by Dale Mayer
Both men shook their heads.
Gavin smiled and said, “You’ve got three chances.”
The men looked at him, and one said, “We have our orders.”
“You might have orders,” Rosalina said, “but those are my parents.”
They looked at her, shrugged, and said, “Nobody’s allowed in.”
“According to whom?” she asked. But they didn’t answer. She looked over at Gavin and saw the tick flickering on the side of his face and knew that something would happen. She darted to the left, but the man standing in front of her blocked her. She called out to the doctor behind him.
The doctor looked at her, frowning, and asked, “Who are you?”
“My parents are here,” she said. “We were all kidnapped together. I need to see them!”
He frowned, looked at the two men, and said, “I don’t know what’s going on,” he said, “but this is a hospital.”
“It is,” Gavin said. He stepped forward and did something, and the first man went down without a sound. Gavin looked at the second man and said, “Your choice.”
He looked at the man on the ground and frowned. “What did you do to him?”
“Who said I did anything?” Gavin asked, with the most innocent of looks. “Let’s get real. It’s a hospital. He’s here getting treatment.”
The man stared at him suspiciously and said, “I’m under orders that nobody is allowed to come through.”
“If you don’t tell me who those orders are from,” he said, “we’ll have a bigger problem than you can imagine.”
“Your threats don’t upset me,” he sneered.
“Good, because, at this point in time,” he said, “there’s still a shit ton to find out.” He pulled out an ID and flashed it in front of him.
The guy frowned and said, “I still don’t know if you’re allowed through here, sir.”
But, as he turned, Rosalina had already raced forward. She disappeared behind the white curtain. Gavin looked at him and said, “Remember that woman. She’s the daughter. Nobody else gets in here. Not even the other daughter. She’s my number one suspect.”
Just then the other man on the floor groaned. Gavin helped him to his feet and said, “You okay, bud?”
The guy gave a hard shake of his head, looked at his partner, and asked, “What happened?”
The guy just looked at him. “I don’t have a clue. You were standing there, and, the next thing I know, you’re on the ground.”
They both looked suspiciously at Gavin, but he just gave them that same blank stare. Rosalina was at the curtain now, and she smiled. “Gavin, come here.”
She waited for him to join her at the edge of the curtain. Both of her parents were here, still unconscious, and the doctors and nurses were working on both. She wrapped her arms around her chest and chewed on the end of her thumbnail.
“Take it easy,” he whispered. “At least we have them.”
“But why were they even there at that shed in the country? And what the hell was this all about?” she muttered.
He said, “Let’s step inside behind the curtain, so nobody can see you. That way, when your sister comes, we’ll see what her reaction is.”
She nodded.
The doctor looked up and said, “Only her.”
Gavin nodded and said, “No problem,” and he stepped off to the side. It wasn’t very long before Melinda came flying through. She looked at the two guards. Rosalina could hear her sister’s voice at the entrance to the emergency room.
“Who are you guarding, and why are you trying to stop me from entering?” she snapped.
The men spoke to her quietly. Melinda’s voice was so low that Rosalina couldn’t hear. She stared at her parents in shock, realizing just how old and frail they both looked. She missed part of the conversation with Melinda because the doctor spoke to her. She shook her head. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“I said that we’ve got a way to go, but I think they’ll be fine,” he said. “But they have suffered. They’re very dehydrated, and they’re both in shock. We’ll keep them calm and quiet in a lightly drugged state, while we get their fluids up and do a full assessment. We’re sending them for MRIs and X-rays now.”
“Oh my,” she said, as she studied their bodies. “Are you expecting broken bones?”
“There are signs that they endured some level of violence. Clearly they were roughed up a bit,” he said, his tone low. “We just want to make sure we don’t have broken bones or internal bleeding.”
“Absolutely,” she said. “I’m so grateful we found them.”
“And just in time too. Now, I understand you’re one of two daughters, and you’re both here in Honolulu,” he said, “so, if your sister is coming, I need you both to avoid disturbing them. We’ll move them out of here one at a time, while we run them through a bunch of tests,” he explained. “Then we’ll set them up in a room together, until we know more.”
“Okay, but my sister is not allowed to see them,” she whispered. She looked over at her parents. “May I go with them and talk to them?”
“You aren’t allowed in the testing areas. However, you can sit with them here, but please don’t disturb them. You can gently touch their fingers, but, considering their hands are swollen, maybe don’t even do that.”
She walked in between the two beds and stared down at her parents. Her hand was at her mouth, tears filling her eyes as she stared at these two who had been the rocks of her world. Not the warm and loving parents of her dreams, but they were her foundation nonetheless. She leaned over and ever-so-gently kissed her father on the cheek.
She whispered, “Dad, you’re safe now. We’ll get you the help you need.” And she went over to her mom and did the same thing. As she straightened, she turned to see two orderlies coming for her father. She sniffled once as they rolled him away. When she looked up, Gavin stood there with a look of compassion on his face.
She walked over and said, shakily, “So it looks like they’ll be okay. They are keeping them sedated a bit, while they get their vitals stabilized. But they’ll also run tests to check for broken bones and internal bleeding. Because he thinks they were b-b-beaten.” She looked up at him in horror. “Why would anybody beat old people?”
He reached out, and she stepped into his arms and held on tight. “I don’t understand,” she said, her tears flowing. He gently held her in his arms, his hand stroking her hair and letting her cry. Finally the tears dried up, and she looked up at him. “I don’t know if you’re good for me or not,” she whispered. “I don’t normally cry.”
“I understand,” he said. “But sometimes we all need the release.”
She wiped her eyes on her sleeve like a child. And then sighed. “When they are through with Dad, they’ll run my mom through the same tests and, at some point, move them to a room.”
“Good,” he said. “We can’t make any decisions until we know exactly what damage was done.”
“Their faces are bruised. Somebody actually hit my mom,” she whispered. “She’s a grandma. Why would you hurt a little old gray-haired lady?” she asked, hating to think of all the fear her mother must have experienced. “I’m just so damn grateful they’re here now.”
His arms tightened around her, holding her safe.
“That could have been me there too, couldn’t it?”
“Yes,” he said, “or worse. It definitely could have been, but you’re the one who got away.”
She smiled at that. “I guess that’s a good thing in this instance.”
His arms tightened on her note of laughter. He bent down and whispered, “From them, not from me. Got it?”
She looked up at him and smiled. “I’m not interested in getting away from you,” she said.
They stood like that for several long moments, and then he whispered, “What do you want to do while we wait?”
“Well, I can sit here until they get the test results. And my sister arrived. Any sign of her?”
&
nbsp; At that, they heard Melinda’s voice at the ER entranceway, demanding, “Did you let anybody in here?”
One of the men answered her, and she gave a half scream of outrage and came bolting toward them. She glared at her sister, only Gavin keeping her out of her parents’ cubicle.
“You said they were here at the hospital. You didn’t tell me that you would leave me at the hotel so you could get here first.”
Rosalina studied her sister with a totally different perspective. “You didn’t tell us why you would bolt past us and slam the elevator doors in our face so you could get here ahead of us,” she said coolly. “So, what was so important that you had to get here before I did?”
Melinda glared at her. “It’s none of your business,” she said.
But that wasn’t good enough for Rosalina. “It is my business,” she said. “Why did you need to get here first?”
Her sister crossed her arms over her chest, widened her stance combatively, and said, “I wanted to be the one they saw first.”
“What difference does it make?” Rosalina asked. “You know you’re the one they’ll look for first anyway.”
“Of course they will. It’s not like they want to see you,” she sneered.
“I don’t understand why you’ve always hated me,” she said. “Obviously I was a younger sibling who you didn’t want, but your emotions run awfully deep.”
“You were the interloper,” Melinda said. “The perfect bloody replacement.”
Rosalina stared in shock. “What are you talking about?” she asked. “You were the perfect little girl they always wanted, so they didn’t have any time or energy to waste on me.”
“Well, I tried not to let them have any,” she said, “because I knew that, as soon as they locked onto you and realized just how absolutely perfect in form and brain you were, they wouldn’t have any time for me.”
Rosalina continued to stare as she tried to figure out what her sister was talking about. “Are you telling me that all those times that you demanded their attention was specifically to ensure they didn’t turn their attention to me?”
“Of course,” she said. “What other reason would there be?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I never did understand that mentality.”
“What? There’s something you don’t know? That’s a first.”
Rosalina wasn’t sure what to do with all the anger and hate coming in her direction. “Seriously? You’ve hated me all this time for that?”
“Why not?” she said. “I’m the one who had to deal with a missing leg. I’m the one who had to deal with always being not perfect.”
“Maybe,” she said, “but you also had all of their time, money, and resources that you could ever want. And you got it, so I don’t understand why you’re concerned now.” She thought about all the pain and insecurity and the hours Rosalina had spent crying because she had felt so unloved. “Did you really feel so inadequate that you had to go out of your way to make my life miserable too?”
Melinda shrugged. “Well, if the choice was you or me, I’d much rather it was you.”
That caused Rosalina to burst out laughing. “Well, isn’t that the truth?” she said, and her sister grinned at her.
“And did you never wonder about how we looked so different?”
Rosalina’s eyebrows shot up. “No,” she said. “I never did. Why?”
“Because we don’t have the same father,” she said. “I’m actually their child. But you are the result of Mom’s infidelity.”
That blow to her gut hurt so much that she didn’t know if it would ever quit. She could feel Gavin holding her tight. In a cool calm voice, he asked, “Do you have proof of that?”
“I don’t, but Mom does,” she said, with a wave of her hand. “Everybody knew back then.”
“I highly doubt Mom would have done something like that,” Rosalina said.
Melinda sneered, “Well, she had her days. Don’t worry. Mom and Dad were having a lot of trouble, and she decided to go out and live a little. You were the result of that.”
“Dad never let on in any way,” she said, when she could finally talk. She studied her sister dispassionately, trying to hold the devastating sense of grief inside her at bay. “And, if he isn’t my father, who is?”
“Well, that’s the question, isn’t it?” she said with a smile.
“No,” Gavin said. “No more games. Who is her father?”
Instantly Melinda dropped the sneer and glared at him. “What’s it to you?” Then she glanced at the close way the two of them were standing, and she rolled her eyes. “Like mother, like daughter apparently.”
Rosalina stiffened. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you and your obvious hookup here,” she said with a laugh. “After your failed marriage, all you can do is pick up guys.”
“Hardly,” Rosalina said. She’d had a lifetime of listening to this crap from her sister. “But did you ever think that maybe it’s got something to do with what’s going on right now?”
Melinda stared at her in shock. “What are you talking about?”
Gavin immediately spoke up. “Well, both your parents and the two of you were kidnapped,” he said, “so maybe Rosalina’s birth father had something to do with it?”
“I doubt it,” she said. “Besides, I don’t think anybody knows.” She raised and lowered her eyebrow several times. “If you know what I mean.”
“I know what you mean,” Rosalina said, her arms across her chest, still trying to hold in the ache. Her mind filled with a million questions. “It still doesn’t answer the question, and I don’t believe Mom would have gone out with a bunch of random men.”
“Well, five minutes ago,” her sister said carelessly, “you didn’t think she’d have gone with anyone.”
“True.” And that was still something she struggled with.
Just then the orderly brought her father back. Rosalina stared, devastated to see him lying there in that condition. She looked at the doctor, and he mouthed X-rays.
“So, that was why Mom always doted on you?” Rosalina asked, hating the fact that she still needed answers.
“Well, of course she doted on me,” Melinda said. “She had to make it up to me, didn’t she?”
“Wow,” Gavin said. “What an interesting way to look at life. As if they owed you.”
“They owed me all right,” she said. “You’re damn right they owed me. It was supposed to be just me, and I wouldn’t have to share my parents with anybody. I shouldn’t have had to split the company with anyone. But, no, Mom had to go and have another daughter.”
“And what difference does it make?” Rosalina asked.
“Remember how you were so close with Grandpa?”
“Yes,” she said, “with Grandma and Grandpa.”
“Well, that’s because Grandpa was your father,” Melinda said, and then she laughed.
Gavin’s arms tightened around Rosalina, as if trying to protect her from the blow. “Seriously?” she asked faintly.
Melinda laughed and laughed. “Absolutely. She had an affair with Dad’s own father. So, you are actually Dad’s half sister.”
Rosalina stared at Melinda, who obviously got so much enjoyment and delight when hurting and humiliating Rosalina.
Gavin whispered in her ear, “It’s not your fault or your problem, Rosalina. Whatever happened thirty years ago happened for a reason, and the fact is, you’re alive today, and that is something wonderful, not something to be ashamed of. You are a perfectly brilliant and beautiful woman, and, no matter how much Melinda’s trying to hurt you, don’t you let her.” As he gently stroked her arm, she twisted ever-so-slightly to stare up at him.
“You are a gift, you know?” she whispered. He stared at her in shock as she smiled. “A lot of people would have fled this room, not wanting anything to do with this ugly sordid mess.”
Melinda grunted in disgust, but Gavin and Rosalina ignored her, engrossed in
their own conversation, yet still blocking Melinda from access to her parents.
“It takes more than hearing about family garbage to chase me away,” he said. “Besides, this isn’t on you. This has nothing to do with you. If anything, it makes you all the more amazing to me.”
“But then my birth father obviously has nothing to do with what’s happening here and now either, does he?”
“Not likely, if it was your grandfather, as both he and your grandmother are deceased. Isn’t that correct?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes, my grandfather had a heart attack a few years back, and I can’t remember what happened with my grandmother.”
“But they looked after you a lot?”
“Yes,” Rosalina said, “they did, and I loved them both very dearly.”
Melinda cleared her throat, or growled, but was ignored all the same.
“Do you think they knew?” he asked Rosalina.
She shook her head. “How could I ever know?” she asked brokenly. “Maybe? My grandmother sure didn’t act like anything was wrong. But I was just a kid, so how would I know? It’s not like I had much to compare it to,” she said. “I really don’t know.”
“Well, let’s not worry about it right now. Hopefully, your mom will be okay, and you’ll get a chance to clarify things with her.”
“Oh, I will definitely want to do that,” she said, turning to stare as the orderlies removed her mother from the emergency cubicle. She stared down at the small gray-haired lady as she was wheeled away, and said, “I can hardly believe it.”
“Well, you should believe it,” Melinda said. She turned and stormed from the ER.
Rosalina turned to look up at Gavin. “Could we get a DNA test, do you think?”
“I suggest we do,” he said, studying her father on the bed, “because the repercussions are fairly major.”
“I don’t understand,” she said. “What repercussions?”
“Let me check a few things first,” he said. He gave her a hard kiss. “Stay here with your father, and I’ll be back in a minute.” She watched as he walked away, hating that he was even leaving her for a few moments. Because, in this world gone crazy, he was the one person she could trust.