The Weird Travels of Aimee Schmidt: The Curse of the Gifted (32 page)

Aimee closed the bathroom door quietly and leaned against it. Her ragged image in the mirror caught her attention. The beautiful woman with the golden hair and mysterious blue eyes stared back at her. “How could it be real? My mother died giving birth to me, didn’t she?” she asked out loud. Aimee knew one thing for sure. Somehow, someway she had to find out if her mother was alive. She had to see her mother again, and if this wasn’t another figment of her warped imagination, what exactly happened eighteen years ago the day she was born?

Teardrops rippled down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms tightly around her shaking body. Aimee wasn’t sure how much more weirdness she could take, but something told her she better get used to it.

Chapter 14 New Experiences

“Dylan, can you please hurry up a little? I don’t wanna miss seeing Dad,” Aimee whined impa
tiently. Her nerves were frayed from the minuscule amount of sleep she managed to get after receiving the bombshell news about her dad’s heart attack and then the unfathomable encounter with her deceased mother.

“Babe, chill. We’ll be there in plenty of time,” Dylan replied calmly, then pushed his foot down on the accelerator speeding the FJ up the street towards the hospital. “You didn’t get any sleep this morning, did you?”

“Not enough,” she answered, and then broke into a weary yawn. “I guess I had too much on my mind.” Literally more than she could share with him, or anyone else, at this point.

Dylan, as he always did, attempted to comfort her. He reached over and grabbed Aimee's hand from her lap, weaved his fingers into hers, and then gently squeezed. As usual, when she looked over at him, he had his signature grin and her sour mood immediately evaporated.

Aimee chuckled lightly. “How are you always in such a good mood? I know you have to be dragging, too, and here you are toting me again to the hospital. I’ll get Dad’s truck from Dr. Morris so you don’t have to spend your whole day carting me around. Man, I hope the insurance company gets my claim fixed soon so I can get another car. I hate that you have to taxi me everywhere.”

“No problem,” Dylan replied cheerfully. “Hey, I promised Mike I'd take care of you. And I don’t have anything else to do today. I finished our project for economics, and I’m not worried about studying for finals yet. Besides, being with you, no matter what we’re doing, is the best way to spend my day.”

She rolled her eyes. A part of Aimee still hadn’t accepted that Dylan Townsend was madly in love with her. She was afraid she would wake up one morning and it would all have been a dream, but for now she was enjoying this fantasy.

“Oh, dang,” Aimee finally snapped and exclaimed, “our project! I forgot I need to finish typing the bibliography. I’ll be up late tonight, I guess. I’m not sure I’ll ever get to sleep a whole night again. Maybe when this semester is over and we have finally graduated I’ll get some sleep.”

“Yeah, only a few weeks away. Uh, have you had a chance to think about my graduation present for you?”

“No, well, yes, but I haven’t discussed it with Dad. Dylan, I really would love to go with you to Europe, but I can’t afford it with school coming up…”

“Aimee, hey, I told you it’s my gift to you. You don’t have to pay for anything, not even your souvenirs. It’s just that if we’re going in July before I take off to training camp, you need to get your passport and I would like to get the tickets bought soon so we can get some good prices on our flight. Besides, I’m not going if you don’t.” He glanced over at her with a determined twinkle in his eyes. He wasn’t taking no for an answer.

“All right. Okay. I’ll discuss it with Dad, I promise, as soon as he gets out of the hospital. I was gonna quit my job the end of June anyway so it would be a good time to get away before we head to Eugene.”

“That’s my girl.” Dylan’s smile spread across his face. “Geez, we’re gonna have such a cool
time in Europe, the two of us
alone
in Italy, France, and the U.K. for two whole weeks, that's fourteen days
of just the two of us. Man, I can’t wait.”

Aimee laughed at his boyish exuberance. “Yeah, it’ll be fun, won’t it? I can really use a vacation. Things have been a bit crazy lately. Speaking of hectic, I think we have about two minutes before we can see Dad. They will only let us in for fifteen minutes so I don’t wanna be late. Pronto please.”

“I told you I would get you here in time,” Dylan said while they whizzed into the parking lot at the hospital.

She spotted James’s car when she was getting out of Dylan’s FJ and took off sprinting before Dylan could get to her side of the SUV.

“Hey, wait up!” Dylan yelled, then chased after Aimee to catch up.

They practically ran down the hall to the CCU to get there before their allotted time. James and Sacha were standing together in the waiting room ready to go in and see Dad. Seeing James, a spittin' image of their dad, jolted Aimee's frazzled emotions and for the tenth time today uncontrollable tears started flowing, even though she had promised herself she would be brave and not break down. James opened his arms and swooped her up in them; her knight in white armor. Standing a head taller than Aimee, he rested his head on hers and he gave Aimee a big, brotherly squeeze.

“Oh, James,” she whimpered, trying to stop the flood of tears.

“I know. Damn near scared us to death getting that call from Hannah this morning,” James whispered still holding her tight. Finally, he released his hug, and Aimee turned and greeted Sacha.

“Aimee, I’m
soooo
sorry about your dad,” Sacha said in a wavy voice.

“You mean
our
dad, Sacha. You’re part of our family, too, you know. Dad loves you like his
daughter.”

“Yeah, I know. I love Dad, too.”

Suddenly Dr. Morris poked her head out of the CCU unit looking for them. She motioned for them to come in. The four quickly trailed in one after another. Dad lay in his bed, still hooked up to the ominous beeping machines, but he looked almost like their dad again. He was picking at his lunch, a colorless plate of gruel-like vegetables and overcooked, skinless chicken. He had color back in his face and it beamed when he spotted his children and their significant others.

Dad ordered, “Come here and hug your old man. Looks like I have to have a heart attack these days to get a visit from you and Sacha.”

“Shhh, Mike, the nurse is giving us the evil eye. She’ll probably throw us out if you don’t behave,” scolded Dr. Morris.

“Oh hell, Hannah, Nurse Long is a pain in the ass. She's trying to kill me with this crap they call food,” Dad griped while he pushed the tasteless looking food around his plate with his fork.

“Mike, shhh! Really, you don’t act like you just had a heart attack,” said Dr. Morris.

“Nope, Hannah, this is how Dad always acts.” James laughed softly and reached around Dad’s neck trying not to jar any wires.

Dad patted James’s back. Aimee noticed his eyes were dewy as he held on to his son for a good, long minute. Sacha scooted over to the other side of the bed and gently hugged Dad’s neck. Then both let go and Aimee slid in and greeted him. The women’s eyes, as expected, got moist.

“Stop that cryin’ like babies. I’m okay. Don’t be fussing over me. I’ll be out of here in a couple days and ready to go surfing with you two hotshots, Amos.”

“Dad, you’re incorrigible. Here,” she said and set the overnight bag on the end of the bed. “I brought you some fresh clothes, deodorant, toothbrush, some magazines, and other goodies.”

“Got any decent food in there?”

“Dad, you behave now. I’m sure the doctor will be checking you over good, and changing a lot of your awful habits. Diet is one of them.”

Dad patted his slightly rounded belly and grinned. “Yeah, I guess I’ll get the riot act read to me. This cardiologist Dr. Miller has me seeing is gonna set me straight. No more fun for ol' Mike Schmidt. No sirree.” Dad winked at them as the nurse approached to remind them that visitation was almost over. “Heck, Miss Long, they just got here,” Dad argued with the nurse.

“Sorry, Mr. Schmidt. CCU rules. They can come back at five this afternoon.” She smiled at all, checked Dad’s oxygen and heart monitors, then quickly scurried off to another patient.

“Well, Dad, I guess we’ll head back over to the house and get something to eat and come back in a few hours,” said James.

“Dylan and I will be back, too,” Aimee added before she leaned over and kissed him on his cheek. “Dr. Morris, can I give you a ride back to your house and take Dad’s truck?”

“Sure, Aimee. Give me another minute with your dad and I’ll be out.”

All four moved towards the exit. Glancing back, Aimee saw Dad take Dr. Morris’s hand, and then he gave her a kiss on the lips. It was still weird seeing Dad with a woman other than her mother, especially now with this crazy feeling Mom might be alive. But he was happy, and she had promised herself she would be happy for him.

Back at the house the four gathered in the kitchen to visit while Aimee and Sacha made lunch. Zonker wagged his little stump nonstop while he sat in the middle of the kitchen floor begging for whatever tidbit was tossed to him. James and Dylan, sitting at the kitchen table munching on chips and salsa, got into a deep discussion about the upcoming football season at UC. Sacha sensed Aimee's aloofness and tried to engage her in talk.

“Are you okay?” asked Sacha while she chopped the onions for tacos.

Aimee sighed and looked over at James and Dylan to make sure they were too absorbed in their conversation to pay attention to theirs. “I’m okay, I guess. It’s just been a totally strange weekend.”

“Like I know what you mean, with Dad and all. But he’s gonna be okay, Aimee. I can sense these things.”

While Aimee browned the meat, the phone rang. James didn’t even look up. He and Dylan were too engrossed in Bear football. She grabbed the phone with one hand and kept stirring the meat with the other.

She answered flatly, “Hello.”

“So chick, what’s with you? You don’t answer your phone anymore? Are you gonna tell me or make me beat it out of you?” threatened Chelsea from the other end.

“Oh, hey Chels. I planned on calling you this morning, but with Dad being in the hospital…”

“Mr. S in the hospital?!”
screeched Chelsea. The mock
reproach in her voice instantly changed to genuine concern.
“Omigod, Aimee, what happened?!”
Chelsea was a part of their family, like Sacha, another one of Dad’s adopted daughters.

“He had a heart attack early this morning after he and Dr. Morris left the prom.”

“OMIGOD, AIMEE!”
Chelsea continued an octave higher, “How is he…where is he…omigod,
how come you didn’t call me?!”

“I’m sorry. I haven’t had time to think straight. Dad’s in CCU. Some cardiologist Dr. Miller referred him to is gonna run a bunch of tests on him, but he looked a lot better about an hour ago than he did this morning when we first saw him. So at this point, not sure how bad it is, but at least he’s stable.” Her voice sounded weary while she recanted the details to Chels.

“Aimee, I’m
soooo
totally sorry,” consoled Chels. “If there’s anything I can do, I mean like
anything
, just let me know. You know Mr. S is one of my favorite people. I love him as much as my
own dad.”

“Thanks, Chels. I know. He really loves you, too.” Aimee felt her throat start to close up as the emotions began to edge in again. She wiped the wetness from the corner of her eye with the dish towel before anyone could notice. Aimee's usual tough façade was really taking a beating today.

“Man, what a bummer. I was all hyped up to hear about you and Dylan last night after we left Trent’s, but now that can wait. You need a ride back up to the hospital?”

“James, Sacha, and Dylan are here. And I have Dad’s truck, too. Thanks though. I really appreciate the offer.”

“No problem. Anything for my BFF. Hey, I’ll see you later tonight. I’ll come over and we can chill, okay?”

“That would be nice. I could use some girl talk. I should be here by seven. I think James and Sacha will head back to Eugene later this afternoon, and I’m sure Dylan will want to get home sooner or later. He’s been with me since he picked me up for the prom yesterday.”

“Tell your dad I’m thinking about him, okay? And tell everyone hi for me. I’ll see ya later.”

“Will do. Later,” said Aimee, then she set the phone back in the cradle.

“Mmmm. Smells good over here.” Dylan scooted over behind Aimee to check their progress with lunch. “Chels finally waking up and checking in?”

“Yeah, I guess. She’s coming over later tonight to hang.”

James hollered from the den for Dylan to come watch a baseball game on television. Dylan reached in with his chip and swooped up a huge glob of the guacamole Sacha was mixing.

“Hey, leave some for lunch.” Aimee swatted at his hand with the spoon. Dylan grinned, then crammed the chip into his mouth and disappeared into the den to join James.

With both guys out of the kitchen, Sacha returned to their previous conversation. “So, how was the prom?” She stopped stirring the guacamole and leaned against the counter to study Aimee's face.

Aimee bleakly responded, “It was awesome.”

“Doesn’t sound like it was awesome.”

“It really was. I’ll show you some pictures later. I’m sorry. I’m just so freakin’ tired that I can’t think. It feels like last night was weeks ago.”

“So, is there anything else bothering you, Aimee? I know you too well. You try to hide things from James, but I know when something is bothering you. You know you can talk to me about anything. I’m sure there are things you don’t want to, or can’t, talk about with Dad, James, or even Dylan.”

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, set down her spoon, and turned to Sacha. “It’s…it’s…uh…it’s nothing really. I guess I’m just totally worried about Dad. That’s all.” Aimee so much wanted to confide in Sacha about her visit earlier from Mom, about all of her recent travels, actually. Aimee loved Chels and had always shared her biggest secrets with her, but this was something she didn’t dare
discuss with her. Chels would think she had reverted to her
dark past.
And Sacha, well, Aimee could
trust her to listen with an open mind, but not a closed mouth. Aimee hadn’t shared her secret about her travels since they started up again with anyone, even family. Hiding it was wearing on her. She knew sooner or later Sacha would divulge what Aimee told her to James, and she wasn’t quite sure she wanted even him knowing, at least not yet, not until she could prove somehow she possessed this
special
gift
, and even more critical, not until she could prove she saw their mother alive.