Beat to Their Heart (8 page)

“He would be fine I think.”

“So, is it a date?”

“Can I call you when I talk to Milo? I have to work tomorrow, but then I’m off. It’s the weekend and Milo doesn’t have school. He doesn’t like the park too much. Screaming kids scare him some.”

“Well what if you both came to my house. You said he likes Transformers right? I have a huge theater room there and a pool. I can make some burgers and hot dogs.” She had to smile at the fact he listened to her.

“I’ll talk to Milo, is that okay?”

“Sure, baby, it’s okay.” She looked up and found she was back at the ER. “You go to work, and call me when you get home so I know you got home okay.” He kissed her one more time on the lips before turning the direction she knew as the patients rooms. Damn she was in big trouble with him.

Walking back in she spotted Casey who was grinning like a loon.

“OMG, girl, you really are seeing Joey Hart. How the hell did that happen, did he grab you and bite you?” Instinctively she reached up to her neck. She remembered things got a little rough and he did bite her, but she didn’t think he left a mark.

“Crap, that noticeable? Damn it. Hudson’s going to be on my ass about it. Do you have any make-up?”

“I say leave it, maybe the good doctor will see your serious and hit on me.” Casey winked at her before handing her a chart to a patient with irritable bowels and in need of a bedpan. Oh the joys of having sex at work, you leave, and you get the shitty cases.

*****

Joey couldn’t help but smile as he pushed his way into Booker's room. Booker was awake and talking, but he looked like crap. Dark circles under his eyes but the IVs were gone.

“Hey, man,” Booker croaked.

“Hey, you look like shit.”

“I look better than I feel. The guys filled me in, and I’ll do anything. Fuck, man, I didn’t mean to OD. I was just having a little fun that’s all. No one ever told us how to survive this whole fame thing. It’s a lot harder than they led us to believe. Shit, Marty was all up in my head that it took me almost dying to see how fucked up I am.” Joey sat at the end of the bed and look at his longtime friend. Joey knew his past, knew his childhood, and all the deep dark secrets he hid. They all did. Each one of them survived growing up, now they all needed to survive this dream.

“It’s all good. Just glad to see your ugly mug, man. But seriously, you scared the shit out of us.”

“Sorry, dude. Really. But I hear that my fuck up ended up landing you the girl you had been pining over. Did you seriously find her?” Joey knew while on tour he talked to Booker when he was drunker than a skunk and spilled his guts about the chick that got away.

“Yeah, I did. She’s a nurse here.”

“A nurse, no shit. Wow, talk about lucky.” The four of them chatted until one of the nurses told them visiting hours were over and they could come back tomorrow. Booker was going to be released tomorrow, but it wouldn’t be to his home, but to a rehab that Scarlett had arranged. Thing were going to change, not only with him, but with the band. It was going to be tough, but he was never one to give up on anything. None of them were.

Chapter Nine

After Sky had seen, or slept with Joey that night, he had texted her every day, and called her when Milo went to school just to tell her goodnight. It was sweet, not what she expected from a rocker. Oddly enough Milo was excited about going to Joey’s house to watch movies and swim. Knowing he wasn’t the strongest swimmer, she made sure to pack him some floaters, but Joey had assured her that he wouldn’t be unattended at any point in the pool. Wanting to put forth the effort to see where this weird fling went with Joey, her and Milo packed up her car and took the drive to the expensive neighborhood. It never really occurred to her how much money he really had until she pulled up to his house. His driveway was bigger than her apartment.

“Mommy, look. It’s like the houses in Transformers. Can we go inside, can we?” He bounced with excitement as they pulled up. As she got out of the car, she reached into the passenger seat and pulled out the small bag of spare clothes for her and Milo, along with a small surprise she made for Joey. She had found out his favorite treat was chocolate chip cookies. She wasn’t the best cook, but she tried. Hoping they would be okay, she and Milo walked up the stairs as the front door swung open. Standing right in front of her was Joey with a big smile on his face. His eyes glued to hers, and then they swung down to Milo. It was heartwarming when he crouched down to Milo’s height.

“You must be Milo. Your mommy told me some really cool things about you. My name is Joey. Do you want to come in?” Sky’s heart melted. Everyone normally tried to baby Milo, but Joey treated him like a kid his age.

“I don’t know.” Milo looked up at her with a slight worry. “Mommy, he’s so big, like a giant. Is it okay?” She nodded.

“Yes, baby, it’s okay. Let’s go in and have some fun today, okay.” She grabbed his hand and Joey stood looking at her.

“Hi,” his rich husky voice sent shivers down her spine.

“Hi.”

“Let me get that for you.” He held out his hand for her bag, and that’s when she remembered her treat.

“Oh here, this is for you. I hope they're okay.” Watching with fascination he lifted the lid and looked up at her with a look that she hadn’t seen before.

“You made me cookies?”

“Ahh, yeah, is that okay. I wanted to thank you for today, and such. I don’t normally bake and well I thought maybe… Was it a bad idea?” Her heart sank. Looking at his body, maybe he didn’t eat junk food or he just didn’t like them and was being nice.

“I don’t know what to say, Sky. No one has ever made me cookies before.”

“Really. Not even your mom?”

“My mom cooked, but not food. That’s a topic we can talk about later when certain small ears don’t hear. But thank you, I for once don’t know what to say.” They walked into Joey’s hallway leading to a large open area that housed several bookshelves with pictures and the two awards they had won for best new band. It was amazing to see. Walking over, she saw that most of them had Joey looking mad, with his other band members. A few with other rockers, some with actresses. He really did accomplish a lot in his life, and she wanted to know more about him.

She was distracted by Milos’s instant excitement of seeing the in-ground pool.
Wow. It was large
. She had taken Milo to the YMCA pool before, but that was normally crowded and she held him the whole time while he splashed about.

“Wanna go swim for a bit? Then we can eat and watch a movie.” Joey came and took her hand as she followed Milo to the glass door. Joey opened it up but reached for Milo’s hand while he walked out. Milo hesitated for a minute before letting him. It warmed her heart. Joey was telling her son about all the neat toys he had in the back, but they had to change first.

“I have a small cabana over there, if you want to change into your swimsuit.” He winked at her while he walked inside she assumed to change. Taking Milo in hand, she went to get them both changed. She hadn’t been swimming in so long, and only had the suit she bought on clearance. It was a simple two-piece, but the top looked more like a halter tank top, and it had basic bottoms. She didn’t want to show off her stretch marks. Milo had on his bright orange bottoms grinning up at her. His front tooth missing. He was such a sweet boy, she really hoped she wasn’t making a mistake by letting him spend time with a rocker.

Joey went in the house to change but was anything but calm. He wanted to make a good impression on her son and her. After he had fucked her in the hospital, he still couldn’t get her out of his system. Now that he met Milo, a pain he buried deep down started to eat at him. He would have to tell her about Nikki. She deserved to know. Sky was different, so different than anyone he had ever met. She helped not only him but his band mates when they were stuck. She didn’t want his money, but she baked him cookies. No one had ever done that before. Even if the things were burned to a crisp he would eat every last crumb because she made them.

Quickly setting them in the kitchen, he went upstairs to change into his trunks before joining them in the pool. He couldn’t wait to see her in her suit. He would die if it was a two-piece, but knowing her so far, she would be more conservative. Maybe he could convince her to go in the hot tub with him if Milo fell asleep.

As he went outside he found Milo sitting on one of the steps while Sky was rubbing sunblock on him. Damn he never even thought of that. Walking over, he took the bottle and helped rub his other arm. He smiled up at him.

“You swimming too, Mr. Joey?” Joey had laughed because no one had ever called him Mister anything.

“That’s the plan, buddy.”

“You got to put on sunblock. Mommy won’t let you play until you do. Want me to help?” Joey knew he didn’t need it, but seeing as it was a mommy rule, he didn’t want to refuse him.

“Sure, then we can do your mommy, okay.” Milo giggled as Sky tickled him some.

“Joey, you don’t have to really.”

“No it’s a rule, Sky. We must follow the rules, even for us rockers.” He stuck out his chest trying to look intimidating and she just laughed. Once Milo was done, it was his turn and Milo did help with his back and arms.

“Oh no, you’re gonna be in trouble, Mr. Joey.” He turned and looked at him.

“Why what did I do wrong?”

“You got colors on your back. You aren’t allowed to color on your skin, only paper.”

This time he did laugh.

“I know, Milo, but those are tattoos, not markers. They don’t wash off.”

“Wow, you sure got a lot.”

“Yup, I got bored a lot.”

“Mommy says if you get bored you should get a book, or clean your room. I don’t like cleaning, but when I go, I play with Legos. I can build so many things with Legos. I have some, but kids in school have more than me. Mommy says that I will get some more for my birthday because they are not cheap. I don’t know what that means yet, but I think that means I have to be good and wait. Do you like Legos, Mr. Joey?” Joey listened to the sweet rambling of Milo as he went back and forth. And Sky looked a little nervous.

“Milo, calm down. You can tell him about it all a little later. Let’s play some, okay?” Milo sat down at the steps and started playing with a small sailboat. He watched Milo play before looking at Sky who seemed to be taking a deep breath trying to calm herself. Standing next to her, he took her chin in his hand.

“Baby, you okay?” She opened her eyes looking at him.

“I’m sorry, Joey. He gets excited, and sometimes it’s hard to reign him in. I will try to not get him to ask so many questions.” Her eyes looked down.

“Hey, none of that. He’s fine. It’s just been a while since I was around kids, and then seeing Milo brought back some bad memories for me that’s all. Just some readjusting on my part. Has nothing to do with him talking at all.”

“Oh, Joey, I didn’t want to cause you any issues. Really, we can leave if you’re not up to having guests. I understand, and I can get Milo too as well.” He had to tell her, but he didn’t want Milo really hearing, but he didn’t want to leave Milo. Taking her hand he set her down close to Milo before grabbing the sunblock. Squirting some into his hand he started rubbing it into her back, talking softly near her ear.

“It’s time I open up and tell someone, Sky. The only people that know are in the band. It’s why I’m such a bastard. I didn’t care about anyone because I had lost everything important to me. When I was younger, me and the guys lived in a shithole of an apartment complex. My mom was a crack whore, but she started cooking meth, that’s what killed her eventually when I turned about sixteen. Anyway, I started working odd jobs getting money to survive. I didn’t want to live like the people on the street. A few years later, I was washing dishes when I met Nikki. She was a year older than me. I had turned nineteen at the time. Anyway, I thought it was love. I moved in with her and she helped me and the guys with the band.” He stopped rubbing her back and sat down next to her looking at Milo while he laughed and played.

“Oh, Joey, I’m so sorry. What happened to her?”

“Well, she was walking home one night while I was at work, I had decided to quit the band earlier that week. She was mad at me and we were fighting. Anyway, she ended up getting caught in the middle of a drive-by. She took two shots, one in the chest and one in the stomach.”

“Oh my God, Joey, I’m so sorry.” Her arms wrapped around him, but he wasn’t done.

“I rushed to the hospital, but she had already passed. You see, Sky, the reason I quit the band was because I was going to marry her. I had the ring picked out and everything. But what hurts the most is that she was five months pregnant with our daughter. Both of them died, and I wanted to as well.” He hadn’t even realized he had tears on his face until Sky wiped them away.

“Joey, no one could take them away from you. I understand if you want to just be friends. I can do that for you. And if I had known that coming would bring up such bad memories, I wouldn’t have come with Milo. I couldn’t imagine what it is like for you. But I am sorry, Joey. So sorry you have had nothing but heartache.” He just looked at her. She was offering him friendship because he was grieving. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to think. He loved Nikki, and he loved their daughter, but was he using Sky and Milo to fill the hole. For so long booze filled the hole.

“I don’t know, Sky, I don’t know about anything. But I know I want to know you better. I want to get to know Milo. Even if it is just your friendship, I will take it, for now.” He kissed her forehead before looking at Milo who was watching them.

“You wanna play, Mr. Joey?” Smiling at Milo he agreed before doing a cannonball in the pool making Milo laugh hysterically.

Chapter Ten

Sky couldn’t believe how much Milo had eaten. Three hot dogs, chips, some fruit, and then wanted popcorn to watch the movie. Joey was kind enough to let her wash Milo in one of the spare bathrooms so he wouldn’t smell like chlorine. Now dressed in his comfy clothes as he called them, her son was snuggling in a large armchair with the small bag of popcorn Joey had made him. When the movie started Joey watched Milo so she could shower. Once she was clean and dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, she found the boys watching the movie. She smiled at it. Both seemed to be lost in the movie she had seen so many times she could recite lines.