Crossing the Barrier (3 page)

Malakai, anxious to be on his way, ran to Coach.

“Her name is Elizabeth Morgan. She goes by Lily. She was taken to Memorial Hospital. I thought you would want to pay her a visit,” he said, with the shadow of a smile on his lips.

His eyes wide, Malakai stared at Coach. Did the man have the power to read minds?

“She’s still in the hospital?”

“With an injury like hers?” Coach said with a chuckle. “She’ll be lucky if she doesn’t spend the night there. Go take a shower, make yourself presentable, and go apologize to the young lady.”

“Thanks, Coach.”

“You bet. Oh, and Thomas, one more thing: no more running inside the school. I’m sure you’ve learned your lesson?”

“Yes, sir,” Malakai said, wincing.

“Go now. I think you have somewhere to be.”

Without adding another word, Malakai ran to the school.

Chapter Five

LILY

Lily’s head hurt
something fierce.

She had woken up in the hospital an hour earlier, and now she had a hard time thinking straight. She could only feel the suffering and despair of the people in the rooms nearby, and for one reason or another, she could not put her shields up. Every time she tried, nothing happened except more pain.

As her fourth imaginary brick wall crumbled to pieces, she brought her hands to her temples to try to stop the cacophony of emotional noise. She didn’t understand why she had to work so hard at something that had come as naturally as breathing to her.

As she massaged her temples, she felt a familiar presence approaching her room.

“Do tell me what happened to you, kiddo.”

Uncle Charlie had a big smile on his face and a huge bouquet of flowers in his hands. He walked into the room and set the flowers on the rolling table next to her bed.

Lily loved the man. He looked every bit like her father—his identical twin—with his dark hair, bright brown eyes, and easy smile. He was six feet tall and muscular, and he was, overall, a handsome man for his age.

Lily wasn’t surprised the school had called him. During the previous school year, Charlie had become Lily’s emergency contact when the school called her house, and her mother, Beatrice, hadn’t cared enough to remember Lily hadn’t been in school for two days. She had been sick with the flu, and her mother hadn’t called the school to notify them. The entire incident had created a big fuss, and to prevent it from ever happening again, her uncle had taken over the notifications and become her primary contact.

As he turned to her, Lily felt the deep concern coming from him despite his smile.

“Charlie, you don’t need to worry.” She knew her saying so only marginally lessened her uncle’s worries.

“I was told you hit your head.”

“Yeah, but I don’t remember anything. The last thing I remember was going to the bathroom. The next thing, I was waking up here an hour ago. I doubt the doctors really know what happened. If they do, they’re not telling me.”

“Then let me see what I can find out,” Charlie said, kissing her forehead and squeezing her shoulder gently.

“Thank you.”

As Charlie let go of her shoulder, the suffering and misery of the hospital’s patients flooded her senses again. Lily wished she were in the maternity ward as happy feelings were few and far between in her section, and trying as hard as she could, she couldn’t block anything.

She had been massaging her temples for a few moments when she felt her uncle’s presence, and then heard him in the hallway. She looked up and saw him with a man in blue scrubs through the window that overlooked the corridor.

“Well, doctor, if you’re waiting for her mother to show, you may as well keep her for the week,” he said. “I’m her emergency contact, and this paper gives me the authority to take her home.”

Lily perceived how annoyed the doctor was and how worried her uncle was, despite his tone.

“Mr. Morgan, Lily hurt her head rather badly. She has a mild concussion, and we want to keep her for a few more hours to make sure everything’s normal. Then we can discharge her to a responsible parent.”

“Doctor, this paper tells you I’m that person when her mother is unavailable.”

“I’m not supposed to let her go without a parent present.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to, but in this case, and with this paper, it’s the only way.”

Lily looked away, toward the window overlooking the parking lot.

Charlie was right. Her mother wouldn’t come for her. It was in moments like these Lily wished her father were still alive. He had died at the end of her sophomore year in a car crash on the highway when he was on his way back from Houston. Ever since, her relationship with her mother had deteriorated to a point where it was now exclusively confrontational.

“Don’t worry, kiddo,” her uncle said, entering the room and taking a seat in the chair next to her bed. “You should be out of here in no time.”

Lily felt the concern pouring from Charlie and wondered why her mother never found it in her heart to care for her.

“What was that paper you were talking about?”

“A little trick I did a while back. Don’t worry about it.”

Asking him more questions was not something Lily was willing to do at this time. Her head was already pounding, and she didn’t want to make matters worse by having a verbal match with her uncle.

“I don’t want you to waste your day,” she said instead.

“Nah! Don’t worry, kiddo. I only had boring meetings anyway.”

Lily smiled sadly, thinking again of her uncaring mother. Her uncle had told her multiple times to take control of her life and get rid of what made her unhappy, but that meant her mother; and somehow, Lily couldn’t find it in herself to move out and go live with her uncle like he had asked countless times. After all, the house she lived in was hers. It had been a gift from her grandfather to her father who had, in turn, left it in a trust for her. Most of his investments and life insurance had also gone to her as the sole beneficiary. Her mother’s inheritance, on the other hand, had been significantly less, and she would have had to find a job and abandon all her charity work if the trust hadn’t allowed her to live in the house until Lily turned eighteen. The court had extended this privilege until it reached its decision concerning the trust, which her mother was contesting. In her mother’s mind, Lily didn’t deserve to receive anything from her father. After all, Lily had been a surrogate child, and it hadn’t been until much later that her mother had officially signed the adoption papers.

Lily’s father had also made sure Charlie—who loved her as much as her father did—was managing her trust, which had irked her mother to no end. Lily was glad of her father’s foresight as she was convinced her mother would have found a way to burn through the money within a year.

A soft knock on the doorframe brought Lily’s attention back to the present, and she looked up. She had been so immersed in the hospital misery, and her own, she hadn’t felt the new, worried presence approach her door. Her jaw dropped when she saw who was standing there, and she quickly tried to comb her hair with her fingers.

“I’ll head to the cafeteria to get something to drink,” her uncle said, standing with an amused smile on his face. “I’ll be back shortly.”

Lily watched her uncle walk around the boy who was still standing in her doorway, looking for all the world like he didn’t know what to do next.

Malakai Thomas.

Lily had noticed him during her freshman year while she was waiting in line at the cafeteria. She had bumped into him and apologized profusely. He had only smiled at her, telling her it was okay.

Lily had never been able to forget those green eyes. They had looked so genuine, and when she had touched him, she had felt something she couldn’t quite describe, something profound, something that moved her all the way to her soul. Ever since, she had felt a pull toward the boy, and every time she saw him in the school corridors or on the football field, her heart raced.

But she wasn’t the only one with a crush on him.

Since he joined the varsity team in sophomore year, half the girls in school daydreamed about him, and Lily was a realist. She didn’t think he would ever know who she was, let alone have any kind of relationship with her.

But now he was standing in her doorway, and it took all her willpower not to pinch herself. As she stared, she felt his worries being replaced by nervousness, and he scratched the back of his head, looking around the room.

Why the hell was he visiting her in the hospital for? How in the world did he even know she was here to begin with?

Suspicious, Lily extended her sense deeper and didn’t find any bad intentions coming from him. In fact, behind his nervousness, she felt only shyness and guilt.

“Hi,” he finally said, looking at her, then at the floor in front of him.

Lily thought Malakai was one of the most gorgeous boys in school, and right now he was totally adorable. He had wide shoulders and muscled arms under a school T-shirt. He had a narrow waist and muscled legs covered with faded jeans. He had a round face with full lips, and his light-brown curly hair was cut short. Lily envied him his golden complexion, which she heard he had inherited from his father, who was biracial. He had a nice smile and even white teeth.

“I…I came to apologize,” he said, keeping his eyes firmly on the floor.

Not knowing what he meant, Lily frowned. Quickly, he glanced at her, then looked to the side.

“You don’t remember, do you?”

“Remember what exactly?”

“I was running inside the school this morning, and I ran into you. That’s why you hit your head and ended up in the hospital,” he explained quietly in a slightly accented tone, looking down at the bed.

Lily was puzzled. She couldn’t understand why he felt so guilty. She thought he was overreacting, and his deep emotions were beyond the scope and severity of his actions.

“I’m sorry you had to miss practice. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” he said, now looking at her.

His eyes were utterly mesmerizing, the green so deep Lily thought she saw the sea in them.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

Malakai smiled shyly. “I…I brought you this,” he said, walking into the room and offering her a bag.

Lily opened it and retrieved a
Smithsonian
magazine.

“If what Coach told me is right, you might need the distraction,” he explained, his shyness slowly slipping away.

“Thank you,” Lily said with a sincere smile.

An uncomfortable silence settled between them. It was the first time Malakai had ever had a conversation with her, and Lily was dying for him to stay.

“I reckon I should–” Malakai began, scratching the back of his head again and looking around the room.

“How was practice?” Lily asked, interrupting him.

Malakai stopped scratching and looked up at her, the shadow of a smile on his lips.

“Good,” he answered, taking the seat her uncle had just vacated. “Coach chewed my head off, but overall, it was a good practice…once I got my head back into it.”

Lily smiled. She loved to hear him speak. His voice was low and pleasant, and he spoke softly. If she had to venture a guess, she would think his accent was British.

“You like football a lot, don’t you?”

It was a stupid question, Lily knew, but she was desperate for him to keep on talking. For a reason she could not explain, having him near her muted the feelings of the rest of the hospital.

“Yeah,” he answered with a grin. “I was offered a full ride to the University of South Texas for next year. I accepted it last Friday.”

His last comment was accompanied by a lot of conflicting emotions, which had Lily thoroughly confused. She was curious to know why he was at the same time proud, happy, disappointed, and sad about the offer.

“Congratulations,” she said with a warm smile.

“How is your solo coming?” he asked.

“Good,” she answered, surprised he knew about it. “It’s a lot more complicated than last year, and I still have to perfect it, but I’ll be ready when we present our exhibition shows and competitions. It’s a shame you never get to hear us, really.”

“Yeah. I liked seeing you march last year. Coach made us watch you after the homecoming game.”

Now that he was talking, Lily discovered Malakai had a lot to say, not only about football but also about the
Smithsonian
, which he read avidly, and cooking. They were still talking so intently an hour later that Lily was startled by her uncle’s return. All she felt was Malakai’s excitement as he spoke, and she never realized her uncle was nearby.

As Malakai took his leave, Lily felt his hesitancy. She didn’t want to see him go either. His presence was comforting, and once he left, she realized the likelihood of talking to him again was pretty slim. After all, she was a band girl and he was a football player and the two just didn’t mix.

But maybe, just maybe…

Her heart pinched as he walked out of her room, and Lily wondered if she would be lucky enough to ever spend time with him again.