by Dee J. Adams
“That sounds almost promising.” Leo tugged her closer and put an arm around her as they walked to the waiting limo. He soaked up the happiness she brought him because he knew it was all downhill once he stepped foot in the hospital and especially after this trip ended. He worked in La La Land, so for the immediate future he planned to pretend he’d always have Kim by his side.
The drive into Bethpage took just over an hour and the six-story hospital surprised Kim with its modern glass and cement structure. Leo had told her that Megan had been there multiple times over the years. She’d just assumed that because Megan lived in a private facility, the hospital would be comparable in size. The steel gray building towered over her like an ominous giant. Kim shivered in the dark blazer Leo had placed over her shoulders in the limo, then took a deep breath and soaked up the scent of his aftershave. A quiver of something sexual made her heart flutter and she shook out of the unwanted feeling.
She made sure Stella did her business outside on a little grassy area near the E.R. before following Leo inside the hospital. She suspected he needed the few minutes to psych himself up for the visit.
Though she didn’t feel very comfortable taking a cat into the hospital, Kim eased Stella into her bag and rubbed the feline’s soft, furry ears. After playing in the limo for the whole trip, Stella fell asleep in seconds flat. No harm could come if Stella stayed out of sight and in the bag. It wasn’t as if Kim planned on going into Megan’s room in the ICU.
The long walk down a handful of sterile hallways only intensified the anxiety streaming off Leo. If Kim had harbored any doubts about making this trip with him, they disappeared as worry lines etched on Leo’s handsome face.
She didn’t know what to expect when she looked through the glass at ICU, but the sight put her heart in a vise and squeezed tight. She wasn’t sure what struck her most, the teenage girl in the neck brace with her face swollen beyond recognition or the absolutely desolate eyes of Leo as he approached his little sister.
Leo took Megan’s hand and bent low, talking to her quietly as machines beeped rhythmically.
Kim recognized her features as being Down Syndrome, but Megan had other scars on her face that indicated multiple surgeries. She couldn’t imagine what that poor girl had endured or what Leo had gone through, taking care of her for so many years.
Placing a hand over her stomach, Kim closed her eyes and said a quick prayer to her baby. No matter what happens, I’ll love you with all my heart.
A nurse entered the room and came out a few minutes later. Kim heard her call for the doctor at the nurse’s station behind her. Maybe because Leo was world famous or maybe because the doctor happened to be nearby, but within five minutes, a middle aged man with glasses and wearing a white doctor’s coat walked briskly down the hall and entered the room. The two men shook hands and Leo listened intently to what the man said. Leo gestured to his eye and back to Megan, obviously asking about her recent injury and the doctor explained some more.
After the doctor left, Leo stayed for another fifteen minutes before backing out of the room. He took Kim’s hand and led her down the hallway, waving to the nurses and telling them he’d be back later.
“You okay?” she asked, rushing to keep up with his long strides.
“Not really.” His terse response only made her feel for him more. She’d never seen him hurt like this and she’d never wanted to comfort someone as much.
She didn’t ask him anything else as they hopped in the waiting limo and Leo directed the driver to an address on Waverly Place.
Leo pulled out his cell phone and punched the screen. “Hey, Gino, it’s me. I’m on my way.” He listened for a minute and almost smiled at whatever he heard. “Okay. I’ll try to come up when I get in. Give her a hug for me until then.” He nodded. “Yeah. Ciao.” He disconnected the call and leaned his head against the seat rest.
She’d never seen him this distraught. Not even when he’d lost everything. Sure he’d been beaten down, but he’d bounced back. But this… This scared her. “Who’s Gino?” Maybe trying to take his mind off Megan for a few minutes might help.
“Gino is an old friend of mine from the neighborhood. He and his family were one of the first people I met when I moved to New York.”
She’d just assumed he was from Los Angeles. “Where are you from originally?”
“I was born in Iowa. My mom moved to Los Angeles when I was small and I grew up in the valley. After high school, I got a bit part in a small movie and from that I got an agent. I booked another film that shot in New York. Then my mom died and I was in charge of Megan. Initially I kept Megan on the West Coast, but I didn’t like the facilities. I found The Marion Institute and settled her there while I worked.”
“There’s no way you could afford that place when you were just starting out,” Kim said, amazed at the responsibility he’d had to take on at such a young age.
“First of all, it didn’t cost as much then. And second, I never stopped working. I took every job my agent could get me. The jobs got bigger and better and the next thing you know, I didn’t have to audition anymore because producers were offering me roles.”
“What was that like?” she asked, facing him. They’d never talked about his life in show business. It was a question Kim thought she didn’t care about, but now she found herself wanting to know everything about him.
He grinned and the smile changed his face. He became the world famous actor in the blink of an eye. “I’ll never forget the first time I got offered a role. I’d just come off a small part in a Scorsese film and there was pretty good buzz coming from it. The phone rang and Audrey, my agent said, ‘You’re not going to believe this.’ I was thinking that someone was stiffing me on a paycheck, but that wasn’t the case. She’d just got off the phone with Ari Nepali, who wanted me for his next film.” Leo shook his head. “Ari-fucking-Nepali wanted me. I couldn’t believe it. He’d called from London, but he was on his way to New York so we met at Carnegie Deli. We talked about the role and just like that, I have my first job that I didn’t audition for. I never looked back.”
“And then you won an Oscar.” Kim felt a sudden bolt of pride for the man next to her. He’d worked hard to get where he was.
“Don’t forget the Emmy.” If she hadn’t known him she would’ve thought he was conceited, but having gone through so much with the man, she knew he only brought it up to laugh at himself. He’d used his resume to keep people at a distance, to create a sort of invisible barrier because of all the things he’d accomplished. It kept him separate, which kept the world at bay, which was what he wanted.
“I would never forget the Emmy.” She liked that she got him smiling again. “Ari took you with him to a lot of films.”
Leo nodded. “He did. Dangerous Race for one.”
“Yes. Can’t forget Dangerous Race. Just think, we might’ve met back then if you’d been there the day I visited.”
“I’m glad I wasn’t. I don’t think I was in a good place to meet you then. I think we met when we were supposed to.”
“Do you mean to tell me that you think God has a plan?”
He laughed at that and sobered just as quickly. “If God has a plan, then he’s laughing his ass off right now. Especially since I have no clue what the hell is going to happen in my immediate future. I’ve got so many balls in the air that I’m ready for them to start coming down on my head any second.”
“How about I try to help you keep some of them in the air?”
The heat in his eyes nearly scorched her and just like that she was hot for him. “You already are.” The low timbre of his voice struck another chord. He took her hand and stroked his thumb over her knuckles. The foreign feeling of intimacy bowled her over. His touch meant much more than he probably intended. It was one of the things she should avoid and yet she kept falling back into the same Leo trap.
From her bag, a muffled meow caught their attention.
Kim eased Stella out of the bag and the cat st
retched her paws on the limo floor before jumping into Leo’s lap for a rub.
“How you doin’, girl?” Leo brought her up to his face and nuzzled her soft fur.
Stella purred in response. It wasn’t long before she sacked out in Leo’s lap for another snooze. Kim never would’ve believed that a cat could tame the mighty Leo Frost. She held back the smile. She’d started to feel guilty for bringing Stella with them, but now she was glad she’d insisted on it. Leo needed the company.
The limo pulled up to an apartment building and Leo took Kim’s hand and started the climb up three flights of stairs.
“A walk up?” she asked.
“What gave it away? The stairs?” He lifted an amused eyebrow.
“That and the lack of elevator.” She smiled at his teasing. There was something different about him. Something she couldn’t put a finger on.
When he got to the third floor, he walked to the last apartment down the hallway, lifted the mat and opened the door with the key he found. The apartment surprised her. It was much bigger than she anticipated with large windows that looked out over the street. The studio apartment had a small kitchen, bathroom and double bed in a room that was probably half the size of Leo’s old den in his Beverly Hills house. Decorated in rich browns and tan walls, the place seemed like the ultimate bachelor pad.
“So this place was yours?” she asked.
“Yep.”
“And your friend Gino lives here now?”
“Yep.”
“It’s nice of him to let you stay here on such short notice.”
“His mom lives upstairs. She can’t walk the stairs anymore so Gino has to be close by. It worked out.” Leo stood at the window and shoved his hands in his pockets. He had to be thinking about Megan.
Kim set her bag on the old leather recliner in the corner of the room and scooped Stella into her arms. Then she poured the kitty litter in the shallow pan and set it down with Stella on top. Stella didn’t hesitate to do her business then check the place out. Leo hadn’t said anything in the car and Kim hadn’t pushed him, but bottling it up wouldn’t do him any favors. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, “Did the doctor think Megan would recover all right?”
“He’s not sure.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “They have her under sedation. At least they’re not dealing with a broken bone, but they’re worried about more seizures. And with any type of fall, she risks more injury.”
“Seems like she’s in good hands. I liked the nurses.” Megan probably got great care being the little sister of one of the world’s most famous movie stars.
“Yeah. They were nice.” Leo scrubbed a hand over his head.
“Did you sleep at all on the plane?” She’d managed to get a few minutes so maybe he had.
“A little,” he said.
Still, she saw it in his eyes. He was wiped out. She took his hand and led him to the bed. “Here, lie down. When you wake up, we can grab a bite to eat and go back to Megan. I’d like to meet her if you don’t mind. Now that we can leave Stella here, I can go in her room.”
Leo’s mesmerizing blue eyes captivated her. “Thanks for coming with me. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad I could be here.” But the truth was she always wanted to be there for him. Not just for this trip, but for a lifetime.
He patted the spot next to him. “C’mon. Lay down with me.”
That would be suicide. “I need to run out and get a few things for me and Stella. I won’t be gone long.” She made her escape, wondering how she’d keep her distance from the man who tempted her like none other ever had.
Chapter Twenty
Leo walked into Megan’s room for the second time that day and not much had changed. Machines still hummed and the sick sterile smell permeated his senses. His stomach still knotted in the worst way and his guilt meter soared off the charts. Realistically, there was nothing he could’ve done to change what happened. A nurse had been helping Megan to the bathroom when the seizure began. The nurse had lost her footing trying to get Megan back to the bed and they’d both fallen hard. Megan hadn’t been the only one injured. The nurse had suffered a broken arm. Leo didn’t blame anyone. He just hated what his sister had to endure. Though her face was swollen, she hadn’t fractured anything. Good news in and of itself, but still…this poor kid couldn’t catch a break and it killed Leo.
Pulling up a chair, he sat next to Megan’s bed and took her small hand. She didn’t look anything like a nineteen-year-old girl should. She looked more like twelve, her body small and her features distorted from multiple cleft palate surgeries and the fall from last night’s seizure. The worst effects of Downs were bad enough, but to be born with a cleft palate on top of it seemed the like cruelest punishment to a child.
His hand dwarfed her smaller one and he noticed scratches he hadn’t seen earlier.
“Leo?” Megan squeezed his hand and he glanced up to see her eyes barely open. She tried to smile. “Leo!” Her excitement gave him much needed hope. “Hi.” Her low-pitched voice was like a present on Christmas morning. Then she looked around the room and blinked. “Where am I?” Her words were slow and precise as always. The fact that her speech was consistent with her norm gave him a little hope.
He rubbed her chilly hand. “You’re in the hospital. You fell down and hit your head, so the nurses brought you here to see a doctor.”
“You fell too,” she said, pointing to his face. She looked at the room again. “I want to go home now.” She said each word carefully since she had trouble speaking after her last surgery. Leo wasn’t even sure if she realized what she’d had to endure or why.
“I know you do, Megs, but you fell and the doctors want to make sure you’re okay on the inside before they send you home. So they’re doing some tests, okay?”
“I don’t like doctors.” She stuck out her bottom lip. A sure sign that tears were on the way. “My face hurts.”
“I know, honey. I’ll make sure we get something to take away that pain.” He squeezed her hand and she blinked up at him.
“I missed you,” she said. “You have to see the new room at home. I can draw and paint all day and they let me. It’s so fun.”
Waiting for her to finish long sentences was always an exercise in patience. “That’s great. I can’t wait to see it.” He’d seen the construction of the art center during his last visit to The Marion six months ago. Six months ago, before his life had gone to hell.
“What’s your next movie?” she asked, the sparkle in her good eye giving him hope that she might make it out of the hospital sooner rather than later. She even tried to smile and one side of her mouth lifted. Megan always loved listening about his movies, but she never brought them up again. He wondered if she even remembered them.
“I just finished one that I wrote. I hope it’ll be out soon.”
“Can I see it?” She hadn’t seen most of his films because of the content. She might be physically nineteen, but her mental capacity was more like a second grader. Nevertheless, she always asked and it always made him proud.
Leo shook his head. “I don’t think you’ll like this one. It’s boring.” He knew the sure fire way to dissuade her from the film. “It has goats and chickens in it.”
“Ew!” She squinted the eye that wasn’t swollen shut. For Megan’s tenth birthday, Leo had paid for a mobile petting zoo to visit The Marion. He’d thought the whole place would enjoy the experience and most people had. But a goat had nipped Megan and when she’d jumped back in surprise, she’d tripped over a chicken that had immediately started clucking at her. Talk about a birthday party backfiring. “Why would you do that?” she asked, horror etched across her battered face. She may forget about his movies, but she never forgot about that incident.
He shrugged. “It sounded like a good idea when I wrote it.” He shook his head and she smiled.
“It’s okay. I’ll just watch Going Bananas again. That’s funny.”
He’d voiced an orangutan in an animated movie years ago and Megan must have seen it hundreds of times. “I can’t believe that DVD still works.”
“Oh, Leo.” Megan actually giggled and Leo released a worried breath before she yawned. “I’m tired.”
“That’s okay. Go to sleep.” He checked his watch and calculated the time. “I’ll come back tomorrow. I brought a friend with me this trip and she’s looking forward to meeting you.”
“Okay. I like making friends.”
“Yeah. Me too.” He stood over her, kissed her forehead, every protective instinct firing to life. “Get some sleep. I’ll be back.” He squeezed her hand as she closed her eyes and in the next minute she was asleep.
Leo sat back in the chair and sighed. Thank God she seemed to be okay. Bruised and battered, yes, but she was still the same sweet girl she’d always been. He missed the hug he would’ve received if she hadn’t been flat on her back in a neck brace.
She looked so small and still in the big hospital bed. So innocent.
He pushed back the guilt at keeping Megan at The Institute. Deep down he knew it was the best place for her. They specialized in people with serious physical disabilities and Megan, with her constant seizures, needed the attention they gave her.
How could he even consider bringing someone into the world who might suffer the same fate as his sister?
Maybe once Kim met Megan, she’d understand his point of view. Although, knowing Kim, probably not. She’d made up her mind.
With a last glance at Megan, Leo left her room. He spotted the thick dark frames and thinning hair of her doctor at the nurse’s station.
“Dr. Noori, do you have a minute?”
“Mr. Frost,” he said, glancing up from his paperwork. “Good to see you.” Leo had read up on the doctor through the hospital website. Originally from Egypt, he’d gone to Harvard Medical School, but even after twenty-five years in the U.S., he still carried a hint of an accent. “I’d like to keep Megan one more night for observation before we let her go. We adjusted her seizure medication and I want to make sure she gets through the night without incident before we discharge her.”
