Fort Lupton (4 page)

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday afternoon — 4:35 p.m. ET

Atlanta, Georgia

Yvonne hadn’t said a word since they got off
the plane in Atlanta. She’d just stepped through every interaction
with a determined look on her face. She didn’t even say goodbye to
Jeraine and Schmidty when they raced off to the courthouse to file
papers to stop this madness.

Tanesha watched her mother from the corner
of her eye. She wasn’t sure if Yvonne was going to explode or
simply dissolve into rage. Her mother could also go crazy. Tanesha
closed her eyes as scenes from Yvonne’s drug days flashed before
her eyes.

The cab pulled to a stop in front of Atlanta
General. A herd of reporters and cameras were focused on the front
of the hospital. Tanesha groaned.

“
Y’all trying to avoid
them reporters?” the cab driver asked.

“
Is that possible?”
Tanesha asked.

“
My sister works here,”
the cab driver said. “I can take you to the employee
entrance.”

“
That would be lovely,”
Yvonne said.

Tanesha was so surprised that she gawked at
her mother. Yvonne winked at Tanesha.

“
I’ll call my sister,” the
driver said. “She’ll meet you at the entrance.”

“
Why are you helping us?”
Tanesha asked.

The driver looked at her in the rearview
mirror and started driving. He placed a call to his sister before
looking at Tanesha again.

“
You Miss T?” the cab
driver asked.

“
My father calls me that,”
Tanesha said.

“
That’s what I thought,”
the cab driver said. “You going to take that boy home?”

“
We’re here for Jabari,”
Yvonne said.

“
And you’ll keep him from
that horrible woman?” the cab driver asked.

Tanesha scowled at the question, but Yvonne
nodded.

“
That boy deserves a lot
more than that woman for a mother,” the cab driver said. “We saw
the show where she put the boy on a plane
and . . .”

The cab driver shook his head and sucked at
his teeth. Tanesha glanced at her mother. Yvonne was grinning.

“
What?” Tanesha
asked.

“
We make friends
everywhere,” Yvonne said.

The cab slowed at the corner and the door
opened. A man who had the muscles and blond bowl cut of the cartoon
character He-Man stepped into the cab.

“
Hey!” Tanesha
said.

“
He’s with us.” Yvonne
scooted over to make room for him.

“
Mom!” Tanesha
said.

“
I was assigned to guard
you,” He-Man said. “Trece said to tell you that he couldn’t be
here.”

The cab driver took a driveway near the
back.

“
You don’t think you need
it, Tanesha?” He-Man nodded toward the band of reporters waiting to
get scoops at the employee entrance.

“
What’s going on?” Tanesha
asked.

“
Someone needed some
publicity,” He-Man said.

“
Annette,” Tanesha said
under her breath.

“
We hide the misdeeds of
man with salacious misdirection,” He-Man said.

“
Churchill?” Tanesha
asked.

“
My uncle Chet,” He-Man
grinned. “He was a magician.”

The cab pulled to a stop by the door.

“
This is the best I can
do,” the cab driver said. “My sister’s waiting just
inside.”

He-Man paid the driver and got out of the
cab. He helped Yvonne and Tanesha out of the cab and covered them
with his enormous jacket. Tucked under He-Man’s arms, they scurried
past the yelling reporters and through the employee entrance of the
hospital. The cab driver’s sister let them inside.

“
You Miss T?” the cab
driver’s sister asked.

“
Tanesha,” she said. “This
is my mother, Yvonne.”

Tanesha looked at the bodyguard.

“
This is He-Man,” Tanesha
said. The large man laughed. “He’s with us.”

“
Good,” the woman said.
“I’m Kareen. I’m Jabari’s nurse.”

“
You are?” Yvonne asked.
“What a lucky coincidence.”

Tanesha gave Yvonne a strong look. She had
the sneaking suspicion that Yvonne had made all of this happen. But
Yvonne just gave her a sweet smile.

“
How is the child?” Yvonne
asked.

“
Did you bring the custody
papers?” the nurse asked.

“
I have them,” Tanesha
said. “The last orders from the judge in Denver, but I
thought . . .”

“
They look legal to me,”
Kareen said. “Come on. Your boy is waiting for you.”

With that, Kareen turned in place and went
to an employee elevator. They took the elevator up to the tenth
floor and got off. From the elevator landing, they could hear
people talking all at once.

“
Shit,” Kareen said. “Stay
here.”

Kareen went to the nurses’ station and
called hospital security. While they watched two men in black
uniforms arrived. In a few minutes, they escorted the camera crew
off the floor. When the camera crew got close to them, He-Man told
them to turn away. The camera crew didn’t notice them. When they
turned back, they saw Annette screaming at Kareen at the nurses’
desk.

“
This way,” He-Man
said.

He put one arm around Yvonne’s shoulder and
the other around Tanesha.

“
How . . .?” Tanesha asked.

“
I’ve been here with the
boy since he got here,” He-Man said. “You don’t think Trece’d leave
him here all alone, do you?”

“
But . . .”
Tanesha started.

“
We have a soft spot for
little sick kids,” He-Man said.

“
Of course you do,” Yvonne
said.

He-Man directed them down a hallway. They
reached a door with a glass window in it.

“
They don’t usually keep
kids in these rooms,” He-Man said. “But they didn’t want him
exposed to the cameras.”

He-Man pressed the door open. Tanesha
blinked. For a split second, she could have sworn that she saw a
giant elephant dancing around the room with a pink rider on its
back. Jabari was laughing and cheering. When she blinked, Jabari
was quietly sitting in his bed. Tanesha squinted to see if she
could find Abi, who had to be here.

“
Mommy?” Jabari
asked.

Tanesha’s heart melted. All thoughts of
finding Abi, and figuring out what was going on, fled her mind. She
rushed to the bed. He threw his arms around her neck and Tanesha
pulled Jabari onto her lap.

“
I just love it when
things work out,” Yvonne said. “Don’t you, He-Man?”

“
I do, Miss Yvonne,”
He-Man said. “I really do.”

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday afternoon — 3:17 p.m. MT

Denver, Colorado

“
How is Mr. Chesterfield?”
Blane asked after Heather finished catching him up.

She was standing with Akeem, Jill, and Sandy
on the other side of the glass. Jill was still wearing her twin
sandwich. Blane was sitting in a vinyl-covered chair.

“
He’s lost an eye,”
Heather said. “Broke some ribs and . . .”

Rather than finish, Heather gave a grim
nod.

“
How awful,” Blane
said.

“
It’s pretty awful,”
Heather said.

“
And there was
nothing . . .” Blane gestured to Jill. Jill shook
her head.

“
We can only help him heal
now,” Jill said.

“
But they think he will
heal?” Blane asked.

“
They’re pretty sure,”
Jill said.

“
And Jabari?” Blane
asked.

Heather, Jill, and Sandy looked at each
other. Akeem looked at the ground.

“
What?” Blane
asked.

“
Just a lot of drama,”
Sandy said. “The doctor told Yvonne that Jabari is doing really
well. He’s in good spirits, especially now that Yvonne and Tanesha
are with him.”

“
Annette’s being an
asshole?” Blane asked.

They nodded. Blane looked so ill that they’d
agreed not to burden him with the awful details of Annette’s
behavior.

“
So today’s the day!” Jill
said. “We wanted to be here to help you celebrate.”

“
And Akeem?” Blane
asked.

“
Yeah, I know, right?”
Akeem asked. “They’re teaching me how to be a lover.”

Blane raised his eyebrows and laughed. Akeem
gave a cocky grin.

“
He wants to learn how to
heal things,” Heather said.

“
I bet.” Blane
smiled.

“
You think this stuff
works?” Akeem asked.

“
It’s the only reason I’m
alive,” Blane said.

“
Fair enough.” Akeem
nodded.

They waited in an awkward silence for a
moment. The nurse and doctor came in behind them. They helped
Heather dress in scrubs and asked everyone else to step back.
Heather went into the room with the doctor and nurse while Jill,
Sandy, and Akeem waited outside. They had just closed the door when
Tanner, the twin on Jill’s back, woke up. Sandy picked him up out
of the holder and Akeem helped Jill get Bladen. With a little
soothing the babies settled into being held.

Inside the room, Blane was back in bed, and
the nurse hooked up the cord blood to Blane’s IV. The doctor was
talking a mile a minute, but they couldn’t hear what he was saying.
Heather was holding Blane’s hand. They both looked overwhelmed.

Jacob and Sam came into the room. They waved
to Blane. Sandy greeted Jacob with Tanner, who he took from her.
Jacob kissed Jill’s cheek and stood behind her.

“
We’re ready to start,”
the doctor said over the speaker so they could hear. “Are you
ready?”

“
I’m ready,” Blane
said.

“
Okay,” Jill said in a low
tone. “We want to focus our love on the blood going into
Blane.”

“
Heather, this is it,” the
doctor said. “Are you ready?”

“
I’m ready,” Heather
said.

“
Nurse?” the doctor
asked.

The nurse turned the valve. They watched the
red blood flow through Blane’s IV and into his arm. Jill felt like
she held her breath through the entire infusion.

“
Taste garlic?” the doctor
asked.

“
I do,” Blane said. He
glanced at Heather.

“
I have to ask everyone to
leave now,” the doctor said. “You need to sleep. The most important
thing is for you to rest.”

Sam held open the door. Akeem and Sandy
left.

“
We’ll meet you out here,”
said Sam before he followed Akeem out of the room.

Jill didn’t dare take her eyes off Blane.
She felt more than saw her twins doing the same thing. Jacob put
his arm around her and guided her from the room. They met at the
elevator landing.

“
We want to imagine that
the cells are going into Blane’s bones,” Jill said. “They are
growing and dividing. Can you see them?”

Akeem and Sandy nodded their heads.

“
Good,” Jill said. “Me
too.”

A few minutes later, Heather joined them.
She looked worried and exhausted.

“
Come on,” Jacob said. “We
have dinner waiting for us at the Castle.”

They stepped onto the elevator together.

“
I think Delphie made a
casserole,” Jacob said.

Everyone groaned and he laughed.

“
Mike’s running the
grill,” Jacob said.

When they reached the ground floor, no one
wanted to get off the elevator. Sam put his arm around Heather and
guided her from the elevator. Sandy and Akeem followed. Jill stood
on the elevator.

“
You think he’s going to
be all right?” Jill asked Jacob.

“
I don’t know,” Jacob
said.

With a nod, Jill and Bladen left the
elevator. Tanner made a sound at his mother and brother’s
departure.

“
I hear you, son,” Jacob
said.

They left the hospital in a worried
silence.

Clear my head

Tuesday night — 9:22 p.m.

“
Thanks for staying,
Charlie,” Sophia said.

“
It’s a good shift for
me,” Charlie said.

“
You didn’t have to stay
another hour,” Sophia said.

Charlie shrugged and held the door open for
her.

“
I just want you to know
that I appreciate it,” Sophia said.

Charlie pulled the door
closed, and Sophia locked the door to Sam’s No. 3 on
15
^th
Street. Charlie gave it a tug to make sure it was locked.
They had closed up the restaurant. The cooks and clean-up crew were
still inside. Their job was to clean up the restaurant and make
sure the doors were locked. They went to the bar entrance and
checked that it was locked. It was supposed to be Sophia’s job, but
she always got a little scared being there at night. The manager
let Charlie stay so she wouldn’t have to be alone.

“
I feel a little safer
having you here,” Sophia said.

Charlie grinned.

“
I can walk you to your
car,” Charlie said.