by L. M. Reed
~ * * ~
The room had darkened considerably while I’d slept, and I could hear whispering.
Does anyone sleep around here? I wondered irritably.
Actually, it sounded more like angry hissing. My fault, no doubt…it usually was…
“…ignored your family for months.”
Nick was angry again. I wondered who the unlucky recipient was.
“I had no idea Laticia was deleting all of my voice mails.”
Mark’s voice sounded angry and defensive at the same time.
“Of course you didn’t,” Nick’s said scathingly, “Because you would rather believe some beautiful, artificially enhanced, lying, scheming witch than your own family…or roommate. CeeCee and I both tried to open your eyes to the truth, but your obsession with this woman bordered on fanatical and your lack of faith in your sister crushed her spirit.”
“Look,” Mark began desperately, “If I could take it all back I would, but I’d never met anyone like her before and I didn’t realize what she was doing to me. I just couldn’t believe what you were both saying because it was impossible that someone that angelic looking was evil.”
“And now…?” Nick asked bluntly.
“Everything you and CeeCee said was true,” Mark confessed. “After I got your call, I checked my log of missed calls and saw that you and Mom had called at least five times today but no voice mail. All of CeeCee’s calls over the past few months were there, also, I’d just never bothered to check. I totally bought everything Laticia was telling me. Once I confronted her about it, she finally admitted to deleting my messages.”
“Did she say why?” Nick asked curiosity temporarily overriding his anger.
“Yes, but I have no clue what she was talking about.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’d been trying to convince me to apply for law school for quite a while, but I didn’t know why. She finally confessed that her dad was my uncle’s partner in a law firm, and since my aunt and uncle had no sons, I was the only male Tate left to carry on the family tradition.”
“What’s so confusing about that?”
Nick was obviously bewildered and I was in complete shock.
What aunt and uncle…?
“Other than Mom and CeeCee, I didn’t know I had any living relatives,” Mark answered simply.
I wanted to stay still and hear more, but I was having a major bladder issue. I stirred in the bed so that they would think I was just waking up, and then called “Nick?”
Since he’d been there when I dropped off to sleep, I thought it would be only natural for me to assume he was still there.
“CeeCee…” Nick said in relief, immediately moving to my side.
“I need the nurse,” I croaked, but a little more clearly than before.
“Are you in pain?” Mark asked anxiously hovering over Nick’s shoulder. “Is something wrong?”
“Mark!”
No way was I about to let on that I’d been eavesdropping, so I pretended to be surprised that he was there.
“Fine,” I assured him, “I just need to…” I trailed off a little embarrassed, but they picked up on it pretty quickly.
Nick reached over and pushed a button.
“The nurse will be right here.”
“Thanks.”
“We’ll just go wait out in the hall,” Mark offered.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
He looked as if he wanted to say more but the nurse came in at that point, turned on the lights, and shooed them out the door. She disconnected all of the monitors and helped me out of bed. I was a little wobbly on my feet at first, so the nurse let me hold onto her while she moved the IV with us.
When I was done, it was a relief to lie down again; I was exhausted but not as sleepy as I had been, so I asked if I could raise the head of the bed up for a while. She hooked up the monitoring machines again, showed me all the buttons to push to control the bed, and told me I could watch TV if I wanted. After putting the ice where I could reach it, she asked if I needed anything else. I told her no, thanked her for her help, and she left.
Mark came back as soon as the nurse cleared the door.
I looked behind him and I guess the disappointment was written all over my face because Mark said, “Don’t worry, he hasn’t gone far. He thought we needed a little time alone together.”
I nodded, not sure what to say. I put some ice in my mouth and waited. I wasn’t ready to talk yet. Although it sounded as if he and Laticia were history, I had really stepped in it before, and the result had been losing Mark, so I didn’t want to want to risk that happening again.
“I want you to know how sorry I am I didn’t believe you about Laticia,” he began soberly. “I realize now she was playing me, but…”
He hesitated and I whispered insistently, “You believe me?”
“I should have believed you right away,” Mark admitted, “but I didn’t want it to be true. I’m sorry I deserted you and Mom. No woman is worth that.”
“Mark…”
I reached out and put my hand on his arm. I had to get it out, no matter how tired it made me or how terrible I sounded. My voice was a weird combination of whispering and croaking.
“We both know that one day you’re going to find someone who means more to you than we do,” he began to protest, but I stopped him and continued, “And that’s the way it should be.”
I had to take a break and put more ice in my mouth. He patiently waited for me to go on.
“Whatever girl you choose may or may not like us, but I would like to think that she would be nice enough to understand that we’re still family and need to be in each other’s lives.”
More ice.
“I would really like a sister though,” I added mischievously.
Mark laughed in relief and gave me a gentle hug.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he promised.
“What made you finally dump her?”
“You did,” Mark replied soberly.
“I did? What did I do?” I asked in my best imitation of an astonished frog voice.
“Once Nick got through to me on the phone, I told Laticia that I was going to go see you.”
I could tell by the look on his face that the memory was not pleasant.
“She gave me an ultimatum. I had to choose: you or her. I chose you.”
I would have had tears in my eyes at that point but, apparently, my dehydration was so severe I couldn’t. Thinking back, it was no wonder I hadn’t cried real tears in weeks.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Mark bent down to hug me.
“Is it safe?” Nick asked peering around the door.
Straightening up Mark turned to him and said, “Come on in”.
“I called your mom,” Nick informed him. “She’s expecting you,”
“You should have let her sleep.”
“I suspected she wouldn’t be sleeping. She admitted that she hadn’t even changed out of her street clothes, she’s so worried about CeeCee,” Nick said. “If you don’t go there, she’ll come here,” he warned. “She’s missed you.”
“Okay, okay,” Mark surrendered. “We need to talk anyway.”
“Make sure she gets some sleep,” I whispered my two-cents worth.
“I’ll do my best,” Mark assured me, “But stubbornness seems to run in the family.”
“You should know,” I retorted, the frog making an appearance again. Turning to Nick I said, “You go, too. I’m fine.”
Selfishly, I didn’t want him to leave, but I realized that he wasn’t mine to keep and Mom might need him.
Totally ignoring me, Nick continued talking to Mark, “I’ll walk you out and give you directions to the apartment.”
I sat there in the bed fuming, waiting for Nick to return.
Ignore me, would he? He was going to get a piece of my min
d when he…wait a minute, I was actually angry. I hadn’t had the energy to feel anything that strong in a long time. Instead of the scowl I had planned for Nick’s return, I was almost smiling.
“Glad you’re so happy to see me back,” Nick commented.
“Actually I’m so angry with you I could spit,” my smile grew.
“And that makes you smile because…” he began my sentence for me.
“Because I haven’t felt anything other than depression in months.”
“Well if anger makes you smile, I’ll have to stick around for a while,” Nick decided. “At this rate, I should be able to infuriate you into a state of euphoria in no time at all.”
“You have to go back and finish your clinical,” I reminded him, relieved that my voice was sounding better and it didn’t seem to take as much effort to talk.
“Since I haven’t missed a day all year, I’ve been allowed to take tomorrow…today off,” he laughed, correcting himself. “Guess you’ll have to put up with me a little longer.”
“Nick, you’ve been up all night. You need to sleep. I’ll be fine.”
“I have been sleeping,” he pointed to the uncomfortable looking couch behind my bed. Craning my neck, I noticed a pillow and blanket thrown across it. “But I have to admit, your room is Grand Central Station.”
“This is a hospital,” I reminded him with mock severity.
“True,” he replied ruefully “Very true.”
“Nick…” I ventured hesitantly, “Thanks for…everything.”
“You’re welcome for…everything,” Nick returned gently. “Now lights out while we attempt to get some sleep.”
“Sounds like a deal,” I agreed stifling a yawn.
I put my bed down until I was comfortable and allowed myself to drift.