by Hayes, S. I.
“Maybe it was that. I’ve heard not good things about them.”
“I had the same thought, when she started bleeding a few days ago. But told me it was her period.”
“Could be a little of both.” Harold reasoned. “With her stress over this stupid Mcloughlin drama.”
“Mcloughlin?” Janet squeezed Matthew’s forearm tightly. As Matthew picked up his head, then stood up. “If it was that thing… If I… Fuck!” He hissed. Pulling at his hair. His hands fisted. “Mother fucker!” Janet grabbed him by the arm pulling him outside.
“Is he gonna be okay?” Harold asked Raj, looking him up and down in the Liza costume with a large smile.
“Oh, that boy could bounce back from a nuke.” Raj twirled his hair, smiling back at Harold.
Matthew came back inside just as the surgeon came out of the emergency room doors. He looked around seeing Harold he walked over.
“Are you here for Miss Moffett?”
“What-”
“Yes.” Harold cut him off. “I’m Harold Worthington, her brother. How is she, do you know what happened?”
“Apparently her IUD. Was dislodged by some-”
“I need to see her.” Matthew demanded. Trying to get by the doctor. “Please.” He pleaded.
Harold nodded with an eye roll.
The doctor took off his hat. “Okay, but only one at a time are allowed in the ICU recovery.”
“Fuck she’s in ICU?” Matthew was frantic.
“Calm down sir, we are having a rough night tonight and some of our ER patients have spilled over in to ICU, for space. She’s resting comfortably I can assure you.”
Matthew wrung his hands as they approached the room, he saw Cordell was outside standing guard. He went to him, and nodded, as Harold went in to her first. “Thank you for finding her.”
Cordell swallowed hard in his throat. But only nodded back to Matthew who watched as it appeared Harold and Donnella were having an argument. The nurse stood up, looking at the monitors, as Harold stormed out. “You talk some sense in to her, cuz I certainly can’t seem to.”
“What’s the issue?”
“She wants to go back to work! Like now, wants me to bring in her laptop!”
Matthew let out a short laugh. A shot of relief washing over him, if she wanted to work perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad. He walked in to the room and she smiled sheepishly.
“I’m sorry I ruined your night.”
“Are you kidding me?” He went to her side, blinking back tears. “I don’t care about that. Are you alright? I mean… Stupid question of course you’re not. I’m so- so sorry. I never should have…” He grabbed her hands kissing them. “You gotta forgive me, I didn’t know I could hurt you.”
“Hurt me?” She lifted his chin as he hit his knees.
“You saved me.”
“How can you say that? I heard the doctor tell Harold that your IUD got dislodged by something, that it’s what got you sick. Obviously I was that something. Or at least part of me. I mean you were fine, then all of a sudden...”
“Matthew listen to me. You only heard pieces. I talked to the doctors before and after the surgery. According to my symptoms migraines, back pain and the damage they found, the IUD extricated months ago. Established and began to perforate my uterus, then something, that’d be you dislodged it, keeping it from doing further damage. When my period came and I started using my tampons I aggravated the condition accelerating the problem and it got infected. That’s why I was in so much pain. They say if it hadn’t been knocked loose from where it was cutting into me, I might have completely lost the ability to have children. As it stands they just don’t know. Only time will tell. For now they gave me the shot. But that’s pretty much moot as I can’t have intercourse for at least four to six weeks.”
He stood up, taking a deep breath. “I’m… I was just so worried. I knew there was something wrong when you didn’t call. When you first got sick. From now on promise me, if I feel like something is off, you’ll at least entertain the idea that I may be on to something.”
“Okay.” She smiled her voice small. As though she had been scolded.
“Excuse me.” A nurse came in, interrupting. “But it’s time for Miss Moffett’s pain medication.”
“Sure.” He mouthed the name. “Moffett?”
“In a minute.” She groaned as the needle was pumped in to her IV. “Yeah, that’s the good stuff.” She waited for the nurse to leave. “It’s a cover name. So the tabloids don’t catch wind, if I’m hospitalized. I work very hard to stay off their radar and out of the lime light.”
“I’ve noticed. Your name is attached to a lot of things but not your face.”
“I’d like to keep it that way.” She rolled to one side, her eyes fluttering close. “I have a sordid past.”
***
When Donnella awoke she was in a private room and Matthew was sound asleep in the chair next to her. His head down on the bed, holding her hand. She wiggled her finger in his hair and he stirred. Picking up his head, to look into her eyes, he half smiled.
“When did they move me?”
“A few hours ago. Some Doctor came in and said you were getting a private suite. So I could follow or go home. I followed. I wasn’t losing sight of you again.”
She turned her head. “There was a second bed. You didn’t have to sleep like that.”
“You wouldn’t let go of my hand.”
“Oh? Sorry then.” She tried sitting up, but fell back.
He stood up, helping her, repositioning her pillows to hold her up. “Better.”
“Much.” She fished for a kiss. For which he happily let her reel him in. “Hmm. Did Harold arrive with my computer last night?”
“I think he’s coming back today.” Matthew answered unsure. “I think he’s holding out, hoping you’ll get some rest first. Which you really need to do. Look at you. You’re stoned. You can’t work stoned.”
“You do have a point. But if I can’t fuck, what else is there to do?”
“I don’t know, talk? Watch some T.V.?”
She picked up the remote control and tossed it aside. I hate television. I need a cappuccino.” She batted her eyelashes at him.
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’ll be fine. Where am I gonna go. I’ve got so many tubes runnin’ through me I wouldn’t know which to pull first.”
Matthew nodded. Going out of the room, Cordell was right where he expected him to be, outside the door. “I’m going to go grab a few coffees, do you want one?”
“Venti, Black.” Cordell answered. “Thank you.”
“Y-You’re welcome.” Matthew half-smiled. He finally spoke to me. All it took was Donnella nearly dying.
***
The walk from the hospital to the coffee shop and back was crisp, it helped to awaken Matthew’s tired senses. His body ached from sleeping hunched over most of the night, Janet and Raj had tried to get him to go home. Telling him there wasn’t anything he could do. He wouldn’t hear it, he said he would call if anything changed but that they could go back to his apartment he would meet them later. That meant he was going to have to leave Donnella at some point. It was just that now was not that moment. He took a deep breath of the cold morning air as he went back into the sterile hospital, not seeing the limousine or the television crew setting up camp just outside the front entrance.
14
“I told you what I do with my personal time is my business. I walked in there, I’d have walked out if not for this fucking infection!”
Matthew heard Donnella’s voice from down the hall, and dropped the coffee’s taking to a run, only to be stopped by Cordell and three other large men in black suits. “What’s going on?” He questioned seeing an older man in the room arguing with her.
“You need to leave Mister Mayfield. Miss Stone is no longer seeing visitors.” Cordell answered strainingly. “Per Mister Stone’s orders.”
Matthew pushed harder, and one of th
e other men pulled him aside wrapping his arm behind him putting his face against the glass.
“Matthew!” Donnella screamed. “Let him go! You’re hurting him!” She turned to her father. “Daddy please!”
The man, who stood some six feet tall in a crisp blue suit nodded and they released him, but did not let him pass.
“You are not coming in here young man. She needs rest. Go home.” Mister Stone demanded without moving from his position at the foot of Donnella’s bed.
“I want to hear her tell me that she doesn’t need me here.”
The man looked at her, and she dropped her head like an obedient child. “Go.” She choked. “Please. I’ll call you in a few days.”
“Perhaps.” Mister Stone added.
Conquered, Matthew sighed looking at her, she didn’t look up as he stormed away. Going through the front of the hospital the reporters took little notice of him. He wasn’t anybody after all.
***
Arriving at his apartment Matthew let himself in to find Janet grabbing him into a hard hug. “Are you alright?”
He collapsed into the couch. “They threw me out.”
“What? Why?” She sat down next to him.
“She’s going to be fine, physically… At least they think so. But I don’t know. There’s something more going on. Her father showed up and they just threw me out.”
“Her father, you mean Harmon Stone is actually here?”
“Yeah? What’s the big deal?”
“Dude. That’s like the Pope coming to town! Or finding Jimmy Hoffa’s body for New York.” She sat back into the couch. “I mean wow. They must have really thought she was in trouble if they called him and he came home…”
Matthew put his head between his knees. “I don’t know how much more stress I can take.” He scratched at he cast on his left hand. “This thing is making me crazy.” He looked at Janet who was in jeans and a Grateful Dead T-Shirt. “When did you go home?”
“Oh hours ago, but I came back, wanted to be here when you came up for air, besides I have some stuff for you to look at. If you’re up for it?” She smiled halfheartedly.
“Anything to get my mind off everything else… Where’s Pepper?”
“Oh the walker came to take her about ten minutes before you showed up. Should be back in a little while said she was going to take her to the run over in one of the parks.”
“Must have been June… They’ll be gone for a few hours. She’s good about getting Pepper her exercise.” Matthew took the portfolio as Janet sat back down handing it to him.
“You did say thirteen models.”
“I did…”
“Well I may have found a few more than that. I expanded the search a bit. Went out of the parameters some. Based on what you were saying about last we talked.”
Matthew flipped through the head shots. “These are good. These will mesh well with my new concepts.”
“New concepts?”
“Yeah, it’s not going to be about the political statement anymore. These women, the soldiers, the mothers, sisters. They aren’t just wounded, they are survivors. They are warriors, and these marks, the scars are their stripes. They’re not broken, they’re tigers.”
“That’s beautiful man.”
“I know. I just hope other people see it too. Their lives are beautiful.” He pulled at the cast again. “I fucking hate this thing.” With a huff he got up, running upstairs. Janet could hear him grunting and fumbling with things tossing them about. Curious of what he was getting up to she followed the sounds. Finding him rummaging through his tool box.
“What are you after?”
“A hacksaw, or something to get this off with! What does it look like?”
“Looks to me like you’ve lost it man. But I know what’ll help…” She flipped out from her pocket a bag of marijuana. Opening it up pulling out a large fluffy green bud with little yellow and purple hairs sticking out of it. “What do you say? For old time’s sake?”
“As soon as we get this off, don’t want to cut my hand off, Donnella would never forgive us… Ah ha! Snips! These will do it!” He handed the metal snips to Janet who took them after putting the massive bud back into the bag and putting the bag back in her pocket. “Now what?” She asked. Matthew put his hand on the credenza.
“Slip the snips along my hand and over the cast, and cut the damned thing off for Christ’s sakes!”
Janet slid the snip into the opening at his fingers, slowly. “So are you going to tell her?”
“Tell her what?”
She felt that the snips wouldn’t go any further, she closed her eyes took both handles in her hands and cut. “That Mcloughlin is your father?”
***
“How long do you intend to keep me a prisoner?” Donnella roared. Stomping around the penthouse of The Stone Tower. It had been weeks since they had released her from the hospital and her father had not left. In fact he had not made even the slightest inclination toward the idea that leaving was in his interest.
“Ella, my child. Have you seen the media circus out there? Someone tipped them off at the hospital that you were there and they found out I was here as well. Coming here was the only safe option.”
“It’s not even about being here…”
“Is this about that gigolo I sent away? One of your many mistakes? You need to forget that. His face is all over the tabloids. They think he’s your lover already. Do not add to that.”
“He is my lover, father! I’m thirty-three years old for fucks sake I’m allowed to have them!”
He shook his head. “Do you not realize these men latch on to you only to further their pointless careers? They don’t care about you.”
“Uggh.” She tore at her hair. This wasn’t getting her anywhere. “You don’t get it. I’ve worked that out, a long time ago. I know that! But this one… It’s not about that.”
Her father turned from his place at the fire. In all of her temper tantrums he had not really taken his eyes off of it. Only now as her voice softened did he bother to actually look at his daughter. His precious child. He loved her dearly and only wished to keep her protected and that often meant protecting her from herself.
“Not another one… What did this one promise? The moon? The stars?”
“Nothing. He’s made no promises. No declarations. But when push came to shove, he’s shoved back and met me move for move, daddy. I deserve a chance to at least explore what this could be, don’t I.”
“Is it possible? That someone has chiseled through that heart of stone?”
Donnella went to her father, kneeling beside him. “I think… Maybe. I don’t know that I love him. But I know that I want him, and need him. Isn’t that enough? For a start?”
Harmon put up his hand. “I don’t know that I understand the love of this time. When I was young we loved and made love to only those we married. You… You have…”
“I know.” She sat with her back to the side of his chair, holding his hand in hers. “I don’t want to discuss some of the deals I’ve made with this body. But it’s cashed a few too many checks as of late.”
“So I’ve heard… Harold is the one who called me after all.”
“I figured it was him or Cordell.” She kissed his palm. “I have missed having you here these ten years, Father. How long will you stay?”
“I have to see my Doctors.” He stood up and she followed his lead.
“Doctors? Is everything okay?” She eyed him looking for some sign of deficiency.
“Just routine exams. Been a few years you know. I will be in country for a while if you have need of me.”
“You’re my Daddy, I’ll always be in need of you.” She hugged him gently and he kissed her on the top of her head.
***
Matthew couldn’t sleep, and his eating had been sporadic at best. Leaving the apartment wasn’t easy when paparazzi were at the door. He didn’t know how it happened. One moment he was walking down the street grabbing a coffe
e walking Pepper and the next he had a reporter asking him what the nature of his relationship with Donnella Stone was. Of course Pepper went nuts and the reporter was quickly rethinking his approach as he ran off, his brown leather jacket in tatters. Matthew had managed to get back to The Stone Tower, before another could ambush him. But now they seemed to be everywhere. Pictures of him from his balcony, running in central park. All with questions of who he was and what he was to Donnella that he spent the night in the hospital with her. Speculations on everything from drunken debauchery to miscarriages splashed the papers. All with their names on them. He didn’t know what to do. He tried calling her but her phone number had been disconnected and Harold was unreachable as well. Holed up as he was he dove into his work. The models who Janet had found for him could move from The Tower reasonably easily as they didn’t look like models. Besides once they were past the front doors Xavier took good care of them, knowing who they were and what they were there for, Matthew came to relay well on the man.
Having gotten rid of the cast he was able to paint again. There was some pain but the OxyContin Xavier was keeping him supplied in was helping and doing wonders for his creative streak. While he was not seeing or hearing from Donnella, he was still receiving his ten thousand stipend and keeping up with Janet, and paying Xavier was high on the list of things that needed his attention. He missed his girl, but the pills made him feel mighty fine too. Tossing and smearing paint across the canvas he heard Pepper whining at the front door. Following her sounds he grabbed a rag and his hammer. If those fucking reporters were gonna come knocking at two in the morning he was going to knock back.
He swung the door open, the hammer up in the air.
“Matthew!” Donnella shouted, her hands in the air.
He stopped mid-swing, the hammer falling to the ground as he stared at her, the doorknob still in his other hand.
“Can I come in?” She asked quietly, staring up into his glassy deep blue eyes.
He pushed the door open far enough to let her pass by him. She stepped inside, looking around. The apartment was in shambles. There were tarps and paint covered canvases strewn all over. Food containers on the kitchen counters and clothes here and there. From the looks of it some of them may have not been Matthew’s.
