Keeping Blossom

by C. M. Steele

“I think it goes together. When I talked to him, he wasn’t angry about Blossom and I. He was apologetic like he knew something like this was going to happen today. He told me to keep her safe.”

  “When was she hit?” I know he’s trying to work it out in his head.

  “According to the doctors at eleven.”

  “He didn’t hit her with his car that’s for sure. His car was in perfect condition when I walked him out to it.”

  “I just don’t understand who else would do something like that, though. Maybe it’s all a bunch of unfortunate accidents.” I’d like to think that, but Adam lied to get Blossom out of the house.

  “So how’s Shirley holding up?”

  “Not good. They had to give her a sedative. Damn it! Why? Why couldn’t he just accept our family before it was too late. I saw the damn regret in his eyes.”

  “I don’t know, Dad. I longed for the tension not to be there anymore.”

  “It’s not your fault you two didn’t get along like you should have. I think he had demons that he could never shake.”

  “I feel awful because I was just thinking how I wanted to kill him for sending Blossom here.”

  “Son, I can’t tell you how to feel. Just take care of your woman and I’ll take care of mine. I’d like to stop by the hospital, but I don’t know if I should leave Shirley alone.”

  “I understand, Dad. I’m sorry.”

  I didn’t realize I had an eavesdropper during my conversation with my dad. I turn to check on Blossom and she’s staring right at me.

  “What’s wrong with Adam?”

  “Babe. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m okay, but from the parts I heard I know something happened to him. I know you don’t want me to talk to Adam, but I want to know.”

  I walk up to her because even though they had their problems, Blossom has a kind heart. She had hope Adam could change. I take her hand in mine and break the news to her. “Adam was killed today.”

  Her sobs pour out of her, tearing my soul apart. She’s crying the tears I refuse to cry. Sitting on the bed, I take her into my arms and hold her to me. Rocking her is all I can do until a nurse comes in and gives her a little more pain medicine which knocks her out.

  Pulling my chair next to the bed, I hold her hand and rest my head on her belly until I fall asleep.

  ~~~~~

  Will this ever end? I should hate Adam for everything, but if it weren't for him I wouldn’t have met Devin and that thought is unbearable. I don’t know how Shirley’s going to go on. I can’t imagine losing a child. Devin left the room to call his partners. They were waiting for the verdict when he got the call about me. I need to get up off this bed. My body feels more than stiff.

  The door to my room opens and it’s the nurse. “Hi, Miss Bennett, I’m Connie. I’ll be checking in on you from time to time during my shift.”

  “Thanks, Connie. By the way, you can just call me Brooke.”

  “Do you need anything to make you more comfortable?”

  “Actually, I was wondering when I can get up out of bed. My body feels stiff and I’d like to go to the bathroom on my own and not in a bag.”

  “Understood. I’ll talk with the doctor. If he thinks it’s okay, we’ll let you take a walk down the hall.”

  Once the nurse leaves to go get the doctor, Devin comes back in the room.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, we won the case and he’s been cleared of any wrongdoing.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Um…Blossom. I hate to do this, but my father’s asked for me to go and make the identification today. I won’t be gone too long, but I need to get it done as soon as possible.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m stuck here with a security guard and whoever else is roaming around. I’ll be alright.”

  “Thanks, babe. I love you, Blossom. So much.”

  “I love you, Devin. Please be careful. Something isn’t right with this whole situation.”

  “I will.”

  He kisses me goodbye like it’s for the last time.

  Two hours later, Devin calls to tell me that he’s going to tell his parents that it is Adam. It’s so hard to comprehend everything that’s happened in the past day and a half. Lost in my thought, I don’t hear the nurse come in.

  “Brooke, you’ve got your wish. The doctor cleared you for walking. Now, you can only go as far as the nurses’ station and back, but it’s probably more than you’re going to feel like doing anyway.”

  Connie wraps her arm around mine, stabilizing me as I walk for the first time in over a day. Standing, I feel the bruises on my body. She’s right, I’m not going to make it all the way to the nurses’ station about twenty feet from my door. We get out of the room and reach the desk faster than expect when I notice a man out the corner of my eye. I turn and I’m hit with a surprise because standing in front of me, not five feet away, is my absentee lawyer. Only instead of a suit, David is wearing a hospital gown like mine but with scrubs bottoms.

  He’s not looking at me, but he’s staring like a madman at my nurse. Connie catches me staring to the side, she makes eye contact with him, and I notice the same starry-eyed look I have for Devin.

  “David?” I call out to him.

  “Wait, you know him?”

  “Of course, I do.” Before I can ask any questions, David runs up and hugs me tightly. “Brooke.”

  I hear a growl behind me and I know it’s my Devin. I pull slightly away from David to get a better look at him, and I can see he’s got some serious injuries all over his head. His stylishly coiffed hair is gone and he’s got stitches on his bald head. It’s a stark but still very handsome look.

  “You know her?” the doctor next to the station asks.

  “Yes, although, I’m not quite sure how,” he says, giving the doc a confused grimace.

  “Blossom.” I turn back to Devin, who looks pissed that I’ve yet to acknowledge his presence.

  “Devin. Please come here.” He takes Connie’s place holding my arm. “I don’t know what’s going on but I’m getting tired, so can I sit somewhere?”

  “Oh, certainly.” One of the nurses brings out a swivel chair from around the nurses’ station and I take a seat. With everyone around, David asks, “Brooke, I need answers.”

  “Ok, David. I don’t know what’s happened to you or why you’re in here, but I’ll tell you what I do know. You’re David Parker, you’re from Ohio just like me, and you’ve been a family friend and lawyer for the past ten years.”

  “A lawyer?”

  “Yes. The last time we spoke you were getting ready to go out of town. I didn’t get all the details because I was…”

  David cuts me off. “Because your parents died and you needed something. It’s starting to come back.” His eyes focus back onto Connie over and over as he begins to remember. Devin is territorially stroking my hair and back while standing directly behind me and eyeing David jealously.

  “How long have you been here?”

  Connie responded with, “Twenty-nine days.”

  “Okay, so you’ve been here since the day after you left for your trip.” Something is off about this.

  “We’ve tried finding out who he is, but it’s not been that easy because until you said his name, he didn’t have any recognition of his past.”

  “Is there anything important I need to know?” I can see the concern in his eyes as he looks at Connie again. He wants to know if he has a girlfriend or wife and kids.

  “Nothing more than you have your own law practice. You don’t have any family to speak of. And as for the last time we spoke, you didn’t have a girlfriend or anything.” I pointedly look at Connie letting her know I understand. “So what happened to you? Why are you here and don’t remember anything?”

  “It’s kind of fuzzy, but according to Connie and Dr. Bill, I was brought here after being found in an alley. I’d been beaten and stabbed then left for dead and all my identification was stolen. It wasn’
t until a week ago that I woke up with no idea of who I was or why I was in Chicago. It’s making a little more sense now. I was going to attend a conference here. I don’t know which one or when, but that’s why I was here.” Even though he’s talking to me, he’s still looking at Connie. I want to smile because after everything bad, it looks like something good is going to happen.

  “I’ve been wondering why you haven’t returned my calls. I thought you were just making empty promises when you said you’d help me out.” Devin’s tension is emanating from his body.

  “I’m really sorry, Brooke. But it looks like you have someone in your corner.” He looks at Devin and says, “I must apologize, but I can’t seem to remember you. Have we met?”

  “No, we haven’t.”

  “Woo…that’s good to know. The more that comes back to me the better.”

  “Um…David, it’s great to see you but I’m getting too tired.” I pretend to get fatigued.

  “Oh, shit. I forgot you were hurt too. Are you going to be here in the morning? I’m sorry, but I need to pick your brain until mine starts operating better.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Devin takes me back to my room and the doctor follows. “Brooke, next time, you need to work on your performance. You’re not meant for the theater.”

  “Sorry, doc. It’s just I think I need to speak with the police about what’s going on with David and my suspicions.”

  “I’ll notify the detective on the case and get them over here.”

  “Don’t tell the detective about David’s real name until I see them. I don’t want anything run until I speak with them…just in case.”

  He leaves us alone and Devin’s looking for answers right away. I give him a quick rundown of my suspicions and he’s thinking the same thing.

  It takes only half an hour before the police are in my room.

  “Hello, Miss Bennett. I’m Detective Sanders and this is Detective De La Torre. We were told that you may know the victim in the other room.” They’re both brawny men that look like they belong in the seventies.

  “Yes, he was my family lawyer. His name is David Parker, and the reason I didn’t want you to run a background check or contact anyone back in Ohio is…I don’t think this is a random big city crime. I really needed David so I called his cell for days with no return call. When I called his office, his assistant lied to me. She told me that David had come back and that he had to go out of town again. I didn’t like her tone with me. She was rude and it felt off.”

  “Were you involved with Mr. Parker intimately?” Devin should know the answer to that, but I can see the jealous look in his eyes.

  I give them a chuckle and answer honestly, “No…not at all. I came to him with my financial problems after my parents’ death and he said he’d help me get things squared away and to call him if I needed anything. It didn’t seem like he was just giving me the brush off. He was sincere.”

  “Well, I’m glad you had your accident then, ma’am. It was actually very beneficial to Mr. Parker and to the case.”

  “I didn’t tell David because I don’t want to stress him out. Plus, I don’t know if he even remembers her yet.”

  “Can you give us any more information on her and anything you think may be important?” He got his notepad ready, but I stick out my hand for it. It’s just easier if I write certain things down. Luckily, I broke my left arm instead of my right.

  I spent the next ten minutes jotting down his address, phone number, everything about Molly, and all that jazz for them to look into. They left me to rest with my Devin. Looking up at him, he’s sporting a grin. “What’s with the grin?”

  “Baby, you claim you’re not smart, but what you did was brilliant. If they had his information before they spoke with you, it might have given his assistant time to make something up or flee if she is involved. You did really good.”

  “But I was a horrible student,” I challenge. I struggled so bad that I thought I wouldn’t graduate.

  “Book smarts are not everyone’s forte. Maybe you’re just very street smart. Hell, you survived two weeks alone on the streets of Chicago with nothing to work with.”

  Reminding me of the time I was on my own, I think about Adam. “Oh, babe. How are you doing? I know you and Adam had problems, but he was still family.”

  “You’re right, love. It was a brutal and painful thing to do. As I looked down at him, all I felt was guilt, pain, and regret. I don’t know why he did what he did to you, but he was still my brother. Shirley and my father are having a hard time coping right now. They’ve asked us to come stay with them, but I don’t really think it’s a good idea.”

  “It’s not. They’re going to see me and it’s going to be a constant reminder of Adam. I’m surprised they want to see me at all.”

  “Why? You didn’t do anything wrong. Adam is the one who fucked up. He wasn’t broken up about you and me. He already had a girl.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t tell them about his drug use. I saw all the pills and didn’t do anything.”

  “Sweetie, who were you going to call. You were on the street. Besides, we all knew. He was already facing a criminal charge that he wanted me to get him out of. I didn’t want it to happen because then he’d be forced into rehab where he needed to be.”

  “Thanks, Devin. You know how to make me feel better.”

  “Anything for my woman.”

  “Oh, really. Then I can’t wait until we get out of here because I could use some orgasms to make me feel better.”

  “Ha. I was thinking the same thing. Since you can’t cook for me, I’m going to have to find something to eat.” He growls, gripping my chin and kissing me. This is our first passionate kiss since he left the morning of the accident. I’ve missed this. Slipping my good hand into his hair, I pull him closer because he’s got my pussy pulsing. His hand moves in between my thighs over my hospital gown. He’s got no idea that I’m so close to coming, so I start pushing up on his hand, hoping he’ll slip some of those magic fingers under my gown and into my aching cooch.

  Like he’s reading my mind, his hands make their way right to where I need them and I’m moaning on contact. He cracks a smile about my mouth, then whispers, “Shush, babe, or I’ll have to stop. I can’t have those cops coming back in here when they hear you cry out. Do you want me to stop?”

  I can’t speak, so I vigorously shake my head no. He smiles then continues to tease my clit. Fuck, it feels amazing. My body is singing and dancing on the bed, and he catches my cries in his mouth. I come so violently, I’m surprised there’s no one knocking down the door.

  When I calm down, he slowly kisses my face before giving me a satisfied smile. “I love to hear you come. It’s like a badge of honor to hear my name shout from your incredible lips.” Slipping his fingers from my panties, he takes his hand to his mouth, closes his eyes as he savors and cleans his fingers off with his tongue. I roll my eyes back into my head, moaning.

  Chapter 14

  It’s been a brutal few days. We didn’t tell Shirley about Adam’s ploy to get Blossom outside. Hell, I don’t know the purpose of it either. They found the guy that hit my woman, but he had no connection to Adam or anything. It was just a random accident. But that leaves me to wonder why he tried to get her out of the house.

  “Why Adam? Why?” I whisper to the ceiling as I sit on my old bed in my dad’s house.

  “Devin. I’m sorry.” Blossom walks up to me. She’d been downstairs a few minutes ago.

  “It’s fine, babe. I just don’t understand why he wanted you out of the house.” It’s been on my mind since it happened, and I’ll never know why, but I’d like to have some closure. I hope he really just wanted to talk to her and try to steal her away. It’s not something I’d let happen, but at least, he didn’t mean to get her hurt. To me, it’s the lesser of two evils.

  “Dev. Last night I dreamt of Adam…it’s weird, but it was like he was there when I got hit by the car. He was helping me and called
the police. I don’t remember the accident when I’m awake, but I feel like he was really there.”

  My irrational jealousy kicks in. It’s stupid, but it does.

  “Do you think that maybe he was outside waiting for you?”

  “I don’t know. I guess he could’ve been, but what for? He didn’t even care that I ran out on him. Before my phone was cut off, he didn’t call me to find out if I was alright or if I had somewhere to stay.”

  “So maybe he just wanted to irritate me by scaring you and things went south.” I look at her while she considers the tension between Adam and I. I need to apologize. She’s been through hell and I’m probably troubling her even more. “I’m sorry, babe. This isn’t something you need to think about…” Bending down she shushes me with her hand over my mouth.

  “I’m with you for forever, Devin. If you can’t talk to me, who can you talk to? We’re in this together. I need to unpack.” She walks away, but I can’t let her do that. She’s only got one arm to work with.

  “Blossom. We’re in this together. I’ll unpack for you.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “No, I don’t have to, but I want to and that’s what’s going to happen. Okay, beautiful.” Grabbing her raggedy suitcase, I toss it on the bed and get to work. “Babe, we need to get some new luggage. This one’s been through hell since I first met you.”

  “I know…” she says with a twisted pout.

  “Don’t be ashamed, Blossom. I love it. Maybe we can find the same one, but without the rips. The first time we met you had it with you, and it’s by far my favorite style.” She looks at me like I’m full of shit. “Just give me a kiss, then finish getting ready for bed.”

  She waves me off and heads into the bathroom. I watch her walk away because her ass looks so good in those jeans. Groaning, I give my cock a squeeze. I haven’t been in her since the morning of the accident and it’s starting to get to be too much.

  “Devin!” I rush to the bathroom, hearing her cry for me.

  Pushing the door open, I see her wide-eyed with a towel pressed to her chest.

  “What’s wrong, babe?” I scan her body up and down looking for any injuries then look around the room like a madman