by Ali Vali
"Why would you want to help my partner and my son?"
"My father killed my mother and I didn’t do anything about it. That says something about the kind of man I am, don’t you think?"
"Does it really matter to you, how I feel about that?" Harry just stood looking down on the man who in her mind had helped Byron get away with terrorizing Desi for so long.
"In a way it does, because I tried to act differently now. I don’t want anything from you Dr. Basantes, I just wanted you to know that I was sorry before they send me back to prison for all of this." This time he couldn’t hide the pain in his face, but he still had another hour to go until they would give him more pain medication.
"Thank you for what you tried to do last night. We will never be friends Mr. Simoneaux, but I do appreciate that you put yourself in danger to keep my family safe. I figure your brother didn’t throw you off our balcony because you were helping him." The admission had not come easy because it killed her to be indebted to anyone in the Simoneaux family, but this guy seemed different from the others. Harry picked up the chart at the end of his bed and looked it over before saying anything else. Mike watched as her eyebrow arched dramatically when she read something in the file. "You haven’t gone into surgery yet?"
"No, they said I had to go through a regimen of antibiotics first before they would take me." He was surprised when she fished her phone out of her coat pocket and connected with someone in the hospital.
"Yes, for tomorrow’s schedule. No, don’t bump anyone just add one to the front end, thank you." Harry snapped the phone closed and wrote some orders in the file before she addressed the man again. "I’ll do the surgery tomorrow, then we’ll be even, you and I."
"I won’t have a limp because you do it, will I?" Mike tried to sound light never figuring the woman would be so generous. No wonder you never had a chance brother.
"I promise, but don’t tempt me." Harry laughed at his attempt at humor then shook hands with him. She dropped the file off with the duty nurse who looked at it and prepared a shot of painkiller which he injected into Mike’s I.V. over an hour early. Yep, not a chance in hell Bryon. It was the last thought he had before a morphine cloud took him away.
Harry took a detour upstairs before she headed to the car, but she figured Desi wouldn’t mind her being a little late. The charge nurse behind the counter gave her a little wave as she went into one of the cubicles filled with monitors and medical equipment.
"You old fool, you should have tried and stayed out of that lunatic’s way." Harry whispered the sentiment around the lump in her throat as tears ran down her face. With a shaky hand she picked up one of Mona’s and kissed it. "You get better and come back to me, do you hear me?"
"I hear you just fine bonehead, and don’t you worry, I am not going anywhere just yet." The voice was weak but it gave Harry hope. She laughed through her tears and pointed a finger at the old woman.
"You were awake the whole time, weren’t you? I think you just wanted to see if I would cry."
"I figured if I lived long enough, it would happen. You have given me enough grief over the years, I thought it was time for you to shed some tears." Mona blinked her eyes against the light in the room and tried to make out Harry’s face. "Don’t cry my precious, I really am going to be all right."
"Thank you Mona for being there for my girl. I’m just so sorry that you got hurt." Harry put her hand on Mona’s head and couldn’t stop the river of tears now flowing. Mona was in a sense her oldest friend. She was one person in her life who had always been on her side and had always been there to turn to, no matter what the problem was.
"Harry, Desi deserved no less from me. She’s my family just like she was one of my own. Now stop all that crying and give an old woman a kiss." Harry did just that then sat with her and did all the talking. Mona just closed her eyes and listened to all that had happened after she got hurt, and the richness of Harry’s voice lulled her to sleep. With another soft kiss to Mona’s forehead, Harry left her to rest. By tomorrow Mona would be resting comfortably in a room at Mercy.
The only other request she made before going to sleep was making Harry promise to sneak Jack and all her other grandkids in to see her. As Harry made her way back to the car she smiled thinking that the staff on whatever ward Mona ended up on wouldn’t know what hit them before it was time to discharge her.
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"Are you sure you don’t want to stay here and just take it easy?"
"Honey you were the one who beat the crap out of Byron not me. I want to go with you so stop trying to talk me out of it. Do you remember when we first heard that all those guys had escaped?" Desi lay on top of Harry and waited for her partner to answer the question.
"Yeah I remember."
"What did I tell you and your parents then?" Desi ran her index finger along the middle of Harry’s forehead to smooth out the crease her thinking of the answer was causing.
"That you wouldn’t let Byron run you out of your home."
"That’s right honey, so why do you suppose I would change my mind now. I can’t say that I won’t think about what happened every so often, but the memories will always end with you coming out the winner, so I think I can live with that. Besides, you gave me that house and I don’t want to give it back. I want to grow old there with you, I want to raise Jack and whatever other children we are blessed with and I want to get back to making pots in my studio. Please don’t make us give all that up now." Desi gave Harry her best puppy dog look and hoped for the best.
They had gotten up early so they would have the chance to talk before Harry headed to the hospital to begin a long day of surgeries. Harry had given Desi the option of selling the house and looking for a new place that didn’t hold so many bad memories, but Desi felt like if they did that, Byron ended up winning.
"How about we compromise and find a place until all the repairs are made? That way if you want to redo the place it will give you the opportunity to do it without too much hassle for Jack and us. Tony will love you if you say yes." Harry lifted her head off the pillow and kissed Desi to get her to agree. If she did it would make the surprise she had all the more special.
"The thing is, do you love me?"
"Always and forever Desiree, you know that."
"Even if Tony and I spend all your money?"
"Even then. Did you forget our little talk about money already?"
"Ok, will you love me if I spend all of our money?"
"I answered that already love, so does the lure of spending money mean your answer is yes?"
"I will be home anywhere Harry as long as you are right where you are now at the end of the day and in the morning, so the answer is yes to moving temporarily and to spending money." Desi laughed as Harry rolled her over and kissed her. When she opened her eyes there was a set of keys hanging from a key chain with a globe on it. "What’s this, are you giving me the world?"
"Only a small part of it, but if I could, it would be the world and all that goes with it. Tony will be by later so that you both can go and explore, but for now kiss me and let me go to work."
"Honey, why are there so many keys on this thing?" Desi spoke loud enough so that Harry would hear her in the bathroom but hopefully not everyone else in the house. She had been holding the Tiffany key chain while Harry had been in the shower and thought there was too many for one house.
"I don’t know baby, maybe it’s because you have a lot of doors to open." Harry came out and sat on the edge of the bed to put her shoes on. She was going in to work wearing jeans and a sweater figuring she would change into scrubs at Charity. When she was done she kissed both Desi and Jack before grabbing her own keys and leaving Desi to wonder what she meant.
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"She didn’t tell you where we had to go?" Tony sat in the kitchen at Serena and Rachel’s while Desi finished her b
reakfast. Desi had asked him where they were going and figured she had slept through part of her conversation with Harry that morning when he didn’t know where the keys fit either.
"I thought you knew where we were going. All Harry did this morning was give me these keys before she left."
"Is that all she gave you this morning?" Tony looked at her and touched the ring of keys Desi held up.
"What did I tell you about behaving or you won’t be spending any time with Jack?" Desi pointed her fork at Tony and tried not to laugh at his near constant innuendos.
"Come on, I just figured any woman who could father a child that looks just like her is insatiable. Are you going to call her and ask what lock these fit?" Tony touched the keys still in Desi’s hand in an effort to get her to pick up the phone faster. He couldn’t believe that she wasn’t as curious as he was as to what Harry had in mind.
"She’s working Tony, I don’t like to call during surgery unless it’s an emergency and I don’t think this qualifies."
"Come on you know she’s waiting for you to call." Before he could try any more tactics to get Desi to call, the doorbell rang. Tony got up to answer it since they were the only two left in the house besides the baby.
He opened the door to an attractive young woman in a business suit and a large organizer under one arm. She smiled at him showing off white perfect teeth and the hand she held out sported a perfect manicure. "Tony?"
"I’m sorry, do I know you?" Tony asked as he shook her hand.
"No not yet, but Harry told me where to find you. And if you are here hopefully Desi Basantes is with you. May I come in?"
"Sure, Ms…?"
"Please call me Georgia."
"Nice to meet you Georgia, come on back to the kitchen, I have a feeling that you hold the secret to the keys Harry handed Desi this morning." Tony led the way through the main hall back to the kitchen. When he arrived with their guest Desi had finished eating and was beginning to give Jack his breakfast. Actually it was his second meal of the day, but he had given her an extra hour of sleep after Harry had left for work so he was due.
"Ms. Basantes it’s nice to meet you, I’m Georgia Easel a friend of Harry’s." The young woman held out her hand and Desi looked at it like she was holding a rattlesnake in it.
"Mrs."
"Excuse me?" The young woman put her organizer down on the kitchen table and wondered where she took a wrong turn after stepping into the room.
"It’s Mrs. Basantes, not Ms."
"I’m sorry, it’s nice to meet you Mrs. Basantes, I’m Georgia Easel." Tony stepped in and picked up the book the woman had put down and escorted her into the living room.
"You don’t mind giving us a few minutes, do you Georgia? We’ll be in as soon as Jackson changes sides." Georgia shook her head and made herself comfortable on one of the wingback chairs in the room. She pulled a slender phone out of her date book still shaking her head at the woman in the kitchen strange behavior.
"What in the hell was that?" Tony asked when he crossed the threshold. He was talking through his teeth so Georgia wouldn’t hear him.
"Who is that woman?" Desi had taken one look at the attractive well-dressed woman that had walked into the kitchen and felt like a cow all of a sudden.
"We may never find out now darling, after the reception she got when she came in here. What’s the matter Desi?"
"Look at her Tony, she’s beautiful." Tony wanted to laugh but the trembling lip made him stop.
"Honey so are you. She said she’s a friend of Harry’s, not that she wanted to sleep with Harry. You need to get a grip on reality here." The phone rang and Tony moved to answer it.
"Hey Tony, is the love of my life around?"
"Hang on, I think you are just the person she needs to talk to." Tony handed Desi the phone and left the room to check on Georgia.
"Hi beautiful, did you get my surprise yet?"
"Should I apologize now or later?" Desi bit her bottom lip wondering how good a friend Harry and Georgia were, and how mad Harry was going to get when the woman told on her.
"For what baby?"
"I wasn’t on my best behavior when she came in, that’s all I’m willing to admit to right at the moment."
"Baby, the woman is a real estate agent. Georgia is the person that found your house and she’s there to help you find the locks those keys I gave you fit. Now stop biting your lip, finish feeding Jack and go get ready. You have a full morning ahead of you. I love you, but I got a man I got to see about some steel rods."
"I love you too honey, and I’m sorry."
"Come on Desi, you’ve been through an ordeal the last couple of weeks. It’s time you cut yourself some slack. Kiss Jack for me, I have got to go."
"Bye honey." Desi finished feeding Jack and was ready to face Georgia again an hour later. The woman accepted her apology with a genuine smile, but wouldn’t give either of them a hint as to where they were going.
They drove down St. Charles in the direction of Desi and Harry’s house, so both she and Tony figured they were going to survey the damage before they went anywhere else. When the house came into view they could see that Stephen and crew were still up on the roof working and there were a couple of police cars parked in the driveway, but they didn’t pull in. Georgia pulled into the drive next door.
The house was just one story and had an impressive yard. Desi could see the roof of her studio over the solid brick fence that surrounded their property from where she got out of the car. Tony was carrying Jack and Georgia pointed them toward the house.
"Desi you might want to use the gold key on that ring on the front door locks." Desi pulled the key ring out and unlocked the front door of the empty house, and their footsteps sounded loud on the hardwood floors when they all stepped in. "Welcome to your temporary home Desi. I have strict instructions to find something else if you don’t like it, but Harry thought you might want to be close by to supervise the renovations next door."
Desi didn’t say anything as she walked through the brightly lit house. The large windows throughout the back of the house overlooked the gardens in the back, which at the center had a beautiful large pond. The cold weather had killed most of the vegetation, but she and Tony could imagine what it would look like in the spring. "We can live here until the house is finished?"
"Do you like it?" Georgia opened the organizer to a specific page and waited for Desi’s answer.
"I love it. This will be perfect for us to live, and you’re right, I can just walk next door to work." As soon as Desi had given her answer Georgia called the homeowners and told them it was a done deal. "Harry bought this place? I thought this was a temporary arrangement?"
"You have to ask your partner that one. Until we meet up with her to finalize all the paperwork, can I ask how you managed to carbon copy Harry?" Desi laughed and followed the woman back to the car. Driving away from the uptown area, Georgia took them to Royal Street in the French Quarter. Desi had spent countless hours in the antique shops and art galleries with Harry on the weekends, but couldn’t figure out why they were there now.
Georgia pulled up to a reserved parking space in front of a empty building. The space looked like it hadn’t been utilized in a while, but the architecture of the old space was beautiful to both Desi and Tony. The front windows were painted to hide what was inside, but the one thing that caught both their attention was the sign hanging from the overhang in the front.
It wasn’t a permanent sign. Actually it was a piece of cardboard that someone had written on with a wide marker on and hung it up with string, but to Desi it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. ‘IT’S YOURS JUST LIKE ME’ was all it said, written in the big bold print Harry was known for since no one outside the hospital could read her handwriting. She signed it ‘love Harry’ and that’s what got Desi crying.
"She loves you so much Mrs. Basantes, I hope you like it. We looked at so many properties before she decided this might be the place you would be interest
ed in, but I promised not to give you a hint as to why. Just try the silver square headed key and see if you can figure it out." Georgia took the baby from Tony and waved him to go with his friend with a nod of her head. "Come on beautiful boy, let’s go see your mama be happy."
The inside was all exposed brick walls, wide cypress plank wood floors and pillars every twenty feet to hold up the roof and loft offices. There was paper piled up everywhere and there must have been a foot of dust on everything in sight, but Desi didn’t see any of that because her eyes where glued to the back corner of the room.
"What was this before?" asked Desi.
"It’s the weirdest thing, it’s been a general store, a furniture store and an Oriental rug shop."
"What’s weird about that?" Tony asked as he was already running through decorating themes in his head.
"No one could explain that." Georgia pointed to where Desi was still staring. "No one claims to have put it up, but none of the tenants ever took it down." It was a swing, almost the twin to the one they had hung on the balcony at home and this one looked like the condition that one had been in when Harry had brought it home. After four weekends of scraping, stripping and refurbishing Harry had gotten it as close to its original state as it was going to get. She had first romanced Desi on the one they owned, locking away memories Desi loved to relive.
"Look Des, there’s something on it." Tony pointed to the swing at the back of the space after Georgia had shown him where the main power switch was.
Desi made sure that Jack was all right before she walked to the back of the gallery. On the seat of the swing was sitting a large checkbook with a letter on top. The envelope, that she knew with out looking had both their initials on the flap, just had the words ‘My Love’ written across the front, which Desi traced with her finger before she turned it over and opened it. She pulled out the letter, sat on the swing and set herself in motion to read it.