The Man I Like Might Be A Delinquent - 3. Chapter 3

Axel Wakes up to a Rude Surprise

Axel left the hospital on Friday morning with only three goals.

Food, shower, and sleep.

Axel stopped at the restaurant in front of his building because he knew the chef. It was early, but she always had ingredients in her pantry for him.

Chef Suzie took one look at him and came out minutes later with his usual order of Thai chicken soup and a veggie sandwich to go with it. He thanked her with a grin and blew her a kiss.

Food dealt with, he parked his car underground, as close as he could get to the elevator, then hauled his food bag and book bag. He locked the car and headed to the elevator, feeling like an alien who needed to acclimate to real life.

Upstairs, he opened the door to his apartment and almost groaned when he heard his mother talking to someone in the kitchen. He hoped to bypass conversation, eat in peace, shower, and sleep.

“Axel?” Joyce Graysen called out.

“Yeah, Mom,” Axel said, dumping his book bag on the floor beside the coffee table.

Axel sat on the couch and shifted a pile of papers discussing pulmonary edema to the side. He made enough room for his bowl of soup and his sandwich. He grabbed the spoon and fork with his food and started on his soup.

Joyce came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a cloth.

“You’re here early,” Joyce said, glancing at her watch. “It’s six o’clock in the morning.”

“I have a week off thanks to covering shifts for others,” Axel said, taking three bites of the soup. “I need sleep before you introduce any topic.”

“Okay,” Joyce nodded, folding the cloth she held. Her gaze shifted over the sparsely decorated living room. “I decided to populate your apartment with furniture. It’s weird to see it looking so empty for so long.”

“I have no objections,” Axel said, his stomach feeling better; at the very least, it was not threatening to eat him up from the inside.

“I would love input from you,” Joyce said.

Axel glanced at his mother and sat back on the comfortable couch, the bowl of soup in his hands.

Joyce was a successful psychiatrist. Her practice’s client list allowed her to afford his university fees. She had gotten help from his father, Dr. Clifford Graysen, a retired cardiothoracic surgeon. Clifford preferred to teach new doctors now and romance his wife. They made quite a pair, his parents.

Axel loved them very much.

“Mom, you don’t have to fill this living room with stuff for me. I don’t mind it being this empty. It gives me plenty of space for workouts.”

“I don’t think that is true for one second,” Joyce said, shaking her head. “The problem is that you have no time to think about it. I remember how busy your father was when he was doing his residency. I’m surprised we managed to make you with how little time we got together. Do you know you were probably conceived in a bathroom at Our Lady of Mercy, where your father was doing his residency? We had to grab time when we could. This is probably why you decided to become a doctor.”

“I so did not need a visual of you and Dad that way this early in the morning,” Axel said, placing his empty bowl of soup on the coffee table. He rubbed his eyes and let out a sigh.

Joyce chuckled.

“It’s cute that you think your parents don’t have sex.”

“Mom! I’m going to stop listening to you if you keep this up,” Axel said, reaching for his sandwich.

“Your fridge is stocked,” Joyce said. “Janine came in early today. I asked her to come in to redo our schedule to match yours. If you have a week off from today, your time at home has changed. I’ll adjust delivery times with her. Also, I left a reminder note on your fridge. We have a family dinner on Sunday. Your Aunt Isabel is bringing her new boyfriend and her two sons. She would like it very much if you were there.”

“Can I skip it?” Axel asked. “What if I’m on call?”

“Show your face, even if it is for a minute,” Joyce said. “We will all understand if you have to leave.”

“She’s going to try to set me up with one of her friend’s sons,” Axel complained.

“Yes, she will because she cares about you. It will continue until you find your happiness,” Joyce said. “Do you want orange or apple juice to accompany your food? Coffee is out if you want to sleep.”

“Orange juice,” Axel said.

Axel bit into his veggie sandwich and ate it like a soldier on a mission. He was halfway through when his mother brought him a large glass of orange juice. Axel drank it with a gulp and let out a belch, making Joyce shake her head in amusement. She ruffled his messy hair and tugged at the blue scrubs he wore.

“Go take a shower,” Joyce said. “I’ll clean up here. Your coffee table needs rescuing.”

“Will you start the laundry for me?” Axel asked, placing the empty sandwich wrap and the soup container in the bag from the restaurant. He wiped his hands on the napkins and stuffed them in the bag.

“Sure, kid,” Joyce said as he got up. “Janine and I have the apartment under control.”

Axel wrapped his mom in a tight hug, breathing in her expensive perfume, her warmth steadying him for a moment before he let go. Joyce kissed his cheeks and scratched his scruffy jaw.

“Don’t forget to shave,” she said when she let him go, and he hurried toward his bedroom.

“I want to crash after the shower,” Axel said.

“Have a good sleep. Janine and I will receive the furniture people for you. I will lock up on our way out,” Joyce said. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

Axel entered the master bedroom and went straight to the shower. Within minutes, he was in a hot shower. As the water sluiced down his body, he cupped his cock, washing it with a soft sigh. The only action his cock had gotten was with his hand lately. He should have included sex in the list of his immediate needs, but sex needed a bit of effort.

Dressing up, going to the Sandoval Club on Deck Street…maybe tomorrow. Axel sighed at the thought.

His eyes felt gritty; he closed them, and his thoughts filled with the memory of Jeha. The handsome stranger he had met on the rooftop a week ago.

Axel wished he knew more about Jeha. He had been too busy after their encounter to try to discover more. The memory of vivid blue eyes had his cock thickening, but Axel was too tired to make any effort. He finished his shower quickly and dried off.

Axel left the bathroom and went straight to the large bed in the middle of his bedroom. He grabbed the remote on the bedside table, closed the blinds, and slid between the cool white sheets naked. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Axel woke up to the cold pressure of the muzzle of a gun pressed against his forehead. He lay frozen for a full minute, his eyes adjusting to the light in his bedroom. More importantly, the shock of a stranger in his bedroom, as a man with a long scar on his right temple leaned over him.

****

“Dr. Graysen, are you awake?”

Fucking yes, he was awake.

Axel sat up, and the gun moved with him, never once leaving his forehead. He was unable to look anywhere but at the gun on him, not even at the man holding the gun.

“W-who a-are you? W-why are y-you in my apartment?”

“I need you to dress up,” the answer came. “I need you to fix up someone important.”

“No.” Axel closed his eyes, forcing his brain to engage in thought. He needed to negotiate…if he left his apartment, there was no way to know what would happen to him. He might end up dead in a ditch. “I’m not leaving with you—”

“I know my gentle tone gives you the idea that I’m giving you a choice, Dr. Graysen. This is my fault. I apologize for the oversight. Let me be clear. I am not giving you a choice. You do not have a choice, Dr. Graysen. The gun pressed to your forehead is very real. I will pull the trigger and make you hurt if you do not cooperate. I need you to come with us. You present an immediate solution, so you cannot escape us. I would very much appreciate it if you could cooperate. Time is of the essence. Nod if you understand what I have said.”

Axel closed his eyes, fingers bunching his sheets, and nodded.

“Good. Now, get out of bed. I have pulled out comfortable clothes from your closet. They are at the foot of the bed. You will dress, and then we shall leave your apartment. Don’t try to run. The five determined men with me will stop you if you try. I hope you choose not to try. I would like it very much if I didn’t have to hurt you. Do you understand?”

Axel bunched his sheets tighter. He honestly did not want to be shot.

He needed his phone. If he could get to it, he could call for help.

Axel glanced at the bedside table and panicked when he only saw the remote for the blinds.

Where had he left his phone?

Shit! His phone was in his book bag. He remembered walking in and dropping his book bag on the living room floor next to the stupid coffee table.

Damn it! Why? Why was he so stupid?

“Dr. Graysen?”

Axel opened his eyes and winced when the gun on his forehead pressed harder.

“I need you to dress. Nod if you understand what we’re doing next.”

Axel cursed under his breath and nodded.

“I’ll dress,” Axel said.

“Good man, shift to the side of the bed.”

Axel started moving to his left, but the gun pressed into his forehead, irritating him. He swallowed down his anger and glanced at his kidnapper.

“Right side. Put your hands up.”

Axel lifted his hands as he shifted to the right side of the bed until his feet were planted on the carpet. His assailant held out dark briefs.

Axel wore them without fuss. He then pulled on a pair of dark sweatpants and the black t-shirt he was handed. Black socks followed, and his newest pair of black sneakers.

Axel wore each item like armor. It felt better to be covered than naked in a home invasion and kidnapping.

A black zip-up hoodie came last.

Axel pulled it on with shaky hands. The man with the gun helped him zip up and fold the sleeves to his wrists.

Axel could not ask more questions as two men entered the bedroom and grabbed him by his arms. He wanted to scream, but the man with the gun smiled, waving his weapon at Axel.

“Don’t think of shouting. I’ll punch your neck hard, and it will hurt.”

Axel breathed in, working to control his anxiety levels.

“Slow and steady, guys. We don’t want to attract too much attention in the hallway. Now to the next step.”

Axel was led out of his apartment without a real chance to protest or call for help. They walked down the hallway of his apartment building. Axel’s panic doubled as they rode the elevator. The elevator doors opened when they arrived at Basement Level 1. A dark hood was pulled over his head.

Axel was then pushed into the backseat of a massive black SUV, waiting for them when the doors opened. Handcuffs were placed on his wrists, and fear wrapped around him tightly as they took off.

****

The ride to their destination felt long, though it was only five turns around the city. The SUV came to a stop in the back of a business building. The back doors opened. Axel was pulled out of the backseat, and the two men holding his arms steadied him as they dragged him into a quiet hallway and a private elevator.

Axel bit his lip hard as the elevator started a fast ascend. The doors did not ping as the elevator stopped; instead, they opened with a fast swish. He was forced into a fast walk, a series of turns, and doors opened and closed.

“Did you find him?”

Axel frowned.

The voice sounded familiar. The memory of it was just out of reach.

“Yes.”

“Bring him in.”

Axel’s arms were grabbed, forcing him into a brisk shuffle walk.

“Damn it! Why is he cuffed?”

“Just in case he tried to escape.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Can’t help it,” the answer came with a soft chuckle. “Ryan said your life is very important.”

The hands holding Axel’s arms disappeared, and the cuffs were unlocked. Axel rubbed his wrists and started to reach for the hood over his face. Only to have it pulled off.

Axel blinked at the bright lights in the room and brought his hands up to cover his eyes.

“Dr. Graysen, I’m Ryan. I’m sorry about the cuffs and the hood. They were not part of the plan.”

Axel frowned when the man named Ryan stopped before him. He dropped his hands and stared at the taller man.

“You have a patient who needs your help,” Ryan said.

“Take him or her to the emergency room,” Axel said, hating the tremble in his voice. “I can’t help you here.”

“You’ll find every medical tool you need here,” Ryan said.

He shifted to his right, allowing Axel to look at the room.

Axel realized he was standing in a fully equipped medical room. A man was lying on a stretcher a few feet away behind Ryan. All Axel could see were the red soles of the man’s very expensive shoes.

****

“We would have gone to the emergency room if we could,” Ryan said, his voice barely civil as he tried not to growl at Axel. “We are pinned down here, and we have to move soon. Doctor, I need your skill, or I would not have gone to the trouble of finding you.”

“No.” Axel shook his head. “I will not help you.”

“Wrong answer,” Ryan said, pulling a gun from a holster inside his black suit jacket. He pointed the gun at Axel’s forehead, and fear returned. Ryan’s gaze was different from the man Axel had met earlier. Ryan looked like he might pull the trigger and move on to the next solution.

“I’m sure my men explained everything earlier. I truly do not want to hurt you, Dr. Graysen. All we need is your skill, and then you can return to your quiet life. Are you willing to help?” Ryan demanded, blocking Axel’s view of the man on the stretcher.

A severe frown on Ryan’s forehead grew as Axel hesitated with his answer.

“I thought doctors are supposed to be empathic to the injured. What kind of bedside manner is this?”

“You people broke into my apartment, pulled me out of my bed with a gun on my head, and dragged me out here with threats of death. Excuse me if I can’t pull up an ounce of sympathy,” Axel said, hating the fear in his heart.

Axel turned to see the door behind him closed. The two men standing by the door stared at him, arms folded. The one on the right shifted, and his fingers flexed near his weapon, too. He was the one who woke Axel, his voice so calm even as he made deadly threats.

Axel swallowed hard and tried not to lose his mind from fear. He did not want to die. His chest tightened, and he took several breaths, feeling he wasn’t getting enough air to fill his lungs.

“Dr. Graysen.” A gentle voice came from a distance.

Axel bent over, sucking in the air as he clung to the sound of that voice like a lifeline. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the familiar voice when it said his name a second time.

“Axel.”

Axel looked up and stared at the man sitting up on the stretcher, his right hand clamped over heavy bandages on his upper left arm. A gasp escaped his lips when he recognized Jeha.

Jeha, his mysterious knight on the rooftop, the man with a devastating smile and keen blue eyes, was the patient on the stretcher.

Axel pushed Ryan away and rushed to the foot of the stretcher, stopping to stare in shock at Jeha’s bleeding left upper arm.

Jeha wore a white shirt, the sleeves stained with blood. The collar was opened, his tie long gone. Streaks of mud covered his dark slacks. His dark hair was a mess, and there was a scratch on his left jaw. The bandages on his left upper arm were soaked with blood. His blue eyes studied Axel with concern.

“Axel, are you okay?” Jeha asked, his voice strained with pain.

What had happened to him?

“Am I okay?” Axel asked, hurrying around to Jeha’s left side. He reached out to steady Jeha when he swayed on the stretcher, threatening to fall back too fast. “What about you? How did you end up like this? Why are you bleeding? Were you kidnapped, too?"

Axel was surprised by the dark chuckle that followed his questions.

“I’m sorry Ryan’s men treated you so harshly. I had hoped they would have a gentle conversation with you. Kidnapping was not my intention,” Jeha said, wincing hard as he tried to keep sitting up, but he ended up falling back on the stretcher.

Axel tried and failed to make the fall back softer on the wound on Jeha’s left arm. He winced when Jeha bit back a painful moan.

“Axel, I need you to stop the bleeding on my arm. I—”

Jeha groaned as he tried to shift so that he could settle his upper left arm. He closed his eyes, clearly in pain, and let out a shaky breath.

“I don’t think the bullet is in my arm. There is an exit wound. I’m worried about bleeding out,” Jeha said. “We don’t have much time before moving again.”

“Why don’t we have time?” Axel asked, pressing his fingers to Jeha’s neck to check his pulse. It felt steady, but that could change anytime. He didn’t like the look of the bloody bandages on Jeha’s left arm.

“The people who shot Jeha are on a mad search for him,” Ryan said, his voice filled with urgency. “If they find us here, I can’t guarantee your life, Dr. Graysen.”

“Stop scaring my doctor,” Jeha said, sounding tired, even as he admonished Ryan. “Axel—”

“Why didn’t you go to the emergency room?” Axel asked. “Why are you joking around with your life? The emergency room has the equipment and qualified doctors who will know how to deal with a gunshot wound. You have a better chance of fighting off infection in the hospital. What if you bleed out here?”

“Axel, can’t you fix me up first? And then I promise to answer all your questions,” Jeha said with a soft, pained chuckle, directing a pleading gaze at Axel.

“Don’t give me that look. Your people kidnapped me,” Axel said, his gaze accusing when he glanced at Ryan. “They woke me up with a gun pressed to my face.”

He still could not believe these people seemed to belong to Jeha. Was his mysterious knight a gangster? How sad! Just as he met an attractive man, he turned out to be a bad seed, a delinquent.

Axel started to glare at Jeha, but Jeha closed his eyes, biting his bottom lip hard to endure the pain.

Axel’s gaze softened, and the need to help rose.

He hated how disheveled Jeha looked. Jeha’s dark hair was slick with sweat, and a deep frown creased his forehead. There were strain lines on the corner of his lips. He was doing his best to hide his pain levels.

“Who would shoot you?” Axel asked.

“Work while you talk,” Ryan said, waving his gun at Axel.

It set Axel’s heart skidding with fear.

“If he dies, you die too,” Ryan warned.

Jeha opened his eyes to look at Axel. His gaze was apologetic.

“I’m sorry. My best friend is scared I will discover what the underworld looks like. Please help me,” Jeha said. “I promise to answer all your questions.”

Axel sighed, defeated by his knight, and looked around the equipped medical center. He spotted a sink on the opposite end of the room and started toward it, only to have Ryan follow him, pressing his gun into Axel’s back.

“Stop threatening me with your gun!” Axel said, turning to glare at Ryan. “Or you’ll send me into a panic attack, which won’t help Jeha.”

Axel met Ryan’s harsh brown gaze.

“We must work together to ensure your friend comes out of this with a working arm. I need your help, so if you can put down the gun now. It’s just stressing me out. No one wants a stressed-out surgeon holding a scalpel. Move the stretcher closer.”

Axel hurried to the sink, hoping Ryan would follow his instructions. He started the water and washed his hands with the disinfectant soap he found there. It looked like someone with experience had stocked up the place. Once his hands were clean, he reached for a box of surgical gloves on the counter and turned to find Ryan had moved the stretcher closer to the sink counter.

Axel wore a pair of gloves and got to work undoing the bloody bandages around Jeha’s left upper arm.

“Who would shoot you?” Axel asked again as he worked.

“My cousin and his merry band of goons,” Jeha said, biting his bottom lip hard when Axel finally unwrapped his wound and thoroughly inspected the flesh wound.

“Your family sounds tough,” Axel said. “Okay, you’re lucky the bullet did not cause critical damage on its way out. That is no reason to celebrate, though. Your arm has a deep, raw wound, Jeha. It’s going to be painful for a while. I’m concerned there might be complications from excessive bleeding. Ryan, push the medical cart closer. What is this place? Why do you have all this equipment on hand?”

Ryan pushed the medical cart closer, and Axel thanked him with a nod.

“This is a small clinic run by a hotel,” Ryan said.

“Good, it will have the basics.”

Axel checked the medical cart and found the items he needed to clean and bandage Jeha’s wound. He made sure there was no danger of excessive bleeding. When he was sure no significant damage would lead to trouble, Axel disinfected and cleaned the wound. His actions were fast and practiced. When the wound was treated, Axel gave Jeha a tetanus shot, a pain reliever, and a shot of antibiotics. He bandaged Jeha’s wound, finishing with a pressure bandage.

Removing his gloves, Axel started opening compartments on the cart.

“What are you looking for?” Ryan asked, his tone laced with suspicion.

“A sling,” Axel said, irritated by Ryan’s distrustful attitude. “We need to immobilize his arm. I still think we should take him to a hospital. I want to make sure the wound is truly clean. He needs X-rays to make sure there was no other damage…and we need to worry about an onset of infection. I am sure he will have a hard time later—”

“Axel,” Jeha said, his voice soft. “Your worries are scaring Ryan. Give him a break.”

“He needs a break? Don’t you think I need a break?” Axel asked, finally finding a sling in the bottom part of the cart. “I was sleeping quite well earlier before his men dragged me here to play cops and robbers with you. Now, I have to worry about managing your vitals. I wonder how we are going to monitor your infection levels. I know you’re not planning on moving for the next hour, right?”

“Wrong,” Ryan said as his cell phone started buzzing. He reached into his pocket and got his buzzing cell phone. “We need to move out of this place in ten minutes.”

“Ryan, your friend needs rest,” Axel insisted, pressing his fingers to Jeha’s neck to check his pulse. “We’re not out of the woods yet. I don’t know how long Jeha was sitting in here with only bloody bandages covering his wound. He could have caught an infection when your people came to kidnap me rudely.”

Ryan gripped Axel’s left arm, making him turn so they could look at each other.

“So that you have all the information needed to keep Mr. Wook healthy. Mr. Wook was shot fifteen minutes before my men showed up at your apartment to get you. The trip to bring you here took ten minutes. In short, Mr. Wook was shot roughly thirty minutes before you arrived. Is that a clear timeline?”

“Yes,” Axel said, fighting the shakes as he held Ryan’s fierce brown gaze.

“Good. Mr. Wook’s life is very important,” Ryan said. “We need to keep him out of danger. We are returning to the SUV and driving to a safe house. Can he walk?”

“Will you carry him if I say no?” Axel frowned, glancing at Jeha, who looked thoroughly amused. “Will he carry you?”

“He will if you insist. Please don’t encourage him. Ryan will really put me on his back,” Jeha said, shaking his head. “I feel steady enough to walk with help.”

“Alright. I’ll move everyone around to confuse Moon. He’s looking for our location. Dr. Graysen, please help Boss get up on his feet.”

Ryan answered his buzzing phone and moved away from them.

Axel stared at Jeha for a full minute and then turned to the sink to wash his hands.

“I’m sorry.”

Axel finished washing and grabbed paper towels to wipe his hands dry. He faced Jeha, feeling as unsteady as ever, and met Jeha’s piercing gaze.

“Which part are you sorry for?”

“Pulling you out of bed,” Jeha said with a wan smile. “Bringing you out here to play cops and robbers.”

“Ryan’s people pulled me here,” Axel said. “I still need various answers from you.”

Axel slipped his right arm under Jeha’s back and helped him sit up, keeping him steady. He helped Jeha wear the black medical sling he had found, ensuring Jeha’s arm remained immobilized against his chest.

Axel adjusted the sling on Jeha’s left arm and then helped Jeha shift his feet to the side of the stretcher. They paused long enough to give Jeha a moment to catch his breath.

Jeha used his right hand to grip Axel’s left arm, making Axel look into his eyes. Their faces were so close that Axel could feel Jeha’s breath on his cheek.

“I got careless today, trusting my cousin in good faith when we met. He shot me when I least expected it. Ryan got you for me out of panic,” Jeha said, sounding apologetic. “Yesterday, I saw you at the hospital and told him that if I were shot, I would like you to take care of me.”

“It sounds like excessive loyalty to me,” Axel said, glancing at Ryan, who paced by the locked doors. “Why would he kidnap me to help you? All you would need to do is show up at the hospital. I would have treated you without question, Jeha.”

“You’re off for a week at the hospital from today,” Jeha said.

“How do you know that?” Axel asked, frowning at Jeha.

Jeha chose that moment to stand, so Axel had no choice but to help support him until he was steady.

“I discover everything I need about the people I like,” Jeha replied.

“Like a stalker?” Axel asked. “Are you—?”

“I’m a well-intentioned stalker,” Jeha cut in.

“How did Ryan’s people enter my apartment?” Axel asked.

“Axel, if I tell you that, you’ll run away,” Jeha sighed heavily. “I need you, so I can’t let that happen.”

“I should run away on principle,” Axel said, noting that Jeha was swaying.

Jeha needed to lie down and rest.

The blood loss was more severe than Axel expected. Damn it.

“We should go now,” Axel told Ryan when Jeha swayed again. “It will be good to have Jeha pass out where you are comfortable with Jeha staying for at least twenty-four hours.”

“Let’s go,” Ryan said, opening the doors, and his two men hurried ahead as Ryan waited for Jeha and Axel. “Boss, we are making it look like we’re heading back to the usual penthouse.”

“I trust you,” Jeha said, sounding tired. “If anything happens, protect Axel, as you would me.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Axel asked.

Jeha glanced at Axel, his gaze conflicted.

“Ryan will keep you safe,” Jeha said.

Axel missed the chance for more explanations as they hurried out of the clinic, entered a dim corridor, and into an elevator. They rode downstairs in silence and headed out to a waiting black SUV.

Axel had no time to ask more questions because a race to their unknown destination had started, and he was more occupied with keeping Jeha stable.

***