The Pull of Destiny (74 page)

But Faith got her
tenaciousness from him, and she wouldn’t let up. Shaking her head and making
her brown hair fly, she said, “But ballet is stupid! I wanna be a cat doctor.”

Contemptuously, dad said,
“A vet? There’s no money in that! No fame at all! You’re going to be a
ballerina, sweetie. All little girls want to be ballerinas.”

Shows how well he knows
Faith. Her favourite toys are her race cars. Girly girl she was not.

“Not me,” she said with
finality, settling back in her chair. “I don’t wanna do that.”

“Well, you’re going to,”
dad said, eager to have the last word.

“Leave the kid alone,
dad,” I interrupted. “She wants to be a vet, not a ballerina.”

“No child of mine is going
to be a lowly vet.”

I shrugged, the very
action sending daggers of pain shooting through my temples. “It’s her life. Let
her figure it out on her own.”

“It’s my money,” dad
responded coldly, leaning forward to glower at me.

I squeezed my eyes shut
against the bright lights. “Oh, so just because it’s your cash it means you
have the right to run her life? How do you figure that?” Without waiting for
him to answer, I turned to Faith, my neck feeling stiff as I moved my head.
Shit, I needed water. I had cotton mouth. “Don’t worry, princess. If you still
want to be a cat doctor when you’re older, I’ll pay for it.”

She gave me a huge smile
and patted my hand, her previous anger towards me forgotten. “Thanks, Luke!”

“Because if you want
him
to do it, you’re wasting your time. He just wants you to do what he wants,” I
continued, getting in a few shots at dad myself.

Eyes narrowing, dad said,
“You’re treading on thin ice, Luke. Zip it.”

I laughed, ignoring the
flare up of pain in my head. “Oh, am I? How can I be when I’m just telling the
truth? Or are you going to sit there and deny that you just want to run my
life?”

I wanted to fight, to
knock heads with somebody and dad just happened to be there. Trouble is, he’d
been spoiling for a fight with me for a long time.

“I’m trying to help you,
but you’re just too stupid to realise it,” he growled.

Ignoring Hope’s little
admonishing gasp, I said, “By doing what? Trying to buy CiCi off, almost
forcing me to dump her because she’s not good enough to date an Astor?”

Hope stared at dad, who
actually had the grace to look embarrassed. “What? Lucas, is that true?”

“Sure, that’s a lot of
help, dad,” I drawled sarcastically.

“You don’t understand,
Luke,” dad started in a dangerously quiet voice. “You think you’ve earned the
right to act however you want, to run the Astor name through the mud, don't
you? Well, you haven’t. As long as I’m alive, I call the shots. And the sooner
you realise that, the better.”

I shook my head, admiring
his balls. “You just hate to see me happy, don’t you? So you try to make me as
miserable as you are.” Finally, I understood. As long as I was happy, dad never
would be. And that just ate him up inside, didn’t it? “But you know what? I
don’t care anymore. You can do your worst, but you won’t stop me from living my
own life. You tried to manipulate me into dumping CiCi, but I’m not going to
give you the satisfaction.”

“You’re a disgrace to the
Astor name,” dad said simply, his eyes on my face to judge my reaction.

“Lucas-,” Hope started,
trying to intervene.

“I’m a disgrace?” I cut
in. “You’re the evil, cold-hearted asshole who’s hated me for life! Nothing I
do is ever good enough for you; nothing I say is right, nothing I try to do
will work for you! To you, I’m just a screw-up and that’s all I’ll ever be,
right? But I don’t care! Because I have something that you lost long time ago-
a heart.”

Dad gave me a sarcastic
slow clap, sneering. “Nice speech. And you know what? You’re right. I don’t
care.” He laughed. “You’re just a screw-up and I’m sick of it. I mean, you
can’t even have an aneurysm right!”

He laughed some more as I
opened my mouth to respond bitingly.

My answer turned into a scream
of agony as my head virtually exploded with pain. For a second, all I saw was
white light as I gripped my head with both hands, trying to stop the intense
pain within.

“Luke? Luke?” I heard
Faith talk to me, her small hands grabbing my knee, but I couldn’t answer her.
I couldn’t focus on anything but the blinding, all-encompassing pain. It seared
through my body, making me dizzy. “Mom! Dad! Something’s wrong!”

I leaned forward in my
seat, my whole body trembling as I dry heaved. The last thing I heard before I
passed out was Faith wailing, “Help him! Someone help my big brother!”

And then everything faded to
black.

CHAPTER 30

can anybody
hear me?

Celsi’s
Point of View

I was supposed
to be doing homework, but all I could think about as my eyes flicked over the
text in my book was Luke.

Running a hand
over my face, I sighed loudly. The illness was taking its toll on Luke, I knew
that better than anybody. I had seen how pale he looked this afternoon. He was
going through a lot, dealing with pain I couldn’t even imagine. Maybe the
headaches were messing with his thought process as well, hitting him so hard
that he couldn’t think straight. And he had the added pressure of his dad and
friends not approving of us dating too- that had to be a difficult situation.

I need to
talk to him.

My phone
started vibrating and I picked it up, not recognizing the number on the screen.
A hopeful spark grew in my stomach regardless. Maybe it was Luke! Maybe he’d
had the same idea I had and was calling to reassure me that our relationship
was strong enough to survive people’s opposition.

A big smile all
over my face, I pressed talk. “Hello?”

“Hi. Can I talk
to Celsi, please?” an unfamiliar female voice whispered.

My smile
slipped from my face. Who was this? “This is Celsi.”

“Hi Celsi. It’s
Hope.” My eyes widened in trepidation as Hope continued, her voice sounding
choked up with emotion. “I’m sorry to bother you, but-.”

“What’s wrong?”
I asked, my heart thudding.
Luke. What had happened?
My hands were
clammy as I gripped my cell phone to my ear.
Please no....
Forcing a
false note of calmness in my voice, I swallowed hard before continuing. “It’s
Luke, isn’t it? Something happened.”

I knew the call
was about Luke, it had to be. Hope had never once called me up to just chat and
I could hear from her breathing that she was trying hard not to fall apart.

Hope’s breath
hitched in her throat as she answered. “His aneurysm- it ruptured.”

A dull roaring
filled my ears as I staggered to my bed, flopping down before my legs could
give out on me. Even though I had unconsciously been bracing myself for this
moment since Luke had told me about his aneurysm, I still wasn’t prepared for
this. The blood in my veins turned cold and my eyes filled with tears. “Is he-
is he okay?”

“We don’t know
yet,” Hope replied, sobbing lightly. “He’s being stabilized right now.”

Wiping my eyes,
I said, “When did this happen?”

“Over an hour
ago. I had to go home to get Luke’s medical card and some other things and I
got your number from his phone.”

“Are you at the
hospital?” I asked. I wanted to go there if I could. I wanted to be by Luke’s
side so that if anything happened…
No.
I shook my head firmly, even as
tears slid down my cheeks. Think positive. Nothing’s going to happen to him.

“Yes,” Hope
replied. “I was hoping you could come. We’re at Mount Sinai. Dr. Khan says he
wants Luke to be surrounded by family and friends.” Her voice broke. “His
mother’s on her way as well. Luke’s dad sent a chartered jet to pick her up.
She was in New Orleans.”

Luke’s mother
was on the way, sent for by Mr. Astor himself?
That could only mean one
thing...

“How bad off is
he?” I whispered, not wanting to know because if Hope said what I thought she
was going to say, then how could I possibly stay strong?

“I don’t know.
The doctors won’t tell us. I know that he’s in critical condition. He passed
out right in front of us.”

Hope started
crying again.

“I’m on my
way,” I said immediately, standing up and slipping on my hoodie. I had 5
dollars, enough to get a cab ride to the subway.

Sounding
relieved, Hope said, “Thank you, Celsi. I’ll wait for you in the hospital
lobby. Take a taxi, I’ll pay for it.”

Hesitating as I
remembered one pivotal detail, I said, “Won’t Mr. Astor mind?”

Not that I
would let Mr. Astor’s prejudices stop me from going to the hospital, but even
Hope wouldn’t be able to do anything if he tried to keep me from seeing Luke.
But he wouldn’t do that, would he? I hope not.

“He can’t even
think straight. None of us can. And you’re Luke’s girlfriend; you have the
right to be by his side.”

That was good
enough for me. I slipped into a pair of sneakers, suddenly realizing that I was
wasting valuable time. “I’ll be right there, Hope.”

“Thank you,
Celsi. Please hurry.”

Hope hung up as
I tied my laces, my hands shaking so much I had to stop and breathe for a
second
. Pull yourself together, Celsi. Luke needs you.

I zipped up my
hoodie and walked out of my room, closing the door behind me. Just as my hand
was on the front door knob, Nate spoke behind me, sending shivers down my
spine. I totally forgot he was home!

“Where the hell
you think you’re going?”

Quaking, I
turned to face him. He was standing right in front of me, his muscular arms
crossed over his chest and a sneer on his face.

“Nate. I- I
thought you were out,” was all I could think of to say. He was sober, I could
tell. His eyes weren’t red, but they were narrowed in my direction. I didn’t
like the look in them at all and I took a tiny step back, hating him for making
me so scared to be around him.

Glaring at me,
Nate said, “And I guess that gives you the right to sneak out when you feel
like it?” I swallowed nervously, spotting the evil glint in his eyes.
Oh boy
.
“Answer my question. Where the hell are you going? To see that boy?”

Where was
Aunt Kelly when I needed her?

Trying to sound
calm and unafraid, I said, “Nate, I have to go to Mount Sinai hospital.
Something-.”

“Oh, really?”
Nate interrupted, sounding eerily understanding. “Why? Did the daycare you
volunteer at tell you they need you to work overnight? Do you think I’m stupid,
Celsi?”

I shook my head
no rapidly, my eyes not leaving his face. “No, Nate. It’s not like that. My
friend Luke, he’s in the ICU.” My voice broke. “He could- he could die, Nate. I
need to go see him.”

“Wow, this
kid’s really got you whipped, huh? You coming up with all these stupid stories,
just so you can go ‘hang out’ with him.” Nate gave me a fake admiring look, his
lips turned up in a smirk. “You know, I should just let you go. Let you become
another statistic. Just another teen baby mama living in East Harlem. How would
you like that?”

Wringing my
hands unconsciously, I whispered, “I’m not lying, Nate. Please, just let me go
to him.”

“Get back to
your room,” Nate snapped, his eyes turning hard. “I’m done playing.”

My heart
thumped in my chest as I shook my head, fumbling for the door knob. “I can’t. I
have to go.”

“What?” Nate
sounded more incredulous than angry as I finally managed to open the door,
stepping out into the empty hallway. “Girl, you better get your ass back into
this apartment right now. I told you I’m done playing.”

As he spoke, he
reached out and grabbed my arm, dragging me back into the apartment. Adrenaline
pumped through my body along with rage. Rage that he had the nerve to keep me
from getting to Luke when that was where I needed to be. Rage that his fingers
were digging into my flesh as he painfully squeezed my arm. Rage that he felt
that he was the boss of me and could stop me from doing and going where I damn
well pleased. I had a dad now, a dad who wanted to be in my life. He had never
laid a hand on me. Why was I letting Nate abuse me?