Control

Title: Control
Chapter Twenty-three
Author: Angelsdee
Rating: NC-17
Summary: The aftermath of the war.

Dom carried Mikaela up the stairs and laid her on the bed. Her eyes were closed but she was alive and all his. He knew she was hurt and even though there were paramedics outside, he also knew he didn’t want them to touch her. His temper was still flaring from the sight of that monster touching her. ‘His hands were on her skin. His tongue was on her…’

“Leon, check the bathroom for gauze and medical supplies. Brian, check the dojo for the same. She’s bound to have more than what I used on her hands. Mia, go tell the cops we’ll be in to file charges in the morning and tell the paramedics we decline treatment unless you or Leon need it.”

“Dom, she’s been beaten and cut! She needs to see a doctor!”

“Mia, she would rather die than go to a hospital!”

“What about letting one of the EMS guys work on her here?”

“Mia! Do what I said! Please!”

~*~
She reluctantly went down the stairs and outside to speak to the law. As she walked out the front door, an elderly Hispanic man walked up with a concerned look on his face.

“Senorita? Is the miss alright?”

“Who are you?”

“Mr. Valenzuela. I help Ms. Tomasini from time to time.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so harsh. It’s been a difficult evening.”

“Quite alright. Did he find her? Is she alright?”

“I don’t know who he was but she did seem to know him. It was bad, sir. She is hurt and I’m not sure how bad. My brother is seeing to her because she has a problem with hospitals.”

“He is quite right. Unless it is life threatening, I would not suggest a hospital for her.” They just saw Bill restrained on a gurney being placed in an ambulance. He indicated Bill with a nod of his head. “How did he get that way?” His voice changed from one of concern to one with a trace of malice.

“Mostly Mikaela. She kicked his butt. Then my brother finished him off.”

“I see.” He smiled but then looked towards the ambulance. “Although he isn’t quite finished off, now is he?” One of the paramedics caught his gaze and Mr. Valenzuela nodded his head at him.

“My brother told me to tell the police that they would file charges tomorrow. If you’ll excuse me.”

She started to walk off but he caught her arm to stop her. “Senorita, please allow me. Go back and check on her and Senor Toretto.”

“Are you sure?”

“Oh si. I will take care of everything. Go tell the young miss hello for me.”

She smiled. “I will. Thank you.” Then she turned and went back inside. Her legs started to shake and tears welled up in her eyes. The events of the evening were catching up to her. She sat down on the sofa and let out the tears she had been holding back.

~*~
Leon walked in with some sterilized pads and handed them to Dom. “You don’t want anyone to touch her, do you?”

“No.” He ripped open the package and held one to the side of her face. “Leon hold this and apply pressure to stop the bleeding.”

Leon moved to sit by her head and held the gauze to her cheek. “They can at least stitch her up, Dom. We don’t even know if she has internal injuries. Did you see the boot print on her stomach?”

“She’ll be fine. I know she will.” He whispered as he applied pressure to her throat wound. “She’s fought too long to give up now. She won’t leave me.”

Brian came bounding up the stairs with a large medical bag. He placed it on the bed and started pulling out supplies. “Dom, keep her awake in case she has a concussion! Leon, here!” He threw him a bottle of antiseptic. “Get a fresh pad, douse it with that, and hold it to her cheek!”

Dom sat behind her and lifted her head into his lap. “Baby? Open your eyes!” He lightly patted the side of her face that wasn’t injured. She shook her head and clenched her eyes. “Mick! Open your eyes now!”

Her eyes slowly blinked open. She saw Leon first. “Leon?”

“Hey Mikaela.”

“Leon, I like you but I don’t think you should touch me. I belong to Dom and he won’t like this.”

“He told me to do it Mikaela. He’s right there.” He indicated Dom with a tilt of his head.

She looked up and smiled at his face. Her voice was slurred and her eyes weren’t clear but her love for him was in both. “Hi baby.”

“Hey beautiful.”

“Did we win?”

“Yeah, my love. We won.” Her eyes started to close and Dom shook her. “Mick! Stay awake and talk to me.”

“Ok but I’m tired. Can’t we talk after I take a nap?”

Brian answered from her right side. “No Mikaela! You can’t sleep right now. You might have a concussion.”

“Hey Brian. What are you talking about?”

“You took at least 2 blows to the head. You have a knot on the back of your skull and a cut over your left cheek with some swelling.”

“He threw me against the wall. I guess that explains the knot. Punch to the face gave me this.” She pointed to Leon’s hand.

“Do you have some medical training? I found a doctor’s bag in the dojo.”

“Yes. I had to pick up a few skills. My training has given me some breaks, cuts, and other things. I had to learn how to tend to them. Why?”

Brian glanced up at Dom and held his gaze as he answered her question. “I’m going to tell you where your injuries are and I need you to tell me how to fix them, ok?”

“Why can’t Dominic do it? I don’t want anyone to touch me but him.” She glanced up at her mate’s face that was glaring at Brian.

Brian glanced down at Dom’s hands and then looked at Mikaela. “He’s too shaken up. His hands are busted up just like yours and they aren’t steady. Mikaela!” She looked back at Brian. “Let me help you. I owe you…both of you that much.”

Tears formed in her eyes and she turned back to Dom who was looking at her face. “Dominic?” She was asking for permission to allow another man to touch her.

His eyes teared up and he whispered. “Let him help you, baby.”

Brian moved closer to her side. “Leon, move your hand.” He leaned over to look at the wound on her face. “You’ve got a 2 inch laceration to your left cheek. It isn’t deep but there is swelling. Is anything broken?”

“No. It just needs to be cleaned and bandaged. Ice will bring down the swelling.”

“Good. Leon do it. Dom, move your hand.” He looked at the cut across her throat. “You’ve got about a 4 inch knife wound there. It isn’t deep either. You got lucky. Your dog got there just in time and he knew what he was doing.”

“Zeus knows his shit. Is he ok?”

“He’s fine and sitting right here. It looks like your throat will get by with a cleaning and dressing too. I think we’re about to get to your worse ones now.” He reached up and grasped the edge of the blanket just below the knife wound. As he started to pull it back, he saw Dom tense up.

Both men looked up at Dom’s face and saw his jaw clench and his nostrils flare. Leon, who was still cleaning her cheek, said, “Dom! Come on, bro.”

Brian stared into Dom’s hard, tear-filled eyes. “I just want to help her, Dom. Please let me help.” After he got a hesitant nod, he looked back down at Mikaela and slowly pulled the blanket down to her waist. He and Leon both drew in a shaky breath when they saw the scars on the sides of her breasts. Brian regained his composure and inspected the cut between her breasts and the boot print on her abdomen.

Mia came up the stairs, sat beside Brian, and grabbed Mikaela’s right hand. “Hey lady. How are you holding up?”

“That’s a pretty brave face, Mia. Your other half is about to tell me what the damage is. Are you ok?”

“Yeah. I just slammed into a wall called Leon. Hey, Mr. Valenzuela told me to tell you hello.”

Mikaela’s face turned serious. “He’s here?”

“I met him outside.” She looked up at Dom. “He said he would handle the police.”

Mikaela was getting upset. Dom could feel anger, resentment, and guilt in her. “Well Brian, I can’t stay awake for much longer!”

“You’re going to have to. It looks like you’re going to need stitches in this one on your…chest. You’ll have to walk me through it. The kick to your abdomen, can you tell if it’s bad?”

“Press down on it.”

“Are you sure?”

“If you want me to help you help me then do as I say!” She brought her left arm up and grabbed Dom’s left hand from her throat. He laced their fingers and they smiled at each other until Brian pressed down on her stomach. “Son of a bitch!” She clenched her eyes shut and put a death grip on Mia and Dom’s hands.

“I’m sorry! God, I’m sorry!”

“It’s…It’s ok, Brian. Deep…bruise. Nothing is broken and it isn’t swollen so there’s no bleeding.”

“Ok good. So we need a couple of stitches and some ice for your head and gut.”

Dom spoke up and gave instructions. “Leon, the freezer in the garage has bags of ice. Grab one and fill 3 Ziplocs. Mia, come around to this side and clean and bandage her throat. Leon already finished her face. Baby, give me your other hand and tell Brian how to stitch you up.” Everybody moved.

“Ok Brian, get the silk and the small needle that looks like a fishing hook. If you know anything about sewing then we’re off to a good start. Make small stitches and keep them close together. I don’t need any more scars. You’re going to have to center yourself over me so the stitches aren’t at a slant. Just don’t sit on my stomach.”

He straddled her waist, exchanged glances with Dom once again, then bent forward and started the insertion of the needle between her breasts.

She saw Dom glaring holes into the top of Brian’s head and could feel his tension. “Baby?”

He looked down into her eyes as she gripped his hands from the sting of the needle piercing her skin. “Yeah, love?”

“Why did you stop me?”

“When baby?”

“When I was beating him. I wanted him dead.”

“I know you did but I couldn’t let you do it.”

“Why? He deserved death.” She flinched and grit her teeth at another insertion of the needle.

“He did. But now he gets to live with the memory of you beating him down and getting back what he took from you.” He smiled proudly at her.

“I did?”

“Yes you did. You were amazing. You saved my ass.”

Tears started to flow down her face. “No. I hurt you! You could’ve died because of me.”

“I didn’t, Mick. It was our fight and we won it together. You saved me and I saved you.”

“I heard you. You told me to get up and that you needed me. When I saw him hitting you and then pull his knife, I got fucking pissed. I wanted to kill him for touching you! Not me. I love you, Dominic.”

She gripped his hands tighter as Brian continued with the stitches. “I love you too, Mick. I wouldn’t want you to kill for me and have that on your conscience.”

“Dominic…” She paused and took a shaky breath from her sobs. “You’re wrong about 2 things, my love. I have no conscience when it comes to defending the man I love and…” She averted her gaze and started to shake from her crying.

He released one of her hands and cupped her face. “And what, baby?”

She looked back up at him. She had calmed herself and her eyes turned hard. “He’s dead already.” She saw the confusion cross his face. “What? Did you think my family would let me stay here unprotected? Who do you think Mr. Valenzuela works for? Bill died the second the ambulance doors closed.”

Brian just knotted the last stitch and moved off of her. “We’re all done here.” He was shaken from her words and what he just did.

Leon moved forward with the ice packs and placed them next to Dom.

Mia moved away from the bed and went to Brian’s side. She was shaking from the anger radiating off of Mikaela.

Dom covered her body from the other’s eyes. He moved to lie beside her and hold her but she pushed him back. “You shouldn’t have stopped me.” Her voice was low and her eyes were blacker than normal. “It was my right and it was taken from me.”

He wrapped his arms around her and drew her body into his. She struggled against him but he restrained her arms. “Shhh! Calm down, baby. Either way it’s over now.” He ran a hand over her hair and kept shushing her until she calmed.

Her anger quickly dissipated, turned to sorrow, and she curled into his body. “If I had lost you too, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

He held her close and clenched his eyes. “I almost did lose you tonight. When I think about what he did to you, what he could’ve done to you if we didn’t get here on time. God, Mick. He had you down and his hands were on you. He was about to…”

“Listen.”

A song clicked into play and she held his face between her hands and started to sing to her mate.

Its been awhile
Since I could
Hold my head up high
And it’s been awhile
Since I first saw you
And it’s been awhile
Since I could stand
On my own 2 feet again
And it’s been awhile
Since I could call you

Everything I can remember
As fucked up as it all may seem
The consequences that are rendered
I stretched myself beyond my means

And it’s been awhile
Since I could say
That I wasn’t addicted
It’s been awhile
Since I could say
I love myself as well
It’s been awhile
Since I’ve gone and fucked things up
Just like I always do
And it’s been awhile
But all that shit seems to disappear
When I’m with you

Everything I can remember
As fucked up as it all may seem
The consequences that are rendered
I’ve gone and fucked things up again

Why must I feel this way
Just make this go away
Just one more peaceful day

It’s been awhile
Since I could
Look at myself straight
And it’s been awhile
Since I said I’m sorry
And it’s been awhile
Since I’ve seen the way
The candles light your face
And it’s been awhile
But I can still remember
Just the way you taste

Everything I can remember
As fucked up as it all may seem
I cannot blame this on my father
He did the best he could for me

It’s been awhile
Since I could
Hold my head up high
It’s been awhile
Since I said
I’m sorry

She looked into his eyes and saw the fear he had that she could’ve been raped or killed. Then she was pulled into a kiss that she returned with a passion.

His lips parted from hers just long enough for him to mutter, “Get out”, to the three onlookers.

“Okay but be careful with her stitches.” Brian said as they headed towards the stairs.

She pulled away from the kiss and said, “Cook dinner. I’m going to need food when he’s done with me.”

“I’ll start cooking.” Leon answered and ran downstairs.

Mia was shocked. “You couldn’t possibly…”

They both broke the kiss and yelled, “Get out!”

Brian and Mia bolted down the stairs to join Leon.

~~Song “It’s Been Awhile” by Staind~~