Scandalous (22 page)

The sure way to pull myself out of this little funk was to glance at the menu, even though I already knew what I was going to order (I loved the barbecue salmon).
Still, glancing through the other choices
--
the shrimp and cheese-grits and the pecan-crusted chicken breast
--
always tempted me.

“
Hey babe.
”

I heard his smile before I even had the chance to glance up.
Every time I saw my husband these days, I was more than thrilled.
He greeted me with his crooked smile and that glow in his eyes that told me how much he loved me.
The way he said hello let me know that we had at least one more night of happiness.

I grinned and jumped from my chair.
Wrapped my arms around him, closed my eyes and held him as tightly as I could.
I might not be a religious woman, but I said a little prayer thanking God that another day had passed without Kenny finding out the truth.

I squeezed my husband once more, opened my eyes, and gasped.

Just feet away, behind Kenny, stood Roman
--
grinning at me.

“
Oh my God.
”

Kenny pulled away and held me by my shoulders.
“
Baby?
What's wrong?
”

It was hard for me to breath; Roman was right in my view.

“
Jasmine!
”

Roman moved a step closer, and his grin got wider.
I closed my eyes and trembled more.

“
Jasmine?
What's wrong?
”

I was trying to think, think, think.
I had to figure out what to say to Kenny, how to explain this whole thing to him in just seconds before Roman came over and blew up my world.

“
Jasmine!
”
Kenny called out to me again.

I opened my eyes and Roman was just two feet away.

“
Baby, talk to me,
”
Kenny said.

That was when I did the only thing that I could do.
I closed my eyes and wilted to the floor.

“
Jasmine!
”
Kenny yelled.
I could feel him over me as I held my breath.
“
Oh my God!
Please, help me.
My wife just fainted!
”

Chapter 16

I couldn't believe I was in the back of this ambulance, but here I was, rocking and rolling as the vehicle, with its lights flashing, sped down LaBrea.

“
All of her vitals are stable,
”
the EMT said to the other who was driving.
“
Though her heart rate is still rapid and her blood pressure is still a little high.
But there's nothing else.
”

What else could there be?

That's what I wanted to ask him, but I kept my eyes closed as the EMT took the blood pressure band off of my arm.
On the other side of the gurney was Kenny, holding my hand, squeezing it every couple of seconds, and telling me through the whole ride that I was gonna be all right.

When the car slowed down for what I figured was traffic, I peeked through one eye at Kenny.
He was looking out the back window, so he didn't see me, but the poor guy was still shaking.

Dang-bang-it!
I hated doing this to my husband, scaring him this way.
But what else was I supposed to do?
Roman had been right there, standing just feet away.

The thought made me groan again.

“
Baby,
”
Kenny whispered as he turned back to me,
“
it's gonna be okay.
”

He was wrong about that.
Roman was serious about ruining my life.
This wasn't a game for him; this seemed to be his life's purpose.

And the energy he put into his purpose seemed to be far greater than my efforts to keep him away from us.
I was sure that once I'd fainted, he would run the other way.
My plan was that someone would think I was dead and that news would rush through the crowd; Roman would hear that, and he would hightail it out of there, knowing that my death was his fault.
My blood was on his hands, and he'd feel guilty all of the days of his life.

At first, I thought my plan had worked.
After Kenny screamed out that I wasn't breathing, I could hear people shouting.
I could feel the energy around me, folks rushing from here to there, getting towels to put under my head and a tablecloth to cover me.
Somebody fainting at
Georgia's
was a big deal, and I played it all the way.

The EMTs showed up about ten minutes after I faked the funk
,
got me onto that stretcher
,
and then rolled me through the crowd of diners and employees standing around with wide eyes and open mouths.

But as I peeked through my eyelashes, there was Roman!
Pretending that he was just another face in the concerned crowd.
He stood out, though.
How could he not?
With that bald head and fine face, and those eyes, not to mention those muscles.
But what stood out the most was that while there was not one other person with a smile, Roman was grinning so hard I swear I could see all thirty-two of his sparkling teeth!
Like he knew that I was faking this whole thing.
This was a joke to him.

Remembering the way he stood there, taunting me even as I lay on the stretcher, made me groan again.
That sent Kenny into his reassurance mode.
But there was nothing that my man could say, and no medicine that the doctors could give that would cure me.
Roman was going to tell Kenny everything.

What was I going to do?

Thinking about Roman kept my heartbeat up and my blood pressure rising.
At the hospital, the EMTs dragged me from the ambulance and across the concrete driveway, hitting every bump along the way.
I had a headache by the time I landed in the emergency room.
The two men rolled me to a curtained-off section pretty quickly, thank God, and left me alone with Kenny.

I was grateful for that.
I didn't want doctors rushing to save me when there were folks in the ER who really needed somebody to save their lives.
I would've felt awful if someone had died while a doctor was trying to figure out my fakery.

“
Baby?
”
Kenny's voice was shaky as he stroked my hand, so gently, as if he thought I might break if he applied any kind of pressure.

I let my eyes flutter open.
“
What happened?
”

“
You fainted.
”

“
I did?
”
I said, playing the whole thing out.

“
Yeah.
We're at the hospital.
They're gonna check you out.
”

“
I'm fine,
”
I said.
“
Really.
I'm fine.
”

But thoughts of Roman made me squirm.
I had no idea how he'd known I was at
Georgia's,
so what was to stop him from coming here? He didn't need to do a lot of investigating to figure out where I was right now; leaving in the ambulance was a good clue.

“
Baby, are you okay?
”

“
Yeah,
”
I squeaked, trying to sit up just a bit.

“
I'm gonna call the doctor; you're really sweating now.
”

I hadn’t even noticed that, but I wasn't surprised.
My thoughts made it hard for me to breathe and my chest was beginning to ache from the way my heart was pounding.
Now I needed medical attention for real.

Stepping over to the curtain, Kenny peeked out.
“
Please!
I need a doctor in here.
My wife
…
.
”

I bounced back on the gurney, too weak to even sit up.
I couldn't believe I was causing all of this distress
--
f
or myself and for Kenny
--
just because my panties had fallen off with Roman.

I leaned back and closed my eyes.
Either I was gonna have to tell Kenny, or I was gonna have to die.
Those were my only options, and they seemed pretty equal to me.

“
Mrs. Larson?
”

I opened my eyes.
The bright light above where I was l
ying
made me squint. I hadn't even heard anyone walk into the room.

A man in a bright white lab coat took what looked like a penlight from inside his jacket and shined it into my eyes, first my right one, then my left.
“
Can you see me?
”

Was this doctor kidding?
How was I supposed to see anything with that bright light in my eyes?

I blinked a couple of times after he put his flashlight/weapon away.
“
I can see now.
”

He nodded and felt my forehead the way my mother used to when I was a kid.
What kind of doctor was he?

“
I'm Doctor Avery,
”
he said as his hand ventured across my forehead.
“
You do seem a little warm, but nothing outside of the ordinary.
”
He pulled over the stool, sat his butt down, looked at me, and said,
“
Okay, talk to me.
”

I frowned.
“
About what?
”

“
About what's causing this reaction.
If I had to guess, it seems like you had some kind of anxiety attack.
”

If he had to guess?
Were doctors supposed to guess anything?
I wanted to see this guy's medical degree.

“
So tell me,
”
he continued,
“
what's going on in your life?
”

I glanced at Kenny, standing at the foot of the gurney, then lowered my eyes.
“
Nothing,
”
I whispered.

“
Doctor,
”
Kenny began,
“
we just got married.
Someone told me once that that's pretty stressful.
”

The doctor chuckled.
“
Indeed it is.
”
He peered at me as if he was trying to see right through me
.
What kind of doctor was he?
I hoped he wasn't one of those new age psychic people who could see into the beyond, like into your thoughts and mind.
He said,
“
Do you think you're pregnant?
”

“
No!
”
I said before he could even finish.
“
No!
We just got married.
”

The doctor chuckled.
“
Uh, length of marriage doesn't have anything to do with pregnancy.
”
Doctor Avery glanced at Kenny.

My husband grinned.
“
Do you think
…
.
”

“
No!
”
I said.
I wasn't really sure it I was telling the truth or not.
I mean, I hadn't thought about being pregnant.
But being pregnant would be much worse than anything else that was going on right now.
Because that would mean that I was pregnant by one of two men.

“
So there's nothing else?
”
the doctor said.

Kenny answered,
“
Well, there was that accident.
”

The doctor looked from Kenny to me, and then back to Kenny.
“
What accident?
”

“
She saw a really bad accident,
”
Kenny said.
“
She's been upset about it ever since.
”

When the doctor turned to me, I figured he wanted me to say something, so I added,
“
Yeah, I watched a little boy die.
”

“
A little boy?
”
Kenny frowned.
“
I thought you said it was a little girl.
”

My mother had told me that the hardest part about lying was keeping track of the lie.
I had to get better at this.
I leaned back, closed my eyes and moaned.

“
All right,
”
Doctor Avery said.
He had an extra little lilt in his voice.
As if, like Roman, he knew that I was faking.
“
I'm gonna take some blood, run a few tests, just to be sure.
But overall, I think you're okay.
Like I said, seems like it's just stress.
”
He patted Kenny on his back before he left the room, as though he felt sorry for him or something.

Could the doctor tell I was lying just by looking at me?

When he left us alone, Kenny turned to me with confusion in his eyes.
I knew he was probably still thinking about how the sex of the accident victim had changed.
“
I agree with the doctor,
”
I said, wanting to give Kenny something else to focus on.
“
It's stress.
All the planning for the wedding.
My job.
”

“
Yeah,
”
he said.
“
Plus it's not all that easy being my wife,
”
he kidded.

That almost brought tears to my eyes.
“
But being your wife is all I've ever wanted.
”

He bent down and pressed his lips against mine, but gently.
“
Just lean back and relax.
There's no need for you to be stressed in here.
”

I did what Kenny told me, but my husband just didn't know.
In a few seconds or minutes or hours, Roman could show up and stress me the hell out.

“
I'm gonna step out for just a minute.
I wanna check with Dr. Avery and make sure he was telling us everything.
”

I nodded and he kissed me again.
He took three steps toward the door before I stopped him.
He turned around when I called his name.