Amanda's Blue Marine (27 page)

“Yes. He was pretty upset but certainly coherent. More than coherent. He probably made the biggest speeches of his life this morning about our… relationship.”

“His pressure’s better than mine,” she said dryly, rolling up the cuff. “The legacy of the athlete, nothing derails those years of constant exercise. Help me take off his shirt, I want to get another listen to his heart.”

The two women struggled to get the supine Kelly into a sitting position. He blinked and looked at Amanda as they pulled his shirt over his head.

“This probably looks worse than it is,” Karen said reassuringly. She put the stethoscope in her ears, gestured for Mandy to be quiet and listened to his heart again. She nodded after a minute and removed the scope.

“Probably?” Mandy probed, looking at Mandy and blinking to clear the moisture from her eyes.

“Yeah, we’ve had quite a few people come in this week with some bug that looks like this. His heart sounds strong, slow and steady. He’s a smoker?”

“The good news is that it passes quickly. He should be over it in two days. I’m going to call in a couple of scripts for him to the pharmacy. The meds will lower the fever and make him more comfortable. I’ll ask for them to be delivered here. Should only take a couple of hours. Okay?”

“It’s just a whammy when a stud like this falls over, like a tree falling in a forest,” Karen said sympathetically. “Especially when he’s your stud and he’s usually the rock of Gibraltar, you know?”

“And his physique is perfect, he looks to be about one eighty, which is a little light for football. Didn’t you say he played football?”

“I’ve heard some talk about it. He played in high school but I think he was a little heavier then. Now he’s in some kind of police basketball league and he runs in distance events too. And he teaches classes at his brother’s karate school.”

“He was a running back in school, most likely,” Karen said. “That makes sense. They’re lighter because they… run a lot. Have to be fast.”

Mandy looked past her toward the hall, uncomfortable with having this personal conversation about Kelly while he was unconscious two feet away from them.

“It’s too late to ask myself that question,” Mandy replied. “The answer wouldn’t have stopped me anyway. I was cooked from the day I met him.”

Karen snapped her bag shut. “You always were a hopeless romantic,” she said. “It’s a setup for heartbreak. Cynics don’t get hurt.”

Mandy couldn’t argue with that.

“Let’s leave him alone to sleep for a while. Come out to the living room. I want to talk to you,” Karen said.

Mandy followed Karen meekly into the other room, sure she was going to get a lecture. Karen pulled open the refrigerator door as she passed the small kitchen and frowned, then closed the door.

“Amanda, what are you doing?” Karen began, starting to replace the items she had used in her satchel.

“What am I doing?”

“Yes. I read about the medal ceremony in the paper this morning and then the next thing I know after that I’m getting an emergency call to examine your boyfriend here. What’s been going on?”

Mandy brought Karen up to speed as quickly as she could. As she finished Karen said, “Are you sure you know what you’re getting into with this guy?”

“What do you mean?” Mandy asked.

“Well, let’s start with the fact that he clearly has a problem with alcohol,” Karen said. “It didn’t give him the flu directly but he reacted to the stress of your abandonment with a bender.”

“One night hardly constitutes a bender. And I didn’t abandon anybody.”

“He thought you had, and he responded by getting hammered. That’s stress drinking, and it probably impaired his immune system to the point where this bug could overtake him. The two events are not coincidental. He’s a young guy in top physical condition and he just happens to crash with a flu that usually attacks kids and old people? Why?”

“You’re telling me that this illness is my fault,” Mandy said miserably.

“And have you really looked at this place?” Karen asked, not listening. “He lives here? Everything is white and sterile, the sheets, the blankets, the towels, the blinds. It’s like he bought it all at the same warehouse and just distributed it around the apartment. No décor, no pictures or personal touches, unless you count the fast food flyers taped to the wall. It looks like a barracks or a summer camp. Or a prison ward. Everything’s bare and featureless. What is he, a Carmelite nun?”

“He’s never here, Karen. He works shifts all the time and helps his brother with karate classes in between. He just comes home to shower and change and sleep.”

“I still say it’s strange. And the refrigerator is empty, did you notice? I was looking for some juice or bottled water for him to drink but there’s nothing in there. Except a head of lettuce and a six pack of beer. It’s a great diet for an alcoholic bunny but I don’t think it’s doing much for the health of your boy here.”

Mandy said nothing. She didn’t care if Kelly kept plutonium in his freezer as long as he woke up from whatever this funk was and started acting like Kelly again. The strong, capable Kelly who loved her.

Karen sighed dramatically. “I can see that you’re not paying attention to me. I guess you haven’t noticed that the dining room is filled with gym equipment. Does he serve dinner on the stairstepper?”

“He doesn’t serve dinner, Karen. The Chinese menus are there for a reason.”

“This is the home of a lonely person,” Karen said bluntly.

“I get that,” Mandy replied, some heat coming up in her voice as she defended Kelly. “What you don’t get is that I’m lonely too. My condo may look better because I have a lot more money and my mother decorated it but Kelly and I are both in the same position, really. He has friends and family and I do too but both of us were looking for the one person who would fill that emptiness that never goes away no matter how busy or successful you are. His medal ceremony today was filled with people, the police force and city brass and reporters. But I was the only one there who really knew him. His sister is out of the country and his brother had to cover both of their classes at the karate school. This was his big moment and he was alone except for me. We’re both alone. And we didn’t even know it until we met each other. Can you understand that?”

Karen sighed. “I understand one thing. You love him so desperately that you don’t want to see his problems and you’re willing to do anything for him. I’m very concerned about you because that’s a scary place to be. It makes people lose perspective. They do stupid things. Have you had the conversation with this guy?”

“Karen, you’re not amusing me. He knows I’m on the pill and neither one of us is infected with anything. Now can you stop filling out a health care form and help me with him?”

“This guy is a shark,” Karen continued. “If I couldn’t learn that just from looking at him his apartment tells the story. He has no time to buy a loaf of bread because he’s too busy getting laid. His place here is a crib. I don’t doubt that he’s in love with you right now. This illness is probably proof that you have gotten to him. But how long is that going to last? Is he even capable of fidelity? Is he going to change his whole approach to life for you? I’ll say it again, be careful. And I mean that in both senses: take care of your health AND your heart. Both are in jeopardy. He could be pretty poison and you won’t know that until it’s too late.”

“I will be careful,” Mandy replied quietly.

Karen observed Mandy’s distracted expression and said wearily, “I know that listening to me is not important to you right now. All you care about is getting him better and you don’t give a damn if he’s Casanova or if his apartment looks like the seg unit at San Quentin. Am I right?”

Mandy nodded.

“Okay. Enough said. The meds will be delivered shortly, just follow the label directions. The pharmacy has a grocery aisle, I’ll send along some orange juice, loaded with sugar and potassium. Give him the OTC niacin as directed. Get him to drink the juice, keep him hydrated. I should warn you that this may get worse before it gets better…”

“I’m giving you the worst case scenario, all right? It’s almost certain not to happen but I want you to be prepared. And if he falls, call an ambulance then too. He’s pretty big. He looks slim but these football types are tight, solid muscle. You’ll both wind up on the floor if you try to pick him up yourself.”

Karen waved her hand. “It’s all right, you don’t have to say anything else. I’ll be okay with the house call if you’re okay with what I said about him.” She searched Mandy’s face.

Mandy nodded. “I know you’re right. I’ve seen all the signs you’ve mentioned. All I can tell you is that he is different with me. I know that seems like the biggest trap in the world, thinking you can change him, but I’m not TRYING to change him. I think that hooking up with me was a big departure for him and he’s having a lot of trouble handling it. He’ll take on anything physically but emotionally he’s a very different story. He’s scared, and so am I. He can’t admit it, even to himself, so he drops with this bug when he thinks I’ve ditched him. It makes sense.” She closed her eyes. “This relationship is putting both of us to the test.”