Heavy Metal Heartbeat (2 page)

God, her smile is sunshine,
he thought.

“Really? I was so worried about you.”

“
No need to worry.  In fact,...” He stood up from the floor and looked around the small room. “Paige, where are my clothes?”

“
I don't know. I bet in all the commotion Anna has them put up. I can ask her. Wait, looks like she folded your clothes and put them in that chair.”

He followed the line of her arm, her finger pinpointing the small chair next to the door and bookshelf. Sure enough, his ripped jeans and what was left of his shirt lay there. He rushed over and yanked up his ratty pants, quickly jamming his fists in the pockets. He came up empty.

“No, no, no!”

Sliding into the jeans, he noticed Paige getting dressed as well.

“Ozzie, what's wrong?”

“
No!  It has to be here.”

Frantically he checked his clothes and
all around the chair.

Oh, no. It can't be gone.

The door swung open and his friends charged in, Jaxson leading the pack.

“Oz, what's wrong
?”

Thank God, just who I need to see.
He spun around, smiling.

“Do you remember that thing I told you about I had been keeping with me? I can'
t
—
”

Jaxson's reassuring hand on his shoulder and the words that followed removed the weight of the world from his shoulders.

“I have it. Anna made sure it was safe.”

Closing his eyes, he sighed with relief only to stiffen once more when Paige spoke.

“What thing? What is going on?”

“
Um...”

His friends
came to his rescue. Anna stood in front of Paige to distract her.

“Ugh, you know how guys are. It's probably some 'get lucky' trinket they think they can't live without
.”

He watched as Anna spoke to Paige, rolling her eyes and making it seem like nothing
, so he took his cue. Turning toward Jaxson, he grabbed the small package. Carefully he quietly opened the box and removed its contents. He handed the box back to Jaxson and it disappeared. 

With a
ir through his lungs and butterflies in his stomach, he interrupted Anna and Paige's chat fest.

“
Oh no, Jaxson, they have figured us out. We have lost our sense of mystery. What shall we do now?”

Jaxson rolled his eyes
and said mockingly, “Oh, the horror...it's over. We are doomed.”

The
ir joking sarcasm got them a, “Ha ha, you're so not funny,” from Anna as she shooed Jaxson and herself right out of the room.

Ozzie
pulled Paige into his arms with a coy smile on his face.

“Ya know
, for us to not be funny...” he nuzzled her neck. “We made the two of you laugh.”

“
We laughed because the two of you are terrible actors.”

“
Mhm.” He leaned in and kissed her, gathering his courage.

Get a grip
. Grow some balls!

Leading them through the room, he moved them to the bed. Her cute smile and bright eyes ignited his inferno. Her words unlocked his caged beast.

“ Again? Didn't we just do this? My my, what an appetite you have today.”

“I always have a healthy appetite for you.”

Stay focused.

He pushed her into a sitting position and sat beside her.

Gazing at her sky blue eyes, he said, “I love you, woman! I will always love you and nothing and nobody will ever change that.”

He dropp
ed to the floor on his knees, ring in hand.

“Paige Leigh Ann Hendrix, you are the air in my lungs, the beacon of light in my hour of darkness and my own special spring melting the harshness of winter that consumed my heart long ago. I promise to give you all that I am and all that I have as long as
I draw breaths. Will you marry me?”

Her piercing squeal was like heaven to his ears when it was followed and mixed with
, “Yes! Yes. Oh my God, yes!”

He slid the tiny gold circle of love along her finger, sending the room into a shimmering disco as the light danced along the many edges of the diamond.

His weight fell on top of her as he kissed her back.  He pulled away, laughing at the voices outside the door.

“
Ha! I told you she would say yes.”

“
That speech was kinda cheesy. I'll be sure to share that on poker night.”

“Oh, your friends are going to terrorize you.”

With h
is forehead on her chest, he sighed.

“Yes
, they will be unrelenting.” He leaned up and kissed her. “But you are well worth any amount of torture anyone can dare dish out.”

“What are you doing here, Dr. Phillips?”

She stepped aside, opening the door, and ushered the one they called the good doctor a few feet into the living room.

“Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink? Tea maybe?”

“No, no, thank you.” He turned toward her. “Anna, I have something to show you.”

With h
er hand on his shoulder, she led him farther into the room.

Has he lost his marbles? Why is he watching the ceiling?
She thought.

His hair
was disheveled and he had a wild-eyed look. She could tell he was upset about something, but she couldn't fathom what.

This must be
serious; he has never paid a personal visit.

Dr.
Phillips took a few more steps and stopped directly under the ceiling fan. He pulled something from his inner pocket. The weird sound of flopping x-rays filled the room as he yanked them free from the large envelope. Anna stepped up close and looked into the slides when Dr. Phillips held them up to the light and explained. Eyeballing the black and white film, she followed his fingers as they darted across the picture.

“
You see this x-ray? The chest has damage and the ribs are broken.”

The picture showed a
mutilated and broken human rib cage and chest. The bones were twisted and snapped. The chest cavity looked like something exploded.  She looked back to the doctor.

“Yes, and…”
Dr. Phillips flipped the page and pointed as he explained the second slide. The flimsy x-ray paper showed the upper torso of a human figure completely intact. There was no damage or broken bones.

“
In this slide, you see what’s wrong with it?” The doctor asked.

Her eyes searched the film and found nothing.  “I see nothing wrong with this one.”

She took a step back as the doctor dropped his hand and turned toward her.

“Anna, what did you do?”

Why is it everyone's first assumption that I did something?

With her hand on her chest
and her eye brow raised at the accusation, she said, “Excuse me, doc? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He shook the flimsy films
.

“Look closer
, Anna. Don’t you see? The markings!” He pointed at the x-ray again. “Right here, there is a circle or something and it’s about the size of my hand, embedded on his ribs.”

She
yanked them from his grasp. Jaxson examined them with her. Her eyes darted across the page, quickly taking in all the details. The markings were there, clear and noticeable. Realizing whose x-ray she held, she gasped.  Her dumbfounded gaze slid to the good doctor.

“
What does that mean?”

He looked as dumbfounded as she did.

“I was going to ask you the same question,” Dr. Phillips replied. “It was there before he was injured and now it is gone, so, I ask again, what did you do?”

She eyed the
doctor, weighing her decisions.

I have known him my whole life. Should I just play dumb? Can I trust him with
the truth?

Inhaling the calmness of
lavender-scented air, she prepared to bare it all.

Sebastian’s voice filled the room with cryptic words.

“Anna, you think it wise for the unknowing to be with the knowing?”

She shot him a glare. “Sebastian, always with the secrets?”

“
Anna, there is a reason for secrets, and you would do well to accept that.”

Dr. Phillips interjected. “As Ozzie's physician
, I need to know what happened to him. Where is he?”

Speak of the devil.

Ozzie burst through the room in usual Ozzie style, ripped jeans and no shirt. Paige was at his side, her huge diamond sparkling in the light and dancing along the walls. Anna shared a look and a smile with Paige, congratulating her with her eyes.

“Doc, are you…”

The entire room gasped as he entered the room.

“The markings...” Before she could say anything else
, Ozzie yelled.

“
Everybody, down, now!”

Anna, along with everyone else
, dropped to the floor. Her eyes darted around the room and everyone seemed to scatter across her carpet, cautious and confused. The only one who seemed more than a little shook up was the doctor, who had his hands protecting his head, shaking slightly.

Ozzie dove
to the floor, pulling Paige with him. His skin scraped across the carpet as a wooden arrow shot through the glass and stuck in the wall right where Sebastian’s head would have been.

“
Nobody move! I recognize that arrow.” Everyone’s gaze was upon him as he stood from the floor. He turned back to look into Paige’s big blue eyes when she grabbed his arm.

“
It’s OK. I promise he won’t hurt me.”  He rubbed his hand gently down the side of her face. “Trust me.”

He
stared directly through the window at the old man. The bow was still in his hand as he stood in the front yard. A Dungaree shirt fit tightly over his broad shoulders, Camouflage pants covered his long legs and boots. An ammo and gun belt was wrapped around his tapered waist and was equipped with two pistols. All of that, along with the man's aged face wearing a proud grin as it always did, made him smile when the man spoke.

“
Ozzie, is that you, my dear boy?”

“
Yes, Dad, it is. You can drop the bow.”

“
Dad?” He heard Anna’s voice say.

“
No, thank you, Son. I think I’ll keep it if you don’t mind.”

This is ridiculous.

He wrenched open the front door and walked out onto the porch.

“Dad―
”

“
Step aside, Son. I can smell the vermin in that house. Are you hurt? Are they letting you go and will they let the other human go as well?”

Other human…the doctor.

“No one is in danger here. They are my friends.”

He saw the look of disgust cross h
is father’s face.

Damn, I should have told him sooner. Just what I need right now, one more thing to worry about.

“What are you doing here?” Ozzie asked.

“
I can answer that.”

H
is gaze followed the good doctor as he stood up and walked in his direction.

“
I called him.”

Turning his back to his father, he glared at the doctor.

“Why would you do that?” He noticed the doctor looked as if he might back down but didn’t.

“You were dying. He is listed as your next of kin. It was my job to call him.”

“
We’ll talk about this later!” He turned back to his father. “Dad, are you going to come in? No one is going to hurt you. You’re safe here.”

“
I’ll come in. I will leave the bow, but I’m not leaving my gun.” He tossed his hands in the air in a give-up fashion momentarily.

“As you wish, but you won’t need it.”

“We'll see,” his father said, setting the bow on the porch and unlatching his .45 pistol.

He moved from the doorway and followed the doctor and his father into the house.
He closed the door and rushed past his father, ushering him to the couch.

“Have a seat.”
He eyed each of his friends. “Give him some room. He’s…jumpy.”

His father’s tone, laced with disappointment, caught his attention and he noticed his father's pistol gripped in his right hand, safety off.

“
I raised you better than this, Son. Since when do you hang out with the very creatures you were raised to hunt? Have you forgotten your duties? It’s a good thing I showed up, no telling what they might do to you.”