Maybe Baby Lite (6 page)

“
Try me from behind,
sweetie that will get you off,” she instructs. She tilts her butt
upward to allow Daniel access to her. Daniel is ringing with sweat;
his erection is still full and hard. He gently guides his cock back
inside of her with his right hand, exhaling deeply as he does. Once
planted firmly inside of her, he grabs
both of her butt checks and soon he is ramming her with a
vengeance. He moans loudly getting his release, and then collapses
back, pulling her on top of him, kissing her face.

“
What a fuck,” he breathes
heavily into her ear. The picture is freeze-framed.

“
No! No! No!” I shriek.
“How could you do that? Daniel's my boyfriend! He's nothing to you,
Mom!"

Someone comes up to me and
gently shakes my shoulder. Who's here with me? Who else is in this
fucked-up dream? I feel sick again. My throat burns like I
swallowed acid. I feel myself thrashing around; trying to find them
again in this dream so I can slap my mom and call her a whore. But
someone holds onto me, cradling me against a strong chest. I feel a
heartbeat. Someone's calling my name gently. The voice sounds like
it's coming from a tunnel outside of my dream.

“
Leave me alone!” I
scream. “She's gotta hear what I hafta say to her!"

Sobs consume my body. My
cheeks are hot and wet. Don’t you get it?” I cry, pushing against
the arms that hold me tightly. “Daniel's mine…he's supposed to
be…mine.”

I was once again blessed
with blackness. The freeze-frame picture disappeared to
nothingness. Sometime later, my eyes fluttered open. As they
adjusted to the light, I realized that I wasn't in my bed at my
cottage.

“
Tylar,” a soft, familiar
voice said, “you're in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?
You may not remember, but you're going to be fine,
okay?”

My eyes searched the room.
Then I saw him. Trey. He was standing at the end of my bed, and his
sapphire blue eyes reflected fatigue and worry. He smiled, his
dimple appearing briefly. My throat hurt so much I was afraid to
speak. I had all kinds of tubes on me. Something was dripping into
me from an IV that connected to the back of my hand. A woman I
didn’t recognize rose from a chair in the corner and stood next to
Trey.

“
Trey,” she said, “she’s
awake now. She’s okay. Don’t you think you need to get home and get
some rest, maybe change your clothes, get something to eat? The
doctor says she’s stable.”

Trey looked like he'd been
in that wrinkled tuxedo for days. He didn’t take his eyes off of me
while he answered her. “Charlotte, I’m here as long as she is, or
until someone from her family surfaces. We haven’t been successful
in reaching her mother, and I don’t feel right leaving
her.”

“
But Clint, Rodney, Ray,
and Luke have offered to be here in shifts so that she isn’t left
alone,” Charlotte persisted. “You’re the one who chooses to keep
vigil.”

“
I don’t give a damn,”
Trey answered, his tone full of irritation. “I need to make sure
she is safe. Someone has to be responsible for this girl and make
sure everything that should be done is being done. That's why I'm
here, and frankly, I’m tired of explaining this to you.” Charlotte
wasn’t happy with his response but I was; I felt like I was a
voyeur in yet another dream, and this one gave me far more pleasure
then the one I'd escaped earlier.

“
Fine,” she snapped at
him, grabbing her purse from the chair. “Call me if you ever get
relieved of duty here.” With that, she flounced out of the room,
leaving Trey in a whoosh of wind as she abruptly slammed the door.
Trey rolled his eyes and smiled sheepishly at me. I couldn’t
suppress a giggle and I winced at the pain it brought to my throat.
Why did it hurt so much? Trey came closer and asked if I wanted
some water. I nodded yes. He poured some ice water out of the
pitcher that was on the bed tray, and gently put his left arm
underneath my head, lifting it slowly. I could feel that my lips
were parched. I was glad that I couldn’t see how bad I looked. He
tilted the straw toward me so I could reach it with my lips. I took
several painful swallows.

His nearness made me feel
so safe. I wanted to sleep without dreams but there was no
guarantee. I didn’t want to close my eyes for fear he would leave.
He sensed my fear because he settled back into a chair by my
bed.

“
I’m not going anywhere,
Tylar,” he whispered. “Go to sleep and dream good things, I'm here
to chase the bad dreams away.” I smiled and sank deeper into my
pillows, closing my eyes.

When I awoke, sunlight was
streaming in through the mini blinds of my hospital window. Trey
was asleep in the same chair, gently snoring. I reached over and
took a sip of water from my Styrofoam cup. My throat felt much
better. I drained the water with my straw. The slurping sound
caused Trey to stir.

He languidly stretched his
arms out in front of him with the fingers of both hands intertwined
like a steeple. He yawned and glanced over at me. He was startled
to see me awake, sitting up, and trying to slurp more water out of
an empty cup. Trey was on his feet instantly, hovering next to
me.

“
Do you need more water,
Tylar?”

I nodded and watched as he
lifted the pitcher from my bedside table, frowning as he opened the
lid. “Let me go down to the nurse’s station and have them fill this
with fresh water and ice,” he said. He was back quickly with a
fresh pitcher of ice water, filling my cup. I watched him in awe.
He was freshly shaven, his tousled hair looked exquisite. He wore
jeans and a royal blue Polo shirt that heightened his sapphire
eyes. As I took the cup from him, he smiled warmly, gave me a wink.
I took another long swallow of ice-cold water. It tasted so good.
He sat on the arm of the chair next to my bed.

“
So, how are you feeling
today, Ms. Preston?”

“
Much better, thank
you,
sir
,” I
answered. My voice had taken on a foreign, husky tone. I was
shocked when I heard it. “What’s wrong with my voice? I sound like
freaking Demi Moore!”

Trey laughed sporting that
lovely dimple and reached over, brushing my hair back. Oh God, I
wondered how greasy and matted my hair was now.

“
It will go back to normal
soon,” he promised, “although I find it quite sexy. You’ve been
through quite a bit these past few days. Want me to fill you
in?”

“
Please…” I answered
huskily, sipping more water. Trey clasped his hands together, and
then rubbed his brow with his thumb and forefinger as if deciding
where to start.

“
Well, let’s see,” he
said. “Do you remember the episode at the pool last Friday
night?”

I nodded, still sucking
water down.

“
As a result of that
incident, you sustained a mild concussion, a serious ear infection,
and tonsillitis in both tonsils. It could've been much worse.
You're one lucky girl.”

“
Lucky?” I sputtered,
letting the straw drop from my mouth. “How do you figure? I was
ready to cross-over.”

“
Cross over?” he repeated,
puzzled. “Cross over what?”

I leaned closer to him as
if confiding a secret. He leaned forward in his chair so that he
could hear that I was about to tell him.

“
I remember seeing, you
know,
the
light?”
I whispered hoarsely in my new Demi Moore, sexy voice. I could tell
he still wasn't getting it. Did this guy know zip about
spirituality and the hereafter?

“
You
know
,” I started again, this time
with a bit more exasperation in my voice than intended, “The
bright
white
light?
The one at the pearly
gates?”

Trey burst into laughter,
his perfect smile radiant with humor. He composed himself, seeing
that I didn't find the humor in it at all.

“
I’m sorry,” he
apologized, still trying to stifle his laughter and strike a more
somber expression. “No, really, please forgive me. I'm really not
making light, eh, pardon the pun there, of what you went through
last Friday.” He struggled to continue. I watched him as he stood
up and leaned on the bed rail. I could smell his aftershave. He was
looking at me now, all humor veiled.

God he's fucking hot seven
ways from Sunday!

“
I think what you actually
saw beneath the water was the pool light. It's inset under the
diving board."

Oh . . . pool light . . .
NOT the light at the pearly gates. Fuck if I didn't just serve him
up some toe jam on an idiot cracker!

"You see," he explained,
"When I pulled up the drive that night, I saw everyone in the dark
pool so I walked over to the pump house and switched on the light
for everyone’s safety. That's when I saw that you were in trouble
with the rest of those drunken idiots."

I guess that meant I was a
drunken idiot too.

“
It sounds as if you're
blaming the victim here. Didn't you have anything to drink that
night? Weren't you driving your car with your girlfriend Charlotte
in it while you were under the influence?"

He gave no reply but his
body language spoke volumes.

“
So maybe you behaved kind
of recklessly yourself Mr. Sinclair? Plus - you put your girlfriend
at risk too."

Trey started to smile,
enjoying our exchange. “First of all, Charlotte is
not
my girlfriend.
That's really the first time we've been out; she asked me to be her
date at some function at her club so I accepted.
Secondly—”

Just then, the door to my
hospital room opened and a smiling Ray and Denise walked in. My
spirits immediately lifted.

“
Hey there, girl, how are
you doing?” Denise gushed as she entered. Ray came to my bedside
and gave me a peck on the forehead then started talking to Trey;
they retreated over to the window, lowering their voices. I
strained to hear them, but my attention shifted back to Denise as
she recoiled at my hair.

“
My oh my, girl. Don’t
they allow you to shower here?” she asked, her lip curled up in
disgust. “Why your gorgeous hair looks like it’s had pure lard
combed through it!”

I saw Trey momentarily
stop his conversation, glancing over at me. I blushed with
embarrassment.

Trey spoke up, “She just
really came around fully today, Denise. There was no way anyone was
going to be able to get her into the shower. She can’t have
anything more than sponge baths until they remove her catheter,
anyway.”

Catheter? But that’s
for…

I slowly lifted up my
covers and pulled up my hospital gown in front to get a
peek.

Sweet Jesus!

I peered down at the side
of my hospital bed; naturally it was on the side that faces the
window where he and Ray were standing in plain sight. I felt my
face warming. My eyes flew up and met his amused gaze. He'd
thoroughly enjoyed watching me figure it all out.

Damn, how much had he seen
over the past several days? Trey and Ray resumed talking. I was
relieved that his attention was diverted away from the pee bag and
my nasty hair. Denise was futilely trying to run a comb through my
hair when I heard Trey’s voice rise in response to something that
Ray had told him.

“
How many days since he
last ate?” Trey questioned.

“
Three.”

Trey looked irritated. He
absently raked a hand through his hair, taking a moment to think
before speaking again.

“
Okay, Ray, have Clint mix
up some of that special oat grain and barley meal. Tell Clint to
let Derringer free feed until I tell him differently, got
it?”

“
Sure thing,” Ray
answered.

“
What’s going on with
Derringer?” I demanded, interrupting their conversation.

“
Derringer's going to be
fine, Tylar,” Trey said, sensing that I was becoming upset. “Just a
little hunger strike going on that’s all. It’s temporary, I’m sure.
He’s probably missing someone that’s taken to spoiling him,” he
said pleasantly.

I frowned, worried about
the Lipizzaner. Denise spoke up.

“
Tylar,” she said
congenially, “I don’t want to be pushy, hon, but if you want me to,
I can ask at the nurse’s station if they will let me help you into
the shower. I can shampoo and condition your hair for you if you
want.”

“
Denise, I'll love you
forever if you can swing that,” I answered eagerly. “Can you let
them know that I'm able to use the bathroom now so I can get this
catheter removed?”

“
Sure thing, hon, you just
sit tight. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

Ray came over and sat down
on the edge of my bed. “We sure miss you, Ty,” he smiled, his eyes
crinkling. “I can tell you this Trey reamed the whole bunch of them
real good, especially Jenna and Clint.”

“
No,” I exclaimed,
glancing at Trey who stared absently out the window. “Clint had no
hand in this at all, Ray. I know that for a fact. Now Jenna, yeah,
I wouldn’t put anything past her, but still, I can’t think she
would do something to purposely hurt me.”