The Marvelous Elijah’s Return

Chapter 12

Cousins

When Peach raised her gaze from the floor and absentinindedly gaze to her right, she was stunned to see Elijah, Matt, Rookie, Ryan, and James walking into the waiting room.

Her eyes widened, and a huge gasp came out of her mouth. Her heart thumped against her chest, making it harder for her to breathe as she wondered what they were doing there.

When she and Elijah’s eyes locked, Peach turned her eyes back to the floor, hating the unreadable expression on his face.

With a calm look in his eyes, James said as he sat down beside Peach, “How are you feeling?” A weak smile formed on her face, and tears began forming as the thought of her mother still flashed in her mind.

“Well, my mama has to have another PCI surgery because she had another severe heart attack, “Peach said, pinching her fingers together nervously. “My mama has been really sick lately. She has always been since my dad died.”

“I am sorry to hear that. Is there anything we can do for you? Anything you need?” James asked, eyeing Elijah for a second before glancing back at Peach.

Sniffing, Peach shook her head and said with a faint smile, “No, thank you, James, for asking.”

The five of them knew she was lying, but neither of them wouldn’t say anything, and they didn’t push the subject any further, knowing the last thing Peach needed right now was a bunch of nosy assholes telling her everything would be okay when it wasn’t.

It didn’t take long until a nurse approached the group, looked down at her teary-eyed, and asked, “Peach? May I speak with you privately for a couple of minutes?”

Hesitantly nodding her head, Peach stood up and followed the nurse out into the hall, ignoring the looks of concern the other four sent her.

When the nurse stopped, Peach sighed and said, ‘How is my mama? Did the surgery go okay?”

Nodding solemnly, the nurse said, “Well, it was a bit risky because this was her second time and her health was not quite ready to handle it again. But, after three hours, luckily the procedure went smoothly.”

“That’s a relief,” Peach sighed heavily, a small tear dripping from her eye, as she wiped it away quickly, embarrassed about being caught crying.

Smiling gently at Peach’s reaction, the nurse continued saying, “The doctor needs to speak with you briefly. I believe it will take less than five minutes. Would you like to come with me?”

As Peach was about to answer, she frowned slightly, watching Elijah approach her with a cold look on his face.

Seeing the way her jaws clenched at the sight of him, Elijah grew even more pissed, but he wanted to know what the hold-up was because he was getting sick of waiting in a hospital since he had plans for today. “Hey,” Elijah said when he stopped right in front of Peach, whose lips twitched at the sight of him.

“If you two are close, then it would be best that you accompany Peach to see the doctor for moral support and comfort,” the nurse suggested, giving Elijah an amused smirk while Peach rolled her eyes, glaring at him.

Neither of them wanted to clarify her, so she took their silence as a ‘yes,’ and said, “Please follow me this way.”

Quietly, Elijah walked after Peach and the nurse down the hall until they reached a door marked, ‘Dr. Ben’ and pushed it open.

Inside the room was a middle-aged man wearing glasses and holding a clipboard who looked rather tired. But when he saw Peach, he gave a slight smile, letting out gently, “Miss, Hayes,”

Immediately, Elijah froze, his eyes widened slightly, and he wandered into his head, frowning slightly as he thought if Peach and Melina were families, and it sickened him to his stomach.

Glancing over to Elijah for a split second, Dr. Ben’s brows snapped together and lines etched themselves into his forehead as he stared even harder at him.

“You…!” Dr. Ben blurted out. “You are Melina Hayes’ Ex-husband, right?”

Immediately, Peach stopped in her tracks and turned around to look Elijah in the eyes as a hint of confusion and concern etched across her features.

“Ha, of course, you are. Your face has been all over the news for a day or so now.” Dr. Ben continued, staring intently at Elijah’s face as if he was trying to read his mind. “I never knew you and her cousin were close.”

“Stop telling others about my connection to those devils… we are not family! The only living relative I have is my mother, got it?!” Peach yelled at him, clenching her fists tightly at her sides,

She hated hearing that name, ‘Hayes.’ It carried a lot of hurtful memories with it and ones she’d rather forget, let alone talk about.

“I am sorry, Miss Peach. As someone who used to be your father’s personal doctor, the information is hard to erase for my brain,” Doctor Ben apologized, lowering his head slightly, “But, please forgive me, for revealing such things private about you.”

Ignoring the Dr. words, Peach turned to Elijah, her eyes narrowed, and said with a cold, venomous tone of voice, “Get out!”

A look of disbelief spread itself across Elijah’s face, and he stuttered, “Wha–what?”

“I said get out!! Get the hell out!!” Peach screamed, pointing at the door aggressively.

Without thinking twice, Elijah immediately turned around and left the room, slamming the door behind him, leaving Peach crying and shaking in anger. Once Elijah reached the waiting room where James, Matt, Ryan, and Rookie were, he walked straight past them, and immediately, they stood up and started walking after him.

When Elijah reached the old, filthy pickup, he stopped, resting his hands on his hips and

taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down. The fact that Peach was the one who got mad after learning the truth just pissed him to a great extent, and his anger was taking control of him once again.

Frowning, he slammed his fist into the door of the pickup angrily, causing James, Ryan, Rookie, and Matt to jump slightly. 1 His behavior was completely unlike Elijah’s, and they weren’t sure how to react, or respond to

“What happened?” James asked, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously.

Ignoring his butler, he paced back and forth slightly, and then a bitter, faint laugh escaped his mouth as he said, “What the fuck did I ever do to deserve that. I should be the one who should be mad because I didn’t even know who the hell she was until that moment, and now she wants to play the victim!” “Who’s playing the victim? Elijah, what is happening to you? Please tell us what’s going on inside your head right now,” Ryan requested, stepping closer to Elijah and placing a comforting hand on his

shoulder to reassure him that everything was going to be fine. Looking up at him and sighing heavily, Elijah scowled and replied, “This is you four’s fault!”

Now, James, Matt, Ryan, and Rookie exchanged worried glances, and then Ryan asked, “Why?” “We would have been out of here, out of that little brat life, but you guys decided to stay here and help her. Well, she doesn’t want any of us to help. So get in the pickup, and we are getting the fuck out of that motel. I don’t give a shit anymore.” Elijah said with annoyance laced in his voice.

“Now, you are not making sense,” James said, his tone stern but confused. “We can’t just leave and abandon Peach in this state after everything that’s already happened. Plus, you are not giving us any sensible reason to do that!”

Seeing that the others agree with James, Elijah groaned and rubbed his temples, mumbling,” Who’s the boss here?!”

Immediately, James’ face along with the other’s expressions softened and sadness lingered in their eyes.

Letting out a deep breath of air through his nose, Elijah looked down and said softly, “Peach is my ex- wife’s cousin,” A look of shock and realization dawned on them, and Matt was the first to speak up as he stepped forward, asking, “Wait, isn’t that bad?”

James’ eyes widened as well, and said, “Yeah, it is… How come Peach didn’t tell us?”

“It seems like she just found out too, I think…” Elijah trailed off with an uneasy expression before shaking his head and explaining further, “But that can’t be true, because my face is all over the damn news and shit!”

Knowing that his master has reasonable reason to be frustrated, James nodded slowly and murmured under his breath, “So… what now?”

“We picked our stuff and got out of that motel!” Elijah said, feeding off his anger. Even though the others’ hearts were torn, they didn’t argue and got into the pickup, their faces grim and expressions serious. As Matt drove them back to the motel, it was awfully quiet and the atmosphere felt tense, which was quite unusual, but Elijah’s mind was already made up, and they knew better than to

question their leader.

They arrived at the motel, parked the pickup in one of the spots, and left the vehicles, walking into the building.

The sight of broken vase glass and blood stains on the floor made Matt, James, Ryan, and Rookie’s faces itched with a look of worry, feeling their hearts sink and their stomachs churn.

“You guys have five minutes to get your things and we are out of here!” Elijah said before walking away from them.