The Cure (A Michigan Sweet Romance #1)

by Parker J Cole

  Savannah!

  A sudden, odd panic struck him like a physical force. Time slowed down and thudded against his eardrums. Hot blood, bubbling with forbidden excitement, heated every vein in his body. The doors parted and she came through them. A moment later, her eyes lifted up and he came into direct contact with his former fiancée for the first time in three years.

  CHAPTER TWO

  An electric current charged the atmosphere of the small space when Savannah met Micah’s amber eyes. Its potency registered on some level to the other passengers because several of them looked back and forth between them. She wasn’t surprised to find Micah in the elevator. In fact, she’d known he’d be there.

  She stepped inside and then turned around at the same instant the doors shut. They started moving again. Savannah berated herself for thinking that some things would have changed in the past three years they’d been apart. She no longer loved him but the bond still existed. If he walked into a crowded room, she’d instantly know where to find him, as if there was a homing device locked in her heart.

  The elevator stopped once more and a number of passengers left leaving only her, Micah, and a woman answering her cell phone.

  Savannah fought the urge to look back at him. The dull reflection in the mirrored surface of the elevator doors showed his murky figure. She could feel the heat of his gaze traveling along her backbone and she gulped. She knew his perusal stemmed from animosity.

  At last, they reached Liliana’s floor and she exited, hearing Micah’s footsteps behind her.

  Just get this over with.

  “Micah—” She whirled around and collided into his body. “Oh!” She backed away. In the brief collision with his wool coat, she’d inhaled the lemony scent of his cologne. Felt the way his strong, long, blunt tipped fingers gripped her shoulders through the fabric of her thick sweater to hold her steady.

  “You okay?”

  The sound of that voice touched her senses like a well-remembered caress. Not a deep baritone or a harsh rasp. Nice and even. Direct.

  “I’m fine,” she answered, a little breathless. She’d always loved the feel of his embrace in the past. When they walked hand in hand at the park or he’d grab her close at the theater. Every time, she felt safe and secure. Why should she still feel the same way even after her love had faded into regrets?

  “I’m here, Savannah.”

  She cleared her throat. “Thank you for coming, Micah.”

  “Spare me the pleasantries. What do you need?”

  The last word ended on a deliberate hard note. In his way, he rubbed in the fact she’d been the one to break the silence between them. But she had known he would do that. She took the dig in stride.

  “It’s Snuffy.”

  A peculiar stillness came over Micah. “Fiona and Bart’s daughter?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “What’s happened?”

  “She was burned in a fire yesterday.”

  His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Is she still alive?”

  “Yes.” His stance relaxed visibly. Savannah continued. “Barely.”

  Micah grabbed her arms and led her to the waiting room chair. He sat her down and then followed suit, keeping two feet of space between them.

  “Tell me what you know.”

  She kept the story succinct, all the while trying to still the confusing trembling at his presence despite the distance he set between them.

  He was so different than three years ago. Cold and severe like granite. The penetrating gaze from his amber eyes reminded her of a wary tiger. They used to look at her with warmth and admiration. Savannah wondered why it mattered. They’d lost it all three years ago. Nothing could be done to gain it back. She needed to subdue these turbulent emotions and just focus on how he could help Liliana.

  “Are Bart and Fiona out of town? Or did they ask you to connect with me?”

  Her face burned with heat at his question. “Fiona and Bart passed away eighteen months ago.”

  Micah stilled once more. Waves of shock emanated from him and she squirmed.

  His firm lips compressed into a line. “How?”

  She swallowed hard. “They were killed in a car accident involving a drunk driver.”

  An outraged gleam appeared in his eyes, and a dull flush highlighted his cheekbones.

  “Why didn’t you tell me they had died?”

  Savannah looked away from him. “I didn’t think you’d be interested.”

  An imprecation exploded from his lips and she flinched a little.

  “I wouldn’t be interested? Savannah, are you out of your mind?”

  “Micah—”

  He shot up, six feet two inches of male aggravation. He fisted his hand in his hair, tugging at the strands as if he’d rip them out. “I cared about Fiona and Bart as much as you did. We were going to all be part of a family once upon a time. What in the world makes you think I wouldn’t be interested? I’d be a good deal more than interested.”

  She stood. “Micah—”

  Hands falling to the sides, he stalked over to her. His body fairly trembled in rage, his amber eyes unyielding like marble. “Try devastated. Try heart-broken. Try almost anything else than just interested, Savannah.”

  “You’re not letting me—”

  “I may not have had any intention of setting my eyes on you again,” he thundered. “I may have wanted nothing else to do with you. But that has never extended to your family. You know me well enough to know this is true.”

  Her nostrils flared. Did he think she’d take his verbal assault lying down? In hindsight, maybe she should have told him, but he acted as if he was the only wronged party.

  “Well, I know how adverse you are to attending funerals, Micah,” she clipped out in a cool tone. “Even of those who I love dearly. Let’s not pretend I didn’t have a prerequisite.”

  The amber gaze burned down at her, incandescent with the heat of warning. “Don’t even go there.”

  She bristled, feeling the hairs along her arms and neck rise like those of a cat in response. “You can act like you’re the victim here but when my best friend died, you were conspicuously absent.”

  “Oh, don’t even!” he snarled.

  “Don’t even what? Tell the truth?”

  “Nascha was not your sister.”

  “She was like a sister to me!” Savannah lashed out. Her fingers curled into fists. “When I needed you the most, you left me to fend for myself.”

  “Well what did you expect me to do, Savannah? You chose that woman over me. You let her destroy what we had. When I heard she died I almost did a dance—”

  He stopped abruptly, his head knifing sideways, aware he’d gone too far. But the words might as well have already been said. Hot moisture pricked her eyes at his callousness. Time neglected to soothe the wounds. If anything, this conversation proved that time had exacerbated them to festering, open sores.

  “Nascha didn’t destroy anything we had, Micah.” A range of emotions she couldn’t name rocked her like a fierce windstorm. “You did that yourself with your hands.”

  “I was still willing to—”

  “Ms. Woods?”

  Savannah jumped at the sound of Dr. Yamaguchi’s voice behind her. She turned around. The woman wore a carefully blank expression on her face. Savannah’s cheeks burned. What was she doing here arguing with Micah about a past better left forgotten while her niece was in jeopardy? What kind of an aunt was she?

  “Yes, Dr. Yamaguchi?”

  “I wanted to give you an update on Liliana’s progress.”

  She cleared the thickness from her throat and squared her shoulders. “Please do.”

  The doctor’s eyes strayed to Micah but she directed her question at Savannah. “Would you like to go to my office in private?”

  “I’m here at the request of Ms. Woods, Dr. Yamaguchi.” Micah stretched out his hand. “I’m Dr. Reddington.”

  “I see.” Dr. Yamaguchi returned t
he shake but lifted her brow to Savannah. “Ms. Woods?”

  Savannah nodded tightly and followed the doctor down the twisting hallways to her office. Micah’s long strides tread behind her. The silence sizzled. She was determined to avoid talking to Micah unless it related to her niece.

  ***

  Micah smoldered while they traversed the winding hallways to get to their destination. Why would she keep Fiona and Bart’s death from him? It enraged him to the point where he wanted to shake some sense into her. For Savannah to do such an atrocious thing gave the impression he was some sort of monster to be avoided at all costs.

  The sight of her again after all this time had thrown him into a tangled web of confusion. Time had been kind to her. He’d known it would. Even his memories, which he’d stamped out over the years, paled in comparison to her in the flesh.

  Those gemstone eyes still had the ability to captivate him. The right one was a cool Mediterranean blue and the left, a warm chestnut brown with a ring of gold in the center. Her left eye had a unique way of flashing when she was angry. That curtain of blue-black hair had a silky texture that came from daily care. The alabaster skin rivalled the purity of fresh cream and her body was slim like a violinist’s bow.

  “And we’re here,” Dr. Yamaguchi stated, interrupting the train of his thoughts, for which he was thankful. If he started to focus on Savannah’s unearthly and ethereal beauty, then he’d forget the way she broke his heart. He’d forget the way she left him to fend for himself when scrutiny had almost cost him the career he worked so hard to build.

  Micah walked around the desk and pulled out Dr. Yamaguchi’s chair for her to sit in. An amused expression lifted the planes of her face. “Why, thank you.” She sat. He would have done the same to Savannah, for any woman, in fact, but Savannah had already seated herself. He took it as the affront she meant for him to take it as. Fine, if she wanted it to be that way, then he’d let her have it that way.

  Once he sat, the doctor got right to the point.

  “We’ve been monitoring Liliana’s progress for the past twenty-four hours. Her blood pressure is low along with her white blood cell count. She’s currently going in and out of consciousness for brief periods of time.”

  Micah frowned. “Has there been some trauma to her brain?”

  “Not from what we could observe,” Dr. Yamaguchi stated. “We’ve not completed an MRI due to her condition. I believe this is the body’s natural defense to help her heal. We’ve seen it in other cases where patients who have experienced burns to large portions of the body retreat into the subconscious.”

  The doctor retrieved a set of high resolution photographs from a folder on her desk. Micah, despite all of his training and experience, fought the horror of seeing the tiny child burned along the right side of her body.

  “This is a photograph of Liliana before she received treatment. You can see there are several third degree burns here, and here.” She pointed to places along the girl’s leg and upper thigh. “Along her side here, there’s a group of second degree burns which, with some daily care, can heal in a few weeks.

  “Liliana’s right arm received a lot of trauma.” She pulled that photograph and set it before them. “The dead tissue along her arms was debrided when we received her into our care.”

  “What method did you use?” Micah peered closer at the photographs, listening to the doctor’s responses while studying the extent of the damage.

  “When you debrided the flesh, did—”

  Savannah hissed, stopping the conversation. Micah glanced over at her and saw the stricken look on her face. The top of his ears heated. He’d gone into professional mode without being conscious of it. At times, the dialogue between medical professionals could be harsh and unfeeling.

  Dr. Yamaguchi turned her attention to Savannah. “Do you need me to take a break, Ms. Woods? I know this is difficult.”

  Savannah’s skin had taken on a ghostly hue. Lines of strain etched the corners of her mouth. Would she be okay? He turned and reached for her hands knotted together in her lap. They were icy cold.

  He used his other hand to massage some warmth into her tightly clasped appendages. “Do you want me to take care of this? If you give Dr. Yamaguchi permission, she can discuss this with me and I can relay the information to you.”

  Her two-tone eyes locked on him, a hint of wetness making them appear like high polished stones. A tremble had overtaken her lips but after a moment, she shook her head. “No, I need to be here. But…just…don’t leave me, okay?”

  Micah started, hands freezing in mid-massage. The choice of her words brought back the memory of three years ago. Blood pounded in his ears and the cords of his neck tautened. How dare she? He’d uttered almost the exact same phrase to her that long-ago day, losing his pride and pleading with her not to walk out that door. She’d hesitated for five minutes, her body still as a statue. Then she moved, the black swish of her hair being the last he saw of her.

  He released her, his jaw ticking. Savannah shook harder and from the dawning horror in her eyes, he knew she recognized her folly.

  “Micah, please—”

  “Don’t, Savannah.” He fought to control the bite in his words. “Let’s not go there, okay?”

  “Do you need some time alone to discuss your decision?” Dr. Yamaguchi’s eyes darted between the two of them.

  Savannah stared at him. “I don’t.” The way she said it, he knew she was leaving the ball in his court as to whether or not he would stay.

  He blew out a breath and tore himself from those eyes. If someone had stabbed a knife into his stomach, it would have hurt less than the predicament Savannah had put him in. “Please continue, Doctor.”

  The doctor went on with her report, answering his inquiries whenever he needed a point clarified. In order to focus on the case, he blocked out all sensory input of Savannah by his side. Even when she asked a question, he concentrated on the words, not the sound of her voice or her expression.

  Once they finished the report, which was more or less a procedural of Liliana’s injuries and what they were doing currently for management, Dr. Yamaguchi leaned back. “You can visit your niece whenever you like. She may be more alert today. We’ve given her a light pain killer but she’s going to complain about the pain. Make sure you acknowledge it but let her know that soon the pain will pass.”

  Micah stood and opened the door, waiting for the women to pass him. He mentally assessed various treatments to determine which would be the best method for Liliana.

  “Are you listening to me?”

  The shrill note in Savannah’s voice brought him out of his reflections. Dr. Yamaguchi had left the room. “I wasn’t. What did you say?”

  “Do you want to see Liliana?”

  “Of course. That’s what I’m here for, aren’t I?” He couldn’t keep the disdain out of his voice.

  “Don’t try to twist this, Micah.” Her brown eye flared like a flame.

  His head tilted to the side. “Twist this? I’m not doing anything of the sort. I’m seeing this all quite clearly. You’re using me.”

  Savannah’s mouth dropped open. “I’m not using you.”

  He ignored her. “You must have learned how to the set the trap from some notes Nascha left behind.”

  Twin spots of color brightened her cheeks like roses. “Don’t talk about her that way! She was my friend, Micah.”

  “And what about Fiona and Bart? Why did you show more compassion for Nascha, who didn’t deserve it, than for your own sister?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He almost roared at her, but at the last second he bent his head until they were almost nose to nose. Anger whipped along his spine. “Fiona was going to be your matron of honor at our wedding. Bart and Donald were my best men. Don’t you think I had a right to know? Yet, you spent the cost of a stamp and a letter to invite me to a funeral for a woman who I had no reason to say farewell to.”

  “You should have come.�
�� The flush expanded from her cheeks to her hairline. “You knew how important Nascha was to me and you didn’t even respond. I’ll never forgive you for leaving me when I needed youthe most. When you walked away from me—”

  “Me?” An eyebrow arched. “I do believe you were the one who walked out of the door.”

  “I may have walked away that day, but you’d done it long before then.”

  The following silence crackled. Her brown eye flashed with fire. The blue one was hard as an ice shard. A heavy weight landed on his shoulders. Suddenly he was weary. Weary of rehashing the past and listening to her give sainthood to a woman who was far from it.

  “Look, you didn’t have to set me up so I’d feel compelled to help Liliana. You make me look like some sort of troll that had to be tricked into doing a good deed. If you’d simply asked for my help I would have been here.”

  “I didn’t set you up.”

  He dug his thumb and forefinger into his eyes. “Enough. I’m tired and I don’t want to talk about this anymore. It doesn’t matter how you got me here. I’m here and I’ll be glad to help advise with Liliana’s treatment any way I can.”

  Savannah breathed noisily through her nose. “Fine. Then after, you can go back to your life and we don’t have to see each other again.”

  Micah trailed after her on their way to Liliana’s room. He ignored the feeling of an invisible hand squeezing his heart at her words.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Oh, Mom, there’s nothing like hot chocolate and cinnamon apple muffins in the afternoon,” Savannah spoke around said items currently filling her mouth.

  “I wouldn’t have guessed,” her mother Maxine stared pointedly at the half empty mug and the third muffin being stuffed in Savannah’s mouth.

  The confrontation with Micah had set her on edge. Her nerve endings had stretched like rubber bands when she’d finally left the hospital hours later, long after Micah had gone. Although they kept the rest of their discourse focused on her niece, their hostility with each other simmered beneath the surface.