Past Sins Revisited

by Mary Goldberger

  As they reached the fourth floor and stepped out starting in the direction for the nurse’s desk on the west wing, a nurse glanced up from the desk with a polite smile.

  “Hello,” she said standing up from her chair. “Who are you here to see?”

  “Hello,” Wilma said giving her a small smile, “We’re here to see Calida Lindley in room 423. May she have visitors at this time?”

  Wilma saw the flicker in the nurse’s eyes at Calida’s name and yet she didn’t comment as she said, “She was still sleeping when I checked on her an hour ago, but she should be coming out of sedation around now. I’m her day nurse,” giving her name before she let them go to Calida’s room.

  The nurse watched the walk down the hallway to the door she indicated and her eyes filled with sadness as her supervisor came over.

  “Are they here to see our gunshot victim?” She asked her voice calm but her eyes told another story.

  “Yes,” the nurse said in a soft voice before the nurse’s station was buzzed from one the rooms needing someone to come see to their IV.

  Wilma opened the door slowly and walked in just as Calida turned her head hearing the door open. Her eyes were filled with pain and drowsiness, but she smiled weakly.

  “Hi, Nanny,” she said reverting back to old name for Wilma in a soft voice hazel eyes unfocused and unguarded.

  “Hi, sweetie,” Wilma said softly walking farther into the room as Jake and Marti came in behind her.

  Jake closed the door as Wilma and Marti walked over to the bed one on each side of it.

  “How do you feel, Calida,” Marti asked, and Calida frowned up at her blinking.

  “I’m hurting and,” Calida’s face became quizzical as she uttered, “weird as if I’m missing something.”

  She shifted that quizzical look between the two of them as if she hoping they could explain it to her even though she knew that they could hardly explain to her what she didn’t understand it herself.

  Wilma’s throat became choked as Marti smiled and leaned forward placing a hand on Calida’s forehead.

  “You’re just had surgery to remove a bullet, Calida,” she reminded her quietly. “I guess what you are feeling is that sensation.”

  Calida stared at her for a minute before she nodded her head and closed her eyes allowing her body to sink down into the bed. “You’re probably right, Aunt Marti,” she whispered although her lips turned down a little at the corners.

  Wilma caught the action and she mentally sighed knowing that Calida was smart enough to know that wasn’t as Marti tried to explain, but she was too muddle headed at the moment to think clearly and come up with a better answer.

  For that, Wilma was grateful as she said to Calida softly, “Go back to sleep, my dear, and we will sit with you for a while.”

  Calida nodded her head slowly without opening her eyes and Wilma settled down in the chair near the bed as Jake remarked, “I’m going to get some coffee. Does anyone else want anything?”

  He glanced at Marti and Wilma who nodded her head while Marti said with a small smile at Calida, “I think I will leave you and Wilma together, but I will see you later sweetie.”

  She stood up placing another hand on Calida’s forehead as Calida opened her eyes and gave her a weary smile.

  “Feel better, sweetie,” Marti whispered leaning down to kiss her forehead before she stood up and with tears shining in her eyes, she turned and walked over to Jake who was waiting quietly.

  Jake gave Calida a smile before he and Marti walked out the door, and Wilma allowed the tears to slide down her face.

  “I couldn’t let him lose another person he loved, Nanny,” Calida murmured seeing the tears on Wilma’s face and she tried to say something else before she drifted off to sleep.

  Wilma knew the basic facts of what happened in the warehouse and she whispered now, “I know” as she brushed Calida’s hair away from her face.

  She sat there for a little longer before she reached out and slipped the engagement ring off Calida’s finger.

  “I will do as you asked,” Wilma promised her quietly slipping the ring in her purse just as the door opened.

  Jake and Marti came in with cups of hot coffee followed by the nurse who smiled and went about her duty as Jake walked over to Wilma who stood up.

  “She fell back to sleep which is natural in this situation as she was heavily sedated,” the nurse explained quietly as she checked Calida’s vitals to chart in her medical record.

  Jake handed a cup of coffee to Wilma as she stepped back to let the nurse do her job and whispered ‘thank you’ to her husband.

  The nurse told them softly that she seemed to be doing all right and her vitals were normal, but the doctor would keep them up-to-date about her progress as he would be in to see Calida later that afternoon.

  Wilma nodded her head shifting sad eyes to Calida as Jake said, “Honey, I know you want to stay here longer but I think we should let Calida rest because once she comes home, there will be a lot for her to do.”

  Wilma glanced up seeing the harsh look in his eyes and she said without hesitation, “I’m going to take care of those details so the only thing she has to do is attend the funeral and wake afterwards.”

  Jake nodded his head as Marti said in a soft voice, “She would want to do something even though she didn’t love him, but she knew that their father did.”

  Jake and Wilma nodded their head in agreement as the nurse finished and started for the door while the others followed her out of the room.

  Jake slipped his arm around Wilma’s waist as they headed toward the elevator heading past the nurse’s desk where they said their quiet ‘goodbyes’.

  The nurse frowned as she watched them leave and shook her head once as she went back to her charts while in her room tears slipped down Calida’s cheeks and a frown crossed her face even though she was sleeping.

  One floor down, Edric sat on the bed as Sophie clung to him sobbing while Tomas stared out the windows of her room.

  “Sophie,” Edric said gently and Sophie shook her head clinging tighter to him. “What happened last night with Jeremy?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it, Ric. Please don’t make me,” she sobbed lifting her face to him eyes huge and filled with tears.

  “All right,” Edric told her pulling her back down into his embrace to comfort her. “I won’t make you talk about it.”

  Tomas turned his head just in time to see the brief flash of satisfaction that crossed Sophie’s face before she buried her face in Edric’s chest sniffling.

  Tomas turned back to the window as a frown worked its way across his face. He had a feeling that Sophie was trying to hide something from Edric as a knock sounded on the door before being opened to reveal an older man who introduced himself as Sophie’s doctor leaving the door partially open.

  “Good morning,” he said before taking a quick look at the clock on the wall, “or more like good afternoon.”

  No one laughed at his attempt to lighten the mood as he walked over to the bed.

  Edric tried to stand up to greet him, but it was impossible with Sophie wrapped around him.

  The doctor nodded his head as Edric held out a hand to be shaken before the doctor shook hands with Tomas who had turned from the window.

  “As I’ve told Miss Jenkins,” he said opening her chart, “she has an assortment of bruises, but otherwise she is healthy with no serious injuries. The only thing that worried me was the shock she was experiencing when she first arrived last night. I plan on keeping her overnight and discharging her tomorrow if there are no problems that occur.”

  Edric and Tomas nodded their heads in understanding as Sophie, her face still hidden in Edric’s chest, frowned while her mind furiously started to work.

  “I would rather be going home today,” she pleaded softly turning her tearstained face to the doctor who merely smiled.

  “Understandable, but I would like to keep you overnight just to be on the safe side
,” he told her making the notation in her chart unfazed by the pleading in her eyes as he nodded his head and left the room after making a brief statement that he would see her tomorrow before she left.

  Again Tomas’s suspicions were raised as he stared at Sophie and wished he could get a hold of Matt because he had a feeling that something else happened at that warehouse, something that Sophie was trying to keep away from Edric.

  “Ric, will you stay with me tonight? I don’t want to be alone,” she asked him her eyes shimmering with tears as she lifted her lashes to stare at him.

  Edric sighed mentally as he told her, “If they say it’s okay, then I will stay with you.”

  He went to stand up only for Sophie to burrow herself into him and he gave her a narrowed look which she didn’t see before lifting those narrow eyes to Tomas as he asked, “Tomas, if you don’t mind can you…”

  “I’ll ask the nurses at the desk,” Tomas interjected his tone slightly rough as he headed for the door.

  “Thank you,” Edric called out as Tomas left the room and he went back to comforting Sophie as she shivered against him.

  Tomas rolled his eyes as he closed the door behind him and started for the nurses’ desk. He observed the nurse as he approached the desk and asked about Sophie having someone stay the night with her. He didn’t mention it but he was shocked to see a flash of disgust cross the woman’s face before it vanished and she told him, “He can although I don’t know what for because there is nothing wrong with that woman except she needs someone to slap her.”

  At her words, Tomas couldn’t help but stare at her as shock filled his face and the nurse’s face turned pale as another stepped up to them sending her a glare before shifting her attention to Tomas.

  “We apologize for her unprofessional behavior and although I don’t like the way she said them, I have to admit I agree wither her words. Since she woke up this morning, she has been nothing but demanding. She has been asking for this and that, and she even tried to bribe one of my nurses to go and buy her some makeup while she was on duty.”

  The shock that filled Tomas at the nurse’s words faded away as anger began to fill him, but he completely went still at her next words.

  “And yet, the woman who was shot in the same warehouse hasn’t given her nurses any trouble,” the one nurse grumbled as she gathered the charts she had been working on.

  “She also had been heavily sedated since her surgery last night,” her supervisor reminded the grumbling nurse who flushed slightly at the reminder.

  She mumbled an apology under her breath and then hurried off as Tomas said sharply, “Do you know who the young woman was? Did anyone tell you her name?”

  The nurse left behind frowned as she said slowly, “No, I don’t but from what I understand if I heard the cop correctly who accompanied Miss Jenkins, said she wouldn’t be here right now if the young woman hadn’t pushed her out of the way before the bullet hit her.”

  A phone went off and the nurse answered it quickly as Tomas gave her a nod in ‘thank you’ before letting her get back to work.

  He stepped away from the desk and immediately pulled his cell phone from his pocket dialing Matt’s number.

  “Matt,” Tomas said as his voice mail picked up, “Call me as soon as you can. I need to know what happened last night in that warehouse.”

  He snapped the phone closed as a look of fear flashed through his mind although his face only hardened not showing it as a thought came to his head about who was with Sophie and Jeremy in that warehouse.

  He hoped as he headed back to Sophie’s room that what he was thinking was way off base stopping in front of Sophie’s door before taking a deep breath and going inside after a brief knock.

  As he entered the room, and seeing Edric still sitting on the bed holding Sophie to calm her, he nodded his head to Edric while wondering if Sophie really didn’t understand Edric’s feelings because if she did, then he wouldn’t be here right now holding her if she would’ve told him the truth.

  Edric’s eyes went literally dull green as his mouth flattened but nodded his head before he said, “I have to go home, Sophie, to…”

  Sophie immediately interrupted him as she shook her head and cried out, “Don’t leave me alone, Ric. I’m afraid I will have nightmares.”

  “Sophie, I’m only going home to do a few things and I will be back…” Edric told her as a frown crossed his face glancing over at Tomas who only shrugged his shoulders although he saw the frustration in Edric’s eyes.

  “Let Tomas do it,” she demanded in a hard voice that had both men looking at her.

  Edric stared at her hard before he shifted his eyes to Tomas and asked, “Tomas could you get my case from the car? I still have some clean clothes in there that I can use for tonight.”

  Tomas nodded his head as he turned to head out of the room only to be stopped as Edric called out his voice calm, but Tomas heard the undertone to it letting him know that this was important to Edric.

  “There is a small case in the inside compartment, can you please take it out and put it in the office desk at home?”

  Tomas glanced back once meeting his friend’s green eyes before he nodded his head and faced the doorway a brief smile crossing his face as he walked out shutting the door behind him with a click.

  He was standing in front of the elevator when his phone went off and he answered it noting the caller id.

  “Matt,” he began only to have Matt cut him off.

  “I can’t talk right now,” Matt told him in a harsh voice as he sat at his desk at the precinct looking down at the pictures in his hand that an officer collected at the scene and given to him before he rushed out on a last minute stake out his caption had ordered.

  “But you do need to know what happened last night and so does Edric,” he finished as his partner called his name, and he glanced up nodding his head.

  “Answer me one question,” Tomas said hearing someone call Matt’s name and knowing that he was about to get off to go to work. “Was Calida the one who got shot?”

  There was a second where the silence seemed to go on before Matt answered in a grave voice, “Yes” before he hung up.

  Chapter 23

  Once back at the house, Wilma pleaded a headache and headed for her room. She lay down on the bed thinking about everything that happened including to remember to call and see when she can she start making an arrangements for Jeffrey before her mind shifted back to Calida.

  She sighed as she thought about the hope she had seen in Calida’s eyes what seemed like weeks ago but had only been yesterday and yet that hope hadn’t been present in those hazel eyes just a while ago.

  Whatever happened when she went to go meet Sophie, and Jeffrey as the detective told her when they called, had crushed that hope Calida had been nourishing.

  Wilma sat up running a hand over her face as her eyes landed on her purse and she swung her legs off the bed while she got up grabbing the purse before leaving her room.

  She stopped outside Calida’s door for a few seconds before she entered closing the door behind her with a soft click. She noticed how organized and neat everything was, but Calida had always been like that even growing up so it didn’t completely shock her as she walked over to the bed sitting down on the edge.

  Wilma placed her purse next to her before she opened the nightstand drawer where a large envelope sat on top and she pulled it out closing the drawer with a snap. In the center of the envelope, Calida had wrote ‘Edric’ in her elegant handwriting and Wilma frowned as she turned it over undoing the tab before pulling out the papers within.

  The first sheet was a legal document that Calida had made up in the presence of her lawyer signing over her shares of Reseda Electronics to Edric signed and notarized to deliver to Edric, but it was the other two papers that caught and held Wilma’s attention.

  Calida had written Edric a detailed letter starting with her first meeting with his sister, Adella, before going on to tell him ab
out what happened that night including her own cowardice for not stepping in to help her and stop Jeffrey from hurting her. She ended the letter telling him that she understood why he had approached her, revenge on her brother, and when he wanted to cancel their engagement, she would accept it as her punishment. The last sentence of the letter wished him happiness with Sophie with the belief that she was the one he loved.

  Wilma could only read it once as she let her hands fall to the bed after she read the last sentence and tears coursed down her cheeks before she forced herself to place the papers back in the envelope about to seal it up before she stopped glancing at her purse. With a shaky hand, she reached out for her purse and slipped her hand inside finding the engagement ring without much difficulty as she pulled it out staring down at its beautiful design before placing it in the envelope.

  “You always did believe that your brother’s sins would come back to revisit and punish you too,” Wilma whispered in the silent room sealing the envelope at Calida’s request.

  She shook her head as she heard footsteps coming down the hall heading for her room.

  “Jake,” she said hurrying to the door and opening it startling Jake who was standing outside their room, “I need you to do something for me tomorrow.”

  After his short conversation with Matt, Tomas walked out to his car in a daze as he did what Edric asked of him. He grabbed the suitcase pulling it to the edge of the seat as he unzipped the case and took out the slim jewelry box. He opened it to reveal the monkey charm and Tomas felt anger roll through him knowing that the necklace wasn’t something Sophie would wore which Edric knew.

  He closed the box and slipped it in the glove box before grabbing the suitcase zipped back up and locking his truck making sure that the alarm was activated as he made his way back inside the hospital.

  Once in Sophie’s room after dropping off the suitcase, Tomas made up some excuse to leave which caused Sophie’s eyes to flare with excitement while Edric stared at him with narrowed eyes.