Underneath It All (20 page)

“I thought you’d be mad at me because of that incident at Rogue’s party.”

“Well to say I am mad would be an understatement, Agata,” he stated. His brows creased in the middle. “At first, yes I admit I was furious but I found out it wasn’t your fault. You were drugged. The CCTV around the mansion confirmed it.”

I let out an irritable growl. “Your half-brother was an asshole and Eve, she was blocking your view so they could execute their evil plan. I knew it! I just knew it!” The fabric of the shirt he wore was clutched tightly in my fingers.

“And come to think of it, you’re not the one to get hammered with. You’re not a girl who can’t hold her drink. Three shots of vodka and you’re off,” he shook his head. “Something was really off that night and Red was clearly hitting on you.”

“I only want to get hit on by you.” I half slumped against him while trying to keep even a millimeter of distance between his throbbing front.

My mind and body needed to rest, I knew, but I couldn’t go on continuously imagining in my sleep-deprived mind his body next to me. Breathing heavily I stood, his arms keeping me still.

Reeve threw a dirty look my way. “Are you hitting on me now?”

“If I am? What are you going to do about it?” I bit his bottom lip.

“We’ll do it rough and quick then, my beautiful stalker.” He swiftly pushed me onto the bed and using one hand he pinned my arms above my head.

“Just fuck me already,” I breathed out in a needy voice.

“Try not to pass out on me,” he whispered seductively in my ear, licking it, making me tremble from the feel of it.

He was sleep deprived just like me, and yet his stamina didn’t change. He grabbed the headrest firmly in both hands and fucked me senseless.

Chapter XXII

When It Rains It Pours

Dreams filled my sleep. Blissful scenes of Reeve and I reliving our moments in the Maldives flashed before me.

“Reeve…” The moans of pleasure became noisy, interrupting my slumber. “Reeve…please.”

The enchanted dreaming rapidly morphed into a nightmare. I felt warm liquid run down my legs. It was blood; I was leaking blood.

“Agata, wake up!” I jolted awake to the sound of an ear-splitting noise only to see Mikael shaking me. “Are you okay?”

The scenes from my nightmare came speeding back accompanied by a headache and the swell of nausea in the pit of my stomach. I needed to throw up and began running for the bathroom.

The distress showed on my face after rinsing my mouth and face; the dark bags under my swollen eyes all signs of sleeplessness.

I found Mik seated at the edge of my bed. Concern and unease lined his face.

“What happened to you? I woke up from your screams. I thought Reeve was hitting you or something. He was here a while ago, right?”

“Just a bad dream.” I sighed and sat beside him.

“Just a nightmare?”

I nodded with as much conviction as I could. “Yep.”

“It’s okay.” He cooed as he rubbed my back soothingly. “I thought Reeve was hi—”

“Mik!” I scoffed.

“Whoa, calm down. I didn’t mean anything by it, you just yelled his name in your sleep a lot.” He explained.

“He’s a good guy.”

“You know I don’t believe that.”

“He’s good for me. That’s all you need to believe.” My eyebrows shot up.

Mik threw himself onto my bed. “I only believe my better judgment.”

“You’re lacking in that aspect brother dear.” I cut my eyes on him. “Did you see him leave?”

“No, I didn’t. I’m not even sure if I really saw him earlier today or I was just hallucinating.” He glanced at me, a despicable grimace etching across his face.

“Yeah he was here; he helped me put you to sleep.”

I sat there in silence for a while, thinking. I let out an exasperated sigh contemplating on spilling out the beans about Rogue’s condition or telling him about Mom’s or both.

I watched him intently, praying for a perfect delivery of the speech when suddenly he spoke. “My jaw hurts,” he said while massaging his jaw. He had a bruise on the right side of his face. I couldn’t help myself but laugh. “What happened?” he asked.

“You were shit-faced drunk earlier, Mik, and you passed out. You were so fucking drunk that you ended up using the toilet with your face instead of shitting with your ass,” I told him, still laughing.

“Was I?” he asked, rubbing his face.

I just shook my head at him and took a deep breath as I continued to mull over in my mind whether to break the news to him.

“Mik, you have to talk to Dad. You haven’t talked to him in a couple days. The last time you talked to him, it didn’t end up right.”

He gave a sarcastic laugh. “Sometimes I talk to him and sit right next to him. He hears me but he’s not listening, Agata.”

“Mik, without him, we wouldn’t be here. He loves us, he worked hard to give us everything we need to survive. We can’t just overlook that.”

“He worked hard for Mom, not for us. He retired early and used all his savings to nurse her and invest all his money in finding that elusive cure for Alzheimer’s,” he retorted.

“Mik, you have to give him a little more credit than that.”

He propped himself up on his elbows. “Agata, you were sent by that Alzheimer’s foundation to college, thinking you were the miracle product of their experiment. I worked my ass off through high school and was awarded a partial scholarship to Gates and worked part time to sustain my finances. Now, can I give him more credit than signing my report ca—”

“Mom is in the hospital and she hasn’t woken up for a couple of days now.” I finished the sentence for him.

He jerked up from the bed. “Wh-aaat?” His shock reverberated through me. My brain churned slowly, taking in the devastation I saw in his eyes that seeped visibly onto his face. “No. No, she’s fine.”

Despite his recent anger, the misery in his eyes showed that more than family squabbles, family mattered the most.

After long moments of holding Mik’s gaze, I gripped his forearm and tugged him to me.

“What…what happened?” he sniffed. The defeat in Mik’s eyes speared my soul. How am I to tell him the other devastating news about Rogue?

“All I know is that she had a stroke.” My voice began to crack. I dissolved into a flood of tears.

Our attempt at consoling each other was arrested by a knock on the door.

I frantically wiped the tears from my eyes, trying to erase the evidence I’d been crying before I broke away from Mik and opened the door downstairs.

Rogue stood on the other side. Her eyes were red from crying. Mik came rushing toward her and hugged her comfortingly.

He led her to the living room and sat her down on the couch.

“Rogue, please stop crying; that’s not good for you,” I sat down beside her and soothed her back. Not just because she’s pregnant, of course, I knew better.

“What happened?”

“I’ve been looking for Reeve but I can’t find him anywhere. He’s not answering his phone. He’s not replying to my messages. Agata, where is he? I have to find him. He’s the only one who can save Dad’s life,” Rogue’s sobs wracked through her.

“Shh, calm down. What do you mean? Tell me what happened.” I felt a sinking feeling pervading my stomach.

“Dad requires a kidney transplant for his end-stage renal disease. He was the only one compatible when we had the crossmatch testing. The transplant needs to be done now or it’ll be too late for Dad.”

A chill trickled up my spine. Right then I came to believe in the saying “When it rains, it pours.”

“Agata…” Rogue’s voice caught on a cry. “Agata, I need your help.” Silent sobbing strained her next words. “Please, Agata, help me convince him. I lost a parent once, I don’t wanna lose my father no matter how bad he was to us. He’s still our father.”

Moments of shocked silence passed between us. “I think I know where to find him.”

***

It took me an hour drive to reach the stately mansion. There was Reeve sitting in front of the snow-covered lake.

“What do you get from sitting on the snow too long?” I called out from behind.

He turned his head at my direction and smiled. “Polaroids.”

“Nice one.” I smiled and sat beside him, stared at him for a while and sighed. “I understand you’re still mad at him.” My throat ached with the words. “If you haven’t forgiven him by now, I doubt you ever will.”

He shrugged, held my hand, and rubbed circles over my knuckles. “I will never forgive him,” he said with conviction.

“Reeve, you were with me the whole time in the hospital while your father is dying. Aren’t you even afraid you won’t see him again?”

“Everyone who’s ever been brave has been afraid, Agata.”

He didn’t need to look at me to know I was rolling my eyes.

“Aren’t you even worried about him?”

“I’m not worried. Good guys die fast but bad guys die last,” he answered robotically.

“Reeve!”

“Do not argue with me about it.” His voice rose to that familiar angry pitch, a sign of his impending rage.

His feelings for me were always hard to read. He seemed conflicted. His actions were volatile and almost disrespectful at times, causing me emotional whiplash.

“Reeve, I can’t bear the thought that either my mom or President Gates will be gone, especially since it’s Christmas.”

“Agata, why don’t you just celebrate your mom’s life rather than be concerned as to when she will die.”

I was left speechless for a second. “You’ve got a head of steam, Gates,” I stated, shaking my head.

“You’ve got a way of keeping me in line, Ferrero.”

I began to understand his riddles; I could see his face visibly morph into a weak smile.

“You’re welcome. But there is something you can do to show your gratitude for my endless patience,” I said and gave him a pointed look.

“No, Agata.” An edge of conviction highlighted his words.

Letting out a deep sigh, I scooted closer. My hand cupped his face and his head tipped to the side. My life, every hardship I’d been through, was nothing compared to his life. I could understand why Reeve was angry with his father, but this was a matter of life and death. I had to convince him.

“Come here.” I pulled him into a tight embrace as his face lowered to bury against my chest. “You don’t forgive someone for his or her sake; you forgive them for your sake.”

“I’m not going to give up my right to hurt him for hurting me and my mom.”

“That’s the only way you can ever start to move on,” I whispered against his skin and brushed his hair lightly.

He straightened up in his seat and gazed out onto the lake—the stunning sparkle of it seemed to entrance him.

“My kidney is not for free, Agata.”

Words of comfort could no longer reach him in the agony of hurt he nursed over the years.

“Can you do it for Rogue?”

“I’m not doing it for anybody.”

“Can you do it for me?”

I needed a satisfactory answer. I secretly whispered a plea, desperately hoping my heart would not shatter at his response.

He took a moment to ponder my query.

“You need to go back to St. Croix. Your father needs you.”

I was shattered but I steeled myself. It wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

He stood up and extended his hand for me, “Let’s go.”

I took it after a moment of contemplation. “Okay.”

We drove in silence. He knew I was hurt. I was quiet for a long while before talking once more. “Listen, Reeve, if you don’t want to donate one of your kidneys to your father I will do it. I don’t want to see the look on Rogue’s face when I tell her I failed to convince you.”

“Stubborn woman…” He mumbled under his breath.

“Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying,” I retorted.

“Well, you can stop trying. We’re here.”

Reeve stepped out of the car and held the door open for me.

We walked inside with assured steps. I’d walked through the doors of Boston Doctor’s Hospital several times. Each and every time I marveled at the beauty of the pristine white building. How could a building this beautiful harbor so much grief?

We quickly passed the lobby, willing my eyes not to linger on the waiting patients. The white, angelic walls that brought comfort to countless patients now mocked the heaviness inside my heart.

I stopped for a moment and asked him, “You’re sure you want to do this?” I couldn’t believe he would actually go for it.

“I told you my kidney is not for free, Agata. It comes with a price.”

***

Reeve’s kidney removal was less invasive and he was allowed to be discharged a couple of days after the surgery. He was always by my side after the transplant as if nothing happened.

Mom was gradually getting better. Sleepless nights would be over soon.

A week of going back and forth from St. Croix to look after Mom to Boston Doctor’s to support Rogue had been a hell of a task, especially when Red was there looking after his father as well. Somehow it felt like President Gates and Mom were having a tug-of-war. Both were tugging and pulling the same rope from both ends, holding on to dear life. One will win and the other one will die.

It was December 23, Mom’s release date from the hospital.

The doctor emerged from the room with a warm smile on his face explaining to Dad that as far as he could tell, Mom seemed to be doing well.

Mom now sat up slightly. Dad picked up her left hand and she smiled as he kissed the back of her small hand lightly, causing the corner of her mouth to lift in response.

I started packing Mom’s things to go home. Dad carried all her stuff and was about to go out of the room when Mik called him.

“Let me help you with that, Dad,” Mik said, and attempted to take from Dad’s hand all the things I had packed. Dad stared at him in confusion; he hadn’t let go of his grip on the bag yet.

“I can manage,” Dad muttered quickly and turned his back on him.

“Dad…I’m sorry,” Mik managed to choke out, and Dad stopped in his tracks. I was frozen where I stood. “I’m…I was hurt and didn’t know what to do, but vented on whoever was before me.” Mik let out a broken sob. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say those things to you Dad…please forgive me…please…”

Dad turned around to face him, he was already silently crying. Mik looked up and met him with a hug. Dad pulled away and wiped the tears from his eyes. I had to bite my lip hard to stop myself from crying.