by Robin Nadler
“Get your hands off of her,” David stepped in front of her and Paul immediately let go.
“I really enjoy working with you. I don’t want that to end. I don’t think you want that to end, either,” Paul said.
“Paul, what is wrong with you? Are you threatening me?” Lila was stunned by his behavior.
“Just being honest. I’ll see you soon.” Paul stared at them and walked away.
Lila began to cough and David helped her into her office. She sat down on the couch and he sat next to her, rubbing her back. She sat back and took a few deep breaths.
“You okay?” He asked her, touching her forehead.
She took a few deep breaths. “I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what was wrong with Paul. He has never acted like that before.”
“He was marking his territory,” David grinned.
She shook her head. “I’m not his territory. Paul is an assistant and hasn’t been here very long.”
“Well he obviously likes you, and most men who see me coming get nervous.” He flashed his dimple. “I mean, look at me.”
She smiled and shrugged. “I guess you have a point.”
He exhaled and sat back. “But all joking aside, I don’t like him.”
She nodded. “Normally I would argue, but that was weird. I’ll keep my eyes open.”
“Good,” he said.
They were both quiet when she looked at him. “Can we go somewhere and talk? Out of the hospital?”
“We can go to my place for a change,” he said.
“That would be nice,” she stood up. “I’m ready.”
He got up with her and put her arm around her as they walked out.
Chapter Twenty-Eight:
“So can I ask why you live in a hotel?” Lila said as she sat down on the couch in his room. He ordered them some food and changed out of his work clothes while she waited.
He handed her a drink and sat down on the chair. “It’s convenient. Someone cooks and cleans for me and I can come and go as I please. Since it’s a long-term stay hotel, I have a kitchen and a separate bedroom, so it’s not quite so impersonal. I like it, no roots.”
She rested her chin in her hands and listened to him. “What’s wrong with roots?”
“Nothing, I guess. I just don’t really have any and have no desire to plant any.”
“What about Susan? She seems like a root, or something.” She smiled. “You know what I mean.”
“Susan is great and she is my only root, or family. But it doesn’t matter where I go, she will be there for me.”
“That’s really nice. She really cares about you and she’s a straight shooter. I like that.”
David grinned, “She is.” He took a drink of his beer. “So how are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. I just need to build my stamina a little. I think my lungs are still recovering and it’s weird, but when I took my meds before this, I felt different.”
He was concerned. “Different how?”
She shrugged. “Better, I guess. I just feel more lethargic now. It’s probably because of the bronchitis.”
“When do you have more blood work checked?”
“Tomorrow. I’m sorry; you don’t need to worry about this. I came here to talk about you, not me.”
“Lila, we’re friends, I hope, so I want you to talk to me about your issues, too.”
She smiled at him. “I know, and I will, or I do. I’m okay.”
He opened his door for room service and signed before locking the door and wheeling the food in. “It’s not much, but some fruit and cheese. I know it’s kind of early for dinner, but they always have the best fruit.”
“Looks amazing,” she said and took a sip of her wine. They ate a little and laughed about Adam and Eve and finally David looked at her.
“So, I guess we need to discuss the elephant in the room.”
She nodded. “I would like to talk about that, too.”
He wiped his face and shrugged. “So am I a lost cause?”
She smiled. “Hardly. I have some questions, though, if you don’t mind.”
“After what I’ve already told you and what you read today, I don’t have much to hide,” he laughed nervously.
“I don’t care about what the paper says. I care about what you feel and what you know. You are the best person to talk about your own body. I know what the paper says and I know what the tests indicate, but I need to know the rest.”
“I don’t understand,” he said.
She sighed. “Did you have sex before this happened?”
He rubbed his palms on his thighs. “Sure, many times.” He stared at her. “I don’t mean many, like too many, or anything,” he blushed.
She smiled. “I’m not here to judge you, David. I promise, there is a reason I’m asking, and it isn’t solely personal.”
He grinned. “So it’s somewhat personal?”
Now she blushed. “Let’s not get off topic. So you were able to respond to stimuli without any problem?”
“Yes.”
“After you woke up in the hospital, was there a point where you were unable to respond?”
“What do you mean?”
“When did you realize there was a problem?”
He was quiet. “I don’t know, I guess I was told there was damage they were unable to correct when I was brought in and since then, nothing has happened.”
She pressed him a little. “Have you ever wanted something to happen?”
“Lila, this is ridiculous. What are you implying?”
“I’m not implying anything, David. I think you suffered a horrific ordeal and the damage is not simply physical. The nerve was not irreparably injured and after this much time, it should be healed. I am just surprised you haven’t noticed any improvement.”
“Well I haven’t, so it is what it is,” he said sharply. “I told you there was nothing you could do and I was right.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
She exhaled, “David, I can’t tell you something you don’t want to hear. I can’t make you want to get better any more than I can stop my nightmares from happening. I think your injury was definitely physical, but I think the emotional scars are affecting you more than you realize.”
He shook his head. “You’re wrong. I saw a therapist after I got out of the hospital. I ‘worked’ through all of my issues and I’m still broken.”
She felt tears come to her eyes. “You’re not broken, David. You’re anything but.”
He felt like there was more to her comment. “Can I ask you something?”
She wiped her eyes. “Of course.”
“What did you mean about your nightmares? Why do you have them? What are they about?”
She knew she owed him an explanation, but she didn’t know if she could. “It’s just a dream, it isn’t real.”
He moved to sit next to her. “Lila, I think you owe me more than that. I am a bit exposed here, so I was hoping for some more about you,” he smiled. “Throw me a rope here.”
She chuckled,” Well, when you put it like that, how can I refuse?”
He smiled. “I still have it.”
“Nice,” she grinned. “It’s actually kind of morbid, and I don’t know why I have the same dream over and over, but since my diagnosis, I have seen my death. It’s always the same way and it’s horrible.” She felt her eyes fill as she relived it. “I see the same room and the same machines. I see the same scenario over and over and it’s heartbreaking.”
He saw the fear and sadness in her face and he took her hand in his. “It’s probably not hard to understand why you have that dream, especially since it started after your diagnosis.”
She wiped her eyes. “I know.”
“But,” he pressed.
“It’s just more like a premonition or a warning. No matter what I do, how I try to live my life, it’s always the same, and it’s horrible.” She stood up and walked t
o the large window, looking out.
He walked next to her and looked out as well. “What’s so horrible about it? I mean, aside from the whole death part.”
She looked at him and he shrugged.
“I’m just sensing there is more to it.”
She hugged her arms around her waist. “I’m immobile and I’m in a cold room with no windows and I’m completely alone. I cry for help, for someone to just talk to me, but no one ever comes. It’s just silent, but the silence is deafening. I hate the silence.”
“Thundering silence,” he whispered.
“What?”
“It’s what my mom used to say when I would lie awake at night with so much on my mind. I would be so tired, but I couldn’t sleep. She would sit in my room and tell me it was the thundering silence. It’s when the world is completely quiet that our thoughts scream at us. It’s an oxymoron and it made sense. I think you feel the same way. Your mortality is staring you in the face whenever you take your meds, whenever you look in the mirror, and I think when you let yourself truly relax and succumb to sleep, the storm in your mind rages.”
“That was profound,” she smiled as she looked at him.
“I have my moments,” he grinned.
“I’m beginning to see that,” she said softly as she walked back to the couch. “I’m sorry, but I’m so tired.”
“Do you want to lie down in my bed for a bit?”
“No, I think I should go home. I feel like I’m intruding.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I came here to talk about your case and not to mooch off of your hospitality.”
“Mooch?”
“You know what I mean,” she smiled.
“How about you rest for a little while and then you can leave if you want. I don’t want you to drive when you’re so tired.”
“Okay,” she said and lay back on the couch. He covered her with a blanket and turned on the TV, sitting with her and trying to quiet his own thundering silence.
Chapter Twenty-Nine:
David dozed off on the couch and when he woke up, he didn’t see Lila. He wiped his eyes and got up, seeing her sitting on the balcony. He walked out to join her.
“What’s going on?”
She turned to look at him and he could see she wasn’t feeling well. “I was going through your test results again and I think I might have an idea.”
“Lila, you look like you’re about to keel over. Forget about the results and tell me what’s going on with you?” He touched her face and it was warm. “Come inside with me, please.
She followed him and sat down on the couch. He went and grabbed his thermometer and checked her temperature. “Shit Lila, your temp. is 102.4. Why didn’t you tell me you were so warm?” He sat down with her.
She looked at him and shook her head. “That’s why I was outside. The heat gets to me, but since it’s internal, the cool air didn’t help. But please listen to me, David. I need to help you. I need to do this before anything else happens.”
He stood up. “We need to go to the hospital.”
“No, David, please let me do this.”
“I don’t understand what’s wrong with you. Something isn’t right and you need to get it taken care of. I’m not taking no for an answer.”
She looked at him and patted the couch for him to sit down. “David, I need you to understand something.”
He waited for her to continue and she looked spaced out. “Lila? Hey, what is it?”
She blinked and finally focused on him. “I think something is wrong with me, David. I don’t feel right,” she looked at him and her eyes were swimming.
He didn’t say anything; he just grabbed their things and headed out to get her to the hospital.
******
Susan rushed into the emergency room and saw David. “What happened? Your message was so cryptic David. What is going on?”
He was pacing in the hallway and when he saw her, he hugged her tightly.
Susan rubbed his back and felt her own eyes fill with tears. He never reacted like this and she knew he was really worried.
“Lila is sick and something isn’t right. They are running tests, but it’s more than that. I need to figure out what’s going on.”
“What do you mean something more is going on? How do you know?” She led him to a bench and they sat down.
“She was doing so much better and then she went into her office this morning and now she is almost back to square one. I don’t understand what happened.”
Susan looked up as the doctor walked out. “Dr. Bryant?”
“Yes,” he said quickly.
“I’m Dr. Charles Brinks. Lila told me it was okay to discuss her case with you and Susan, I take it that’s you?”
Susan smiled. “Consider us Lila’s personal caregivers,” she said and squeezed David’s hand.
The doctor smiled at them and then sighed. “We are admitting her to the neurology floor and will be running more tests. I have been treating her for years and I have never seen a reaction like this one. She had been doing so well and was even talking about starting fertility treatments a few weeks ago. I am very concerned that something nefarious has occurred here and I want her closely monitored to check her reactions. I am also going to check the makeup of her medication.”
“Wait, you think she’s being poisoned?” David was shocked.
“I am simply saying that there is no medical reason for her to react this way given her recent improvement. Something is different and we need to figure it out before it’s too late.”
“I need to see her,” David said.
“Of course,” he looked at them one more time. “Lila doesn’t trust people easily and she really seems to believe that you both are good people. I am an old friend of her family and I trust her, but I’ll be keeping my eyes open.”
“Thank you,” Susan said and looked at David. “You go in; I need to make a call.”
He nodded and walked into the room. Lila was sitting up in the bed, her face flushed. There was oxygen in her nose and she was looking at her iPad.
“Hey,” he smiled as he walked to the bed.
“David!” she smiled. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll check on Adam and Eve,” he smiled and sat on the bed facing her.
“Thank you, but I need you to listen to me. I think I figured something out. I think the doctor was wrong,” she had an air of desperation to her voice.
“What do you mean? Dr. Brinks? He seemed to think there was something else going on with you and I agree.”
“No, not with me, but with you. Something was bothering me about the doctor’s notes and I need you to have an ultrasound done to check for scar tissue. I think it might be impeding the blood flow and if it is, it can be easily fixed. I just don’t know why they wouldn’t have seen that before, but I can’t find any kind of ultra sound report. Do you remember if they did one?”
He looked at her. “Lila, this is not important right now. You are really sick,” his voice caught in his throat as he watched her struggle to stay awake.
“David, please listen to me. I need to fix this for you. I need for you to be okay,” her tears spilled over as she spoke. “You deserve to have love and romance and everything you ever wanted. I need to make that happen.”
He took her face in his hands and wiped her tears. “Listen to me right now. I will make you a deal. You get better and I will have any test done you think is needed. I will do whatever you want, but you have to get better. That’s all I want.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?” he smiled.
“Okay,” she said softly and closed her eyes, exhausted.
******
“We need to figure this out. What are we missing?” David looked through Lila’s file and Susan handed him some coffee. They had moved Lila to the neurology unit and he and Susan were working in an empty room, trying to figure something out while she was getting
situated.
“I don’t know. I think we need to go talk to Lila.”
David nodded and they made their way in when David saw something that stopped his heart.
“Get away from her,” he yelled as they walked into her room. Paul was standing over Lila and it looked like they caught him doing something. He straightened the sheet over her.