Tea and Tattoos

by Yasmine Magro

  She was preparing some pancake mix, while dancing and humming a song when her mobile phone started ringing. It startled her since she rarely got calls anymore, except from Mia and the occasional call from Noah.

  She ran to the kitchen table and looked at the caller id. When she saw that her mum was calling a shiver ran down her spine and she had a feeling that she wasn’t just calling to check on her. What could have possibly happened for her to call at that time of day?

  ‘’Hello?’’ Desiree said with a shaky voice as she answered the call.

  ‘’Desiree? Desiree?’’ Her mother spoke with a panicked voice, something was definitely wrong.

  ‘’Mum, what’s wrong?’’

  ‘’Dessie, it’s your father. He had a heart attack and he was taken to hospital. I am in the waiting room right now, the doctors are testing him.’’ Her mother sobbed.

  Desiree didn’t say anything, she was shocked. Her father having a heart attack was not anything she had ever thought was possible. He was a very healthy, active person and he rarely got sick.

  ‘’Mummy, I’m coming there as soon as possible!’’ Desiree finally told her when she found her voice.

  ‘’Okay, honey be safe. Where are you?’’ Her mother asked her in a gentle voice.

  ‘’I’m in London, so much has happened in these few months, but now is not the right time to talk about that.’’

  ‘’London?!’’ Her mother screamed through the phone.

  ‘’Yes mum, don’t worry I’m fine. I’ll see you in a few hours, I love you and take care of yourself. Text me if you hear some news about dad.’’ Desiree told her as she hung up, she wasn’t in the mood to be lectured by her mother.

  Desiree just stood in the middle of the kitchen staring at the cream wall infront of her, she didn’t know what she should do. Getting a flight to Chicago for the very same day must be close to impossible.

  ‘’Desiree, is everything alright?’’ Elliot asked her as he walked in the kitchen with messy hair, a reminder of yesterday night’s event and wearing only black boxer briefs.

  ‘’No, no!’’ With those words Desiree broke down into tears and sobs.

  ‘’Oh baby girl, what’s wrong?’’ Elliot asked her as he rushed to her side and hugged her.

  ‘’It’s my dad, he had a heart attack.’’ She told him quietly after her sobs had calmed down a little and she could talk.

  For a moment Elliot didn’t say anything, instead he hugged her tighter and caressed her back.

  ‘’Go upstairs and pack our suitcases while I make a few calls.’’ He told her with a small smile as he kissed her forehead.

  She didn’t question him, instead she ran upstairs and started to pack everything that came in sight first.

  In ten minutes she was done with the packing and got dressed and went downstairs again, where Elliot was still talking on the phone as he paced and ran his hands through his hair causing it to become messier than it already was. When he met her brown eyes he hung up and walked towards her.

  ‘’Our flight is leaving in five hours and the taxi will arrive in twenty minutes. Don’t worry about anything Desiree, your father is a strong man, he will survive this.’’ He told her with a small smile.

  ‘’Thank you Elliot, thank you so much!’’ She told him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and placed a quick kiss on his lips.

  ‘’I’ll do anything to see you happy.’’ He replied as he kissed her back.

  ☯

  After what felt like a hundred hours, Desiree and Elliot where back in Chicago and in a taxi speeding towards the hospital. Her mother had messaged her and told her that her dad had woke up but was in a critical condition since the doctors had found something else when they received the results of the tests.

  When the taxi stopped infront of the hospital Desiree ran into the reception of the hospital as she frantically asked for Rupert Lock. After she followed the nurse’s instructions to arrive at her dad’s hospital she stopped just as she was about to run into the room.

  When she looked through the little glass window in the door she spotted her mother talking to her father with tears streaming down her face and her sister holding his hand. At first glance she didn’t recognize Alice, she had changed so much. Her blonde hair was now black and she had a nose ring and blood red lipstick. She looked older and nothing like the sweet girl that Desiree knew.

  ‘’Desiree are you going in? If you don’t want to we can go to a hotel, I understand how hard this must be for you to see them after all this time.’’ Elliot told her.

  ‘’No,I’m going in I have to do this.’’ She told him with a small smile.

  As she walked through the door they all turned to look at her with wide eyes, and then when her parents’ eyes landed on Elliot they frowned.

  ‘’Daddy, how are you feeling?’’ Desiree asked him as she moved towards his bed.

  ‘’Oh Desiree, forgive me please!’’ Her father told her as he clasped her hands in his. ‘’I was so stupid, I didn’t know that I would make you run away and to London for heaven’s sake!’’

  ‘’Um I’m sorry dad, but I think that it was for the best I needed a break.’’ She told him avoiding their eyes.

  ‘’I’m sorry about the way that I treated you and you young man thanks for making my daughter happy, I haven’t seen her glow like this in a long while.’’ Rupert told them. It was like the heart attack had made him another person, a better person by the looks of it.

  ‘’it’s my pleasure sir and it’s good to see you are doing well.’’ Elliot told him as he shook hands with her dad.

  ‘’I’m a strong man, it will take more than a heart attack to send me next to God.’’ He said with a smile.

  ‘’Don’t talk like that Rupert!’’ Her mother scolded him as Alice let out a little giggle.

  ‘’Alice I missed you so much!’’ Desiree said as she ran to her sister and gave her a tight hug. ’’You changed so much and I can’t believe that you are taller than me!’’

  ‘’I missed you to Desiree, but never leave like that again because I swear that I will find you and I will kill you.’’ Alice told her as she hugged her sister back. ‘’You don’t look so bad yourself by the way, and Elliot it’s good to see that you are still with my sister, I ship you!’’

  Elliot and Desiree both burst out laughing as their parents looked at the confused expressions as they asked them what ‘ship’ meant.

  For a moment it felt like nothing had changed between them, they were the close happy family that they once were and Desiree couldn’t help but feel like things would remain like that.

  33☕

  ❝You are the blood in my veins❞

  The following day the family, including Elliot, woke up early so they could visit Rupert at the hospital again.

  When they had returned home the previous night they had had dinner where they talked about everything that had happened in the past months. Her mother had gotten a promotion at work, Alice had got a boyfriend but broke up with him after a week and her dad, well after she left her dad had closed himself up and he barely went home as he spent his days working at the hospital. When Desiree told her mother and sister that they had bought a house together they were excited and demanded to know everything about living in London.

  They walked out the front door all together and drove off to the hospital, it was weird for Amber to spend a day at the hospital when she wasn’t working there.

  When they walked in Rupert’s room his face lit up and started talking animatedly as he told them that in the evening the doctors had told him that he could return home.

  They were playing Monopoly on the hospital bed, arguing with Alice that she had cheated, when the door opened and two visitors walked in side by side.

  Desiree’s eyes widened when she saw her ex boyfriend and her best friend standing before her, both grinning at her.

  ‘’I missed you so much!’’ She told them as she hurriedly got off the
bed and hugged them both at the same time.

  ‘’It’s good to see you again.’’ Noah told her as he gave her a kiss on the cheek, which cause Elliot to glare at him.

  ‘’I missed you too!’’ Mia told her as she hugged her. ‘’I have so much gossip to tell you, you missed a lot when you were gone.’’

  ‘’I can’t wait to hear what you have to say, you know I like some gossip.’’ The two girls both started laughing, until a tear streamed down Mia’s face.

  ‘’Hey I’m here now, don’t cry.’’ Desiree told her as she hugged her again. ‘’Do you mind if we go to the hospital cafeteria?’’ She asked her parents.

  ‘’No not at all, see you later Dessie.’’ Her dad told her as he smiled at her and returned to the game, but Elliot just looked at her.

  ‘’Elliot you can come with us too, it would be great to get to know you better.’’ Mia told him with a small smile.

  ‘’Thanks.’’ He replied with a smile as he walked towards them and wrapped his hand around Desiree’s waist as they walked out the door with Noah trailing behind them.

  When they arrived at the cafeteria they sat down around a small white table and ordered coffee and tea for Desiree, too afraid to try the horrible hospital food.

  ‘’So Mia, you can say what’s on your mind.’’ Desiree told her as she took a sip from her sadly cold tea, while Noah and Elliot were looking everywhere to avoid looking at each other.

  It turned out that Mia was no longer with her boyfriend after she had found out that he was seeing some other girl, she was expecting a new baby brother and she had started an art course, amongst the other gossip on the other girls that they knew.

  ‘’So Noah, anything exciting happened since I was gone?’’ Desiree asked him.

  ‘’Um, I’ve been seeing this girl for the past month.’’ He told her.

  ‘’That’s great, do I know her?’’

  ‘’Yes you do, she’s Elsa Hale, she was in English class with you.’’

  ‘’Oh yes I remember, she’s a sweet girl.’’ Desiree told him with a smile.

  ‘’I know.’’ He smiled.

  ‘’Desiree, I think we should go back near your father.’’ Elliot interrupted as he looked at his watch.

  Desiree frowned at him but she agreed and said her goodbyes before they made their way back to her father’s room.

  When they passed infront of one of the many hospital rooms, Elliot froze and stepped towards the door to look inside the room.

  ‘’Elliot, what is it?’’ Desiree asked him as she went to see who was in that room. When she saw the messy ginger hair and the pale unconcious face of the guy as doctors and nurses yelled instructions at each other, she froze aswell.

  In the hospital bed, looking pretty much dead, was Will one of Elliot’s friends that she had met when she had gone to the Halloween party.

  ‘’I’m so sorry Elliot, I’m sure that he will be fine. I can ask mum if she knows what happened to him, she must know since she works here. We can come visit him later.’’ She told him as she grabbed his hand and tugged so he would follow here.

  When they walked in the room Desiree immediately asked her if she knew anything.

  ‘’I’m sorry Desiree but I can’t tell you, it’s the hospital’s policy.’’

  ‘’But mum, he’s Elliot’s friend please please try and find out what happened to him.’’ She pleaded.

  ‘’Fine, fine.’’ Amber told her as she grabbed her phone and dialed a number.

  Elliot’s hold on Desiree’s hand tightened throughout the conversation and tensed when she ended the call.

  ‘’Elliot, I’m sorry to tell you this but Will is overdosed, they found him early in the morning and they are doing everything they can.’’ Amber told him in her professional voice, she must have said the almost same sentence to countless of people before.

  Elliot’s face paled and his eyes widened as he sank to his knees on the floor as he started sobbing. It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault.

  34☕

  ❝My past will destroy us❞

  When they went back home Elliot still hadn’t said a word, and when he stayed in Desiree’s room alone instead of having dinner with them, Desiree got really worried and when she had helped her mum with clearing the table she ran upstairs.

  When she walked into her bedroom she saw Elliot lying on his back on the bed staring at the wall. She lied down next to him and turned on her side so she could look at him.

  ‘’Elliot please tell me what’s going on. It’s killing me seeing you like this.’’ Desiree pleaded.

  He exhaled and inhaled before he turned on his side to face her and ran a finger down a side of her face. ‘’Desiree, I have something to tell you, something that I have been hiding from you.’’

  ‘’What is it?’’ She asked him, glad that he started talking.

  ‘’You have to understand that what I’m going to tell you might change everything.’’

  ‘’Just tell me what’s bothering you Elliot.’’

  ‘’Fine, seeing Will today has made me remember of the past that we had together, about two years ago. We used to have so much fun, we went out to clubs, drank and got all the girls that we wanted. But this was never enough. Will had a friend who sold drugs and one night we decided to give it a try, there was nothing to lose, and from that moment we got hooked.’’

  Desiree stared at him and was about to say something when he raised his hand to signal that there was more to the story.

  ‘’After a few months we were running out of money to buy drugs, so we started to traffic it in order to get the money that we needed and more. There was this guy, not older than sixteen, that we used to sell drugs to, who was found dead one morning with a syringe in his arm and that was the moment that I realized that I had fell down a dark hole. I started arguing with the dealer that I wanted to stop, while struggling with myself to stop taking the substance. It was all so difficult. One night, I had lost some money from a deal that I had made and they followed me and beat me up. That was when I was saved by an angel instead of being left in the street to die.’’ He told her as he looked lovingly at her.

  Desiree didn’t say anything, instead she lay there with unshed tears in her eyes as she looked at the person she loved most and heard about his dark past that she didn’t have a clue what that dark, she wasn’t sure she could handle it.

  ‘’When you saved me I knew that there was a purpose in my life, you are my light Desiree. After they beat me up and took all my profit, they didn’t bother me again. The fact that Will is now lying dead in that fucking hospital is all because of me, I only thought of myself, I didn’t tell him to stop. I’m a selfish bastard and I’m sorry Desiree, you don’t deserve someone as fucked up as me.’’ He sobbed as he covered his face with his tattooed arms, so dark, like him.

  ‘’He’s not dead yet.’’ Was all that she managed to say as she looked at him.

  ‘’We both know that he will be lying in a wooden box by dawn.’’ He told her with anger in his voice, anger at himself. ‘’I will have killed two people, Desiree, I’m a monster.’’

  ‘’You aren’t.’’ She told him as she reached out and removed his arms from his face. ‘’Elliot, I think, I think it’s better if- I don’t know how to say this, I’m so confused. I think we need a break, I have so much on my plate, I’m afraid I will break, I’m such a bitch.’’ She said as she lied down and faced the wall with tears streaming down her face.

  ‘’I understand, baby girl and don’t feel guilty, I understand what you are feeling.’’ Elliot told her as he wiped the tears from her face with his thumb.

  ‘’I love you, Elliot!’’ She cried as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly.

  ‘’I love you too, Desiree. Think of this as a little break, it can be a few days or a month, just have some time to yourself and think about what you want. I’ll have to admit that I’ll be pretty bummed if you decide that you don�
��t want me anymore, but I’ll respect your decision.’’ He said as he held her in his arms not wanting to ever let her go.

  ‘’I will always want you.’’ She told him before she kissed him passionately.

  They stayed in each others arms for quite sometime before Elliot said that he had to leave. Her heart was breaking as she saw him grab his suitcase and walking out of the front door, she was about to tell him not to go, but she did need some time to think without him around her. She had to picture what she wanted her future to be like, now that she knew what he had been mixed up in.

  When he was out of sight she let out a sob and slid down the door crying until she heard the door bell ringing. Thinking it was Elliot, she quickly opened the door but was disappointed when she saw Noah standing there.