The Pull of Destiny (73 page)

“Hey. What's wrong?” I
asked immediately, placing my hands on her shoulders and looking down into her
face. My heart hammered as she sniffled, wiping at her eyes with the heel of
her hand. All the excitement I had felt upon hearing my good news from Dr. Khan
evaporated as I stared down into my girlfriend’s sad face.

“Nothing. I’m okay now,”
she assured me. Even her voice sounded miserable. I swallowed, squeezing her
shoulders anxiously as she avoided my gaze. Shit. Nate better not have touched
her again.

“CiCi. What happened? Why
were you crying?” I asked persistently, all the while making a mental note to
call Enrique as soon as I got home. Although CiCi’s father had told her to
contact him if she had any problems, I knew for a fact that CiCi wouldn’t do
that. If Nate had resumed beating up on CiCi, I wasn’t just going to be a quiet
spectator. Sure, I couldn’t tell Aunt Kelly, but I would definitely let Enrique
know. Maybe I was sticking my nose into something that didn’t concern me, but
at this point I didn’t care. Looking into CiCi’s eyes and seeing the hurt and
pain- that made me not care whether I was meddling or not.

She shook her head, her
hair sliding across her face. “It’s nothing. I just- stop looking at me like
that.”

Yup, I gave her a straight
up ‘yeah right’ look which made her lips twitch slightly. My heart rose at the
faint smile on her face. Something had happened, she didn’t want to tell me but
I was going to find out one way or another.

“What happened?”

“Can we sit down
somewhere, please? I feel kinda- woozy.” She blinked as I stared down at her,
perplexed. “I still can’t wrap my mind around this.”

Wrapping my arm around
her, I led her to the nearest park bench. We sat down and I looked into her
beautiful hazel eyes.

“Okay, now are you going
to tell me what’s wrong or do I have to wring it out of you?” I asked,
squeezing her shoulder as she bit her lip, deep in thought.

Looking up at me, she said,
“Remember when I told you that one of the boys at the daycare has a brother
with cancer?”

I nodded, vaguely
recalling her telling me something like that. “Yeah, I think so.”

She wiped her eyes again
as she continued, her voice breaking. “He slipped into a coma last night. His
doctor says he doesn’t have too long to- too long to live.” She sniffed. “I
went to see him today and his poor little brother- he was reading him a story,
Luke. When I came in he said it was Kevin’s favourite story and when he hears
it he’ll wake up.”

“Oh, CiCi- I’m so sorry.”

I held CiCi closer, my
words of comfort sounding inadequate to my ears. She was clearly very attached
to these kids and the prospect of losing Kevin was hurting her. My heart sank
all the way down to my sneakers. If CiCi was acting this way over Kevin, how
would she react if something happened to me? Not that I was trying to say that
I was more important than Kevin, but I
was
her boyfriend. If this was
any indication as to how she would react if I did have complications during
surgery, then maybe I had some thinking to do...

Laughing sheepishly, CiCi
said “You must think I’m stupid for crying like this.”

I shook my head
immediately, clasping her cold hands in mine. “Not even. If something like this
happened to me, I would be bawling my eyes out.” Smiling at her, I caressed her
cheek. “You’re really brave.”

Shooting me a grateful
glance, CiCi said, “I just have a hard time dealing with situations like this.”
She frowned, staring at her feet. “Maybe it comes from my mom abandoning me-
that’s what I think. I hate people I care about being taken away from me
because that’s what always seems to happen. My mom, Rhea, the old Nate....”

Her voice trailed off and
she blinked back tears.

“I understand what you
mean,” I murmured, brushing her hair back from her face as she put her head on
my shoulder.

After everything she had
been through in her life, it was only normal that CiCi would have abandonment
issues. Why hadn’t I realised that before? And what was it going to take to
make me realise that dad didn’t give a shit about me being happy. All the man
wanted was to call the shots in my life and relationships, but that wasn’t
right. He spent the past ten years of my life showing how little he cared about
me. Why, all of a sudden, was he trying to integrate himself in my life again?
Simple- he wanted me to be as unhappy and bitter as he was. Well, no sale. I
wasn’t going to jump just because he told me to!

“That’s why I always tell
you not to be negative about your situation,” she admitted, a tiny smile on her
lips. She looked up at me, the loving expression on her pretty face making my
heart skip a beat. “I just don’t think I could bear losing you.”

Kissing her forehead, I
said, “Well, you won’t have to,” unable to keep the excitement out of my voice
any longer.

She stared up at me, an
inquiring expression on her face. “What do you mean?”

“I just had a meeting with
Dr. Khan,” I told her, grinning so widely I thought my cheeks were going to
split. Her eyes widened and she nodded eagerly, waiting for me to continue. “He
told me that they’re ready to operate!”

CiCi covered her mouth
with her hand, her eyes huge. “What? When?” she asked.

“Next week. When he told
me, I could hardly believe it. Thought he was playing a joke on me. I’ve been
waiting so long and- ooof!”

Throwing her arms around
me, CiCi squeezed me tight in a super hug and knocked all the air out of me. I
hugged her back, a delirious feeling sweeping through my body, making me feel
like
me
for the first time in ages. The aneurysm must have had me more
spooked than I knew. For the first time in months, I didn’t feel anxious or
nervous for no reason and that was a win.

“Oh, Luke, that’s amazing
news! Why didn’t you tell me that the instant you saw me? If I’d had news like
that, I would have shouted it from the rooftop or something!”

“But you were crying,” I
pointed out; loving the grateful smile she gave me. It made me sure that I was
doing the right thing by not following my dad’s orders. “I had to cheer you up
first so that you could share the news with me.”

She gave me a soft pat on
the cheek. “Mr. Thoughtful,” she teased.

“I try,” I grinned at her,
before kissing her lips gently.

“This is exactly the kind
of news I needed after the day I’ve had,” CiCi told me.

I shot her a crooked
smile. “Yeah? Then I’m glad to have been of service to you.”

She wriggled around a bit
on the bench, gazing adoringly at me. That look- it just made me feel so damn
special. “I’m just so excited about your good news,” she said in response to my
curious look.

“Me too,” I admitted
giddily.

“Did you tell your dad
yet?” CiCi asked me, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “Or does he already
know?”

Shrugging, I said, “I
don’t know, or care, to be honest.”

Biting her lip, CiCi
glanced thoughtfully at me. “You’re not fighting again, are you?”

“Define fighting.”

Narrowing her eyes, CiCi
said, “You’re hiding something,” in a quiet voice.

She knew me too damn well.

“Remember that day when my
dad tried to pay you off in exchange for you dumping me?”

CiCi nodded, her serious
hazel eyes not leaving my face. “Yes.”

“Well, he’s been trying to
make me dump you as well,” I started hesitantly, hating the sudden shock and
hurt that flitted onto my girlfriends face. Wrapping an arm around her
shoulder, I pulled her towards me, whispering, “Obviously I’m not going to dump
you, silly, or I wouldn’t be here.”

She pressed her lips to
mine and for a moment, I lost myself in the sensation of her warm, soft lips.
When I pulled away reluctantly, she was smiling. “I know you’re not going to
dump me,” she replied sweetly, patting my shoulder. “I also know that’s not all
he said to you. Spill.”

Too
damn well.

Taking a deep breath, I
hesitantly told CiCi about what dad had said about me dying on the operating
table, amongst other things. By the time I was done, CiCi was livid.

“So how does that work?”
she asked condescendingly, narrowing her eyes. “You dump me, break my heart
then you- die- and he thinks I still won’t care?” The hurt in her voice sent a
pang through my heart as she continued. “Does that really make sense?”

I shook my head. Now that
she put it out there in such a way, it sounded like the stupidest idea ever. I
can’t believe I even listened to my dad. “No, babe,” I whispered, holding her tense
body tight.

 “If anything were to
happen to you, you wouldn’t have to worry about it. I would be the one doing
the grieving.” She blinked up at me, a sad expression in her eyes. “So why
won’t he just let me deal with it?”

I nodded, glad that the
situation had been smoothed over but feeling some kind of way about hurting
CiCi’s feelings involuntarily.

Trying my best to make up
for everything, I remembered that tonight my family was going to watch a show
at the NYC Ballet. CiCi loved music. She wouldn’t be able to turn this
invitation down, would she?

“Wanna come to the NYC
Ballet with us tonight?” I asked her softly, caressing her cheek.

She shook her head at
once. “I’m pretty sure your dad wouldn’t want me there. I’ll pass.”

“Okay,” I sighed, choosing
to ignore the barbed comment. Me and my big mouth. My feelings must have shown
on my face, because CiCi’s eyes softened. “I’m not mad at you, Luke. It just
hurts knowing that people are so opposed to us being together,” she told me.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But
we’re in this together, CiCi. No one’s business but ours.”

She smiled at me, a real
CiCi smile and I leaned in to kiss her. I didn’t care what dad had to say, I
was planning on being with this girl for as long as possible.

***

I was so wrapped up in my
thoughts when I got home that I totally forgot about the ballet our supreme
dictator had planned for us to watch that evening. Needless to say, dad wasn’t
impressed when Hope had to wake me up from a fitful nap almost twenty minutes
before we left.

As I groggily slipped into
my jacket in the foyer, he passed me, growling, “I’m glad you’re getting
operated on soon. Then you can stop using your aneurysm as an excuse to be
lazy.”

With a happy family moment
like that, I wasn’t looking forward to spending a couple of hours in his
company at all. The drive to Lincoln Center was uneventful but when we got
there and dad was mingling with his comrade’s, Faith pulled me to the side, a
searching look on her sweet face.

“Is Celsi gonna come too?”
she asked me hopefully.

“No, princess,” I said,
shaking my head sorrowfully. Crap. I totally forgot promising Faith that I was
going to invite CiCi to come with us before I left for my appointment this
morning.

“Luke!” Pouting, Faith
stomped one foot on the floor. “You promised!”

“I know I did, and I’m
sorry, princess. She can’t come.”

“Why?”

I stared down into Faith’s
earnest brown eyes, wondering what to tell her. I definitely couldn’t tell her
that CiCi didn’t want to come near dad for fear that he would whip out his check
book and start making offers again.

“She’s busy,” I explained
lamely, my groggy mind unable to come up with anything better.

Glaring at me, Faith
pooched her bottom lip out. “You’re mean!” she exclaimed heatedly, running back
to her mom. Groaning, I followed her. Great. Now Faith was mad at me. What else
could happen?

As I would soon find out,
a whole lot.

Dad had rented us box
seats and I found myself sitting next to Faith and Hope. For a while, apart
from a few ‘ooh’s and aah’s’ from Hope, who seemed to be the only one who was
actually watching, everyone was silent. I knew I was barely watching. The T3’s
had faded, leaving a nasty thudding in my temples that wouldn’t go away. The
bright lighting made my head ache even more and coupled with nausea and steady
guilty feelings over the whole CiCi thing- let’s just say I was having a very
uncomfortable night.

When the first act was
over, Hope stirred. “Wasn’t that pretty?” she said to nobody in particular.

“First thing tomorrow,
sign Faith up for ballet lessons,” dad said gruffly. “In ten years we’ll be
watching
her
perform here.”

“But I don’t wanna do
ballet,” Faith piped up.

“Yes you do, sweetie,” dad
said in a forbidding voice that left no room for argument. “You want to be a
famous ballet dancer and make daddy proud.” He grunted. “One of my kids has
to.”

Another day, another snide
remark directed at me. This one went over my head; I was too busy concentrating
on my breathing to keep the nausea at bay.