by J. P. Comeau
Happiness.
I could’ve sworn what I felt almost resembled happiness.
“Sir?”
I opened my eyes. “Yes?”
“We’re uh… at a gate? Of some sort?”
I cleared my throat. “Pull up to the intercom and roll down my window.”
The man did as I asked, and I punched in my code to open the gate. The gate squeaked and groaned as the driver pulled through, dropping me right off at my doorstep. I tipped him a bit more money for his troubles and waved him off. Then I eased myself through the massive front doors of my estate, where the sounds of absolutely nothing greeted me.
And anger set back in.
“Fucking idiot I was for this place,” I grumbled.
I made my way up the steps, my shoes clicking and echoing off the bare walls that had hardly been decorated since I had the place built. I slipped into my bedroom and walked into my closet before I took a seat and started winding down for bed. With every piece of my nighttime routine, I felt the anger inside of me softly calming the ebbing and flowing of my soul.
My shoes slipped back into their slots.
My suit made its way downstairs for someone to take it off to the dry-cleaner.
Then, everything else went into a hamper before I hopped into the shower.
I closed my eyes and let the hot water rush over my aching muscles. I couldn’t remember the last time I didn’t feel some sort of tension in my body, somewhere. I gritted my teeth as I cleaned myself off for the night and quickly slipped out, allowing myself to air-dry as I enjoyed a piping hot cup of tea on my private balcony. I spread myself out on the lounge chair, watching the steam rise from my lonely cup, even though I had purchased two sets when I saw them online.
And just as I finished my tea, I heard my phone ringing in my closet.
“Goddammit,” I murmured.
I walked back inside and slipped into some flannel pajama pants before I hunted down my phone. I scooped it up, watching as my screen flashed with an unopened text message. It was from Leslie, and I swiped my finger up to open it before my eyes scrambled to devour the words.
But, her words didn’t bring that bubbly feeling that had confused me and enchanted me earlier.
Leslie: I have to call out for tomorrow. Family emergency. I am so sorry.
I ground my teeth together as I quickly shot back a message.
Me: That isn’t how you call out. You need to put it on the calendar, and then I need to approve it and get it tallied. And it won’t be approved. Tomorrow is your first full-time day. If you can’t even make that, then I need to make other arrangements.
I knew the message was harsh, but I didn’t give a shit. Call out on her first full day? Was she nuts? What kind of business did she think I was running? I watched my phone, waiting for the message to be read. Waiting for those three little dots to start bouncing up and down. However, the message was never read, and the dots never appeared.
So, I called.
“The number you have reached does not have a mailbox that is—”
I hung up the phone and stood to my feet. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and tried calling again, but when my call went unanswered, I felt my anger swallow me whole. If that woman didn’t want to speak face to face, then I’d go to her place and fire her in person to show her exactly how she needed to communicate with her fucking boss.
So, I threw a T-shirt on, wrapped myself up in a robe, and made my way for the front door.
I didn’t even bother calling a cab. I needed to burn out some of this anger on the road, so I grabbed the keys to my Audi convertible. I revved the engine and sped out of my driveway, peeling away so quickly that burnt-rubber smoke kicked up into the air. I raced to my place of work before I dug her address out of my employee files, and the next thing I knew, I was standing in front of her door, and the damned thing was wide open.
“Leslie?” I gripped my keys between my fingers as the hair on the nape of my neck stood on end. “Leslie? You here?”
I eased myself into the small townhouse and wondered how in the hell anyone could move around in this place. It was so tiny, and the furniture was so massive that I felt myself bumping into corners that I felt shouldn’t have even existed in the first place. I was definitely an open-concept kind of guy, and this place had a wall for every fucking room and then some.
“Leslie!” I called out.
I checked every room and found no one there, except for the heavy stench of vomit. It curdled my stomach and dredged up a fear inside of me that I’d never experienced before. I walked back to the front door and peeked around outside, trying to see if some sort of intruder was attempting to escape the premises. But, when I didn’t see anything suspicious, I ripped my phone out and called Leslie once more.
And that’s when she picked up.
“Yes?” she asked breathlessly.
I barked my words at her. “Where are you?”
“What do you mean, where am I?”
“I’m at your place, and the damn door’s wide open. Where are you, Leslie?”
She paused. “Why the hell are you at my place?”
I scoffed. “Why the hell aren’t you answering my calls? Where are you? We need to talk.”
“Look, Trey, I really can’t talk right—”
Then, an intercom came on in the background, and I knew exactly where she was.
“Dr. Campbell, you are needed in the OR. Dr. Campbell, please report to OR 2 immediately.”
My heart dropped to my stomach. “I’ll be there soon?”
Leslie spoke quickly. “Trey, seriously. I don’t need you here. I can bring my laptop to the hospital tomorrow to work so I don’t have to miss any—”
I hung up on her, closed her townhouse door, and sprinted for my car. I hopped inside without even closing the door all the way, and I sped off toward the closest hospital. I swerved into a parking space and charged through the emergency room doors, trying to figure out where the fuck I was supposed to be.
And after speaking with three nurses and one very tired resident, I found Leslie sitting in a waiting room.
While she cried into her hands.
“She’s gonna be okay,” a woman beside her murmured, “Rori’s strong. She’s got this, and so do you.”
I blinked, pulling myself out of my disarmed trance. “Leslie.”
Her head whipped up, and her reddened eyes broke my heart. “Trey?”
I walked over to her and sat down. “What’s going on?”
She furrowed her brow. “Why in the world are you—”
I placed my hand on her knee. “Stop fighting me and answer my question. What’s going on? What happened?”
“Who is this?” the woman asked.
I answered her without moving my eyes away from Leslie. “Trey Cataline. Now, is someone going to answer me? Or, do I need to track down a doctor?”
Leslie’s eyes searched mine before she sighed. “It’s my daughter, Aurora. She’s having an allergic reaction to something, but they don’t know what.”
I nodded. “Have they tried medication? An Epi-pen?”
Her friend scoffed. “Uh, yeah. I’m pretty sure the doctors have already tried those avenues before they rolled the girl downstairs to run some tests. They have to sedate her first.”
Leslie hissed. “Suri, cut it out.”
I stood to my feet. “What kind of an allergic reaction?”
Leslie leaned back in her chair and sighed. “That’s the issue. They think that whatever she’s having a reaction to is lodged somewhere in her system. Possibly her throat or her lungs. She’s having tests run so they can figure out exactly what’s going on.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “How long has she been in—”
Then, Leslie started crying again. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to pay for this, Suri. I haven’t filled out my insurance stuff. I just started this job. I’ve drained my savings account for this townhouse, and I just bought groceries, a
nd my credit card is maxed out, and I—”
I couldn’t take it any longer. “Stop!”
Her friend, Suri, slowly stood to her feet. “If you’re going to continue to be this way, you can exit the same way you came. You’ve already overstepped your lines as a boss; don’t make me throw you out a window because you’re upsetting my best friend further. Got it?”
The tall, slender woman staring up at me had the most striking hazel eyes I’d ever seen on someone, and they were filled with the kind of determination that almost made me jealous. It had been a long time since I’d considered anyone a friend, much less had someone who defended me with the kind of fervor she showed for Leslie.
“She’s lucky to have you,” I said, trying to calm my voice.
Suri blinked. “Well, thank you. I know she is.”
I turned my attention back to Leslie before I crouched down. “I’ll make sure this is taken care of, all right?”
Leslie’s watery eyes met my own. “What?”
I placed my hand on her knee and squeezed softly. “Don’t worry about money. We’ll figure it out, okay? So long as I can prove that you were under my employ before this happened, I’ll make sure the insurance covers what they should. And whatever else is left, I can handle.”
Her jaw dropped open in shock. “Trey, I can’t let you—”
A pronounced voice interrupted us. “Leslie Popovich?”
She shot to her feet. “That’s me?”
I stood and turned around to find a black man in a white coat standing behind us. “May I speak with you privately, please?”
Leslie drew in a broken breath. “Whatever you can say, you can say it in front of Suri and my—”
I peeked down at her and watched her swallow hard. “—Trey. It’s okay.”
The doctor shook his head slowly. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. Could you follow me, please?”
I stepped to the forefront. “You heard what the woman said, and you’ll do everything in your power to abide by what she’s asking of you. And in the meantime, I want to get Aurora in a private room. You can bill me for the expense, or however that works.”
The doctor blinked. “Uh-huh. Right.”
I tilted my head. “Or, I can fly my doctors in and have them use the equipment here and bypass you completely. Aurora will need a private room where she’s comfortable and can get some rest, and I have a doctor I keep on-call if your staff here at the hospital is spread thin as it is. So, take your pick, and we can go from there. But I can assure you, I’m much more productive when people aren’t fighting me over stupid shit.”
The room was completely silent as the doctor and I stared off. I heard Suri gasp behind me as Leslie placed her hand on my back, gripping her robe as she searched the doctor’s face. I had no idea what the hell was going on, but I knew one thing was for certain: Leslie and her daughter deserved the best, and I was in a financial position to give it to them.
So, I needed people to stop fighting with me and simply do what I said.
12
Leslie
“Go to sleep, Rori girl. Go to sleep and have sweet dreams. May you always find your place, and may the sun shine in your heart. Go to sleep, Rori girl. Go to sleep and be safe. Go to sleep, Rori girl. And Lord, please keep her safe.”
I sang the song I made up for her on the dot when she was only three months old. As I cradled her hand within mine, flashbacks of her first-ever hospital trip bombarded my mind. She hadn’t been much more than twelve weeks old, and I had heard her wheezing from across the room. I got up and sprinted over to her crib, only to find that her lips were blue and her eyes were bright and wide with panic. Sinus issues had already taken over, and she had so much mucous build-up that it was impeding her ability to breathe.
We spent almost a week in that damned place trying to get her lungs to open up and her airway to expand.
“You’ve got this, sweet girl. I know you do,” I whispered.
I stood and kissed her pale, sweating forehead. She hadn’t come to since her procedure, at least not enough to hold a coherent conversation. The doctors said it would be touch-and-go for a little while since she had somehow, beyond all stretch of the imagination, inhaled a pea. Suri felt the worst about it. She remembered Rori coughing and retching to try to get the pea up, but she thought it had come up because once the coughing was done, Rori continued eating.
But apparently, one lone pea had slid down into her lungs and lodged itself into one of the air sacs and couldn’t get back out.
I heard a shuffling noise from across the room, and I whipped my head up. As I made my way back to my perched position on the edge of Rori’s hospital bed, I questioned so many things. Like, why Trey had come searching for me in the first place. And why in the world he had decided to stay and sleep in some sorry excuse for a chair in the corner instead of heading back to the comfort of his massive mansion. It wasn’t as if he were family or anything. All he was doing in that corner was snoring and shifting around whenever his ass fell asleep.
Then again, the sight of him still over there was a bit endearing.
I’ll have to thank him big-time for this one.
“Especially if he’s serious about paying,” I murmured to myself.
The room that the doctors had settled us into had to be one of the most pleasant hospital rooms I’d ever been in. The room was easily the size of my kitchen and living room combined. It had a three-cushioned couch over by the window that Suri occupied while she slept, and Trey was in a rocker-recliner off to the side. The en-suite bathroom had all of the attachments and hook-ups of a regular hospital bathroom, but it had to be—at the very least—three times as large as any bathroom I’d ever seen in traditional hospital rooms.
And don’t even get me started on the bed they had Rori in.
The damned thing was almost more comfortable than the bed she had at home.
I have to thank him for this.
“I feel you staring.”
Trey’s voice ripped me from my trance, and that was when I realized I had been staring at him in the first place. I blinked and tore my gaze away, pulling myself out of the recesses of my mind. I cleared my throat and looked around the room, trying to find Suri in my moment of absolute embarrassment.
But, she wasn’t on the couch like she had been a couple of hours ago.
“Where’s Suri?” I asked.
Trey groaned as he stood from his chair. “She had to go home. She’s got work in the morning.”
I blinked. “Oh.”
He looked down at his watch. “Well, I suppose it’s a good thing you’ve got the week off because, at this point, your lack of sleep would impede your ability to function on the job.”
I furrowed my brow. “The week off?”
He walked toward the bathroom. “I said what I said.”
I smiled softly. “Thank you, Mr. Cat—”
He waved his hand into the air as he slipped inside. “Bah, don’t mention it.”
I watched as he closed the door behind him, and I felt myself still. Trey was easily one of the strangest human beings I’d ever come across. Yet, he had more heart than anyone I’d ever come into contact with. He painted himself as this hardened, angry, spiky creature from hell, but deep down, he had a kind and giving soul that only wished to help.
I wondered why he covered it up with such a rough exterior.
I wondered who had taken advantage of him and hurt him so badly.
When he came out of the bathroom, I expected him to head back to his seat. I expected his snoring to kick up in a few minutes and for Rori and myself to be alone again in the hospital room. But instead, he pulled up a chair beside me. He folded his hands in his lap, acting as if he weren’t still in flannel pajama pants and a robe that was probably made of solid mink or some shit like that.
Then, he cleared his throat. “We need to talk.”
I shook my head. “Whatever it is, it can wait.”
“This will probably be the
only time we have alone for a while.”
I snickered. “We aren’t alone. Rori’s right here. And I’d like to not address anything sensitive while she’s in the room if it’s all the same to you.”
He stood to his feet. “Then, come with me to the cafeteria. She’s sleeping, and I heard your stomach growling an hour ago from across the room.”
I slowly looked up at him. “Even if I wanted to admit to that, I’m not leaving my daughter. She’s in a vulnerable state, and the last thing she should be is alone.”
He sighed. “They have her on morphine, for starters. She’s not waking up anytime soon. She won’t know you’ve gone to nourish yourself, which is what you need to be doing if you’re going to be single-handedly taking care of her. You both can’t be sick, so worrying yourself to death isn’t going to do your daughter any favors.”
I hated that he was right. “No longer than an hour, okay?”
He offered me his hand. “I’ll make sure we’re back in forty-five minutes.”
I fluttered my eyes up to his before I bent over and kissed my daughter’s forehead. I whispered in her ear that I’d be right back, just in case she could hear me and was aware of everything going on. Then, I took Trey’s hand, and we eased our way out the door. We walked toward the elevator and rode it in silence, our hands slowly slipping away and falling back to our sides.
I found that I missed his touch, though, as we walked through the door of the cafeteria.
The place was practically empty, but the coffee smelled fresh. I got myself a massive cup and dumped as much sugar in it as I could stand, then I decided to pick out some fruit for myself. Trey insisted that I get myself a sandwich as well, so I snatched up the last tuna melt from the griddle station. And of course, after he flexed his muscles and paid, we went and sat in a corner booth away from the few doctors and nurses who were on a break with their piping hot coffees.
But, when Trey spoke, it pulled my attention to him. “So, we’re sleeping together, and I’m your boss.”
I blinked and took a big sip of my coffee. “Just jumping on in here, huh?”