Love, Exes, and Ohs

by Violet Duke

  “They were all out of those, too.”

  Hopping off his lap to finish getting dressed, she took the bag with her so he didn’t get bright ideas. “Well then, we have a little problem on our hands. I don’t suppose you’d settle for some fast food on the way?”

  “And break our no-fast-food streak at a measly five months?”

  Right. She forgot about that. They may not be fully on the home-cooked-meal band wagon yet, but they did have surprisingly high standards for takeout.

  “Okay, then how about I make it worth your while later?” she lied outrageously.

  He raised an amused brow. “You’d really exchange sexual favors for three little doughnuts? Because I’d be totally okay with that.”

  She giggled.

  “And in that case,” he added, “I might hold the frilly coffee drink I have sitting in the truck right now hostage as well.”

  The force was strong with this one. He was a worthy opponent.

  “Okay, then Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who gets the whole bounty,” she suggested.

  “Honey, you’ve never won against me. Not even one single throw.”

  Now that he mentioned it, that was absolutely true. What was that about? She narrowed her eyes on his smug expression. “Are you saying I have a tell?”

  “If you did, do you really think I’d tell you?”

  Pouting, she clutched the bag of pastries under her arm and grabbed a bunch of things she’d picked up for Darcy yesterday while he gathered up the flowers and followed her to the door.

  Whatever her tell was, it had to be pretty bad considering she’d played a round of rock-paper-scissors with Bennett the other day to decide which set of chairs would be gracing the lobby area of his new apartment building and he’d won all five out of five throws. And then again when she’d demanded a rematch. All while he’d been simultaneously checking out the blonde that had been flirting with him in the furniture store, no less.

  Now seated in Isaac’s truck, her eyes widened at the pretty plastic cup of sugary, caffeinated goodness.

  Funny how something like that could inspire greatness.

  “Okay, let’s go one round. Winner take all.” She put down the bakery bag and held her closed fist out over her open palm.

  “If you’re thinking it’s okay for you to lose because I’ll fall prey to those big doe eyes of yours, I have to tell you, I didn’t get a chance to eat dinner last night what with all the guys from the local amateur show next week filling up the gym to capacity yesterday.”

  “Let’s just do this. I’m ready.” She gave him a determined stare-down.

  Grinning indulgently, he turned fully in his seat and placed his closed fist over his palm as well.

  Rock-Paper-Scissors-Shoot!

  He threw paper.

  Dammit, she’d had every intention of throwing rock. What the hell?

  Not that it mattered. She was pretty certain she won that round based on what she had ended up throwing instead

  Isaac laughed and shook his head at her thumb and fore finger shaped in a circle. “We don’t do dynamite or fire or all those other weird throws.”

  “Fire? How does someone throw fire?”

  He held his hand out palm-up, bringing his fingers up like the prongs holding a diamond, and then started wiggling his fingers. “Crackling fire. Which can only be defeated by—” He held a closed fist up and dropped it down with splayed fingers in a splattering motion. “Water bomb.”

  Laughing, Xoey shook her head. Her Rock, Paper, Scissors training was seriously lacking.

  He looked down at her fingers still shaped like a circle. “What on earth is that supposed to be, anyway?”

  She gave him a triumphant smile and dared him to claim the victory when she explained sweetly, “Condom. I threw condom.”

  Silence blanketed the truck for a long, stunned second before her beautiful coffee drink was slipped grandly into her awaiting hand.

  Victory!

  “No fair arming yourself with something we aren’t even planning to use for a while,” he grumbled, though his eyes were twinkling with amusement, and no small amount of respect.

  “I wouldn’t classify a day as ‘a while.’ A ‘stretch’ or ‘stint,’ maybe. Or even a ‘spell’ if you’re feeling historic. But not ‘a while.’

  The truck screeched to a halt. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying? We’re graduating to full benefits?”

  “If Sparky down there can make it all the way to tonight without busting through your zipper, then yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  He leaned over and slid his hand behind her nape, thumb stroking over her jawline. “Are you sure? I don’t want to rush you and risk losing you by going too fast. So you can take it back. If you don’t though, I’m warning you now, I won’t be able to let you go. Not again.”

  She gazed at him for one long moment, before whispering, “I love you, Isaac.”

  His lips came crashing down on hers before she even finished saying his name.

  Long, oxygen-deprived minutes later, he rasped, “God, I love you too, baby. I meant what I said; we don’t need to rush anything, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere. Partial benefits, or full, or even no benefits. Barriers or not. Bumpy roads or smooth sailing. You’re it for me.”

  Isaac smoothed the stray strands of hair from her face and looked deep into her eyes. “I don’t care how you define it or what you call it—as long as it ends with me getting to kiss you and love you until it’s me and only me that you want to remember before you fall asleep tonight, me and only me you’re able to dream about until the sun rises, me and only me you hope to see when you open your eyes again. Nothing less, Xoey. Because that sure as hell is how it is for me where you’re concerned…how it’s always been.”

  She stared at the amazing man before her, and felt every single emotion she’d ever felt for him break past the walls she’d built around her heart. “I think you’re incredible, Isaac. And I don’t want any more barriers between us.”

  At the instant, white-hot reaction to that announcement flaring in his eyes, she chuckled feeling her cheeks burn. “Well, no figurative barriers, at least.” She blinked slowly then as a sizzling hot, intoxicating thought rolled over her. “And maybe one day soon, not so literally as well?”

  Groaning, he reached for her again, alternating whispers of sweet and sinfully seductive promises between kisses.

  A few passing car horn beeps later, they were back on the road.

  Eventually, he did in fact end up drinking half of her ‘coffee’—air quotes and all—since they’d ended up fogging up the windows like a pair sex starved teenagers, reclined seats and all. Well, his seat at least, which was how they’d ended up knocking over his cup of coffee.

  And later, when she selflessly offered to split her doughnuts with him fifty-fifty, he caressed her cheek affectionately before declining politely and pulling out a bag of cornbread muffins he’d had stuffed in his glove box.

  He really did know her so well.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS for a beautiful patient,” announced Isaac as he walked the colorful vase of gerbera daisies he was carrying over to the table beside Darcy’s hospital bed.

  “How are you feeling?” Xoey went over to give her a quick hug, bearing an equally colorful bouquet of salacious gossip magazines.

  The tired, lost look Isaac had caught a glimpse of on Darcy’s face while she’d been gazing out the window vanished. “You guys didn’t have to come all the way out here to come visit me.” She smiled at the flowers. “These are lovely.” Seeing the covers of the magazines, she laughed. “And these are perfect. My sister only gets the stuffy magazines for me.”

  Isaac took a seat at the corner of the room while Xoey took the chair closest to Darcy. “So how are you doing? You look great today, by the way.”

  Darcy snorted. “Yes, I am rocking the fall line of hospital gowns something fierce.” The humor on her face dim
med a little. “They’re taking me back into surgery in a bit.”

  “What? Why? Vivian didn’t tell me that.”

  “They just called her. The scans this morning found some more bleeding in my brain that they have to take care of immediately.” Her lips quivered for a beat before she got it under control. “I’ve also lost the sensation in my left arm now too.”

  Isaac kept his face neutral even though he was crying a river for her inside. He’d seen way too many spine, neck, and head injuries from MMA fights to know what all these complications meant.

  Xoey leaned forward and shook her head firmly. “None of that. You’re going to be fine. The doctors brought you this far. Now we just have to let them finish this last bit of housekeeping to make sure you remain as brilliant as always.”

  That inspired a glimmer of a smile. “You know Xo, you’re the only person who has ever used that word to describe me. Brilliant.”

  “Not true,” said Isaac warmly as he moved to stand beside Xoey. “The other week, Blake went on and on about your amazing food creations and he showed us some of your kids’ and party cookbooks. I distinctly recall my telling him you were a brilliant, cooking genius. Which he wholeheartedly agreed with, of course.”

  Xoey nodded in confirmation.

  Suddenly, Darcy paused and looked back and forth between them. “Something’s changed between you two.”

  Isaac watched Xoey turn the cutest shade of pink.

  “I’ll take that as irrefutable confirmation.” Darcy lavished them with an approving smile stretching from ear to ear. “I’m happy for you both. I don’t think I’ve ever met two people more perfect for each oth—”

  “Darcy? Darcy!”

  Xoey shot forward to hold Darcy down when she started convulsing.

  Isaac lunged for the nurse call button and ran out to get help.

  A team of medical personnel came charging down the hall an instant later with doctors and nurses barking out orders and starting CPR on Darcy when she abruptly became motionless. Xoey gripped Isaac’s arm while shouted stats and commands continued to pepper the air.

  The side rails of Darcy’s bed were slammed upright and before they knew it, she was getting wheeled out of the room.

  A doctor Isaac recognized from the other week joined the mix, sprinting alongside the bed as they made their way through the swinging doors leading to the surgical wing.

  Xoey ran as far as she could before the head nurse stopped her. “I need to know what’s going on to tell her sister, and her son. She was just fine a minute ago. What’s happening to her?”

  “I’m sorry, Miss. We can’t release patient information to anyone who isn’t related to her. But I promise I’ll call her sister asap and relay everything the doctors can tell me at this point.”

  Isaac walked Xoey back to Darcy’s room while a nurse ran back through the swinging doors to gather more information. Xoey reached in her pocket and immediately started dialing Vivian’s number. With a heavy heart, he stopped her. “Just in case Vivian doesn’t have call waiting, you might want to keep the line open for the nurses.”

  Xoey nodded numbly and together, they stared at the empty spot where Darcy’s hospital bed had once been. Then without a word, they both went to grab a handful of napkins to mop up the broken shards of the ceramic vase lying in a puddle on the ground with a colorful mess of trounced gerbera daisies.

  * * * * *

  “SHE’S IN A COMA.”

  Xoey felt her heart drop to her stomach at the grim doctor’s announcement.

  Stricken, Vivian pelted the doctor with question after question. “I don’t understand. She was doing so well after the first surgery.”

  “It’s always difficult with the brain.”

  A different doctor Xoey hadn’t met yet stepped forward. “The trauma to Darcy’s brain from the impact resulted in considerable swelling and bleeding. We’ve caught all the bleeders that resulted in her coding earlier this morning, but we’re still waiting for the swelling to go down. Many times, the body remains in a coma post-surgery to protect the brain from further swelling, similar to the way a medically-induced coma works. Darcy’s body has been through a lot—her spinal cord and her organs. There was considerable damage. Sometimes, the sheer combination of trauma also plays a huge factor in post-operative comas. All we can do now is wait and continue to monitor her. People wake up from comas all the time. But it’s just too soon to tell. We’ll take new scans in the morning and update you with the results.”

  Both doctors excused themselves shortly after, leaving Xoey and Isaac to comfort Vivian as best they could.

  “She’s my baby sister.” Vivian crumpled and Xoey helped her to a nearby chair. “What am I going to tell Blake?” Her hands flew up to cup her mouth in horrified anguish. “What if we lose her? She was just driving home from the store. The other driver that crashed into her barely sustained any injuries. It’s not right. It’s not fair.”

  No, it wasn’t.

  Isaac put a gentle hand on Vivian’s shoulder and she looked up. “Oh Isaac, this must be terrible for you to live through again. Xoey mentioned you lost your brother in a vehicle accident as well. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  Bleak sadness mirroring Vivian’s overtook his features. “Darcy is in far better shape than my brother was. He…he actually never even made it to the hospital.”

  Xoey snapped her gaze over to his. He’d never divulged that part before. She reached for him, and he locked her hand to his. Shaking. Unshed tears in his eyes magnifying what she could describe as abject torture. The memories were literally torturing him before her eyes and she was powerless to stop it.

  She remembered then that Cody and Isaac had been riding together when the accident took place. Which meant…

  Oh God.

  “Isaac.”

  He shook his head in a silent command: Not now. While still gripping Vivian’s hand in comfort, he gripped Xoey’s now for strength as he schooled his features and banked the pain.

  And they kept standing like that, in a circle of sorts, until a knock at the door broke the spell.

  “Vivian?”

  “Charles, thank you so much for coming by.” Vivian rushed over to greet the older gentleman with a grateful hug. Turning back to them, she made quick introductions. “Charles is a family friend. I called him this past week to see if Darcy’s affairs were in order.” She shook her head in bitter disbelief. “I always heard the term ‘affairs in order’ in the movies, but I never thought I’d have to call about my baby sister’s life insurance policy and estate planning.”

  Charles gave her another hug. “This is never easy, but I’m glad you called. Your sister actually had very detailed instructions on everything.” He handed Vivian a folder. “As you’ll see there, Darcy did have a health care advance directive wherein you, Vivian, have the sole power to make all medical decisions until Blake reaches the age of twenty-one, at which point, he becomes the sole decision maker. However, she did have a stipulation, which you can see on the next page, outlining the maximum amount of time she wanted to be on life support.”

  Vivian covered her mouth to hold back a sob.

  “She didn’t make that decision lightly, Vivian,” explained Charles softly. “She simply doesn’t want to burden you or Blake. She didn’t want to drain you dry financially, nor did she want to keep your lives tethered to hers if all that was keeping her alive was a bunch of tubes and wires.”

  Nodding, Vivian wiped her tears and moved on to the next few pages.

  What she saw next made her freeze.

  Charles cleared his throat. “I see you’ve gotten to the Standby Guardian paperwork. Basically, it mirrors what’s in her will, but this is specifically and singularly applicable in the event of her being alive, but medically incapacitated either physically or mentally. As in this case with her being in a coma. Per Darcy’s Standby Guardianship wishes, she has named Xoey Montenegro as Blake’s legal guardian until he is eighteen years old. However, shou
ld Darcy wake up from the coma and is physically and mentally able to care for Blake, she will automatically regain full parental rights.”

  Vivian gaped at the signed papers, a copy of which, Charles handed over to Xoey.

  “Charles, you can’t be serious,” hissed Vivian.

  “Darcy had me draw these papers up years ago. She has already signed it, in the presence of two witnesses. All that’s left is for Xoey to accept the standby guardian designation by signing at the bottom.”

  Xoey could barely process the angry exchange between Vivian and her lawyer friend.

  All she could do was repeat what this all boiled down to.

  She was now the legal guardian of Blake.

  “Xoey!”

  Isaac was at her side in an instant when the room swayed. Shaking off the momentary vertigo that even had Vivian looking worried, she reassured them all quickly, “I’m fine. Just…surprised.”

  To put it mildly.

  * * * * *

  ISAAC WAS STILL shaking himself out of the stupor he’d fallen into at the bombardment of memories from Cody’s death when the arguing started.

  The look of immeasurable grief on Xoey’s face before Charles had entered the room told him the exact moment she’d figured out that he’d watched Cody die right before his eyes.

  Before he could stop it, he was sucked back into the vortex, the one he’d once tried to make stop spinning via copious amounts of alcohol.

  Or at least make the landing a little less painful.

  It wasn’t until he’d glanced over and saw Xoey swaying on her feet that he was able to jolt himself back to reality.

  Listening to the arguing that picked right back up again, he got caught up quickly. Xoey was going to be named legal guardian of Blake over his own aunt.

  Vivian looked equally livid and hurt. Though it was mostly the anger that was coming out. “I’ll contest it. I can easily argue that I’m the better parental figure for Blake. With me, he’d have a stable home with two parents, and two cousins he already adores. If he goes with Xoey, he’d be living in a studio apartment above a brewery for godssakes! With a bartender as a parent who won’t even be able to come home before two a.m.”