Love M.D. (36 page)

Waking from my
sleep, I take some comfort in the fact
that Zoë sleeps soundly with her naked body snugly wrapped around me. It’s
almost 4 a.m. It bothers me that she’s having thoughts of leaving. I worry
enough about her as it stands, and if I couldn’t protect her or be with her, I
think I’d go insane. And I’m fucking pissed at myself, because I failed
miserably in that department tonight.

We have to find out who is doing
this, and fast, or I’m afraid the next time they make an attempt on her life,
they’ll be successful. Just the thought… Now I not only worry about Zoë and my
family, I worry about Robin’s role in all this, as well.

I slip out of bed, make my way
downstairs and dive into the comfort of the pool’s waters. So many things
occupy my mind, I have too many troubling thoughts. Besides Abby, what worries
me the most is the woman who lies in my bed, a woman I am so deeply in love
with.

I made myself a promise I’d never
get married again, and I’m not sure Zoë even wants to, but more and more I
think about what a future would be like with her—the actual description of what
future
means is yet to be determined.

It’s crazy that I’m having these thoughts
and feelings for a woman I’ve known for such a short time. It took me two years
to propose to Audrey, and then, I hadn’t even been scarred yet.

Maybe I need to be patient and give
her time. The last few months have been so difficult in so many ways for her,
and I don’t want to add to her stress.

I think about how wonderful she’s
been with Abby, and how Abby immediately fell in love with her. Abby told me
she wanted to get her a Christmas present, and I promised her we would
tomorrow, but that’s all up in the air right now.

Waking later that
morning, Zoë is not beside me. I
find her working on her laptop in the kitchen. Her leg is perched up across two
barstools on ice and somehow Pixie sits comfortably on her lap.

“Hey. What are you doing up so early?”
I kiss her gently on her neck and glance at her screen.

“Don’t look,” she pulls the screen
forward. “Mind your own business. I’m last-minute Christmas shopping.”

It’s nice to see her in a better
mood. I bite her neck, which evokes some loud protests.

“How’s your knee?”

“Better but still very painful.”

“And your throat?”

“Still a little sore but nothing
compared to how it felt after the fire.”

“RICE – learn it. Rest. Ice.
Compression. Elevation. It looks like you might have all on lock down except
the rest factor.”

“I don’t need my knee to shop
online.”

I can’t help but laugh at her
response. “That’s true, but I recommend it for your throat.”

“I’ve been thinking,” she says,
“you don’t get the opportunity to see Abby too often, and I think now that she’s
here, you should make the most of it. I think you should go ahead and do
whatever it was you had planned before yesterday. I’ll stay home. I think it’s
me they’re after anyway. Once I’m out of the picture, you two will be safe.
Plus, Doctor Drake says I need to rest my knee.”

“Zoë—”

“Don’t. Please. You two deserve
this time together, and this situation with me shouldn’t in any way interfere
with that.”

I’m about to respond when Abby
appears.

“Hi Daddy. Hi Zoë. I can’t find
Peaches anywhere.”

Lifting her tiny frame, I put her
on the counter before me. “Sweetie, she’s not here. She had an accident last
night, and she’s at the doggie hospital. But she’s going to be okay.”

She immediately starts crying. Zoë
leans over and holds her hand.

“Abby, look at me,” Zoë says.
“Sweetie, there’s no need for you to be upset. I promise you, she’s going to be
okay.”

“Can I go see her at the hospital?”

“Yes. Your daddy will take you. I
fell and hurt my knee last night, and I need to rest it, so I won’t be able to
go with you.”

Abby stops crying and Zoë looks at
me, smirking. I can’t believe she outsmarted me.

Lightly pinching Abby’s nose, I
ask. “You want me to help you pick out an outfit?”

“No thanks, Daddy,” she says,
leaping off the counter. “I can do it. Zoë is your knee going to be okay?”

“Yes. Thank you, mademoiselle.”

Abby smiles at her and disappears
up the stairs.

Zoë says, “Go have fun. Spend the
day with your daughter.”

I want to rebut, but I’m not
certain that I should.

“Please, babe. I’d feel much
better.”

Two hours later,
I drive with Abby in my SUV. I’m
going to try to bring Peaches home. As a precaution, two guards follow closely
behind.

“What did you want to get Zoë for
Christmas?” I ask Abby.

“Something pretty and sparkly.”

“Jewelry?’’

“What else is pretty and sparkly,
Daddy?”

“You.” I laugh.

“That’s funny. Daddy?”

“Yes.”

“Do you love Zoë?”

“I do.”

“Are you going to marry her?”

“How would you feel if I did?”

“I like her. A lot. I think she’s a
keeper.”

I laugh at her response.

“Daddy, are you going to propose to
Zoë the way Daddy Carlos proposed to mommy?”

Daddy Carlos! So that’s what she
calls him…

“I’m not sure, sweetie. When the
time is right, I’ll think of something special.”

I’m not sure if I want this line of
conversation to continue, so I quickly change the topic. I share my plans
regarding Peaches with her.

We spend a great deal of time at
the jewelry store. I should have known better than to bring a female with me…
it really doesn’t matter the age. Jewelry is to women what toys are to boys, so
I accept it.

After some more time at the pet
store then the veterinary hospital, I get Peaches everything she needs and take
her home.

Christmas is two days
away. What I really want to
give Zoë is a family. I want her to know that the Drakes are here to support
her, but given the mess Robin is involved in, I’m not quite sure if even I
would believe that if I were in her shoes.

I suppose the next best thing would
be to have the Koles over. Right now, they’re the closest thing to family and
probably the only people Zoë and I trust.

At about eleven o’clock, Lucas
rings me. Robin is here with the kids. I’ve barely seen her since Thanksgiving
because she’s been spending so much time out of state. But more and more
distance grows between us. I wish I could talk to her or figure out what was
going on with her. The one thing I do know is I don’t trust her anymore. I can’t
forget her lies.

The kids run into the house, and it’s
a pleasure to see them embracing Abby and kissing her all over her face. They
all laugh hysterically.

“It’s so nice to see them like
this,” Zoë says, placing her hand over her chest. “They’re so happy.”

Abby and the kids caress Peaches
for a second as she lies on her bed next to the Christmas tree, recuperating.
Peaches may be better, but she’s not up on her feet running around. Apart from
her wagging tail, she’s not very responsive. The kids quickly require a little
more excitement, and Abby takes them upstairs to show them her room.

Ten minutes later, when Robin has
not joined us inside I head outside to see what’s keeping her. She’s standing
outside the car, her back to the entry. As I open the front door, I realize she’s
on the phone.

I hear her saying, “I’m going to do
my best to make it.”

She turns, sees me and smiles,
wiggling her fingers at me.

“Well, I don’t know,” she
continues. “It’s such short notice. It takes twenty-four hours to get to that
side of the world both there and back. For me to get there in time, I’d have to
leave right after Christmas dinner, if not before. Let me think about how I can
work this out, and I’ll call you back in a couple hours. Sure. Bye.” She ends
the call. “It looks like I have to travel to China in a few days.”

“China? For what?”

“A friend was supposed to attend
this conference in a few days and had an accident and broke her leg. She wants
me to fill in for her.”

“Robin, you realize it’s Christmas
right?”

“I know, but I’m getting paid for
this.”

“Do you really need the money that
badly that you have to sacrifice spending Christmas with your family?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

“If you’re having financial
problems, why didn’t you come to me?”

“I didn’t say I was having
financial problems. I just think the money I’ll be getting paid for this is
worth the sacrifice. I’ll be able to get some new equipment for the clinic.”

“Did you completely forget the
conversation you and I had at Thanksgiving?”

“No I didn’t, but this is important
to me.”

“Robin, since when did you become
so selfish? What’s been going on with you? Why all the conferences? Why all the
lies?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking
about.”

“Enough with the fucking lies. You
think I don’t know that you’ve been lying to me? A few weeks ago, you told me
you were going to spend the afternoon with Uncle Tony. The next day, I asked
you how he was doing and you said he was great. You even went into some
bullshit story about how he was so happy you baked him his favorite cookies.
Then I find out he hasn’t seen you in almost a year. You tell me you were with
Dad, and then I find out you weren’t. You’re involved  with—”

“What’s going on?” Zoë appears.

“We’re discussing something, baby.
Can you please give us a minute?”

She stares me down for a moment
then responds, “I’d suggest you keep your voices down. I can hear you two from
the living room. Luckily, the kids are upstairs.”

“I’m sorry,” I reply.

Standing with her arms folded, Zoë
glares deep into my eyes. I know she’s warning me to shut up, because I was
just about to let loose on Robin about her involvement in Zach’s case.

“We’ll keep it down. I’ll be in in
a while. Robin and I need to finish this conversation.”

Zoë returns inside.

Robin places her hand on her hip.
“I’m a grown woman. This is none of your business.”

I’m shocked speechless at her
response. “Dad is my business. Are you aware of how much he misses you?”

“He’ll be fine. Abby is here with
him for Christmas.”

“Robin, we’re all he has—you and me
and that’s it. Since when did money become the be-all and end-all in your life
that you would sacrifice Christmas with your husband, children and family for
it? Don’t you even care to spend time with Abby? She’s here for just a few
days, and I have no clue when Audrey will let her visit again.”

With her arms folded, looking at
the ground, she retorts, “Well she’s not really my niece, anyway.”

“Fuck you, Robin. You are one
callous bitch. Don’t you ever say that shit to me again.”

“Well, it’s true. You want to get
on my case about travelling so much? Maybe if you had spent more time with your
wife, you would have known like everyone else that she was fucking Carlos your
entire marriage. Maybe if you were home, you would have impregnated her and not
your best friend. Don’t you dare judge me about wanting to travel because it
would put me in a better financial place. What I do with my life is my
business.”

“You’re one huge fucking
disappointment. Who the hell are you? I don’t even recognize you anymore. I
would have never believed that you could be so insensitive. You disgust me. I
can’t even be around you right now.” I turn to walk away, but one thing stalls
me. “Abby misses those kids. Leave them here to spend some time with her, and I’ll
drop them home later.”

“Fine.”

I return inside, leaving her alone.
Zoë looks at me in silence when I enter the house. Five minutes later, I hear
the ignition of Robin’s vehicle kick in. She didn’t even come in to see Abby or
say goodbye to her own kids.

Zoë hands me a shot of Jack. After
I swallow it she says, “I’ll be right back. Let me check on the kids to make
sure they’re okay.”

Nodding, I lean my head back as I
sit on the sofa and close my eyes. My sweet innocent sister isn’t nearly as
sweet and innocent as I thought. I’ve been battling this whole thing with her
in my head these last few weeks. I’ve never seen this side of Robin. I never
knew she could be this blasé. Now we have this huge fight just two days before
Christmas. I don’t want to ruin this time for the kids, or anyone else for that
matter—not José, not Dad, not the twins. But who the fuck am I kidding?

Zoë circles her arms around my
shoulders from behind and kisses me on my neck. “I’m so sorry,” she whispers.

“How much did you hear?”

“I think I got the gist of it. The ‘when
did you become so selfish?’ part grabbed my attention.”

“You didn’t miss much. I can’t
believe how unbelievably coldhearted she was. She seemed completely oblivious
as to how this affects her family.”