Love Immortal (19 page)

“It’s not just about you Collin.” She said
quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“I love you Collin, I know that. But I’m also
scared of you. I don’t know what you are.”

“What do you mean, ‘what I am’?” Collin
asked, suddenly anxious. “Maybe that’s what my uncle meant when he
said that I shouldn’t get close to someone. Maybe you’re right.
Maybe he’s right,” he whispered.

Jewell took his hand. She held it in both of
hers. “I’m not saying that it would change anything. It’s just
something that…well, I’m just scared. You’re different and it’s not
just that you’re a really great guy.”

Collin leaned over and kissed her cheek. She
was crying. Jewell noticed that she’d been doing that an awful lot
since Collin came into her life, which worried her too. She moved
over so that she was leaning against him. “Let’s not change
anything until we know something else.” Jewell said into his
shoulder. Collin nodded.

“Are you ready to go home?” The sun was
setting and almost all of the other visitors had left.

“I’m sorry Collin. I ruined such a wonderful
day. That wasn’t fair.”

“No,” Collin said. “I’ve actually been
wondering about it myself a lot. I told you, I shouldn’t have come
back to the hospital after I left. It would have been better that
way.”

“No, we’ll figure this out. It’ll be okay.
This is true love…you think this happens every day?”

“Princess Bride?”

“Very good.”

“Death cannot stop true love. All it can do
is delay it for a while.”

“Good point.” Jewell gave a short laugh.

“Let’s go. We can decide if it’s worth
talking about tomorrow.” He stood up and then reached down to help
Jewell from the pier. They walked slowly. Collin had his hand
around Jewell’s waist and Jewell’s head leaned against his side. “I
love you Collin Sykes, come what may.”

“I love you too, Jewell McKean, come what
may.”

Chapter 22

“Well, if you don’t have any plans for the
day, I’m going to go play softball with the guys. Can I trust you
two here alone?” He glared at Collin.

“Yes sir. I can assure you that my intentions
with your daughter are nothing but honorable.” Collin answered
formally.

“They better be. You never know when I’ll be
back. I can be gone for three hours…or I may just decide to drive
around the block and come right back.”

“Dad!” Jewell’s face was turning red as her
father continued his lighthearted intimidation.

Tommy McKean chuckled as he picked up his
mitt and a bat. He stood in front of Collin, swinging the bat,
testing the heft of it.

“Dad! He gets it!” Jewell buried her face in
her hands, embarrassed by her father’s display. Collin was a big
guy, but her dad outweighed him by a good twenty pounds and despite
his age, most of it was muscle. The firefighters spent a lot of
time training. Collin hadn’t missed that fact. Collin also hadn’t
missed the fact that Thomas McKean didn’t just have size, he had
experience. Regardless, Collin’s uncle had raised him with old
fashioned values. He had no intention of doing anything more with
Jewell than a little kissing.

Tommy finally decided to leave. When Jewell
was sure he was gone, she turned to Collin. “Let’s do something
really bad!” She grinned wickedly.

“What did you have in mind?” He asked,
intrigued.

“Let’s jump on the couch and then play catch
in the living room!”

Collin laughed out loud. “I knew there was
something I liked about you.”

They sat on the couch, Jewell leaning against
Collin, his arm wrapped around her. “Tell me about you.” She
said.

“What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know. Tell me about your Uncle
Percy. What’s he like?”

Collin shrugged, shifting a little so that
Jewell was settled comfortably against his side. “Percy is Percy.
He’s kind of a strange old coot.” He laughed a little. “He never
seems to take things seriously, but he’s really serious about
everything, if that makes any sense. Every single thing that
happens, he notices, and it means something.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“I don’t know. I guess he’s had a rough life.
He lost his wife before I was born. I guess he’s about what, fifty
five or so. Jeez, I never thought about it, but I don’t really even
know how old he is. It seems like he’s always been old, my whole
life. But I guess that’s just because when you’re five, someone
who’s thirty seems to have one foot in the grave!”

“How’d she die? Percy’s wife, I mean?”

“All I know is that she was really sick.
Uncle Percy brought in every doctor he could find, but no one could
do anything to help her. I think that’s why he went to med
school.”

“Wow. They must’ve been really young when she
died then.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, you said that Percy was a doctor
before your parents died, and his wife died before that. I guess
it’s just the math and all. It must have been pretty tough on
him.”

“You know, I never really thought of
that.”

“So, was your dad Percy’s brother, or was
your mom his sister?”

“It wasn’t like that. They were like cousins
or second cousins or something, but they were close and kept in
touch. His relationship was with my mom, but from the way he talks,
he really loved my dad too.”

“Do you think that’s why he moves you around
so much? He’s lost so much that he cares for, that he doesn’t want
you to get too attached to anything you might lose?” Jewell had
stretched out on the couch. Her legs draped over the end and her
head rested in his lap. She was looking up into his eyes as he
gently brushed her hair back from her forehead absently.

Collin brushed his hand back over his head.
Jewell thought that it looked like a habit he must have developed
when his hair was longer, before the accident. He looked like he
was pushing his hair back from his face. “Yeah, but not completely.
That’s not all of it. I’ve felt like that before, but since the
accident, I’ve overheard him talking to people and some of the
things he says…I think Dr. Babineaux at the hospital, he knows
too.”

Jewell sat up and looked at him. “Do you
think it has to do with the accident? Maybe something happened, an
injury that they aren’t telling you about.” She tried to think.
“I’ve only been working for a few months. I only just graduated. I
don’t know enough to even guess at what…”

“I guess that could be it, but I don’t think
so. I think it was something from before, something that Dr.
Babineaux found out because of the accident.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. That’s the problem. Look, can
we talk about something else. I can’t think about this. Every time
I try to ask him, he changes the subject, and the rest of my family
won’t tell me anything.”

“Yeah.” Jewell laid back down resting her
head in his lap again. She had to work tonight. She would pull his
file and see what she could find out. Whether Collin wanted to know
or not, she had to know.

“So what was it like, living in Europe?”

“I don’t know. I guess a lot like living
here. In most of the places, there were more markets instead of
grocery stores; places where you could buy really fresh food. We
shopped almost daily, instead of weekly like here. The languages
were different, but otherwise, it was pretty much the same.”

“I wish I could go somewhere. I’ve never been
outside of Louisiana, except once. I went to the Stennis Space
Center in Mississippi on a field trip.” She grimaced.

“That doesn’t sound so bad. At least you
didn’t have to learn a new language every three years.”

“I took Spanish in high school. Hola, como
estas?”

He laughed. “That’s one I missed. I’ve got
Ciao, come lei e? – That’s Italian. Bonjour, comment ca va? That
would be French. Det, hvordan har du? That would be Danish, and
Alo, ce mai faci? Romanian. Oh, and don’t forget Latin: Abyssus,
quam es vos?”

“I would have loved to know Latin in nursing
school.” Jewell sighed. “I still get a lot of the medical
terminology confused.”

“Speaking of which,” Collin said, glancing at
his watch. “What time do you have to work tonight?”

“I start at 6:00. I should probably call
Ashley and see if she wants a ride.” She grinned up at him, “just
in case.” She got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen.
She picked up the phone and dialed Ashley as she watched Collin
walk lithely into the kitchen. His graceful movements made her
breath catch in her throat.

“Hello?” She heard Ashley answer her
phone.

“Hey…” Jewell stopped to catch her breath.
“Hey, do you want me to pick you up tonight?” Jewell was leaning
against the counter, and Collin moved in front of her, placing his
hands on the counter on either side of her waist. Jewell could feel
his breath as he bent his head down to gently brush his lips
against her neck.

Collin heard Ashley’s answer through the
phone, “Do I have a choice?”

“No.” Jewell was barely able to choke out the
word.

“Let me guess,” Ashley said, sarcasm dripping
from her voice. “You have a guest?”

“Um hm,” Jewell mumbled.

Jewell heard Ashley sigh on the other end of
the line. “I figured that’s what’s been keeping you too busy to
call me.” Her tone was sharp, but Jewell could tell that Ashley was
teasing her. “Pick me up at five.” Ashley hung up before Jewell had
the opportunity to answer, not that she could have if she’d
tried.

Collin took the phone from her hand, and hung
it on the hook. He moved his hands from the counter to her hips,
and gently pulled her close to him. Jewell turned her face up to
his as he bent down. His lips brushed hers, and then moved to her
cheek where he gave her a gentle kiss; then to her forehead, where
he kissed her again. He pulled his head back just enough so that he
could look into her eyes, his lips even with hers. She could taste
his breath as he whispered, “I should let you get some sleep. You
have a long night ahead of you.”

Without thinking, she reached up, wrapping
her hands around his head, pulling it down to hers. Her lips
touched his and fire shot through her body. She felt his hands move
to her back, pulling her closer to him. His mouth sought hers
hungrily. She felt his tongue, moving over the inside of her mouth.
It was so soft and warm. He lifted her up, sitting her on the
counter so that her head was level with his. He leaned between her
legs, and she wrapped her legs around him wanting to feel his body
against hers.

Her breath started coming faster and she
could feel him, pushing himself against her. She tightened her grip
on his neck, pulling his lips tighter against hers. His hands moved
across her back, moving lower. Jewell felt the back of her head hit
the cabinet as he pushed himself against her. His hands found the
bottom of her shirt, and slipped inside, his warm hands, moving
against the skin of her back. She took one of her hands from his
neck and placed it on his chest, feeling his muscles beneath the
smooth cotton of his shirt pulsing as he moved.

Suddenly, she heard the grating of the front
door as it was pushed open. She pushed hard against Collin and he
stumbled back, tripping over a chair and just barely catching
himself on the table. Off balance, he fell into the chair he had
tripped on. Jewell’s father walked into the kitchen and examined
the tableau laid out before him. He looked first to his daughter.
He could read the guilt written on her face as clearly as he read
the newspaper. Collin, his face bright red, looked, if not guilty,
at least embarrassed. He could only imagine what he had walked in
on.

Collin and Jewell watched Jewell’s dad as his
eyes scanned from one to the other and back again. They watched his
face as it turned a subtle shade of red and his lips pressed shut.
Jewell’s father tried to remind himself that his daughter was an
adult, but it was so much easier to remember that she was still his
little girl. Collin cleared his throat, “so, like I was about to
say, since you need to work tonight, I should really go…now.”

“Yes, that would be a good idea,” answered
Jewell’s father, his arms crossed against his chest.

Collin walked toward the kitchen door to
leave. Jewell’s father made no attempt to move from his position,
leaning against the door frame. Collin looked at him, and turned
sideways, carefully sidling out the door, keeping his eyes on
Jewell’s dad the whole time. He walked to the door and turned;
seeing Jewell standing beside her father, his arm protectively
around her. “Good afternoon, sir. Umm…I’ll see you later
Jewell.”

“You hope.” Her father answered. Jewell
didn’t say anything as Collin carefully closed the door behind
himself.

Chapter 23

Jewell pulled up to Ashley’s apartment about
five minutes late. Ashley was outside pacing impatiently. As Jewell
pulled up to the curb, Ashley grabbed the handle on the door before
Jewell had time to come to a complete stop. Ashley jumped in and
pulled the door shut behind her. “Tell me every…” Her words trailed
off as she actually looked at Jewell. “What are you wearing?”

“Clothes. I prefer it to being naked,
partially because it’s more comfortable and partially because I
believe I could be arrested for driving naked in the state of
Louisiana.”

“Ha ha. I mean, where did you get those
clothes?”

“My closet.”

“Yes, but it is quite obvious that you didn’t
choose those clothes to put in your closet. Your taste isn’t that
good.”

“Gee, thanks for not pulling any punches
there Mike Tyson.”

“Oh, you know what I mean! Who bought those
for you? Did he buy them?”

“Yes,” Jewell answered demurely.

“Well, he definitely has good taste. These
are designer too! Not knock-offs. I’m impressed!” Ashley was
practically bouncing in her seat. “So tell me everything.”