My Billionaire Stranger (28 page)

Chapter 36

Marcus

She looks terrible, just skin and bones, a mere shadow of herself.  Her parents say she is not functioning, I can see with my own eyes how lost she is, and I should know, I feel the same way. We need each other it’s as simple as that; I have given her enough space, no more. Time for plan B.

                                          Imani

I feel like shit, my stomach rolls like ocean waves and I’m burning up. Mom’s thrilled to have an excuse to get me in front of a professional who will undoubtedly tell me how bad I look, how depressed I am, how terribly I’m coping…great. It’s not enough for my spirit to be broken; my body has to add insult to injury by allowing a bug to invade and drag me one step further into the bowels of my personal hell. I haul myself into the shower and put Marcus’s playlist on, I’ve taken to playing it all the time now as a sort of self-inflicted punishment. The songs that he compiled all include lyrics about love and commitment, coming home and a few that have meaning for both of us. It’s a long list of songs, all of them torturing me about love and abandonment. At least when I hear the music I feel something other than endless numbness. I feel faint in the heat of the shower, even after a handful of Ibuprofen; my temperature is 101 F- I ignore my hair it needs to be dried. Winter in Seattle now is no joke, it’s cold as hell outside, but I just don’t have the strength to hold the hair dryer. I braid it to the side I’ll just tuck it into my coat. I throw on a pair of sweat pants and a sweatshirt, socks and a pair of Nike lightweight running shoes that Marcus bought for me. He sent them back with everything, and I mean everything of mine that was at his house, the teddy bear, the clothes and shoes he bought for me and the cuff bracelet that, incidentally, I found out had cost a quarter of a million dollars. Yea I’d never be wearing that again. I had my dad put it in his safe…ridiculous really…. When I make my way downstairs mom helps me with my coat.

“Imani your hair is all wet, you’re already sick,” she complains.

“Mom…I just couldn’t.” She looks at me narrowing her eyes and tilting her head to the side before she silently continues to wrap me up in a hat, scarf and gloves, ugh now I’m sweating my head off. In her car I start stripping off the winter gear, my hat is already soaked with sweat.

“Oh Imani…you're so flushed, we need to hurry up and get you to the doctor,” she says, more to herself than to me as she puts the car into reverse, checks her mirrors and backs into the street like a stunt driver in an action movie. I just look at her profile and sigh…that’s my mom. The clinic is a quick jaunt from the house and surprisingly we’re seen immediately, usually an appointment made on the same day is a squeeze in and requires some patient waiting, but not today.

The admitting nurse takes my temperature and has me step on a scale, 95 pounds, fuck! I’ve never weighed less than 100 pounds, no wonder Lanay freaked out when she saw me, and my temperature is already up to 103 F I think I’m dying, bout  damn time. Dr. Grey follows us from the tiny triage area to the exam room, there’s no waiting. She gets right to business looking me over thoroughly.

“How long have you been sick Imani?” she asks, as she checks my pulse and listens to my lungs.

“Just a day, I mean the fever and headache just started today anyway.”

“How about the weight loss, you’ve lost a significant amount since your last physical.” “About a month I guess.”

“Do you realize you’ve lost 30 pounds in a month Imani?” She looks directly in my eyes, waiting for an explanation.

“No, I knew I had lost some, but I haven’t been on a scale.”

“Was it intentional?”

“No, I’ve been having some personal problems and I just haven’t been hungry.”

“Well you’re pretty sick, I’ll draw some blood, but my  guess is that you’ve lost so much weight that your immune system is compromised. You’ve most likely picked up a simple bug working in the hospital but you’re so weak you can’t fight it off. I’ll check you out though, maybe some IV fluids will help too, you look dehydrated. Would you be opposed to a night of observation in the hospital?”

I wouldn’t be opposed to anything right now, they can do whatever they want; I feel like shit.

“Do whatever…. I just want to lay down,” With my eyes drooping and my resolve disintegrating quickly Dr. Grey helps me curl up on the exam table. She covers me with a sheet that smells like bleach; it’s such a relief to just lay here. I close my eyes, Mom sits next to me holding my hand. I’m aware of a nurse coming to draw my blood and repeating my vital signs.

“Dr. Grey would like you to spend a night at the hospital for observation, do you have a preference which hospital?”

“Yes, Seattle Trinity,” Mom answers for me, the nurse raises her eyebrows and I knew what’s going through her head; who is this girl, is she somebody famous? Wealthy famous people are Seattle Trinity’s regular patients but as an employee, they’d take me.

“I’m a nurse there,” I manage to mumble and she nods her head understanding the connection now.

“Ok, I’ll call ahead and give them report but we have an ambulance to take you over.” Mom perks up with this news.

“An ambulance, is that really necessary?” she asks, and thank God because I want to know but my head is so fuzzy I can’t string the words together sensibly to speak. “Is there something we haven’t been told? What does Dr. Grey think is wrong with her? Why does she need an ambulance?” Good ol’ Mom, prime freak-out mode, I feel sorry for this nurse.

“Oh no, no. She just thought it would go smoother getting her admitted if she went by ambulance, she won’t have to wait in the emergency room.” That was some fast-talking, this feels off, something shady is going on but I’m going to just lay here and gratefully accept the extra help for now, I’ll figure it out later. Who am I to turn down a quick admission, I sure as hell don’t want to wait in the E.R.

“Well ok then, if you’re sure the doctor isn’t keeping something from us, that’s against the law you know.” Mom’s attempt to scare the nurse is almost comical.

“Sign here Imani, this is a release of your information, the paramedics will be here in a few minutes to take you over.”

I scratch something on the paper; I can’t even see the line she’s pointing at. Mom gathers our things. “I’ll drive over now and meet you there honey, I need to have my car with me ok? Will you be ok alone for a little bit?”

“Mmmhmm, go ahead mom.” I’m going to be alone for a lot longer then a little bit and that thought stings even through the fever and nausea. Having my mother care for me while I’m sick makes me think that this is one of the moments I will never experience. The feeling of leaving a vulnerable, sick child in someone else’s hands, I’m never having kids. Fucking fever is boiling my brain into mush; I never think about the things I’ll miss without children I’m delirious. Closing my eyes my mom kisses my forehead before leaving. The nurse starts my IV, draws my blood and a team of EMT’s come to cart me off.

Out of my head from the fever, I only remember bits and pieces of the next few hours. When they finally have my temperature under control, I discover myself in one of Seattle Trinity’s posh rooms. Mom is holding my hand on one side of my bed and Latoya is in the chair on the other. “Well hello there sleepy head,” Latoya says. I turn and face her vacantly. Has she been speaking to him regularly, has she told him how thin I am, how I fell apart when she spoke those words to me? Nope, I don’t trust her. I know she’s trying to help, but for now she’s get nothing from me.

“Oh thank God honey, you were asleep for so long, and your temperature was so high! I think your fever has finally broken, the doctor here thinks you have a virus, and like Dr. Grey he said you couldn’t fight it off because of the weight loss and stress you’ve been under. No more work for a while, and you have to start eating. Several of your co-workers have come to see you, see all the flowers?” She waves her hand across the room where vases full of various flowers sit on a table and the ledge of the window. The window has a beautiful view of the forest; in fact, being in this room is like being in a tree house in the tall sycamore trees of Seattle. I peruse the pretty arrangements thinking how nice it is that so many friends still think of me when I’ve been so absent from their lives. That’s when I see them…a simple dozen deep purple and lavender roses…. They’re from him.

“How long was I out?” I ask as the two women follow my gaze to the roses nervously.

“About 48 hours,” Latoya answers. Hell 48 hours? That’s a long time I don’t remember anything. “They gave you something to help you rest honey, and something in your IV to help balance your electrolytes out, or something like that, I’m sure you know all about it.” I glance up at the IV bag, T.P.N, fuck I must have been seriously out of whack to need that.

Total parenteral nutrition is a way to feed someone calories, vitamins and fluids via an IV, it’s for severely malnourished people who are terminally ill, anorexic or unable to eat anything for whatever reason.  I need to snap out of this, I hadn’t realized how bad this was until I got on that scale at the clinic. No time like the present to start fixing this.

“I’m hungry,” And I am, really, my stomach is growling and I swear I can feel the emptiness of my entire digestive system.

“Oh. Good!” Mom jumps up to go looking for the nurse before I can stop her. I could have just pressed my call light. Latoya shrugs her shoulder as if to say ‘what are ya gonna do, it’s mom’. My eyes connect with the roses again and Latoya knows I want answers.

“He sent them,” Is all she says, but she looks at the floor, avoiding my eyes. I turn away from her and close my eyes while hot tears flow down my face. It’s as if while I slept the past 48 hours away the veil of numbness was been whipped off and
all
the pain has returned. The cycle of grief starts back at step one again but this time I welcome it.  I need to work through it to get get past it, I can’t imagine ever getting over Marcus, but I can’t go on like this, depressed and starving myself to death. Things have to change. Mom returns practically dragging my nurse, who  is carrying  a tray of bland food. They both encourage me to take it slow while my nurse takes my vital signs and listens to my lungs before leaving us alone again.

“So was he here or did he just send the flowers?” I ask, while trying to spoon hot chicken broth into my mouth. They look at each other and I ignore them both, concentrating on the  boring tray of food in front of me.

“Uhmm…he had them delivered. There is a note but I didn’t open it I promise.” A note, huh?

“Well let’s have it, if I’m going to get over him I have to start reminding him that it’s over, he can’t be sending me messages and flowers.” Latoya retrieves the sealed note from the flowers and hands it to me.

My beautiful Imani you have lost your smart mouth not to mention too much weight, I will not
stand
around any longer waiting for you to come home, I’ve given you space but no more, times up. All My Love Marcus.

Well fuck, maybe I shouldn’t have read that note, now I’m pissed! What does he mean I’ve lost my smart mouth? I most certainly have not! ‘Stand around’ my ass, his leg is broken he can’t stand at all, and who is he to tell me I’ve ‘lost too much weight’? That’s none of his damn business! And is that some sort of threat, ‘times up’? Agh, that man makes my blood boil, the nerve of him!

He knows how scared I was, and why I left, I thought he was being gracious by leaving me alone. Nope, turns out he was just waiting me out! Mom and Latoya are staring at me expectantly. I flick the card onto the floor and give a snort before finishing all the food on my tray deliberately to prove I mean business.

With my new resolve and feeling stronger already, I insist my Mom and sister go home for the night. I can tell from the cots in the room that they haven’t left me the entire time I’ve been here.

“You have Dad to take care of Mom, and Latoya, get back to Kyle and the kids. I’ll be alright, I
am
alright, no more worries I promise, just go.”

Over an hour later they cave and gather their things to leave. Latoya kisses my cheek and Mom all but tucks me in like a seven year old, but they finally leave. I’m going to be fine…. fucking word
fine
again. I have to work harder, if not for myself then for my family. I’ve been so selfish, they went through hell with me once and now I’m dragging them through yet another   traumatic chapter in my life. I don’t want to cause them more heartache I have to straighten up. My nurse checks on me again and when she is satisfied that I’m keeping food down, she discontinues the TPN and slows my IV fluids down. She helps me get ready for bed, gives me my usual sleeping pills and makes sure my call light is within my reach. I watch the door to my room slowly close and click when I realize something is wrong my sleeping pills work fast but never this fast. I’m almost instantly fighting to keep my eyes open. My finger won’t follow my brains simple command to press the call light for help. The room blurs and tilts on its side and I attempt to focus on something anything but it’s useless I’m paralyzed. The vase of purple roses that Marcus sent distorts before my eyes and within seconds the dark envelopes me completely.

Book #2

In the ‘My Billionaire’ trilogy

Is coming soon to Amazon