“We don’t know,” Charlotte told her, even though she knew Curtis had been highly upset when he’d left out of the driveway and that this was probably the reason he’d caused someone to crash into him.
“What are the doctors saying?” Alicia asked, taking off her leather gloves and wool coat.
Charlotte repeated everything Dr. Mason and Dr. Rumeister had told them a few minutes ago, but looked up when two police officers approached them.
One of them was the officer who had come to her home with news of the accident. “Mrs. Black?” he said.
“Yes?”
“If you don’t mind, we’d like to ask you a couple of quick questions for our report.”
“Sure. Please go ahead.”
“Was your husband ill or upset about something? Or was there maybe some sort of emergency that caused him to leave the house so abruptly? Because not only did he drive onto the street in the midst of traffic, but he didn’t have his seat belt on either.”
“No,” she said, lying. “Not at all.”
“Do you know where he was on his way to?”
“To pick up his daughter.”
“That’s right,” Aunt Emma added. “He’d called me this afternoon to say he was going home first and then he would come by to pick her up later.”
Charlotte hadn’t expected Aunt Emma to say anything, but she was glad she’d helped corroborate her story without even realizing it.
“Was anyone else hurt, Officer?” Charlotte asked. “The other driver?”
“No, amazingly, he only has a slight case of whiplash and is being treated and released.”
“Thank God,” she said.
“Yes,” Aunt Emma said. “Thank God, he’s okay.”
“That’s for sure,” Anise added.
“Well, I think that’s pretty much it for now,” the officer said. “But we’ll still need to speak to Pastor Black when he’s feeling better.”
Charlotte told them that would be fine, deciding she wasn’t going to worry about that until she had to. She didn’t want to think about the reason this accident had happened, and she was relieved that none of her family members knew about those photos. She was happy they didn’t know a thing about her and Curtis’s huge blowup or that he’d told her their marriage was over. They had no idea he’d stormed out of the house in a murderous rage.
More minutes passed, and while Matthew was trying his best to be strong, Charlotte could see tears building in his eyes. Alicia must have noticed, too, because she finally stood up and said, “Come on, Matt. Let’s go take a walk.”
Anise walked over to him. “Here, I’ll take Curtina.”
Matthew willingly passed his baby sister to his second cousin, but when he got up, his phone vibrated, and he pulled it out of his jacket. Charlotte watched him and wondered why he looked as if he’d just seen a ghost—or something worse. Then, she saw Alicia bugging her eyes, and then looking at her. Now, Matthew gawked at Charlotte, too. That is, until Alicia quickly said, “Matt, let’s go,” and they left the area.
Charlotte sat there in misery, trying to figure out why Tom had sent those horrid photos to a child.
Chapter 45
It was shortly after midnight. Matthew was slumped down in a chair next to Alicia and Phillip, Aunt Emma had taken Curtina back to her house, and Anise and Janine were sitting near Charlotte. Over the last couple of hours, Charlotte’s parents, Elder Jamison, Elder Dixon, Lana, and each of the associate ministers from the church had arrived, and now they were all waiting for another update. They’d even prayed a couple of times as a group and tried laughing and talking about some of Curtis’s funnier moments, but there was still this utter gloom hanging in the forefront. Then, to make matters worse, Matthew had stopped speaking to Charlotte again and refused to even look at her.
Charlotte looked inside her purse when she heard her phone vibrating, but when she pulled it out and saw a Chicago area code she didn’t recognize, she feared answering it. So far, Tom had always blocked his number whenever calling her, but now that he’d sent photos to both Curtis and Matthew, she worried that maybe he didn’t feel the need to do that anymore. So, she let the call go to voice mail as she glanced around the room at other families who were either waiting to hear about sick loved ones or waiting to see a doctor themselves. She sat, trying not to think about Tom and how cruel it was for him to send those photos to Matthew and wondered why he would do such a thing. She tried pushing all of this out of her mind, but she still felt this great need to listen to the message she had a feeling Tom had left for her.
“I’m going to the restroom,” she said to no one in particular, and walked down the hallway. When she strolled inside and went into a stall, she closed the door and accessed her message system.
“So, I guess you’re still not taking my calls,” he said. “Doesn’t matter, though, because Reverend Black and I are finally even. You slept with me, and he slept with my wife—yeah, maybe it was a long time ago, but he still slept with her and he had no business doing that. Then, the worst part of all was when my son walked in on his mother and the good reverend. So that’s why I wanted so badly for your son to walk in on you and me. But since he really didn’t get a chance to see as much as my son had to, I figured I’d send him a little photo as a keepsake. At least I didn’t send him all five of them, though, so I hope you appreciate that. Actually, I debated sending that photo to your son at all, and that’s why I didn’t send it until a couple of hours ago. But I finally decided that it had to be done. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know you won’t be hearing from me again, and that I hope you have a very nice life. Ciao.”
Charlotte pressed Delete and dropped her phone back into her purse. What are the chances that any woman would go out to a club for the first time in years and then sleep with a stranger who wanted revenge on her husband? Easily one in a million.
She pondered that whole scenario but decided she just couldn’t focus on that now and exited the bathroom. As soon as she did, though, Matthew confronted her.
“Mom, I’ve been thinking about something,” he said coldly. “And I want you to tell me the truth. Did that man send Dad the same photo he just sent me?”
Charlotte stood with a blank stare on her face.
“He did, didn’t he?” he said. “And that’s why Dad was so upset when he left home. That’s why he drove out into the street without looking.”
Charlotte’s heart raced furiously. All this time when Matthew had insisted he was seventeen and no longer a baby, it wasn’t until now that she really believed him—now because he’d figured out this whole mystery she’d been trying to keep a secret.
“Wow, Mom,” he continued. “And to think when I told you Mr. Rush had been arrested, one of the first things you said was, ‘Not everyone can be trusted. Not even people you should be able to trust no matter what.’”
Charlotte’s heart beat even faster. When she didn’t say anything, however, Matthew slowly shook his head in a bewildered fashion and backed away from her.
“Matt,” she said, calling out to him, but he turned and left.
Charlotte wanted so desperately to break down, but she pulled herself together as best she could and went back to the waiting area. Just as she sat down, though, the doctors came out and this time spoke to them right where they were. Charlotte didn’t know if this was because things were looking up or they were so bad, they didn’t have time to take them to a closed-door room.
“So far, so good,” Dr. Rumeister said, sounding happy and relieved. “I did go ahead and insert a tube into the side of his chest to let out some of the air surrounding his lung, but his blood pressure is finally back up, his heart rate is a lot closer to normal, and he’s even able to breathe on his own. He’s still not out of the woods yet, but Dr. Mason and I feel very good about all of this.”
“He really is doing as well as can be expected,” Dr. Mason added. “Given his situation and the short amount of time that has passed. He’s a very strong m
an.”
“Thank you, God,” Charlotte said, as did everyone else.
“We’re going to monitor him down here for maybe another hour, but we’ll be sending him up to the critical care unit right after that. He’s still pretty groggy and probably won’t be completely awake and alert for a few hours, but you’ll still be able to look in on him for a few minutes.”
“Thank you so much, Doctor,” Charlotte said to Dr. Rumeister and then looked at his partner. “And you, too, Dr. Mason.”
“You’re very welcome,” they both said. Dr. Rumeister added, “I didn’t want to say this earlier because it really wasn’t the time, but I thought you should know that my wife is probably your husband’s biggest fan. She reads all his books as soon as they come out and even buys them as gifts for friends. She’s also attended your church a few times in the past.”
“That’s wonderful, Doctor, and I hope you’ll tell her how grateful we are.”
“I sure will.”
* * *
Curtis was finally settled into his room, and Charlotte and Matthew went in to see him. Charlotte weakened a bit when she saw the bandages taped down his left shoulder and arm and also on the left side of his head, and she didn’t like seeing the chest tubing Dr. Rumeister had mentioned earlier. There was also an IV being administered and the usual monitors recording his vitals.
When the CCU nurse assigned to Curtis left the room, Charlotte moved closer to the bed. “Baby, I’m so sorry, and I promise I’m going to make all of this up to you. Things are going to be so different when you get out of here.”
Matthew moved closer on the other side and held on to the railing. “You’re gonna be fine, Dad. You’ll be well in no time.”
Charlotte looked at her son, then at Curtis, and then back at her son again. “Matt, sweetie, I need to explain something to you.”
Matthew kept his eyes on his dad, acting as though she wasn’t standing there.
Finally, he rubbed the top of Curtis’s head and said, “I love you, Dad, and I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Charlotte leaned down and kissed Curtis. “I love you, too, baby.”
This time Matthew hurled her a look of disgust and walked out. Charlotte also left the room. She wanted to catch up to him but knew it might make things worse, so she didn’t.
After everyone had taken turns looking in on Curtis, Elder Dixon, Elder Jamison, and Janine said they were heading home and would be back tomorrow. Charlotte’s parents got her house key from her so they could go take a rest as well, but Alicia and Phillip had decided to stay the night at the hospital with Charlotte and Matthew. The waiting room was a lot emptier and quieter now, and Charlotte was glad. There was one thing bothering her, however, and that was the noticeably tense vibe she was getting from Alicia, so she knew it was time they chatted.
“Alicia, can I talk to you?”
Alicia didn’t say anything one way or the other. Just got up and followed Charlotte in silence.
“I just want to say I’m sorry,” Charlotte said, figuring Alicia might sympathize with her since she’d had an extramarital affair before as well. “I’m not sure how much Matthew told you, but I’m really, really sorry about everything. I made a huge mistake, and I’ll have to live with that from now on. But I still hope you can forgive me for what I did to your dad.”
“Well, let me just say this. I do love you as my stepmother, and I’ve certainly made a number of mistakes myself, but if Daddy ends up dying or having any serious complications behind this, I’ll never speak to you again. And to be honest, I really don’t want to discuss this with you right now.”
“But—”
“No, don’t,” Alicia stopped her. “Let’s just end this conversation before I say something I’ll regret.”
Chapter 46
Curtis had made it through the night without any major difficulties, and Charlotte, Matthew, Alicia, and Phillip couldn’t have been happier. Actually, he was wide awake and acting as though there had never been an accident. He did cough occasionally and complained about the pain in his chest, but that was pretty much it.
Dr. Rumeister walked in. “So, how’s my star patient this morning?”
“Doing fine, Doctor,” Curtis said, coughing again.
“You really are a lucky man,” Dr. Rumeister said. “You were in a very serious accident, and your injuries definitely could have been a lot more severe.”
“This is true, but the Big Man upstairs protected me and kept me in His care.”
“I guess He did,” the doctor agreed.
“So, when are you letting me out of here, Doc?”
Everyone laughed, including Dr. Rumeister.
“All in good time,” he said and Charlotte cringed. Those were the same words Tom had told her on more than one occasion whenever she asked him why he was terrorizing her, and now she hated them. She never wanted to hear that statement ever again.
“But when is that?” Curtis asked him.
“Well, if things keep going as well as they have been, we’ll get you moved to a regular room by tomorrow and then maybe home in another couple of days or so. Just depends on your lung and how satisfied I am with your improvement.”
“Well, I hope you’re satisfied pretty soon,” Curtis said, teasing him, but then he held his chest again. It clearly hurt him whenever he breathed too deeply.
“I want that to get better, too,” Dr. Rumeister said. “And it will once your lung is functioning again the way it should.”
Dr. Rumeister studied Curtis’s chart and then placed it under his arm. “Well, I guess I’ll see you sometime this afternoon, then.”
“Thanks a million, Doc,” Curtis said.
“You all take care,” Dr. Rumeister said to the rest of them and then left.
“Daddy,” Alicia said. “It’s so good seeing you awake and doing so much better.”
“It really is, Curtis,” Phillip added. “God is so good.”
“That He is,” Curtis agreed.
“We were all praying for you, Dad,” Matthew said. “And I can’t wait for you to come home.”
“Neither can I, son. And where’s my little Curtina?”
“At Aunt Emma’s,” Matthew told him.
“Oh. I know she’s too young to come inside this part of the hospital, but you make sure you give her a kiss and a big hug for me.”
“I will,” Matthew said. “I’ll go see her later on.”
Charlotte had wanted to say a few things to Curtis herself. She’d wanted to apologize, embrace him, and tell him she loved him. But she could already tell he didn’t want to hear it. She knew because he’d acknowledged and conversed with everyone in the room except her.
“Well, Daddy, you really do need to get your rest. So, Phillip and I are going to head back home to shower and change. We’ll be back by early evening, though, if not before.”
“You really don’t have to do that,” he said. “Ninety miles is a long way to travel back and forth when you’re doing it more than once a day.”
“Now, you know that’s not a problem,” Phillip assured him.
“Daddy, please,” Alicia said, dismissing her father’s comment.
“Well, before you go, baby girl, I do want to talk to you about something.”
What he really meant, Charlotte thought, was that he wanted to speak to Alicia alone, and Charlotte wished she knew what about. Although, chances were he was going to tell her everything about Tom and Michael. He and Alicia had an exceptional father-daughter bond, so if Curtis was going to confide this kind of personal business to anyone, it would definitely be her. He was going to bare every fiber of his being, and make Charlotte seem like the worst stepmother alive. He would say whatever he wanted, and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.
* * *
“Close the door,” Curtis said when Matthew, Phillip, and Charlotte had gone. “And look in my closet to see if my clothing is in there.”
Alicia did what he asked and pulled out a la
rge white plastic bag and looked inside it. “Yeah, your suit and shirt are here, but they must have had to cut it off of you when they brought you in because everything is basically in shreds.”
“Is my BlackBerry in there?”
Alicia searched around and found it. “Yep.”
“I know this is going to be a little awkward for you, but I need you to pull up five photos of Charlotte and then send them to both your phone and my e-mail address. That way, I’ll have copies saved in two other places.” Alicia looked at him strangely, and he wondered why. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, actually, Daddy, I already know about these. I mean, I didn’t know there were five of them, but I did see the one that was sent to Matthew.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No. And he was pretty upset, too. He also told me about his drive over to that motel in Wisconsin.”
Curtis closed his eyes, still not able to comprehend what that must have been like for Matthew, but tried to keep his mind on the matter at hand.
“Then, as soon as you leave here,” Curtis said, “I want you to call an attorney by the name of Richard Cacciatore. He’s located in downtown Chicago, and I just spoke to him not very long ago. Anyway, let him know that I’m in the hospital, and that I need him to draw up both a financial power of attorney document and a health-care one so that I can switch all power of attorney rights over to you. You’ll then need to find a local notary who will come here to witness my signature. I also want to change my will and make you executor, but we’ll worry about that later.”
“But why? Especially, since the doctor has pretty much said you’re going to be fine.”
“I need you to do this now, so that you’ll be able to move all my money over to brand-new accounts within the next day or two. Then, I want you to call Solomon Foley at State Farm to tell him that I need to change the beneficiary designations on all my life insurance policies.”
Love, Honor, and Betray Page 23
