Indulgence (8 page)

Restlessly agitated, he moved from the stool, to pacing, to peeking out the curtained sliding glass door, hoping to see the nurse passing by. The beeps and sounds filling the silence didn’t distract him enough to bring a semblance of peace. His mind drifted back years to his hospital stay. He fought the resurfacing memories he’d yet to put behind him, the events cultivating him into the man he’d become.

“Where is she?”

The frantic voice saved him from his unwanted reminiscing. A distressed woman ran smack dab into him, bouncing off his chest. His quick reflexes saved her from careening into the floor. “Where’s who?”

“My sister Deja?”

Derek relaxed. “She’s having a CT scan done. My name’s Derek.” He set her firmly on her feet. “I’d offer my hand but you have them both right now.” He grinned.

“Katrina. Mama sent me to check on her, she doesn’t handle hospitals well.” Deja’s sister smoothed her clothing down. “Can you tell me what happened? The hospital called, saying she was in a car accident. Black ice is freaky. I kept imaging the worst all the way here.”

Derek motioned to the only comfortable chair in the tiny room. “She smacked into a wall of packed snow and bumped her head. They’re just checking her out.” He attempted to smile hoping it shone through.

“Oh thank heavens, that means she hasn’t broken anything.”

Derek took in Katrina, weighing her looks to his Deja’s and found slight similarities. Katrina had a more open welcoming air about her. Perhaps waiting for news with someone wouldn’t be as bad as waiting alone. “No need to worry, trust me, your sister was her good ole self cursing up a streak as they took her.” A soft chuckle left his lips. Pain radiated in the back of his neck, reminding him he was overdue for a massage. Instead of finding someone to work the kink out, he ignored the twinge.

“If you don’t mind my asking, how do you know my sister?”

“We share similar interests.” He avoided directly linking him personally to Deja, wanting to protect her wishes at the expense of his own.

“Look, I know Deja’s a private woman, she’s my sister and I know her well. If she was hiding something, one of us girls would’ve picked up on it.”

Derek clicked the nurse button on the remote attached to the bed, avoiding the question. “How many of you girls are there?”

“Six girls, Deja’s the oldest, then there’s me, Katonah, the twins Sarah and Toni, lastly Mercedes, followed by Jackson and David our brothers.”

Perfect, this one seemed to like to talk a lot. “Sounds like you have a huge family.” He watched her watching him not falling for the looming unsaid grilling. If this were a humorous situation he’d have his ear bent to a litany of rapid fire questions. No doubt both sides would be evenly matched.

“Mr. Tresvant.” Deja’s nurse popped her head in the room.

“Any news Jenny?”

“Yes, I’m so sorry. I meant to come in earlier.” She stepped in to acknowledge the additional family member. “The neuro surgeon has conferred with the emergency room doctor, they’ve decided Ms. Crane should remain overnight for observation.”

“Why? Did you find something bad about my sister?”

“Her injury isn’t severe or unnatural for a head bump she’s sustained from the car accident. Even slight frontal bleeds can swell up undetected. They just want to make sure hers doesn’t swell too much.”

Derek sighed in relief. “It’ll be okay Katrina.” He turned to address the nurse. “Do you know how she is doing?”

“Your sister is in great hands Katrina, this is merely a precaution, a prevention of sorts to reassure her and the docs that nothing else will pop up overnight. They fully expect to discharge her following first rounds tomorrow morning. You can go up to the second floor in about ten minutes. She’ll be in room 210a.The bed closest to the door.”

Derek gathered the bag of Deja’s clothing, purse, coat and his own. “Why don’t we go on up, she should be in the room by the time we make our way there.”

As Katrina grabbed her belongings, he held the door open for her and followed her out. At the nurse station he caught the unit clerk. “How do I get to the second floor?”

“Follow the exit sign to the lobby. Then take the purple stripes on the tile floor to the purple elevator, dark purple not the light blue stripes that look lavender, unless you want to end up in the maternity ward. Once you reach the purple elevator hit floor two and exit, follow the green tiles to the northwest wing and look on the wall to see which direction the numbers are heading.” She glanced up after finishing typing. “Need a repeat?”

“Yes,” Katrina answered.

“I got it.” He repeated verbatim her directions and took Katrina’s elbow, leading her in the direction they needed to go.

“That was amazing, how’d you do that?”

Once settled in the elevator after following the hospital’s version of the yellow brick road, he answered, “I have a knack for remembering things.”

“That’s cool.”

“How old are you Katrina?” With her young looks, he pegged her at just around twenty-one.

“I’m twenty-one. Why?”

How could he say that through her, he’d find pieces of Deja she’d shielded from him? “No reason.” Derek moved aside as the elevator doors opened and let her step off before him. On the wall a placard showed the room sections. “We’re close.” Derek took the lead following the room numbers until they reached Deja’s. From the hall, he heard her arguing with someone, he assumed the doctor. He rapped on the door and leaned his head inside. “There you are, Deja.” Censoring himself was difficult. Calling her beautiful was second nature. Being discrete was one thing, but a total three-sixty was another. The urge to hug her and kiss the top of her head hit him hard as was the need to backhandedly berate her for being pig-headed. Instead he opted for settling across the room. “You’ll stay the night and another if the physicians believe you need to.” His tone brooked no argument.

Deja lifted her head from her bed. “Katrina? What are you doing here?”

“When the hospital called, Mama said to come and make sure you were okay. She didn’t want to bring the whole family.”

Derek sat quietly intrigued with how this scenario would play out. If asked would she deny a relationship with him? Would he be an associate, or friend? In the end, he decided to give the sisters some privacy and followed the doctor out.

In the hall, he received the information he needed from the doc and headed down for a cup of coffee and a sandwich, checking his watch to gauge when he should make his reappearance.

They had never talked about her family. They had never talked much about her. He gave her the space she needed on the hope she’d let him into her life. Five sisters and two brothers was a big immediate family. A good portion of Deja’s stress came from her parents financial issues. She’d said her desire to become financially responsible for herself stemmed from her childhood.

He couldn’t recall seeing many pictures of her family on her walls. Nor could he remember seeing any photo albums lying about. Why? With that thought, he trekked through the hospital back to her room. His woman confused him, but he wouldn’t have her any other way. Arguing met his ears as he pushed the door open and walked in. “I’m back.” Approaching the bed, he laid his hand on hers and rubbed, needing the soothing touch more for himself. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit. Katrina please go home. Your questions are hurting my head. I just want some peace.”

Katrina sighed. Derek thought in resignation.

“You sure you don’t want me to stay overnight with you?”

“Positive. I won’t rest if you do. You never run out of things to talk about.”

Derek flashed Deja a look saying that was unnecessary.

“I’m sorry Kitt-kat, I’m not feeling myself.”

“You haven’t been feelin’ yourself for a looong time,” Katrina muttered under her breath. “Nice to meet you Derek.” She walked over and kissed her sister on her cheek. “Love ya.” Then she flounced out the door, shoulders slumped.

Against All Odds is in my Anthology Only Skin Deep. The first two in the antho, are All Woman an Flaws and All. Against All Odds is a full length novel. I included All Woman and Flaws and All, to share the relationship of three best friends.

About the Author

Being smart and sassy with a great sense of humor comes easily for Mahalia Levey. An avid reader of books, she found herself enchanted with disappearing completely into the worlds authors created. One day she vowed to herself she'd be one of them. Then family life came, and college right after. Swayed from her childhood course of action, it took many years for her to get back to that place she held dear as a child. Now she is running full steam ahead to keep up with the many ideas flowing freely. She plans on taking her work to higher levels and expanding her genres. Her main focus is giving her readers variety. Her works in progress include paranormal, fantasy and mainstream romance. Taking characters and watching them grow past what she’s imagined is her true passion.  

www.mahalialevey.com

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