Daisy's Choice (A Tale of Three Hearts) (2 page)

"We aren't negotiating here, Nina. I don't play those games. Janice does. You get a break when scheduled. We have a full floor tonight."

Returning to her thoughts by the brittle clipped tone of the charge nurse, Bea, she gave the woman a sideways look. “Fifteen and I’ll change out old-man Arthur's bed-sheets first. It’s my final offer. Sold.” Nina hit the counter like an auctioneer with her open palm. Bea gave her a wide-eyed look and blinked, her mouth moving wordless before Nina walked off. She hurried after the reverend's wife with a deep pang of sorrow buried in her breast. Everyone in Hollow Creek either knew the Johnson family or had at one time worshiped at their church. Sister Johnson slipped inside her husband's room. Slowly, Nina pushed open the patient’s door to find her standing at his bedside.

“
Sister Johnson? You need anything?” Nina asked.

She didn't appear to have heard her. Nina entered. She crossed the room silently and placed her hand gently on the matriarch's shoulders. And when their eyes met, she was sure they weren't seeing her.

“
There's no change.” Her reply was hollow.

Reverend Johnson languished in a coma. He had a heart attack not long after a fire swept through his church, which he fought valiantly to save. The paramedics had managed to start his heart again, but he hadn't opened his eyes since. No doctor in the hospital held hope he'd make a full recovery, but miracles do happen. The prayer circles were strong, and their hold over his weary soul kept him breathing on his own. All that was left was the sweet shepherd’s wife to keep vigil. Special permission was granted so Sister Johnson could remain after visiting hours. It was just another example of how Hollow Creek took care of the ones they loved.

“
Maybe you should get some rest. If there’s any change, you'll need your strength.”

Mrs. Johnson nodded, "I think I will go home tonight."

This surprised Nina. For the past week it was never mentioned in front of the reverend's wife, even though her daughters came to the hospital and pleaded with the administration to make their mother leave and get rest.

"Let me walk you out. I'll look after him for you. Call you if there’s any change." Sister Johnson sighed, located her purse and Nina guided her out of the door. Together, they left the hospital in silence. Nina followed her into the parking lot. She smiled with words of encouragement, then watched as the Reverend's wife gave one final parting look to the hospital before succumbing to her own fatigue and driving off.

Nina dropped her hands into the thin pockets in the front of her scrubs. Her finger brushed the 'cancer stick' she'd been holding on to and smiled. She pressed the cigarette to her lips and fished out her lighter. The flame flickered but held under the cover of her curled hand. Pete hated smoking, smokers and the mere idea of his woman with such a filthy habit. She did quit, three times, but this past week she’d been on edge. Dragging on the filtered end, she let the bitter tar flavored smoke fill her lungs before she exhaled through her nose. Her eyes surveyed the night. The hospital was next to the children’s annex.

Both buildings towered over her. The alley itself was clear of any obstruction or litter. That was another thing about her town, one of the cleanest cities in Kentucky. She could remember the funk and stench of New York alleyways when she was in college. Rats with red beady eyes that hissed, vagrants lying in their own stench, sewage pipes and lines running along were all common sights. She made the mistake of stumbling into a few after partying late with friends. Those were different times.

Nina licked her parched lips, cigarette clasped between two fingers. She took another forbidden puff and then another until that magic hit of nicotine did its job. A calm settled over her as she walked the side of the building heading to the front. Yeah, dark corners weren’t her thing.

Nothing much happened at this hour. Quiet moments were always her coveted ones where she could let her mind drift to thoughts of Pete. Her head went back and her eyes lifted to the half-moon in the sky. Nina exhaled a cloud of white smoke and smiled. Two years and still the simplest things reminded her of her guy.

Then she heard it: tires over gravel, the soft hum of a nicely tuned engine. Nina stepped back so as to not be seen. Standing at the shadowy path to the alley, she had a perfect view of the sleek black limo slowly moving through the empty parking lot. The vehicle drove around the circular drive and stopped.
A limo in Hollow Creek at this time of night?
Interesting.
She narrowed her focus and took a small step forward. The door opened. A young woman stepped out with the aid of the driver. Even in the distance and the limited night, she was striking. Her hair, long and layered, lifted from the sides of her face, and Nina's heart stopped.

"I don't believe it. Is that Daisy?"

****

Daisy shifted closer to her door. She stared for a second at the red glowing sign: EMERGENCY.
How appropriate.
There was no other word in her vocabulary to explain the urgency she felt when she learned the news of her father. The door to the limo opened, and again a strong whiff of Kentucky air breezed in.

“
Ms. Locke,” the chauffeur extended his hand. She accepted it. He tipped his head, eyes shielded under the front of his cap.

“
Wait here. I… I don’t need you to come in,” Daisy said softly.

“
Yes, mam.”

Daisy’s hurried steps fell short at the entrance. Doors of glass reflected the night and her strained expression. A cold wave of longing moved through her. How she missed mama and daddy over the years. How she ached to reach out to them and share her life with them once more. But with each year that passed, it became easier and easier to leave the Daisy they knew behind. Now here she was, and no matter her accomplishments, all she saw was Daisy staring back at her.

The doors parted to grant her entrance. At this hour, she could only hope to remain unseen.

****

Nina stubbed out the cigarette with her foot.
It is her!
There was something demure and refined about her appearance. She wore a grey pencil skirt and a cranberry-red blouse under a very classically tailored grey cashmere coat and matching red pumps. In stunned silence, she watched Daisy until she disappeared from sight.
Daisy Johnson
. She had changed quite a bit. Her long hair was polished and blown straight, framing her face from a center part. She looked fancy. No, she looked wealthy.

“
Well I’ll be damned,” Nina mumbled.

It took Pete three years to give up on his search for her, and still Nina knew part of him remained locked in the past. He shared with her. It all happened in Vegas, what he and Daisy did. A man named Aiden Keane entered their lives and destroyed their love and Pete's faith in Daisy. When Nina heard the story, she had a different take on it. She'd never tell Pete, but for her it wasn’t Aiden Keane that divided him from his first love.
It was Daisy
. Anybody but Pete could see how starry eyed and money hungry Daisy was. She put down everything in this town along with that motor mouth best friend of hers, Jessiemae.

Nina was a freshman in college when Pete and Daisy ran away. By the time she returned home, the scandal had lost its hold, and Pete had become one of the walking wounded. It broke her heart that Daisy would treat somebody as sweet natured as Pete that way. From the look of her now, Nina surmised, Daisy was still chasing dollar signs.

Even in school, things came easy for Ms. Daisy; cutest boy in the Hollow, popular in everything she chose. Daisy Johnson was Ms. Perfect, and they all had to live up to the standard she set. Now her family was in crisis for nearly two weeks and she decides to return? Yes, Nina feared this moment. She started smoking again to try to convince herself it wouldn’t come. But she saw it with her own eyes.
Daisy Johnson was back
. What would that mean for her and Pete?

***

“
I understand. Visiting hours may be over, but I really, um, I have to see him. Please.”

“
I’m sorry. The rules are the rules. Come back in the morning.”

“
I can’t,” Daisy said. Her voice was strained and a little too desperate. She was prepared to beg. She’d given up her pride before, for monetary gain. She’d surely sacrifice it once more for her beloved father.

Wiping at the sting of moisture building in the corner of her eyes, she chewed on her bottom lip, and then nervously clenched her hands. Why couldn’t she have encountered someone neutral?

Susanne smirked up at her with a smug look of disapproval and open judgment. She was sure that by morning the rest of Kentucky would know she was home from the mouth of this gossipy bitch. Worst yet, was the accusation in Susanne's eyes, as if her pain was staged. There was no need in guessing; Pete had probably shared with the town what happened between them in Vegas. Yes, this one, Susanne, was related to Pete by marriage. In the Hollow, everybody was related somehow.

“
I can’t let you up on the floor, Daisy. Sorry.”

“
It’s okay, Susanne. Let me take her to him.”

Daisy turned to familiar friendly eyes. It was Nina Stevens, a girl she remembered vaguely from high school. She was a year younger, kind-of geeky. Not anymore. She had changed. Nina had toffee brown skin and her hair tapered low to her face and neck with tiny curls. She was an inch or two shorter than Daisy. Somewhere along the way, Nina had ditched the thick glasses to reveal her best feature, her hazel brown eyes. Dressed in pale blue hospital scrubs, Daisy assumed she worked there. They weren’t friends. In fact, Daisy was almost certain she and Jessiemae made fun of her and a few other girls like her during their mean girl days. Hopefully, time had healed any grudges Nina might carry.

“
Hi, Nina.”

“
Hi, Daisy. Come with me.”

Susanne shot up off her stool, knocking it over. “Nina… you know that Bea won’t allow it.”

“
I said it’s okay. I’ll clear it with Bea.” She tossed back over her shoulder, giving Daisy an understanding nod. It was a touch of kindness that Daisy was ever so grateful for, because it helped to ease the pressure pounding at the back of her skull. Her flight into Louisville was exhausting. The ride to Hollow Creek was equally draining. Being turned away would have certainly killed her.

Nina pressed the button to the elevator. Together they stood, shoulder-to-shoulder, in silence and boarded the same way.

“
How is he?” Daisy finally asked.

“
He hasn’t come out of his coma.”

Daisy said nothing more. She just stared ahead. She could feel Nina's eyes on her.

“
He’s a hero,” Nina spoke up.

“
He saved a lot of people. I read that.” Daisy stopped herself. She sure as hell didn’t want to share that she visited The Hollow Creek Tribune weekly via the Internet to see what was going on in her hometown.

“
Oh, yes. He saved my cousin too. He wouldn’t stop until he got them all out. Even went around the firemen. They don’t know what caused the fire. Bible study that night was in the basement and choir practice in the sanctuary. Many were trapped, but all got out. It’s Reverend Johnson who saw to it. We all love him, Daisy.”

The elevator doors parted.

“
Me too,” Daisy said, sadly. “Me too.”

Daisy hoped she wouldn’t have to be paraded before others who would regard her with the same silent shock that Susanne gave.

“
Let’s go this way,” Nina smiled. As if she read her mind, Daisy followed. Together they walked down the halls, her heels clicking over the linoleum squares polished to a shine. It was the only sound between them, that and her racing heartbeat that thundered in her ears.

“
Take all the time you need.”

“
Thank you,” Daisy mumbled, never looking her way. She pushed open the door and went inside.

Chapter Two

Charles Johnson was a strong man. Daisy forced herself to remember that strength. He was also a loving father. She recalled how she and her sisters would sneak in their parent’s bedroom. Daddy would be asleep, mouth open, snoring. Mama would be downstairs in the kitchen baking. Daisy was given the task of being the lookout. She'd put her fingers under her father's nose to feel him breathing as they searched his favorite chair in the room. It was the one he sat in on Saturday evenings and wrote his sermons. Her sisters would dig between the seat cushions to collect loose change, then hot tail it over to Ms. Ana’s for a frozen cup and penny bubble gum.

He’d come downstairs later and say:

“
Martha?”

“
What is it, Charles?”

“
Think we got a squirrel in the house.”

“
Why’s that Charles?”