by Hotcheri
Aunt Kelly remained silent as we caught up as best we could. When we finally stopped monopolizing the conversation, she fixed me with a direct look, her eyes sad. “Celsi, how would you like to spend your summer with Enrique?”
Shocked, I looked up at her, noting the tight lines around her mouth and the determined air around her. She looked like a woman who had made up her mind. My heart quailed. Is she trying to get rid of me?
“What? Why?” I spluttered, my voice not even sounding like my own.
Was Enrique gunning for full custody of me? Is that why he’s here? Was this the beginning of the end? This was my home, though! I hugged my knees, staring blankly at Aunt Kelly, who seemed to be avoiding making eye contact with me. I didn’t want to leave New York behind! My friends, my school, and my family- almost everything that was near and dear to me was here! Luke was here...
Maybe he caught an emotion playing on my face, because Enrique chuckled. “It’s not what you think, Celsi,” he assured me. “We’re just doing it as a preemptive measure.”
“Nate gets out in July,” Aunt Kelly told me quietly. I flinched, not wanting that to be true. Just how angry would he be when he got out? Would he hunt me down, restraining order be damned? I don’t want to think about it. “I don’t want you to be around until I get things settled with him.”
Enrique nodded, clearing his throat. “In light of all that’s happened, your aunt and I think time away from New York would be good for you.”
“Are you trying to get full custody?” I whispered, my throat dry.
Looking stunned by my blunt question, Aunt Kelly shook her head immediately, as Enrique smiled at me wistfully. “No. Don’t get me wrong, I wish I could. But Kelly has done a marvelous job of raising you and I feel that you’re more her child than mine.” He patted my shoulder. “I just want to use the summer to get to know my daughter a little better.”
I glowed at his words, beaming up at him as he continued. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
“Sure, I would love to visit you this summer,” I said, glancing at Aunt Kelly for confirmation that this was what she wanted. She smiled at me, but I noticed that her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Not good. Not good at all.
***
My first day back at school was drama filled, to say the least. Robyn and Shazia were my bodyguards, shielding me from inquisitive glances and ‘what the hell happened to your face’ questions. Dalton students aren’t known for their subtlety. Concealer helped, but I still looked like I’d come off worse in a boxing match. Still, it was nice to be back at school, pretending that I had a normal life. Luke was still in a coma. Dr. Khan didn’t know what to tell Mr. Astor, who had taken to walking around the hospital with a bewildered look on his face. At least school would keep my mind off of Luke for a while.
“It’ll die down,” Robyn predicted, glaring at a couple of nosy freshmen who scuttled off as soon as they met eyes with her.
Shazia nodded, her arm linked into mine. “Most of them are talking about Luke, too. I guess everybody wonders what's up.”
I shot a covert glance at Robyn as Shazia said this. When she had heard about Luke's aneurysm, she had demanded to know how long I had known about it and why I hadn’t told her.
Like that isn’t obvious, Miss Loudmouth.
Shazia understood better than Robyn about how people needed some things to be kept secret. I loved Robyn, but when she got her hands on juicy gossip, she didn’t rest until everyone in her vicinity knew about it. Somehow, I don’t think Luke would have appreciated having his business spread around the entire school, which was undoubtedly what would have happened if Robyn had gotten her hands on the scoop.
She had clearly forgiven me and was relishing being in the know while other students had to rely on hearsay to figure out what had happened to Luke.
As we walked out of History class, the unexpected happened. Wendy, Ahmed and Joanna swarmed around me. Robyn’s eyes widened in surprise, and expression that I knew was mirrored on my own face. The sneer on Wendy’s face made it clear that I probably wasn’t about to enjoy what was going to happen.
Joanna spoke first. “We need to talk,” she said in a demanding voice, running a hand through her black hair.
“I have nothing to say to you,” I replied mulishly. Just because all of the popular girls jumped when Joanna snapped her fingers didn’t mean that I was going to do it. I didn’t need to obey her every command like a drone!
Rolling her eyes, Wendy snapped, “Well, we have something to say to you.”
Leaning in, his brown eyes concerned, Ahmed asked, “What happened with Luke?”
Involuntarily, my eyebrows rose. Well, well, well. Fancy this. Ahmed’s face actually knew how to process complex emotions! What do you know about that? I glanced at Shazia, who was gazing at the floor, her cheeks tinged with pink. She hasn’t told Ahmed about Luke. I wasn’t surprised; Shazia was one of the best secret keepers I knew.
“What?” I put my hands on my hips, staring defiantly from Wendy, Ahmed to Joanna. Anger engulfed my body. Their concern is too little, too late. “All of a sudden you care about Luke?” I asked incredulously.
Ahmed pressed his lips together. “What's that supposed to mean? Of course we care, we’re his friends!”
A hit dog will holler. You see that, ladies and gentlemen? That’s called defensiveness. Ahmed knew full well what I was getting at.
“Oh, really?” I cocked my head to the side. “That’s funny; I thought you all ditched him when he chose financial aid girl over you rich posers?”
Beside me, Robyn sucked in a sharp breath at my bravado, her eyes darting from one face to another, taking snapshots with her mental camera.
Joanna tossed her head. “Enough with the sarcasm,” she said disdainfully. “Just tell us what happened.”
“You’re supposed to be his friends! Shouldn’t I be asking you what happened?” I was mad enough to lose my cool, my eyes flashing. What poor excuses for friends this trio was. Poor, poor Luke. He deserved so much better. “If anything happened to me, Shazia and Robyn would be the first to find out because they’re my best friends and they’re real as it gets! But you guys-.”
I snorted derisively, shaking my head in astonishment.
“We are his friends!” Wendy exclaimed vehemently. “Why do you keep saying that?”
She sounded like a wounded puppy, like I was the one who was picking on her! How did they turn into the victims here? Weren’t they the ones who told him it was supposed to be ‘bro’s before hoes’? And now they were playing innocent? Puh-leez.
“If you truly are his friends, where were you when he had those terrible headaches? Did you even notice that he kept popping pain medication or were you all wrapped up in your own little useless soap opera lives?” They stared at me sulkily as I turned on them, not wanting to believe what I was saying, even though they knew every word I said was true. “Where were you right before he was taken into surgery and when he came out? Where the hell were you ‘friends’ throughout this whole ordeal?” My chest heaved with anger. “You call yourselves friends? I would hate to be your friends. You’re all selfish, arrogant people. Fake friends are what you are.”
And with that, I stomped off, my back rigid with fury as I left the trio in shocked silence. Shazia and Robyn traipsed behind me. I could feel their eyes on me, even as Shazia cleared her throat. “Damn, Celsi. You went off!”
Her voice was tinged with admiration, but I didn’t admire myself for what I’d said. My hands were clammy and shaking with delayed reaction. “They deserved to hear it.”
“I’ll say,” Robyn chimed in. “With friends like those...”
Luke's Point of View
I woke up in a bed that was unquestionably not mine. The sheets were scratchy, the air smelled weird and I was definitely not in my room. Groggily, I fought to open my eyes, groaning as the light hit them. My mouth was dry as hell, but water wasn’t my first priority. Nope, f
irst order of business was finding out where the hell I was.
“Luke?” a quiet voice said a couple of feet away. “Luke, can you hear me?”
Straining against the light, I turned my face in the direction of the voice, wincing as my head started pounding.
Oww....
I squinted at the dim figure standing in what seemed to be a hospital room. Yeah, that would explain the scratchy sheets and the faint medicinal smell in the air. My neck felt stiff and I tried to think back, tried to remember how I got here. But everything was a blur. The figure hovering at the end of my bed came closer and I realised that it was a woman. Long dark hair, ivory skin, deep green eyes almost exactly like mine...
A sharp breath fell from my lips as I found myself blearily staring at a face from my past. This wasn’t happening. Was it? Or was it just a cruel dream?
“Luke,” she whispered, her eyes, so much like mine, exactly the same shade of green as mine, overflowing with tears as her mouth worked with emotion. I could feel my eyes getting wet too as I looked at her, my head and heart thumping in unison. This was it. The moment I had unconsciously been waiting for ever since she had been made to give me up and leave under my father’s duress. And now, through some miracle I had yet to fathom, she was standing right in front of me. My mother was finally by my side.
I swallowed hard, the tears in my eyes blurring my view of her face. But I didn’t have the energy to wipe them away, couldn’t even try. Besides, my arm was connected to one of those IV’s. The fact that I had a needle in my arm would have freaked me out any other occasion, but this was hardly an ordinary event. Even though I couldn’t see her properly (now that my eyes had adjusted, I realised that the lighting in the room was super dim) I knew exactly who she was. Opening my mouth, my voice cracked as I said, “Mom?”
CHAPTER 33
a change is gonna come.
Luke's Point of View.
“I’m sorry.”
Those were the first words CiCi uttered when she stepped tentatively into the NICU ward I was laid up in. Dr. Khan said I would be under close observation in the NICU for a couple more days before I could be moved to a private room on the neurogical floor. Personally, I was looking forward to that. I still felt weak as hell and even though my vision was incredibly blurry and I couldn’t remember a lot of things, I really just wanted to lie down in a bed that didn’t have curtains around it.
My heart started thumping loudly as I propped myself up in bed, gazing at CiCi for the first time since I had woken up. She hovered by the door, wringing her hands and staring at me with those big hazel eyes of hers like she was scared to come any closer. Well, I know I had lost some weight (being fed through a tube will do that to ya) and I probably looked like shit warmed over, but I wasn’t too sure why CiCi was still standing by the door. Quick getaway, maybe? In case I wanted to fling my bedroom slippers (courtesy of Faith who would make an excellent nurse) at her?
And why was she sorry, anyway?
Grunting at the sudden pain shooting through my head as I opened my mouth to talk, (go figure) I said, “Don’t, CiCi. Please don’t apologize for anything. Just- come closer. Please.”
Her lips quivering, CiCi moved closer to me, infusing the air around us with the clean scent of her strawberry shampoo as she sat down in the chair by my bed, her eyes glued on my face. “I missed your voice so much, Luke,” she whispered, a tremor in her voice. I reached out to take her hand in mine, squeezing softly as tears rolled down her cheeks. Damn, how did I always manage to make the girl I loved cry? Wiping her cheeks, she continued bravely. “It was so horrible, not knowing what was happening.”
“I’m here now, CiCi,” I murmured, running my thumb over her knuckles as she tried to regain her composure, the adoring look in her teary eyes making my heart skip a couple of beats. “It’s okay.”
She shook her head, her curls flying around her face. “No, it’s not okay! I kept wondering what would happen if you- if you didn’t come back...” Her voice trailed off and she sighed, the sound tugging at my heartstrings.
“You don’t have to, not anymore,” I replied simply, gazing at her beautiful face and wondering if my eyesight was really as screwed up as I thought it was, because were those bruises on CiCi’s chin? Breathing through my nose to calm myself before I went off the handle, raging about something that potentially wasn’t there, (not exaggerating, I could barely see, my vision was so blurry) I continued. Reaching up, I gently caressed CiCi’s cheek. She flinched for a spit second (force of habit, I guess) before relaxing into my touch. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I love you.”
Her whole face glowing with happiness, CiCi whispered, “I love you too.”
And shit, she really did have bruises on her face. Multiple bruises. I squinted, honing in on the fading but visible marks as my hand tightened around hers. Nate. He’d done this to her. I felt sick to my stomach as I stared.
Before I could ask what had happened, what she had done to Nate to warrant such vicious payback, a nurse came bustling in, signifying that our all too short visit was over.
“I’m sure that you’ve had fun catching up, but it’s time for you to leave, miss. Mr. Astor needs his rest,” the nurse told CiCi as she fiddled with the various machines I was still hooked up to. I felt like a computer with all these wires plugged into me.
“I’ll come back tomorrow, Luke,” CiCi said quietly, standing up. She frowned slightly as she intercepted my pure ‘WTF’ expression from seeing her face clearly in the light. Okay, what was Nate on? Why did he hate his cousin so much that he had resorted to making her his own personal punching bag? Dude needed to get over his anger about Rhea and join a boxing class to get rid of his aggression!
I sank back against the pillows as the nurse skillfully injected something in my arm. And I didn’t even wince as the needle went in. Well, maybe that only happened because I was caught up in watching CiCi leave the NICU and I only noticed that she was injecting me after she pulled the hypodermic out. Those bruises, though...
As my mind went foggy with the medicine, I decided to ask CiCi what the deal was with all the bruises next time I saw her.
***
CiCi came to visit me every day after that initial, first visit. With my family and her around me, my condition improved so rapidly that even Dr. Khan was amazed.
“What, the fact that you’re an awesome doctor surprises you?” I quipped when he mentioned his surprise to me.
To be honest, I was kinda shocked at how quickly I was bouncing back myself. The only side effects that I appeared to have was the eye issues and the short term memory loss. I forgot where I put stuff all the time, but that wasn’t a big issue. I was still alive, I wasn’t going to lose any sleep over knowing I might have to wear glasses for the rest of my life and always piss people off by saying I couldn’t find my keys when they were in my hand.
After a couple more days in the NICU, they moved me into my own room (finally!) on the neurological floor. Within a day or so, the floor was littered with Faith’s toys and I couldn’t have been happier. Hope had decided to send her to the daycare while I was still in the hospital and Faith loved it. She was now best friends with the most troublesome kid in the daycare and was driving Hope crazy asking if William and Helen could come over to the house to play. The way I saw it, Hope better hide all the breakables before she said yes.
Mom (I know, how bizarre is it that I finally got to meet my mom after all these years?) was spending most of her time with me, reminiscing over my childhood, showing me old photos that I couldn’t get enough of and telling me about her work in New Orleans and Haiti. I was so proud of her. Sure, she’d had to leave me behind to get to where she was, but I don’t think I would have changed a thing. If dad hadn’t treated me the way he had for most of my life, I wouldn’t have almost hit the bottom and worked my way up to be the person I was today. Hell, I was proud of me too!
On one occasion CiCi brought Robyn and Shazia along with her to visit me, which was sw
eet of them. None of my so-called friends from Dalton had shown up to see me since I woke up, not that I was waiting with bated breath. After telling me over and over again not to get angry, CiCi hesitantly told me about what Nate had done to her the night my aneurysm had ruptured. Luckily, I was so doped up on whatever medicine that the doctors were pumping me with or I would have blown a fuse, but, as it were, I was pretty happy with Nate’s punishment.
When CiCi told me she was going to L.A. to visit her dad for the summer, my heart sank like a stone.
“That blows,” I groaned, wrapping an arm around her slender shoulders and drawing her closer to me.
She nodded, resting her head on my shoulder. “I know.”
I kissed the top of her head, inhaling her sweet perfume. God, was I ever going to get tired of how perfect, how right CiCi felt in my arms? A small smile turned up my lips. Probably not, but I was cool with that.
“I was looking forward to spending the summer with my girlfriend,” I griped playfully, massaging her shoulder with one hand.
She looked up at me, mirth shining in her beautiful eyes. “I was looking forward to spending the summer with my boyfriend,” she smiled.
I kissed her slowly, teasing her lips with my tongue until I had her gasping for breath. Damn, I guess I still had it in me, huh? Some things you just don’t forget.
“I guess we’ll have to come up with something,” I whispered, my lips brushing hers as I kissed her again.
***
As it happened, dad beat me to the punch.
