by Jill Sanders
“Don’t,” he looked up at her, “you know better than to bring up the subject of my mother.”
He’d seen the concern in his aunt’s eyes earlier, when he’d been walking on the patio. To be honest, it had been refreshing to be outside and upright. He’d had enough of beds and the indoors for a while. What he really wished for was to take a long walk like Airlea had. Looking down at his leg, he started getting frustrated.
He’d always been in great shape, and ever since childhood he’d been very active. Futbol was his sport, and he loved the large open field, the ball to kick around, his friends, the challenges. He’d actually been really good during his college days in the US, and he’d tried out for a professional team, only to be shot down. He’d been upset for a few weeks, but then after he’d learned about his brother, he had rushed to Portland to take over his father’s business, New Edges. He’d been too curious not to get closer to the man, to see him and learn all he could about Ric. He supposed it was for the best. He was a business man, not a futbol star.
He still kept in shape by running and playing the occasional game with friends, but looking at his leg now, he doubted futbol was in his future. Damn, he hated being weak. It made him into someone he didn’t like being.
His aunt was giving him a look he knew all too well. It was the look she gave him when she was trying to make him feel guilty about something.
“Listen,” he said as his aunt sat down beside him on the bed, “I know you can take care of me, probably better than most, but the nurse is here to appease my parents. If mom says the woman stays, then I suppose we will just have to put up with her for now. I don’t like it any better than you do.”
Just as those last words slipped from his lips, Airlea walked through the door, her head held high and determination in her eyes.
“Well, now that it’s all settled that no one wants me around, it’s time for your lunch, medication, and rest. Miss Cardone, if you’d be so kind as to shut the door on your way out, thank you.”
Airlea didn’t even stop to allow his aunt to say anything in reply. Instead, she walked over and took his laptop from his lap and set it on the dresser. She took the tray from his nightstand and placed it across his lap. Then she stood and watched his aunt leave the room with a huff. He watched with humor as his aunt gave her a more viscous stare than he’d ever seen from her before, as she closed the door with a slight click.
“You shouldn’t talk to my aunt in that tone. She’s done so much for me. She’s practically my mother.”
“I understand you are having a hard time with me being here. If we could just all agree that no one wants me here and move on, maybe we can have you walking on your own in record time. Until then, I am in charge of what takes place with your schedule, is that understood? Now, eat while I go get your medication.” She walked into the restroom.
He couldn’t stop it; the glass was in his hand, and before he knew what he was doing, it was flying across the room and shattering against the bathroom door she’d just walked through.
She leaned out the door and looked at him with her eyebrows raised.
“I’m in charge of my own damned self. I don’t know who you think you are, but I didn’t ask for you to be here. I didn’t ask for your help and if I want my aunt to take care of me, than I better not hear another word about it.” He was losing steam. The morning walk had taken a lot out of him, but he was damned if he’d show the bossy nurse that he was tired.
“Feel better?” Upon her half smile, he started to pick up his plate.
“If you throw that, you won’t have any lunch. I will personally see to it that you don’t get anything else to eat until dinner.” She turned and walked back into the bathroom without another word.
He thought about it, then set the plate back down on the tray. Damn. He was just too hungry to chance it. What was happening to him? He couldn’t seem to control his moods anymore. Maybe it was the medication they had him on that made him feel like a hormonal teenage girl. He’d never had any ups and downs before. He’d been a steady, in-control kind of guy his entire life. Even when his mother had betrayed his father and lied to him his whole life, he’d taken it with dignity.
Now he couldn’t even control his temper around one of the sexiest women he’s ever seen. Maybe it was her and not him? Yeah, that was it. Hell, he knew he was trying to fool himself into believing it was someone else’s fault. The truth was the pain and being cooped up had done something to him. Maybe he needed to see a shrink?
Just then she walked back in the room from the bathroom. She stopped and looked down at him. He hadn’t eaten anything yet; he was just staring at his plate like it was full of foreign objects.
“It’s not you, you know.” She walked over and handed him two large pills.
He looked up at her and raised his eyebrows to show that he didn’t know what she was talking about.
“The mood swings. They come with the lack of energy and all the pain. You’ll find a steady balance in the next few days. Until then, just know that if you ever do actually hit me with something, I won’t hesitate to throw something right back at you.” She smiled at him and for the first time in almost two weeks, he laughed.
“If I do actually hit you, feel free to hit me back. I have a terrible throwing arm.”
She smiled. “I have perfect aim. Go ahead, eat your dinner. I’ll just take your laptop and…”
“No, don’t. It’s the first time in weeks I’ve been allowed to get on the thing. I have over a thousand emails I need to read.”
She looked at him and he hoped she would take pity on him.
“Fine, but you need your rest. I’ll come back and check on you in an hour. Now take your medicine.” She waited as he willingly swallowed the pills, knowing that the pain he was feeling would soon be dulled.
“I’ll be back in an hour. Enjoy your lunch.”
“Airlea?”
She stopped at the door and looked over her shoulder at him. “Yes?”
“Thanks.” He felt like a child sitting in his bed, the food tray balanced on his lap.
Instead of replying, she just smiled and walked out. He wished she hadn’t heard or seen his tantrum earlier. Damn, he was going to have to try to control his moods better with her around.
Maybe he just needed something else to keep his mind off his pain. When she was around he was either annoyed at her or aroused by her. Maybe it was time to explore the other side, since annoyance was just earning him more broken dishes.
Airlea had made it a pattern to take walks with Lucy every day. She would take the olive grove path or another shorter path that lead over the rolling hills past a large field of grapes.
It was three days since Dante had thrown the glass at her and his moods were in full swing. Just yesterday as they were walking on the balcony, he’d actually sat down on the ground, refusing to walk any further. He’d been doing so well, and she had actually been thinking it was almost time to try teaching him to go down the stairs.
Then his aunt had walked out on the balcony and persisted he rest. She just couldn’t get the woman out of her hair. She questioned everything Airlea did and tried to take over with his physical therapy. Now, to top it off, she had purposely gone against Airlea’s strict orders. Airlea was trying to cut back on Dante’s pain medications, as she felt he didn’t need to be taking so many. A lot of patients start relying too heavily on them and knowing one’s limits for pain was always key in stopping the dependency before it began. She didn’t want Dante to become too reliant on them. She had talked it over with everyone, and they had all agreed to cut back. Apparently his aunt had only gone along with her plan for show.
A few days later, she was on her way back to the house from one of her walks one afternoon when Damiano stopped her. He was working inside the garage on an older car.
“How’s my son doing?”
She walked over to look at the car and stood next to him.
“Dante is doing fine. I think we
will try to conquer the stairs tomorrow. I’ve talked to your wife about getting him some crutches when you take him to get his staples removed. She said she would. She sounded excited to see him back on his feet.”
“I know we were really worried about him being able to walk. The doctor said he’d walk with a limp and…” Damiano chuckled and she noticed for the first time how much Dante took after his father. “He told the doctor to go to hell and that he wouldn’t walk with a limp. Do you know, he actually bet the man money that he wouldn’t.”
She laughed. It sounded like something he would do. In the last few days she’d learned more and more about Dante. His medicine and the fact that he was injured played a lot on his emotions. She could tell he felt helpless for the first time in his life. Some people could handle being helped, others didn’t like showing weakness. Dante was definitely in the latter category.
“Well, I hope he isn’t too much trouble for you. I know he’s been acting up, but I assure you, he’s never acted that way before. He was always a very good child. A little strong headed, but he’s never been mean before.” He shook his head.
“You did a fine job raising him. I’m a pretty good judge of character, especially when it comes to my patients, and I can tell it’s just the medicine and injury causing his problems now.”
Damiano smiled at her. “You’re a good girl. I knew your mama. She’s the one that introduced me to Kathleen. Did she ever tell you that?”
Airlea shook her head no.
Damiano laughed. “Someday, maybe your mother will tell you the story.”
She’d left him working in the garage as the sun slipped below the hills and walked up the stairs into Dante’s room.
She stopped at the door when she saw him lying half on the bed and half off. Something wasn’t right. Rushing to his side, she tried to get him back on the bed and when he didn’t move, she panicked. Shaking him hard, she looked for any sign of life. When he didn’t even flinch, she reached up with shaky hands to take his pulse.
Chapter Five
Airlea rushed down the large staircase in the entry hall to confront the person she knew was the cause of Dante’s condition. When she entered the large room, she saw that Kathleen, the cook, and two maids were helping clean away the dishes from the earlier dinner. Trying to calm herself down before what she knew would be a huge confrontation, she took three deep breaths to relax.
She wasn’t afraid of confrontation, but she’d always chosen to avoid them when possible. Seeing Dante lying on the bed, too weak from the pain pills to even lift his eyelids, had angered her. He’d been making great physical progress in the last few days. His moods were still bad enough that earlier that afternoon he’d thrown a whole tray across the room, shattering the picture of him and his sister on the dresser. Then he’d yelled for her to get out so loudly she’d heard the windows vibrate.
When she’d found him drugged, laying on the bed almost unresponsive, she’d rushed to the restroom and counted his medication. Seeing that four pills were missing, she knew immediately who’d given them to him. She’d not only gone against Airlea’s wishes about cutting back on his medicine, she’d actually doubled his last dose.
There was only one thing she could do besides confronting the woman, but Airlea didn’t think that going behind her back to her brother was the adult choice. At least it wasn’t her first choice for correcting the issue. If this didn’t work, though, she wasn’t opposed to tattling on Florentina.
Seeing the woman washing dishes in the kitchen, she nodded her head towards Kathleen who was cleaning the stove, stirring something that smelled like jelly.
“Florentina, may I have a word with you?”
“I’m in the middle of cleaning. You can wait.” The woman didn’t even look up from her task.
“No, this can’t wait. Did you give Dante his medication tonight without my permission?”
“He was in pain.” She didn’t even pause as she rinsed a large pan with strong, fast strokes. “His nurse was neglecting him, so I gave it to him.”
“Do you remember me telling everyone yesterday that I was cutting back on his medication?”
“Yes, I don’t agree. He was in pain.” She pulled the pan over to the drying rack.
“Airlea, what’s this all about?” Kathleen asked. “Is Dante in more pain?”
“No, Kathleen, we are lucky that Dante isn’t in a coma.” Airlea turned on Florentina, “You gave him twice his normal dose of pain pills. That amount, given regularly, can kill a man.”
Florentina almost dropped the knife she was cleaning. “What? What have you done?”
“Me?” Airlea asked. Florentina was looking towards Kathleen with concern in her eyes.
“I told you this young girl would be the death of our boy. She is too young to know what she is doing. How could you let her into our home to take care of our boy?” Then the older woman turned on Airlea and pointed the knife in her direction. “If you have harmed him, I will kill you.” She dropped the knife in the sink and rushed from the room.
“Kathleen—"
“Don’t! You don’t have to explain. I’m not deaf. I heard Florentina own up to giving him the pills. Is Dante going to be all right?”
Airlea nodded her head.
“Good. Florentina is a meddler, she has always been.” She walked over and pulled open a large drawer. Then she turned and handed Airlea a small silver key. Airlea could see anger and concern on Kathleen’s face. “Here, this is the key to the top drawer in Dante’s bathroom. Lock the medicine in there and keep the key with you at all times. Please, don’t let that woman upset you. God knows I’ve had years of dealing with her and ignoring her is the path I’ve chosen.”
Airlea took the key and looked at Kathleen. “Thank you. Dante may sleep for two whole days, but he’ll be fine. This little stunt has set him back though. He was controlling his moods, but this afternoon, after she must have given him the pills…” She shook her head. “Well, let’s just say it will take a while for him to adjust again. Fentanyl is not a drug you want to mess with. It’s highly addictive and causes so many side effects. That’s why I was cutting him back to half the dose his doctor recommended. Plus, he can handle the pain. I can see it. Thanks for the key and for believing in me.”
“Airlea,” Kathleen smiled and patted her hand. “I trust you completely.”
When Airlea walked back into Dante’s room, Florentina was leaning over him, shaking him.
“I’ve checked his vitals, and he’s fine. He’s just asleep. It will take around twenty-four hours for the drug to get out of his system. I’ll need to watch him all through the night.”
“No! I will sit with him.”
“Haven’t you done enough damage this evening?” Airlea stood her ground as the woman rushed to stand right in front of her.
“Mark my words. If any harm comes to this boy, I won’t hesitate to ruin you.”
Airlea walked past her and into the restroom without replying. She dumped the pill bottles in the top drawer and locked it, placing the key on the chain around her neck, next to her Saint Raphael medallion.
When she entered the room again, Florentina was gone. She knew she was in for a long night, but watching Dante’s vitals every hour was imperative. She remembered her worry when she’d walked in and found him unresponsive. Shivering, she tried not to think about it. She realized she was shaking from the confrontation with his aunt. The woman just wasn’t right. Something was off and Airlea seemed to be the only one to see it.
Walking over to the large open doors, she shut them on a cool night breeze. The weatherman had called for rain and it was already starting; she’d even seen a few bolts of lightning in the sky. To prepare for long night ahead of her, she went to her room to switch into more comfortable clothes.
It wouldn’t be the first time she’d sat up all night with a patient. Usually they were small children crying for a parent that couldn’t be there, and she’d been the only comfort they’d had. But s
taying up and checking someone’s vitals every hour usually wore you and the patient out. That was, if the patient was responsive.
In her room, she changed into a light pair of silver sweats and a white tank top then threw a large green sweatshirt over it all. Grabbing one of the books she was reading, she took her throw blanket with her and was ready to settle down for a night of watching Dante.
Dante couldn’t wake up from the bad dream. He knew it was a dream because Velociraptors didn’t really exist, but remembering that little bit of knowledge didn’t stop him from running as he was being chased by four of the large carnivores. Of course as all dreams go, everything and everyone was determined to stop his escape from the giant beasts. His body wouldn’t work correctly. His left leg was hard for him to control, slowing him down. He’d just made it to the bunker in the middle of a large field where, in his dream state, he knew there was safety, when he felt cool fingers on his forehead and was shaken from the dream.