Dangerous Games

by Nikki Rose

  “Whenever this all goes down, I want you as far away from all the action as possible. Things could get very messy very fast and I’m not willing to risk you.”

  “Okay.” I sat at Drew’s dining table, moving the steak and steamed vegetables around on my plate.

  “That’s all you’ve said for the past half hour I’ve been talking.”

  “I’m just not feeling very talkative.” I put down my fork and took a sip of my wine.

  “Maybe you should have Rebecca over for a girl’s night.”

  “A girl’s night?” I looked up at Drew like he’d grown two heads.

  “Yeah. We can sneak her in the back like we did her and Jason when they came by before. You two can hang out here, do whatever you girls do. I’ll just be in my office working and I can sleep on the couch in there.”

  “You’d do that?”

  “Yeah. I think you need some time with her right now. You’ve been through a lot.”

  “I think you’re right. It would be nice.”

  “Then it’s settled. Why don’t you call Rebecca and I’ll call Jason? We’ll get things arranged.”

  “Okay,” I smiled my first real smile all evening and Drew grinned back at me.

  We both pulled out our phones and went our separate ways to make the calls.

  “Hailey? Is everything okay?

  “Hey Becs, Yeah, everything’s okay...well, considering everything. I was wondering, would you be up for an impromptu girl’s night in?”

  “A girl’s night in?”

  “Yeah. It was actually Drew’s idea. He thinks I could use some time with my best friend and I have to agree with him. I need some time to hang with you like we used to. I need something normal.”

  “You agreed with him? Is this some kind of SOS code? A cry for help kind of thing?” I could hear the laughter in her voice.

  “This is an SOS I need my best friend sort of thing.”

  “Let me run it by Jason — oh, apparently Drew’s on the phone with him now. He gave me a thumbs up. I can be there in a couple of hours.”

  “Okay. See you then.”

  I hung up, excitement bubbling inside me. I needed this more than I’d realized. My life had been turned upside down and twisted until it was no longer recognizable. Rebecca was my tether, pulling me back and reminding me of who I really was.

  Two hours later, Rebecca was at my door.

  “I brought supplies.” She grinned and held up the grocery bags hanging on her arms.

  I moved out of the way and Rebecca headed straight for the kitchen where she went to work unloading cartons of ice cream, cookie dough, chips, popcorn, and other assorted goodies. When she pulled out a bottle of my favorite red wine, I raised my brow at her.

  “What?” She looked genuinely puzzled.

  “You can’t drink wine. You’re pregnant, remember?”

  “I know that, silly. That’s for you. This is for me.” She pulled out a bottle of ginger ale from her purse.

  “Have I told you, you’re the best friend ever.”

  “Yes. But I never tire of hearing it.”

  “Well, in that case, you are the best friend in the whole world.” I hugged her then went to the cabinet to get out spoons for the ice cream and glasses for our drinks.

  “Just coming through to grab a sandwich and a beer before I disappear into my cave for the night.” Drew made a beeline for the fridge.

  “No problem,” I said uncomfortably as he brushed by me to grab a plate from the cabinet.

  “I’ll be out of you girls’ hair in just a couple minutes.”

  “Drew, I feel bad that we are displacing you tonight.”

  “Don’t. It was my idea. Hailey needs this. She’s been through a lot helping me out here.” His smile toward me was so sweet, so loving, it pained me that a part of me still reacted to him. My mind knew I’d been wrong all those years ago when I thought he’d cheated. My heart, however, hadn’t caught up on the latest news and was still in hiding from the man who’d broken it all those years ago.

  “I don’t see how you girls can eat like that and still look so good.” Drew teased before grabbing his sandwich and a couple beers and closing himself in his office. Rebecca led me to the couch and we both plopped down on either end so we could rest our feet in the middle.

  “Okay,” she said with a sigh. “What’s going on?”

  “Wow, jumping right into it? Not even a little warm-up chat first?” I chuckled nervously. I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk about this stuff, not even with my best friend.

  “Just like ripping off a band aid. Now, tell me what’s going on in that head of yours.”

  “I don’t know.” I grabbed a spoon and a carton of ice cream and dug in.

  “Sure, you do. You just don’t feel like you can say it. So, out with it.”

  “Drew was the love of my life.” I blurted out.

  “Was?”

  “That was a long time ago.”

  “Yeah, but I’ve seen you with him recently too. You seem really happy when you aren’t overthinking it.”

  “He broke my heart.”

  Rebecca didn’t have to say a word. She just lifted one eyebrow, challenging what I was saying.

  “Okay, so maybe he didn’t actually break my heart. But try telling it that. I know I was wrong all those years ago. God, it was my fault.” I put down my ice cream and held my head in my hands.

  “It wasn’t your fault. From what you described, the scene you walked in on looked bad. No one can blame you for what you thought.”

  “I should have known him better than that. Drew and I had been together for two years. I thought we were going to get married one day. How could I have doubted him like that?”

  We all have doubts sometimes. It’s part of being human. The question is, do you love Drew? Not the Drew you knew back then, but the one you’ve gotten to know over these past few weeks.”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  I looked down but could feel Rebecca’s eyes on me. “I’ve always loved him. Even when I thought he cheated on me, I still loved him. That’s what made it hurt so much.”

  “Then that’s all that matters. People make mistakes. People change. You know he loves you. He told you so already and you love him. That’s all anyone can hope for in the world.”

  “How do I get my mind and my heart to realize that? Part of me knows what you’re saying is true, but the other part of me still feels like I need to guard my heart from being hurt again.”

  “Time. It took you time to build up those walls. It’s going to take time to break them down.” She placed her hand on my shoulder and I looked up at her with tears in my eyes.

  “What if he’s not willing to give me time?”

  “I am.” Drew’s voice cracked from the entrance to the hallway. “Sorry. I was just sneaking in to grab another beer.” He walked over to me with long, quick steps and knelt in front of me beside the couch. “I’ve always loved you. No one has ever come close to what I feel for you. No matter how bad it hurt me to hear that message on my phone, I couldn’t let go of you. I’ve waited this long for you. I’ll wait as long as it takes as long as the end result is having you.”

  A tear escaped my eye and rolled down my face. Drew cradled my cheek in his hand, his thumb swiping away the tear before crashing his lips against mine. He held me to him like I was his salvation — his life raft in a stormy sea of emotions but what he didn’t know was that I wasn’t saving him. It was him saving me.

  We parted lips and I was suddenly very aware of Rebecca sitting on the other end of the couch when I heard a sniffle and looked over at her. She was wiping tears from her eyes and sobbing like a baby.

  “Rebecca, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she sniffled. “I’m just so happy for you two. It’s these damn hormones.”

  Drew and I laughed and I pulled Rebecca into a hug. “What would I do without you?”

  “You’ll never have to find out,” she hugged me back
. “I should go home and let you two have some time to yourselves.”

  “Nonsense. You two still have some girls’ night left. Besides, the boss man would kill me if I let his wife go home alone at this hour.” Drew chuckled.

  “If you’re sure.”

  “Of course, I’m sure.” Drew stood up from the floor. “You ladies have fun.” He leaned down and softly kissed my lips before grabbing his beer and going back down the hall.

  The rest of the night was just what I needed. Rebecca and I stayed up way too late watching crime shows and eating junk food just like the old days.

  Chapter 24

  “Hailey, wake up.” Drew shook me softly from my deep, peaceful sleep.

  My eyes fluttered open, battling to adjust to the early morning light that filled the room. “What time is it?” I whispered, seeing Rebecca still asleep on the other side of the bed.

  “Six-forty five.”

  “Geeze, couldn’t let me sleep in a little bit?”

  “We need to talk.”

  “Can’t it wait until I've had a little more sleep and some coffee?” I whined.

  “Hailey, something’s happened. We need to talk.” His tone finally broke through my grogginess and sent chills down my spine.

  I pushed up on my elbows, finally noticing the grave look on Drew’s face. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Rebecca’s groggy voice interrupted.

  “It’s your dad. He’s in the hospital.”

  “The hospital? What happened?” I shot up in bed, throwing my legs over the side. I was already snatching up my crumpled clothes off the floor from the night before Drew could explain.

  Rebecca hopped out of bed and joined me in rushing around the room to get ready, though she was a bit more modest about changing clothes and took her things to the bathroom

  . “They think it was a heart attack.”

  “Oh my god.” I stopped with just one shoe on and looked at Drew. “Did they say if he’s okay? I have to go to him.”

  I nearly fell over trying to put my tennis shoes on while standing.

  “They didn’t say.” Drew rushed over to help hold me up. “You need to sit down or you’re going to hurt yourself. I’ve already got Philip arranging a car for us.”

  “I need to get to him. Why didn’t my mom call me?”

  “You don’t have your normal phone, remember?”

  “Shit, that’s right. How’d you find out?”

  “Jason called me. He got the call and called me right away.”

  Rebecca came out of the bathroom and I grabbed my purse. The three of us left out the back exit of the apartment so no one would see Rebecca with us. Philip had arranged for us to take a little white sedan. It was very different from the usual car we took.

  “We’re taking that?”

  “Yeah. Can’t risk Mikhail following us. Philip’s still going to drive. Rebecca, you can sit up front with him. We’ll take the back.”

  We all climbed in and Philip was off in a heartbeat. He was a quick driver when needed. It was clear he’d done this before by the smoothness of each turn he took. The hospital was two hours from Drew’s place. It felt like a lifetime had passed before Philip finally pulled up in the emergency lane where he dropped the three of us off so he could park.

  “Hailey, slow down,” Drew called as I took off into the hospital.

  “I need to find my dad.” I got to the front desk but the lady wasn’t paying attention to me. She was talking with another lady in similar scrubs about her night. “Excuse me. Excuse me, ma’am?”

  “Fill this out and take a seat.” She tried to hand me a clipboard but I didn’t take it.

  “I’m looking for my Dad. Steven Woods.”

  She took the clipboard back and started slowly typing away on the dinosaur of a computer in front of her. At least a decade must have passed while I waited for her to say something.

  “He’s not here. Looks like he’s been moved to a room.” Her voice sounded so annoyed. I wanted to shake her and tell her that this was my dad we were talking about.

  “What room is he in?” I said with a hint of panic that was starting to bubble over.

  “Room 4015. Cardiac unit.”

  I didn’t bother saying anything more. I ran to the elevator bank and rapidly pressed the button to summon down the car.

  “Pressing it more than once is not going to make it get here any faster. Take a breath, Hailey.” Drew said, but I just glared at him.

  “I’ll breathe once I see my dad is okay.”

  The ding of the arriving elevator interrupted us and I hurried on before the doors had time to fully open. Drew and Rebecca followed. Another torturously slow elevator ride had me convinced everyone and everything in the hospital was designed to slow people down and boost their anxiety. If that were true, it was working.

  We finally made it to the fourth floor and I ran to the reception desk. “I’m looking for Steven Woods in room 4015.”

  “I’m sorry miss. He’s not taking visitors at this time.” A rude lady with thick-rimmed purple glasses and pin-straight blonde hair looked up at me from behind the desk.

  “I’m his daughter and I’m going to see him. Where is he?”

  “Room 4015 is that way.” She pointed to her left down a long white hall. I ran past the medical personnel who looked at me with disapproving expressions until I reached the room marked 4015. It was open just a crack with no light coming from the room. I knocked softly but there was no answer.

  I slowly pushed the door open and peeked inside. A pale, still shadow of the man I knew as my dad laid asleep on the bed. There were tubes around his nose, coming from the bandage on his arm, and from the cuff around his other arm. It all seemed so unnatural to see him like this. His normal bright face and warm smile weren’t there and it made me want to cry.

  I took a tentative step toward him. Not wanting to disturb him, but needing to know he was okay. “Dad?”

  “Hello?” A soft male voice startled me from the doorway.

  I whirled around to find a young man in a white doctor’s coat standing with a clipboard.

  “Hi. Are you his doctor?”

  “Yes, ma’am. And you are?”

  “I’m Hailey Woods. I’m his daughter. How is he? Is he going to be okay?”

  “Your father suffered a minor acute myocardial infarction.”

  “Oh my god, that sounds bad. Is that bad? Is he going to die?” I felt the floor shift under me but Drew was there to steady me.

  “In English, if you don’t mind, Doc,” he said with slight irritation.

  The doctor was clearly proud of himself for using all those big words and it made me wonder just how long this young guy had actually been a doctor who talked with real patients. His expression showed he was intimidated by Drew but he straightened himself to look taller though he was lucky if he came to Drew’s chin. “Mr. Woods had a mild heart attack. His surgeon performed an angioplasty to unblock the arteries that supply blood to the heart.”

  “An angioplasty? I looked at the doctor for clarification.

  “During an angioplasty, the surgeon inserts a catheter through the artery to reach the blockage. They inflate a small balloon to reopen the artery, allowing blood flow to resume. From looking at his chart it looks like they inserted a stent as well to prevent the artery from closing again.”

  “Is he going to be okay?”

  “I’m going to be fine. Don’t let those doctors scare you with all their mumbo jumbo. You know nothing’ can stop your old man.” My dad’s rough voice came from behind me and I whirled around to see him still lying in bed, eyes now opened.

  “Dad.” I cried and rushed to his side.

  “Hey, baby doll. So, this is what I have to do to get you to visit?” He smiled at me so softly it made my heart ache.

  “I’m sorry dad. Things have been crazy lately.”

  “I know. You’re busy living your life like you should be. I just like to
give you a hard time. It’s in the job description you know.”

  “Where’s mom?”

  “I sent her down to the cafeteria. I needed a nap and that woman can talk. Especially when she’s busy fawning over me the way she does when she’s nervous.” He chuckled weakly.

  “It just shows she loves you.” I smiled at him, finally relaxing a bit as he led me to sit on the edge of his bed.

  “You have to love someone to be with them as long as we have. Who have you brought with you?” My dad looked past me and squinted to see Drew and Rebecca. “Rebecca, it's good to see you again. And who’s your guy friend there?”

  “You remember Drew,” I said a bit lower.

  “Drew? Your high school boyfriend, Drew?” My dad squinted his eyes to focus better without his glasses on.

  “Yes, Sir. It’s good to see you again.” Drew came over and offered his hand to my dad who just looked at it.

  “Don’t you break her heart again. I may be weak right now in this hospital bed but it doesn’t take much strength to pull a trigger.

  “Dad.” I scolded him but his protectiveness made me smile.

  Drew smiled. “I promise, Sir. I plan to keep her heart fully in one piece.”

  “Good. I always liked you until you went and screwed everything up.”

  “It was a misunderstanding, dad.”

  “A misunderstanding?” My dad looked at Drew suspiciously. “So, he wasn’t fooling around?”

  “No, he wasn’t.”

  “But what about —.”

  “It’s a long story.” Drew interrupted. “One I fully intend to explain once you have your strength back. Maybe we can talk about it over a beer sometime?”

  “That sounds like a good idea, son. Right now, I’m extremely tired. I think it’s these damn meds they have me on. I told them I didn’t need anything”

  “We should let you get some sleep,” Drew said as he rubbed my shoulder.