The Pull of Destiny (77 page)

Doctor Khan didn’t elaborate on his
slightly pessimistic words but I knew just what he meant and goose bumps rose
suddenly on my arms as a chill ran through me. I didn’t want to think
negatively, but I couldn’t help myself.
Luke is in a coma, how can I
honestly deal with this?
My emotional state was so rocky already, what with
the whole Nate thing, that all I wanted to do was curl up on the bed and have
someone wake me up when it was all over.
You can’t hide from this, Celsi.
God, I wished I could.

Hope picked up her phone and stood up,
wrapping her shawl around her shoulders. “I’ll go and call him right now,” she
said, shooting me a conscientious glance as I rubbed my arms. “I’ll be right
back.”

The door closed as Hope stepped out into
the hospital hallway, her phone clamped to her ear.

“How long will the surgery take,
Doctor?” Vanessa asked, pushing her hair back from her face with both hands.

“I’m not sure. It’s an emergency
procedure, ma’am. During one of Luke's most recent check-ups, we talked about
surgical options. We decided on the traditional ‘clipping’ procedure rather
than the coiling method. Going in to this operation, I have to admit that the
clipping method will definitely be the best choice. The coiling procedure is
less invasive, but Luke's aneurysm was so large that I don’t want to go that
route, especially as there is a higher chance that re-bleeding may occur. The
conventional route is best in this case.”

Vanessa nodded in agreement as Dr. Khan
explained. “By all means, use the procedure which is best for my son,” she
said, her voice tired as she ran a hand over her face. “He was bad off, wasn’t
he?”

“Yes.”

Dr. Khan didn’t even try to hide it.
Maybe he took one look at Vanessa’s taut face and knew she wouldn’t appreciate
being lied to.

“And we can’t even see him for just a
moment?”

Vanessa stared imploringly at Dr. Khan
as a faint feeling of hope surged through my body.
Maybe, just maybe...

“He’s being taken out of the emergency
room as we speak and being taken to the operating room, ma’am.”

Damn.

Vanessa’s voice turned pleading as she
looked down at Dr. Khan. “Doctor, I haven’t seen my son in years. Can I at
least walk down to the OR with him? I need to see him just in case something-.”
Her voice broke in the middle of her sentence and my heart clenched as she
wiped a tear from her cheek before continuing. “I need to tell him that
everything will be fine.”

His face softening, Dr. Khan placed a
soothing hand on Vanessa's tense shoulder. “I cannot keep you from your son.
Please, come with me.”

Visibly shaking, Vanessa turned to me.
“Celsi- I have to go and see Luke. I need to be with him right now,” she said,
an apologetic tone coming through in her voice. “Will you be okay in here?”

I nodded immediately. “Of course,” I
said, enunciating each word carefully. My bottom lip felt puffy as I worried it
with my tongue, knowing full well that I shouldn’t. “I’ll wait right here.”

Obviously I would have loved to see Luke
before his surgery but Vanessa's bond with him was infinitely more personal.
She
needs to see him way more than I do.

Dr. Khan looked at me as I said my first
words since he walked into the room. He was the first person to not do a double
take upon seeing me since Nate had attacked me and my heart warmed with
gratitude towards Vanessa.
Thank goodness she’s such a good doctor.

Concern
did
flash across his
face, but there was none of the horror with which Officer Rodriguez has greeted
me and for that I was glad. There was only so many ‘OMG, what happened to you’
looks that I could take. Despite myself, I suddenly felt glad that Luke couldn’t
see what Nate had done to me.
All I was trying to do was to get to you, Luke
.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what
happened?” he asked me as Vanessa shrugged on her sweater.

Twiddling my thumbs and staring down at
my feet, I replied, “I got into an accident.”

Dr. Khan didn’t look convinced at all
but he knew to leave well enough alone and, beckoning to Vanessa, led her out
of the room. I couldn’t help flushing.

Liar.

Well, it wasn’t a complete lie! Running
into Nate as I was leaving the apartment had been a calamity just waiting to
happen. I shivered, bile rising in my throat as I tried to supress the memories
of what had happened in that hallway.
Nate...
How could he have done
this to me? I was scared to even glance in a mirror because I didn’t want to
see how badly my own cousin had attacked me.
I never did anything wrong.
Ever.
Thank God for Pastor Weeks
. I wondered if he had managed to get in
touch with Aunt Kelly yet and squirmed nervously. What would she do? Would Nate
lie to try and save his own skin? If she kicked me out, where would I go?

I shook myself, reawakening
the aches and pains in my bruised body.
Don’t dwell on that right now.

The door opened and Hope
walked back in, tucking her phone into her purse. She scanned the room blankly
before sitting down next to me. “Where’s Vanessa?” I told her where she’d gone
and Hope sighed, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. “I’m glad Luke's dad
called her,” she murmured softly.

“Me too,” I nodded, wanting
to hug Hope but not sure how to go about it. She looked poleaxed, an
overwhelmed expression on her pretty face. Just like me, I knew she could
hardly believe that Luke was in a coma. And it had all played out right in
front of her, so God only knew what she was going through right now. The incident
which we had all unconsciously been dreading was upon us, and I for one didn’t
know what to expect. And it scared the hell out of me. “Is Mr. Astor on his
way?”

Hope nodded, kneading her
forehead with perfectly manicured fingers. “Yes, he’s on his way, he’ll be here
soon.
Faith couldn’t sleep
so he’ll bring her too.”
She opened her eyes and looked at me. “How are you feeling, though?”

The worried tone in her voice
brought tears to my eyes and I hurriedly blinked them away. She had so much to
deal with right now, the health of her step-son being the elephant in the room,
yet she was still concerned about my wellbeing.
If that doesn’t make Hope an
extraordinary human being, then I don’t know what does.

“Much better,” I lied,
electing not to tell her that my body was still sore as heck and I had to form
my words carefully so as not to slur. She had better, more important things to
worry about.

“You look like you’re in
pain,” Hope surmised, looking into my eyes. She fumbled around in her bag,
pulling out a bottle of Tylenol. “I think this should help. I’ll get you some
water.”

Before I could protest, she
stood up and walked to the bathroom. I heard her running some water at the sink
and she came back with a paper cup filled with water. I gratefully took the
proffered water and downed the Tylenol, hoping it would yield immediate
results.
I’m not good with pain.

“Thank you, Hope.”

Hope smiled faintly at me,
wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “You’re welcome, dear.”

The door opened and I
stiffened.
Mr. Astor?

Luckily, it was Vanessa who
walked in and I gave a silent sigh of relief. I wasn’t looking forward to
dealing with Mr. Astor when he walked in. He didn’t like me or approve of me
being Luke's girlfriend. He was probably going to kick me out of the hospital if
he felt like it.

Vanessa's hands were shaking
as she sat on the corner of the bed, tears standing out in her dark green eyes.
“My poor baby,” she whispered, hugging her knees. Hope squeezed her hand. “I’m
okay; it was just the shock of seeing Luke like that.” She swallowed hard,
shaking her head. “I haven’t seen him for years and for this to be the first
time... No parent should ever have to go through this. He was so pale, so
still...”

I could tell that Vanessa was
noticeably trying to pull herself together and be strong and I applauded her
internally.
She’s so brave.

“Hope, could I please borrow
your phone?” I asked a couple of minutes later.

The Tylenol had started to
kick in and the aches were fading slowly, much to my satisfaction.

Nodding, Hope pulled out her
shiny cell phone and handed it to me. “Sure. Do you want to call the Pastor to
come pick you up?”

“No, I just want to tell my
aunt that I’m okay.” I paused, looking at my hands which were placed in my lap.
“I want to stay until Luke wakes up, if you’ll let me.”

Please say yes.

I didn’t want to impose on
the family, but I really wanted to be there when Luke woke up.
He
will
wake up, Celsi
. Part of me was sure that Hope and Vanessa would shoo me out
of the hospital after a while, telling me to go handle my business, but part of
me was hoping that they would let me stay.

As soon as I uttered those
words, Vanessa hugged my shoulders gently. “Of course you can stay, Celsi.” Her
voice turned playful and I was once again forcibly reminded of Luke. “In fact,
Hope and I would be offended if you didn’t stay. Right, Hope?”

Hope nodded, smiling at me.
“We’d love to have you stay,” she added, warming my soul with the sincerity in
her voice.

It’s always nice to feel
wanted.

I slipped into the
(thankfully) empty hallway and sat down, sucking in a sharp breath as I leaned
my back against the wall.

Oww...

Sucking it up, I dialed Aunt
Kelly's number and waited with bated breath for her to pick up.

“Hello?”

Her familiar voice washing
over me, I said, “Hi, auntie. It’s me, Celsi,” in a small voice. Suddenly, I
didn’t know what to say to her.

A loud gasp. “Celsi! Are you
okay? Where are you?”

“I’m at Mount Sinai,” I told
her, wincing as I tried to find a comfortable position to sit in.
Maybe you
should have stayed standing, Celsi
. “Luke's aneurysm ruptured.”

“You’ve got to come home,
Celsi,” Aunt Kelly said, talking over me as I tried to explain what was going
on. “Pastor Weeks told me that Nate- that Nate attacked you.”

Her voice came out in an
incredulous whisper and I trembled in fear. She didn’t believe him, did she?

Hugging my knees, I said,
“Yeah.”

“What happened?”

I decided to answer her
question with a question of my own. “What did- Nate tell you?”

Just saying his name left a
bad taste in my mouth and I felt a flood of anger towards him.
How dare he
do this to me?
There wasn’t a single excuse that would fly when I went back
to school. Everyone would take one look at me and come to the same conclusion-
someone beat the crap out of her.

“He won’t talk to
me;
he’s sitting
with his head in his hands.” Aunt Kelly snorted derisively as I slowly looked
up, my head pounding.

Say what?

I whispered, “He’s still there?” in
disbelief.

Didn’t Officer Rodriquez promise me that
he was going up to arrest him? Or maybe Aunt Kelly was at the police station?

“Yes, that’s why I need you to come
home. The police officers need a statement from you.” She paused and I heard
her sniff before continuing in a low voice. “I pressed charges.”

I swallowed hard past the lump in my
throat. “I’m so sorry,” I breathed, tears running down my cheeks.
This isn’t
how I wanted things to turn out.
It had to be hurting Aunt Kelly to press
charges against her own son for domestic abuse. And it was my fault. “Why
didn’t you tell me, Celsi?”

Wiping my stinging cheeks, I choked out
“I couldn’t. I was scared.”

“All those bruises- I saw them and I
thought something was going on but I didn’t want to believe- how long?” Aunt
Kelly asked.

Simply, I answered, “Since Rhea.”

“Oh, my God.” I hung my head, idly
listening to whispers on Aunt Kelly’s end. She came back on the line a few
seconds later. “Officer Rodriguez wants to talk to you.”

“Hi, Celsi. How are you feeling?”
Officer Rodriguez’s worried, booming voice resounded in my ear.

“Much better, thanks.”

“I know you’re at the hospital and you
won’t leave till you make sure your friend is okay,” he started. I nodded (
like
he could see me
) as he continued. “I’m still at your apartment because I
had to wait for Mrs. Grant to come home. I need to take Nate in, but I need a
statement from you.”

I scratched my head, confused. “Over the
phone?” I asked, feeling slow.

“No, in person.” Officer Rodriguez
chuckled. “Come and see me when you get home, I don’t care what time it is.
Bring your auntie too.”