“And you didn’t tell anyone else?” Chrissy pressed.
“Just you.”
“Oh my gosh, so do you think that detective is going to put my name on his white board back at the police headquarters and I’m going to have to answer all of these questions to prove I’m not a suspect?”
It never failed. Chrissy always found a way to make every crisis about her; she was a complete narcissist. I rolled my eyes in response to her police academy scenario and she rambled on.
“Well, if I had to bet between myself, Adrian or Lilly, I’d put Daddy’s money on Adrian.” She took a seat and began thumbing through a magazine. “It’s just weird how that guy always appears when you’re by yourself. If he’s got nothing to hide then he should come around in public. Maybe I’d like to meet Mr. Hottie Pants.”
“Did I mention that he’s a lawyer in training?”
If Chrissy’s eyes were the size of half dollars before, they were manhole covers now. I swear I could almost see dollar signs flashing in them.
“Back off,” I warned, “I saw him first.”
Chrissy scrunched her nose and stuck her tongue out at me. “No fair. I saw that necklace first but you still swooped in and now it never leaves your neck. So what if you saw Perry Mason first? You have a boyfriend while I’m single and ready to mingle.”
I tossed my pillow at her and we both burst into hysterical laughter. “Perry Mason? Really?”
She shrugged. “I couldn’t think of any other lawyer names on the spot.”
Seeping back into the serious tone of our murderous reality, I began racking my brain, trying to figure out who was responsible for Nouri’s death. I didn’t want to hear any more of Chrissy’s speculations. To suspect Adrian was the dumbest thing I had heard all day. Lilly was the obvious suspect, it had to be her. But then if it was her, that would mean admitting that Ray was still communicating with her.
All of a sudden a chilling thought escaped my lips. “What if it were Ray?”
“Come again?” Chrissy was now applying a thick coat of perfumed lotion to her already perfect legs.
“Well, Ray was the one who found me. He found Nouri, and he found the note. He was covered in blood, Chrissy, I saw him.” I frantically looked over at the hospital door, making sure Ray didn’t enter.
“Why would Ray hit you with a shovel?” She snapped the lid shut on the bottle of lotion and tossed it back into her beach bag.
“To stop me from moving in with him,” I rationalized. “He didn’t sound happy when I told him Nouri suggested I go back home with him.”
“I don’t know, Sidney. That sounds a little far-fetched, don’t you think?”
“Oh, but it makes perfect sense for you to accuse a guy you’ve never even met?” I lashed out.
“Yeah, because I have met Ray, and even though I don’t like him, he’s not a freaking murderer! What kind of medication are you on, Sidney? You’re talking like a crazy person.”
The hospital door opened and Dr. Kyle stepped in. “Hello, Sidney. Chrissy.”
“Hi, Daddy,” Chrissy sung in a slow, boring tune.
“Sidney. You took quite a hit to your head yesterday. How do you feel?”
“I feel okay, Dr. Kyle, just anxious to get home.”
He took a small flashlight from his coat pocket and shined it in my eyes. “Everything looks good. I’d like to keep you overnight for observation and you can leave on Wednesday morning, if that’s okay with you. I want to write you a small prescription for your pain and then I need you to sign a few release forms. I can arrange for the hospital to assign a new nurse to your grandmother’s case.”
My breath caught on his last words. Everyone here seemed to speak of Nouri as nothing more than a second thought. To them, she was just a nurse that could easily be replaced. But to me, she was a friend, and it seemed that I would be grieving for her alone. For a long, long time.
“Daddy,” Chrissy hesitantly interrupted, “I was actually thinking I could help Sidney with that need of hers. I’ve just completed nursing school and this would be a great experience for me. What do you think? Could you send a referral for me to be Emmy’s new nurse?”
Dr. Kyle was not impressed by the idea but as usual, he seldom told Chrissy no. “I suppose that would be a decision Sidney would need to make.”
Pushing my silent grief aside, I answered, “I would love that, Chrissy. We could be roommates.”
Before she could answer, I heard the sounds of heels hitting hard against the laminated floor. “Sidney, honey. Oh, the hell you must have been through!” Ray’s tiny mother whirled into the room wearing a black skirt and white button down shirt. Ray followed meekly behind her, his hands in his pockets as he looked down at the floor.
I smiled wanly, “Hi, Teresa. I’m okay.”
“Ray didn’t even have the decency to pick up a phone and call his poor mother. I had to hear about it from one of the women in my church group when I found out that they had established a prayer line for you and your grandmother. Once I realized what had happened, I rushed down here. I’m so happy to see that you’re okay, darling.”
Her tiny figure stomped across the cold hospital floor and she smothered me in her arms. It felt good to have someone with no blood connection love me as her own. Once I felt those arms wrapping around me with the unconditional love Teresa so easily harbored I let out all of the pent-up grief I had been feeling. I cried about Ray’s infidelity, the disassociation from Adrian because of Ray’s jealousy, Chrissy and I fighting, Granny’s illness, and now the most recent trauma in my life; the death of Nouri. Everything poured out and flooded into my heart with a pain I had never felt before.
How was I going to get past this?
I sobbed uncontrollably in Teresa’s arms as she consoled me. Ray leaned against the wall, useless. He was obviously still shell-shocked from his earlier discovery.
“There, there, Sidney. Everything will be okay,” Teresa cooed as she stroked my brown hair, which undoubtedly was caked with dry blood.
“Mom,” Ray said, “the cafeteria’s still open. Do you think you can go down there and get Sidney and me some coffee?”
I shook my head at him. “Ray. I’m fine. I don’t need anything.” I began to object but then I saw a hint of irritation flash behind his eyes as he tried to silently tell me he wanted to speak with me alone.
His mother was oblivious to his cue but she accepted his request anyway. “Sure, honey. Your father is still parking the car, so I’ll give him a call on his cellular and have him meet me in the cafeteria.”
Teresa kissed my forehead before letting me go. Dr. Kyle and Chrissy took this opportunity to take flight as well. The doctor promised to start processing all of the necessary paperwork for her new position, and Chrissy danced out of the room, heading home to start packing for her move.
Ray walked them all out of the room, and then stood by the doorway until they were out of sight. I watched as my emotionless boyfriend stood with his arms folded across his white t-shirt. His blue eyes remained dead.
Swiftly, he closed the hospital door, and strode across the room to my bed. Taking my hand, he ordered, “Don’t tell my mom about the note.”
I attempted to sit up, but the pain in my head instantly shot through my body and straight down to my toes. “Ouch,” I cried.
“Did you hear me?” Ray asked, now pacing back and forth within the room.
“My head,” I whimpered, concentrating on my breathing until the pain slowly began to subside.
“Sidney. I said don’t tell—”
“Yes, I’m not deaf, Ray. Sorry, I’m a little preoccupied with the pain.” I folded my arms across my chest and stared straight ahead at the stark white wall. My eyebrows furrowed.
“I don’t want to worry her,” Ray said softly.
I rolled my eyes. “No, Ray, you don’t want her to know about Lilly.”
His silence confirmed my suspicions. Now was as good a time as any to confront him. “She knew I
was coming back with you, didn’t she? You’ve still been talking to her.”
At that precise moment, Dr. Kyle burst into the room, interrupting the unbearable silence and giving Ray an escape to evade my accusations. He took a seat in the same chair the detective had sat in earlier.
“Sorry for the intrusion. I just need you to sign a few papers, Sidney.” The doctor handed me a clipboard and I began penning my signature next to every X. “You took a pretty rough beating yesterday, wouldn’t you agree?”
Pushing aside the uneasy emotions that often seemed to come with Ray, I replied, “I’ve been taking a lot of beatings lately, Dr. Kyle.”
Ignoring my subliminal cry for sympathy, the old doctor accepted my signatures and turned to leave. “I’ll have your prescription for some painkillers ready for you in the morning, and then you can be on your way. I’ll send a nurse in to check you out at nine o’clock tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
Before the old man left the room, Ray had devised a plan to escape our argument. “I’m going to check on my parents,” he said flatly as he walked out with the good doctor.
Chapter 5
Ladybug
The next time the door swung open, it seemed to suck the air right out of the room and replace it with a thick haze that swirled around, leaving me in a state of idiocy. I couldn’t help the smile that washed over my face as soon as I saw those green eyes.
Adrian was leaning against the door jamb, waiting to be invited in. He was wearing a gray sweater with a navy blazer. His hair was combed back out of his face, a look I hadn’t yet seen. He must have just come from work.
My eyes followed his hands, which seemed to anxiously be fiddling with something between them. He held a single red rose.
“Is that for me?” I asked, nodding towards the flower. I pressed the side of my face into my pillow, hoping to cover up the ugliness of my stitches, but Adrian seemed to notice what I was doing and strode across the room, full of intent. He placed his hand on my head and firmly turned my face so he could inspect my wound.
I was mortified.
“Whoever did this to you is going to pay,” he growled.
I looked up at his face and saw the anger as he grimaced at my cut. I placed my hand on top of his and he slowly softened his firm grip on my countenance.
“Yes, this is for you,” he answered, handing me the rose. “I felt like I shouldn’t come empty-handed, but I also didn’t want to make a spectacle of myself carrying a bouquet, especially if your boyfriend’s still around.”
Adrian scanned the room.
“He’s down in the cafeteria with his parents. Thanks for the rose.” I brought it to my nose and inhaled. Now I was sure every time I smelled a rose I would think of him. It was an empty vow since Ray never brought me flowers.
“I’d buy the whole flower shop if it would erase that day for you. I’m sorry about your nurse.”
My eyes filled with tears as I realized the genuine depth of this man’s heart. He was everything I’d ever wanted in a man.
But he’s not Ray.
“You should probably go before R-Ray sees you,” I stammered, unable to meet his eyes. Instead I looked down at the rose he had brought me.
I noticed a red and black ladybug crawling up the stem. I’d have to release the tiny beauty out the hospital window once Adrian left.
He let go of my face and took a step backward, “Of course, I just had to make certain you were okay.” He gave me one last smile and turned around.
Without thinking, I grabbed Adrian’s hand and pulled him back to me.
“What time do you get home after work tomorrow?” I anxiously whispered.
A hint of a smile formed on his lips as he replied, “Six o’clock.”
“Can I stop by your house?” The words tumbled out of my mouth.
“Anything you want, Sidney.” He paused. “Under one condition.”
I raised my eyebrow.
“Remember when we were in my car and you told me the song in your head changed?”
I scrunched my eyebrows together, pretending to search my brain even though I knew exactly what he was referring to. “That day at the cemetery, before I pissed you off. You said the song wasn’t about your boyfriend anymore. Are you ready to tell me?”
I held my breath until I couldn’t anymore, and then I let the words flow out with my breath. “It’s that Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift duet.”
Adrian flashed me his impressive smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow after work.”
He exited the room as quickly as he’d arrived.
I laid back and pondered how Adrian could make me feel so unfaithful to Ray. As if everything I had been doing was wrong up until this point. I didn’t know why I had asked Adrian to meet me tomorrow evening. It just felt wrong leaving things the way they were here in the hospital. I needed to spend one more day with him. Of course, I had always been good with rationalizations.
When Ray entered the room he noticed something was awry almost immediately. He stopped dead in his tracks and I watched as his eyes suspiciously scanned the room, narrowing in on my hands and more importantly on the rose I was holding.
He stomped across the room and muttered under his breath, “It smells like fucking smoke in here.”
Before I had time to deny it, I felt the beautiful flower being ripped right out of my hands. He moved so quickly my brain didn’t have enough time to tell my hand to let go. Instead, I clenched down on the stem while Ray pulled. The friction made the tiny thorns transform into razors as they ripped open the flesh on my palms.
“Oww,” I yelped in pain as I looked down at my hand to inspect my wounds. Ray hardly noticed the red stream flowing from my palm. He was too busy shoving the flower into the medical waste bin as though it were some sort of toxic hazard to our relationship. I brought my hand to my mouth and pressed my tongue against the wound, hoping to stop the bleeding, not to mention the violent words I wanted to scream at Ray. I looked down at the white bed sheet and noticed the tiny ladybug frozen in place. I brought my finger down so the little insect could crawl onto it but it was no use. The bug was dead. Ray had killed it just like he was killing our love.
He snarled, “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t see him again, Sid?”
The lingering smell of cigarettes made it impossible for me to deny that Adrian was here.
“Ray, I’m in the freaking hospital. It’s not like I called him and asked him on a date. He heard what happened and came to check on my well-being. That’s it.”
My seething boyfriend stood in the middle of the room in silence.
“Why don’t you like him? You’ve never even met him,” I continued, becoming more and more agitated.
“Because he’s after my girl.”
I flicked the ladybug’s carcass off the sheet and stuffed my face into the oversized pillow and closed my eyes.
At least Ray admitted his real issue with Adrian and didn’t try to hide behind his stupid anti-smoking beliefs.
“I’m too tired for this. Let’s just go to bed so we can go home tomorrow.”
I felt Ray’s warmth as he climbed into the hospital bed and secured me in his embrace, holding me slightly tighter than he normally did.
Chapter 6
Into My Web
I woke up the next morning to a nurse calling my name.
“Ms. Sinclair, your boyfriend already took care of filling your prescription this morning so all I need you to do is sign this last discharge paper and you’re free to go,” the young auburn-haired caregiver babbled.
After Lilly, I’d acquired a prejudice against redheaded women and wanted them kept as far away from Ray as possible. But this girl was far from a threat. She was mousy, with brown, doughy eyes and a plain, plump, freckled face. She looked more like a Cabbage Patch Kid than a human being. I signed the papers and scanned the room for Ray. Of course he was missing.
The nurse, following my eyes, answered my unspoken question. “Your b
oyfriend is outside taking a business call. It must be so cool to be with someone famous like Ray Ryker.”
The stars in her eyes twinkled, reminding me that the Cabbage Babe was indeed a real human girl.
“Yeah, it’s a blast,” I said as I handed her the clipboard. She was too lost in her own fantasy to hear the sarcasm dripping from my voice.
“He brought a change of clothes for you this morning,” she went on, pointing to a bag printed with the name of one of Chrissy’s favorite stores. It was very expensive. “What a dream, you are so lucky, Ms. Sinclair.”
The smile cemented on her face almost made me want to puke. I had a million comments for her but I politely returned her smile and got up to grab the bag. I was so lucky because my boyfriend liked to use his limitless credit card to buy me clothes, hoping it would be enough for me to forget about his affair. I snatched the bag and headed into the restroom to see what Ray would like his Barbie to wear today.
It was a good thing I had shaved my legs just before I had been whacked with a shovel.
My new sundress was a strapless piece of fabric with a denim vest. Ray accessorized it with teal platform pumps that I was willing to bet would be less comfortable than the aching pink heels I walked home in last Sunday.
My anger began to dissipate once I felt how soft the fabric felt against my skin. These clothes even smelled fancy, if fancy had a scent. I was also amazed to find all of the necessary undergarments as well as the sundries I would need to freshen up. I wondered if Ray picked this all out by himself or if he got help. I concluded he had gotten help from a commission-based sales representative, which would explain all of the added bonuses in the bag.
Exiting the bathroom, I felt like a hundred bucks. I laughed as I looked down at the shoes, thinking each foot probably cost a hundred bucks. I had to feel at least like double that price.
I looked across the room and saw Ray had returned. He was holding a coffee in each hand and his jaw dropped to the floor. I did a small curtsey and smiled at him. “All I need is a sunhat and giant sunglasses and I’ll be movie star status,” I joked as I very carefully walked across the room and took his arm. “All set?”
Between Loves (The Pendant Series Book 2) Page 3
