Fate (36 page)

Rose sighed. “That’s okay. I can figure something out.”

“But I can come by today if you want. This way next week you’ll just have to go into the clinic one day. It’ll save you some time right? You said they take forever.”

Relieved that today was Lorenzo’s day off
,
she agreed quickly. “Yes, that would be great
,
if it’s not too much trouble.”

“No, not at all. Does a half hour from now work for you?”

“That’s perfect.”

Rose was gonna have to do something about this. She couldn’t be counting on Ben to do this for long. He said he didn’t mind and felt even more confident about his ability to give injections now
,
but something had to give. Grace had one more month to go before she had the baby. Rose could do this for one more month without having to worry Grace unnecessarily, and then she’d have to fess up. Especially because she knew Vincent would most certainly have an issue with this.

She’d only been waiting tables for about fifteen minutes when Lorenzo walked in wearing his restaurant polo.
What?

Putting her order in quickly
,
she hurried to the back and reread the schedules. She distinctly heard him say today was his day off. She didn’t even care anymore that he’d volunteered to work a few more weeks at this restaurant. He always had something new to share with her about Vincent that she’d missed out on this past year.
In fact now that she knew the truth, she liked having him around, b
ut not
today
. Maybe he was just here to pick up something. The schedule confirmed he wasn’t supposed to be there today. He walked in just as she was getting ready to walk out.

“Hey
.
”

“Hey,” she smiled nervously
,
“I thought you were off today.”

“I was.” He smiled
,
walking past her. “But Sal called from the doctor’s office. Seems your sister is having early contractions. The docs are trying to stop them.
He’s
gonna be there most of the day
,
and someone called in so I get extra hours this week.”

“What?” Forgetting about everything else Rose pulled her phone out. “Why didn’t anybody tell me?” Grace said her appointment this morning was routine. Just then she noticed the missed call she had from Sal and a voicemail. The time the call came in was just before her shift started. He must’ve called while she was on the line with Ben
,
and it went straight to voicemail. “Stupid phone.”

“He didn’t sound worried, Rose
,
” Lorenzo tried to assure her. “He said Grace didn’t even realize she was contracting until the doctor told her she was.”

Rose glanced back at Lorenzo as she listened to Sal’s voicemail.

“Rose just so you know, Grace is fine. The doctor is not even sending her to the hospital. He just wants to monitor here for a little longer. She’s fine, the baby’s fine, the only thing she’s worried about is you. No freaking out okay? We should be home a little later. Angel is gonna stop by to close up the restaurant for me. Don’t worry
;
I’ll keep you updated.”

Feeling an enormous relief she hung up. Just as she did, she heard Angel
’
s voice out front
,
and it was getting closer. Lorenzo was still getting his apron on when Angel walked into the back room. “Hey, Enzo
are
you just getting here, too?”

“Yep, just got the call about twenty minutes ago.”

“Good. This place gets busy on Fridays,” he turned to Rose with that dimpled smile that always made her smile big and goofy. “
Your
boyfriend
’
s out in the parking lot.”

That wiped the silly smile off her face in an instant. She glanced at Lorenzo whose own expression had gone
hard
.

With no time to explain she thanked Angel for letting her know, grabbed her purse
,
and rushed out without looking at Lorenzo again. She was almost at the front door when she heard Lorenzo’s voice just behind her. “Why’s he here?”

She turned to face him. “I asked him to come.”

“Why?”

“I told you I was going to talk to him.”

Lorenzo peered at her suspiciously. “You also said he wasn’t your boyfriend. Why couldn’t you just text him that he doesn’t have to play the part anymore? Or was he really your boyfriend and you’re actually breaking up with him now?”

Good Lord. Rose couldn’t decide
which
was worse. Having to have this conversation with Lorenzo now or having to have it later with Vincent
.

Looking over Vincent’s shoulder
,
she saw Angel walk out of the back room and look their way. “He’s not my boyfriend,” she said lowering her voice. “He never was
,
but he
is
my friend.”

“So what?” Lorenzo didn’t follow her lead of lowering his voice. Frustratingly he did just the opposite and raised his. “You’re gonna go out there and sit in his car with him again? And you really expect me to keep this from Vince?”

“I
have
to,” she said
,
noticing that Angel was watching them.

“What?” He spat out the question. “What do you mean you
have
to?”

Grabbing his hand and smiling at Angel
,
she pulled him outside with her. “Look, it’s long and too complicated to explain right now. He’s not just here to visit. He’s doing me a favor. I can’t get into the details with you
,
but I promise you nothing is going on between me and him.”

Lorenzo shook his head. He was as stubborn as Vincent had described him. “I don’t care what kind of favor he’s doing you. I know Vince wouldn’t be cool with this shit. He hates this guy
,
and here he is showing up all the time to see you? Nope.” He shook his head glaring at Ben
’
s car. “I should be hearing from Vince any day now
,
and when he asks
,
” Lorenzo stopped, bringing his piercing eyes back to her taking her breath away much like his brother always did with the almost identical stare
,
“
a
nd he
always
asks if I’ve heard anything else about you. I’m gonna have to tell him.”

No!
It was already going to be hard enough to explain Ben to Vincent without him hearing about all his visits first. Taking a deep breath she glanced over at Ben’s car. What to do? “I’m sick, Lorenzo
,
okay? Nobody knows but Ben
,
and I only told him because I need someone to give me injections twice a week
,
and he’s pre-med so he’s trained on that.”

She saw the glare soften a bit and the concern set in. “You’re sick? What’s wrong with you?”

“Pernicious Anemia. I have a vitamin
deficiency
that lowers my red blood cell count
,
and I need to be injected with
Vitamin B12
twice a week. Pills won’t help.” She turned back to Ben
’
s car. “That’s why he comes twice a week.”

“Is it…” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Is it
terminal
?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Well, from what I’ve read online
,
it could lead to other stuff that
would
be
terminal
,
but I think they caught mine in time.”

This time Lorenzo glanced in Ben’s direction. “So why don’t you just inject yourself. Why does he have to do it?”

“Because I’m squeamish and I can’t.” She frowned. “I’m gonna have to learn because I think this is forever
,
and I can’t be counting on him for that long
,
but for now
…”

“And there’s no one else that can do it?” The concern was gone now as he raised an eyebrow.

“I haven’t told anyone else. I don’t want to worry Grace in her condition.” Glancing back at Ben
’
s car anxiously
,
she wished now that she’d explained
,
Lorenzo would just go inside already. She didn’t want to make Ben wait all day. “I gotta go. He’s waiting for me.”

She took a step away from Lorenzo but slowed when she realized he was walking with her. “Tell him to go. I can do it.”

She stopped and looked at him. He
was
even worse than Vincent had described him. He was outrageous. “What?
You’re
gonna do it?”

“Yep
,
m
y grandpa was diabetic. Me and Vince used to watch him shoot up his insulin all the time. He even let us a do it a few times. No big deal. I’ll do it until
you
let everyone in on this. Then someone else can take over
l
ike your mom or Grace
,
n
ot some dude.”

“Just like that?” she lifted her shoulder letting it drop just as fast. “I’m just supposed to let you inject me.”

“Why not? You let
him
!” He pointed at Ben’s car.

Rose
reached out and tapped his
arm so he’d drop it and stop pointing. “
He
is pre-med.”

“Pre-med my ass. My grandpa didn’t even make it through grade school
,
and he shot up like nobody’s business.
Crack heads do it all the time. I take it you’re not even aiming for any veins with this right?
I’m telling you I
can
do this.”

Knowing Ben had already sat there waiting for her for a while and
seeing
Lorenzo’s unrelenting attitude about this whole thing, Rose could see she had no choice but to agree.

Exhaling exaggeratingly loud she gave in. “Okay, I’ll tell him.”

She started toward Ben’s car until she realized Lorenzo was coming with her
,
so she stopped. “Alone.”

Lorenzo frowned but finally let up taking a few steps back toward the restaurant
’
s front door. She didn’t look back to see if he was watching her. She didn’t have to. She had no doubt he was watching and making note of even the smallest details.

Vince

Coughing up what felt like sand in
his
raw throat
,
Vince
sat up
,
the searing pain in his arm a rude reminder of where he was. “
Mother Fu
—”

“Shhh!”

Vincent flinched as he turned to the glimmer of light that came from his side through a tiny hole. It was quickly covered as something or someone covered it.

“Keep it down.” The voice whispered again.

Vince flinched again when he felt something hard pushed against his ribs. The pain in his arm again so incredibly unbearable
,
he squeezed his eyes shut so hard
,
he literally saw stars.

“Take it,” the whispering voice insisted.

Vince didn’t bother opening his eyes. He
couldn’t see
a damn thing anyway. Feeling his hand out toward the direction of the voice with his good arm until he felt something hard and flat
,
he
immediately
recognized
it as a canteen. Instantly his mouth ached for water.

Bringing it to his mouth
,
careful not to knock any teeth out, he took the first glorious sip into his liquid
-
starved mouth. Even though it felt like lava going down his dry throat, he’d needed it so bad he gulped down some more again loudly.

“Slow, down, Private Moreno.” The voice pressed a little louder. “You’ll make yourself sick.”

Catching his breath after the last sip
,
Vince finally asked what he wanted to know. “Who are you? And how do you know my name?”

“Small sips,” the voice said again. “We’ve got plenty. I’ve been gathering them
,
but you’ll be sick if you drink too fast. I’m Sergeant Fetherman
,
a
nd your name is right there on your tags.”

Vince reached down and traced his tags with his fingers. “How’d you read it in the dark?”

He couldn’t see him
,
but he could hear the sergeant move away from him. In the next instant the small hole in the wall opened up. A ray of light so strong it made Vince squi
nt
lightened up the entire hole they were in. “Light comes in when I let it in.”