by A D Seeley
When she was left alone, it was all she could think of. Did she really have a brain tumor? Did cancer run in her family? And then the shallowest thought she had ever thought went through her perhaps diseased mind. Would Inac still love her if she lost all her hair?
“Baby? I got you in today,” he said as he walked back into the room, pulling her out of her imaginings of her head even balder than his shaved one—at least his had stubble.
“Today?” She didn’t know if she was ready to find out so soon.
“Yeah. I know it’s a little unconventional, but I got an old friend of mine to call in the tests. We’ll go to the hospital and then go to his office after for the results. So get dressed,” he said as he looked through her closet before tossing her a tank top, cardigan, and skirt.
“Inac? Do we really have to do this today?”
He nodded. “This way we can fix it sooner. I don’t want you getting any worse. What happens if you wake up one day and can’t remember me?” he said, the last few words breaking from the emotions he was holding back. It was the closest she’d ever come to seeing him cry.
Wanting to reward him for becoming so emotional, as well as not wanting him to have to worry, she said, “Okay. I’ll be out in a minute.”
He nodded before shutting the door.
***
Inac and Hara were waiting in the exam room of Inac’s friend’s office. She sat on the crinkly white paper that covered the table, Inac standing next to her, holding one of her hands. The test she’d had done hadn’t been too bad, if not annoying. They had stuck her in a tube and told her not to move at all. She was happy she wasn’t claustrophobic because it had taken a long time.
“Stop playing with it, baby,” Inac said as he took her free hand from where it was fiddling with the cotton ball under some kind of tan wrapping where they’d stuck an IV in her.
“Sorry. I’m just nervous.”
“Don’t be. No matter what, I’ll be here for you,” he said, squeezing her hand.
She smiled weakly at him before setting herself into his open arms. They could protect her from anything. Even cancer.
The door opened and a man older than she’d expected walked in. He wasn’t old by any means, but he did look to be in his mid-fifties with his thick, salt and pepper wavy hair.
“Henry!” the man exclaimed, holding a large, tan hand out to Inac. “You’re looking good!” He was handsome with a strong chin with a cleft in it and laughing blue eyes a color she’d never really seen before. She wanted to look closer to see exactly what shade they were, but Inac spoke just then, redirecting her thoughts.
“Inac,” her fiancé corrected with a knowing grin. “Henry was my father. Remember?”
She looked between the two men who were busy having a conversation with their eyes.
“That’s right,” the doctor said as he nodded. “You two just look so much alike.”
“Nearly identical,” Inac replied with a grin she didn’t understand. But the doctor seemed to.
The doctor then turned to her. “And who is this beautiful treasure?”
“My fiancée, Hara.”
“Fiancée? Wow.” The doctor turned to her, lifting one of her hands like a knight in a medieval story. “You’re certainly bound to make even Inac here look ugly next to you.”
When she felt herself blush, Inac laughed. Clapping the older man on the back of his white lab coat opened to show his nice blue shirt and navy striped tie underneath, he said, “Sorry, Hank. I think she’s a little too young for you.”
“Too young for me? And what about you?” he replied with a large, lopsided grin that made him instantaneously endearing. She wasn’t sure what about this doctor had her instantly trusting him….
“Well, she’s too young for me, too,” Inac said with a nearly identical lopsided grin of his own.
“At least you admit it.”
It was nice to see Inac getting along with someone so well. It was obvious that he held a lot of affection for the older man.
“So how do you two know each other?” she asked during a lull in the men’s banter.
The doctor looked seriously at Inac, obviously waiting for him to answer.
“Well,” Inac said. “When I was in college, Hank here took a course for fun. We were in the same class. When Hank saw me, he had to come and talk to me because I looked exactly like his deceased father.”
“Did you end up being related?” she asked.
Inac looked sideways at Hank and said, “Yeah. He’s my grandfather’s son. My grandfather had a new life after he’d supposedly died in the war.”
“So you’re really Inac’s uncle then?”
“I guess so,” the doctor said with a smile for Inac. He looked at Inac like he was his hero, which was odd seeing as how Inac was at least twenty-five years younger than him.
“Is that difficult knowing that your dad left you to start another family?” she asked, looking between the two men. Now that she knew they were related, it wasn’t difficult to see.
Hank and Inac shared the same cleft-laden chin, chiseled jaw, exquisite yet manly cheekbones, and sensual lips. However, Hank wasn’t near as tall or muscular as Inac, though he was still tall and fit. They also shared that odd mix of features that had you questioning their nationality. They were two very handsome men. It also showed her that Inac would still be handsome when he was a grandfather. Their similarities were probably why she inherently trusted the doctor.
Hank looked to Inac with such gravity, as though he was about to say something that he needed to say to him. “Not anymore. I understand it all now. My dad really had no choice. He couldn’t stay with us or all his secrets would have come out.”
Was it just her or did Inac look like that meant a lot to him to hear? It was like some understanding had just occurred between the two men. Or maybe something like forgiveness…. Whatever it was, it didn’t make any sense to her between an uncle and his nephew.
“Secrets? Like that he belonged to the Mokolios? Why’s that such a big secret? It’s not that big a deal,” she said.
The doctor turned to her, every part of his face registering shock. “She knows about that?” he finally spluttered, looking back at Inac.
Inac shrugged. “A little.”
She suddenly felt worried. What was the punishment for telling someone about the sect?
“I hope me knowing isn’t going to get him into trouble…?”
“Like Inac’s going to punish himself—” But the doctor was cut off with one glance from Inac. If she had understood that right, then Inac wasn’t just part of the Mokolios. He was in charge of them. But he’d told her that he was only twenty-nine…. How could someone so young be in charge of such a powerful group? Was it because he was, in his words, an Adamson?
“So Hank, what did the MRI show?”
Inac was too obvious about changing the subject, affirming the new knowledge to be accurate.
“Oh, right. Well,” he said, opening a manila folder. “Everything appears to be well. There isn’t anything showing any reason for the headaches and memory loss. That leaves me to believe that it’s a mental thing. Were you under any added stress before the incidents occurred?” he asked her, no longer looking at the test results but at her, his eyes kind.
“Um…yeah. I guess so. The first time I was almost attacked right before it and this time I’ve been fighting with my best friend on top of spending over a week worrying about him and Inac.”
“I’m going to say that this is stress-related then. I can prescribe you an anxiety medication…?”
“She doesn’t need that,” Inac answered. “If the incidents become more frequent, then we’ll talk about it. Does that sound okay, love?”
She nodded at Inac, who was lightly rubbing her shoulder. She didn’t think she needed medication either.
“Okay,” Hank said before talking to her about various relaxation techniques. Once done, he walked them out slowly, seeming like he wanted to spend mor
e time with Inac. It was like he wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet.
“Baby, why don’t you have a seat while I ask Hank something?” Inac said once they were at the door that led to the waiting room painted in deep, rich colors.
She nodded and walked through the door, sitting down in a brown leather chair and grabbing a magazine. But she didn’t read it. Instead, she listened in on the men’s hushed conversation taking place on the other side of the slightly ajar door.
“So how is your mother?” Inac asked.
The doctor said something about her missing someone. Probably her husband.
“And the kids?” Inac asked.
She couldn’t hear the answer, but she did hear the doctor say something like, “It’s good to see you, Dad.”
Which was ridiculous. He must’ve said something different and she had completely misunderstood. Could stress do that too? Make her hearing all wonky?
By the time she tuned back in, she could hear the men hugging, clapping each other on the back. She wasn’t going to learn anything from them about Inac’s secrets.
“You ready?” Inac asked a few moments later as he came through the door. He seemed refreshed after his short visit with his uncle. It had cheered him up immensely and he was more like the man who had flipped off the yacht than he’d been in weeks. He’d been so serious lately….
She set down the magazine that she’d pretended to flip through, nervous when she saw that it had been one all about cars. Would Inac notice and know that she’d really been listening in on his private conversation?
Trying to act totally normal, she said as nonchalantly as possible, “Yup.”
“Thanks Hank,” Inac said with a broad smile that had her grinning even though it wasn’t directed at her.
“Anytime,” he said, shaking Inac’s hand. “You take care of this gem.”
“Don’t worry. I will.”
Once they were in the car, Hara said, “You told me you didn’t have any family?”
That seriousness took over his features for a moment again as he said, “Well it’s not like I can really go to his family outings, now can I? His mom doesn’t know. It would kill her to know that she was abandoned versus widowed.”
“So she thinks her husband died?”
“Yeah,” he answered as he rounded the parking garage aisles toward the exit at the bottom. “He left her plenty of money, though.”
“That doesn’t make it better. I’m sure she’d rather be poor and still have her husband.”
“I’m sure she would, too.” He was clenching his jaw tight. That meant that he was feeling something strong that he wasn’t about to let show. Why did he always have to hold back his emotions? It was so annoying! Annoying and aggravating. It made her suddenly angry for some reason.
“Was your dad the same as his father? Are you the same? Is that the real reason why you’ve had so many wives? Are you going to leave me, too? But it will be okay because you’ll leave me plenty of money?” She didn’t know why, but she was getting hysterical. He was just so blasé about his grandfather leaving his family. How could he not think it was okay, too, with an attitude like that?
“Hara,” he said carefully, “things are different with us because I love you.”
“So you won’t be leaving me in order to keep your secrets?”
“No. Remember? You’ll know all of my secrets before the wedding. Besides, I knew my father until adulthood when I was kicked out of the family. And he really loved my mother a lot. You could sort of say that they were made for each other,” he said, smiling at what seemed to be his own private joke.
But it did make her feel better. If his father showed his love for Inac’s mother, then maybe Inac wouldn’t leave her. It seemed that, a lot of times, people loved the way they saw others love, as well as how they loved themselves.
“Speaking of the wedding,” he said, bringing her out of her thoughts as he maneuvered the car into the sunshine. “I was thinking that we could at least start planning it. At least the aspects that we don’t need a specific date set to do.”
“Well, I know where I want to get married.”
“And where is that, love?” he asked as he moved his hand off the stick shift to grasp hers before he pulled it up and kissed the knuckle on her thumb.
“The church where I grew up.”
“You could get married anywhere in the world and you pick a church at an orphanage?” he asked, dismayed.
“Yeah. It’s sentimental. I have so many wonderful memories there. I was planning on going back after finishing school.”
“What for? To live?”
“Yeah. I was going to join the nunnery and then be their history teacher.”
He gave her a sideways glance with a smile she knew was teasing. “You? A nun?”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “I know. But I thought I could help all those kids since I understand where they’re coming from.”
He nodded. “Just don’t tell them your fiancé’s name when you call to book it.”
“And why not?”
“A lot of Catholic priests know my family’s name. I don’t want them judging me before they even meet me.”
“Fair enough. You are quite the infamous one, aren’t you?” she teased.
He laughed harder than she thought was warranted before saying, “Hara, you really have no idea.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
***
Tracker’s headache had finally subsided enough for him to get out of bed. It had been so brutal that he hadn’t even been able to roll out of it to get medicine from the kitchen portion of his miniscule studio apartment. He tried to think back to last night to see if maybe there was a cause for it, but most of yesterday was blank. He would still think it was yesterday if his laptop and cell phone didn’t both say otherwise.
He looked around his apartment, trying to find evidence as to what had occurred to make him forget, as well as maybe some evidence to tell him why his reflection had shown him with one bruised cheek. Finally, he noticed a piece of paper secured under one of the dozens of magnets advertising various pizza joints on his refrigerator. It had his name on it in his own writing. Weird. He didn’t remember writing it….
Tracker, it read, I know you’re probably wondering what’s going on. You went to Inac and asked for that drug that erases people’s memories so you could forget last night. I won’t tell you why, but I will tell you what’s important to know. Yesterday Sampson called you to head over to Hara’s. Inac was on his way back from Israel and he wanted you to get back on her good side before he could get home. You went and apologized, but then you totally freaked and said some nasty things. She slapped you pretty hard, which is where you got that majorly huge handprint on your cheek.
You were so pissed that you ran. But you couldn’t have her remembering ’cause that would’ve been majorly bad, so you went to Inac’s and he said that he’d give Hara the medicine so she’d totally blank it all out. But you know what else? He noticed how sad you were and offered some to you, too.
I think he really is changing. I mean, he seems to actually care about you and Hara. Maybe Sampson’s right about him loving her. He even called you ‘Little Buddy.’ I don’t think he wants to hurt her. And, no matter how many threats he makes, I don’t think he’ll carry them out. He seems to always find a loophole out of it every time.
But yeah, so anyway…. This part was difficult to read. All of the blotches smearing the blue ink showed that he’d obviously been crying when he’d written it. I’ve come to the decision that we have to let her go. We need to give her more alone time with Inac so he’ll realize that he loves her. Then he won’t kill her. You’re gonna have to let her go in order to save her life. If you really love her, you’ll make the sacrifice….
With that, the letter ended. He was crying now just as hard as he’d obviously done last night. He didn’t want to let her go. He wanted her to realize that she loved him. It was a silly fantasy, though; one that wo
uld never come true.
The letter was a little formal compared to what he would usually write. Especially the last part, so for a moment he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Inac had really written it. But the handwriting was definitely his. That meant that Tracker had to have written it. Which meant that he had meant every word.
He didn’t know what had happened last night to make him suddenly trust Inac, but he had to listen. Something had given him that conviction. Searching his gut, he found the same feeling even though he didn’t know where it stemmed from. And, even if it was wrong and got him killed, he’d listen to it. After all, what other choice did he really have?
***
Inac was in Hara’s kitchen, making them homemade vegetable lasagna at Hara’s request, when a tentative knock sounded on the front door. Because Hara was in the bath—Inac’s orders to relieve stress—he went to answer it.
“Tracker, it’s good to see you,” he said upon opening it. He looked Tracker over, determining whether the kid had taken the drug or not—he half expected the kid to have chickened out.
“Yeah, you too. Where’s Hara?” Tracker asked as his eyes searched behind Inac’s bulk that was mostly covering the entryway.
“Taking a bath. She’s had a rough day.”
His eyes no longer flittering around, he asked, “What? Why? Does she remember?”
“No. I just didn’t have an explanation for her memory loss so I took her in for an MRI to make sure that she didn’t have a tumor.”
“How could—?”
Inac interrupted him as he hissed, “I did it for you. And don’t you forget that. If you hadn’t screwed things as royally as you did….”
Tracker winced, surprising him when he asked, “What did I do?”
So maybe the kid had some guts after all.
“What do you know?” Inac asked, straightening himself up as his anger melted away.
“I wrote a letter to myself. Basically, I just know that I said some mean things so she slapped me.”