Mistletoe & Kisses Read online

  “Jeeze us!” I say loudly and scrape the hair that’s trying to suffocate me from my face with both hands.

  His head tilts to the side a bit. “I scare you?” I look him up and down. He’s wearing black jeans that are almost skinny jeans. They’re tucked into black biker boots that I can definitely appreciate. His long sleeve shirt has a yellow Batman emblem on it. It matches his black mask and makes him a character I want to sidekick for. Hard.

  His eyes give away nothing, but I can see they’re a slate grey. His lips are naturally pouty and my mouth waters just thinking about being able to bite them.

  I swallow before I start drooling. “I didn’t see you there.”

  His eyes scan the hall before he looks down at himself. “Kinda hard to miss most days.”

  I scoff, thankful I didn’t spray him with spit in the process. “No shit.”

  The way he looks at me makes me feel like he’s taking in my features individually, like he’s cataloging them. Those eyes stay on my mouth the longest, and I realize I’m smiling. It immediately drops.

  He pushes off of the wall. “Let’s go.”

  I have no choice but to follow. Okay, maybe a choice, but I want to follow those tight jeans and even tighter ass anywhere he wants to lead me. His damn black cape is covering it, but when he turned I definitely enjoyed the side view. Unfortunately he doesn’t direct me to a janitor’s closet, but another patient’s room.

  “Hey Jayden,” he rumbles. I see the parents first. They’re putting on those smiles that are so fake, they hurt to look at. Batty shakes hands with the father first, then the mother before going over to sit at the end of the bed. I follow his movements and try not to squeeze too hard when I feel how weak they hold onto mine.

  “I brought my sidekick today, kid. Say hi to Robin.”

  I walk over to the other side of the bed, since the parents took up the chairs in the room. “Hey, Jayden.” This kid is sicker than Rachel. His skin doesn’t seem to have any vitality in it, just a waxy white. His eyes are sunken into their sockets and his hospital gown swallows him up.

  I look away and notice from the corner of my eye as the kid’s head bows. I realize I probably offended him and jump up. “Did you see that?” I practically yell, frantic to fix it for some reason. The only thing that way is the window that’s half up. I run over then and pull the blinds forcefully. I hear the parents gasp, but as I turn around my eyes are only for Jayden. “Did you see?”

  He shakes his head slightly, the tube in his nose shining on the lights behind him. I keep my eyes on his. I look back out the window, turning this way and that. “I swear I saw him. Batty did you see it?”

  When I turn around, I can’t see Batty’s eyebrow raised because of the mask on his head, but I swear I can feel it. “What’d you see, Robin?”

  “It was that guy. The guy we were after last night. He was right there, if this was open we could have grabbed him.”

  “Bane?”

  I snap my fingers. “That’s him. You think he’s coming here?”

  Batty tilts his head as if to ask what the hell I’m doing. No freaking idea, dude.

  “Possibly,” he says slowly.

  “Right. Excuse me, Sir Jayden, but I need to confer with your assistants for a second.” I nod to the parents and hold my breath until they follow me to the door.

  When the door shuts with a solid click I lick my lips and rub my sweaty hands on my jeans. “How long . . . does he have?”

  The mom shakes her head and walks away with her hands covering her face. The dad coughs roughly before admitting in a gust, “Not long. We’re taking him home tomorrow. There’s nothing . . .” he clears his throat.

  “Does he like Batman?”

  The man blinks rapidly and says on a sigh, “Yeah. That’s why he started wearing the costume. Jayden’s obsessed with him. I don’t know where you came from though.”

  “I’m a friend.” What am I doing? “Listen, do you think he would want to go to a toy store? It’s almost Christmas. What about seeing snow?” My mind is going in a million different directions for no reason I can pinpoint except that the kid is the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever seen in my life. And I’ve seen some shit.

  “You want to take him out of here?”

  “Can he leave for an hour or two?” I counter.

  “I . . . I guess so. He has to keep his oxygen though. And the IV port in his arm. Where are we taking him?” We. Right.

  “Do you know the big toy store? We can go in my car or something. We’ll get him some toys or something.” Something, something . . .

  “I guess that’s okay,” he says uncertainly.

  “Perfect, let’s go.” I turn back to the door and then realize something and spin around again almost knocking the man down. “Wait. I forgot I have a two-seater. Is that going to be okay? You can follow in the car behind us.”

  “You mean you want him to sit in your lap? I assume Batman will be driving.”

  I nod eagerly, feeling this crazy plan about to disappear. “Yeah. He’ll be buckled in. I know it’s against the law and all that.”

  The man rubs his stubbly chin before looking back at his wife. “Yeah. He would love that.”

  “Okay! Lets do this!” I say with more adrenaline than excitement.

  When I get back into the room I start looking around. “You need some clothes, dude. Are there any?” Batty is still lounging on the bed, seemingly at ease with my crazy. I look back to the dad. “We need a nurse and probably a doctor for that.”

  “What are you doing?” comes a little voice from the bed, drawing my attention back to him.

  I get close to his face and whisper in his little ear, “We’re going to catch the bad guy.”

  His eyes get shiny as they widen, the brown showing some hints of green in them. “For reals?” he whispers.

  “For reals, for reals, Jayden. You look strong enough to take him. We need you. Right, Batty?”

  Batman nods his head with a solemn look. I hope it’s not that he’s pissed and more impressed, but I’m not kidding myself.

  “Here’s your favorite shirt, baby,” his mom says shakily as she comes back from the wall lockers on the side of the room. A nurse follows minutes later to give us disapproving looks as she caps Jayden’s IV line coming out of his chest and prepares his tank. She helps the mom work his clothes over him so that he doesn’t get snagged as Batman and I turn to look out the window.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he growled, and I shiver. Not the bad kind either. If I didn’t hear his voice, I wouldn’t know he had spoken. His head is turned to the window, eyes focused ahead, lips in a straight line.

  “We’re taking him to the toy store. We’re gonna give him a ride in the Batmobile and then have a shopping spree.”

  “You have no idea what the fuck you’re doing,” he says before turning those grey eyes on me. I shrug.

  “Nope.”

  We get Jayden in a wheelchair. Jayden’s little cheeks are tinted with a little pink. Just that small thing is enough for me to take this next step. I shoo the nurse and Mom and Dad out, telling them to wait at the bottom of the elevators.

  “We’re gonna catch him this time, Batty. I can feel it. You go get the car,” I say, tossing the keys to him abruptly. He catches them without even seeming to look. He glances at the keys before shooting them back to me. I definitely wouldn’t have caught them if I wasn’t staring so hard.

  “We take my ride. Only way to get him.” YES! He’s in. I just hope he has as badass a car as I do.

  Batman leaves the room silently, and I crouch down in front of Jayden. “We’re gonna have to be sneaky. There could be lookouts. We have to act like you’re a frail little boy that couldn’t take them down with one finger. You know it and I know it, but we have to go after the big guy in charge. You know what I mean?”

  “Yeah.” Jayden nods his head with more force than I’ve seen yet. “I can pretend to be sick.”

  I hold my hand o
ut for him to high five, tempering my slap so that it doesn’t hurt, before moving to the door. I stick my head out, scanning to make sure no one is there, and then open it wide. I stop pushing Jayden when we get to the door. “See anybody?” I whisper close to his head.

  “Nah. We’re clear.” I smile the whole way to the elevators, speeding down straightaways so that he can feel the wind. I leave him at a corner where he can see me dart to the elevator and press the button before skidding back to him.

  Several people get off of the elevator. “Showtime, kiddo.”

  Jayden slumps slightly and moves his eyes downward. I stroll sedately past the group of white coats and scrubs. As soon as the doors close I whoop. “Did you see that? No one thought a thing! I knew you were good, but wow!”

  Jayden’s smile is so wide it’s all I can see. “This is so cool.”

  “It’s not over yet. We still have to make it to the car. You ready?”

  “Yes,” he says in a weak voice, almost giving me a heart attack, until I see his smile.

  “Whoa, dude. You had me going. Somebody give you an Oscar. I think I just got chills.” For real though. I grip the handles on the wheelchair and shiver out a breath.

  When the doors open, we walk calmly to another set of elevators leading to the parking lot. I see the parents following behind us looking concerned, but I can’t focus on them. As the doors lead up to the third floor of the parking garage, we’re the last ones left. I look back and forth frantically when I don’t see a car. Any car, except mine because it’s empty as shit. No one goes this high up at night. Hence why my car’s off to the side. Just as I’m about to push Jayden toward it, I hear a rumble.

  The rumble gets closer and I push Jayden behind a thick pillar, just in case. That’s a serious something about to roll up. I put my finger to my lips and watch as Jayden gets a little scared. The rumble builds until it’s a living thing inside of my chest. Jayden puts a hand to his chest too. I see the parents get off of the elevator finally and wave them away behind the kid’s back.

  The Batmobile pulls up, and I have to blink in astonishment. What the fuck? It’s matte black and looks like it’s about to kick your ass just for looking at it. Batty rolls the window down and waves me over, mask still on. I’m turned on at possibly the most inappropriate time and place imaginable, but holy shit. I’ll never watch those movies the same again.

  “That’s us,” I say, wheeling Jayden out. He gasps and coughs a little. I try to act unconcerned as I reconsider this whole thing. Batty pushes the passenger door open from the inside as his parents rush over.

  The dad grabs the tank while Mom fusses with her kid. I get in the car and search for the button to push the seat back all the way in the tiny two-seater car. Batty can fit his tall frame so I know Jayden and I can make it work the few blocks to the store. I just hope we don’t get pulled over.

  “Jayden are you sure you’re sure?” his mom asks as his dad sets him in the seat between my legs and hands me the buckle while he adjusts the tank.

  “Mom, this is the coolest thing in the history of the world!” Jayden squeaks in his little voice. I notice the airbag off light is on above our head and lick my lips nervously.

  The dad looks from his son to Batty and back again a few times before squeezing his boy’s shoulder. “Go get ‘em,” he says brokenly, shutting the door softly.

  We speed off like a bullet. I narrowly avoid a broken nose when Jayden’s head pops back with the momentum. The squealing tires almost drown out Jayden’s laugh, but I hear it. When Batty shifts, it jerks Jayden’s head, so I put my elbow on the door and my hand on his forehead to keep it on my shoulder.

  Batty takes the spiral down to the exit entirely too fast for having a kid illegally doubled up in his car, but he never seems out of control. We shoot out of the hospital, and I fully expect to see cops on our tail any second. When we turn a corner that’s not on the way to the toy store, I look over at him, concerned I just put a freaking terminal kid in the hands of a murderer or something.

  “There. You see that, Jayden?” Batty rumbles as he takes another turn. Jayden’s nodding against my hand, but I didn’t see anything. A car crosses several lanes of traffic to turn left at an intersection. I point.

  “He’s right there!” When we get to the light, it’s turned red so we have to wait. Thankfully it was a black car, so by the time we turn there are a million more. We see the guy we’re after in every one. We pull up beside them to see the driver, but it’s never quite him. By the time we get to the toy store, we’re sure he’s ditched his car and headed inside. The place looks closed, but for the lights they leave on at night. My heart is about to burst. I don’t know what I would do if it was closed. Probably break in, I think immediately. God, I’m crazy.

  I see the parents off to the side of the big building as we pull up to the front. Batty jumps out and produces a wheelchair from thin air. Probably from the parents though. We get Jayden situated carefully, although to him we appear to be rushing. We have to get our bad guy, after all.

  I wheel Jayden over to the door, where Batty has stealthily checked windows, his black cape billowing around him. He bends down to the door, and I hold my breath. I don’t know if he really did pick the lock or what, but no alarms go off.

  He pushes the doors and waves us in shortly. The place is definitely closed, even though I saw the hours on one of the windows. It was supposed to close at eight, but the clock in the car said they should have been open another thirty minutes.

  Then I hear a noise, and it’s on. We move to the baby toys as quietly as we can, Batty leading us, checking behind corners and even rolling across aisles.

  “We need weapons.” Jayden’s whisper scares the shit out of me, and I almost scream it’s so loud in the quiet. Batty just nods and moves away again. We follow his lead, rushing across when he signals until we’re in the boys’ toy aisle. There are a million different kind of guns, but Batty goes directly to some that look to be already out of the box. Some are Nerf guns that automatically load; some are laser guns that don’t shoot anything physical. We’re loading the wheelchair down with ammo when we hear another sound. It freezes all of us.

  Who the fuck is in here?

  Jayden and I lock eyes, and I silently get behind him again. Batty signals for us to cross and I see a shadow at the far end of the store moving the opposite way. Jayden sees him, too.

  “There!” he yells and begins shooting. I stand behind him and open up on the guy. Our foam bullets are glow in the dark and create a huge amount of noise as they shoot without having to be cocked. Seriously, kid’s toys are the shit. Little green streaks go after the bad guy but he’s gone. We have little option but to follow him around. The aisles are always clear, though we can hear toys going off and shuffling every once in a while.

  We’re almost out of ammunition when we round a corner and the guy is there. Batty pulls the guys back to his chest and looks to Jayden. I’m puffing, sweating, and Jayden’s little shoulders are drooping.

  “You got him Jayden. I knew we could do it with you,” I say with a hand on his bony shoulder.

  “This is your operation, Jayden. What do you want to do? It’s your call,” Batty says from behind the guy.

  Little Jayden’s chest puffs out behind is own Batman shirt.

  “Lock him up, in some super secret basement where he can never hurt anyone again.”

  Batty nods once, pushing the man out the front door. I push Jayden to the cash registers and grab a couple of sports drinks. Jayden’s hands are shaking so I help him hold the bottle to his lips, then put it on a counter. Batty’s back as we finish up, and I toss him a drink. He drinks deeply before looking at the boy.

  “What do we do now, Jayden?”

  Jayden looks around, clueless before shrugging. “Celebrate?”

  I turn in a circle, tapping my lip before nodding slowly. “What do you do when you have a toy store all to yourself? It’s almost Christmas.”

  Jayden’s
eyes lose some of their light. “I won’t be here on Christmas.”

  God, I’m such a bitch. Why did I bring that up?

  Batty sits on his heels in front of Jayden. “What would you want if you were?”

  Jayden studies him. “Anything?”

  “Yeah. In the whole store. Tell me where to go and we’ll get it.” Batty takes the handles and follows his directions to the toys he thinks are the coolest. I follow behind and realize that the doc was so right. About everything.

  * * *

  When we collect more toys than I have ever seen any one kid own, including girly toys because Jayden knew they weren’t going to be his and didn’t want to leave anyone out, we exit the store. Jayden’s parents are hugging by the entrance against the wall. Both of their faces are swollen from crying, but they smile that fake smile when they see their boy.

  “Hey, superhero!” His mom comes over to hug her baby.

  The dad holds up his phone. “Can we get some pictures of you guys together?”

  “With the car!” Jayden speaks up, making us all laugh when it should have been impossible in that moment.

  We all move over to the car that’s in the fire lane directly in front of the doors. Jayden pulls the tubes from his face and Batty picks him up silently in one arm. I go to Jayden’s other side and give my best badass look to the camera phone. Let’s face it, I nailed that shit.

  We pose for different pictures, endlessly, patiently. Jayden behind the wheel, Batty riding shotgun. Jayden pointing at some enemy with Batty behind the wheel. All of us holding our laser guns that Batty insisted Jayden keep.

  Finally Batty tosses his keys in the air and looks to the exhausted boy. “What do you say? One more ride?”

  “Yes. Definitely yes,” is Jayden’s immediate reply.

  * * *

  By the time we get him back to his room and hooked up to more monitors than he was on before, he can barely keep his eyes open.