“Okay, I am Doctor Walker and I performed the surgery on Mr. Brogan. You’ll be happy to know that he’s pulled through well. The injury wasn’t as bad as we thought at first and we managed to get the bullet out easily. It was lodged close to his backbone and it didn’t sever too many arteries or nerves. He will be sore for a few weeks as the wound heals, but he will be fine. He lost a bit of blood so he will have to remain here overnight as we get some fluids back into him. He will be in the recovery room for a few hours. When he wakes up someone will let you know.”
“Thank you Doctor,” said Candasee breathing a sigh of relief. Julia was still clinging to her side.
“Come let’s sit Julia,” Candasee said. “Darius is going to be fine okay.”
Julia nodded and bit down on her lip. “He stood up to them for me, you know. I’ve never had anyone do that for me before.”
“I’m so glad that you are both okay, I was so worried when I didn’t see you this morning at class!”
“I guess I lost my chance at the scholarship now huh?”
“How could you even think that Julia?, this wasn’t your fault. In my eyes you are already the winner.”
As she hugged the girl she heard rapid footsteps coming down the hallway and she turned to see Marianne, Francis, Ramon and Courtney now arriving.
She disentangled herself from Julia’s arms and ran toward Marianne whose face was contorted with worry.
“Ramon called, is Darius’ okay?” Marianne asked hugging Candasee tightly.
“The doctor just said the surgery was successful and he would be in the recovery room soon. We should be able to see in him in a few hours.
“Oh thank God!” Marianne exclaimed. “I’m not ready to lose my son yet!” Francis encircled her with his arms and Candasee released her so her fiancé could comfort her.
“How are you holding up Candasee,” Courtney asked with concern.
“Honestly, I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d lost him today!” she said, and in that moment she realized how true that was. She did love him and she’d forgiven him.
Emotions were running high and Nathan suddenly felt like an intruder. This wasn’t the time or place for his own agenda. Candasee was with her family and he was the reason they were all gathered here in the first place.
He’d seen a vending machine in the hallway on his way in and he decided to see if there was anything he could get for everyone as they waited. He walked down the hallway slowly and took his time studying the selections. Ramon came to stand beside him.
“So what looks good in there?” Ramon asked.
“Not much I’m afraid. Most of it looks as though it was meant for kids,”
“Mmm, yes it would appear that way.”
“I’m Ramon Belham, Darius’ best friend! I saw you standing with Candasee and Julia,” said Ramon holding out his hand.
“Nathan Carthswright, Candasee’s fiancé!”
At those words Ramon’s eyebrows shot straight up.
“Wow, okay! That’s a surprise. I didn’t know she was engaged. Uh, congratulations!”
“ I would’ve been excited to accept that a day ago, but now I don’t even know if I will have the right to that title much longer!” said Nathan in a resigned tone before inserting money into the machine and selecting a chocolate bar.
“I’m sorry to hear that man!”
“Really?” Nathan laughed dryly. “I would’ve thought you’d be on Darius’ side in all of this.
“He’s my best friend but this must be a difficult moment for all of you! I can empathize with you! I’m sure she isn’t ignoring you. Once she’s sure he’s okay, you should have a talk!”
“Frankly, I’m tired talking!”
Ramon rested a hand on Nathan’s shoulder as he observed the grim expression on his face now laced with sadness.
“No, it’s okay!” Nathan shrugged swiping at his left eye. “Darius is a better man than I am and he loves her; that much I know! Do you want anything from in here?”
“I’ll have one of these granola bars, thanks,” Ramon said handing him a bill.
“No keep your money, I’ve got it!”
Nathan selected the snack and got some cookies and chocolates for the women.
“I guess this whole trip wasn’t what you’d expected?”
Nathan laughed dryly shaking his head. “No it wasn’t. I’m just thankful he didn’t die in the process. I don’t think I could live with that kind of guilt.”
Seeing Ramon’s puzzled expression he smiled thinly before responding.
“I’m going to take a walk around the grounds, make some phone calls and give you guys some space. Take care.” With that he walked down the hallway away from Candasee and the others.
Two hours later, the nurse came outside to announce that Darius was awake and that Candasee could see him.
“How is he?” asked Candasee jumping to her feet quickly.
“He’s awake but still a little groggy”, the nurse replied.
“I think you should go first Marianne,” said Candasee.
Both she and Francis went together and in a few minutes she came out smiling and then Julia asked to go in afterward. Julia went in, and Candasee was about to sit again when Marianne’s voice startled her.
“You do know that you’re the person, he really wants to see don’t you? Why are you sitting here as though you aren’t?”
Mouth agape, she struggled for a response. “I guess I’m a bit nervous considering how things stood between us after this week,” she replied.
Courtney gave her an odd look which bordered between pity and bewilderment and she wondered what it meant. “You need to go and see him Candasee. It is obvious to all of us that you are practically dying to see him. You should go inside,”
How did Courtney know that she felt as though she was slowly dying for the last two hours wondering if he would really pull through this? His final memory of her would’ve been of her being resistant and unforgiving.
“Am I that transparent?” she asked with a wry smile.
“Absolutely and I think it’s wonderful considering how he feels about you too. Go on inside, I am sure he’s anxious to see you,” said Ramon resting a comforting hand on Candasee’s arm.
Julia came back out with her whole face lit in a radiant smile.
“He’s asking for you Candasee,” she echoed.
“I guess that’s my cue,”
Candasee pressed the door and entered the room. He was sitting up and looking surprisingly alert for someone who just experienced the ordeal he’d been through.
“I guess your lucky spell with avoiding hospitals just ran out huh?” Candasee joked but was unable to conceal the tremor in her voice.
Darius smiled with some effort at her attempt at humour.
“I’m hoping that this was a fluke,” he replied. He had one of the cleanest bills of health of anyone she knew. When they lived together she couldn’t even remember a time when he had a cold.
“I hope so, but did you have to make it such a big event?” Candasee replied, finally sitting beside his bed.
“You know I do everything extravagantly!” Darius said keeping the joke running.
“What am I going to do with you?”
“Yes, I’ve been wondering the same thing this whole time too. What are you going to do with me?”
Candasee didn’t answer his question immediately but instead she held his hand and looked down at them where they were joined.
“I’m happy and sad all at the same time,”
“Why?”
“I’m happy that you and Nathan were there for Julia and that you both came out of this alive. I can’t even imagine how this was possible, but you both risked your lives to get her back to us safely and there are no words to express how incredible that is.”
“We had to do something or she would probably be dead by now,” Darius replied.
“I know and I’m sad that I could’ve lost you forever today wi
thout letting you know that I’ve forgiven you,” she said squeezing his hand gently.
“Sweetheart, it means so much to hear you say that to me. I can’t change the past but I can make the most of right now. I’m not going anywhere, at least not yet. I still have so many things I want to do with my life.”
“You are so different now that it scares me a little,” Candasee confessed.
“Why do I have a horn growing out of my forehead?” he joked.
“No silly, I’m being serious now. I’ve called you all kinds of names from heartless, selfish bastard, to the scum of the earth for the past two years and at the time you deserved every one of those names. I thought you were the same person I’d left behind but someone self-centred wouldn’t have done what you did. I am beginning to see that I’ve been totally wrong about you.”
“No, you were right to be cautious and to try and respect your relationship with Nathan. I just wanted to make you see I was a different person.”
“You still have our pictures on your desk,” she whispered quietly more of a statement than as a question. “Why?”
“You know why Candasee, I love you. Seeing you every single day keeps the memory of us fresh in my heart.”
“But I burnt all of your pictures and I threw everything out that would remind me of you. I had a bonfire purging ritual and everything. I wanted to forget that you even existed.”
“I don’t blame you. Did it work though?”
“No, not in the least and that has bothered me for a long time Darius. Believe me, there were times I tried to convince myself that I never wanted to see you again.”
“And now?” he prodded regarding her intensely.
“I can’t imagine what it would be like to really lose you. This was the most afraid I’ve ever been in my life. I don’t ever want to feel like that again.”
“One of us will have to die eventually you know,”
“Arrrgh, I could strangle you now for joking around like this!” Candasee groaned and a small laugh crept passed her lips. It was almost like it was between them early in their relationship. Darius was always making light of situations to keep her smiling.
“Ahem”
Candasee’s gaze swept around to see Nathan standing at the door.
“I thought I’d tell you I was leaving to go back to the hotel. Julia needs a ride back in time for this evening’s showcase. Courtney said she would take us there. I can see that you are busy, I guess that you are staying a while longer?”
“Just a while longer Nathan, I’ll drive back.”
“I see, well the police need to talk to me to get a statement about this whole matter and they already came for Eve,” he said as his voice trailed off and his eyes moved to where Candasee’s and Darius hands were still joined. He was fighting even for his reputation now and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of loneliness wash over him. Had he lost her already?
“Nathan thanks for calling me and for being there for Julia. I’ll drive back in time for the showcase tonight, I promise.”
“Okay, I’ll see you back at the hotel then.” Instead of leaving his gaze shifted to Darius.
“Darius, I know that we aren’t friends by any stretch of the imagination but I appreciate what you did for Julia today. On behalf of Julia and all the intensive participants, thank you for risking everything for her.”
All traces of the Darius’ earlier smile was now gone and in its place a cool, assessing stare. Nathan was about to leave when Darius called out to him.
“Nathan, wait! You were there right along with me and in fact you led the charge in. I was wrong about you!”
Candasee looked at Darius in surprise to hear that.
“Yeah well let’s leave it at! We managed to stop what could have been a terrible situation.”
“Okay!” Darius conceded nodding his head slowly. Nathan was in an unfortunate position because of his commitment to his family but cheating the delegates of a fair experience still wasn’t right. If he’d made it to Barbados that morning, he would’ve made sure that Graeme Carthswright understood the full weight of his responsibility to correct his mistakes.
It was the first time that Nathan sensed that there could be a truce of some sort between them. Nathan looked at Candasee and Darius a few moments more before backing out of the room and closing the door again.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go with him?” Darius asked.
“No, I’ll talk to him later. I should probably tell you that I went into your office for the keys to your SUV and I drove it here. I hope you don’t mind that I did that.”
So that’s how she saw the photographs, he thought. “I have nothing to hide to from you Candasee, besides you always drove it more than I did anyway, it’s still practically yours.”
“So, how does your shoulder feel?”
“Right now, it’s not too bad! I imagine they pumped me full of pain killers. Candasee there’s another reason I wanted to speak to you and this is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to say in my life.” He took a deep breath before continuing and winced slightly at the pain.
“I want more than anything else to keep you here with me but you need to go.”
“What? Why?”
“Nathan has made some mistakes but he loves you and needs your support to get through this! I offered him four million dollars to walk away from you in return for a donation to save his family’s foundation but he refused it. I suspect he hasn’t told you this, but the academy is experiencing really serious financial problems right now to the point where paying for the scholarship prize is practically impossible. His brother made an alliance with the Samaroo’s to fix the results in exchange for the money. Eve was to be declared the winner.”
“What?”
“I don’t envy his position in all of this. He wanted to protect his family name and went along with the plan.
Nathan refused help from Darius?
“Why did you offer him the money?” asked Candasee. You have nothing to gain from helping him.
“I did it because when you went back home I knew you wanted to continue working there and I knew their programs were making a positive impact on the lives of the students.”
“But you told him to walk away from me. That’s blackmail too isn’t it?” she asked with her heart sinking to know Darius would use that tactic where she was concerned again.
“Yes, and I’m not proud of it but at the time I thought it would be dangerous for you to be with him. I didn’t expect him to turn down the only solution he had left.”
“So Nathan put the entire intensive at risk because he didn’t want to lose me?”
“He was trying to hold everything together for the intensive, for you, for his family all at once. I figured that he wanted to try to reason with his brother instead but I guess he underestimated how crazy and determined the Samaroo’s were in getting what they wanted. He was in an impossible situation and I think you should hear him out before you make any final conclusions.”
“How do you know all of this?” Candasee demanded, now remembering the afternoon when she saw Mr. Samaroo and his wife lead Nathan away with what appeared to be two of their body guards.
“When it comes to anything I’m interested in, I like to know what I’m getting into. I wanted to know more about Nathan after I saw how he treated you that day in class with Eve. So I called in my private investigator to help me.”
“How do you know about that incident? You weren’t even there!”
“I have access to the security videos all across this property from my office and that day I was watching your class. The last time I did that in the conference room you weren’t too pleased about it, so I admit that I’ve been watching you quite a bit this week. When I heard your conversation that day I knew Nathan was hiding something and I decided to find out what it could be.”
“I can’t believe that you’ve been spying on me!” Candasee exclaimed feeling exposed.
“Candas
ee don’t get mad, it allowed me to be able to know what was going on and it helped me to save Julia today.”
“I can’t believe he didn’t tell me anything and I’ve been asking him about all of this. Why do I always attract men with hidden agendas?”
“Candasee I wish I could lie here and tell you that he’s no good for you and that he’s a thief but he isn’t. Every time he looks at you, I recognize the look in his eyes. I never like to lose at anything but this isn’t a game. I don’t want you to be here with me and then later you are conflicted because you realized that you made a mistake.”
“You’d be willing to give me up?”
“No, I’ll never be willing to do that, but I am willing to see you happy. If that means we’re apart then I’ll have to accept that! I had four and a half amazing years with you that I’ll never forget and I want sixty more. That’s how greedy I am but not if you aren’t all the way in with me.”
“I don’t know what I want Darius,”
“I know and that is why I want you to go. You have your duties to wrap up. I’m hoping they let me out of this place in a few days.”
“Well I guess, I’ll come and see you tomorrow then.”
“No, don’t come!”
“What?”
“I only want you to come see me when you’re sure that I’m the one you want Candasee. My injury here isn’t fatal. I’ll live. Let me ask you one thing.”
“Okay.”
“If we’d never contacted each other this week would you have married Nathan?”
“Yes, I guess I would have.”
“That’s my point exactly! As much as I’d love to steal you away from him now, you will wonder if you made the right choice. Your emotions are out of sorts now because of the kidnapping and all of this new information. I’m not going to take advantage of that. Go to him and work things out. Only if you decide afterwards that you’ve had a change of heart do I want you to come to me,”
“But...”
“Go to him Candasee; he needs your support now too! When you go out, please tell Ramon I want to talk to him.”
He’d told her to leave but the struggle was evident in his eyes which had darkened like storm clouds. Candasee let go of his hand and walked away slowly feeling very conflicted. This was too much to absorb all at once. Darius was right, any decision she made now wouldn’t be coming from a place of clarity.
Fighting Destiny Page 27
