Matters of the Heart

by Catherine Maiorisi

  Maya stood. “Sorry. I miss talking to you, Darce. And we haven’t had a songfest in a while.”

  Songfest? Darcy was a woman of many talents, a constant surprise.

  Darcy glanced at Andrea. “Please come by some afternoon or evening to finish discussing the book. My good doctor reads a lot but you’re my only history pal and I miss you.” Maya stood and kissed Darcy’s cheek again.

  Andrea put a chip in Darcy’s mouth and followed it up with wine.

  The petite woman who sat next wore a chic, scoop-necked jacket with silver embroidered detail over black pants. With her glossy black hair in a French twist, smiling dark eyes, alabaster skin and red lipstick, she was gorgeous. She placed her hands on either side of Darcy’s face and kissed her again and again.

  “I guess you missed me, eh, Lucia? Have you met my doctor? Dr. Trapani, Lucia; Lucia, Dr. Trapani.”

  “Oh, Lucia, I love your clothing. Everything you sent for Darcy looks beautiful on her.”

  Lucia looked pleased. “Thank you, Doctor. I often have Darcy in mind when I’m designing and selecting fabrics.” She spoke with a slight accent.

  So, another conquest. “Based on what I’ve seen, she’s a great inspiration.”

  “How’s the business going, Lucia?”

  Lucia edged forward on the chair and cupped Darcy’s face. “Thanks to you, we’ll be in Saks in January.”

  “No, Lucia, thanks to you and your wonderful designs. All I did was arrange a meeting.”

  “I want to talk to you about expanding.”

  “Stop by anytime.”

  “I will. Oops, I have to move on.” As Lucia moved away, another chair was dragged over. Two women sat. Darcy introduced them as Beth and Gina, a couple. Beth was small, wiry and surprisingly muscular. With her spiked dark brown hair, large brown eyes, and jaunty smile, she reminded Andrea of a pixie. On the other hand, her partner Gina, a statuesque coffee-colored beauty with lovely greenish eyes and lustrous short black hair with side-swept bangs, had an air of sophistication. Andrea felt a warm vibe emanating from them.

  “We figured we could speed things up if we came together.”

  Darcy raised her eyebrows. “Really, is that how you two get it done?”

  Andrea was happy to see that she wasn’t the only one always blush-ready. They all laughed.

  She could see that Darcy was tiring. She caught Tori’s eye, then tilted her head slightly toward Darcy.

  Tori studied Darcy for a few seconds then clinked a knife against her glass. “Okay, ladies, we don’t want to love our guest of honor to death so no more individual sessions. Everyone pull up a chair.”

  Tori, Elle, Maya, Stephanie, Monica, Alex and Renee carried chairs over and joined Gina and Beth in a semicircle around Darcy and Andrea.

  Darcy cleared her throat and wiggled her fingers but Andrea pretended she hadn’t noticed and turned her attention back to the group in front of her. She was aware of the women watching her with interest as she offered the straw to Darcy and held the glass while she sipped her wine, then fed her chips, without being asked. She had no doubt that they all knew about Darcy’s interest in her but no one mentioned it or teased them. They were all curious about the accident so Darcy described what had happened and told them about her physical condition. They expressed anger at Candace for not telling them.

  Lucia was particularly upset. “I was surprised when she told me she was picking up some things for Darcy and thought she might like wide arms and legs, but I never dreamed she was hiding the fact that Darcy had been in an accident. I’m so angry that she lied by omission.”

  Everyone dished Candace for another couple of minutes, then the conversation changed and wandered from Fire Island to jobs to who was dating someone new, to vacation plans.

  In answer to a question about Andrea’s experiences as an emergency room doctor, she described the pressure and the challenges the doctors and nurses faced every day. Then someone asked if she had always been an ER doctor. She told them about her two years with Doctors Without Borders, about delivering babies in an emergency hospital in Afghanistan while bombs exploded in the background, about living in the jungle in the Republic of Congo and loading everything—generators, sophisticated lab equipment, food, water and tents—into primitive boats carved from trees and fitted with motors to go upriver to set up camp where they’d screen and treat entire villages for sleeping sickness, then do the same the next day. Happily, no one asked if she was a lesbian, or why an emergency room doctor was working as a live-in caretaker.

  She could feel the power of Darcy’s attention as she spoke. When she finished she turned to Darcy. Their eyes met. She shivered at the intensity of the feelings she saw in Darcy’s eyes. She knew despite her best intentions, her eyes probably contained the same.

  After what seemed like hours, Elle broke the spell. “That’s amazing work, Dr. Trapani. Your bravery and generosity are humbling. Thank you for sharing.”

  Andrea looked away from Darcy. Everyone was grinning. She didn’t think her face could get any hotter, but it did. “I—”

  Darcy saved her from coming up with a response. “Now I understand why you weren’t intimidated by me when I attacked you that first day.” Everyone laughed. “Hey ladies, Dr. Trapani is curious about how we know each other.”

  It turned out that apart from Elle who had met Tori when they were both modeling, and Beth, they had all gone to college together, been in the same sorority and scandalized the campus with their behavior because they didn’t look like your stereotypical lesbians. Except Renee who was on the androgynous or butch side, all were ultra-feminine. And every one of them was attractive, personable, witty and playful. Andrea felt totally at ease and accepted by them. The last, she was sure, was based on Darcy’s seal of approval.

  When they’d arrived, she’d reminded Tori they should leave by about nine thirty, quarter to ten, so as not to exhaust Darcy. And, true to her word, Tori started the cleanup and goodbyes at nine fifteen. The chairs were put back and all traces of the party, including the garbage, were packed up. There were hugs and kisses goodbye for Darcy and for her. At nine forty-five Andrea locked the gate and they were alone.

  She wheeled Darcy into the house. She would wait for Francine to put her to bed but she washed Darcy’s face to remove the makeup and brushed her teeth. She removed the sapphires and put them in the safe, then replaced the blue top with one of the scrub tops Darcy used for sleeping, removed her pants and covered her with a blanket. When she’d done what she could without help, she sat next to Darcy and brushed her hair back. “Have a good time?”

  “A very good time. What about you?”

  “Your friends are lovely. How many of them have you been involved with?”

  “All but Elle. Tori got there first.”

  “So, with a rare exception, all your friends are your exes?”

  “Jealous?”

  “Interested.”

  She studied Andrea for a minute, maybe seeking signs of jealousy, then shrugged. “It’s safe to say that many of my friends are ex-lovers, but not all my ex-lovers are friends. Most of the women in my inner circle are college friends and ex-lovers. Make sense?”

  “It’s nice that you’ve managed to maintain connections with so many college friends.”

  “We were sorority sisters and lovers, not just me but the group with each other and you know lesbians tend to stay friends after the breakup.” Darcy stared at Andrea, but she kept her face bland. “Or maybe you don’t know.”

  Andrea smiled but didn’t respond. She’d come out with Julie in medical school and had had casual flings since then but her love for Julie had kept her from connecting with other women. Nora had been the last in a string of casual relationships.

  “What’s this songfest Maya mentioned?”

  “Oh, a couple of us get together to sing sometimes. Maya has a beautiful voice.”

  “You sing?”

  “A little.”

  “Do you play an instrumen
t?”

  “Piano, guitar, accordion.”

  “Accordion?”

  She chuckled. “What can I tell you? I grew up in a house full of Italians.”

  “Hey, ladies, how was the party?” Francine had arrived and they hadn’t heard the elevator.

  Darcy grinned. “Great. I got to eat potato chips and I learned that my good doctor is a brave doctor.”

  “Potato chips? You really did have a wild night.” Francine turned to Andrea. “May I ask what brave act you performed tonight?”

  “Other than daring to meet all of Darcy’s friends at once, I talked about the two years or so I worked with Doctors Without Borders.”

  “Hey, tell her later. I’m beat. Could you two throw me into bed so I can rest after my wild night?”

  They lifted Darcy into bed. Andrea helped her with the bedpan. By the time Francine finished checking her vitals, Darcy was asleep. Andrea covered her with a light blanket, put the sides of the bed up and watched her sleep a few minutes. It was getting harder and harder to maintain the distance. She turned to review the chart with Francine.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Andrea held Darcy’s hand in the waiting room, hoping to calm her down. Today was the day the arm casts might come off. She’d been stressing the “might” to Darcy for two days and this morning Darcy had snapped at her.

  “I’m not a baby. I understand they might not come off.” Then she laughed. “Guess who’s being a baby.” She stopped complaining but she was still tense.

  Finally, they were in the X-ray room waiting for the surgeon to read the X-rays. When Dr. Stern appeared, he sat on a stool and looked at the X-rays in his hand. “So, Ms. Silver—”

  “For God’s sake, you’ve probably seen me buck naked, call me Darcy.”

  He looked up at her, a little taken aback. Then he smiled. “I was going to say I hadn’t seen you naked because they cover patients in the operating room. But, actually, I did see you buck naked because you were broken so badly I needed to check every bone in your body. Darcy.” His eyes were twinkling. “Now, the cast on your right arm can come off, but I’m afraid the left arm will need a little more time.”

  Andrea waited for the temper tantrum, but Darcy just exhaled and smiled. “Any relief you can provide is greatly appreciated. One hand is better than none.” She looked at Andrea. “How’s that for being grown up?”

  “Very mature. And soon you can start to feed yourself.”

  Darcy grinned. “Unfortunately, my dear doctor, I’m left-handed. So you’re stuck with me another couple of weeks.”

  * * *

  Darcy was outraged. “What do you mean straighten it?”

  Jean Phillips, the physical therapist Andrea had arranged to be at the house after their appointment with the surgeon, repeated what she’d said. “We’ll start by straightening your elbow and then we’ll move to rotation and strengthening.”

  “No way. It’s been bent for more than six weeks and now you think I can just straighten it? I’m not even sure the damn thing is really my arm. With all that black fur it looks like they transplanted a monkey’s arm when I was in surgery. Besides, it refuses to do what I tell it.”

  Andrea laughed. “Come on, Darcy, don’t get your pressure up. Jean is head of the physical therapy department at the hospital. You can trust her.”

  Jean moved closer. “I’ll straighten it for you. It won’t hurt.”

  “What if it breaks again?”

  Jean laughed. “Dr. Stern is one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the country. If he says it’s healed, it’s healed. This is the next step if you want to get the full use of your arm back.” She placed her hands on Darcy’s arm. “Close your eyes.” She ran her hands up and down Darcy’s arm and then gently pushed. “Okay?”

  “Is it straight yet?”

  “Try to relax.” With gentle pressure, Jean straightened the elbow a little bit at a time. “How does that feel?”

  Darcy peeked. “You didn’t break it.”

  “Now we’ll start working on rotation.” She gently rotated the arm left, then right, had Darcy rotate it without a weight, then with a one-pound weight. Finally, she did bicep curls with the weight. “Good work. Now comes the reward.” She massaged the arm with lotion. Darcy’s eyes were closed but her face showed her pleasure.

  “Enough for today. Tomorrow we’ll work more on rotation and strengthening. Same time tomorrow?”

  “Do I have a choice? Wait. I know. If I want to get better, blah, blah, blah.”

  Andrea laughed. “Sorry, Jean, I forgot to tell you she’s a whiner.”

  “Am not.” Darcy stuck her tongue out. “Na, na, na nah.”

  * * *

  Relaxing in the garden after dinner, Darcy seemed to be enjoying the feel of the air on her arm, lifting it from time to time and flexing her fingers. “This is going to be a long haul, isn’t it?”

  Andrea looked up from her book. “What do you mean?”

  “First this arm, then the left. I see they’re going to take a while. And the legs will be harder, right?”

  Andrea framed her reply carefully. “Yes. I can’t say how long, but it won’t be as fast as you want. You have to rebuild muscle in all four limbs and learn to walk again. I know you want to be done with all this, Darcy, but even after the casts are off, it will be a while before you can go back to your life.”

  Darcy reached over and touched Andrea’s hand. “You’ll stay with me, right?”

  Andrea nodded. “See, you’re already using that hand. I’ll be here until you fire me or I decide you’re keeping me around just to torture me.”

  Darcy smiled. But Andrea wasn’t fooled. Darcy was struggling. In Darcy’s fantasies, it would all be over once the casts were removed. Now, facing reality, she was slipping into a depression, which was really repressed anger, which meant higher blood pressure. Andrea wondered what she could do to head off the heart-wearing blowup that was sure to come.

  Later that night, after she helped Francine get Darcy into bed, Andrea went for a run. It was then that the idea came to her. She would take Darcy to Fire Island to pick up her spirits. And she knew just who to call for help.

  She showered and as she slipped into pajamas, she could hear Darcy and Francine chatting away and laughing like old friends. Darcy was taking afternoon naps and the result was that she didn’t drop off to sleep at eight thirty or nine anymore and often she and Francine hung out together or watched a movie. Sometimes, like tonight, Andrea wanted to stretch out on the bed with Darcy and hang out with the two of them, but she knew it was up to her to keep things clear, so she controlled herself.

  Andrea sat in the chair by the window and called Tori. She explained about the cast coming off and Darcy’s feeling of hopelessness. “I’d like to take her to Fire Island. Do you think it’s possible?”

  “If you say she can go, we’ll get her there. She’ll be ecstatic. I’m ecstatic. What do I have to do?”

  “Right now, I need information. How easy would it be to get the wheelchair on and off the ferry?”

  “Just a sec.” Andrea could hear her repeat the question to Elle. “Elle thinks it won’t be a problem but she’s going to check it out as we speak. What else?”

  “How easy will it be to get from the ferry to Darcy’s house?”

  “No problem. All the paths are boardwalks so you can easily wheel her from the dock. And the house has a ramp that was built for her grandparents. It allows wheelchair access to the first and second floors.”

  “What’s the house like?”

  “The kitchen, dining room, living room and a bathroom are all on the first floor and the five bedrooms and five baths are on the second floor. Darcy’s private suite is connected to the first floor and has a large bedroom, a living room and a huge bathroom with a shower and a whirlpool tub.”

  “Quite a mansion.”

  “It is. Her grandparents built it years ago.”

  “So it sounds like we could easily get her there and into the h
ouse. What about the beach?”

  “The house is right on the beach, you’d just have to wheel her out to the deck facing the ocean or she could sit by her pool which is on the side deck, if she wanted to do that. Oh, wait.” Andrea could hear Elle again in the background. “Elle says there’s no problem with the wheelchair on the ferry.”

  “Is there a restaurant that delivers?”

  “How about you take care of getting her there and taking care of her while she’s there. I’ll take care of meals and wine and beer. You just tell me how many people and how many days and I’ll prepare menus and run them by you.”

  “Oh God, Tori, you are truly a wonderful friend. I’m going to go out on a limb here and invite you and Elle to stay with us.”

  “Tell me when and we’ll be there.”

  “I think I’d better run this by Darcy rather than try to surprise her. Can I call you tomorrow?”

  “Call me anytime, my lovely doctor.” Tori had pitched her voice to a sexy whisper.

  Andrea laughed. “Christ, Tori, you’re as big a flirt as Darcy.”

  “Just emulating the master.” Tori snorted. “But seriously, call me after you discuss it with Darcy. I’m hot to trot, as they say.”

  Really excited, Andrea bolted from the chair, knocked lightly on the door and walked in. Darcy and Francine looked up. Darcy looked shocked, then she pointed with her newly freed hand. “I’m melting, I’m melting. Look at her, isn’t she adorable.”

  Francine grinned.

  Andrea stopped short. What the—? She looked down. Oh shit, she had run in wearing her pajamas, a clingy tank top with no bra under it and skimpy cotton shorts that barely covered her crotch. The blood rushed to her face and she turned to go back and put on some clothes.

  Darcy was laughing so hard she could barely talk. “You can’t put the genie back in the bottle, my lovely doctor. I’ve already seen those long shapely legs and those sexy muscled arms, not to mention those voluptuous breasts, so come back here.”

  Andrea put her hands on her hips and spoke in mock indignation. “What. You thought I didn’t have legs and arms or breasts?”