Chapter 12
“All is fair in love and war.” - Francis Edward Smedley
“Tonight was wonderful. I wish I could wake up to you in the morning. I hate when you have to rush off.” Craig tried to grab my elbow as I struggled to get out of bed.
“You know I can’t do that. I have a life at home that I can’t ignore. Two girls that need me,” I said as I looked for a light switch. It was after midnight and I needed to get home. Even though my family was used to my late hours, I still liked to get home at a decent hour. One o’clock in the morning wasn’t a decent hour.
“You were great tonight. Everyone loved our duet.”
Craig had chosen “You’re The One That I Want”, the famous song from Grease, as our duet. I’ve got to admit, we sounded pretty good together and the crowd went crazy. It was a great rush.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It was a lot of fun. But reality waits.” I looked under the bed for my shoes.
“Let’s take a trip together. Go somewhere like Palm Springs or San Francisco and check in to a nice quiet hotel. Spend some real time together.”
“Hmmm, that sounds nice,” I replied. “But improbable given my case load these days. Plus the girls need me right now.” As a matter fact, I thought to myself, I needed to cut back the time I was spending with Craig. My work was starting to suffer and I wasn’t getting much sleep lately. Plus, I wondered what the hell I was doing with Craig? While my love for Mark was still there, the passion had gone and somewhere deep inside I knew I was filling that void with Craig. Maybe it was time to end this affair.
“Then I guess I’ll just have to settle for this.” Craig pulled me over to him and kissed me.
“I gotta get going. I’ll call you tomorrow.” I looked at my watch. “Or later today that is.”
The doorman wished me a good evening as I left the hotel. Feeling guilty again, I dug my cell phone out of my purse and immediately saw that I had twenty-one missed calls. Shit. I forgot that I turned down the ringer at the bowling alley. I quickly scrolled through the call list and saw that my girls had called several times as did Hope. My first thought was that Hope had gone into labor early. Before I pulled out of the parking garage, I called Aubrey on her cell phone. The last missed call was just fifteen minutes ago.
It rang once before she picked up. “Mom?! Where have you been? We’ve been calling you for the last three hours!”
I sensed panic in her voice. “I’ve been in meeting. What’s up honey?”
“It’s daddy. He’s been in a car accident. We’re at Cedars now waiting on the ER doctor to come let us know how he is doing. Hope is here with us.”
My heart stopped. Mark had been in an accident? I calculated that Cedars was around a twenty minute drive from here. Traffic would be light this time of hour.
“I’ll be there in few minutes. Let me talk to Hope.” I put my phone on speaker and peeled out of the parking garage. I sped toward the hospital, thanking the heavens above there was no traffic.
“Ava. Where are you?” Hope asked.
“Hope. Oh, thank God. I’m on the way. What’s going on?”
“Mark was injured in a car accident a few hours ago. He was brought into Cedars unresponsive. Looks like he has a severe head injury. We’re waiting for them to get him stable before they do a CT scan.”
“I’ll be there in ten. How are the girls holding up?”
“They’re fine. Drive carefully and see you in a few.”
I hung up the phone and cursed myself for leaving my cell unattended for so long. I made it to Cedars in less than ten minutes, running every red light. Taking a deep breath, I sprinted up to the ER entrance, hoping that Mark would be okay.
Chapter 13
“Lord, lord, how subject we men are to this vice of lying.” - William Shakespeare
“Where’s Mark?” I asked as soon as I saw Hope sitting in the ER lobby, waiting for me.
“He’s getting a CT scan. The doctors aren’t sure what’s going on yet.”
“Has he regained consciousness?”
Hope shook her head no. She put her arm around my shoulder and escorted me to Mark’s temporary room. Aubrey and Allison were pacing outside in the hallway. I went to give my girls a hug. Allison pulled away with an accusing face while Aubrey gave me a cold embrace.
“Where were you?” Allison looked defiantly at me. “We’ve been calling you since ten o’clock. Where were you?” she repeatedly asked me.
Hope, one hand on her swollen belly and another on my shoulder, said “Girls, I don’t think this is the right time to…”
“It’s okay, Hope. They have every right to ask.” I turned to face my girls. “I was working late. I had a meeting with a client.”
“That’s a load of crock. You didn’t have a client meeting and you know it. You always answer your phone. We called your office.” Allison looked over at Aubrey. “I told you. She’s a liar.”
An ER tech wheeled a bed toward us and I recognized Mark’s form under a thin, white sheet. I followed the tech as he wheeled Mark back into the room. He was hooked up to an IV and his face was pale. His head was wrapped in a thick bandage and bright red and purple bruises littered his arms. The nurse hooked him back up to the monitors while the doctor came in.
“Mrs. Spivey. I’m Dr. Malone. We should get the results back from the CT scan shortly. Right now, all his blood work looks good. Can I ask you a few questions about his medical history?”
I nodded my head.
“Girls, let’s go get something to drink.” Hope shuttled the girls out while I answered all Dr. Malone’s questions as best I could. As far as I knew, Mark was healthy as a horse. He rarely drank, never smoked, ate better than I did and faithfully exercised. Other than the occasional sinus infection, he was never sick. No allergies, no current medications. I told Dr. Malone all this.
“We should get the results of the scan soon. Hopefully that will tell us more. I’ll be back shortly to check on him.”
I squatted next to Mark and ran my hand across his forehead, smoothing his hair out of the way. His skin felt cool to the touch. Tears slid down my face. “I’m so sorry.”
After a few minutes, Hope came back alone. “Where are the girls?” I asked her.
“They’re okay. I left them with Venus in the cafeteria. She just got here.” Hope gently grabbed my elbow and lifted me up. “Let’s go to the doctor’s lounge and get some coffee. I’ll ask Nancy, the ER nurse, to come get us if anything changes.”
“I think I should stay here with him.”
“Just for a few minutes. He’ll be fine. Let’s go talk.”
I followed Hope to the doctor’s lounge. It was empty and a full pot of coffee was on the break counter. She poured us both a cup and we sat on a worn leather couch.
“I should be with Mark,” I repeated, sipping my coffee.
“He’s in good hands. I want to know what’s going on with you. The girls seem upset.”
“I tried to tell you at the baby shower. I’ve been seeing someone else.” I could see the surprise in Hope’s eyes.
“Really? I didn’t really think you were serious.”
“His name is Craig Neven. We went to high school together and ran into each other recently at a fundraiser.” Tears ran down my face. “It was a mistake. I would never intentionally hurt my family.”
“The girls know something is going on. Or at least I think Allison knows something is up.”
“Now isn’t the time. I’ll talk to her later. I need to get back to Mark.”
“Yes, okay, let’s go. We should be getting the scan results back any minute.”
I followed Hope to Mark’s room and we got there the same time as Dr. Malone. He stopped us before we went into the room.
“Mrs. Spivey, we’ve gotten the test result. I’m sorry to say that your husband has a brain bleed.” He adjusted his stance and folded his arms across his chest. “It doesn’t look good.”
“How did that happen?”
&nb
sp; “Well, we’re not sure if he suffered it when hit his head during the accident or if that is what caused him to have the accident. Until he wakes up, and if he remembers what happened, we may never know. Right now all we can do is make him comfortable and restrict movement as much as possible. So he will have to remain sedated while we monitor the bleeding. My hope is that his body will absorb the excess bleeding and there will be no brain damage. Dr. Petrick is our chief Neurologist and he has been called in to exam your husband. He should be here within the hour.”
“When will we know how the brain bleed will affect him?” I asked.
“Unfortunately in these cases, it’s a wait-and-see approach.” Dr. Malone gave me a reassuring pat on the back. “As soon as a room is ready for him, we’ll be moving him to ICU.”
It felt like all the blood had been drained from my body. I felt numb. Hope wrapped her arms around me while I sobbed.
“What now?” I asked her.
“You have to go tell the girls. I’ll go with you.”
“Let me see Mark first.”
Chapter 14
“Never say that marriage has more of joy than pain.” - Euripides
Mark looked so frail hooked up to all the monitors. I wanted to take him in my arms and hold him but it was impossible with all the lines and tubes. I settled for holding his hand. How could I be so stupid? This was the man that I fell in love with. This was the man that I promised to be faithful and spend my whole life with. For better or for worse. Now I’ve ruined that by cheating on him with another man. Mark didn’t deserve this. Carefully, I laid my head on his lap and cried.
“Ava.” Mark hoarsely whispered. “Ava, what happened?”
I looked up to see Mark, with his eyes opened, and a confused look on his face.
“You were in a car accident and hit your head. You’re at Cedars.” I wiped my tears away and tried to reassure him. “The girls are here. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up.”
As soon as I said that, Dr. Petrick, the chief neurologist, walked in the room. I watched as he examined Mark. As he’d thought, Mark didn’t remember anything about the accident. He told us that his last memory was getting his hair cut yesterday. After he realized what happened to him, Mark started to get agitated. The doctor ordered the nurse to up the medicine and then explained to Mark that he would have to be put on sedation to keep his movement at a minimum. However, before the doctor could get all the words out, Mark was out cold again.
While Mark was finally resting comfortably, I went to talk to Aubrey and Allison. I found them in the cafeteria nursing hot chocolates.
“I talked with the doctor and they are moving your dad to ICU shortly. The neurologist took at a look at the scans and decided to keep your dad sedated until the brain bleed was under control.” I took a deep breath before continuing. “He woke up for a few minutes. He said he doesn’t remember what happened.”
Aubrey started crying while Allison looked at me with distrust in her eyes.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t available when you called me but I’m here now. Let’s concentrate on getting your dad better. Okay?”
Aubrey nodded her head while her sister got up from the table and threw her full cup of hot cocoa in the trash before stomping off.
“Just give her some time Mom. You know how hardheaded she can be,” Aubrey said. My little peace maker.
I’d find a way to make this right.
Chapter 15
“Women might be able to fake orgasms, but men can fake whole relationships.” - Sharon Stone
The ICU waiting room was quiet and cool. Hope had taken the girls home to shower and rest while I stayed with Mark. He was still under heavy sedation and had been scheduled for another CT scan the next day to see if the bleeding had subsided.
Just as I was about to fall asleep in one of the recliners, the door opened. I knew from the soft click of heels it wasn’t a nurse. I looked up to see a familiar face hovering over me.
“Meghan?”
“I’m sorry to hear about Mark. Venus called the office to let us know what was going on. I’ve been trying to call you but your phone is off,” Meghan whispered as she sat down beside me.
“It’s okay. Sorry I haven’t had a chance to call you. What’s going on?”
The look in her eyes was fearful.
“I hate to even bother you knowing that…”
I waved her off impatiently. “What is it Meghan?” I know it must have been pretty important if she came all the way to the hospital.
“It’s Sawyer Winston. He’s been trying to reach you all night. Um, apparently you haven’t heard the news?”
I shook my head no. “Out with it Meghan. What’s wrong?”
“Someone leaked a story about Sawyer and his allegations of spousal abuse,” Megan said, lowering her voice. She reached in her handbag and pulled out a piece of paper. “I printed this off from a website. This will be hitting the streets soon.”
I walked out to the hallway where we could have more privacy, dragging Meghan with me. Quickly scanning the article, I sucked in a deep breath.
“Sawyer Winston Accuses Wife of Domestic Violence!” screamed the headlines.
Sources close to us have confirmed the reason why Sawyer Winston filed for divorce from his wife, Portia Middleton, earlier this summer. Portia has been physically abusing her husband for years according to a confidential source. “Sawyer frequently has bruises and cuts all over his body. Portia is jealous of the time Sawyer spends with gorgeous leading ladies so she goes on rampages and beats the sh-t out of him,” our source tells us. Being an action/adventure movie star and performing his own stunts, he has the perfect cover story for how he got those injuries. But we know better. (To the right of this article is a recent picture of Sawyer Winston having lunch with his agent. If you look closely, you can see the tattle tell signs of recent physical abuse. He has bruises and scratch marks on both arms.) It is worth mentioning that Sawyer has not been involved in a production of a movie since Undercover Me wrapped filming two months ago. We wonder how Sawyer would explain those injuries.
The story went on to detail their marital history and also speculated what triggered the abuse. Portia was known to be a former alcoholic and the article led readers to believe that she was drinking again.
“What the hell? How did this get out?” I asked Meghan. She just shrugged her shoulders.
I glanced at the top of the paper and my heart skipped a beat. The Hollywood Buzz. Craig Neven’s magazine.
Pulling my cell phone out, I saw that I had fourteen missed calls from Sawyer. Shit. Five missed calls from Clyde. My voice mail box was full.
“Anything else?” I asked her.
“I figured that was enough. Between me and Serena, we can handle the case load until you get back,” Meghan said before giving me a hug. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I hope Mark gets well soon.”
After Meghan left, I walked outside where it was quiet to call Sawyer. This was one of those phone calls I hated to make. I couldn’t believe Craig would betray me and print such a horrific article about my client. Was he using me the whole time?
I take a moment to settle my nerves before dialing the number. Sawyer picked up on the first ring.
“Ava? What the hell is going on?”
“Sawyer, sorry I missed your calls. I don’t have any answers yet…”
He cut me off. “You are the only one I’ve told about this. How did it get out?”
“I don’t know but I’ll get to the bottom of this. I can promise you that it didn’t come from anyone in my office. Is there anyone else in your household that would know?” I asked calmly.
“No! I wanted to keep this private. My kids are going through a hard enough time with the pending divorce. The last thing I need is for them to hear how crazy their mom is. I wanted to settle this within the family. Now I’m thinking this was a big mistake trusting you.”
“Sawyer, I can assure you this will get resolved. Have you spo
ken to your publicist?”
“Hell yeah. I’ve spoken to everyone trying to do damage control. I’m back from Hawaii and at my home office now. You need to come here and let’s get to work on putting a lid on this.”
I glanced up at the hospital’s neon sign. I couldn’t leave Mark now. I already betrayed our marriage and my families trust.
“I can’t come right now Sawyer. I’m….” I tried to explain my situation to him but he cut me off.
“Don’t tell me you can’t. I need you here now.”
My call waiting beeped in. I checked my caller ID. Clyde Peacock.
“Okay Sawyer. I’ve got Clyde calling on the other line. I’ll call you back as soon as I work something out.” I disconnected before he could object.
“Hi Clyde.”
“Hi sweetheart. How’s Mark doing?”
“He’s under sedation until they can control the bleeding. They got him in ICU now.”
“I take it Meghan found you and told you about Sawyer?”
“Yes, I just got off the phone with him. He’s called a meeting with his posse and he wants me there now.” I sighed. “I can’t leave Mark.”
“Give me the address. I’ll go in your place. We’ll get this settled. Is there any truth to what The Hollywood Buzz is reporting?”
“Sawyer told me about the abuse in confidence but he didn’t want to press charges or let it get it out. He’s trying to protect his kids.”
“Then how did it get out? Anyone else know?”
I thought about Craig. Protecting my client’s confidentiality, I’d never discussed any business with him or anybody else for that matter. So how did he found out?
“I don’t know,” I sighed.
“Go take care of Mark. I’ll call you after the meeting.”
The knot in my stomach would not go away. I’ve royally screwed things up in every direction. My only thought was to confront Craig and find out how this happened.
Split Decision Page 5
