The Cure (A Michigan Sweet Romance #1)

by Parker J Cole

  Something about his words, though she couldn’t put her finger on it then or in retrospect, had given her pause, but before she could try to figure out what it was that gave her that momentary hesitation, Nascha’s image flared in her mind.

  “I’m not going to fall for your lies,” Savannah squeezed out through her teeth. “I won’t do it.” Nascha’s voice boomeranged in her ears. “He’s going to tell you whatever it is you think you want to hear. He’s going to lie to you but you see for yourself what he did to me. Nothing, absolutely nothing on earth is going to make this go away. I know it!”

  Micah dropped his hand from her as if she’d burnt him. “Lies? These aren’t lies.”

  “They are! You know they are. Stop trying to make excuses.”

  He’d stepped back. “How can you believe her over me? I’m yours, Savannah.”

  She chanced a look at his face. His amber eyes stared at her with a confusion that bordered on lost. It reminded her of a little boy who’d been struck and had no idea as to why.

  “Don’t you love me?” He asked all of a sudden.

  Savannah remembered how a flush of heat had ridden over her body at the question. “That’s not the point,” she answered evasively.

  “It is the point. If you love me, you’ll stand by me, no matter what anyone says.”

  “If you weren’t guilty, yes, I’d stand by you. But I made a promise to myself I wouldn’t be one of those women who foolishly support their husbands who have lied, cheated, and swindled their victims.”

  “Is love only for the innocent, then?” Micah shouted to her.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Let me try it from this angle because I know we believe the same thing. God loved us while we were guilty. If His love were only for the innocent, no one would be saved.”

  There was a truth to his logic she couldn’t work around. “I know that, Micah, but I’m not God. And faith has nothing to do with this.”

  “It has everything to do with this. Our love is supposed to be a reflection of God’s love.” He came closer. “What do you think ‘for better or for worse’ means?”

  “So if you were a murderer or something like that, I’m supposed to stand beside you no matter what? Take your word and turn my eyes away from others’ misfortune?”

  Micah’s eyes honed in on her. She was unable to pull herself away from them even if she wanted to. It was as if by the power of that amber gaze, he longed to will and mold her to his way of thinking.

  “Standing by someone doesn’t mean taking their word over obvious misdeeds. It doesn’t mean blind loyalty or a misplaced sense of duty. If I were indeed guilty of wrongdoing with Nascha Dubois, then it would prudent for you to cooperate with the law and make sure I come to justice for it. If our positions were reversed, I would be doing everything I could to prove to the world whether or not you’re guilty.

  “But what you’re doing right now, this…this…you’re abandoning me. You’re taking the word of your friend and using that as the benchmark of truth. Instead of making certain if the mistake was my own, you’re siding with her. You’re letting the emotions of this whole thing affect your judgement. This is what hurts the most, Savannah.”

  “Micah, I’m looking at the evidence every time I see her face. You can’t subvert that.”

  “What you see from Nascha is a lie!” He bellowed suddenly. “I don’t care what you see, she and I both know the truth. I’m telling you to not let what you see sway you.”

  Savannah closed her eyes. “I’m not going to let you trick me! I’m not going to let you talk your way out of this responsibility. I’m not marrying you. That’s all I came to say.”

  Why did her heart feel like it was breaking as she uttered those words? Why couldn’t she stop shaking from the power of everything going on inside of her. She turned around to leave when Micah’s voice said, “Savannah, wait.”

  She stilled. “What is it, Micah?”

  “Don’t go away.” His voice had lost it bluster and even she could tell from the sound of it that he had become a little boy again. “I love you so much, Savannah. If I can’t convince you of my innocence, then I accept that. Time will prove me right. Just…don’t leave me, okay?”

  The simplicity of his plea held her in place for long moments. Silence reigned during that time. How she longed to turn back and let him know she’d stay. In fact, part of her wanted to dismiss everything and reach out to him. To give him two arms to cling to, as the song went. But Nascha…

  She said nothing but walked to the door.

  “If you walk out that door, you’ll be the one begging for me to come back. You’ll need me before I’ll ever want to set eyes on you again. Do you hear me, Savannah? It’ll have to be hellthatwill make you crawl back to me. And I’ll relish every moment.”

  “Auntie?”

  Savannah jerked upward instantly and turned to see Liliana’s staring at her. “Yes, ladybug?” She winced internally at the use of the name.

  “Icold,” the child complained.

  She was at her side in amoment. Carefully, she touched the girl’s forehead. Heat came off the child in waves but her skin literally felt like it was on fire. “Let’s go see if the nurse can make you feel better.”

  Alarm grew as she reached for the call button but before she could press it, the nurse came in. “We got an alert of a high fever just now,”’ he said quietly, bending over Liliana. “I’ve already contacted Dr. Yamaguchi and she’ll be here soon.”

  The nurse’s words sent more alarm growing inside of her. Something was terribly wrong with Liliana. Every motherly instinct she had developed over the past eighteen months proved that.

  Micah’s words came back to haunt her. “It’ll have to be hellthatwill make you crawl back to me.” It had been hell that made her reach out to him four days ago.

  Just then, the machines her niecewasconnected tostarted yellinga series of beats. Liliana’s head fell listlessly to the side. Savannah later remembered dropping to her knees by the bed. She knew she was screaming but she couldn’t hear herself. Someone grabbed her and pulled her to her feet. Sheneeded to stay beside Liliana, but there were too many people blocking her view.

  Dr. Yamaguchi rushed in and said something, but the blood pounding in Savannah’s ears made it hard to hear. She reached out for Liliana, wanting to hold her and cling to her, but was gently but firmly tugged away and out the door.

  Someone set her down in a chair outside the room. Kind, brown eyes looked into her own and pointed to the phone in her hand, telling her to do something with the phone. She still couldn’t hear what was being said but she knew what the person wanted her to do.

  She could call her parents and they’d be here. Even Tisha and Connie would drop everything and be by her side. It would be wise to call them.

  Yet, when she dialed the number on the phone, Micah’s voice broke through the void. “I’m in hell, Micah. I need you now.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Was he truly a slave then? All she had to do was crook her finger and he’d come to her side?

  Despite the thoughts that ran amok in his head, he skidded into a parking space and kicked open the truck door. His hidden disgust with himself did not hinder his fight against the fierce winter wind, which clawed at his clothes. The barely salted ground with the ice slick on its surface could not stop his feet from running into the front entrance doors.

  Micah bypassed the elevator and punched through the stairwell door. The many steps which made him gasp and pant with exertion did not stop his harried flight up.

  Nothing would keep him from her. It was simply the truth of the matter.

  Her phone call at two in the morning had been unexpected but her words had chilled his heart. “I’m in hell, Micah. I need you now.”

  Something had happened to Liliana. Was it the infection? Had it progressed into dangerous territory?

  Liliana. The name of the daughter he had longed to have with Savannah. Liliana,
the daughter of Fiona and Bart, who claimed his heart when she called him ‘uncle’. Liliana, who shared the same elfin-like features with her aunt. Liliana, the only reason Savannah would ever reach out to him.

  What had happened?

  He burst through the door and rushed down the hallway. The floor squeaked when he skidded to a stop and turned the corner.

  Savannah sat outside of Liliana’s room, her shoulders sagging with a heavy invisible weight. The long, black hair, plaited into a braid, rested over one of those burdened shoulders. He drew nearer.

  “Savannah?”

  She jerked like a puppet on a string and then raised her head. Micah inhaled a sharp breath. Her skin resembled the chalky white of paste. Her lips were a bloodless line. It was the two-tone eyes that made him squat in front of her. They were dull. Lifeless.

  “Savannah? What happened?”

  She drooped. Micah reached forward and cradled her head between his palms. Gently and firmly, he forced her eyes back up again. “Savannah? What happened?”

  “You came,” she whispered.

  He didn’t know what she was talking about. “Of course I came.” Didn’t she know he’d always come whenever she called him? Hadn’t he made it obvious?

  His thumb drifted down to her lips to caress them. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  “I thought you wouldn’t come. I thought you would let me sit here in this darkness and wouldn’t come to me.”

  He could barely hear her but he knew what she said. “I don’t want you to ever experience what I did, Savannah.”

  That was nothing but the truth. Though it would serve her right to feel the same desolation he felt when she abandoned him, he could not let her experience that. It was an episode in his life when everything had become a dark vortex. It seemed the world was against him, calling for his blood. Paranoia and fear had been his constant companions. He’d gone into self-preservation mode, especially after Savannah had left him. Everything funneled downward into the brink of abject misery. He acknowledged then that the only thing that kept him from submitting to the putrid darkness was his faith and the knowledge of his innocence.

  No, he wouldn’t wish that on another human being, much less this woman who once broke his heart.

  Savannah reached up and wrapped her cold hands around his wrist. She squeezed ever so lightly, but it was enough to encourage him. “Liliana stopped breathing.”

  Micah froze in shock, but then he gathered his professional guard which had helped him through some of the most difficult cases of his career. “What else? Is she on a ventilator?”

  “Yes. They were able to bring her back, Micah.”

  Then she cried out, leaning into him with a sudden push forward that he scrambled to catch her in his arms before he lost his balance. Her long, slender arms wrapped around his neck and she pressed her face into his throat. Savannah’s hot scalding tears burned a path down his neck. He adjusted his position to where he sat crossed-legged on the floor and cradled her into himself.

  Home, sweet home.

  “I was so scared she wouldn’t come back. I was so scared you wouldn’t come,” Savannah sobbed. “I know God is with me and I was praying but I wanted you here, too.”

  Her words twisted his vocal chords. He pressed a long kiss into her forehead. Tasted the thin flesh around her hairline. Inhaled the womanly scent of her. How he hoped to hear those words. All these years apart, he’d gone through life wishing Savannah had needed him. When she’d left, his world had become a charcoal landscape. Still there but void of color.

  When she walked out his life, everything vital had left him. With Nascha’s death, the inquest had been dismissed. He’d done a few interviews and shows to end the debacle once and for all but like a skunk’s odor, it clung to him for over a year. The dreams of the woman who ruined his life had become nightly bedside visitors. Each dream ended with her stabbing herself.

  The instant he received Savannah’s text message that summoned him to this place, the rainbow had come back into his world. Did he dare admit it? He couldn’t wait to get on the plane and see her again. He’d done his best to camouflage it with hostility.

  In this moment of deep anguish, he felt vitality course through him. Without being conscious of it, he traced light kisses along the side of her face until he unerringly reached the corner of her mouth. The tang of salt alerted him and he started to pull away when she turned her mouth into his.

  The shock of her lips as they clung to his catapulted him into another realm. He groaned. Those soft lips eradicated the control he placed on himself. It had been such a long time since he’d been invigorated by Savannah’s sweetness. He hadn’t touch a woman long before Savannah had entered his life and had kept away from any others when she left. A sensation like muted lightning coursed through his veins.

  He wanted to devour her but the desire was not born of passion. This exchange conveyed his tender feelings, which almost overwhelmed him. He used this action to encourage her…and to tell her of his love.

  Micah tightened his hold on her. Yes, he wanted her to know he loved her. Time and distance coupled with bitterness and anger had conspired that he suppress any ideas of affection for her. But now, in their darkest hour, the only thing to shine bright was the fact he loved this woman and there was no point in hiding it anymore.

  The kiss seemed to last longer than a few seconds – so much of himself had been wrapped inside of it. When she drew away, he almost tugged her back, but what her face revealed startled him.

  Her two-tone eyes had lost the dull look. Warm red color flushed her cheeks. Her lips regained their full, pillowy plumpness, with a hint of moisture along the seam from his kiss. Her body weight had grown heavier, as if every muscle had completely relaxed.

  A satiated woman, if hesaid so himself.

  “Thank you.”

  Micah smiled. “It’s going to be okay, Savannah.”

  She hugged him once more. Her lips brushed his ear to whisper, “With you here with me, I know everything will be okay.”

  She braced himself on his shoulders and stood. Once she was steady, Micah got up as well from their position on the floor. It was then he became aware of their surroundings. A wave of heat flamed his ears. Every kiss in the past had done this to him. They could be in the middle of a forest or the busiest intersection in the world. Everything faded away except her.

  The door to Liliana’s room opened and Dr. Yamaguchi came out of it. Her kind but tired eyes glanced at them. “I’m glad both of you are here, Dr. Reddington and Ms. Woods.”

  Savannah grabbed his hand and held tight. He used his thumb to rub reassuringly across her knuckles. “Can you give us an update?”

  Dr. Yamaguchi ushered them into Liliana’s room and closed the door behind them. “The test we took earlier showed Liliana had an infection. We’d already begun a round of antibiotics to counteract it. However, the infection spread to her bladder, which caused a UTI. That in turn caused urosepsis.”

  “Urosepsis?” Savannah brow furrowed.

  “It’s sepsis from a urological source,” Micah answered. “From the UTI.”

  “Correct,” Dr. Yamaguchi nodded. “Liliana went into septic shock. We resuscitated her successfully but she needs the ventilator to help her breathe.”

  “But what about her burns? How are—”

  “We’ll continue to treat her burns, but we’re going to laser focus on beating this infection so it won’t cause permanent damage.”

  From the careful look on the doctor’s face, Micah could tell the doctor didn’t utter the rest of her thoughts. He didn’t blame her for that. Though Savannah had found comfort in him, she was still a mother holding on by a thread. There was such a thing as tact that a medical professional had to have. Micah knew what the doctor hadn’t said. If they could not get rid of the infection, it could expand to the other organs, disrupting their function and ultimately lead to mortality.

  What such a grim prognosis would do to Savannah’s
mental state didn’t bear thinking. It would not come to such an end. Liliana was a fighter. She had the blood of her parents and the love of her aunt and grandparents at her side. Plus, a family who would pray without end for healing.

  The strength of his emotions made him grab Savannah by the shoulders and bring her into his body.

  “Thank you, Dr. Yamaguchi,” Micah said. They shared a look and the woman gave him a slight nod. She patted Savannah on the arm and then took her leave.

  “Oh, Micah,” Savannah’s voice came out in a whisper. She leaned into him some more and they turned around.

  A nurse meandered about the room, but their eyes were glued to the small figure in the bed. IV cords were strung like Christmas lights. The rhythmic sound of the ventilator accompanied the mechanical beats of the heart monitor. Liliana’s tiny body seemed to be enveloped by machinery and linen. The rich caramel skin took on a dry dust-like appearance. Her curls were matted to her forehead and the dark curve of her eyelashes rested on the arc of her cheekbones. The shaft of the tube that kept her breathing was taped to her sunken cheeks.

  So much for a little one to handle and yet, she was still here.

  “I can’t lose her, Micah,” Savannah said in the hush that settled over them.

  “You won’t lose her. You have to have faith in God that He’ll heal her.”

  Savannah drew away. Micah watched as she folded her arms over her chest and stared at something only she could see. She took a step forward and rested her hand on the bar of the bed.

  “You know, when Fiona and Bart passed away, I had no idea how I would care for a child. I didn’t know what to expect. Would anymotherlyinstincts I was supposed to havearise and take control like the cape of a superhero? Would Liliana accept me? Was I going to screw up? I had no idea what I was going to do. My parents would have taken up the banner and raised Liliana, but Fiona had entrusted her to me. I could not fail my sister.