Interlude

DECEMBER 14-3

“Well, if it is, she might be mad at me since I've borrowed her jeans.” She pointed down at herself, one foot out indicating the dark denims she wore. The men all laughed.

“That might be a very good jarring,” the doctor agreed with a chuckle.

Kinship Memorial Hospital ~same night

Room #213

The dark-haired woman stepped into the room. Our eyes met. I knew who she was right away, but I wasn't sure how I knew. Her name came to me within ten seconds. Lindee Strong. My cousin.

“Hi,” Lindee said, stepping closer. “How you feeling, hon?” Her mellow voice and concern made me relax. She wasn't a threat to me. Some how my body had tensed up as soon as the young woman, Lindee, entered the room. It was as though I had to put everyone through some sort of mental test to know if they were a threat, and I didn't know why that was.

“I'm okay. My head hurts a little, but they're giving me pain medication. You're Lindee, aren't you? My cousin?”

Her eyes went wide and a hand went to her chest. “You remember me?”

“No,” I said. “I'm just getting your name and who you are… don't ask me how.” I frowned and said, “This is really weird. I seem to know the names of everyone who comes into my room.”

“Oh. Well that's because you're a clairvoyant.”

“I am?”

“Yep. And a damned good one too,” Lindee said, sounding boastful. She looked back at the door as if expecting someone to come through it.

“I'll bet there's like four men waiting to come in and see me,” I said. This clairvoyant thing explained how I knew a bunch of things, yet didn't remember anyone as yet who stepped into my room.

“Yep. You have no lack of male admirers,” she said. “You ready to see them?”

“I suppose.”

Lindee moved back to the open door and motioned to the men waiting outside.

Four men, as different as four men could be, stepped into my room quietly, all of them smiling. One was very upset—I wasn't sure at who, but it was the shorter man with raven black hair and striking blue eyes dressed entirely in black. His emotions overwhelmed me—I didn't know how I caught the emotions, too. Something about him was scary—something I couldn't quite fathom from the depths of my sore brain. I wasn't certain how long I might have known him, but his smile and eyes, which never blinked once, seemed to have a strange longing, or hunger in them directed at me.

I darted my glance off him and slid it over to the very tall and extremely gorgeous man with the beard and the greenest eyes I think I'd ever seen—well, since I couldn't remember anything, I suppose they were. I somehow knew his name was Bill. What a common name for such an unusually handsome man. Oh. That's right. I remembered seeing him somewhere before. Before I came here to the hospital. I remembered his face hovering over me while I was prone and in agony. I had the strongest notion that he was the one who'd gotten me to this hospital. Oh, yes. Now I remembered a car ride and his face looking back at me from the front seat. Everything was coming to me in bits and pieces and it was frustrating the hell out of me.

The next man was different too. Thin, and lean and hard-muscled, like he worked hard for a living. He looked wild, unshaven, hair untrimmed. But I found his smile and brown eyes genuinely soft for a man who seemed rough and tumble. He harbored a small secret that wanted to come to me, but I simply couldn't pull it out. All of them had secrets and I knew that they would not reveal them to me. At least, not right now.

The next man was about six foot, sandy hair, handsome, an impeccable dresser, and I had no idea what his name was. This was odd. I knew the other men's names right away… Hobart, Bill, and Stefan. His blue eyes glittered as he looked at me from the other side of my bed.

“I think I can safely speak for all of us, here,” the man whose name I couldn't get said. “We've been worried sick.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I'm sorry, I don't know your name.”

“My name is Andrew. Andrew Morkel.” He turned to the swarthy man next to him. The angry one, although he wasn't angry at me. I could tell because now he had a smile on his face as he gazed at me without blinking. “This is Stefan Capella. That's Hobart, and that's Bill Gannon.” He introduced, hand out to each man as he did.

“Hi,” I said and turned my eyes to the man named Stefan. “Who are you angry at?”

Stefan blinked, finally. “What? Why would I be angry?” He chuckled a little, trying to defuse whatever emotions he had thrown out there.

“That's what I'm asking you,” I said. “Who among these others are you angry at?”

The men all shifted on their feet, Hobart and Bill looked at one another, Andrew and Bill chuckled, as though I'd made a little joke. I was dead serious.

“Really. I'd like to know,” I said.

“He's probably angry at me,” the tall, drop-dead, green-eyed handsome one said.

“You, Bill? Why? What did you do to make him angry?”

Bill slid his green gaze toward Stefan. Stefan wouldn't look back at him.

“I'm the one who was there to help you in your time of need,” Bill said. “Possibly, he's jealous of this fact.”

Lindee snickered and I impaled her with a look. “You know something,” I said, and couldn't help but pick it up. My own emotions rippling from suspicions to annoyed. They were all hiding something from me. “Something about vampires, demons and werewolves?”

“Damn it,” Lindee said, shuffling forward with something in her hands. “I forgot.” She placed a pair of white gloves at my side. “You'd better put these on, or you'll be reading every damn person who comes into this room. It all might make you go into a dead faint.”

“Really?” I said.

“Yes. The clairvoyant thing. You're a touch clairvoyant, but you don't usually have to touch anything to know stuff. Trust me. You'll feel better if you put those on,” she said, nodding to the black gloves.

I picked up the gloves and eyed them. I then eyed my visitors and wondered why this was so important. The IV needle was taped to the top of my right hand, so I couldn't really put that glove on, but I pulled the other glove on my left hand. It fit snuggly, and it felt familiar. I lifted the other glove. “I can't wear this one, though.”

“Here,” Hobart said and took the glove out of my hand. He turned away from everyone and was doing something to it.

I resumed my questioning of the man named Stefan. “Are you my husband?” I asked.

“What?” He seemed too genuinely shocked at the question to be my husband. “No. I'm sorry.”

“Then, is it Bill?” I asked.

“No. I'm afraid not,” Bill said, looking a bit wistful. Interesting.

“Why are you asking us this?” Andrew asked.

“Because I've got a wedding band and a huge diamond ring on my left hand.” I lifted my left hand—but it was covered up now. “Has something happened to my husband? Why isn't he here?”

Stefan stepped closer. “It's hard to explain, carrisima, but your husband, Vasyl, is unable to be here with you at this time.”

“Why? What has happened to him?” Vasyl? What a strange name.

Stefan shot looks back at Andrew Morkel, silently asking for help in answering this.

“Your husband has… been called away. We have not been able to reach him,” Morkel said, his ears turning red. A lie, or a white lie, at least.

If any of the others had said this, I might have been able to know the truth. I don't know how. Was my power of second sight that good?

“Okay,” I said. “I'll accept that for the time being.”

“Here you go, Alfa Girl.” Hobart stepped up and held out the glove to me. He had made a slit in the glove along the top so that I could slip it over my fingers and not cover up the IV needle where it went into the vein on the top of my hand. I found the effect of the gloves soothing right away. I barely had any other knowledge of my visitors once the gloves were in place. But I still could feel emotions swirling around the room. Jealousy. The men all are jealous of one another. Why? Had they all dated me once? But not Andrew Morkel.

I looked up at Hobart. His light brown eyes met mine. I smiled at him. “What was that you called me? An endearment?” I asked him.

“What?” he asked, looking startled.

“You called me 'Alfa Girl',” I said.

He tried to veil his embarrassment by looking away from me, and shuffling back to where the others were. “That's what I call you. Alfa Girl.” Hands in pockets, he shrugged.

“Gentlemen,” Dr. Phillips stepped into the room, bringing our little conversation to an abrupt close. “I hate to bring this up at this time, but I do need to have some insurance information on Ms. Strong. The office is bugging the hell out of me. Do any of you have any idea if she does have insurance?”

“She does. Through Tremayne Inc.,” Stefan said at once, and turned to him. “I'll be happy to fill out any forms, to the best of my abilities.”

Bill turned to Stefan. “She still works for Tremayne?”

Stefan's head jerked to look at him. “Is that any of your concern?”

“Possibly not. However, you don't know her personal information,” Bill said smoothly. He turned to Lindee. “Do you know where Sabrina would have left her purse? They'll need date of birth and other things.”

“Uh, I may be able to be of some assistant,” Morkel said.

“I can look it up in her files,” Stefan said, his anger bubbling up. Perhaps slightly angrier than he was a moment ago.

“She might have left her purse at the penthouse,” Lindee offered quietly, and went back to chewing on her thumb.

“I have all of her personal information,” Morkel insisted. “After all, I also work for Tremayne Inc.”

“Can you get it here?” Stefan said, glaring at Morkel.

Morkel held up a black flat thing in his hand. “I have it all here.”

“Very well,” Stefan said. “Bring us any paperwork you might have for her.”

“I will take you gentlemen to the front desk,” the doctor said.

“Probably best we all leave. She's been through hell,” Bill said.

They all began filing out and Lindee said something to me, so I wasn't watching when something happened before the men slipped out the door.

“Okay. I've had it up to here with you—” Stefan's voice rose. Lindee turned, giving me a view of Stefan's hands going for Bill's throat. Although Bill stood more than a foot taller than him, he was like a pit bull on a mailman's leg. Both hands gripped Bill's throat in a choke hold. Bill easily knocked him away, sending Stefan crashing into the wall, which put a hairline c***k into it. Well, Crap!

“Gentlemen. Please!” Dr. Phillips said, shocked at such a display of violence in his hospital.

Lindee, who had been yipping little streams of swearwords, trying to jump out of the way of the two men, now let out a sharp guffaw in the quiet aftermath. Quickly she put her hands over her mouth to silence herself. Hobart had pulled her away from the fray the split second it had all started. Morkel now stood along side my bed as if to shield me from the fray. Now, Hobart stepped around Morkel in front of my bed, putting me and Lindee behind himself, also shielding. Protectors. It gave me a secure sense for the time being.