0-69 in 5 Minutes (8 page)

"I don't know, Mom." She prayed he would be
as tears formed in her eyes. This mess was all her fault. If she
hadn't lied, her mother wouldn't have tried to enhance Noah's
libido, and he wouldn't be fighting for his life. Guilt struggled
to the surface of her emotions once again, but now was not the
time. She had to stay calm for the sake of Noah’s life.

The front door opened and her father guided
the EMTs to Noah. In a matter of seconds, two men in blue uniforms
swarmed around his motionless body. They did a quick check of his
vitals, strapped him to a gurney and wheeled him out.

Grabbing his wallet, she ran outside. With
precision, the men lifted him in the ambulance. She climbed inside
next to Noah seconds before the driver closed the doors.

Cramped in the narrow space, her knees
pushed into the gurney. She took his hand, hoping he knew someone
was with him.

"Mr. White, can you hear me?" the EMT
asked.

Oh, crap!
She had to tell the hospital his real name and
somehow keep it a secret from her family. Then she realized she
didn't know any of his family, and they'd need to be notified.
She’d have to worry about that later.

"Sir, his name's Noah Kittler. Not Sam
White." She hung her head unsure how to explain this.

"Uh, are you sure? The lady said his name
was Samuel White." He checked his chart.

"I'm sure. The lady you talked to has a
mental condition." She didn't know who he had talked to in the
middle of all the chaos. Nor did she care. They had both acted
strange tonight. And her mother had gone too far by giving Noah
oysters.

The man made a note in the chart. "And you
are?"

"Valerie Jordan, Noah's," she paused. If she
told the truth, they wouldn't let her see him in the hospital.
Family Only Rule. "Fiancée."

"Then I guess you should know his name."

They remained quiet the rest of the trip,
except for the machines hooked up to Noah. It seemed like hours
before they got to the hospital, but it couldn’t have been since it
was only three miles from her house.

The back doors swung open. EMTs rolled Noah
out of the ambulance and into the emergency room. She tried to
follow, but a hefty nurse grabbed her shoulders and stopped her at
the registry desk. All the boxing in the world hadn’t prepared her
to escape this woman.

“
I’m sorry miss, but
you’ll have to wait here.”

“
But—” she tried to
protest; her heart ached for Noah.

“
I know, but you have to
let the doctors do their work.” The nurse steered her toward the
desk, feet dragging and gaze on the swinging doors that separated
her and Noah. Man, this woman was strong.

The nurse handed her a clipboard. “I need
you to fill out these papers the best you can. If you have any
questions, just ask me. I’m Nurse Florence.”

She took a seat in the empty waiting room
and flipped through the papers. Page after page. Name, address,
phone number, insurance provider. The list went on and on. How the
hell could she fill this out? She didn’t know any of the answers.
But she’d brought his wallet! Thank God for small favors. She
pulled out his driver’s license and began to fill in the
blanks.

She laughed when she filled in his middle
name. Precious. Who named their child Precious? She’d have to ask
him about it, sometime when he felt better. For now, she
concentrated on his address, and realized she’d driven by his place
a time or two. An old two-story farmhouse with an auto shop next to
it about fifteen miles outside of town.

After filling in his insurance information,
the doors opened and her parents and Bree rushed in. “What are you
guys doing here?”

“
We came to see Sam. Where
is he? Is he all right?” Her mother hurried to her.

“
I don’t know anything
yet. All I’ve done is fill out stupid paperwork.” She held the
clipboard close, careful not to show his true name. This would
never work. Somehow she had to keep them from seeing him and
finding out his true identity.

She took the clipboard to the nurse,
returned to her family and found a seat. “There’s no need for
everyone to be here. Really, I’m fine.”

“
Don’t be crazy, pumpkin.
This man means a lot to you. The least we can do is support you
right now.” Her father placed his arm around her shoulders and
rubbed her arm.

“
Thank you, Daddy.” She
leaned into him and breathed deeply. Musky cologne—the scent of
Daddy—soothed her muscles. Tension fled from the top of her head
down through her toes.

Her mother sat down on the other side of
her. “Just how much does he mean to you?”

“
Judith, not now,” her
father said, soft but firm.

“
Hush up, Hank. The girl
is closing in on thirty, and I don’t have one grandson to
hold.”

“
Mother, please, let’s not
do this now.”

“
No, we’re going to talk
about this, now. Condoms in his wallet. I thought you two were
serious about each other? I’m waiting for him to put a ring on your
finger, and when a condom falls out of his wallet, you looked
surprised. Is this one cheating too?”

Hell if she knew. The condom had surprised
her too. They hadn’t used one last night, but maybe he’d wanted an
encore and came prepared. The thought enticed her, sent tingles
through her stomach. Maybe he’d enjoyed it as much as she had. Or
was the condom meant for someone else? The tingles evaporated.

Confused, she shook her head. It didn’t
matter who he slept with. He wasn’t hers, not really. And they’d
just met last night.

“
Ew, and with who?” Bree
used her juicy gossip tone.

“
What does that mean?” She
sat up from her father’s embrace. There was nothing wrong with
Noah. Why would Bree be disgusted by him?

Bree placed her hands on her hips and rolled
her eyes in the spoiled brat fashion she was notorious for. “It
means the man is gay, bisexual, a cross-dresser.”

“
He is not!” Where the
hell had that came from? No way was he any of those things. He
happened to be
all
man.

“
Val, you don’t have to
lie. We all know it. I saw an ad in the paper for Sam White
performing at the T-Back Lounge as Samantha White.”

Oh God! This couldn’t be
happening.
They think he’s a
cross-dresser. What am I going to do? Tell the truth.

“
Dear, I don’t care if
Sam’s a cross-dresser. Your father and I are fine with it. Just
keep your man pleased and produce me a grandson.” Her mom patted
her hand as if she was in junior high and she’d just spilled her
milk.

Bree snorted. “Well, I care that he’s a
cross-dresser. Even if no one else does!”

“
Okay, Bree that’s enough.
Let’s go get some coffee.” Her father took Bree by the arm and
dragged her from the room. Feet stomping the whole way like a
two-year-old. Come to think of it, Bree probably looked liked she
had with nurse Florence.

As much as she hated it,
she was alone with her mother now and she had to tell the truth.
She couldn’t let them think he was a cross-dresser, and he’d never
go along with it. Would he? Well, maybe if she upped the offer to
two grand. She shook her head. What was she thinking? No,
no.
Be honest
.
“Mom—”

“
Honey, forget her. Sam
can wear whatever he’s comfortable in. He’s a fine looking stud. I
know what you see in him. Good package too.”

She did not just say
that
. Her face flushed and she scanned the
room, hoping no one had entered. However, Nurse Florence had choked
on her coffee and spat it out all over the desk, and now wiped at
her computer frantically.

“
Val, darling, don’t you
want children?” Her mom lowered her voice and patted her hand
again. She hated when her mother did that, but she knew it was her
way of saying she cared. “A family? I know I loved being a mother,
having a family to love and care for. ”

The anger pumping through her veins calmed.
Her mother’s childhood had been less than desirable. A foster child
thrown from house to house, without a place to call home. As
annoying as she could be, her mother had doted on her and Bree and
had been a loving parent.

Nurse Florence stared, shamelessly
eavesdropping as her mother waited for her answer.

“
Yes, I want kids. I want
to be a mom, but it has to be right. Getting pregnant by just any
man won’t do. I want a good man, a nice guy like Daddy. Someone who
isn’t a jerk and doesn’t cheat on me. Someone who wants to be a
dad. Someone who will be around when times get hard. Mom, please
don’t push N… Sam. He’s nice and kind, sweet and gentle. Let me
work it out in my own time.”

“
Okay.” Her mother dropped
her hand and glanced away.

“
What?”

“
I said okay, but don’t
make me wait too much longer. I promise I’ll never feed Sam oysters
again. However, I get antsy and do crazy things. So, you’ve been
warned.”

“
Thank you.” She hugged
her mom, hoping she could trust the words she’d heard. Then she
prayed her mother wouldn’t kill her when she broke up with
Sam.

After she ended the hug, she noticed
Florence talking to a doctor and pointing her way. She rushed to
him. She needed to get to him before he leaked Noah’s name.

“
How is
he
doctor?”

“
A bit groggy, but stable.
We’ve moved him to ICU. He’s suffered a severe case of anaphylactic
shock. Now generally, at this point the worst is usually over, but
symptoms can reappear within the first twelve hours. And with his
history of anaphylactic shock, we’re going to have to keep him over
night to monitor him. If everything goes well, we’ll release him in
the morning into someone’s care.”

Wow, how many times had he been in the
hospital for anaphylactic shock? Poor guy. “Can I see him?”

“
Sure, but only you, and
for a short time.”

She sighed in relief for three reasons. One,
he was okay. Two, she could see him. And three, the doctor hadn’t
said his name. That issue had been avoided. The cross-dressing
matter would have to wait until later. That list seemed to be
piling up fast, but right now, she needed to see Noah.

* * * *

Judith waited until Val left with the
doctor, and then she searched for Rita. Rita DuPont had been her
best friend since they were kids. Their fathers had been business
associates and the two of them had hit it off the first time they
met at a summer BBQ.

She and Rita had gone to college together.
Rita had become a nurse, married and tried to start a family.
Judith, on the other hand, had gone back home to work at her
father’s company where later she’d met Hank.

The hallways were quiet, all but the sound
of her heels clicking on the tiles. Lucky for her, Rita happened to
be an ICU nurse who worked the evening shift. Something about not
having to lift and move a lot of patients or deal with them while
they were awake enticed Rita.

Walking through the double doors, she knew
it was her lucky night. Her friend sat behind the desk, typing on
the computer. “Well, well, if it isn’t my dearest friend in the
whole wide world.”

“
Judith! What are you
doing here?” Rita stood and gave her a warm smile.

“
Valerie’s boyfriend had
an awful mishap at dinner tonight. He lost consciousness and had to
be rushed here in the ambulance. It was all rather upsetting to say
the least.”

“
You mean that guy they
brought in a few minutes ago is Valerie’s new man?”

“
Girl, I do. Sam White.
Which is why I need your help.”

“
Help with what? I know
that look in your eyes. You’re up to no good. Again.” Rita laughed,
and her eyes lit up with mischief.

She leaned across the counter and whispered.
“I need you to run a test on him. See if he’s fertile.”

Rita held her finger up and turned to a
nurse at the other end of the desk. “Hey, Gina, cover me for a few
minutes while I go get some coffee.” She came out from behind the
desk and grabbed Judith’s elbow. “Walk with me.”

Once outside in the hallway, Rita began.
“Are you crazy? I can’t run a test like that.”

“
Why not?”

Rita started to pace. “Why not? Because I
need semen to do that. I don’t care how much drugs he’s had, or how
much fun it would be for that matter, I can’t just whisk in there
and jack him off.”

“
Can’t you do a blood test
or something?”

She stopped pacing and let out a breath. “I
can check his hormone levels. See if he has a high count of
testosterone, but that won’t give us a sperm count or tell us if
he’s fertile.”

“
That won’t do. We need to
know if he can get the job done or not.”

“
Sweetie, I want to get
back at your father as much as you do, but I don’t see how this can
help us. They still have to have sex for her to get pregnant. And
then it has to be a boy. I can’t tell if he shoots X’s or Y’s from
a fertility test.”

“
I know.” She shook her
head and ran her tongue across her teeth. “Time’s running out.
Erin’s getting married in a few short months. Now, my sources say
she’s not pregnant, but they want to start having kids right away
and her fiancée comes from a large family of boys. If she has a
boy, we’ll lose everything we’ve worked for. That old bastard will
give her kid
my
inheritance. Which means your share will be gone
too.”