"Please Deidra, just tell me. Nobody tells me anything. Everything about the last six months is like some top secret."
Deidra shrugged. "Your doctor said if we helped you with memories you may lose the real ones forever. He explained to your family that your brain's memory pathways have been disrupted by the amnesia…your injury caused a blockage in your pathways. It's best to let the memories come back naturally."
Marcus sighed. "Just tell me one thing. Do we know each other well?"
Deidra nodded.
"Intimately?" Marcus asked softly.
"Er..." Deidra squirmed. "You know my birthday. You know my favorite color, that sort of thing."
"What about inner thoughts? Have we kissed?" Marcus looked at her lips.
Deidra shook her head. "Not really. We pressed lips together once. I wouldn't call it a proper kiss. You know, you have a girlfriend and I am not into sharing."
"I bet it was intense." He caught her hand that was lying on the sheet and fitted his palm with hers. There was an instant tingle.
He squeezed her hands tighter. "I have done this before, haven't I?"
Deidra nodded.
Marcus sighed. "Thanks for telling me, at least that's something."
He still held her hands and Deidra curled her fingers into his. "Oh Marcus, I am so sorry about this accident. I know it must feel strange being in bed and not being able to train."
Marcus grimaced. "It's hell, but hearing how my father tells it, I should be happy to be alive. My coach said I can run again, I am just going to need some rehab. Until then I'll be here, in Mount Faith."
He looked at her. "You'll be here too, right? I heard that you live with my parents."
"Yes, I do. I was thinking of moving back to my house though," Deidra shrugged. "I only have one semester left here. And then graduation. And then work."
"What type of work?" Marcus asked.
"I am going to open my own design studio in Kingston." Deidra smiled. "I am looking forward to it."
"Low-end, or high-end stuff?" Marcus asked.
"I am doing everything," Deidra said excitedly. "I can't wait to start. I am even thinking of going mass market with a t-shirt line. I know t-shirts are not original but you gotta start somewhere, huh?"
"Sounds like fun," Marcus said. "I'll be doing my rehab in Kingston. Sometime around May. My physiotherapist is there. My coach has it lined up for me already."
"Good," Deidra nodded, "maybe we'll see each other."
"I was hoping we would." Marcus felt a sharp pain in his head and grimaced. He held Deidra's hand tightly.
"What's wrong?" Deidra asked anxiously,
"I get these sharp jabs in my temple sometimes," Marcus panted, "whenever I think too much I guess."
He closed his eyes. "Don't stay too long to visit me again, Deidra." He swallowed, and then he opened one eye. "I feel better when you are around."
Deidra nodded, tears welling in her eyes. "I will come and visit you every day for the rest of the time you are in here."
"Really now?" Tiffany said from the doorway.
She advanced into the room. "Don't let her tell you anything to mess with your memories, Marcus."
Tiffany leaned over Marcus and kissed him on his lips. "I am here, darling. Do you want me to ask her to leave?" She looked at Deidra's hand where they joined with Marcus and raised her eyebrow. "Release my mans hand, hussy."
Marcus closed his eyes again. The pain was stabbing him incessantly now. "Get the doctor," he said weakly.
Tiffany pushed Deidra out of the way and said to her smugly. "Wipe that lovesick look off your face, Deidra Durkheim, and stop playing hand-holding with my man. You know why?"
Deidra looked over at Marcus and then back at Tiffany, "I'll get the nurse."
She walked away from Tiffany who was triumphantly walking her down, intent on taunting her.
"Well, since you aren't going to ask, let me tell you. I'm pregnant, and I'm not going to be a single parent. So you can take your hopes and dreams and lovesickness elsewhere. Leave my man alone!"
Deidra looked back at Marcus. He had heard Tiffany, of course he had. He had gone extremely still.
"Well, congrats you two," Deidra said carefully. "I'll go get the nurse." She turned back to picked up her bag from the chair.
"Deidra, don't leave." Marcus winced from the effort it took him to talk, but Deidra was not listening.
"I wish you all the best," she said to no one in particular, grabbed her things and marched to the front desk. "Marcus Bancroft is in pain."
She then walked slowly outside into the driving rain, as if she was burdened, and stood beside her car.
How ironic it was that when she got into her car and turned on the engine the radio was playing the song, “I do my crying in the rain”.
She rested her head on the steering wheel and sniffed. We were never meant to be together anyway.
*****
Tiffany was pushed out of the room as the nurses and Marcus' doctor attended to Marcus and his headache. He was in excruciating pain. She didn't mind being given the time to herself though. She was feeling nauseous anyway and relished the chance to sit in the waiting room and ruminate.
She had finally done a pregnancy test this morning and had been unpleasantly surprised to realize that she was pregnant. It was fortuitous that Marcus did not have his memory because he would instantly deny having anything to do with this pregnancy.
The baby could not be his. Not by a long shot.
Marcus had not slept with her since he met Deidra in Miami. It was as if since that meeting he had disconnected from her. She searched in her bag for her cell phone and contemplated telling Neil that she was pregnant.
She wondered what his response would be. Neil was not into babies. One day he had even jokingly told her that he hated children. If she told Neil the news, she knew almost certainly that she would be on her own.
She also wondered how likely it would be that Marcus would fully regain his memory. She really hoped he would never. The doctor had said that the longer it took for him to remember the last six months, the more likely it would be that he would lose those memories forever.
She was exactly nine weeks pregnant. She could not pass off this pregnancy as his, unless she could claim that his accident caused him to lose a day or that he had stopped by when he came from the airport and they had a fight after sex.
The more she thought about it, the more comfortable she became with the lie she was hatching. She could tell Marcus that he came back from Africa and spent the day with her and then came to Mount Faith.
With this announcement, she could convince Marcus that they needed to get married. Hopefully, before he figured out what was going on, she would finally be Mrs. Bancroft.
More importantly, Marcus would not abandon a child of his. She knew him that well; she also knew that this little announcement was the end of him and the annoying girl, Deidra.
What was she doing here today anyway? Holding hands with Marcus and promising to visit him everyday? Not anymore she wouldn't.
She needed to keep a close eye on that girl because it seemed as if even without the benefit of his memory, Marcus was still attracted to her. That was reprehensible, but fixable.
Obviously, she couldn't trust Neil to do anything about Deidra. He had botched the job and hurt Marcus instead and she couldn't even go to him now—It wouldn't take a Math genius to figure out that she was pregnant with his child.
She didn't even know any criminals who would be willing to hurt the girl. She needed to expand her acquaintances. She chewed her lips contemplatively. If Deidra didn't back off, she was going to hurt her. This time it wouldn't be a simple hit and run.
"You may see him now," The doctor said to her sternly from the doorway, as if it was her fault that Marcus had the headache.
Tiffany nodded and went into the room.
They had drawn the window blinds and had turned off the television.
She walked to
the bed softly. "Marcus, I am sorry I blurted out news of the pregnancy like that."
Marcus swallowed. He had his eyes closed and a twist to his mouth. "We planned to wait before we started a family. Didn't we?"
"Yes," Tiffany said slowly, "but accidents do happen."
Marcus grunted. "How pregnant are you?"
Tiffany paused. This was not the line of questioning she was expecting. "Four weeks." She soldiered on. "When you came back from Africa, you stopped by the house. I was so happy to see you. We were at it all night." She chuckled.
Marcus frowned. "I wish I could remember."
Tiffany held his hand. He made a mental note of how repulsed he felt when she touched his hand, unlike when Deidra touched him.
His life was no longer going to be the same. He felt a painful tug at his heart. He had noticed how Deidra galloped out of the room, and he knew, deep within himself, that she was not coming back. That made him feel out of sorts and vulnerable.
He then registered what Tiffany was softly saying to him. "Maybe we should get married sooner than later, don't you think?"
No, his mind was screaming, but he had always planned to do things the right way: get married, then have children. Even though he had been living with Tiffany, he had always known that he didn't want children while they didn't have a deep commitment.
He suddenly remembered having a conversation about rules and God and him not wanting to abide by his fathers rules. He had been talking to Deidra! That was a real memory.
His mind gripped it like a straw to a stranded man at sea and then it drifted from him.
"Marcus, are you listening to me?" Tiffany's voice came into focus. "I was thinking we should just get married tomorrow. Wouldn't it be a good way to start the day?"
Marcus groaned. He could barely walk on his unbroken foot; his head was in agony, and Tiffany wanted to get married!
"No," he said weakly. "I want to rest. Can you just give me some time to think? Why don't you go back to Kingston, Tiff. I'll call you when I get out of here. I will! This is just big news for me. I need time to process it all."
Tiffany moved away from the bed. She could push, but she didn't want him to push her away. "Of course dear, but I don't want to go down the isle with a big belly. I'll see you before I go back to Kingston tomorrow."
Thankfully, she left the room. Marcus released the deep sigh he was holding in and picked up his phone. He idly scrolled through the phone, the headache medicine was kicking in and he could see straight again.
In the list of names, he saw Deidra Durkheim and a love sign beside it. When had he done that?
It took all his willpower not to dial her number. He had a baby on the way, and serious responsibilities now.
His chest constricted at the thought and he put back the phone beside him on the bed. Deidra would not want him now. Why did he sleep with Tiffany if he loved Deidra? He felt an ache in his chest when he thought about not being able to see, or to speak with Deidra again.
Chapter Thirteen
"I wish walls could talk; they would tell us a wealth of things." Natasha was sitting in the courtyard with Deidra after her class. "Obviously, I would have to talk to the walls,” she said contemplatively, “because you have stopped talking."
"I am depressed." Deidra sighed. "I am in double denim." She indicated her denim jacket and her matching pants. "This is a big no-no as a fashion major."
Natasha chuckled. "I wear double denim all the time. I think it is comfortable."
"And frumpy." Deidra sighed again. "What do you want to talk about? I intended to vegetate today… move back to my house."
"What's the rush?" Natasha asked, "You obviously like living with the Bancrofts. You've been there for a full year."
"Marcus is going to be released from hospital at the end of the week." Deidra bit her lip. "I don't want to be there when he is there."
"But why?" Natasha looked confused.
"Because I love him." Deidra fidgeted with her denim buttons. "His dratted girlfriend Tiffany is pregnant."
Natasha stilled. "She is?"
"Yup." Deidra pushed her hand in her shirt pocket and inhaled." It's so cold out here."
"How far along is she?"
"I have no idea." Deidra started rocking. "I get extremely jealous knowing that they have sex, that they have some sort of intimacy. I mean. Six months ago I met him. There was this instant connection. I mean… I was convinced I found my soul mate. We tried to keep away from each other, but he came up here to see me before he went to Africa, then he came up here to see me after he came back from Africa… came straight from the airport."
Deidra inhaled sharply and willed the tears in her eyes not to fall. "He didn't even drive his car. I don't think he went home, but obviously he did, because Tiffany is pregnant."
Natasha frowned. "I am so sorry Deidra."
"I feel betrayed." Deidra sniffed. "I guess I'll get over it, one day. I am still young. There are plenty of fish in the sea. I mean it was just six months of my life."
"Maybe now is not the time to ask you this," Natasha said, putting back her notebook into her pocket.
"No, ask me," Deidra said, "I mean I don't know if I’ll ever be whole again. I guess I'll be depressed when Tiffany has the brat or the brat has its first tooth or goes to school or..."
"Okay," Natasha said quickly. "Tony and I had the brilliant idea of running through Hartley's phone records. It took the phone company a solid two weeks to send the information to us but we ended up calling everybody on his list and identified a few of the people who we think were of interest. You see, I had this theory that Hartley was not working alone."
Deidra opened her eyes wide. "That's what I thought too."
"Well," Natasha said, "it's just a theory. Do any of these names sound familiar, Greg Fisher, Kingsley O'Connor, Neil Kennedy, Norris Jackman?"
"Neil Kennedy," Deidra said quickly. "Neil has one of the most exclusive stores in Jamaica. I used to shop there a long time ago. He is a nice guy."
Natasha nodded. "Well, we are going to check him out first, since you know him. He spoke to Levaughn Hartley for twenty minutes a few days before you called me to say that you felt like you were being stalked."
Deidra shook her head. "It can't be Neil, why would he want to harm me? As I said, he is a nice guy."
Natasha rubbed her hands together. "Deidra, in my line of work I've found that the nicest people sometimes do unusually bad things."
She got up. "I promised you that I'd get to the bottom of this; didn't I? I feel guilty that you told me about the gray car and I handed it off to Humphrey. I'd like to think that if I had been more alert this accident would not have happened."
Deidra stretched and then clutched her jacket closer. "I am super-impressed that you are still working on this even though the case is labeled solved."
Natasha shrugged. "It's not that we don't solve cases quickly, but this one was tied up too quickly and too neatly for my liking. Talk to you soon." Natasha walked off and Deidra got up from the courtyard bench stiffly.
Deidra pushed her hand in her pocket and did the most unladylike slouch as she walked out of the Business Center in her double denim. She was going back to her home, and as far away from Marcus as she could manage. She had told Kylie that she wasn't going to talk to him again so she needed to ask him about the wedding. Hopefully, if he attended, that would be the last time she would see him. She needed to eradicate Marcus from her life for good.
*****
Marcus was feeling nervous. His father had come to visit and he was sifting through his appointment book and taking phone calls periodically. It was going to be the worst feeling in the world to break the news to his dad that Tiffany was pregnant—his father had never liked her.
He had spent most of the time last evening thinking of Deidra and obsessing about how he would tell his father that he was going to be a grandfather again. It would have been easier to do so over the phone.
Now, he was
on his father's turf and he had made up his mind to stay with his parents for the next thirteen weeks until his foot was fine again. The clinic at the University was state of the art and close to his parent's place. He almost wished he didn't have to say a word about Tiffany.
"Dad, Tiffany is pregnant."
Ryan looked at him over his reading glasses and then slowly took them off. He raised his eyebrow.
"We are going to get married, or that's what she wants." Marcus said in the silence.
Ryan's brow rose even higher.
"Say something," Marcus urged his father.
Bancroft covered his face with both hands and then rubbed his nose bridge slowly. "Never ever marry a woman because she is pregnant. Marry because you want to spend the rest of your life with her. Obligation can turn marriage into a prison."
"I thought you'd want me to do the manly thing, the Christian thing, since you are so hung up on appearances," Marcus said, wonderingly. "Adrian and Cathy got married."
"Not because they had Avia," Bancroft said to his son slowly, "but because they wanted to be with each other."
Marcus mused, "I want to be with Deidra. I don't know why, I just know I do, but I can't. Tiffany is pregnant and I'm pretty sure Deidra hates me now."
Bancroft sighed. "You think I am hard on you, don't you? When I lecture you, when I suggest certain things, it's not because I think I know better or even because I am a saint." He sighed. "It's because in most cases, I have lived it already, know where the pitfalls are and don't want you to make the mistakes I made. I see a lot of me in you."
Bancroft leaned back in his chair. "Out of all my children, Marcus, you are the most like me."
He shook his head as he looked at Marcus' incredulous expression.
"Here's the pattern: My parents had two sons, me and Oliver. We were brought up in the strictest religious way. I think that's an extreme way to grow a child, by the way. Too strict and they can't wait to fly the coop, renouncing all Christian principles, even renouncing God. Oliver did that. He couldn't wait to get away from the church and anything to do with it. He was killed in a barroom fight."
Practice Run (Mount Faith Series: Book 5) Page 10
