Brett woke the next morning with Eva on his mind. It was past ten in the morning, but to him it still felt like six in the morning.  He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, adjusted himself to a position that was more upright, and reached for the phone. Brett dialed the nurse’s and waited while it rang. He felt like a high school jock with a crush on the hot school nurse. The image made him smile.

“Hello?”

“Eva. Hey, how’s it going?”

“Ok, I guess. How are you feeling today, mister? How are the bones healing?”

“They’re mending. I just wish they would heal faster is all,” Brett said wishfully.

“I’m sure that you’ll be fine.”

“Hey, is something going on? You sound a little out of it this morning. Where did all that playfulness that I usually get from you go?”

Eva took a deep breath. 

“Are you sure you want to know?” Eva paused. “It’s a long story and it’s not full of sunshine.”

“If it gets me closer to you, I want to hear everything,” Brett lightheartedly said.

Eva smiled, even though the smile never reached her voice. “Ok, grab a seat because this is going to take more than a few minutes to get out. Ready?”

“Ready,” Brett said confidently.

So Eva told him the story of how her father had left. At first he was a good guy, but things had not been rainbows and Teletubbies for the whole of the marriage. She told him about how her mother had shielded them from his abuse. She told him of how her father had jumped from one job to the next, running from one to the other like a ball in a pinball machine bounced from bumper to bumper. He had always claimed that each job was better than the last, but that he had never held down one job over six months at a time. 

At first, he only drank when he lost a job. That was understandable, even could be forgiven. But as he went through more and more jobs, the drinking was no longer between jobs. He started drinking almost daily. Maybe it was out of remorse that he couldn’t provide better for his family. Maybe it was a sense of personal failure. She didn’t know. All she knew was that he changed somewhere along the line and went from being her guardian to being her dad possesses by a monster. He just wasn’t the same man she had known the first part of her life. It wasn’t a change that happened at once, all overnight. It was gradual and imperceptible. Her father’s transformation from a child’s hero to being a child’s personal demon had been so gradual that her former happy life with him almost seemed to be a dream, a place you long to be yet know you can’t visit because it isn’t real. 

By the time the anger and abuse started, she was afraid in her own home, afraid of him. Her father bickered and shouted at her mother when he was home, and the only respite she got was when he left for the day. It wasn’t until he left them for good that she knew any respite from the terror that he had morphed into over the years. Though she was afraid of him, she couldn’t understand why he left them. As hard as it was on her, it had been even more difficult for her brother. 

After he left, her mother made sure they had food and clothing, and took every opportunity to sing them an old Motown song and dance in the middle of the room with them. She gave everything she had to show how deeply she loved both of them, and to convey that they would be ok without her father. As well as she could, Eva’s mother brought back laughter and joy to the home. That’s why it was so devastating when her mother died in that freak accident. Her mother had brought their family back to life, had planted seeds of joy and watched them grow under her endless care. 

Eva paused and took a deep breath. “Now out of nowhere, my father calls me and says he wants to see his son. That he wants to see Darius.”

“Wait. What?”

“He called here yesterday. Said he wanted to see Darius and that he would see me soon. I’m sure that means he knows where I am.”

“So after all these years, after leaving, he just calls up and demands to see his son?”

“Yeah. And I’m scared, Brett. Terrified. What if he wants to take Darius away? What if he comes and kidnaps him?”

“Slow down, now. Don’t let this freak you out. Together we can put our heads to work and come up with a solution.”

“I don’t see a solution. I’m broke, I have bills to pay, and can’t afford to take time off. If I take time off, I’m in danger of being replaced. I have to work, and that leaves Darius alone every single day. I’m worried about his safety.”

“Calm down, Eva. My parents have a cabin not that far away that they never use. We can go there till he tires of looking for you. It’ll be ok. You can go to work each day. I can have Paul drive your brother to and from school each day. Just tell your brother that we’re having a part-time vacation for a while. I bet he’ll love being out in the woods. Together all of us can ride this out till it’s over.”

“You would do that for me? For us?”

“Yeah, you’re a cool chick. Besides, I have ulterior motives. I get to be close to you every day and charm you with my wit and good looks. Plus, I get a professional nurse at home as a benefit and it costs me nothing but a little embarrassment over my current gimpiness.”

“Well, Mr. Arnold, I guess I may have to take you up on your offer. I’ll talk to Darius when he gets out of school and let him know we are on a mini vacay.”

“There ya go. Easy peasy, I tell ya.”

That made Eva smile. And he’s not a patient, she reminded herself. She smiled for the first time that day.

***

Lucien walked around the corner from the back of the hotel and made his way to the door of his hotel. He had his coat slung over his shoulder with one hand and turned the key in the lock with the other. Grinning, he opened the door and stepped inside.