Romero (31 page)

She’d been so sleep-deprived since then, and now she felt her body giving in to the exhaustion. Normally, she’d get up and brush her teeth, get into her sleepwear, make sure her clothes were ready for the next morning. Now she let herself give in to the exhaustion. Let her body call the shots until it slowly shut down and slipped into an abyss of nothingness.

Far away in the distance, there was a ringing. A ringing she’d been hearing the entire time she’d floated in a chasm of weightless reflection. Images of happier times with Romero floated through her semi-consciousness. Making love through the night, laughing as they enjoyed their dinner, kiss after glorious kiss then the ringing stopped. Along with it so did the images.

Panicked, Isabel shuddered. Then the ringing started again. This time she opened her eyes and realized she’d been dreaming, but the ringing continued. The lamp in the front room was still on but it was dark out and Isabel sat dazed wondering what time it was. It finally dawned on her that it was her cell phone ringing in the kitchen.

She stood up feeling groggy. One glance at the clock on the microwave gave her the chills. It was four in the morning. Who would be calling at this hour? She hurried to her cell and saw it was Valerie. Clearing her throat, she answered it, her anxiety growing by the minute. This couldn’t be good.

“Romero’s uncle Max was shot last night.” Isabel’s heart nearly stopped and she held her breath as Valerie continued. “Alex overheard someone at the restaurant talking about a shooting at the Silver Dollar but he couldn’t get a hold of Romero. Romero finally returned his call late last night. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you ever since.”

Isabel wanted to tell her she’d fallen asleep on the sofa. That she hadn’t heard the phone ring until just now, but she couldn’t speak. Finally, she got her mouth to function. “Oh my God. Is he dead?”

“No, he was still alive the last time I spoke with Alex. He’s been at the hospital with Romero ever since Romero called him last night.” Valerie took a deep breath, her voice sounding very strained. “Honey, I know you’re mad at Romero. But I really think he could use your support right now. Alex said he’s in bad shape. Maybe… maybe you could at least call him.”

“What hospital?”

Isabel nearly ran right out after she hung up with Valerie but she felt so dirty from all the cleaning she’d done the night before that she decided to shower first. With her heart at her throat the entire time she got ready to go she didn’t know what to think. What would she say to him? What if Max died? Valerie said he was in critical condition. What could Isabel possibly say to Romero to make his pain any less?

Slipping into a pair of denim shorts and a cotton tee, she fumbled the neatly aligned flip-flops in her closet finding the army green ones that matched her top. She had no time to worry about make-up or her hair so she pulled her still wet hair into a ponytail and slathered a little face lotion on and a dab of lip-gloss.

A myriad of thoughts swam through her head as she drove to the hospital. It was only Thursday, but already this week felt like the longest of her life. Each day that passed got worse. Now this.

She hadn’t heard from Michael since Sunday and she still had no idea whether he was going forward with the charges against Romero, but then she
had
said she’d call
him
. She’d give it until the weekend and see if she heard anything between now and then.

As she pulled into the hospital, she was overcome with emotion. For all she knew Max could already be dead. Her heart ached for Romero—for Manny. She walked through the parking lot, her heart thudding even harder when she saw Romero’s car.

Alex walked out of the sliding door to the emergency room looking very grim just as she walked up to him. Isabel brought her hand to her mouth. “How is he?”

“So far, he’s better than he was last night. He got out of surgery about an hour ago.” He shrugged. “He was critical when he got here, now he’s critical but stable. So it’s touch and go.”

Come to think of it, Isabel had noticed something in Valerie’s voice when she’d spoken to her earlier. The shock of hearing about Max had overshadowed it. She also thought Valerie was just upset about Max. Alex started to walk away. “Romero is right inside.”

“Alex, have Valerie call me, or I’ll worry. Okay?”

He nodded and rushed off. The dark sky was beginning to take on a bluish hue with soft rays of pink and orange as the sun began to crest. Isabel stared at it, taking a very deep breath before stepping inside. The first thing she saw was Manny in a corner seat, eyes closed, leaning against Aida who had her arms around him. Romero sat two seats away in the near empty waiting room. He was hunched over, his elbows on his knees and his hands in his hair.

She gulped, trying to be strong. Even though Manny’s eyes were closed, she could see the area around them was red and swollen. She remembered Romero telling her how Manny was not ashamed to cry and she could only imagine all the crying he’d done tonight.

She walked over and took the seat next to Romero. He didn’t move at all and she brought her hand up, stopping just before it touched his back, afraid of what his reaction would be. Did he hate her now? Was he still angry at her? Finally, she let her hand touch his strong back and he lifted his head. His eyes widened when he turned and saw her.

“Izzy?” he said it as if questioning if it was really her.

She smiled trying to hold it together. “How’s Max?”

His eyes began to flood, but he was without expression. He hugged her. At first softly but every breath he took, he hugged her even harder. He didn’t say a word and she didn’t ask anything else, just ran her fingers through his hair until his breathing began to calm. Without letting go of her or even pulling away to face her he finally whispered against her ear, “Please don’t leave me. I promise I’ll try harder.” Slowly he pulled away and their eyes met. “I’m nothing without you, Izzy.”

She stared at his wet, worried eyes, not sure how to respond to that. Then she remembered Cici. Now wasn’t the time to discuss that. “We can talk about this later. Right now I just wanna be here for you.”

The worry never left his eyes but he took her hand and sat back. She sat back with him. “Do they know anything yet?”

Just as he was about to respond a door to the admitting room opened and a doctor walked out. They all sat up at once. Manny stood. The doctor walked up to them. He explained Max had been very lucky. The bullet had only nicked the top of his lung and had missed any vital arteries. “However, we’ll need to monitor him very closely for the next few days because anytime a lung is punctured in any way the patient runs the risk of developing fluid in the lungs very quickly which can then develop into pneumonia.”

Isabel saw the alarm in Romero’s eyes at the mention of the word and he stood. She stood with him.

“I don’t foresee that happening, everything looks good right now, but it’s always best to be cautious, so he will remain in the ICU for the next couple of days. The pain medication he’s on will keep him out for most of the day. I’d suggest you all go home and get some rest. Come back later tonight. That’s probably the earliest he’ll wake.” Seeing the apprehension on both Manny and Romero’s faces, the doctor added. “We’ll call you if there is any change. But I can assure you the worst is over.”

“Thank, God. Thank
God!
” Manny said.

Aida hugged Manny and Isabel squeezed Romero’s hand.

Once outside a very drained looking Manny turned to Romero. “We’re going to grab some breakfast before heading home. You two wanna come with?”

The corner of his lip lifted, though he didn’t seem very happy, but then under the circumstances that was understandable. “Yeah. We have no idea why. Nick, my attorney, was getting ready to file my paperwork when he was notified the charges had been cancelled.”

Isabel couldn’t believe her plan had actually worked. It was the first good thing that had happened that week. They stopped at her car.

“Izzy, I’ll do anything to make this better. I’ll change. I promise. Just please tell me it’s not over.” He kissed her hand.

“I don’t want it to be over either, Romero.”

His face brightened a bit but there was still apprehension. “So we’ll work on it?
I’ll
work on it. I’ll do whatever you ask.”

Isabel stared at him. Her heart full of hope but two things still nagged at her terribly. Cici and Michael. She was going to have to tell him eventually. She wouldn’t run the risk of him finding out some other way. All that mattered now was that the charges had been dropped and Michael could never file them again. “We have to talk.”

The ride from the hospital to Isabel’s apartment wasn’t even that long but it felt like an eternity and of course Romero hit every ga-damn red light there. When he pulled into the parking lot of her apartment, he saw her car was already there. Unlike him, she’d obviously missed all the red lights.

He hurried to her front door. The adrenaline of being with her again had given him a much needed second wind. With the night he’d had, he should be ready to pass out. Instead, he felt completely charged and ready to go. The door was open and he smelled the coffee the moment he walked through it. She was making breakfast, too.

Her comment about needing to talk, although somewhat promising, felt a little staid and it made him nervous. But he’d been serious when he told her he was willing to do anything. So whatever it was she wanted to talk about they’d get through it. They had to. After this week he knew, without a doubt, there was no way his life would ever be complete without her.

She smiled when she looked back from the stove where she stirred something around in the pan. Cautiously, he approached her from behind. He hadn’t even tried to kiss her at the hospital, though he nearly crushed her in his arms again before letting her get in her car.

He’d felt something. He couldn’t be sure but she held back and he didn’t want to push. Unable to help himself he brought his arm around her waist from behind and rested his hand on her belly. He leaned his face against the side of hers kissing her temple. “I missed you so much,” he whispered.

“I missed you, too.” For a moment she seemed to give in, leaning back into him, even turned her face allowing him to kiss her lips softly. But then she stiffened and straightened out again. “We need to talk.” Her tone turned sharp, just like that.

Even though he knew he should, he couldn’t pull himself away from her. “So talk.”

She pulled away to reach for a couple of plates and he had no choice but to let go. Then she dumped scrambled eggs onto each of them, sprinkling salt, pepper and cheese. “Nothing fancy today.”

“That okay, I’m not even hungry.”

They sat at the kitchen table and she wasted no time. “Tell me about Cici, and I mean the truth. All of it.”

Romero stared at her. He hadn’t even taken the jewelry bag out of the his trunk yet, afraid just looking at it would be too painful. “I bought you a ring. I was going to give it to you Saturday night after the party. I stopped at the jewelry store before the party and she hugged me because she got a good-sized commission out of it.” He reached out and touched her arm when she looked away. “She wears a lot of fuc…” He winced. “A lot of perfume.” Damn it he was going to have to try harder.

She moved the egg around on her plate. “What else?”

“That’s it.”

Her eyes were back on him again and they were full of emotion. “You never did
anything
with her?”

Alright, he said he’d do whatever it took, so he took a deep breath. “I was different before, Isabel.” Her eyebrows creased as if she was expecting to hear the worst. “I never slept with her if that’s what you’re thinking... but I would’ve. If her boyfriend hadn’t shown up that same night he slapped her… it probably would’ve happened. He slapped her because he caught us making out.”

Understanding swept over her face and she nodded. “Is that why you never forgot about it?”

“Yeah, I knew she had a boyfriend. Manny even warned me that he was a crazy asshole and I should stay away from her, but I didn’t. I purposely set out to nail her because it’s what I did back then. I was an asshole, too.” He pulled his chair closer to her and leaned in. “That’s not me anymore, Izzy. I swear to you.”

He saw she was trying to make sense of everything he said then she blew him away with her next question. “What about her son, Moe?”

He dropped his head back. “Listen babe, I don’t know why she named him Moe or…” he changed his mind. It was best to just come clean. “Yeah I do.” He told her the story Cici had told him at Frisco’s, leaving out the part about Cici saying she never came back because she knew they’d end up finishing what they hadn’t the night her boyfriend slapped her.