Chapter Text
She nearly ripped her hair out as she stepped out of the hospital. A long shift had ended and she already wanted to go home, curl up with her dog, and sleep everything off. Kai lit a cigarette, walking to her car, stretching out an ache in her shoulder. Her phone rang in her bag. With an annoyed huff, she dug it out, seeing the name. Smurf Cody. Fuck, she was getting tired of doing favors for this damn family. Begrudgingly, she answered. “What?” “Kai, sweetheart… Hi. We could use your help. Are you busy?” Smurf’s voice floated through the phone. Leaning against her car, Kai sighed. “Fine, yeah. Whatever. What do I need to bring?” she asked, stubbing out the cigarette she really, really wanted to finish. “Your usual. Painkillers and some stitches. Thanks, hon,” and with that, Smurf hung up. Kai lightly tapped her head against her car, a migraine coming on. The Codys always brought her migraines out.
Kai didn’t bother changing out of her scrubs before arriving. With a bag slung loosely over her shoulder, she headed inside the nice house. Of course, the usual suspects were the ones hurt, Craig and Pope, the latter clenching his fist so hard his knuckles were white. Craig had a bullet in his shoulder, which didn’t seem to be hurting too bad, but she assumed he was probably too high to actually feel any of that pain anyways. Just a quick stitch and fix after Craig took a few painkillers on top of the cocktail of drugs he probably already had in his system. She looked at Deran with a raised eyebrow, unimpressed but questioning. The younger Cody just rolled his eyes. “Don’t even ask, you probably can already tell,” he grumbled, sounding more annoyed with each word. Then, she turned to Pope, who had a bloody gash on his ribs and some bruising on his face. “You need any painkillers?” she asked, holding the bottle. She figured he’d say no, he usually did. Her prediction was right, because Pope just shook his head and looked down at his lap. Kai pulled off her old gloves and put on new ones, because hell, she knew by now how Pope was about germs. “Okay. I’m gonna count to three,” she mumbled, readying her needle. She could feel Pope’s gaze on her hands. She counted slowly. Steadily. When she reached three, she slid the needle through the cut the first time, starting the stitches. He didn’t tense. That was good. The process was precise, just as precise as a nurse could be stitching someone up in a kitchen.
Pope always handled it well. He didn’t curse like Craig, he didn’t tense up and make things harder like Deran sometimes did. Kai had never patched Baz up, but that was mostly because he never seemed to be around when they called her in. Pope took it well. Hell, he even thanked her, even though that little stare of his could sometimes make her clench her jaw. Holding onto the countertop, Kai finally got back up. Her head was pounding, but she decided not to say anything about that. “Just keep an eye on the wounds, you can call me if anything gets worse. I gotta get home and get some sleep before my next shift,” she offered a tense smile and she walked out of the house before Smurf could make her stay for a drink or a chat. The woman freaked her out on occasion.
The apartment was nice and cold when she returned. The curtains were drawn, and she breathed deeply for the first time since she’d left the Cody house. Her migraine was still raging, but at least she was home. She slipped her scrubs off in the kitchen and hung them over her chair. She would shower later before work. Right now, it was time to sleep. She slipped under the covers of her nice warm bed and drifted off even as her dog curled up beside her, both of them undisturbed and calm. She slept with no cares in the world. Of course, even the late evening light never stopped Pope from picking the lock on the door. The perks of constantly robbing places were that he could sneak in anywhere and be quiet as a mouse. Her bedroom door was open, and so he stepped inside. He knew which floorboards creaked and which didn’t. Slowly, he made his way to the chair by the window, taking a seat. He always disappeared before she woke up, but he never disturbed her sleep. He had to make sure she stayed out of harm. Her dog didn’t wake either. He sat, hands in his lap, fingers tapping each an exact amount of times, just so that nothing would come out of nowhere and harm this living angel of his. Well, not his. Yet, anyways. Maybe he could finally have this one.
By the time the sun came up, the figure in the chair was gone, and no one knew he had ever been there in the first place. The door was locked. Her blankets were still covering her. The chair was in place. Kai stretched as she sat up, hearing some of her joints creaking faintly. She got out of bed, slightly chilly, and walked back to her kitchen to put her scrubs back on for the day and get her ass to work. The hospital wasn’t too busy for once, her usual morning routine of chaos becoming tame for the time being. It was nice, with very little yelling, just calm beeps and a few casual conversations with patients that were just in for little things. It came to be lunch and she was about to leave for her break, keys in hand, when a nurse that was friends with her nudged her shoulder. “Hey, a friend brought you food. He’s down by the door,” they said, voice amused. Kai raised an eyebrow, mildly confused, and went down to the main entrance door. There was Pope and his niece Lena, a bag in his hand. Not some duffel bag associated with crime, but a regular, normal bag for lunch. She assumed the reason he hadn’t immediately come up was because the hospital could be overwhelming, and she knew how he got. “Oh, Pope. Um… wow, thank you. You really didn’t have to do this,” she spoke with a soft chuckle, taking the bag as he handed it to her. Lena was looking up at Kai with a smile on her face. “Did Uncle Pope drag you all the way here just to bring me lunch, hun?” Kai asked, tone light and amused. The little girl just shook her head. “No! I helped, I really wanted to,” she practically beamed.
Kai sat in the break room with her little lunch, her mind elsewhere. She was thinking, and she was thinking heavy. ‘Think the Cody’s would pay me to just be a live-in nurse? They get hurt a ton.. it might be nice,’ she thought to herself, taking a bite of her sandwich. ‘No, that’s stupid. Smurf won’t want to pay another person just to stand around most of the time,’ she added in her mind, sighing. As if reading her mind, her phone buzzed. She picked it up. Smurf was calling. Coincidental. “Hey, Smurf. What can I do for you?” She asked. “Hi, honey. You know… our business gets hectic. We hate to keep hitting you up out of nowhere. With Cath gone, Pope’s been watching Lena, but he gets busy sometimes… What would you think of coming here for the day? We can work out the pay grade, but some help with chores and Lena would be greatly appreciated,” Smurf replied with a smooth tone. This sounded perfect. “I’d love to. Can I come by after my shift tonight?” Kai asked, half shaking with anticipation. “Of course, sweetheart. We’re having a little party tonight anyways, I’m sure it would be nice for you to relax,” Smurf spoke with a hint of humor somewhere in her tone. With that, the call was done.
Kai got off her shift later that night. She didn’t bother much with getting too fancy. Just a loose shirt and a pair of shorts she hadn’t had a chance to wear for a little while. She was tired, sure, but she could make it work. She got to the Cody house and could already hear the music. Her head was pounding. The pool area was slightly crowded. Smurf was sitting near the corner, shades on, a robe wrapped around her, sipping some cocktail. Kai moved past some people, ignoring all the rowdy guests. Smurf pulled down her shades. “You made it. Do you want a drink?” She asked, her gaze sharp but welcoming. Kai shook her head. “No, I’m okay, thanks. Um.. about the whole job thing,” she started, quietly running her fingers through her hair. Smurf just waved a hand. “How about I pay you weekly? Five hundred dollars a week. You stay here, you watch Lena when she isn’t at school, you help with chores. Sound okay?” She offered, raising an eyebrow. Kai nodded. “That would be great, yeah,” Kai muttered finally.
She decided to sit down by the pool and have a breather. She had a new job, and she was closer with the criminal family that could technically either kill her or be arrested at any given time if anything went wrong. How lovely. She felt someone tap her shoulder. Pope. She smiled as she looked up at him. “Oh, hi, Pope,” she greeted softly. He was doing that thing with his eyes again, that stare. It both weirded her out and made her chuckle, because he looked like a stubborn puppy instead of a full-blown criminal. He sat down with her finally, fingers tapping idly against his knee in patterns no one would think of. He wasn’t anxious. It was calculated. He had to. If he was supposed to clench his fist three times, then he was going to clench his fist three times. That was the way it had to be. He would rather do everything precisely than move around numb and medicated. Especially now that he had to stay sharper. They were re-evaluating their way of doing jobs. “So.. Smurf offered you a job. You taking it?” Pope asked, his voice just a tad rougher than usual. Kai nodded. “Yeah. I’m running myself into the ground at the hospital. I just need something a little more stable, where I can get more rest,” she explained. He could see it. The tiredness behind those eyes. The migraines, the sleeplessness, the overwhelming feeling. “Well… it’ll be nice to have you around more often,” he said finally, hoping to somewhat lighten her damp mood. Kai smiled, shaking her head. “You’re ridiculous,” she whispered under her breath, though she didn’t mean it. She thought he was sweet, if anything.
People cleared out as the night progressed, and Smurf’s house was almost empty. Most of the boys had either moved out or been kicked out by now, it was just J, Nicky, and Lena left in the house with Smurf and Kai. Kai’s room was decent sized, probably Pope’s old room or whatever. She was comfortable. She still had her apartment and could go feed her dog whenever she wanted, but she had a feeling this place would be taking up her time. Did she know if it was a good thing? Absolutely not. But hey. The Codys weren’t so bad. Not quite yet, at least.