by Ali Vali
“Ah, release the beasts from captivity for the summer and they show signs of life!”
In reality, Bailey and Ralph had blossomed at their new school, as proven by their constantly ringing phone. Kids now called the house all afternoon and night, but Tully was just happy that her kids had become typical teenagers.
“Nope, you’re wrong, since we volunteered to work in the school’s summer camp for the young students. We’re going back in a couple of days,” Ralph said, bumping shoulders with Tully.
“I know, buddy. I’m pretty excited about that myself.”
Bailey’s head popped up from her bowl of fruit. “Why?”
“Because of all the valuable experience you’re going to get.”
“And?” Bailey smiled through her menacing glare.
“And the allowance break I’m going to be enjoying over the summer.”
“No reprieves to be had, so stop your daydreaming.”
“One day you’ll have children of your own.” Tully playfully grabbed Bailey in a headlock and rubbed the top of her head with her knuckles.
“I know, and you wish they’ll act just like me.” Bailey tickled Tully’s side and tried to squirm away.
“That’s a given, but not my point.” Across from them Libby and Ralph were laughing. “You’re going to have kids and still be calling me to demand an allowance.”
“Well, hey, if you want to see your grandkids.”
“Get in the car, funny girl,” Tully said, shaking her head. Bailey had lost a lot of her surliness, but not her wit.
After they dropped the kids off, Tully and Libby rode into the office together. Law school had ended for the session two weeks earlier, and Libby had decided to take the summer off.
For once, Roxanne didn’t phone, and during the comfortable silence Libby stared off into space, deep in thought.
When Tully stopped at a light, she gently ran her thumb over the small crease along Libby’s brow, apparently not wanting to mess up her makeup. “You okay?”
In that one instant Libby felt her feelings coalesce and focus. Tully had long before stopped being her savior and become someone she truly cared about. Every moment Tully had spent with her had made her fall that much harder, and Libby suddenly feared that Tully would never return those feelings, that after everything that had happened, Tully wouldn’t want to risk her heart and try again.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she whispered. Her eyes filled with tears when Tully pulled over to the curb.
“You can tell me, Libby. I’ll listen and we’ll fix whatever it is together.” Tully cupped her cheek. “I thought you knew by now that you aren’t alone.”
The statement made Libby’s tears fall, and she felt foolish for not being able to control her emotions. “Maybe later, okay? We don’t have time for my issues right now.”
“The rest of our day can wait. All you have to do is ask.”
“I appreciate it, Tully, but come on before we’re late.” She reached up for Tully’s hand and with regret rested it in her lap, needing some contact with her. How could she not have figured out the depth of her feelings before now, when she had no place to hide from Tully’s eyes?
“If you change your mind, you know where to find me,” Tully said once they’d driven to her office building.
Upstairs, Jo and Frank were waiting in Tully’s office, and Roxanne started filling her in on what calls had been made so far. The Heberts had finally accepted the invitation for the meeting the hospital administration had been pushing for since the day Evangeline died.
Normally, Tully would have preferred to go with the Heberts for the initial contact, but she respected Simone’s wishes. The grieving mother had wanted to see for herself just how honorable the hospital was willing to be. More than money, she just wanted Kara Nicolas to admit she’d done something wrong and apologize.
“Did Elijah or Simone call yet? I’m willing to bet the administrators are putting the velvet screws to them, trying to make them think signing is the best choice they can make,” Tully said as she took a seat next to Libby at the table in her office.
“Not unless they’re willing to give her Nicolas,” Jo said. “I’m sure they’ll be fine until we get there.”
“Did Pasco finish his report?” Tully asked.
“He’s scheduled to come in this afternoon,” Frank said, “because he’s still trying to run down one thing.”
“Let’s get going. The details will have to wait for later.” Tully stood, an action mimicked by everyone but Libby, and told Jo and Frank, “I’ll meet you at the elevator.”
Roxanne followed the others.
“Don’t you want to go to the hospital with us?” Tully asked once she and Libby were alone.
“Do you want me to?”
“I didn’t think I had to ask. You’ve been here working almost every day on this case, so I figured you’d want to be there once we actually start.” She sat back down and rolled the leather conference chair closer. “You even wore the nice suit,” she teased.
Tully wasn’t flirting like she had in the kitchen early that morning, but the fact that she had noticed what Libby was wearing was a good start.
“You mentioned you liked it.”
“You could have smacked me if I hadn’t. Come on. We don’t want to be late.”
Jo and Frank were waiting in the main lobby when Tully and Libby arrived, Tully carrying only a small leather portfolio and the organized case file.
“Let’s make this quick, people.” She led them toward the west wing, acknowledging almost every employee they passed, most of whom knew her by name.
Libby just smiled at the easy manner until she saw Tully’s back stiffen ever so slightly. She was about to ask what was wrong when an attractive brunette walked up and put her hands on Tully’s forearms.
“My God, you look fabulous!” Jessica said. Her quasi embrace kept Tully from moving forward. “I mean really fabulous.”
With an almost disgusted expression, Tully forcefully stepped back and stared at Jessica as if questioning her sanity. She noticed that Jessica had changed too, and not for the better.
“Don’t be like that, Tully. There’s no reason we can’t be friends,” Jessica continued, not yet noticing Tully wasn’t alone. “Do you have time for coffee?”
Behind them, Libby couldn’t hear what they were saying and couldn’t see Tully’s face. All she could see was the big smile on the woman’s face as she gazed up at Tully.
“Boss, we’re running a little late,” Jo said, glancing down at her watch. Beside her, Libby was strangling the handle of the bag she was carrying.
Just then Jessica looked past Tully at the rest of the group. “Here to ruin someone’s life?”
“Merely doing my job, so I’ll have to pass on the coffee,” Tully said civilly. “The kids are expecting you this afternoon after school. Just remember to do something special. It’s their last day.”
“You’re the neglectful parent, not me.”
“You’re also the tooth fairy. At least if you keep telling yourself that, you might convince yourself it’s true.”
When Tully laughed, Jessica’s face twisted into something ugly. “This is why I left.”
“You left because some piece of ass made you forget your commitments. Let’s not fool ourselves, darlin’.” Tully’s voice had dropped to a whisper, but it still carried menace.
“That was Elijah, Tully. We have to get going,” Frank said.
“Then let’s do it.” They continued down the hall, all of them trying to keep up with Tully.
“Who was that?” Libby asked Jo in a whisper. In a strange way she felt better when the talk had obviously turned bad.
“You haven’t met Jessica yet?”
“That was Jessica Badeaux?” Libby whipped her head back to Jessica, who was still standing in the hallway.
“That’s her, and if you ask me, she hasn’t improved with the breakup.”
Any other questions would have to w
ait as Tully opened the door to the conference room without knocking. “Neil, nice to see you again.” She held her hand out to the hospital administrator while smiling at Victor Williams and his associate. Neil never stepped into these meetings without his in-house pit bulls.
“What are you doing here?” Neil Davis frowned momentarily. “Never mind. I don’t think we’ll need you. We’re just about to offer the Heberts a more-than-generous settlement.” He shook her hand, then sat in one of the two chairs across from himself and the hospital counsel. There was room for only the Heberts, and he obviously intended to keep it that way.
“What does that mean—more than generous?” Tully asked, content to stand.
“That’s between the hospital and the Heberts.”
“I’m not talking numbers, Neil. I meant the expression.”
She glanced at Simone, who nodded in return.
“If it’s already generous, how can it be more than that? It’s an oxymoron, don’t you think? Sort of like jumbo shrimp.”
Tully heard Jo, who was partially hidden her from view behind her, laugh at the comment. They hadn’t had many cases at Children’s Hospital, but when they did Tully couldn’t help but needle Neil about his height. He was solidly built, a bit overweight, but height evidently didn’t run in his family. When he’d reached five feet two inches, his growth spurt had fizzled out, a reality that had left him with a severe case of short-man complex.
“So, Neil, what’s the offer?” Tully asked.
“Two hundred thousand, plus we’ll reimburse any funeral expenses and cover the hospital bill.”
“What about the doctor that operated on my baby?” Simone asked.
“Dr. Nicolas? What’s she got to do with this?” Neil stopped talking when the attorney sitting to his right put his hand on his forearm.
“What are you asking for here, Tully?” Victor Williams, the hospital’s lead counselor, locked eyes with her.
“For the truth. This was a routine surgery.”
“You’re a doctor, for God’s sake,” Neil said. “No operation is routine!”
Victor squeezed his arm and Neil stopped talking again.
“This was routine and Evangeline bled out, so we have twenty minutes of mystery, but you can fix that. Fill in the blanks for us and we’ll be reasonable.” Tully stated their position in as few words as possible, then waited.
She knew Neil Davis would no more admit fault than he would strip naked and stroll through the lobby. No, it would take putting a gun to his head, and Tully was in the process of loading hers.
“Mrs. Hebert,” Neil said with sincerity, “what we have here is an unfortunate incident. There was no medical mistake, no negligence—just a procedure your sick child’s body couldn’t handle.”
Simone stood. “Tully, call me when you’re done,” she said before she left, her husband close behind her.
“Mrs. Hebert? Mr. Hebert?” Neil yelled after them.
“See you in court, Neil.” Tully pointed to Frank, who produced the suit for wrongful death. “You should’ve paid attention to this one. Your first offer with the explanation I asked for would’ve done the trick.”
“You want me to serve Dr. Nicolas up to you for what happened? And I’m not talking about Evangeline Hebert.”
“That’s going to cost you, shrimp.” Tully didn’t intend to tease her opponent any longer. “My private life has no bearing on this case or any other one I’m working on, so kindly limit your remarks to why we are here.”
“We all know what a bitch you can be, so what’s it going to take to make this go away?”
Victor and the woman next to him rolled their eyes.
“The thing I love about you is your consistency, Neil.” Tully dropped her portfolio and leaned over him with her hands pressed to the table.
As Neil craned his neck up, he lost any advantage he’d had from the seating arrangement.
“You’re a bean counter with the compassion of a shark, shorty,” Tully said. “I just told you what it would take, but it’s evidently not in your nature to admit fault of any kind, even when it would be cheaper for you in the end.”
“A number, Tully, not a lecture.”
“More like a date, Neil. I’ll be happy to get Mrs. Hebert what she really wants, and that’s justice for her only child. She wants to know what happened and for others to know that as well. In this case it’ll be jurors, and once they’re finished listening, I’ll leave it up to them to give you a number.”
She faced Victor before standing straight. “See you soon.” They made a quick exit after that since everyone was already standing.
Tully kept her hand on the small of Libby’s back until they reached the car. Seeing Jessica again and having to deal with Neil and Victor hadn’t upset her as much as Libby’s sad look. Tully was confident she could deal with the first two annoyances, but Libby was still an unknown factor in her life.
Chapter Fifteen
The ride back to the office was again silent, but Libby noticed how tightly Tully was gripping the steering wheel. The meeting and Neil Davis’s reaction to it weren’t a surprise, so this was something else, and if she had to put a name to it, it would be Jessica. The way her face had softened when she saw Tully had been hard to miss. It spoke of their history that she felt comfortable enough to walk up to and put her hands on Tully.
The more Libby thought about that history, the harder she pressed her fingers into the armrest, squeezing with so much force that it squeaked. Instead of heading for the office parking garage, Tully put her turn signal on and parallel parked on the street near the park across from the federal building. When the engine stopped, Libby let go and shook out her hand, not realizing she was tensing her fingers to the point of pain.
She watched as Tully walked in front of the car and headed to the passenger side, opened the door, and held out her hand. “This place isn’t very big, but it’s quiet.”
“Do you need to think?” Libby took Tully’s hand but didn’t get out. “Because you have a great quiet office upstairs if you do.”
“What I want is for you to talk to me and tell me what’s wrong, but I can’t force it out of you.” Tully let Libby’s hand go, and Libby got out of the car. “It’s really okay if you want to pass.”
Libby took a deep breath before walking to the nearest empty bench. It was early, but the heat was already stifling in the humidity the region was famous for. Beside her she heard the slight crackle of the starch in Tully’s shirt as she sat down, something that would definitely disappear if they stayed out here too long.
“Can I ask you something, Tully?”
“You have the right to ask me whatever you like.”
Libby combed a strand of hair behind her ear as a delay tactic. Having this conversation was a huge risk. “Why is that? Why do I have the right to ask you whatever I like?”
“Simple. I trust you with what’s in here.” Tully tapped her temple. “You’re my friend. So ask whatever you like.”
“Do you want Jessica back in your life?”
“Why would you ask that, of all things?” Tully leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees in the very familiar pose she struck whenever she was troubled about something.
Libby could tell from the answer that she was avoiding the issue. “I’m sorry, it’s not my business.”
“No, I’m sorry. Really, I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just that a real answer to that question might make you think less of me.”
“She’s your partner and you’re willing to forgive her. I wouldn’t think less of you for wanting her back.”
“She was my partner and now she’s not. A small part of me wants to hurt her the way she hurt me, but I’m not going to give in to that. I can forgive some offenses, but I can’t recover from others.” Tully’s voice had risen a bit, but she was far from yelling. “This is something I can’t recover from.”
“Then why do you think I’d be upset with you?”
“Beca
use I want nothing more than to put her through the same hell I went through when I found out what she’d been doing. I hit that bitch she was with so hard I thought it would make me feel better.” Tully sighed again before scrubbing her face with her hands.
“Did it make you feel better?”
“Momentarily, but now I could give a shit.”
Libby put her hand on Tully’s back. “You were together a long time, so of course you care.”
“That’s just it, Libby. I don’t. That’s why I can’t recover. My heart can’t and I certainly can’t wrap my head around the betrayal. Jessica isn’t even on my list of things to worry about. She made her choices and I can live with that. Hell, even if she hadn’t slept with Nicolas, it would only have been a matter of time before we got to where we are now. We both changed over the years, but not in the same direction.” She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “But enough about my problems. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Libby still had her hand on Tully’s back, but she couldn’t get the words out. She wasn’t willing to give up times like these when she had Tully’s complete attention and concern. Telling her the truth might sever their connection. “I don’t know if I can.”
“You can trust me, Libby. We can work it out just like we did with the job and your apartment.” She stretched her arm along the back of the bench. “No matter what it is, I promise to help you through it.”
Libby leaned back and looked into Tully’s eyes. In the sunlight they appeared clear, a true window to her soul. “This time a job and a place to stay aren’t going to fix what’s bothering me.”
Tully curled her arm around Libby so she’d come closer. “Why not?”
“Because you said your heart couldn’t recover.” The comment slipped out almost without permission, but Libby knew she needed to cure her own heartache. “Look, just forget it.”
Tully put her fingers under Libby’s chin and gently coaxed her head up. “I’m not blind. You’re hurting and I want to know why. Please don’t shut me out.”
The compassion always on Tully’s face gave Libby courage. They were so close that she had to take the chance. Slowly Libby moved forward and Tully didn’t back away, even though her eyes were wide with what looked like fear.