On The Dotted Line (25 page)

Her
instinct betrayed her. Since Christmas she swore he felt something for her, but
no matter what, as he eloquently stated in his letter, the marriage would end,
which was why every time she mentioned the end he didn’t argue. He didn’t want
a wife, and therefore, he didn’t want her.

She
spent weeks trying to distance herself, a strategy she should have continued,
but she followed yet another dream only to be woken up in a shocking manner. Oh
she wished she would have gone to school then maybe she would have been smart
enough to see this coming. Unfortunately, the tarot and tealeaves betrayed her.

Nan
would simply tell her she asked for a disaster the moment she agreed to marry a
man with the end in sight.

The
tears dried, she couldn’t afford them.

Instead,
she left Randolph’s closet, walked across Randolph’s suite and pulled her
wallet and cell phone out of Randolph’s purse.

The
light on her phone flashed indicating a message, probably her so-called husband
needing something else when she had nothing left to hand over. Randolph owned
everything.

She
exhaled, hit the button and froze.

No,
Randolph didn’t call, but Jade had as well as Slate multiple times. She hadn’t
yet spoken to them, apologized for all that happened, and in turn they kept their
distance only giving her waves or head nods if they passed each other in the
alley.

Before
she had the chance to listen to even one message, Jade’s name flashed across
her screen.

She
almost dropped the phone in her attempt to answer. “Jade, I’m sorry.”

“Willow!”
Jade practically screamed into the phone.

“What’s
wrong?” She held on to the edge of the dresser and concentrated on hearing her
friend over her own heartbeat.

“I
went to your shop to talk to you and found Nan passed out on the floor. I called
911 and we are on our way to Cedars Sinai Hospital.”

The
tears she fought won out and streamed down her cheeks. “What happened?” She
only remembered Nan having one cold in all the years they were together. Nan
called it a sniffle, took some herbs and the next day she was fine.

“We
don’t know. Slate and I are on our way, meet us there.”

She
rushed toward the door. “Is she alive?” Bile stung the back of her throat and
her muscles threatened to give out, but she managed to reach the stairs.

“Yes,”
Jade whispered.

“I’m
on my way.” She hung up and went to call Randolph. A woman should be able to
call her husband in times like these. He would make it better, he should make
it better. She wouldn’t be alone.

Instead,
she dropped the phone and ran down the stairs in search for someone else to
help her. He was her husband in name only. She would have been better off as
one of his staff members.

On
Christmas Eve Willow told Randolph how strange it was when time changed things.
Equally as strange was how many things remained unchanged. A hospital never
changed. Maybe technology changed or staff changed but at its core a hospital
was a place where one faced the bare essence of being human, life and death,
gain and loss, every emotion here had a corresponding side. A yin and yang.

The
last time she entered a hospital she lost. Maybe the universe would balance
itself out and give her a gain. Though almost two decades had passed since that
day, the passing time didn’t change the hurt.

After
running through a maze of corridors, she finally caught sight of fluorescent green
and ran toward the woman she considered her friend before she lied.

“Willow.”
Jade held her hand out.

Even
with everything, she encompassed her with love and Willow held on and waited
for her to deliver her fate.

“Nan
is still in the emergency room. They’re evaluating her, she’s alive.” Jade held
her tight. “Slate has Jeb at the gallery.”

“Thank
you for finding her.” She hid her face in Jade’s shoulder, partly for comfort,
partly from shame. Her mind had been cluttered with Randolph, what she thought
she had, and while she went off chasing rainbows she never noticed Nan was ill.
Yes, she noticed the woman had been tired but she thought it only natural. She
didn’t look beyond.

“Of
course.” Jade patted her back.

“I’m
sorry about everything, please forgive me.” Before she did anything else she
needed to cleanse the air. She lifted her head, and at last faced her actions. “I
did it all for every reason you thought and I didn’t want you to think less of
me.”

“But
not now, right?” Jade asked.

Funny
how time changes things. Her little saying rang through her mind. A few hours
ago she would have said she got married and then found her partner. Of course,
he would have been here and she wouldn’t have to answer.

“Is
the family of Nanette Riviera here?” A woman in scrubs called from a doorway.

“Here!”
Willow held up her hand.

“I’ll
stay with you.” Jade stayed by her side.

“I
promise I will tell you everything later if you forgive me.” She turned to her
friend. “I just need to be alone, if that’s all right.”

“No
forgiveness needed, I just wanted to be there for you.” Jade hugged her. “Are
you sure?”

“Please.”
At the end of the day it was always her and Nan. She gave her other friend a
hug and went to the nurse. “I’m the family of Nanette Riviera.”

“Your
name?” The woman opened the chart.

“Willow
Day. May I see her? Is she okay? What’s wrong?” She wrapped her arms around her
shoulders. “Please, she’s my only family.”

“We
have a full house and are swamped, we can’t let you back there. Go wait in in
the outpatient waiting room. Once I have any news I will come get you.” The
nurse pointed to a door.

“Please.”
She only wanted a peek.

“I
told you we’re very busy.” The woman left.

“Please.”
She spoke to an empty door and turned behind her to find Jade gone. With no
other choice, she went to the small hospital waiting room and took a seat in
the corner.

If
Nan had been sitting next to her she would have told her to use the time to
meditate, visualize what she wanted. At the moment she could only think of two
things, one was lying in a hospital unconscious, one wanted to get rid of her
no matter the circumstances on their one-year anniversary.

After
simply staring into space for some undetermined time period, she glanced up at
the clock. After she saw Nan she would call Randolph, tell him what happened, and
ask for a reprieve on their bizarre curfew. Never would she be the one to welch
on their business deal. Until then, she would sit and wait.

Suddenly,
the door flew open and two men in green scrubs ran in. “Sir, I think we found
her,” one man yelled.

Her
heart ground to a halt and she tried to stand. “Nan?”

“You
are all useless, and don’t think I haven’t made a note of every error this
hospital has made.” Out of nowhere, Randolph stomped into the room.

Her
breath caught. In a long black overcoat and with blond curls bouncing, he
appeared to be more of a superhero than her on-paper husband or a teen model. How
did he get here?

“Now
if you don’t want to end up mentioned by name at the next Board of Directors
meeting, I would find Dr. Eli Huntley, give him Nanette Riviera’s Chart and get
him here STAT!” He tilted his head toward the door.

The
men bumped into each other and hurried away.

Once
the door closed, Randolph turned. Somehow he appeared by her side, and without
saying a word took her into his arms.

His
overcoat surrounded her and she became encompassed in the serene scent of
Randolph. Beyond her control, she held on, taking hold of him and giving in to
her own weakness by pressing her face into his already wrinkled shirt.

He
combed his fingers through her hair. “Why didn’t you call me?”

She
chose to stay silent. The hospital didn’t seem the place to discuss his
contract or her sneaking around and looking at documents. Nothing was important
but Nan.

“Willow.”
He forced her back and looked into her eyes. “Why didn’t you call me? Why did I
hear about this from Dimitri and Slate?”

The
tears in her eyes blurred her vision giving Randolph a golden aura. “I left my
phone at home. I was going to call. I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I would have
called you before midnight.” Yet another thing he manipulated to keep her
controlled.

“I
thought we were beyond that. I want to know why I wasn’t the first person you
thought to call?” His hands squeezed her shoulders.

Not
quite sure how to answer, she swallowed. “Can we not do this now?”

He
ground his teeth together, but nodded. “Where’s Nan? What’s happening?”

Her
lip quivered. “They won’t tell me anything, the nurse just told me to come here.
When I asked again, she walked away.”

After
watching Randolph for months, she thought she figured out every one his
expressions, except the one he wore at the moment.

His
eyes darkened and narrowed, his mouth opened as if prone with something to say.
The boyish charm that made everyone smile and swoon at the sight of him had vanished.
“They wouldn’t tell you anything?” His voice came out disjointed and metered,
as if he were holding back some great pressure.

“I
didn’t know what to do, so I sat here.”

He
let go of her. “Let me get this straight. They wouldn’t tell you anything or
let you check on her at this hospital where my mother is in charge of the
charity events and my business donates money?”

She
swore she saw a vein on his neck pop out.

“Why
are we even in here?” His face turned red and he glanced around the room as if
finally noticing his location. “What room is this?”

“Randolph.”
She held her hand out.

He
pointed to one of the plastic chairs. “Sit there.”

Scared
to do anything else, she sat.

Right
as he spun on his heel and headed toward the door, it opened once more. A man
in a doctor’s coat entered. Around the same age as Randolph, he seemed to be
the anti-Randolph with dark hair and eyes. “Randolph!” All smiles, he extended
his hand. “I’m glad you caught me on call. I’m upstairs, handling the VIP’s.”

Randolph
crossed his arms. “Doctor.”

“What
brings you here? Why are you in here? Who is Nanette Riviera? Everyone okay?”
The doctor kept his hand out.

“No
everyone is not okay.” Randolph leaned forward. “My wife’s Nan is here, where
they relegated us to no-man’s land on this floor and wouldn’t tell her anything.”
He motioned toward her as if showing exhibit A.

“Wife?
I must have missed that memo.” The doctor glanced at her and hit Randolph on
the shoulder. “Congratulations.”

“Doctor.”
Randolph tapped his foot.

The
doctor held up one finger, flipped through the chart and took a pen out of his
pocket, clicking it several times before turning to her. “What is your
relationship to Nanette Riviera?”

“She
raised me.” All her life she tried to come up with a word to describe their
relationship, but none ever fit.

“Mother.”
Dr. Huntley made some notes on the chart.

“Doctor.”
In need of nothing but good light around her, she had to tell the truth.

The
doctor winked at her. “No one ever checks.”

She
sat back. “Is she going to be all right?”

Randolph
returned to her and held out his hand.

Her
resolve completely gone, she reached up and took the gift.

“Let’s
see. She came out of ER a while ago and was placed in a room on this floor. She
was diagnosed with hyperglycemia.” He clicked the pen some more and shook his
head. “She came in with an astronomical blood sugar. She has diabetes. I’ll
change some of these test orders, but once we get her sugar stabilized and get
her on some meds, she’ll be fine with a change in diet and lifestyle. Let’s get
her upstairs and then you can all crash for the night.”

For
the first time since she walked into one of her worst nightmares, she exhaled. “She’s
going to be all right?”

The
doctor nodded. “This is all treatable.”

“She’s
been out and then taken to the non-private rooms?” Randolph laced his finger in
hers. “What’s going on here?”

“Here’s
the main problem.” The doctor tapped his pen on the chart. “Someone forgot her
married name.”

“What?”
Randolph let go of her and stepped forward.

“She
put her name as Willow Day. If they heard her name, you know they would have
been jumping at your feet.” Again, the doctor wrote on the chart. “Let me fix
this.”

For
a brief second Randolph looked down to the floor, a momentary break in his
aristocratic façade. “I don’t need to tell you that I want Nanette to have the
best of care. Money isn’t an object, and Nanette is covered under our insurance
policy.”

Insurance?
Randolph got Nan health insurance? A lump formed in her throat. He certainly
wasn’t acting like the man who wanted out of their marriage come his
thirty-fourth birthday. She hoped she was covered as well because she might pass
out.

“Let
me get this handled. Go upstairs, I’ll try to hurry them and we’ll all meet you
there.” The doctor handed Randolph a plastic card, saluted and walked out.

Randolph
held the door open. “Come on. I doubt you ate, and we can’t have you getting
ill as well.”

Her
cheeks heated. Gone went the protective husband, and in his place the businessman
returned. He was as upset as she. Was it Nan or something else? On wobbly legs
she stood and followed Randolph out.

Never
forgetting his manners, he guided her through the maze of hospital hallways, over
to a wall of elevators and pushed the button. Inside, he slipped the card in a
slot and pushed the button to the eighth floor.

For
the entire ride they didn’t speak, but she gasped when the doors opened.

No
antiseptic smell, no stark white sterile setting, no oppressive stares. Instead
she was met with dark wood paneling, light classical music, fresh flowers and
plush furniture. “What is this?” The long corridor looked as if it could be a
wing of the mansion rather than a hospital.

“May
I help you?” A nurse came around the corner.

“Nanette
Riviera is being brought up here,” Randolph told her.

“Yes,
we’re readying her room. Please go make yourself comfortable in the lounge, and
we’ll let you know when the suite is ready.” She smiled. “Will you be staying
here the night?”

“Yes.”
Without any hesitation, Randolph answered.

“Not
a problem.” The woman’s sing-song voice washed over the room matching the
music. “Have a bite to eat, and give us just a little time. We also have
complimentary Wi-Fi, so make yourselves at home.”

Once
the nurse left, they made their way to a matching room to the hallway and contained
what appeared to be a buffet of food. Everything from fresh fruit and salads
and hot steaming silver domed chafing dishes.

Rather
than going for the food, she took a seat on one of the overstuffed brown
leather couches.

She
watched Randolph take off his overcoat and put it on a coat rack. Even with the
slight wrinkles, his suit fit him to a tee. The man could have stepped off a
runway and right into a boardroom. He went over to the bar, took two mini
bottles of wine and two glasses and joined her, but at the far end of the
couch.

While
he busied himself with his phone and sending out a few text messages and
pouring the wine, she continued to stare at him.