by Amy Reece
“Oooh, yes! Thank you, Finn. All I got for lunch was some broth. I’m starving.” She found the small wooden spoonlet and dug in. “Mmm.”
Finn smiled indulgently. “I figured it would feel good on your sore throat. Did Cara bring you the robe?”
She pulled the soft pink bathrobe closer. “Yes, and the nurse was nice enough to undo my IV so I could put it on. I was freezing. Cara also brought me these fluffy socks.” She wiggled a small foot from under the blanket. Finn admired the way it arched elegantly, and drooled a bit at the glimpse of milky thigh he was treated to. He noticed his brother enjoying the view, as well, and glared.
Seamus smirked and turned to his sister. “You ready? I’ve got a softball game this evening and a ton of stuff to do before then.”
They left, but Cara promised she’d stop by in the morning. Finn took the seat she’d vacated. “I miss softball,” he mused absently.
“You play?” She offered him a bite of the sorbet.
He took it as he nodded. “We all play on a city league together—Hugh, Seamus, Tony, and me, I mean. Hopefully I can get back to it next spring.” He felt her soft hand clasp his and squeeze lightly.
“Finn, I’m sorry.”
He smiled and shrugged. “Thanks, but it’s okay. It’s just a game.”
“Not about the softball. About the fight. I shouldn’t have freaked out and I should have opened the door. I’m so sorry. I’m not very good at this girlfriend thing.”
“Sweetheart, you’re doing fine with it. And I don’t really think what happened qualifies as a true fight; there wasn’t nearly enough yelling for that. I’m afraid if you want a real fight, next time you are going to have to open the door and let me in.” He smiled to let her know he wasn’t holding a grudge. He knew she’d had a bad experience in her past, although he didn’t know the details; she’d tell him when she was ready and he was trying hard not to push her.
“I saw Tatiana on the news—I guess it was the night before last; I’ve completely lost track of time. Then the next day, she was on your porch and you were kissing her—”
“She kissed me, an important point of clarification. God, I’m sorry you saw that. She stopped by to return her key and clear the air. That’s all. Mel, she and I were together for a long time—more than a year. We needed some closure. It was a goodbye kiss. Neither one of us wants to get back together, I promise. I’m with you now, and I—” He broke off, unsure suddenly.
“What?” She was still clasping his hand, looking intently into his face.
He knew it was time; it was their moment. He took a deep breath and—
“Well, you’re looking much better this afternoon, Melanie.” Dr. Chaudhri, accompanied by a nurse, breezed into the room.
Or not. He couldn’t catch a break.
“Let’s check your lungs.” The doctor put her stethoscope in her ears and asked Mel to breathe deeply, then had her try to make the ball go up in the little plastic breathing machine they’d given her. “Very good, Melanie. Your lungs sound clear, but I want you to stay on the oxygen until tomorrow. I know you’re probably hungry, so you can order solid food for dinner. Your fiancé can order a meal as well, with a credit card, and you can have dinner together here, if you like. Will you be staying the night?” She directed the last question at Finn.
“Absolutely.”
Dr. Chaudhri smiled. “I’ll have some pillows and blankets brought in. The bench seat over there folds down to make a bed.”
“When can I go home?” Mel asked.
“I think tomorrow afternoon, if you sleep well tonight and your chest still sounds clear in the morning.” The doctor pulled a stool up next to Mel’s chair and took her pulse. She told the nurse the number to write on the chart, then cleared her throat. “Melanie, your blood test results came back and the tox screen showed that, in addition to alcohol, you also had a high level of benzodiazepine—a sedative commonly found in sleeping pills—in your blood stream. At the level you ingested and mixed with the alcohol, well, you’re very lucky to be alive. The fire may have saved your life. If you had slept until morning, you may not have woken up.”
“Oh, my God,” Mel whispered. “I swear I didn’t take anything. I’ve never taken sleeping pills in my life.”
“Are you sure? Did you take anything at all before you went to bed?”
“No, I didn’t. I mean, I don’t remember—Finn?”
“Okay, sweetheart. It’s okay. We’ll figure it out, I promise.” He addressed Dr. Chaudhri. “Thank you, Doctor. Can we talk about this tomorrow? I’ll try to make sure she gets some rest.” Finn stood to see the doctor out while the nurse moved around the room, replacing an IV bag and pushing buttons on some of the other machines Mel was still connected to. When they were finally alone again, the tender moment from before the doctor came in had long passed. Mel was obviously freaked out by what the doctor had said and he had no clue what to say. He was sure she was telling the truth, but how did that explain the sedatives in her tox screen? Finn found the menu card and let Mel choose what she wanted for dinner, then called to place their order, hoping it would serve as a distraction.
“Finn, what’s going on? Why is this happening?”
He could hear the trembling in her voice and it cut through his heart. “Hey, shh. It’s going to be okay, I promise. We’ll figure this out.” He leaned over to drop a kiss on her head.
“I’m not going to be able to stay at my house for a while, am I?” She frowned at him as she spoke.
“No, sweetheart. I’m sorry, but it’s going to be quite a while before you can return. Seamus told me they’ve called in an arson investigation team. It appears the fire started in your garage and there’s evidence of an accelerant.”
“Someone did this on purpose? Why? What have I ever done? Who hates me that much?”
Finn swore to himself he would see the haunted look leave her eyes if it was the last thing he did. “They don’t know for sure. It could have been an accident of some sort.” He heard the disbelief in his words even as he spoke them.
“I’ll need to find a hotel, I guess. I don’t even have any clothes to wear home tomorrow.” The tears he had seen building ever since the doctor came in finally spilled over. She wiped them away impatiently. “What am I going to do?”
“Mel.” He sat next to her again and took her hand. “Listen. When you decided to take up with me, you got more than you bargained for. My family is a part of who I am, and we help each other out. That extends to you now. Please try not to worry. Cara, Izzy, and my mom will find you some clothes to wear until we can get to yours. And I want you to stay with me. Please, Mel. I’ll do nothing but worry if you’re at a hotel. You can stay in the guest bedroom—you and Fluff.”
She frowned again. “I don’t want to be a bother. This shouldn’t be your problem.”
He chuckled and brought her hand to his mouth, kissing her fingers. “Of course it should. That’s how this whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing works.”
She smiled crookedly, seeming to sense his need to cheer her up. “Okay. Thank you, Finn. What about CJ? She usually sleeps with me.”
He knew; he’d never been jealous of a cat before. “Of course she can stay whenever and wherever she wants. I owe that silly cat everything.”
***
Mel
I’m going to love him back. That’s what she’d told Cara, but she really had no idea what it meant. What did it look like to love someone back? Assuming, of course, that he loved her in the first place. Argh! Why was this so hard? Wasn’t love supposed to be fun and easy? How in the world was she supposed to love him back? She glanced across the darkened hospital room to where he was trying to sleep on the narrow and obviously uncomfortable bench/bed. She’d heard him tossing and turning for the last hour as he attempted to find a comfortable position for his large frame. She smiled as she remembered what else Cara had said: “Well, I guess you’re going to have to judge him by his actions.” He’d charged into a burning hous
e for her. He’d barely left her side at the hospital, including giving up a much needed night’s sleep for her. He was opening his home to her so she wouldn’t have to stay in a hotel. If he didn’t love her, why would he go to all the trouble? Maybe she didn’t need to hear the words, at least not yet. They’d only known each other for a little over a month, after all. There was no need to rush, was there?
She wondered how long it would be before she could return to her own home. She dreaded the nightmare of insurance and construction in her future. Thoughts like these filled her mind as she stared at the ceiling; sleep had decided to elude her, at least for the time being. She wished she could turn on the television, but she didn’t want to risk waking Finn. She didn’t even have her Kindle; it and all her belongings were currently being held hostage to the nascent arson investigation and she had no idea when she would be able to have access to them. She thanked God her computer had been in her bedroom rather than the kitchen or living room. She backed up all her work to a Dropbox, of course, but it would be a hassle to replace her loyal laptop. Since she could do nothing about her current situation, she whiled away several hours plotting the next few chapters in her current work-in-progress, the sequel to Taking Chances. She’d hit a snag in the romance and found the enforced quiet time helpful in sorting it out. She finally fell asleep somewhere near 3:00 a.m. The hospital was the worst place to try to rest, however. No sooner had she fallen asleep than the night nurse came in to check her vitals. Finn didn’t wake up, so Mel was less annoyed than she might have been; she fell asleep again soon after the nurse left.
They had nearly finished breakfast the next morning when Dr. Chaudhri returned. “Your lungs still sound clear, Melanie. How are you feeling?” She looped her stethoscope back around her neck and checked Mel’s pulse.
“I’m feeling like I want to go home.” She tried to keep the whine out of her voice, but feared she wasn’t terribly successful. She felt ridiculous lying in the hospital bed when there was nothing wrong with her.
“Of course. Do you have a place to stay? I understand your house is not presently habitable because of the fire.”
“She’s staying with me,” Finn said from across the room.
“Excellent. Well, I see no reason for you to stay here. I’ll get the discharge paperwork started. You should be able to leave in a few hours. Plan to take it easy for a few days—no aerobic workouts, okay? That means take it easy with sex, as well.”
Mel felt the heat rising from her neck and knew she was blushing furiously. Hearing Finn chuckle didn’t help at all. On the other hand, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had an aerobic workout, at least on purpose. “No problem. Thank you, Dr. Chaudhri.”
The doctor left and Finn came to sit next to her on the bed. “Well, there goes my nefarious plan for seducing you the minute we get home. I’ll call and arrange transportation for us. God, it’s going to be good to be home. Especially with you there.”
“That was an extremely nice thing to say, Mr. DeLuca.”
“It was, wasn’t it? I think I deserve a kiss.” His bright blue eyes twinkled in amusement.
“Most definitely. Come here.” She beckoned him closer with a forefinger. He leaned down, placing his large hand on the pillow next to her head, and set his lips against hers. The doctor had finally removed the oxygen tube from under her nose, so there was nothing in the way. He kissed her softly and attempted to draw away, but she was having none of that. She slipped her hands over his shoulders and pulled him closer as she coaxed his lips apart. He smiled against her mouth and happily complied, slipping his arms behind her back to pull her against his hard chest. He deepened the kiss, wresting control from her for the moment.
“I’m pretty sure they frown on this sort of thing in a hospital.” Cara breezed in and plopped a tote bag on the bed. “At least shut the door, lovebirds.”
Mel felt herself blushing for the second time in a five-minute span.
Finn rolled his eyes, but kissed her quickly again before sitting up and turning toward his sister. “You got here quick. I only called a couple minutes ago. It’s going to be a while before she’s released.”
“I was on my way already. I’m not staying. I just stopped by with some clothes for Mel to wear home. They’re from Izzy because you two are about the same height. Mom is at your house, Finn, getting everything clean and ready for you, and I’m on my way to pick up a few things to tide you over until you can get to your own stuff. Any requests?”
“Thanks, Cara. I figured I’d have to wear my smoky-smelling nightgown home. I really appreciate this. If you could pick me up some panties and a bra, maybe? This is so weird to not have any of my own clothes available. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”
“Don’t feel like you need a bra on my account,” Finn said innocently.
“Don’t be a lech,” Cara replied with a laugh. “What sizes?” She pulled out her phone and opened the notes app.
“Um, medium for the panties, and 34B, sadly, for the bra.”
“Nothing sad about it,” murmured Finn.
“Don’t worry, Mel. I know how to hook a sista up. I’ll see you at Finn’s later. Bye!”
Mel took the bag of clothes into the bathroom, where she took a shower to wash the lingering smell of smoke from her hair and skin. She was thrilled to discover Cara and Izzy had included a wide-toothed comb, toothbrush, and toothpaste, and a small bag of basic makeup, including mascara and lip gloss. She came out of the bathroom feeling nearly human again, although her hair was still wet. It was so long it took hours to air dry. “Finn, could we visit Mr. Taylor before we leave? Is he still here?”
Finn went to find out from the nurses, and then they walked down the hall together to visit their neighbor.
He was sitting up in bed, watching a game show on television, which he clicked off when they knocked.
“Hi, Mr. Taylor. I wanted to come say thank you for saving my life.” Melanie approached his bed and placed her hand gently over the back of his, relieved when he turned it over and squeezed hers in return. She was never quite sure how her grumpy neighbor would respond. “How are you feeling?”
“Oh, I’m fine. I’m old, so they decided to keep me overnight. Your young whippersnapper there got to leave the emergency room after a couple hours, but them damn doctors said they needed to shove a tube down my throat and breathe for me for a while.”
“Yeah, me too.” Mel sat in the chair next to his bed. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“Aww, don’t matter none. It was worth it, I reckon. That stray cat woke me up, same as you.” He jerked his chin at Finn.
“When do you get to go home?”
“Sometime today, I suppose. My sister is down signing papers and whatnot. Medicare is a goddamn nightmare.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” She knew he’d most likely refuse, but she needed to offer.
“No. My sister is gonna to drive me home. I might get there before you folks.” He was silent for a moment. “Suppose it would be all right if you came to visit me once in a while. You got a place to stay, little missy?”
“She’s staying with me.” Finn stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder.
The older man gave Finn a rather piercing look. “Oh, it’s like that, huh?”
“Yeah, it’s like that.”
Mel stared between the two men, nonplussed by the sudden tension in the room. Somewhere along the way she seemed to have acquired a father figure. Since she owed Mr. Taylor her life, she decided to be flattered by his concern. “Don’t worry. I can run a lot faster than him right now. Plus, I’m staying in his guest room.”
Both men chuckled and the tension was broken. “You take care of her, young man. You hear me?”
“Yes, sir. I promise. You can come over and check on her any time you want. Consider it an open invitation. We’d like to have you over for dinner soon.”
“Well, that sounds pretty good. Now you kids skedaddle so
I can get my britches on.” The gruff old man they knew was back.
“Okay, Mr. Taylor.” Mel leaned forward and kissed him on his cheek. “We’ll see you at home.”
“My name’s Carl.”
“And my name’s Mel.” She squeezed his hand lightly, then allowed Finn to usher her out of the room.
Chapter Fourteen
Finn
Home had never looked so good. Tony had drawn the short straw, apparently, and had arrived to pick them up shortly after the nurse came in with the discharge paperwork. He drove their mother’s Lexus and seemed amused to act as chauffeur while Finn sat in the back with Mel curled up against him. They were both feeling the effects of too little sleep for the past two nights and Finn had high hopes of spending several hours napping as soon as they got home. He should have known better.
His mother was setting the table for lunch—six places. There was definitely a dark side to being part of a large family and this was a perfect example. He would give a lot to be an orphan right about now. Guilt pecked at him as he ate the delicious spinach salad with strawberries and grilled chicken his mom had lovingly prepared to welcome Mel home. Cara had returned from her shopping trip in time for lunch, with multiple shopping bags from the mall, including an intriguing pink and black bag from Victoria’s Secret. He wondered if he’d ever be allowed to view the contents, preferably on Mel.
“I brought a few more things from Izzy. I put them on the bed in the guest room for you, Mel.”
“Thanks so much, both of you. You too, Tony. You’ve all been so wonderful. I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me.”
“It’s our pleasure. I just can’t imagine what you’ve been through. When I think—”
“Mom,” Finn interrupted before she dissolved into tears. She was tough as nails when she needed to be, but tender-hearted in the extreme whenever anything happened to one of her babies—even though Tony, the youngest of those babies, was twenty-two, and seated across the table from her, scarfing down the last of the cheesecake she’d brought for dessert. The boy could eat. The fact that his mother’s tenderness extended to Finn’s current girlfriend was telling; she’d never seemed terribly attached to any of the previous ones. But Mel was different, a fact his entire family had picked up on. Well good, because if he had his way, she’d be around for a long, long time.
