Freefall (Santa Cruz Skydivers Book 1) (27 page)

Chapter Thirty-Six

Levi

Tony’s twin black eyes shone with hatred as he pointed his finger in my direction. “So you’re just going to let this asshole waltz in here and buy access to Bella? He’s the whole reason she is in here!”

Bobby stood up from the table opposite his brother. “Stop yelling, Tony, it’s achieving nothing. Are you forgetting that he actually found her and saved her life? He didn’t give her the pills and liquor. That was her choice. We enabled her, and now we need to do everything we can to save her. ‘Cause whatever they’re doing up there, it’s not working.”

Sitting beside Bobby on one side was Mike, with Andi’s parents on the other. They looked like they had aged twenty years in the past twenty-four hours. Andi’s dad was pale and drawn while her mom continually dabbed at her red, puffed eyes with her white handkerchief and rubbed her thumb over the cross on her necklace. Having already agreed to Derek’s proposal to fund her hospital stay and get in the best specialists in the country, they let their two youngest sons argue. In actual fact, they looked like they have very little strength to speak out.

Tony spoke to his parents again, his voice no longer raised. “This type of treatment he’s proposing doesn’t come cheap. Private room, specialist doctors flown in from around the world. I smell a rat and I want to know why he’s doing it. And I don’t believe it’s for his prodigal son.”

“Derek, now would be a good time for Taylor to speak. Don’t you agree?” I suggested. This argument was going nowhere. It was also taking up valuable time. Time Andi didn’t have.

Derek cleared his throat with a cough. “You are a very perceptive individual, Tony. I guess that’s why you work in law enforcement. Please take a seat, both of you, and listen while I explain.”

Tony and Bobby obliged, but both kept glaring at each other regardless.

My father addressed Andi’s parents. “Over the years, I’ve made some very big decisions, and not all of them were with the best of integrity. Do I regret these decisions? No. Except for one. The one where last week I had an article and photo placed in my newspaper aimed to destroy the relationship between your daughter and my son.”

Tony jumped up. “So it’s your fault she is laying here in an induced coma with possible irreversible brain and liver damage. You disgust me.”

“Tony, sit down and let Mr. James continue.” Anthony LaRosa found his voice and spoke out against his son. “I think we would all like to see where this heading. Please continue, Mr. James.”

Derek bowed his head in respect and continued. “My son and I have been estranged for most of his life. Yes, he has been involved in some less than favorable situations, and yes, I have bailed him out on more than one of those. But I love him. He is my son. I’m sure, as parents of four children, you can understand the unconditional love I am talking about.” He paused, looking at Andi’s parents for affirmation. Andi’s dad clutched at his wife’s hand and they both hummed in agreement. I almost gagged.

Derek’s eyes misted over. Not once had I ever heard him say he regretted his action, or seen him cry. I was sure if I also looked out the window, pigs would be flying and hell would be freezing over. I figured Taylor had been giving him acting lessons.

Derek continued. “Yesterday, Levi came to me and I saw how much your daughter meant to him. I have seen a change in him. Since his mother died, he had been lost, but your daughter found him. I can’t lose him again. I owe it to them both to give her the best treatment available. To give them a chance.”

I looked at my old man. If I didn’t hate him so much, his soliloquy would have touched my heart.

“Taylor, you can come in now,” Derek called out to Taylor, who had been waiting outside. “Taylor also has something to say to you all.”

In true Taylor fashion, she entered with flair—her long legs striding across the room and her hips moving side to side seductively. She flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder as she went and stood next to my father.

“Derek isn’t all to blame. I played my part, too.” Melodramatically, a single tear slid down her cheek. “I’ve always loved Levi. I couldn’t handle him being with anyone else, so I told Andi that Levi and I were back together. I’m so sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen.” She dabbed her at her eyes. “I’m here because Levi asked me to tell the truth to you all. He belongs with your daughter. I can accept that know, and I can only hope that one day, you will forgive me for my part in this.” Another tear rolled down her cheek.

Her acting skills hadn’t improved that much. She still acted like she belonged on a soap opera. Though, it didn’t matter what I thought. What really mattered was whether Andi’s family believed her and permitted me access to see her.

Andi’s dad looked at his wife and then his children. “I think I speak for all of us, Tony included, when we say we forgive you. What has happened has happened. We wouldn’t be very good Catholics if we couldn’t forgive. Andi has had a problem with her anxiety and depression for some time, we all just failed to notice to how out of control it had become. We shoulder a lot of the blame for trying to control her life. Levi, we can see how much you love our daughter, and we appreciate the lengths you have gone to by bringing your father here and paying for everything. Of course you can have unlimited access to her. I know it’s what she would have wanted.”

That was all I needed. I jumped from my seat, slapped my father on the shoulder, walked over to Andi’s dad, and shook his hand. Anyone would have thought it was Christmas morning. “Thank you, sir, you don’t know how happy I am. She’ll pull through this, just you wait and see.”

Andi’s mom started crying. “We hope so. God bless you, Levi.”

I gave her a hug, and followed up by giving Mike and Bobby a handshake. Tony flat out refused to take my hand, and instead glared at me. “I don’t shake the hands of criminals. I’m not fooled by this charade. You and I, we still have unfinished business. All I’m going to say is you make sure she pulls through this, or your life won’t be worth living.”

“Believe me, if she doesn’t, I don’t want to live. And you can take the first shot.”

He sneered. “Believe me, I will.”

****

My knees buckled under my weight and I gripped the door handle of the hospital room for support. Tubes and machines were everywhere, beeping and pumping life into the comatose figure on the bed. I checked the room number again on the door. 3A. And written above the number in a scrawled handwriting was the name LaRosa, Andreana, confirming the opposite of what I was hoping. That this was the wrong room. I hardly recognized her.

I drew in a deep, ragged breath, my eyes fixed on her still form. Slowly, my feet dragged across the floor, like a zombie, one shuffle after the other, until I was standing next to her. She looked fragile and vulnerable. I didn’t dare touch her.

Tape kept her eyes shut and a tube down her throat, while the life support machine pushed air in and out of her lungs. One machine fed her fluids through her nose and another into her veins on her hand, while one tube removed her waste. But underneath it all, she was still the most beautiful girl I had ever laid my eyes on. Like the first time I had met her, I was drawn to her.

Unable to resist the temptation to touch her, I tenderly brushed the back of my fingers across her cheek. “We’re going to fix you, Andi. I’ve arranged a new suite for you, and I’m getting a bed moved in. I promise you, I will never leave your side again. As long as you want me, I’ll be here.”

Carefully, I slipped my hand into hers, and a feather soft movement from her fingers made me jump.

“Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand.” I held my breath, waiting, but nothing happened.

“That can happen from time to time.” An attending doctor had just walked into the room with a clipboard full of notes. “It’s nerves in the body responding to the stimuli. That’s a good sign. It means her nervous system is still working, which means her brain is still functioning.”

“Will she recover?” I held my breath.

“To be honest, I don’t know. The odds aren’t that great. I need to check her vitals. Can I ask that you wait over in the chair until I’m finished?”

I moved to the uncomfortable plastic visitor’s chair by the door and dropped my head in my hands.
The odds aren’t that great
. Well, wasn’t it lucky that I was a gambling man?

He turned his back to me while he checked her over and wrote on her chart hanging on the end of her bed. He worked in silence for about three minutes and when he was done, he turned to face me again.

“Look, it’s only early days yet. We’ve put her in the induced coma to let her brain and body heal. Once we move her and bring in the specialist doctors, we will have a better idea of her survival rate. And until we run an MRI, we won’t know what kind of permanent damage there has been. It really all depends how long she had been without oxygen. She’s a very lucky girl she was found when she was. Most overdoses aren’t so fortunate.”

My voice was monotone, and I was unable to look away from her. “I found her. She wasn’t breathing and there was no heartbeat. But I didn’t give up.”

“Well, she’s lucky she had you there then. I take it you are the one paying for her treatment?”

I nodded.

“Then you’ll be happy to know they are moving her upstairs this afternoon. The nurses will be in soon to prepare her for the move.” He clamped his hand on my shoulder before he left. “Keep talking to her. She can hear you. I’ve seen some amazing things happen to patients that we thought would never survive just because they had someone who cared nearby. Don’t give up on her.”

“I don’t intend to.”

****

My eyes burned, but I refused to given in. Sleep could fuck off. I was needed here. My eyes drooped, my lids getting heavier with every blink. I let myself drift for a second, only to be woken by the sound of heavy footfalls on the sterile white tiles. Snapping my eyes open, I was greeted by Derek, sitting on the chair opposite me, on the other side of Andi’s bed.

“Son, I’ve returned from a meeting with Andi’s parents. It’s been a week, and there’s been no change in her situation. Her medical team has decided they are going to try to bring her out of the coma, and, I hate to have to tell you this, but if she doesn’t come around and breathe on her own, they’re considering their options.”

“What does that mean?” I couldn’t breathe.

“It means they’ll be turning off her life support.”

Heat flared in my body. “No, they can’t! She’s coming back. She’s still in there, I can feel her.” True to my word, I hadn’t left her side, even when her family and friends had come to visit, I had hovered. Every day, I had brushed her hair and washed her body. Every need she had, I met. I knew she wasn’t gone, she was only lost. I just couldn’t work out how to find her and bring her back to me.

“I’m sorry, son, but they are her family and next of kin. It’s not for us to decide. We’ve done all we can. It’s time to let her go.”

“We’ll fight them. Take them to court.”

He shook his head. “We have no chance of winning that fight, Levi. It’s done. They’ve already signed the papers.”

Tears pooled in my dry, tired eyes. “When?” My voice cracked.

“Tomorrow. They’ve allowed you one more night to say goodbye. They’ll be here in the morning and, if you want to stay, they’ve agreed to that, too.” Pity for me was etched on his face.

I snapped. I didn’t need his pity. “You’ll like that, won’t you? It means she’ll be gone. Just like my mother…”

Red slowly rose up his neck until his whole face was glowing in anger and he exploded. “I loved your mother. Rosa left me, not the other way around. She fell pregnant and I freaked out. Yes, I cheated on her, and yes, I was a complete bastard. I was young and stupid, only a few years older than you are now and driven to succeed. I realized my mistake far too late, and when I did, she was gone.” He ran his hand through his thinning grey hair.

My eyes narrowed accusingly at him. “You left her.”

He shook his head and looked out the window briefly, composing himself before he spoke to me again. “I begged for her forgiveness and asked her to take me back. I even pleaded with her to let me support you both, anything to have you both in my life. She refused, other than letting pay for your education. She was the only person in my life ever to say no to me, except you, of course. I could have tried to have you taken away from her, taken her to court and destroyed her, but I was ashamed. She was a strong, proud woman, and the day she died, a part of me died, too.”

I glared at him, refusing to believe his lies. “You abandoned us.”

“No. I tried for many years to reunite with you, but every time, she denied me. She was a smart woman, you know, keeping you away from me like she did. I didn’t deserve her love. I was and still am an asshole.” He cleared his throat and composed himself before continuing. “You are just like her in so many ways, but you also have my genes, which makes you just as pigheaded as me. I tried to buy her and I failed. I tried the same with you, and when that didn’t work, I tried to control you.”

I let go of Andi’s hand and balled my hands into fists in my lap. The only sound in the room was the methodical beeps of the heart monitor. After all this time, he expected me to believe this crap. “What bullshit are you trying to sell me? Why are you telling me this now? Why didn’t you tell me this after she died?”