Pennies From Heaven (The Bella Novella Collection Book 3) (8 page)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Tomber dans les pommes

Translation: To fall in the apples

(Someone fainted)

When I came to, a mob of Rossi, Neeley, Rigas and Davidson family members surrounded me. Several questions ran through my mind at once: How did I get on the ground? Why were these people doing the hula dance? And when were those crickets going to stop that incessant chirping?

“Bella?” D.J. knelt next to me. “Bella, can you hear me?”

I tried to nod but everything felt like it was moving in slow motion.

“Bella, are you still hurting?”

“No. Pain. I. Took. Pill.” I nodded in Earline’s direction and all eyes turned to her.

My mother-in-law’s eyes widened and she threw up her hands. “I gave her an ibuprofen. Perfectly harmless. I take them nearly every day. I have them right here in my purse.” She reached into her little bag and came out with a bottle. “Oh, wait. . .I must’ve put the wrong ones in here. These are my. . .” Her face turned as red as Jolene’s hat. “Oh, no!”

“What is it, Earline?” Mama asked.

“I thought I gave Bella an ibuprofen, but. . .Oh dear, oh dear!”

“Mama?” D.J. gave her an imploring look. “What have you done?”

Earline’s words sounded like “Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa” but I somehow made out, “These are the prescription pain pills the surgeon gave me after my hysterectomy.”

At this point all eyes shifted back to me. Their pointed stares did little to stop the world from spinning. I tried to grab hold of my head but suddenly felt sick.

Before I could throw up, Coquette and Jacques bounded my way, landing on top of me. The two distracted me enough to keep me from losing all of the French cuisine I’d just eaten. I managed to put my hands over my ears to drown out the noise of the people around me. Did they realize how loud they were?

“I’m going to call 9-1-1.” D.J. pulled out his phone.

I tried my best to shake my head. If the paramedics came, I’d never live this down.

If I lived.

Right now it just felt like I was drifting, drifting, drifting. . .

“Miss? Can you hear me? Can you hear me?”

A strange voice startled me back to attention. I looked up to discover a paramedic hovering over me. Whoa. Were these guys fast, or what?  One of them, a burly fellow with dark curls, wrapped a blood pressure cuff around my arm. Seconds later, I lost all feeling in my hand.

“Too low.”

“What’s too low?” I mumbled.

“Your blood pressure.” He reached behind me and pulled me up to a sitting position. “Let’s get that blood flowing, shall we?”

If I could just keep the roses from spinning all round me in amazing Technicolor display I would do just that. Right now I wanted to lie back down. . .on the sidewalk or otherwise. Didn’t really matter.

I pointed off to the sky and giggled. “Do. . .you. . .see. . .that?” Another bit of laughter floated up. “That. . .cloud. . .looks. . .like. . .Elvis. . .Presley!”

“Tell me again what you gave her, Mrs. Neeley?” The eyes of the paramedic shifted to my mother-in-law, who began to weep.

“I didn’t mean to!” she cried out. “Honestly. I thought it was an ibuprofen. But I think it must’ve been a pain pill from when I had my hysterectomy.” She sniffled. “I know I’m too young for a hysterectomy, so you don’t need to mention that part, but the doctor said it was inevitable, considering my family history. I have polyps, you see. Well, I mean, you don’t see them now because they’re gone. It was a complete hysterectomy, not a partial.” She rambled on, but lost me somewhere around the words hot flashes.

“Mrs. Neeley, could you please give me the bottle?” The paramedic held out his hand.

She fished around in her purse and came out with white bottle, which she passed his way.

“Um, Ma’am, these aren’t pain pills. They’re beta blockers.”

“Oh, right.” Earline’s nose wrinkled. “I take those for my blood pressure. It’s a little on the high side. I’ve been trying to cut back on fried foods, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. I’m from Splendora. You know? We eat fried food. I mean, I know some folks have their catfish fillets grilled, but whoever heard of that? I can’t abide fish unless it’s fried.”

“Except salmon,” Jolene threw in. “Salmon’s great grilled.”

“Or blackened,” Bonnie Sue added. “Had it blackened once at a restaurant in Galveston. Kind of weird, to call it blackened since it’s not really black, but it tasted good.”

“Spicy,” Earline said. “Too spicy for my liking. So I eat my catfish fried.” She looked the paramedic’s way. “What were we talking about, again?”

“Ma’am, which of these two pills did you give your daughter in law—the beta blocker or the pain pill?”

“Well, I wish I knew. It was a white pill with tiny blue writing,” she said, glancing at the bottle in her right hand. “So it must’ve been. . .” She rolled a bottle around in her hand, “the beta blockers.”

“Okay, beta blockers.” He checked my blood pressure once again. “They tend to lower blood pressure, for sure.”

“Or was it the beige pills with the pink writing? I really can’t remember now.” She sighed.

Enough already. Through the fog I managed three words: “Gel capsule. Blue.” 

Earline looked back and forth between the pills in her right hand and pills in her left. “Nope. These are both white pills, honey. But you’re delirious.”

I might be delirious, but I definitely remembered the color of the gel caps she’d given me. They were blue. The color of the sky above me now. Funny. Justine was right. It wasn’t raining.

“Got any more pills in that purse of yours, Earline?” Dwayne Sr. asked.

“Her purse is big enough to be a pharmacy,” my father-in-law chimed in. “I keep telling her it’s too big.”

“Hush now, before I hit you with it.”

I groaned, my head aching more than ever.

With all eyes on Earline, she fished around in her purse until she came out with a familiar bottle. “That’s. It.” I managed.

“Oh, these are my
water
pills.” She shrugged and then pointed downward. “It’s my ankles. They hold water. I don’t really like to draw attention to them, which is why I usually wear pants. Of course, in Bible days women always wore skirts. Well, not skirts, really. More like robes. But these days post-menopausal women wear pants to cover up their swollen ankles.” She paused for breath. “Did I really give you my water pills, Bella?”

The paramedic took hold of the bottle and examined it. He then placed it in front of me—very close—and I nodded.

“That’s it.”

The paramedic removed a capsule from the bottle and held it up for my viewing pleasure. “You sure?”

“Mm-hmm.”

He cleared his throat. “These are diuretics, Ma’am.”

My head continued to swim as I muttered the words, “Powerful. . .stuff.”

“Not terribly powerful. But if you happen to already be dehydrated they might just send you over the edge. Have you had adequate hydration today, Mrs. Neeley?”

“Oh, I had four cups of that yummy punch,” Earline said. “I just love it. Although, if I’m being perfectly frank here, I enjoyed the punch at Bella and D.J.’s wedding more. It had pineapple in it, I think. Or was it lemon-lime?”

“I was talking to
this
Mrs. Neeley.” The paramedic looked my way. “Bella, have you had water?”

“I meant to.” A sigh escaped. “I really, really meant to.”

“Someone get my girl a cup of water!” Mama’s voice had a high-pitched wail to it. “Quick!’”

“No, she might not keep it down. That might lead to worse problems.” The paramedic gestured for his coworker to help him get me onto the stretcher.

“We’re going to hook you up to an IV. It’s a faster, safer way to get you hydrated and to get that BP up.” He gestured for the second paramedic to get something from the ambulance and then spoke as he removed the blood pressure cuff from my arm. “Just one more question: Is there any chance you could be pregnant, Mrs. Neeley?”

“For pity’s sake, I just told you that I had a hysterectomy!” Earline wailed. “Weren’t you listening to a word I said?”

Every eye in the place turned to my mother-in-law, whose cheeks grew redder than the Rigas roses. After a couple of moments of awkward silence, she released a slow breath and her face returned to its normal color. “Okay, okay, got it. You weren’t talking to me.”

I didn’t really care who was talking to who. Or would that be whom? I just wanted the Elvis-shaped clouds to stop moving their hips, and for that crazy bird-chirping to stop ASAP.

I turned to D.J. “You hear that, right?”

“Hear what, honey?”

“That. . .chirping. Like. . .music.”

“Oh, no!” Bonnie Sue began to pace. “I saw this once in a movie. The patient heard the sound of music. It was a heavenly choir, calling her home.”

“Well, that’s consoling.” Twila rolled her eyes.

“Don’t listen to her, Bella-bambina.” Mama fanned herself. “You just tune out that heavenly choir. I’m not ready for you to go home yet.”

“I am.” I tried to sit up. “Ready to go home to Galveston.”

The paramedic checked my blood pressure once again. “Not until we get some liquids into you, Mrs. Neeley. Er, Bella.”

“This conversation is making me thirsty for punch.” Bonnie Sue turned abruptly and headed back to the punch table, muttering something about how she didn’t care if it had pineapple or lemon-lime juice in it.

A couple of minutes later, the paramedics moved my stretcher to the ambulance and hoisted me inside. Our whole family gathered around the back, observing. The paramedic inserted a needle in my arm and the icy-cold liquid began to trickle into my over-heated veins. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the swirling to stop.

Then, just about the time I thought I’d made it over the hump, I caught a glimpse of Jenna out of the corner of my eye. My best friend looked a little woozy. Seconds later, the poor girl lost her forty-five-dollar-a-plate French dinner all over a bed of Parisian pink roses.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Je t’aime

Translation: I love you.

“Food poisoning.” Mama fanned herself with a napkin. “It’s got to be food poisoning. Poor Jenna.”

“Or maybe she ate something she’s allergic to,” Mrs. Davidson added. “Could be that.”

“I’m guessing she’s dehydrated, just like Bella,” the paramedic chimed in. “It’s been pretty warm out here today.” He turned to face my best friend. “Have you had plenty of liquids?”

“Yes.” She nodded and swiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I’ve had more than enough to drink. And I can absolutely assure all of you that I do not have food poisoning or the flu.” Jenna’s cheeks blazed red. “What I have isn’t contagious, I promise.”

A collective gasp went up from the crowd and for a moment things in my world got blurry and dizzy again.

“Jenna, are you saying that you’re. . .” I couldn’t finish the sentence, what with the world spinning around me and all.

“Pregnant. Nine weeks. Baby’s due around Christmas. We hadn’t planned to tell anyone just yet, but, well. . .” She started laughing and couldn’t seem to get her emotions under control. “That’s why I was ordering a cake from Scarlet, Bella. I’d planned to make the announcement next month with a pink and blue cake.”

At this point everyone in the place turned their attention to my best friend, which left me along with D.J. and the paramedics. The icy cold IV liquid caused me to shiver as it ran through my veins, but within minutes I felt better. Stronger.

D.J. leaned down to check on me. “You doing okay now, Bella-bambina?”

“Mm-hmm.” I tried to sit up, but things got a little wonky again.

“Better not try that just yet.”

“O-okay.” I laid back down and waited as the paramedic checked my blood pressure once again.

“Coming back into normal range,” the fellow said.

“Did you hear that?” I looked D.J.’s way. “He called me normal.”

“Normal’s just a setting on the dryer, honey.” Bonnie Sue leaned down, her large hat blocking my view of everyone else in attendance. “I strive
not
to be normal.”

“Me too,” Jolene added. “I gave up on normal years ago.”

To my right, the paramedic cleared his throat.

Off in the distance, Earline said something about the weather. This led to a comment from Twila about the political climate. This led to a line or two from Mr. Rigas about the presidential candidates, which led to two words from Uncle Laz.

“Donald. Trump.”

Oh dear, oh dear.

I tried to sit up so that I could fix this before it morphed into something catastrophic. “He promised me. . .”

“Who promised you what, honey?” D.J.’s concern registered in his eyes.

“Laz. He promised me, no politics.” Now in an upright position, I prayed for my heart rate to level out. “I’ve got to stop him.”

My hubby placed his hand on my shoulder. “Nope. You don’t have to do anything but rest.”

“Rest?” I snorted. “What’s that?”

“It’s what you’re going to get more of.”

“But. . .how?” I pinched my eyes shut.

Off in the distance, Earline and Uncle Laz went at it, their volume escalating. The paramedic looked their way and shook his head.

“Wow. Hope she took her blood pressure meds today.”

“Yeah, me too.” D.J. sighed.

My head started to throb, and all the more as the fight between our relatives continued. After a couple of moments I looked D.J.’s way. “I’m
long overdue for a breakdown. Only, I don’t really have time for one. Could you add it to my schedule? How long does a breakdown take, anyway? An hour? A day? Three weeks? I can’t remember.”

“A breakdown? Like the one you had the week before we got married where you had to be hospitalized for exhaustion?”

“Hmm. Forgot about that one.”

“Or the one where you didn’t think you’d live through the winter wonderland wedding? Or maybe the one where the Secret Service showed up at Club Wed during the Senator’s wedding? Or maybe, just maybe, you’re remembering Rosa and Laz’s wedding when half the mob attended.”

“Forgot about
all
of those, to be honest.”

“Bella, something’s gotta give. Things are a lot different, now that we’ve got four children and two businesses and two of the biggest, loudest families north of the Rio Grande. We’ve got to face facts.”

“Face facts.” I released a sigh. “Got it.”

“We need to hire someone else to help at Club Wed.”

“I’ve got Sophia.”

“Sophia’s job at the salon takes most of her time now. You need to actually hire someone, Bella. A real, honest-to-goodness assistant.”

The idea didn’t exactly cause me pain.

“You need someone reliable who isn’t part of the family and who won’t cause drama.”

“Does such a person exist?” I asked, my gaze shifting out of the back of the ambulance to our families, who squabbled with great intensity.

“Yes she does, and she’ll be back from her honeymoon in Paris in two weeks.”

“Lily?”

“Sure. You heard the part where Cecil and Lily are moving to Galveston, right?”

“Right. Heard that part.”

“So, why not involve her at Club Wed? She’d be happy and I’d be happy to see you working less. It’s too much, Bella. And your family is, well. . .”

“Crazy?” I gave Uncle Laz a glance out of the corner of my eye.              

“Yes, but that’s not what I was going to say. “They’re busy. Every last person. You Rossis are the busiest people I’ve ever known. So, don’t tug on the sleeve of someone who’s already exhausted. Get someone who’s fresh and young and—”

“She is young.” I sighed. “I was young once.”

“So was I. And we still are, at heart. But let’s face it, Bella. We. Need. Help.”

I pondered D.J.’s suggestion as my eyes fluttered closed. Perhaps hiring Lily to work at Club Wed was the answer. She’d proven herself to be a hard worker, organized and totally on top of things.

Off in the distance, the sound of a familiar song rang out across the din. I recognized the lyrics to
Pennies from Heaven
coming through the sound system.

Of course, this only made me think of one thing.

“Meatballs.”

I didn’t mean to speak the word aloud, but there it was.

“Meatballs?” D.J. and the paramedics spoke in unison as they looked my way.

“Pennies from Heaven. It’s the meatball pizza special at Parma Johns,” I opened my eyes and gave them a curt nod.

“What’s a Parma Johns?” one of the paramedics asked.

“It’s a. . .Oh, never mind.” With the wave of my hand, I dismissed him.

“Weird. I just thought it was a song.” The fellow began to sing, “Every time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven.”

“What does that mean, anyway?” I asked, my eyes fluttering closed once again. “Makes no sense at all.”

D.J.’s soothing voice roused me from my near-slumber. “I think it means that storms come. Troubles come. But it’s all about your perspective. Every time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven. Troubles can be our blessings. Those pennies add up. They’re God’s provision. They might look like raindrops, but they’re really a blessing in disguise.”

“Mm-hmm. Kind of like our family, dontcha think?”

I opened my eyes long enough to see my hubby lean down to give me a gentle kiss on the cheek. Then, the sounds of squabbling family members merged with the laughter of children and the lyrics of the paramedic’s song as I drifted, drifted, drifted off to sleep.