The Doctor's Nanny

by Emerson Rose

  “Okay.” I hear her rummage around getting what she needs. She’s not crying anymore, she has a mission to accomplish and her mind is on that.

  “Drake,” she whispers and I can tell she’s holding still.

  “What, baby?”

  “I saw somebody walk past my window. Oh my God, there is somebody in there.”

  “Concentrate on getting the key, keep digging, you need to get into my house.”

  “Okay, but what if he sees me…”

  “Don’t worry about that. Just get the damn key.”

  I hear her lay the phone down and chisel at the hard soil. It’s been a dry summer and I haven’t been home to water anything for over a week.

  My audio software on my computer voices that it’s found a flight that leaves in an hour and I tell it to book it and abandon my hotel room.

  “I got it, Drake. I found the key. I’m going inside.”

  I blow out a relieved breath and press the elevator button for the lobby.

  “Good, go inside and lock the door. Don’t turn on the lights. Do you think you can check the locks on the doors and windows in the dark? Everything should be locked up, but I want you to check to be sure.”

  She’s panting into the phone and I’m imagining her in my foyer looking around the sparsely decorated living room. She’s only been there once but it should be easy to move around in the dark, it’s designed for that after all.

  “Yeah, I’m inside. The door’s locked and…” It sounds like she’s reaching or bending over, “The living room windows are locked. I’m going to check the back door.”

  My elevator dings, I exit and stalk toward the front desk. The clerk’s eyes widen when she sees me approaching. Still dressed in my uniform, I pack my tone full of authority and tell her to call for a car to take me to the airport right away. “It’s an emergency,” I add and she fumbles with the phone when she picks it up.

  “You’re coming home?”

  “Yes, I’m coming home. Are you kidding me? You’re clearly not safe there with your idiot brother who leaves house keys out like invitations and isn’t reachable when you’re in trouble.”

  “The back door is locked.”

  “Alright. Listen carefully now, do you know how to use a gun?”

  “A gun? Drake, you don’t think he will come over here, do you?”

  “I don’t know what that fucker is going to do but if he comes near you I want you to shoot him, understand?”

  “With what?”

  “In the middle drawer in the kitchen, there is another key. It unlocks my gun box under my bed. Take the key upstairs and get my Glock out of the box.”

  “Found it.”

  “Good, good, go upstairs.”

  I hear her soft quick footsteps hurrying across the hardwood floors and up the steps. She pauses suddenly and my heart skips a beat. I stop in the middle of the hotel lobby and wait for her to say something, but I only hear her shallow panting on the line. “Tiana? What’s wrong? Why did you stop?”

  “To look out the window,” Tiana says.

  “What window?”

  “The one on the landing that faces my house. Oh God, I think he can see me,” she says, scared.

  “You’re imagining things, he can’t see you in the dark unless he has night-vision. Get my gun, hurry.”

  I close my eyes and listen hard to her pitter-patter up the rest of the stairs and into my bedroom where she closes the door behind her.

  “I don’t see it. Drake, I can’t find a box.”

  “It’s there. Keep looking,” I encourage her.

  “No, no it’s not, there’s nothing here.” Her voice is frantic and she’s breathing harder. Where’s my fucking gun? She must be flustered. It’s got to be there, I never move that box.

  “Use the flashlight on your phone to look under the bed, but keep it held down low. You don’t want him to see where you are.”

  “Okay, flashlight. Keep it down. Look for the box.” She’s repeating my instructions, but her voice is shaky and she sounds like she’s losing it.

  “It’s not here, Drake, there’s nothing here.”

  Impossible, she must be mistaken.

  “Baby, calm down and take a deep breath. Forget about the box I’ve got another gun in the closet in a safe.”

  “I’m scared, he was looking right at me, I swear to God, Drake, I’m not imagining things.”

  “I believe you. Let’s concentrate on the other gun now, okay?”

  “You believe me?” She sounds like a five-year-old little girl lost in the grocery store. I’ve never felt so much anxiety and I’ve been on two tours in Afghanistan. My instinct to keep this woman safe no matter what is mighty overwhelming. I’m too far away. We need help.

  “I do, sweetheart. Now go,” I instruct her.

  I turn my phone to the side and tap open a new text box. I can hardly see what I’m doing, I usually use my automated texting these days, but I’m on the phone with Tiana and I can’t hang up so I’ll have to type.

  When I’ve successfully typed in Jayden’s name, I send him a simple message.

  Tiana’s in trouble and needs help NOW! I press send just as she asks for the safe’s combination. “Two to the right, six left, six right, eighteen left, twenty-one right.”

  I listen as the drums of the combination lock roll back and forth.

  “Damn, I messed it up, tell me again,” she tells me. I repeat the combination and listen to the safe click open. My fucking gun had better be there, nobody knows that combo.

  “I have it, it’s here.”

  “Good, now try to calm down a little I don’t want you to shoot yourself in the damn foot.”

  I hear the phone being set down and the magazine being shoved into the gun and the slide being racked. I almost drop my phone.

  “Tiana!” She shuffles around picking up the phone when she hears me yell. “What did you just do?”

  “I got your gun, you told me to shoot him, I can’t shoot him without ammo.”

  “You know how to handle a Glock?”

  “Of course, I grew up with Marines.”

  Yes, of course, how stupid of me. Jayden would have taught her to shoot and handle a gun properly. He was an expert marksman.

  “I want you to put the phone down and concentrate on the gun in your hands. Put me on speaker. I won’t say anything. Just stay in the closet with the door closed until Jay gets there.”

  “He’s coming?”

  “I texted him. Hold on, let me see if he replied.”

  “Major Valentine, sir?” a voice says from behind me.

  “Yes,” I acknowledge.

  “Your car is here.”

  “Thank you.” I follow the bellhop to the cab and tell him to take me to the airport.

  Speak of the devil my phone buzzes when Jayden responds.

  I’m on my way. Where are you? he asks.

  “He’s on his way, baby, just sit tight until he gets there,” I say.

  “I’m putting you down now, you’re on speaker,” she says.

  I text Jayden to tell him where to find Tiana and that there is someone in his house.

  Why is she in your house?

  A growl rumbles up from my throat. Why is he asking stupid fucking questions?

  Why aren’t YOU in YOUR house protecting YOUR sister? I shoot back. She hears me growl and whispers my name, “Drake?”

  “Shush, it’s nothing.”

  “No, I want to tell you something.”

  “Baby, you need to be quiet.”

  “I miss you. I miss you so much it hurts and I’m scared,” Tiana says quietly.

  Fuck, if my heart doesn’t break in two. If I could crawl through the phone, I’d march next door and shoot that fucking intruder, come home, lock Tiana up and keep her in my bed forever.

  I’ve never loved anyone other than my parents. I never let anyone get close enough. No woman has ever made me feel the things that Tiana makes me feel. She is the only one who holds the
key to my black stone-heart and right now I know that I love her.

  Blindness be fucking damned. I love her. I would give my life for her, kill for her, lie, cheat, steal, I’d even give up the Corps for her.

  “I miss you, too, baby. I’m coming home.”

  Chapter 19

  Tiana

  I’ve never been so glad that my brother raised me to be comfortable with guns. This situation with the videos and now someone breaking into our house has gotten completely out of hand. I almost feel like I’d be safer back in New York.

  “Tiana?” Drake’s whisper fills the closet where I’m crouching in the corner behind his clothes and next to his safe.

  “Yeah?” I whisper back.

  “I’m almost to the airport, but I won’t get on the plane until I’m positive you’re safe. What’s happening?”

  “Nothing, it’s quiet.”

  “Where the fuck is your brother? I’ll be there before him at this rate.”

  “How’s he going to get in?”

  “I figured he would text you. Hang on, I’m going into the airport.”

  I hear a beep on the line.

  “Your brother is on the other line. I’m going to click over and tell him to hurry the fuck up and I’ll be right back. Will you be all right for a second?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Wow, that’s a lie. I’m trembling on the floor with a gun in my hands, I’m scared and Drake is the only thing keeping me from flipping out. I wish Jayden would get here, but more than that I wish Drake were here in person instead of just on the phone.

  I’m telling Jayden how I feel about Drake. I don’t care what he thinks anymore. I thought it was over when he went to California without a word and wouldn’t return my calls. I figured Jayden had gotten suspicious and threatened him. Although now that I look back, I realize that Drake isn’t the type of man you can threaten.

  Something else must have caused him to shut me out, something big. I know what we were feeling for one another wasn’t your average fling. It was deeper, stronger.

  Kinda like what I imagine love must feel like.

  After being with Drake, I know what love isn’t. It isn’t a drunk boy who shows up at the bar at closing time for a booty call and dips out before you wake up in the morning. I know it isn’t being stood up on Valentine’s Day because a boy decided hanging with his friends would be more fun. I know it isn’t the missionary position every single time you have sex with a boy who is only worried about his own pleasure.

  “Tiana?” his whispering voice penetrates the dark, startling me.

  “Shit, you scared me.” I’m so on edge I’m liable to shoot my toe off at the sound of a pin dropping.

  “I’m sorry. Jayden should be there any minute,” Drake tells me.

  “He’s not going in his house, is he? That guy could be armed.”

  “Who taught you how to handle a weapon, Tiana?”

  “Jayden.”

  “He’s a Marine and someone is threatening his family. Do you think he’s unarmed?”

  ‘No, I guess not. So, he’s coming here first?”

  “He’s only coming there. He called the police to come to the house and he is going to text you when he’s in the driveway. I want you to be careful, though. Take the gun with you downstairs and look out the window in the living room before you let anybody in. And don’t get trigger happy either, I don’t want to scrape your brother off my porch.”

  “Oh my God, don’t say things like that.”

  “I’m keeping you on your toes, giving you the worst-case scenario so anything better, will be a win.”

  “Not shooting my brother is more than just a win.”

  “I don’t know, I wouldn’t mind shooting him right now.”

  “What? Why?” I hiss into my phone that’s lying on top of the safe.

  “Never mind. Do you have a text yet?”

  “No, I don’t have a text. Now tell me why you want to shoot my brother.”

  “Sassy,” he prevaricates.

  “You’ll think sassy when I blow a hole clean through all of your uniforms.”

  He chuckles and I groan with frustration.

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  “And your point is?” he asks.

  “Drake!”

  “Shush, you’re hiding remember?” he reminds me.

  “Tell me what’s going on, and yes, I’m aware that I am hiding. My legs are getting numb from squatting in here.”

  “I told him,” Drake says.

  Every muscle in my body tenses and my hands tighten around the gun. He told him that we slept together? No way, he wouldn’t do that.

  “You told him what?” I demand.

  Drake says quietly, “I told him that I love you.”

  “You… you love me?” This must be what shock feels like and people in shock shouldn’t be holding a gun, so I lay it down on the floor facing away from me and let myself fall back onto my butt with my back against the wall.

  “I do, you’re mine and I’m not giving you up because of your pigheaded brother. I’m sorry to tell you like this, I know it’s not very romantic over the phone with you holding a gun while hiding in my closet, but I want you to understand that I’m serious about you, about us.”

  “I love you too.” I don’t plan on saying the words, but they come tumbling out of my mouth. How can I love somebody I met less than two weeks ago? Aren’t there rules about these things? A lot of people would call it lust at first sight, but somehow, I know that’s not what this is.

  This is what it feels like to be loved, to be put first and cherished over all things, to be protected and worshiped and cared for.

  I might not know his favorite color or his father’s name or his hobbies or what he eats for breakfast. But I know his soul and his character and his body. Oh my God, do I know his body.

  With that thought, I’m lost in the memories of our only night together. Could this be the start of a lifetime of nights like that with Drake? Is this what happily ever after is?

  “Baby? Have you gotten a text from your brother yet?”

  “Oh, um, I don’t know. Let me look.” I slide the phone off the safe and see a text sent less than a minute ago from my brother. Finally. I had no idea his friend lived so far away. I thought everybody in Jewel Falls was within a five-minute drive.

  I tell him, “Yes, he’s outside.”

  “Take the gun downstairs and check. Make 100% sure it’s him before you unlock that door.”

  I tuck the phone in the breast pocket of my shirt leaving it on speaker, pick up the gun and stand up on my wobbly legs. The strong scent of sandalwood and shoe polish in his closet isn’t one I’m likely to forget after this. I breathe it deep into my lungs like an addict getting one last fix before I leave.

  “When does your flight leave?” I whisper exiting the closet and creeping across the room with the Glock in my grip, being careful to keep my hand near but not on the trigger the way Jayden taught me when I was thirteen.

  “In thirty minutes.”

  I stop before I leave the bedroom when I remember that he never told me what Jayden said about us. Do I want to be rescued by my furious brother?

  “Hey, how pissed is Jay? You said you wanted to shoot him, maybe I don’t want him to rescue me. Maybe I should just wait until you get home.”

  “He’s angry, but you’re his sister, he loves you. I don’t think he’s going to bitch you out after everything you’ve been through tonight.”

  I snort, “You don’t know my brother as well as you think you do then. If you get home and I’ve disappeared, he’s probably shipped me to a monastery in Italy.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. You’d better hurry up. I don’t want him breaking down my front door.”

  I open the bedroom door and see red and blue flashing lights sweeping through the window on the stairs facing our house. “The police are here.”

  “Good, what about Jayden?”

  “I don’t know, I’m go
ing downstairs now.”

  I tiptoe down the stairs without making a sound and press my back against the wall next to the front window. I feel like I’m in an action movie with my back pressed against the wall a gun in my hands and police cruiser lights whirling around the room.

  I take a quick peek out the window and see Jayden standing at the front door with his hands on the frame. He hasn’t said anything. I imagine he’s afraid of being shot through the door by his freaked out little sister. I pad to the door with my back still on the wall.

  “He’s here, I’m going to let him in.”

  “You’re sure it’s him?”

  “Uh, yeah, he’s my brother, I’m looking right at him.”

  “Watch out now. I’m going to be home in a few hours.”

  “Is that a threat or a promise?”

  “Both, open the door so I know you’re safe. My plane is boarding.”

  “Jay?”

  “Thank fucking God, Tiana. Open this damn door.”

  I turn the lock and open the door a crack to make sure it’s not a trick.

  “Jesus, T, put the gun away.” He pushes the door open and steps inside closing and locking it behind him. He reaches for Drake’s gun, but I’ve been clinging to it for so long he has to pry it from my fingers to get it away from me. He drops the magazine out and lays both on a table next to the door. “Are you okay? He didn’t do anything to you, did he?”

  “Who’s he? And no, I was lucky I got ahold of Drake.”

  “Don’t talk about that fucker right now. I can’t believe you two were messing around behind my back.”

  “It wasn’t like that, Jay, we…” I started to explain.

  “I said I don’t want to hear it, I mean it, not a word.” Jay was pissed.

  A knock on the door makes me jump and Jayden wraps his arms around me and rubs my back.

  “It’s the police, it’s okay.”

  “Tiana, I’m hanging up now. I’ll see you soon,” Drake says, from the pocket of my shirt.

  “Okay, thank you for helping me. Let me know when you land.”

  “I will.” I hear his flight being called in the background right before the call disconnects.

  Jayden gives my phone a filthy, dirty look before opening the door.