Walt Games."
His mother raised her eyebrows at that. Her son had a girlfriend? Goodness how many secrets did teenage boys keep from their parents anyway? She schooled her features to look neutral and waited for Levi to keep going.
"Our relationship was doomed from the start and I broke it off with her so I could continue doing damage to Walt Games. But I messed up in the end. Axky found out it was me who was destroying the servers. Axky wanted to found out why I did it." said Levi bitterly pushing away his half eaten croissant.
"Axky is a beast on computer. He found out all the suppressed data about Gavin's wrongdoings. Unlike me Axky was able to dig up proof. He confronted him yesterday and Gavin probably sensed danger. So he knocked Axky unconscious and left him to die inside a burning warehouse. It was in the middle of nowhere but between another guy from school called David, the police and me we found the location. When we got there and I spotted Axky, I just...I jumped in and fainted on the way out. Thank goodness they could save us both."
He stopped talking to look up nervously at his mother. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears and her hands were shaking. Levi felt terrible for having put her through so much pain again. He wished he could undo all of this. he wished he had been a better son.
"Levi." She said softly as she engulfed him in a hug. "I love you. I always will. Thank you for telling me the truth."
"I'm sorry Mom." Levi said sincerely, looking at her eyes. "I'm very sorry."
She kissed his scarred cheek and said quietly. "It's alright dear. I'm glad you and Mr. Axky are alive. I just wish you never had to experience that feeling of anger and desire for revenge. If only I'd chosen a better man...I'm sorry Levi. I...we could both have made better choices."
"Things have unfurled like this however." she said with a small smile. "And we must be brave enough to move forward. I spoke to Axky and his lovely wife Paula. They assured me that they will not be pressing charges against you. If anything they want your cooperation to help nab Gavin. Will you help them?"
"Of course I will!" exclaimed Levi. "I want to catch him. To put him behind bars. But not because I hate him personally anymore, but because if he continues to be free he may destroy many more lives. I'm lucky that I have you Mom, but other people may not be. I...I want to end this injustice."
"Yes." said his mother with a bright smile. "And you will do it the right way."
"I will." said Levi determinedly.
Life had given him another chance to fix things. He was going not going to let the opportunity waste away.
"So now, about the part of you having a girlfriend..." said his mother looking very interested. "Tell me more about her."
"Mom!" protested Levi. "It's personal!"
"Do you want to be grounded till you go to college?"
"No, but---"
"What's her name?"
"Her name's Victoria."
"Lovely name! Where did you meet?"
"At a park. Mom, stop asking questions."
"A park? How romantic! Did you apologize to her yet?" she said excitedly.
"I did. Mom you're not stopping." he remarked.
"So did she forgive you?" she asked hopefully.
"She did, she's amazing like that. I want to be more sensible from now on. I never want to hurt her or break her trust again." he said quietly looking solemn.
"I know you won't." said a familiar voice from the door.
Levi and his mother looked up in surprise to see Vicky standing at the entrance.
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Walters." she said with a curtsy and a big smile.
A/N: Thank you for reading!
I lost my purse in a cab a few days ago. All my cards and some cash to pay for rent and bills was in there. I was devastated and couldn't help but cry while at work. My purse was returned to me eventually yesterday, and I am grateful to whoever did it. Unfortunately all my money was gone. I'm trying to be more careful now on, almost being paranoid about all the stuff I am carrying. It really hurts to lose things like that. :(
Hope you are all doing well. Sending you lots of love,
Andy