by Su Halfwerk
She was acting like a kid, Pru reasoned. After all, she wasn’t his keeper, he could call any name he wanted. And besides, he was helping her out. “I appreciate what you’re doing, I even appreciate your departure from black to blend in with the visitors.” She eyed his beige button-down shirt and blue jeans meaningfully.
With a curt nod, he mounted the steps and pushed his way through the sliding doors. Without pausing at the reception, Luke took the elevator to the third floor. Visiting hours allowed anyone to enter, unless he was covered in blood and carried a machete.
As the elevator door pinged open, Pru headed towards her room but paused when she didn’t sense him next to her. She backtracked her steps and found him leaning on a pillar, his eyes closed.
“What are you waiting for?”
Luke opened his eyes and pointed to the left with his chin. “For Carmen and that woman to finish talking and go away.” He narrowed his eyes. “I thought you said Carmen didn’t visit you.”
“As far as I know she didn’t.” Pru leaned eagerly to the side to see. Indeed, Carmen was speaking with Eloise, Mrs. Lancaster’s assistant. Perhaps Carmen visited while Pru was out wandering the streets.
As usual, Eloise was clad in a navy blue jacket with matching pants and comfortable heeled shoes. She was dressed as though about to attend a corporate meeting. Her very short black-gray hair was coifed with a side-swept fringe. Even her usual dry expression didn’t deter happiness from blossoming in Pru’s heart. She was finally found, everything would be okay. She would be reunited with her family.
Pru drifted toward them and halted at seeing Carmen’s red-rimmed eyes. She was sniffling.
Am I dying?
“I can’t bear this anymore,” Carmen said.
Eloise raised a hand. “The instructions we have are very clear, you can’t do anything about it.” Eloise’s dead blue gaze focused on Carmen, no mercy to be found there.
“But it isn’t fair. Pru did nothing wrong.”
“This topic is not open for discussion. If you prefer, I can ask someone to speak to you.”
Carmen flinched. When Eloise turned to leave, Carmen wiped her tears and staggered after her.
Pru stayed behind, movement and thoughts muddled by shock. She was not found, and wouldn’t be if things remained the way they were. She was hidden, otherwise why hadn’t Carmen told her family about her yet?
Just as she was about to spiral into self-pity, warmth weaved a gentle pattern from her hand to the rest of her body. She looked to the side, Luke was right next to her, his fingers immersed in her semitransparent hand.
“Did you hear them?” she whispered. Her breath came out on a hitch. She would not cry.
“No, but it can’t be good judging by your expression.”
Chapter Eleven
Luke paced the alley by the hospital, angry with himself for not calling Pru’s family, furious with Carmen for letting her down, and pissed at the charitable Mrs. Lancaster. Eloise, her assistant, was no other than Mack’s mother. Mack was sentenced and executed for the rape and murder of thirty-seven women, but before his execution, he had drastically changed Luke’s life through his affiliation with Sully and the gang.
Was it possible that Luke’s interest in Pru had led Sully and his gang to her? No. Pru’s accident took place a week before they met. He cursed, livid for not figuring a connection that was bound to be there.
Poor Pru. She’d looked searchingly at him, her broken heart reflected in her large expressive eyes and then darted out of the hospital to this alley. Under his insistence, she’d recounted, dry-eyed, the conversation between Carmen and Eloise. He had a feeling her prone body in the hospital had done all the crying.
If only he could hold Pru, reassure her that all would be well, that he was by her side. Instead, he punched the wall hard enough for the pain to reverberate all the way to his shoulder. As he swung his arm for another blow, Pru slid between him and the wall, shaking her head. She was close to him, so close that her forehead almost rested on his chest. So close that waves of memories rolled over him, washing him clean of his wrath. Memories of warmth, of childhood dreams, of fresh spring grass.
“I won’t let you hurt yourself. I mean it,” she said, breath halting as she spoke, her eyes drowning him in, somehow calming him.
Carmen had grown into an older replica of her teen self, except her rosy complexion was yellow and clammy looking and her long black hair was chopped short, the fringe sticking to her forehead. She’d spoken to Eloise with too-animated gestures while her dark gaze jumped all over the hall, walls, and people passing them by. Trembles shook her shoulders as though she was cold but her sweaty skin contradicted that. If that wasn’t proof enough of substance abuse, her repeated sniffling and rubbing of the nose did the trick. Carmen was a junky suffering from withdrawal symptoms. The question was whether she was trying to give it up or her supplier had stiffed her.
Pru raised shaky hands. “Calm down, Luke. There must be a reasonable explanati—God! Your hand is bleeding.”
He glanced at his already healing hand. “It’ll heal. Did you know these two knew each other?”
She shook her head. “I guess Mom and Tía Adoria won’t be coming.”
Luke winced. No, they weren’t coming.
“Carmen didn’t look good, did she?”
He inhaled sharply. It wasn’t the right time to discuss her choice in friends. “Do you know the woman who was talking to Carmen?”
“Eloise? No, not before my stay here. She’s Mrs. Lancaster’s assistant and is very loyal to her. She follows her orders to the letter.”
“You don’t know her from elsewhere?”
“I said no. Not everyone’s past is filled with unknown people.” Pru covered her mouth, eyes open wide. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” Yet, she evaded his searching gaze.
Something was wrong, her eruption didn’t make sense. “What is it Pru?” She turned to the side and pressed her lips. He leaned closer and softened his tone as he said, “Tell me.”
In a small voice he wouldn’t have heard if he was a foot away from her, she asked, “Who’s Hope?”
Luke blinked, his brow knitting together. Did she know Hope?
“I-you said her name during your sleep.”
He almost smiled. Was it possible that Pru was jealous? “She’s a working girl from my past.”
“You called her name and then woke up and moved away from me. She must’ve meant something.”
She helped kill me. Aloud he said, “I must’ve called her name because I was dreaming of the night my life changed forever. She meant nothing then and she means nothing now.”
“Then why did you push away from me when you woke up?”
He sighed, leaning into her, enjoying those peaceful feelings she evoked in him. “I always wake up jumpy from that nightmare.” Seeing Pru next to him had made him feel the extent of dirt in his life. He didn’t want her sullied by him. “Right now, there’s only one person in my life, and that is you.”
It hit him then how true that admission was. Pru was the only one for him. The crush had matured into something more—dare he call it love? His life wouldn’t be the same without Pru in it. It might’ve been destiny that brought them together again, but it would be him who’d break them apart. When Pru woke up from her coma, he must leave her alone. He was a nobody, nothing more than an animated body to serve a purpose dictated by the Laymour.
He considered Pru’s sad face now. He’d purposefully neglected calling her family. Since his death, he’d existed in the dark by selling goods to addicts and survived on that money. He wasn’t on any computer system or anyone’s radar, he didn’t even own a cell phone. If Sully found out he was still alive…
But what harm could come from calling her family? Who would know his identity if he didn’t mention it?
“I’ve been meaning to suggest before that—Pru! What’s happening to you?”
She turned her hands over and watch
ed them fade out. “I-I don’t know.” She winked out of existence and appeared again, her hand reaching toward him in a plea. “Help me.” Even her voice was fading.
Luke gathered her in his arms to anchor her to him, or attempted to because just then she blinked out again. “Dammit, what’s this?”
She was gone. He waited few precious moments, she didn’t return. Luke reached out and touched the wall, but felt no trace of her heavenly presence. Raking his hair, he paced the alley. What was happening?
How will I find her?
An idea hit him then, he knew where he could find a trace of her. The place she returned to when there was nowhere to go. With a colorful curse, Luke rushed into the hospital.
Because there was a throng of people waiting for the elevator, Luke headed to the stairs instead. Overhead, the disembodied voice of the page said, “Code Blue, D three one five.” The emergency code was for room fifteen in wing D on the third floor.
Pru’s room!
He shot up the stairs, his arms pumping by his side, legs propelling him forward in a speed borne out of fear. He slowed down as he neared the room and heard the commotion inside. Nurses and a doctor surrounded her bed, all speaking at the same time in short clipped jargons. Something collided with the back of Luke’s leg, he turned. An orderly pushing a defibrillator had hit him with the device in his eagerness to roll it in the room. Luckily, he also got Luke pushed in as well.
“You can’t be here, Sir,” a nurse said to him firmly.
He narrowed his eyes at her, almost pushing the nurse out of his way to reach Pru. He wanted to feel her hand in his. That was all he wanted and it wasn’t much to ask.
He opened his mouth to snap at the nurse standing between him and Pru, but Celestine said, You can do better by remaining in the room, unseen.
Luke closed his mouth and raised his hands in a gesture of concession while he took a step back. The moment the nurse returned to her colleagues, he took a couple of extra-large steps toward a corner of the room and cloaked himself in invisibility.
There was no trace of the incorporeal Pru, only the one on the bed surrounded by equipment and medical staff. Luke could only make out Pru’s pale profile and an expanse of red curls surrounding her head like a halo.
“Clear!” At the utterance of that word, a nurse stopped fussing with Pru’s forehead and kept her hands to herself.
Pru’s head tilted backward sharply and settled back facing him.
The doctor said, “Recharging again. Clear!”
Another jolt shook her body. No change in the ECG reading. A flat line.
“Recharge to 300,” shouted the doctor and a nurse adjusted a knob on the device.
There were tears tracks on Pru’s cheeks.
****
Luke leaned on the wall, its cool surface felt good against his heated forehead. It had taken him a while to trace Carla, Pru’s mother. She had moved from Santa Monica to Santa Clarita after Adoria, Pru’s aunt, got married. Unfortunately, in those days, Luke wasn’t close to their family and never bothered with keeping in touch. He rolled his eyes up and thanked heavens that Carla Hall was listed.
Because Pru remained in touch with her mother through occasional calls and visits during holidays, Carla was unaware of her daughter’s situation. Work pressure had kept Pru busy, her mother had said. Perhaps it was Pru’s way of opting for independence from her mother’s total devotion to her. Through choked back tears, Carla got the hospital’s name and room number. He hoped she would call her sister who was married to a famous actor turned producer. They might need to pull some muscle around the hospital to get Pru out, especially since Mrs. Lancaster, a powerful woman, had made it her business to keep her in the hospital. That cardiac arrest was induced, Luke would bet his hunting license on it.
He’d hung up when Carla asked for his name.
“You have done well, calling Pru’s family to her side. Perhaps this will give you more time to hunt.”
Luke appreciated Celestine’s compromise but also heard the reminder to do his job. “I have a strong feeling this cardiac arrest was brought upon her. She was healthy one minute and then…”
“The human body is not invincible.”
“I think Pru’s state of affairs has more to do with spirit hunting than you think. Besides, there’s a strong connection to the people from whom I seek revenge. Pru will remain my business until she’s safe.”
Chapter Twelve
“You’ve given me quite a scare,” Luke said in a husky voice, his hand entwined with Pru’s. His shoulders lifted every time he drew a breath, as though he did it with difficulty.
She watched him silently as he spoke to her body. Judging by the warm sensations that swarmed her now and the feelings he induced in her every time she went through him, Pru guessed his touch would be warm. She yearned for him to hold her close and never let go.
Luke ran his fingers through his hair. “I guess you can tell I’m not good at this.” He sighed. “But I’m trying to bring you back to me.” His last word ended on a hitch. He cleared his throat.
So, he did feel more towards her.
Wait, come back to him from where? She remembered being in the alley with him in the afternoon then she experienced a moment of absolute lightness as though her spectral existence was losing weight, she even witnessed her hand disappearing. After a blink, she was back here, in her hospital room. She glanced through the window searchingly. Some time must’ve passed in between because the moon was out now.
“I called your mom and she’s on her way with your aunt and her husband. Being married to an influential man like Andrew Taylor could come in handy in your current predicament.”
Pru frowned. Why hadn’t he done that before? Perhaps he hadn’t thought of it. She hadn’t.
His head tilted to the ceiling, he said with a wistful note in his voice, “God, why can’t life be simple like before? He lowered his head. “Did you know I was sweet on you then?”
“What about now?” she whispered, drawing closer to him.
Luke was about to lean forward and froze. He shot to his feet and turned. His pensive smile stretched until it lit the room with its brightness. He started towards her, his hands stretched out until he held her, or actually embraced her outline. Pru closed her eyes, delighted with his contented sigh. She loved feeling him, loved being around him, loved the emotions he evoked in her. Pru snapped her eyes wide open.
I love him!
He pulled back, his gaze roaming all over her face.
That arresting smile, charming dimple, and those dark penetrating eyes obliterated all pretense of belligerence, only her teen crush remained. If it weren’t for his shady dealings on the side, she would’ve responded to his silent longing all those years back. Pru’s grandfather was an alcoholic and her mother was a drug addict while pregnant with her, she grew up abhorring substance abuse of any form. Since Luke promoted it, she couldn’t get past that.
Shaking off those allusive musings, she said cheerfully, “I’m baack.”
At hearing her voice, he moved back and shifted his weight. “I’m glad you’re back. Your cardiac arrest almost gave me one.”
She blinked. “My heart stopped?” So far, worst-case scenario she’d come up with was being in a coma for a long time. Now she must adjust her expectations of the length of her lifespan.
“The doctor mentioned that diabetic comas like yours can go either way. Your blood sugar dropped even further, which may have rendered your heart like a revving engine in a car that isn’t moving. It overloaded itself and stopped.”
Pru raised her hand, frowning. “Hold on a second. I’m not diabetic.”
Luke went around to the chart attached to her bed. He flipped to the second page. “According to this, you are.”
Pru read the page she never saw before. Her blood sugar was tested every few hours, and it was low. “Those blood tests,” she said and ran a hand through her hair. “I’ve seen the nurse check my blood frequently. I nev
er thought it was for this.”
“Pru, there’s no thinking about it. You do have a very low level of blood sugar.” He pointed to a drip bag. “You’ve always had a glucose drip attached to you.”
“Those are meant to feed me, right?” At his silence, Pru stomped her foot. “I’m telling you I don’t have diabetes.”
He raised both hands in surrender. “I believe you. This only adds to the mystery of your stay here.”
They fell silent, Pru lost for words and Luke studying her chart.
“I’m tired of being here.” And scared. “I want to go home.”
He glanced sideways. “You will. I already called your mother.”
“Thanks for that, but…why didn’t you do it before?”
Luke shifted his weight. “Do you remember Sully?”
Pru shook her head.
“He was a small time drug peddler back in the day. I handled one side of the neighborhood and he covered the other, but we were the opposite. I did what I did to get by while he took it as a challenge. He dreamt of becoming big one day and eventually his dream came true. He’s now a well-known boss of drug smugglers and sellers.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Eloise’s son, Mack, used to work for Sully.”
She licked her lips. “What does this have to do with your reluctance to call my family?”
“Sully is the reason why I fell off the grid. He believes in close-knit gang, we should all have each other’s backs as well as protect our families. One of his top chums, Mack, was found guilty of raping a high profile victim and since I failed to corroborate his alibi, Mack was sentenced to death by the lethal injection. Now I’m Sully’s number one enemy.”
Pru closed her eyes. “To avenge Mack’s death.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Look, I’m sorry, Pru. For a long time, I only did what’s good for me. That’s why I hesitated in calling your family. It would have been too early for Sully to find me.”
She opened her eyes. “Do you think Mrs. Lancaster is involved?”
“I doubt it. She’s a legit front that gets Sully to places he can’t reach as a criminal.”
