The Wife of a Lesser Man (LA Cops Series Book 1) (2 page)

“You left the bathroom window open again,” I said with a knowing look. 

“Oh shit,” he commented, looking out the window to see if our neighbour’s car was in the driveway.

“Well, Mabel got another ear full,” he said, blushing.

“As if we don’t get enough looks from her already.  You know she’s a Mormon?”  I asked.

“Shit.  Well, I guess we’re demons then, seeing as we’re living in sin and all.  That explains the garlic she has hanging off her front porch.” 

I playfully smacked him “Those are tulip bulbs…or decoration.  I’m not really sure.  I never got close enough to look.  She scares me.”

“That makes two of us.  Better give kisses inside this morning.”

“Imagine.  You?  A big shot cop afraid of little old Mabel,” I said, putting my arms around him and kissing him softly.

“I’ll have you know it’s the quiet little innocent ones that have the cats in the cauldron and their son in laws hanging dead in the basement.”

“Remind me never to eat or play cards over at Mabel’s,” I joked, opening the door for him.  Standing next to his car, I watched him drive off, relishing the afterglow I still felt all over.  Walking back into the house where we had lived together for more than two years, my hand depressed the door handle and opened it.  Suddenly I felt a whoosh and ran straight for the bathroom.  My hand went to my mouth as I felt the bile come up from my stomach.  Feelings of nausea mixed with confusion entered my head as I knelt down and vomited. 

…

“So, how was the grind today?”  I asked as he entered the door.

“It was good…..missed you though.”

He kissed me tenderly on the head. 

“I was expecting to see you at some point today.  The guys didn’t get to steal any of my leftovers at lunch time.”

“Sorry baby, next time.  I told you I had a meeting at the school.”

His arms embraced me as I leaned on the stove, waiting for the pasta noodles to boil.  I put my arms around him and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

“Don’t get too used to this.  Remember, summer vacation is over in five weeks,” I said, as I teased his bottom lip with a finger full of pasta sauce.  He playfully opened his mouth and sampled it from my finger, like he had stolen the finger from the child. 

“Mmmmm; what is that?  Alfredo?”

“Yup.  From scratch.” 

His brows lifted as if to say ‘really?’

“It’s delicious…..the guys will like it too.  Did you make lots?”  He had taken the spoon from me and was stirring it.

“Tons.  I got the recipe from some book for people who prepare meals for armies or something.  I didn’t realize the yield was for ten people until after I put it all together.”   I said, eyes rolling.

He laughed.  “No complaints here, baby.  I’ll eat it all week.”  He said, sampling another spoonful

The plates and forks were being put on the table when I felt another whoosh.  One of my mother’s expensive plates hit the floor with a smash and broke into a million pieces.  I paid no mind as I ran to the bathroom.  Mark stood for a moment in shock and concern, and then ran after me.  He knelt down beside me on the floor and rubbed my back as I vomited up what little food I had actually kept down through the day.

“Hey, what’s going on?  Are you okay?”

My eyes met his with such despair; I did not want to tell him this way.  My plan was to serve him up a tantalizing dinner and then ad hoc my way through it after his belly was full and he was all nice and relaxed.

The tears ran down my face, and as he wiped them off with a tissue he gave me a look that I had never seen before.

“It’s nothing that won’t go away in about nine months, is it?”  His eyes were directly on mine.  I nodded; what a dreadful way to find out you’re going to be a father, I thought.  Sitting on your bathroom tile next to the toilet with your live in lover, who just vomited all over the place. 

“I had a feeling you might be.  I didn’t notice you indicating the ‘p’s next to your special days on the calendar last month.  We haven’t exactly been careful lately, either.”

“So you knew?  And you weren’t freaking out?”  I asked as he helped me off the floor and lead me to the couch. 

“Of course not.  I love you Shelley, you know that.”  He sat me on the couch and knelt down in front of me with his arms on either side of my body and his eyes on mine. 

“And this is what you want?  We never talked about having a baby or marriage; we just bought this place together and left it there.”  I was dumbfounded.

“Well, is this what you want?” 

I paused to think for a moment.  My thoughts went straight to my students.  I enjoyed being with them and although I was glad to see my workdays end, part of me always wished I had some little ones to go home to.  I swallowed and answered sincerely “Yes.”

“Then this is what I want too.”

Mark had a sheepish look on his face. 

“What is it?”

“Well, I was just thinking, God am I glad we’re not sitting on the bathroom floor still.”

“Why?”

He cleared his throat and reached into his pocket. 

“Because, Jesus, how inappropriate a time would that have been to give you this.”  He said, handing me a small black box.

I looked at the box and then up at him.

“Is this what I think it is?” 

“I don’t know.  The guy said to choose box number 1, 2 or 3, so I grabbed number one and hoped for the best,” he said with his hands outstretched.

I opened it and gasped.  It was the most gorgeous half carat diamond solitaire.  Mark took it out of my hand, pulled the ring out of the box and placed it on my left ring finger. 

“Not only are you my best friend, my lover, my partner and the woman of my dreams, but can I also ask you to be my wife?”

“God I better or Mabel will burn down our house,” I joked.  “She gets wind of this and she’ll start telling the neighbours that the spawn of Satan has been conceived at 13 Beach Rd.” 

“Is that a yes?”  he laughed.

“Yes,” I said, embracing him.

Chapter 3

“Mrs. Tame?  Mrs. Tame!”  I heard from a distance.

“Have you got any water I can give her?”  The voice sounded closer and more familiar.

“Come on Shelley, honey, it’s me Sarah.”  Her hand was patting my hand and stroking my hair.  As I opened my eyes I realized I was lying on a floor.  For a moment, I had forgotten the nightmare I left before everything went black.

I looked up and saw Sarah’s face staring down at me.  Her gaze worried me.  Why was she looking at me like that?  “Are you okay?”  She asked, still stroking my hair.

The door opened and Lily entered, her face I immediately recognized, but the doctor she had in tow I did not.  She had a paper cup filled with water in one hand and a stethoscope and blood pressure apparatus in the other.  The doctor who accompanied her was very young and short, his hair was shaggy and dishevelled and he looked like he hadn’t shaved in days.

“Now just lie there a moment, we’re just going to check and make sure you are alright before you try to get up, okay?”  Lily said. 

As she checked my blood pressure, she gave the doctor an approving nod and he began to speak.  “Mrs. Tame, I’m Dr. Greenfield.  How about we get you sitting up now, huh?”

The three of them hoisted me up onto the nearest couch and Lily offered me the water.  He waited until I took a sip before he began to speak again. 

“I’ve been working on your husband and I’m afraid it doesn’t look good for him.” 

“W..wwhat do you mean?  I..is he going to make it?”  My chin began to quiver.

“Well..yes, he’s pulled through, but he suffered a major heart attack.  He’s going to require extensive open heart surgery and months of post operative care.  His blood pressure is dangerously high and his arteries are badly clogged.”

Sarah interjected, “But he’s going to make it.”  She asked in somewhat of a casual tone, like she was making sure the size nine shoes were put in the size nine box.

“Well…yes, if he makes it through the next week it looks good for him.”  The doctor’s voice was unconvincing to me.  It was as though he was unsure the right size shoe was in the box. 

“Um, Dr….Greenfield, right?”  Sarah began.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Are you a specialist or a cardiologist?”

“Well, no, I’m the head on call emergency doctor here tonight,” he said, slightly blushing.

“Okay, can we talk to a specialist or a cardiologist please?”  Sarah’s voice puffed a little in frustration.

“I’m afraid there is no cardiologist available tonight….um, but there will be one available in the morning.  Shall I arrange for you to speak with him?”  He asked as though he would have never thought of it unless Sarah brought it up.

Sarah glared at him.  “Um, yes!” 

“Definitely,” he said as he rose and quickly left the room.

“Man, I was about to check his breath for alcohol,” Sarah commented.

Lily disregarded the comment even though her face turned pink and said, “I’ll arrange for you to speak to the head cardiologist the moment he’s available.”

“Thank you, you’ve been most helpful.” Sarah nodded.

I looked at Lily as my tears began once again and I asked the inevitable question, “Can I see him?”

“Give me a few minutes to check where he is, okay?” 

As Lily left, I heard Sarah’s phone chime.  She opened her purse, retrieved it and said “Shit, it’s Jessica.  I asked her to text me her new dorm number so I could reach her.”  My mouth opened and Sarah’s hand signalled me to stop.  “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell her anything.”

“So, who do I tell first?”

“Let’s wait and see how he’s doing first.  Hopefully somebody knows more than doctor dimwit so we can actually have an answer for your kids when they ask.” 

Lily entered the room again.

“Okay, he’s still in the emergency room, but he’s being admitted to the cardiac wing shortly.  You can see him when he’s situated in the room, okay?  It will only be another twenty minutes or so.”

“Wait, the cardiac wing?  Shouldn’t he be in the I.C.U.?”  Sarah asked.

“Well, we don’t have the room there for him and they have all the necessary equipment and staff in the cardiac wing anyhow.”  Lily angled her hand across her mouth like she was about to tell us a big secret.  She lowered her voice to a whisper and said “It’s much nicer in the cardiac wing, and to be honest, well, just wait and see what the cardiologist says tomorrow, okay?”

Sarah and I glanced at each other with the same confused look on our face. 

“Is it just me or is this hospital fucked up?”  Sarah said, laughing.

“I have to call my mother,” I said.

“Why?”

“Because she has lots of money and time on her hands.  She’ll find Mark the best damn doctor and hospital there is,” I said, half crying as I dialled her number.

…

Even though my mother was, well, eccentric, she was tough as nails.  I knew there wasn’t anything I could tell her that she couldn’t handle.  When my father told her he had an affair, she simply said, “Okay, well that’s that then.  Pack your bags and be on your way by morning, okay?”  That was her response after twenty years of marriage.  No tears, no yelling, just an order to get out.  There were many instances like that that I can remember where my mom never let anything get her down.  She was always either happy or indifferent.  If I had bad news for her, she always had an action plan to fix it straight away.  I knew this time would be no exception.

She answered on the third ring.  “Hi mom, it’s Shelley.” 

“Hello dear, how was your day?”  She asked, I could hear her relaxation CD playing in the background, signalling it was almost time for her last meditation of the day.

“Um, well I have some bad news.  Mark had a heart attack tonight.  I’m at the hospital right now. Sarah’s with me and I haven’t called the kids yet.”  I figured I might as well dump it all at once.  That was how mother dealt with things.

“Oh my, I’m sorry to hear that dear.”  There was a pause.  “Do you need anything?  Do you need me to go get the kids or come to you?”

“No thanks, Sarah and I are handling things here at the hospital.  One thing I could use some help on is finding a good cardiologist.  The one here isn’t available until the morning and from the looks of the doctor on call here their roster of physicians is somewhat lacking.”  Speaking to my mom relaxed me slightly.  The balanced tone in her voice was always reassuring and comforting.