Frivolous Magic

by Kimbra Swain

  “Sure.”

  I texted Marley who immediately answered with a plethora of capital letters. Completely overreacting. I told her it was fine, and that she could tell everyone else, but that Isaac didn’t want any visitors. Not that they would let them through since they weren’t family. I assured her that we didn’t need anything. She promised to spread the word.

  Isaac held my hand tightly while I texted with my other. His thumb rubbed over my palm where the purple circle had sat. He caught me staring at him.

  “Sorry,” he muttered. “You have soft hands.”

  “Thanks. It’s okay. You are just upset,” I said.

  “Are you trying to convince yourself that I don’t mean anything by it?”

  Awkward. “Um, no.”

  “Sounded like it. I assure you, Lacey, that this hand is the one I want to hold as much as you will let me.”

  “That isn’t as romantic as you think it sounds,” I teased.

  “I’m not a commitment guy.”

  “I get that. Look, you’ve been through a trauma. It’s bad enough that we are engaged, but don’t make it any worse,” I said with a smile. He grudgingly returned it.

  A shadow of a man formed just outside of the curtain. I could tell he was flipping a chart, then he stepped through the opening to stand with us. His light brown hair filled with gel looked like it was plastered to his head.

  “I’m Dr. Vaney. We have taken a look at Mr. Denton…” he paused then looked at me. “Who are you?”

  “This is my fiancée, Lacey Ashcraft,” Isaac piped up.

  “Oh, very well. We have looked at Mr. Denton’s tests, and it seems that he is very fortunate in that he doesn’t have any life-threatening injuries, no internal bleeding, and only minor cuts and bruises.”

  “Oh! That’s good,” I sighed with relief. I may not have been the real fiancé, but the fact that he had the accident outside my home after dropping me off hadn’t escaped me.

  “Yes, well, I will get his paperwork ready, and as soon as the discharge is sent, you may go home, Mr. Denton. Frankly, I’m surprised that this wasn’t a drunk driving incident considering how young you both are. Stay off your feet for a couple of days. Rest. I’ll prescribe some pain killers. You are going to need them,” the doctor said. He had the bedside manner of a rat.

  The doctor left us alone, and even through his pain Isaac flirted. “Lacey, it looks like I’m going to need a wet nurse for the next couple of days. Are you up for that, Fiancée?”

  “I’m not wet, and if you are up, then you are shit out of luck,” I replied.

  “Daaayum, girl. Way to make a broken guy cry!” he smirked.

  “Please.”

  “Come on. I know you feel guilty about me being at your house,” he teased.

  “I did, but I don’t anymore.” I rolled my eyes and turned away from him.

  “Chantilly Lace Ashcraft, thank you for saving my life.”

  Sigh. I was thankful he didn’t remember my purple rune-filled circle.

  “You’re welcome.”

  A nurse stepped inside the curtain. “Mr. Denton, your coach is here to see you, but you are only allowed one visitor at a time.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll step out,” I piped up.

  “Don’t leave,” Isaac pleaded.

  “Your coach needs to check on you,” I countered.

  “I mean, don’t leave the hospital. Okay?”

  “Alright,” I said. I had hoped to get back home, but Isaac was my friend. I needed to see this through. Even though I knew I shouldn’t feel like it was my fault, I did feel like I had some responsibility in it.

  I slipped from behind the curtain and made my way to the swinging double doors that led to a small corridor then two more doors to the lobby. Once I made it through the first set, the room grew dark.

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  “This is the last time I’m going to warn you,” Ajax said, appearing before me.

  “You need to go away and leave me alone,” I protested.

  “Miss Ashcraft, you saved his life tonight with magic. That’s powerful. It draws attention. They are here even now searching for you,” he pleaded.

  “No. I didn’t even know what I was doing. The magic showed me how. Wait. Who is here now?” I asked.

  “I can’t explain, just please come with me,” he said, holding his hand out of the black cloak. His hand looked younger than I expected. “Please.”

  “No. I have no reason to trust you over anyone. I’ll take my chances,” I said.

  He stepped closer to me, putting his hand on my cheek. A warm sensation traveled from my cheek down my neck, and I felt myself blushing.

  “I beg you. I swear that I won’t harm you. I just want to keep you safe,” he said. His tone had changed from the authoritative to the sensual. It was more seductive than I expected.

  I stammered to speak. “Ajax, please. Don’t touch me.”

  “You only feel the magic in my hands. I can feel it in you, too. Let us teach you,” he said softly.

  Light started to return to the room.

  “No,” I whimpered.

  He growled but stepped away from me in frustration. “You can call for me just like I said before, but I can’t guarantee that I can save you in time. This is a mistake, Miss Ashcraft.”

  When the lights returned to the small corridor, I found myself backed against the wall and panting. The room started to spin, and I placed my hand on my cheek. The warmth of his touch remained. Sliding down the wall to a seated position, I tried to call for help, but my throat was dry. Nothing came out. I could hear a voice, but I couldn’t focus on who was saying it.

  “Lacey! Lacey!”

  “Is she okay?” It was Braxton.

  “Brax?” I muttered.

  “Hey, Lacey. I’m here,” he said. I felt his hand slip into mine and squeeze. “Just relax. You fainted. A nurse went to get help.”

  I heard rattling noises and muttered voices. My eyes wouldn’t focus.

  “She’s burning up like she has a fever,” Brax said to someone.

  “Help me get her into this chair,” a female voice instructed.

  “I’m gonna pick you up, Lacey,” Brax said.

  “No. I’ll walk,” I replied, but it was too late. I felt his arms sweep under me, and he lifted me off the ground without effort. Slowly he lowered me into a wheelchair.

  “You’ll have to wait in the waiting room,” the woman told him.

  “The hell I will. Do you know who I am?” Brax protested.

  “I don’t care if you are her daddy, which you aren’t. But you aren’t going back there,” she said.

  “She’s my girlfriend,” Brax blurted out.

  “No, she isn’t, because she’s here with her fiancé,” the woman replied.

  “I can’t see. Please don’t send him away,” I said.

  I heard the woman grunt. “Two-timing.”

  “What did you say?!” Brax said, confronting the woman. “I’ll have a lawyer all over this one. She needs help.”

  The moment Brax said the word, lawyer, I felt myself spin around and head back into the emergency room.

  “Orderly!” the woman called out. “Help me get her on this gurney, and this man needs to be escorted out.”

  “I’m not leaving her!” Brax protested.

  My head began to spin again. “Help,” I whined. “Please help.”

  “Come on, Son. Outside,” a gruff voice said.

  “No! Lacey! I won’t leave until they let me see you! I won’t leave!” I heard him shouting as he was escorted away from me.

  My eyes fluttered open to the sterile atmosphere of a hospital room. As the shapes in the room shifted into focus, I saw Braxton sitting in a chair across the room. His light brown hair looked wild as if he’d run his hands through it a thousand times. His body slumped to one side, and his chest rose and fell heavily as he slept.

  An I.V. was attached to my arm, and machines ticked methodically next t
o me. Instead of being in the Emergency Room, it seemed that I was in a regular room.

  My throat was dry, so I strained to speak. “Brax.” His name came out no more than a whisper.

  He shot straight up, then rushed over to my bedside. He put his hand on my forehead. “You scared the shit out of me,” he huffed. “The fever is broken.”

  “I’m not in the E.R.?” I asked.

  “No, you passed out, and you were burning up. They gave you some meds, and I called your Aunt,” he said.

  “What’s wrong?” I rasped.

  “They won’t tell me,” he said as he poured a glass of water from a Styrofoam pitcher. “Here. This will help.”

  I raised up slowly, but he took the controls for the bed, tilting it up for me. “Thanks,” I muttered as I took a sip of the cool water.

  He pressed the button for the nurse, and my eyes shot up to him. “They will want to know you are awake,” he said.

  “Nurses’ station,” a voice crackled from a speaker behind my bed.

  “She’s awake,” Brax said.

  “We are on the way,” the nurse replied.

  “Just relax,” he said.

  I shook my head. “How long have I been here?” I asked.

  “You were here last night with Denton. His coach took him home. It’s just after noon,” he said.

  “Shit. I’m missing class,” I groaned.

  He placed his hand on my cheek like Ajax had. “You need to rest. Don’t worry about classes. I’ll take care of it,” he said.

  “Why are you here?” I asked.

  “Do you want me to leave?” His eyes filled with hurt.

  “No, I just didn’t know how you knew I was here,” I said.

  “I went to your house to try to catch you after trivia. I took Shawnna back to the sorority house, and I broke up with her,” he said, hanging his head.

  “Oh,” I said quietly.

  “I needed someone to talk to, but your aunt told me that you went with Denton to the hospital. So, I promised to bring you home. Only, I pretty much failed at that,” he said.

  The nurse came into the room with a doctor.

  “Mr. Stanwick, please back away from her,” the nurse said curtly.

  He backed away with that pain and hurt in his eyes. It made me hurt, too. He’d had a rough night, yet he stayed with me anyway.

  “Miss Ashscraft, I’m going to take your temperature,” the nurse said waving a thermometer in my face. I opened my month, then she jabbed it inside.

  The doctor picked up my chart, looking at it intently. He flipped through the pages with no expression on his face.

  “101,” the nurse said. The doctor nodded, and she stepped away from me.

  “Miss Ashcraft, would you like to discuss your condition in private?” he said, looking over the clipboard to Braxton.

  “He can stay,” I said.

  “Very well. Miss Ashcraft, you have a FOU which in layman terms in a fever of unknown origin. We will continue to monitor you, but in the short term, we are treating your fever with basic Tylenol. We’ve added a round of I.V. antibiotics to fight off any infection that we might have missed,” he said. “We need to complete a few more tests, but you should be able to go home tomorrow.”

  “So, you don’t know what’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Not at this time. We are treating the fever. I won’t speculate as to what it might be, because the causes could be any number of minor things to some pretty hefty medical conditions. It’s best that I don’t guess,” he said dryly.

  I looked to Braxton, because I didn’t know what else to ask. He took the queue and pipped up. “What’s it going to take to find out what’s wrong? If it’s money, that’s no object,” he said.

  “Brax,” I hissed.

  He held his hand up to shush me. My nostrils flared.

  “Mr. Stanwick, no amount of money is going to find the answer today. We will run tests, and go from there,” the doctor said.

  “I’ve already talked to my lawyer about our treatment in the Emergency Room,” Braxton warned.

  “Brax! Stop!” I demanded.

  “You shouldn’t upset her,” the doctor scolded him.

  Brax flexed his hands, then balled them up in fists. “Brax, please,” I begged. He stepped back from the doctor against the wall.

  “Miss Ashcraft, if he keeps this up, he will be removed from the hospital,” the doctor warned.

  “I understand,” I said.

  The doctor and nurse hurried out of the room, leaving me with the steaming Braxton.

  “What the ever lovin’ hell has gotten into you? Don’t you ever fucking shush me,” I growled.

  He slid his fists into his pockets and looked at the floor. “I’m sorry. You are all I have now, and I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “All you have?”

  “I told you. I broke up with her. The first thing she did was call my parents. Not her parents. No, she called mine. My dad lost his temper, and he’s on the way here. I don’t want to go home, and you are the only real friend I have, Lacey.” He sat down in the chair and covered his face with his hand.

  “He hasn’t disowned you? And you can’t threaten them with money. If your dad cuts you off, you won’t have anything,” I reminded him.

  “I cleaned out my account and hid the money. I’d use all of it if it would make you better,” he said.

  A light tap at the door interrupted our discussion. “Come in,” I said.

  Dakota Fane stepped inside the room, took one look at Brax, and scowled back at me.

  “Fane,” Brax said.

  He ignored Braxton. “Hey. I talked to your aunt. She told me that you were here. I brought all the notes for class. Are you okay?” he asked, stepping to the bedside.

  “Um, I dunno,” I said as his dark gaze locked on mine.

  “You gonna be here for a few minutes, Fane?” Braxton asked.

  “Yeah,” Dakota said, not taking his eyes off me.

  “I’m going to get some coffee. Do you need anything, Lacey?” Braxton asked. “No? Okay.”

  Braxton slipped out the door. As soon as it clicked behind him, Dakota leaned over and pressed his lips to mine. I forced myself not to respond to his affections. I wouldn’t get sucked into that trap again.

  “Kota, please don’t,” I said.

  “What’s wrong? Why are you here?” he asked, backing away. As much as my mind protested, my heart pounded with his intimate touch. I forced back memories and feelings.

  “A sudden fever. They don’t know what is causing it,” I said.

  He placed his palm on my forehead and winced. “Why is Stanwick here?”

  “He’s had some personal problems. I can’t talk about it,” I said. “Thank you for the notes. You don’t have to stay.”

  “What if I want to stay?” he asked.

  “You made it very clear that we weren’t going to be anything,” I said. Bitterness dripped from my words, and he turned his back on me.

  “I tried explaining it to you, Lacey. It’s not like that. I just can’t be in a relationship with everything that is going on in my life. School is important. I have no fortune to fall back on like Braxton Stanwick. I can’t believe you would fall for a guy like that anyway,” he said.

  “I haven’t fallen for Brax! He’s just here. He’s a friend. That’s it,” I said.

  “I saw the look on his face when I came in. He wanted to murder me. Does he know about us?” Dakota asked.

  “No one knows,” I muttered. His shoulders slumped.

  “Do you need anything?” he asked. “Does your aunt need anything?”

  “No.”

  “Lacey, please be careful with Brax. He’s charismatic and handsome and rich. I could see where any girl could fall for him,” he said without facing me.

  “Kota, I’m not falling for anyone. My heart can’t take it,” I admitted. Another jab at him. He deserved it.

  Our very first class of the semester was t
ogether, Economics. Through the day we found ourselves in three different classes together. Both of us had undecided majors, so we were just taking core classes. He was handsome and a lot freer then. We studied together. I introduced him to the group. The first time he kissed me, I melted. We kept the relationship from our friends, meeting at his small apartment after classes.

  Then, he started missing classes, skipping out on trivia night, and generally avoiding the group. He still kept his attentions up to me, but when I confronted him about it, he said that he had a lot on his mind about his family. He told me that he had to start working a part-time job to pay for school. I offered to help, but he was stubborn and refused.

  After a while, I couldn’t take him hiding his troubles from me. I blew up, and he took it. When I was finished, he simply said that the relationship wasn’t going to work because I was right. I deserved better. I didn’t want better. I just wanted him.

  It hurt even more seeing him in class and hanging out with the group at school. But we had hidden the relationship, so we had to hide the break-up. There were times, like when he kissed me, that I thought he still had feelings, but I convinced myself it was just habit. I truly believed that once you shared something intimate with someone it stayed with you forever. A lingering torture of memory.

  Dakota Fane was the reason I avoided all relationships. No one would ever compare to the connection we had had. I laughed at my idea that it was fate since we ended up in three classes together by coincidence. I was a fool. Looking at him reminded me of that foolishness. It also reminded me that I still wanted him.

  He turned to look at me. “I can say I’m sorry a thousand times, but it’s not enough. I know that. I never meant to hurt you.”

  “You should probably go,” I said, fighting back tears.

  He nodded in agreement. “Lacey, I don’t know what is going on with you. But something is different. Please be careful and take care of yourself.”

  “I’m fine. It’s a fever. I probably have the flu or something,” I said dismissing it.

  “Maybe,” he replied. “I made my own copies of the notes. You can keep those. I’ll get all the ones you miss.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He moved closer to me again, leaning over me. I prayed to any god that would listen that he wouldn’t kiss me again.