Water under the Bridge

by Sherryl Hancock

  “So I just cost you ten percent of what he left you. Jet, it is too much, I cannot let you do this.”

  Jet gave her a look that was a cross between amusement and confusion. Then she canted her head. “It’s not too much and it’s too late, I’ve already paid it.”

  “You can have the charges canceled.”

  “And then what?” Jet asked, her tone mild.

  “What do you mean?” Fadiyah asked.

  “I mean, just that, then what? We have them pretend like they didn’t do the surgery? What?”

  Fadiyah pursed her lips in a scowl. “I do not know this, but it is my debt to pay, not yours.”

  Jet took a slow deep breath and blew it out slowly. Reaching over, she picked up her phone and started touching the screen. Fadiyah looked at her in confusion, not sure why she was playing with her phone in that moment.

  Jet looked back at Fadiyah seeing the confusion clear on her face and grinning at it. Finally, she got to the screen she was looking for.

  “I don’t usually do this,” Jet said. “But I think you need to understand.”

  She then handed the phone to Fadiyah, moving to sit next to her, so she could point to the part of the screen Fadiyah needed to see.

  “What is that?” Fadiyah asked.

  “That’s the balance in my trust fund account,” Jet told her.

  Fadiyah looked again at the number, staring at it for a long moment, not sure at first what she was seeing.

  “But you said he left you one million…” Fadiyah said, her voice trailing off.

  “Right,” Jet said.

  “Then there is a mistake,” Fadiyah said.

  “No,” Jet said, shaking her head, smiling indulgently at the girl. “There isn’t.”

  Fadiyah looked back at Jet, her look chiding. She handed Jet the phone and pointed to the number. “Clearly there is a mistake, there is an extra zero there.”

  Jet laughed out loud, shaking her head. “No, honey, there’s really ten million in there, it’s called investing. I did a lot of it.”

  Fadiyah looked back at her stunned.

  Jet simply smiled, and put her phone back on the nightstand, moving to lie back down.

  Fadiyah simply stared down at Jet for a long time, seeing that Jet considered the matter resolved. When she realized that Jet wasn’t going to say any more about the topic, she finally shook her head and leaned back to relax.

  It was not the last time Jet had to discuss money that week. A few days after Fadiyah came from the hospital, Todd approached her when she was sitting outside smoking. Fadiyah was upstairs in bed, resting, and Marcel had gone to the market to get ingredients for a dinner she wanted to make that night.

  Jet was smoking and listening to music, sitting in her usual chair, her feet on the chair across from her.

  “Jet?” Todd queried when he walked outside.

  Jet glanced back at him and saw the serious look on his face. Moving her foot so he could sit down, she also picked up the remote to turn her music down. Todd sat down looking cautiously at his daughter. He was sure this wasn’t going to be a good conversation. He was loathe to have it with her, but he and Marcel had agreed it was important.

  “Honey, we know that you really care about Fadiyah,” Todd said, putting his hand on Jet’s hand that sat on the table.

  Jet looked at his hand, remotely thinking that things had definitely changed over this visit. Looking back over at her father, she nodded, waiting for him to continue.

  “But honey, have you thought about how much it’s going to cost to keep her with you?”

  “What do you mean?” Jet asked.

  “Well, this recent incident cost a pretty big chunk of money…” Todd said, his voice trailing off to indicate how serious he thought it was.

  “And how do you know that?” Jet asked, her tone mild.

  “Well, the paperwork was on the counter, honey, we weren’t trying to snoop.”

  Jet nodded. “Trust me, Dad, I have it covered, okay?”

  “Yes, Jet, but you used a credit card, that’s going to cost you a fortune in interest.”

  “It wasn’t a credit card,” Jet said.

  “What?” Todd asked, looking stunned.

  “It was a debit card,” Jet said, her grin wry. “You really think I’m stupid enough to put a hundred kay bill on a credit card?”

  Todd looked back at his daughter, his look assessing. Yes, he actually had thought Jet was using a credit card to pay the bill. He felt that his daughter’s spending had always been outrageous, like buying a $180,000 car and a $60,000 motorcycle because she’d gotten a bonus check. The reason he and Marcel had insisted that she stay in the house was to try and save her some money. He never imagined that his daughter paid any attention to money and smart financial moves. With the huge doctor’s bill, and the obvious sign that Jet intended to take the debt on herself, her pride being as strong as it was, he and Marcel had become concerned that Jet was in over her head with trying to take care of Fadiyah. Now he realized he might need to reevaluate a little bit.

  Jet could see from the look on her father’s face that he had indeed thought her that foolish. She tried to give him a little bit of credit, she knew that he had no way of knowing how good she was with money. She hadn’t communicated with them for years, so he wouldn’t know her habits. The purchases he knew about like the Maserati and Ducati, and the fact that she worked for LAPD which paid her about a hundred thousand a year if she was lucky, would lead him to believe that she was indeed careless.

  “Dad, I’ve got it covered, okay?” Jet told him.

  “So you’re using your trust fund,” Todd said. “Honey, I know that a million dollars seems like a lot, but it really won’t take long to—”

  “Jesus, Dad! I got this!” Jet said, losing her patience.

  “Jet, your pride is admirable, but you need to understand—”

  “Christ…” Jet said, picking up her phone and opening her trust fund account, before shoving the phone at him.

  Todd looked at the phone for a long minute, then he raised his eyes to his daughters. “You still have the whole mill—wait, that’s…” His voice trailed off as he actually focused on the number.

  “Yeah,” Jet said, nodding at her father.

  “How?” Todd asked. It had been almost thirteen years since she’d had access to the money, but the amount she’d increased it by was incredible.

  “Investing, taking some risks, a few of them huge… It paid off,” Jet said, grinning as she shrugged.

  “I’d say so,” Todd said, handing her phone back, looking quite impressed with his daughter. “Maybe you should go into stock broking…” he said, winking at her.

  Jet laughed. “Nah, it’s more fun to shoot at people.”

  Todd chuckled, that sounded more like his hardheaded daughter.

  ***

  “That’s a sad little car…” Jet said to Shenin the next day in the parking lot as they were all leaving for the day. She was looking at the rental Shenin still had, even after almost seven months.

  Shenin looked at the Chevy Spark and shrugged. “It’s not like my last car, that’s for sure.”

  “What was the last one?” Jet asked.

  “A Challenger,” Shenin said, sighing. “Not a Hellcat like Jericho’s, but it was nice…”

  “What happened to it?” Jet asked.

  “Wrapped it around a tree in Maryland one night,” Shenin said, her tone so mild that it took Jet a minute to catch up.

  “Wait, you what?” she asked, sounding alarmed.

  “It wasn’t my fault,” Shenin said, moving to take a cigarette out.

  Jet immediately moved to light it for her, since she had her own lighter out already.

  Tyler barreled through the hospital doors, heedless of anyone that was in the way. She ran straight up to the nurses station.

  “Shenin Devereaux-Hancock,” she said, her voice breathless. “Brought in after a car accident, where is she?”

&n
bsp; The nurse looked up at the woman standing in front of her, with her military uniform, her bright blue eyes and extremely worried look.

  “Are you a relative?”

  “I’m her wife, damnit! Tell me where she is!” Tyler snapped.

  The woman jumped at the order in Tyler’s voice, looking at the computer again.

  “She’s still in surgery, you can wait over there,” the nurse said.

  Tyler walked away, and proceeded to pace for the next three hours, only stopping long enough to hug her parents when they arrived. It took both Carl and Becky Hancock to finally get Tyler to sit down.

  “Where was she at?” Carl asked.

  “On the two ten headed home…” Tyler said, her voice tremulous.

  “Well, we don’t know anything until we know something…” Becky said sensibly.

  “I know, Mom,” Tyler said, doing everything she could to hold it together.

  “Do they know what happened?” Becky asked then.

  “Drunk driver,” Tyler said. “They said he cut her off… Jesus…” she breathed. Just imagining the accident was making her sick.

  She’d gotten the call in her office. “Tyler Hancock?” a man had queried.

  “Yes?” Tyler had responded.

  “I’m Officer Shawn Spyvey with the Maryland State Police, I’m sorry to tell you that your wife has been involved in an accident. She’s being taken to Fort Washington Hospital.”

  “What happened?” Tyler had asked, even as she stood up pulling out her keys, and started to walk toward the door.

  “Drunk driver swerved in front of her, she hit a tree. You need to come quickly.”

  “Thank you,” Tyler had said, hanging up.

  After five hours with no word, Tyler was beside herself with worry. What could be taking so long? She told herself that at least they hadn’t come to tell her that Shenin was dead, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen. Tyler couldn’t even begin to imagine her life without the feisty red-head in it. She had to be okay, she just had to be.

  Finally, six hours into her vigil, the doctor came out. Tyler stood nervously as the man prepared to tell her Shenin’s condition. She could tell from the look on his face that it wasn’t great.

  “Your wife has suffered a very serious back injury,” the doctor said. “We’ve been working for hours to repair as much of the damage as possible. There’s a lot of swelling and it’s going to be hard to know for a few days how much we were able to do…”

  “But she’s going to be okay?” Tyler asked.

  The doctor looked cautious. “Her life is not in danger at this point in time, but you need to understand, Captain, that she may not walk again.”

  Tyler closed her eyes, feeling the room spin, relief and grief seemed to blend into one at the moment. Shenin was alive, but if she couldn’t walk again, it was going to be a major blow and Tyler had no idea how Shenin would handle that.

  “When can I see her?” Tyler asked.

  “In a couple of hours,” the doctor said.

  “Thank you, doctor,” Becky said, even as Carl led Tyler over to a chair, seeing how pale his daughter had become suddenly.

  Becky came to sit with them. “She’s going to be okay, Tyler, it’s going to be fine,” she assured her daughter.

  Tyler was concentrating on breathing at that point, and trying to stay conscious because her mind wanted to escape from the possibilities. Shenin was alive, that’s what mattered. She was alive.

  Tyler sat next to Shenin’s bedside the next morning, but she hadn’t regained consciousness yet. Other than a cast on her arm and a couple of cuts on her face, Shenin didn’t look like she’d been in an accident, but Tyler knew that what she couldn’t see was what was the most hazardous to Shenin.

  Shenin stirred, grimacing a couple of times, then finally opening her eyes. Tyler was standing by that time, looking down at her.

  “Hi there,” Tyler said softly, her blue eyes shining.

  “Hi,” Shenin said, her voice a gravelly whisper.

  Shenin’s eyes looked around her and up at the IV that hung next to her bed.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “What do you remember babe?” Tyler asked looking pained.

  Shenin’s eyes became unfocused in her effort to remember. “I was on my way home… Some car came up fast on the left… I remember thinking he was in an awfully big hurry… He started to pull ahead of me, and I figured good riddance…” Her voice trailed off, and then she closed her eyes. “Oh shit… He swerved in front of me… He hit my front quarter panel, I tried to evade… Oh God, Ty…”

  Tyler nodded. “Okay, it’s okay, you’re okay.”

  Shenin shook her head, as she started to sense something not right.

  “Babe, wait…” Tyler said, as she saw the look of terror cross Shenin’s face.

  “I can’t... Ty, I can’t move…” Shenin said. “Why can’t I move?” she asked, her voice now shaking.

  “Honey, calm down,” Tyler said, her hand touching Shenin’s cheek. “It’s probably only temporary, okay? The doctors worked on you for six hours. They said there’s a lot of swelling right now in your spine, so it’s perfectly normal for you not to be able to move right now… As the swelling goes down you’ll probably regain most of your movement…”

  “Most?” Shenin repeated.

  Tyler breathed a slow breath out. “Yes,” she said.

  “But not all,” Shenin said, her look changing.

  “It’s hard to know right now, Shen, we just have to wait and see…” Tyler said, her look cautious.

  Shenin nodded, looking devastated.

  Two months later, Shenin left the hospital, and there was definite movement of her feet and legs. She was to start physical therapy a week later.

  Tyler came home the afternoon after Shenin’s first physical therapy appointment. They’d found a woman that would come to the house, which made it a lot easier on Shenin.

  Walking into their bedroom Tyler saw Shenin lying on their bed, wearing an Air Force t-shirt and shorts. She had one arm thrown up over her eyes.

  “Hey,” Tyler said, moving to kiss Shenin’s lips.

  “Hi,” Shenin said, sounding tired.

  “How did physical therapy go?” Tyler asked, as she removed her holstered weapon and sat down in the chair near the bed to unlace her boots.

  “You mean that exercise in sadomasochistic torture?”

  Tyler chuckled. “That bad, huh?” she asked, standing and unbuttoning her jacket then hanging it up.

  “I don’t think she got that I’m a virgin,” Shenin said.

  “Or maybe she did get that you’re determined to work your way back,” Tyler said, moving to sit down next to her on the bed, putting her hand out to touch Shenin’s arm.

  Shenin put her arm down, her gold eyes looking up at Tyler. “Am I just wasting my time?”

  “In terms of what, babe?” Tyler asked, her voice gentle.

  “I’m never going to make it back to security force, am I?” Shenin asked, finally saying what she’d been thinking for the last two months.

  Tyler drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “I don’t know, Shen…” she answered honestly.

  Shenin nodded, accepting that answer. They were both silent for a few minutes. Tyler moved her hand to Shenin’s neck and started to massage the bunched muscles she felt there.

  “Mmm…” Shenin murmured. “That’s nice…”

  “Turn over. I’ll see if I can make it feel better,” Tyler told her.

  “Only if there’s a happy ending at the end of it,” Shenin said, grinning as she moved to turn over. She pulled her shirt off as she did, revealing a gray exercise bra.

  Tyler was surprised, they hadn’t made love, or anything even remotely close since Shenin’s accident. Not commenting, she rubbed the overworked muscles, feeling them ease as she worked on them. Eventually she pulled out the lotion for “stress relief,” with eucalyptus and spearmint scent to try and help her wi
fe relax.

  Shenin sighed, moaned, and groaned a bit as Tyler worked on her back. There were comments of, “Oh, right there” and “Ow, ow, ow” when the pressure was too much. At one point Tyler leaned down, kissing Shenin’s bare shoulder and got “Mmm…” in response. She continued to move her hands downward toward the small of Shenin’s back, feeling a lot of tension there.

  Shenin was thoroughly enjoying the feeling of Tyler’s hands on her back, not only because she was easing very sore, very tense muscles, but because it felt good to feel that connection between them again. She held her breath as Tyler’s lips touched her shoulder, moaning slightly when a shudder went through her. She’d hoped that Tyler would do more, but she’d gone back to massaging at that point. Part of her knew that if she purposely tried to seduce Tyler that Tyler would probably respond, but it was that little kernel of doubt that Tyler really wanted her, that kept her from doing so.

  As Tyler’s hands moved lower, touching the backs of her thighs, massaging, touching, Shenin once again held her breath. She was trembling with need, and she wasn’t sure how much more she could take, hoping that her comment to Tyler hadn’t been taken as only a joke. Then she felt Tyler’s lips at the back of her knee and she had to bite her lip to keep from groaning. In her head she was chanting “please, please, please…” And then she felt Tyler’s fingers moving up her thigh and she held her breath again. When Tyler’s fingertips brushed upward, she lost all control and gasped in her orgasm. Tyler moved to kiss her back and slid her hands over Shenin’s skin, making her shudder again.

  Tyler lay down next to her on the bed, and Shenin raised her head, looking over at her wife. There was a very satisfied smile on Tyler’s lips.

  “That was…” Shenin began, shaking her head. “Wow…”

  “Mmmhmm,” Tyler murmured, her look heated.

  Shenin reached her hand out then, touching Tyler’s stomach, still covered by her khaki brown shirt. She slid her hand up, her thumb brushing an already hard nipple. Tyler moaned in response. Shenin moved to lean up over Tyler, lowering her head to kiss Tyler’s lips as she slid her body over Tyler seductively. Tyler’s hands moved to her hips, pulling them closer, Shenin’s lips moved to Tyler’s neck, as she moved her body against Tyler’s. Within minutes Tyler was crying out and grasping at Shenin’s hips.