Wild Ride: Lance and Tammy (28 page)

Colt flicked him a look. “She make a play for you again.”

Lance nodded.

“She was not right for you man.”

“Yes, I know.”

“What about Tammy?  She’s down to earth—and single, and as you said sophisticated and elegant,” he suggested slyly.  He was one of the few people that knew about Tammy’s feelings for his brother.  Yes, Elaina made promises but he had his ways of getting things out of her.

Lance shook his head. “She is too committed to her profession.”

Colt looked at his brother’s profile as he glanced off in the distance.  Lance was always very reserved but was there something in his tone that time?  “We could lay her off.  Debbie’s been doing things on her own all weekend.  It takes her a little longer, and she’s tired, but it’s as if she has improved.”

“We can’t lay her off.  She can’t afford it,” Lance answered simply.  “Even if we did, she’d find another way to fill the void like take extra shifts at the hospital.”

“Sounds like she’s avoiding something,” Colt hedged.

“Sounds like it.”

“Did you two—”

“—That’s none of your business Colt,” Lance cut in sharply.

There was that show of barely contained anger again. “You’re right.”  He shut his mouth after that.  They never pried into each other’s personal lives, but this was Tammy.  She was practically part of the family.  She’d looked after all of them at one point and seemed to always to put the concerns of her patient’s and friends above her own.  “She works too much, though.”

“She works too much to avoid life.  She deserves a fucking spanking.”

Colt actually swerved the truck on the road at that statement.  He was trying to gauge his brother’s expression and spent too long looking at him. “Christ, Lance!”

“Watch the road.”

“Yeah, well, you can’t say shit like that and not expect to floor me.”

Lance smiled. 
Violent lovemaking
.  “Sorry.”

“Liar.”

He chuckled.

The next day Tammy was in Doctor Hartley’s office working.  She was already exhausted from a sleepless night, and jet-legged on top of it. She did her best to concentrate on her job and thought she was doing great until Rita, the other clerk that worked with her pointed out that she’d mixed up scheduling.  She’d overheard her booking an appointment and Tammy had entered it in the computer wrong.  “Oh gosh.” She quickly fixed it.

As the day progressed she caught a few more.  She just couldn’t shake the events over the past weekend, and what had happened between her and Lance.  It was a fairytale, and those never lasted.  She was being practical, wasn’t she? 

“What is wrong?”

Tammy glanced up and saw Colt and Elaina standing at the counter. “Pardon?”

“I’ve been standing here for about a minute speaking to you and you’re just staring off into space.”

“I’m tired,” she quickly explained. “Jet lag.”

“Sure it is,” Elaina said suspiciously.  A glint of amusement entered her expression.

Colt cleared his throat and looked oddly embarrassed, like he spilled secrets. “Is Jacob busy?”

“He’s in between patients Colt.  He’ll be happy to see you.”

“We’re here for Lainie’s ultrasound.  I don’t want her waiting too long.”

She smiled at the gruff protectiveness he was showing.  “Go down to the room, I’ll go get him.”

“You go get him,” Elaina said to Colt.  He gave her an unsure look but listened.

She leaned over the counter as much as her big belly would allow her. “Seriously. Are you okay?” she whispered.

After a moment of fighting her inner demons she answered honestly. “No.”  Tammy knew Elaina was the only one she could talk to.

“I didn’t think so.” Elaina came around the counter and took Tammy’s hand. “Rita, if Colt comes out like a barracuda tell him I’ll be a minute.”

“You bet hun.”  She looked at Tammy. “You take your time young lady.”

Elaina dragged her into an empty exam room and shut the door. “Out with it.”  She placed her hands on her swollen belly.

“I’m a mess.” She started weeping.

“Your family? Gosh, maybe you shouldn’t have gone.”

“No, my mother seemed better when I left.”

Elaina’s eyes widened as it dawned on her. “Lance!”

She nodded weeping harder.

Elaina grabbed some tissues from a nearby box and handed them to her. “What happened?”

“We—” She just couldn’t continue.  She could not have asked for a better time for her friend to be so insightful.

“Oh my
God
. Does he know how you feel?”

She shook her head. “I chickened out.  We got together and I told him, basically, thanks for the good time.”

“Sit down, Tammy.” She pulled a chair out for her and grabbed another one.  Her feet were killing her.

Tammy did as Elaina asked still wiping tears from her red rimmed eyes.

“You
have
to tell him.”

“I can’t.  You should have seen the women, Elaina.    Lance is so untouchable, and handsome.  I can’t compete with ex-girlfriends, his expectations.  He practically charmed a room with over eight hundred people in it and barely said a word.  People think the world of him.”

Elaina already knew those characteristics of her brother in law, except one Tammy was describing. “What expectations?” 

“I don’t know!”

“Did he give you any?”

“No.”

Elaina rolled her eyes. “Tammy, for someone so smart, you are really stupid.”

“I
know
.”

She laughed lightly. “
Tell
him.”

She shook her head and blew her nose. “I’m so much in love with that man, that I think I’m going to ruin my happiness by not being what he wants.”

“Well, if he was with you, you
are
what he wants.  You
know
how particular he is. I also know you are what you portray Tammy.  You are as good on the inside as you show others on the outside. Lance has had some pretty shallow relationships, but he’s not been serious about them.”  She lowered her voice in case someone was listening at the door. “Colton told me something last night.”

That got her attention.

“He said Lance was really angry when they left your place yesterday.  I assume it’s because you broke things off, but he said you needed a spanking.”

Her eyes popped wide. “A
what?
”

“And he told Colt to butt out of his business in a not so nice way.”

Was Lance wounded? Did he really care about her? Well, she knew he did as a friend, but was there something more? “I had an amazing time with him.”

Elaina nodded.  “You should really talk to him.  I think you’d be surprised.”

“I’m so brave until it comes to that man.  He shakes my reality up.”

“I know
exactly
how you feel.  Colt did me too, but you gave me that push Tammy, and I laid my heart out for him.  It was the hardest thing for me to do. Now I’m telling you to do it.”

“I can’t Elaina.  He told me he does not give second chances.”

“That can’t be—”

There was a knock on the door then.  It was Rita.  She peeked in and saw Tammy’s swollen eyes. “Clean yourself up Tammy.  If I’m not wrong, the man that made you so distressed is out front.”

“Lance is here?”

“He looks very worried.  He says it’s urgent.”

Alarm bells went off in her head.  Lance was calm in any emergency.  She exchanged a panicked look with Elaina and then rushed by her out the door.

Lance was already coming down the hall looking for her.  His stride was fast and purposeful which was unconventional for him. Rita was right he looked worried.  He stopped when he saw her face all puffy and red. “What’s wrong? Did Royce call here?”

“It’s just been a rough day—wait, why would Royce call?”

“I’ve booked two seats out for New York tonight. You need to be there as soon as possible.”

“Why?”

“Tammy, your father had a heart attack at work this morning.  Royce phoned me from Spain.  He’s on his way back, but they didn’t have a way to reach you because you don’t own a cell phone and he didn’t want to leave a message on your home phone.  He called me.”

She paled. No! “
My
father?”  There’s no way! 
This can’t be real.
She was dreaming.  This was all a bad dream.  “H—how—I mean—he—”

“—I don’t know how he is, Tam, or the extent of damage. Royce was just boarding the plane.  He had to go.  I’ve already tried to get a hold of your mother and sister.  They must be with him.  The hospital wouldn’t give me any information either, no matter how much I threatened them.”

He already took the initiative to find out what was happening so he had something to tell her.  It was very considerate. “So, there’s nothing?”

He shook his head looking contrite. “Sorry Tammy, you know as much as I do.”

Down the hall, Jacob and Colt came out of his office hearing the commotion. 

Lance gathered her in his arms. “Look, I’ll go with you.  You shouldn’t be alone.”

She started trembling.  Oh, why didn’t she spend more time with her father? 
Why
did she always insist on shutting everyone out? 

Elaina told her husband and brother in law the news.

“It’s not your burden to bear.” He spoke softly in her ear. “Stop blaming yourself.  You can let go now, I’m here for you.”

He knew her so well. She cried and clung to him.  Soon she felt Elaina’s arms around her, then Rita’s.  Soon more arms; Colton and Jacob.  She’d heard Jacob say they would take care of everything at home, to just go. Nothing could have made her feel more loved than that moment.  She was cocooned in the middle of the most wonderful caring people in the world.

CHAPTER SIX

The plane ride was the longest in history. She kept her eyes on the portal until the sun set. Then she just stared at darkness through the window. She didn’t feel like talking and Lance honored her silence by not pressing her. Yet, he did hold her hand, and kept her close to him the entire time. She was grateful.  She feared she would fall if he released her.

Vern was waiting at the airport as before, but instead of going home they headed straight for the hospital. 

She wasn’t prepared for what she saw, seeing her father intubated and on a respirator in ICU was almost too much.  What seemed worse, was her mother.  Seeing her in this state was hard.  She was always a very proud woman.  What she saw now was a desolate distraught woman who looked ten years older.

She was seated beside her father holding his hand among the constant ominous sucking and blowing rhythm of the respirator, the blip of the ECG, and the hiss of the oxygen.  Her face was ashen and her eyes were red, swollen and wet with tears.  She dabbed at them with a tissue.

“Mom?”

She saw Tammy and stood holding out her arms sobbing.  Tammy rushed over, and for the first time she could remember held her mother. 

“How is he?” she said doing her best to keep completely calm.

“They can’t tell us anything.” She sniffed looking down at him.  “The doctor said it was bad, that if he survived, there would be brain damage.” She sobbed again. “I sent Melanie home. She was a wreck.”

Tammy didn’t cry.  Her mother needed her to be strong and that’s what she was going to do.  A quick glance at the ECG answered her own questions.  There was severe cardiac damage.  She’d seen this too many times to deny what the outcome would be.  She wouldn’t play with false hope and think he would wake up.  She needed to be practical no matter how hard it was. Well, now she was going to switch to nurse mode and take care of her father and mother for whatever time he had left.

Lance was over at the nurses’ station conversing with the nurse who, like all women, blushed outrageously at the attention.  Then she picked up the phone while nodding at him. She knew he was inquiring about the care, and bless him for being there after the way she dismissed him.

The doctor came in shortly after that.  Lance must’ve been very convincing on getting him back because her mother had already spoken to him. Tammy however, knew which questions to ask, and reiterated what she expected in the form of comfort measures. The information he gave was exactly what she first suspected.  Tammy waited until he’d left before she told her mother in layman’s terms. Her mother launched into sobs.

Royce arrived with Anne a few hours later.  He looked ragged, unshaven, and jet-lagged.  Tammy got them settled beside her father’s bed and went to speak to Lance who was waiting patiently in a chair in the hall outside ICU.  At some point he just stepped outside to give them the time they needed with one another. Several hours had passed by then, and he was still there. She couldn’t possibly love that man any more than she did at that moment.  She was surprised to see Vern with him though.