All it Took Was You

by Ali Vali

  "I’ll tell you what, if I can find the energy to get out of these handcuffs Desi has me locked in, I’ll be right out." Maria laughed at the outraged huff coming from inside the room followed by a howl of pain coming from Harry.

  "We’ll be right out, Mami, and please ignore Harry, she’s insane."

  "Ok, dear, but if you need an extra set of keys, I have one in my suitcase." Maria walked back toward the kitchen listening to the roar of Harry’s laughter coming from behind the locked bedroom door.

  "She didn’t just say," said Desi in disbelief.

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  "I do believe that’s what she said."

  "There’s nothing wrong with my hearing, it was more of a rhetorical statement on my part."

  "You can take it anyway you like, but just get going. You will find the supplies you need in the closet by the bathroom. Have fun." Celia was enjoying not being the new kid any more, which entitled you to all the grunt work that needed to be done. She had been stuck working the weekend shift with Mitzy and was about to stab the woman with the first sharp object she could find over her attitude.

  "Are you sure you don’t want to go? I could cover your patients, after all we’ve been stuck up here for three days." Mitzy tried for the third time since their supervisor had asked her to go to Building 100, to talk Celia into going. If she could convince the younger nurse into going, it would give her the opportunity to go in and see Diana.

  "No thanks, I’m expecting a phone call. This will give you the chance to learn the layout of the hospital, and as you said give you the chance to get some fresh air. Call if you get lost." Celia picked up her charts and headed for Diana’s room. Her patient had been depressed for the past week waiting to hear Tyrell’s fate.

  Mitzy gathered the supplies she would need to draw blood on the ten patients that needed a work up. Some of the doctors liked to schedule things for the labs when they were the least busy. Building 100 was the place Charity had set up for their HIV positive patients. It was not designed to treat them as outcasts, but as an easier way to sterilize and control their environment cutting down on infections and such. The plain looking building was nestled between the back of the main hospital structure and the Veterans Hospital across the street.

  The halls and the elevators were deserted as Mitzy made her way down to the ground floor. She stopped a janitor to ask directions and the man told her about a short cut through the medical school. Mitzy followed the walkway until she came to the building the guy had described turning to go in.

  "I thought Celia told me this had more than one floor," muttered Mitzy looking at the small structure. The door opened easily to a stark room with beds lined along two walls. There weren’t that many patients and at the back of the room sat a sleeping security guard. There was no one behind the nurses’ station so Mitzy moved to the first patient and pulled his chart down from the holder on the wall. She was going to check for his name on the list she had when the clank of the handcuff made her take a step back from the bed.

  "Who are you, and what do you want?" the man spoke in a low menacing voice and Mitzy had a hard time understanding him because his two front to teeth were missing.

  "I’m sorry Mr.," she looked down to the chart in her hand, "Mr. Simoneaux. I took a wrong turn somewhere, I’m sorry to have disturbed you." His name sounded so familiar, it was like she should know who he was.

  "It’s all right, gives me something new to look at besides that ugly mother sleeping back there."

  "Try and go back to sleep." Mitzy put the chart back and started out of the room. With her hand on the knob it came to her who this guy was. Byron Simoneaux was once married to none other than Harry’s partner, Desi. She had read it in the paper, how he had broken into their house and tried to kill everyone inside.

  "Something you forgot?"

  "I don’t mean to pry, but weren’t you married to Desi Basantes?" Mitzy put her tray down and pulled up a chair.

  "Don’t call her that, her name is Simoneaux. What she is now isn’t natural, so if you are one of those fag lovers, get the fuck out of here now." Byron was angry, but kept his voice down so he wouldn’t wake the guard in the back.

  "I’m no fan of her relationship, so don’t worry about that. What I am is curious about why she hooked up with Harry?" Mitzy answered truthfully, she was no fan of Desi in Harry’s life and this Neanderthal could hold the answer to that problem.

  "Cause that big evil bitch seduced her into a life she didn’t want. Desi and me, we were in love and happy before her accident. Then she came into the picture and took Desi away from me." If she hadn’t known a little of the story, Mitzy could swear he sounded sincere and believed what he was saying.

  "Do you still love her? If you don’t mind my asking that is."

  "I just want the chance to just talk to her, that’s why I broke out of jail. The wanting to see her and tell her how much I missed her drove me to it." Bryon looked through the railing of the bed at her and tried to look contrite.

  "That’s so sweet."

  "Yeah, I just wanted to make her happy and share children with her."

  "How long will you be here, Mr. Simoneaux?"

  "Please call me Byron and, I don’t know. Will you come back and see me again?" Byron didn’t want the woman to go, seeing her as his last lifeline to the outside world especially if she knew Desi.

  "Sure, I’ll be back. I’m off tomorrow night so I’ll see you in a couple of days." Mitzy picked up her supplies and made her way to the door. On her day off she would have to think about how best to proceed. The memory of Desi’s leg was still fresh enough for Mitzy to realize what Byron was capable of so she would have to be careful.

  Byron watched her go, proud that he hadn’t pushed too hard. Maybe all wasn’t lost for him. Given another chance he knew he would make it since all he had to worry about was himself. She’ll be back, and when she does, I’ll have a plan. He closed his eyes and tried to forget about the pain in his arm and fingers, concentrating instead on the picture of Desi in his head.

  Mitzy returned to her regular ward two hours later to find an even perkier Celia. "What did I miss, the happy wagon?"

  "Dr. Basantes jus came by to see Ms. Lagrie, sorry you missed her."

  "What was Harry doing here at three in the morning?" Mitzy couldn’t believe she had missed the one person that had been on her mind since her little talk with Byron.

  "She was called in for an emergency surgery so she came up before heading home. That was nice of her since it’s Monday morning. Whatever she told Ms. Lagrie sure lifted her spirits. Dr. Basantes can do that just by walking in the room though." Celia seemed to be gushing by the end of her explanation amusing Mitzy to no end. The young nurse had a serious case of hero worship going, and Mitzy was sure Harry was doing nothing to quash that in any way.

  "I’m sure you, and her partner think she can walk on water."

  "You know Desi? I think she’s great, we met a while back. She’s very lucky." Celia rested her chin in her hands and tried to figure out why Mitzy hated Dr. Basantes so much.

  "You know Desi?"

  "Yeah, we met during my clinicals when she was here visiting Dr. Basantes. They stopped by my apartment during finals and brought me dinner and some cookies Desi had baked. With my parents gone, it made me feel special that they went out of their way like that."

  "They are just the golden couple, they are."

  "I’m going to get a soda, you want anything?"

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  "Could you check on the baby?"

  "Why, is he walking the floor?" Harry dropped to the bed instead of heading to the kitchen to get her drink. Her laugh bubbled out when Desi pinched her before kissing her hello. "I just checked on him, he’s fine. He’s sleeping just like his momma should be, why are you awake?"

  "The bed got cold when you left." Desi put her head i
n Harry’s lap and pulled the drawstring to the scrub pants apart with her teeth.

  "That call did come at bad time huh?"

  "Not for me, but for you, not so good," said Desi. She kissed the cloth-covered abs and snuggled closer to Harry.

  "Come on, hot stuff, I’ll let you off easy tonight and let you go back to sleep. You can do that now that your human electric blanket is home." When Harry stood up her pants fell down to her ankles making it easy to step out of them. She joined Desi when the rest was stripped off and no sooner than she lay down, Jack woke up. "I’m glad I’m too tired to be horny."

  "You want to share a drink with him, or you want to sleep?" asked Desi as she moved toward the bassinet. Their bruiser was yelling with no tears in his eyes.

  "You think he’ll be willing to share?" Harry asked wiggling her eyebrows.

  "I was thinking breast milk for him, and a diet Coke for you." Desi pointed at Harry and winked. "And you, mister, I’m beginning to thing you have learned to scream just so someone will come and pick you up."

  "Then his master plan is working." Harry left the room in search of something to drink before Desi could reply, or pinch her somewhere else now that she had more territory exposed.

  When Harry returned with two glasses of mild and the brownies Desi had baked early, she found Desi and Jack on the bed. "You do realize once Mona’s back on her feet you are going to have to put something on when you leave the bedroom, don’t you?"

  "You really can’t call it home if you can’t walk around naked, can you?"

  "Get over here, smart ass, and burp this little guy." Desi held Jack up waiting for Harry to put their snack down.

  "Oh, buddy, I think your mother planned that one." Harry turned around so that Desi could see the after effects of Jack’s burp down Harry’s back. "The silver lining here is that I haven’t put on my pajamas yet. If you need us, we’ll be in the bathroom."

  Once Harry and Jack were cleaned up and dressed they returned to the bedroom where there was only one brownie left on the plate. "Sorry, breastfeeding is hard work."

  "Uh huh," said Harry as she put Jack down. Either the bassinet was getting smaller or the baby was out growing it fast. "We are going to have to start putting him in the baby bed soon." The pout on Desi’s face told her how well received that plan was going to go.

  "He likes it in here, honey."

  "I like him close too, but you don’t want him to roll out of here do you?" Harry covered Jack up before climbing into her won bed. "He’ll just be next door baby, he’ll be fine. We can try starting tomorrow and see how he does since I have the next three days off."

  "You do?" Desi had moved close to Harry once the tall body had relaxed against the headboard.

  "You told me you wanted to talk house renovations and that would be hard to do from work, so I took some time off. Hell I never took days off before I met you, I think I’m entitled. How about tomorrow we leave the grandmothers over here with Jack and Mona, and you and I go pick paint colors for next door?" Harry offered Desi her last bite of brownie and a smile.

  "You realize that Tony comes as part of the package tomorrow, right?"

  "I have done battle with the decorator from hell before, don’t worry about me." Harry turned the lamp on the nightstand off and scooted down on the bed to get more comfortable. The late night call into surgery was beginning to announce itself again now that Desi was pressed up against her. Outside they could hear the wind blowing some of the low tree limbs against the house as the temperature dropped blow twenty right before dawn.

  "Can I ask you why Tony is a decorator, if he is a licensed registered nurse?"

  "He worked at the hospital for a couple of years and he was excellent with the patients, but there were some who weren’t so great back. Sometimes his enthusiasm was taken as something else and every time someone looked at him with disgust it killed his spirit a little more." Harry pulled Desi closer when she felt the blonde head on her should shake.

  "That’s awful, he is so sweet."

  "Yes he is. After it was apparent he wasn’t happy anymore, I asked him to spruce up the old house for me. He agreed as a favor to me and took a couple of weeks off to do it right, as he put it. A month and a couple of fistfights with Mona later, he completely transformed the place and himself. The spark was back and so was the drive to do a good job. He still misses his first profession I suspect, but he seems to like what he’s doing now too. Having you back to spend his time with has something to do with that as well."

  "I’m sure it could have been anyone, honey."

  "Don’t short change yourself, my love. Tony loves you, and now that you have given him a nephew to adore as well, you’ve been elevated to goddess stature I’m sure." Harry drifted off to sleep when there were no more questions, but Desi stayed awake for a while to watch her two loves sleep. She wanted to enjoy the last night with Jack in his bassinet before the process of his growing up took him away.

  "Maybe before too long we can have another one that wants to camp out in there for a couple of months. What do you think, Jack?" Desi spoke softly so she wouldn’t wake either one of her brunettes and smiled when Jack grunted in his sleep. "So much like your mom, little man. If you can sew by the time you’re four, I know what your partner will lose some nights to."

  The next morning they walked next door to check the house progress being made on the house, trailed by June and Maria. The two grandmothers complained that it was too cold to have Jack outside for the whole short trek. Tony was waiting in the kitchen with coffee, Stephen and a couple of workers from the crew.

  The moved from room to room outlining what needed to be done and repaired, Harry just nodding her head as Desi and Tony did all the talking. At one point Desi looked over and found a smiling Maria holding Jack.

  "I’m so glad he makes you so happy, Mami."

  "That’s not what I’m smiling at, dear, though Jack does make me happy."

  "What’s got you so happy then?" asked Desi.

  Maria pointed to Harry, who had her head stuck up in the entrance of the attic checking over the repairs. "She is my daughter but she is so much like her father. Without you, the house would have a new roof, all white walls, a refrigerator, a television and a bed."

  "Ah she’s not that bad. She can dress herself after all; it is more than I can ask for. Though she did tell me that it is a shame that they don’t make Granimals for adults." Desi and Maria laughed together, getting Harry to look down from the attic to see what they were up to. She climbed down the steps and kissed both her wife and her mother before heading down the main stairs to the ground floor.

  "You two stay here and let me give Stephen some directions on some stuff I want done outside."

  "Are we doing anything to the outside, honey?" Desi tried to remember if they had talked about having anything done to the outside of the house except the roof repairs and painting the exterior.

  "It’s a surprise, you have to trust me." Harry took the steps two at a time getting a reprimand from Desi for doing so before she hit the middle of her trip down. "She’s turning into such a mother."

  "I heard that, doc."

  Harry and Stephen moved to the brick wall that surrounded the property and talked about what had to be done as the walked to the back studio. As the work crew started arriving neither of them saw the old Honda Accord that drove slowly past the front gates. The driver pulled off and parked so that they could get a better look at what was happening inside. Leaning just outside the gate, it gave the perfect view to see Desi come to the side door and call out for Harry.

  They were talking to softly to hear, but words weren’t necessary when Desi came out and wrapped a scarf around Harry’s neck. When it was secure, the smaller woman used it to pull Harry down into a long kiss. Seeing that, the watcher’s mind was set on the next course of action.

  "Enjoy it, Desiree, because it won’t last. Harry doesn’t belong to you."

  Comments to: terrali20@yahoo.com

 
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  All It Took Was You

  by

  Ali Vali

  Part 10

  "I thought today was your day off?"

  "You wanted me to come see you, so here I am. I thought we could talk and see how we could help each other both get what we both want."

  "There’s no way for me to get what I want. After I leave here, I’ll be lucky to see the sun again." Byron looked at the woman sitting next to his bed. She was dressed causally but had her I.D. hanging from her neck with the name turned toward her chest. It just occurred to him that she knew who he was, but he had no idea who she was, and what she wanted.

  "If you could get out, what would you want most to do?" Mitzy had offered to relieve the nurse on duty for an hour to give her the opportunity to talk to Byron. Waiting until the next night when she was working was too long away, so she had gotten dressed and driven to the hospital.

  The chance she was taking could alter her future in a way that made her afraid, but the payoff was worth the gamble. She figured the problem with Desi was that the blonde was not smart enough to control Byron. He was big, but with the right attitude he could be managed. With the right plan, they would both get what they wanted.

  Mitzy looked over his chart to check the progress of his healing as she waited for him to answer. Byron was looking at her with a great deal of suspicion, and she could just imagine he was thinking she was a plant from the police or something else just as heinous. The knife wound he had gotten the night he had broken into the Basantes household, had surprisingly gone clean through to the other side without hitting any major artery or organ. The only things that were going to be a problem were the broken bones.

  "There is no sense in me wishing for things I don’t have a chance at getting," answered Byron after what seemed to be an eternity. This talk was not going like he had planned the night before. He wanted to use Mitzy to get some information on Desi, and the baby he had tried to steal.