Just Can't Get Enough

by Hodges, Cheris

  The guard followed Tiffany out the front door as Darius looked for Celina in the crowd. He hoped she hadn’t seen what happened. Darius knew that when they returned to Elmore, things were going to get a lot worse.

  By the end of the night, Celina’s cheeks burned from all the smiling and all she wanted to do was head home and fall asleep in Darius’s arms. As the party started to wind down, she found him sitting in a corner hiding from reporters, something she wished that she could do. The reporters and gallery patrons kept her busy all night, which was a good thing, since everyone loved her work and she sold more than half of her paintings. Celina wouldn’t allow anyone to buy H2Love. That one belonged to her and Darius. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Where have you been all my life?” she asked.

  Darius pointed to the painting. “Sitting right here on the wall.” He turned around and kissed Celina gently on the lips.

  “Did you have fun?” she asked.

  “It was an experience. Do you think it’s going to be like this when we open the Celina Hart Gallery of Fine Art in Elmore?” he asked.

  “Wow, you really have been giving this some thought.” Celina looked up at H2Love. “This has to come with us. When the showing is over, I’ll have Millicent ship it home.” Celina was shocked that she called Elmore home, given that she hadn’t lived there in more than twenty years, but being with Darius was home, whether it was Elmore, Harlem, or a tent in the woods. “Are you ready to go?” she asked. “Maybe we can go grab a bite to eat.”

  “I want to grab something, but not a bite to eat,” Darius whispered huskily.

  Playfully she punched him in the arm, “But I’m hungry. Trust me, it’s worth the wait,” she said with a smile.

  Darius nodded. “All right, my lady, lead the way.”

  As they headed out the door, Millicent stopped them. “Celina, Celina, this was a fabulous showing and we have so many orders. You know I got an offer for $50,000 for H2Love.”

  Celina shook her head. “It’s not for sale. We’re going to hang it in our gallery in South Carolina.”

  Millicent nodded. “Let me know when it opens. I would love to see it. Are you going to have exclusively new art or all of your work?”

  “A mix,” Darius said. “We’ll make sure you get an invite to the opening. I’m sorry but we have to go.”

  Millicent waved good-bye to the couple as they walked out the door. “Great save,” Celina said once they made it outside. “Millicent would have kept us in there for hours.”

  Darius nodded. “I could tell.”

  Celina hailed a cab. The wind had picked up outside. Even though it was still summer, the nights were growing cooler, announcing that fall wasn’t too far away. She’d never paid much attention to the weather before, always carrying a jacket with her to keep the winds at bay. Tonight she had something better and when Darius wrapped his arms around her, she knew she never had to worry about a jacket again. This was right and finally she knew it.

  “Where are we headed?” Darius asked as he and Celina slipped into the cab.

  “You’ll like it,” she said. Celina leaned over the seat and gave the driver the address to The Blue Smoke Jazz Standard on East 27th Street. Then she eased into Darius’s arms as the cab took off.

  “Nights like this make me miss living in a city,” Darius said, gently stroking her arm. “What would we be doing if we were in Elmore?”

  Celina smiled. “Maybe at the lake, watching the stars. Listening to some Coltrane on the stereo. Taking each other’s clothes off.” She gently bit his bottom lip.

  “Damn, do we need to get on a plane? That sounds better than wherever we’re headed.”

  “What did I do to deserve you? Darius, you’ve opened my eyes to so much and you’ve opened my heart. I’ll love you forever, I know it.”

  Darius smiled and kissed her. “And I’m not going to let you forget you said that, Ms. Hart.”

  When the cab pulled up in front of the jazz club, Celina’s cell phone rang. She pulled the phone out of her purse. “Hello?”

  “Celina, it’s Velma. Your father took a turn for the worse. We’re rushing him to Columbia.”

  “Oh, my God,” Celina said as all the color rushed from her face.

  Darius looked at her with concern in his eyes.

  “Is this the stop or what?” the cab driver asked. “The meter is still running.”

  “Wait a minute,” Darius said gruffly.

  “Miss Velma, I’ll get on the next flight and meet you at the hospital. Call me if there’s a change.”

  “Celina, I will, and I’m so sorry,” Velma said.

  Celina closed the phone, then turned to the driver. “Turn the car around. We have to get to Harlem, now.”

  “I don’t go to Harlem at night, lady. You’d better take the train or the bus.”

  Celina reached across the seat and grabbed the driver by the collar. “Take me there right now or the least of your worries is going to be driving into Harlem.”

  Darius pulled Celina around her hips. “Calm down, baby,” he said. “Look, guy, we’ll make it worth your while.” Darius reached into his wallet and pulled out two hundred-dollar bills. “Come on, it’s an emergency.”

  The driver took the money and put it in his pocket. “What’s the address?” Celina rattled off her address and the driver took off.

  When the driver got to Celina’s brownstone, she and Darius hopped out of the cab and ran inside. She stuffed clothes into a bag, not caring if her outfits matched. She grabbed her shoes and tossed them in the bag. Celina took off her dress and threw it in the corner of her bedroom, not caring about its price, then scrambled to pull on a grey sweat suit and white tank top.

  Darius watched her as she moved with the swiftness of a maniac. He walked over to her and grabbed her arm. “Celina, slow down,” he said. “Breathe. I want you to sit down and I’ll call the airline and get us two tickets.”

  Celina nodded. She was trembling like a leaf, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Darius walked over to the side of the bed and picked up the phone. Celina watched his mouth move, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. What if we don’t make it in time? I can’t lose my father, not now. We’ve just made our way back to each other.

  “Celina,” Darius said as he handed her a pair of tennis shoes. “Do you want me to call your mother?”

  She nodded as she took the shoes from his hands. “She would want to know,” Celina said in a quiet tone as she tied her shoes. “But maybe we should just wait until we get to Columbia and find out what’s going on.”

  Darius nodded. “The only flight they had was one to Charlotte, NC, that leaves tonight. We can get to Charlotte, rent a car, and drive to Columbia.”

  Celina nodded. “What time do we leave?”

  “We’d better get a taxi to the airport now,” he said. “Are you ready?”

  Celina stood up and walked over to Darius. He wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so scared,” she whispered against his ear.

  “It’s all right. Let’s just get to Columbia.” Darius grabbed Celina’s bag and led her to the door. As if in a trance, she followed Darius outside. In the span of two hours, she went from celebrating the most successful show of her career to hopping on a plane to check on her father. It was like Paris all over again. Celina was beginning to wish that she’d never come back to New York. She’d gone to Elmore to take care of her father and she wasn’t supposed to do anything but take care of him and now that he needed her, she was nowhere to be found.

  “If something happens before we get there, I will never forgive myself,” she whispered.

  “What did you say?” Darius asked as they slid into the cab. She leaned against him, afraid to repeat herself.

  The traffic was thin and the cab driver got to LaGuardia in twenty minutes, giving them plenty of time to go through security to make their flight. Celina walked through the airport slowly, leaning on Darius as she dragged along. It would
be an hour before they’d be up in the air and time seemed to be standing still.

  “Do you want to eat something before we get on the plane?” he asked her.

  “I can’t eat,” she said, running her hand over her face. “I just want to get to my father.” As they sat down, she buried her face in Darius’s arms, fighting the tears that burned in her eyes.

  When the boarding announcement for their flight blasted through the PA system, Celina caught a second wind and dashed to the boarding gate, leaving her bag at Darius’ feet. He snatched it up and followed her to the gate, bumping into a few seated passengers mumbling his apologies along the way. Catching up to her, he grabbed Celina’s shoulder.

  “You can’t go anywhere without these,” he said as he handed her the boarding pass she’d left in the side of her carry-on bag.

  “I’m sorry, my head is just all over the place,” she said as she accepted it. “I just want to fly out of here and make it to my father before it’s . . .” Her voice trailed off and she got a faraway look in her eyes.

  Darius pulled her closer. “Come on, baby, I’m here for you.” They walked through the gate and got on the plane. Celina didn’t know what to expect once they made it to South Carolina and she saw her father again.

  CHAPTER 20

  Celina and Darius pulled into the Columbia city limits about 8 AM. Celina slept for most of the ride, but she would wake up abruptly scared by thoughts of Thomas dying. Darius would grab her knee and offer her words of encouragement, but she didn’t hear much of what he said because she was so focused on seeing her father.

  Darius turned the car into the hospital’s parking lot and looked over at Celina as he put the car in park. Celina hopped out of the car before it fully stopped and bolted to the entrance of the hospital. Darius had to sprint behind her to catch up. Reaching her, he grabbed her shoulder, “Are you going to call your mother?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Not until I know what’s going on,” she said, then reached out to open the door. Suddenly she dropped her hand and sobbed.

  “You’re not going to know until you go inside,” he said softly. “I’m with you.”

  Celina squeezed his hand. “Why is this happening? I thought that he was getting better and I was going to be able to tell him how much I love him and how I understand why he and my mother got a divorce and that it didn’t have anything to do with his love for me. I wanted him to share in my life, I wanted to paint for him.” Tears spilled down her cheeks as she spoke. “If I walk in there and he’s gone, it’s going to remind me how much time I wasted being mad at him and now it might be too late to . . .”

  “Shh, you can’t think like that when you don’t know what’s going on. Let’s go,” he said as he reached around her and opened the door. As they walked inside, she clung to him as if she hoped to draw strength from him.

  They headed to the nurses’ station. “Excuse me,” Darius said, “We’are looking for Thomas Hart.”

  “One moment,” the nurse replied as she typed Thomas’s name into the computer. She looked up at Celina and Darius. “Are you family?”

  “Yes,” Celina replied. “I’m his daughter. Now where is he?”

  The woman turned back to the computer. “He’s in the intensive care unit. Only family can go up there. Take the elevator to the fifth floor and turn right.” Celina was pressing the button on the elevator before the woman could finish giving her directions. Darius thanked the woman for her help, then walked into the elevator car with Celina.

  “Breathe,” he whispered putting his arms around her shoulders. She threw her head back and licked her lips. Her throat felt as if it had been packed with cotton, like the top of an aspirin bottle. She swallowed hard, hoping the feeling would go away. Her nerves made her stomach bubble as if a million butterflies had been released in it. Darius stroked her back, sensing her discomfort. When the elevator pinged, signaling that they had reached their destination, Celina stepped off and looked for the intensive care unit. After finding it, she walked until she saw her father’s bed, covered with a plastic tent and tubes all over the place. The machines around his bed beeped, whizzed, and pushed out air. Thomas’s eyes were closed and he was so still that it didn’t seem as if he was alive. Celina’s knees buckled and Darius reached out to hold her up. Looking at her father’s ashen face, she knew that it was only a matter of time before he was gone forever, and there was so much that she wanted to say.

  A doctor walked in and tapped Celina on the shoulder. “Ms. Hart?” he asked. Celina turned around and faced the man. “I’m Dr. Samuel Fisher. I’ve been taking care of your father.”

  “H-how is he?” she stammered.

  “Ms. Hart, we’ve done all that we can do for your father. His cancer has rapidly advanced. He can’t breathe without the respirator and he’s in a lot of pain.”

  Celina waved her hands and shook her head. “No, but he was doing so much better,” she said. “The breathing treatments and all of his other treatments were supposed to be working.”

  Dr. Fisher nodded. “They were working. However, with cancer cells, you can’t be too sure that anything is going to work forever. Without these machines, your father’s lungs aren’t functioning. His cancer never went into remission, so the threat of this happening was always a possibility.”

  Celina looked at him. “We have to do something,” she said, as tears streamed down her face.

  The doctor stroked Celina’s arm. “I’m sorry to say that we’ve done all that we can. He wanted us to keep him on the machines until his family could get here,” Dr. Fisher said solemnly. “Your father wants to be removed from the ventilator.”

  Celina shook her head furiously. “No, I don’t want my father taken off the machine. Where is Dr. Russell? He can help my father.”

  “Ms. Hart, I’m sorry. He has a living will and we have to follow his wishes.”

  More tears fell from her eyes as she looked down at her father. “Can I touch him?” she asked. The doctor nodded. Celina stuck her hand through the plastic and felt her father’s skin. He felt so cold and clammy. Thomas opened his eyes and looked at Celina. When he smiled it looked as if his lips cracked.

  “Oh, Daddy,” she said. “I can’t lose you, not now. I love you so much.”

  Thomas blinked his eyes rapidly. “Daddy, we lost so much time together. But these last few months have been just what we needed. I’m glad we got a chance to know each other again. I know you loved me and I want you to know that I love you, too.” Celina leaned in and kissed Thomas on the forehead.

  He closed his eyes and the machines went wild. Alarms began blaring and lights started flashing. Celina backed away, holding back a loud sob. “Wh-what’s going on?”

  The doctor rushed to Thomas’s side. “Ms. Hart, I need you to step outside,” he said as three nurses and two doctors stormed into the ICU.

  Slowly, she backed to the door, watching the doctors rip away the plastic tent. They started chest compressions. Darius walked up behind Celina as she backed into the hallway. “Celina,” he said. “What’s happening?”

  “He’s gone,” she whispered as he pulled her into his arms. “It was like he was waiting for me to come home and now he’s gone.”

  Darius stroked her hair as he held her. “I’ll call your mother,” he whispered.

  Celina watched through the window as the doctors worked on Thomas, fighting to save his life. The scene reminded her of a bad hospital drama, only this was real. She pressed her hand against the window as one of the doctors looked at his watch. Celina knew that her father had slipped away. Backing away from the door, she irrationally hoped that if the doctor didn’t find her that she wouldn’t have to hear and believe that Thomas was gone.

  The door opened quicker than her feet could move and the doctor made his way over to her. “Ms. Hart, I’m sorry.” He placed his hand on her shoulder.

  Celina shook her head from side to side as if she were trying to block the words. “Please, no,” she whispe
red.

  “We did all that we could,” he said.

  Tears poured from Celina’s eyes like a rushing river and her knees threatened to sink from underneath her. She leaned against the wall, shaking, trembling, and shivering. The doctor waved for a nurse and Darius ran over to Celina.

  “Baby,” he said as he put his arms around her. She passed out in his arms.

  “Let’s get her into a bed,” the doctor said. “She’s in shock.”

  Hours passed as Darius stood by Celina’s hospital bed. You have so much on you right now and I know you need a break, but you can’t leave me right now, he thought as he stroked her hand.

  A nurse walked into the room. “Has she come to yet?”

  Darius shook his head. “Is there anything you can give her?” he asked, his voice filled with worry and concern. “Is this normal?”

  “The doctor wants to wait a few more minutes before we try anything. She just lost her father and that has to be quite a shock. She’s lucky to have some support. Her mother’s waiting outside. Do you want me to send her in?”

  “Sure,” Darius said.

  A few seconds later, Rena rushed through the door with John in tow. She flung herself into Darius’s arms. “What’s wrong with my baby?” she asked.

  “She’s in shock. We thought Thomas was getting better and that’s the only reason she went back to New York for that gallery opening. She thought she had time and just finding out that she didn’t and losing him so suddenly was too much.”

  Rena rubbed Darius’s back. “I’m glad that you’re here for her. Celina would never have gotten through this alone.”

  John reached out and grabbed Celina’s hand. “She’s opening her eyes,” he said excitedly. “Celina, baby, can you hear me?”

  She moaned softly. “Wh-where am I?” Celina said as she attempted to sit up in the bed. Darius rushed to her side. “Celina, you’re in the hospital, remember?” She began to cry as if the reason they were in the hospital came rushing back. Darius hugged and held her close to his chest as she sobbed. Rena sat on the side of the bed and stroked Celina’s back.