Fragile (15 page)

“There you are. Big night at the hospital, I take it?” I dropped my bag and looked at my Dad sitting in his bed eating breakfast.

“Living up to the bachelor ways, are you?” He was a mess, unshaven and in what I suspected were dirty clothes.

“If the shoe fits…” He smiled over my way. I got some clean clothes from my suitcase and headed to the bathroom.

“The contractors finished yesterday, so we can move in today. I have to be at the hospital soon, but we’ll stop by and take the suitcases over there. That will give you the day to unpack and whatnot.”

“Ok, I’ll be ready when you are then.”

I don’t know what I was thinking, letting Rick kiss me. I know exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking that I missed him and then some. I should have turned and left last night, I didn’t expect for him and Aiden to meet me in the car park. That was when my plan went south. I should have thrown the car keys at him and left. I definitely shouldn’t have entered the apartment and had dinner with him, and I most certainly should not have stayed the night. I should have left.

Dressed for a new day, I stepped out of the bathroom and into the main area of the hotel room where I spotted Dad out of bed and on the phone.

“We’ve been through this.” His voice was tight and agitated, but hopeful. “I know that, but Lucy is my daughter, and I just can’t get past what Ireland did to her and now there’s a baby involved. How can you ask for my daughter to be friendly, when your daughter tore her world apart?” I moved around the room and started to pack up my belongings.

“I understand that, but she lives with you.” There was silence as I moved about the room. “She told you that?” Now he sounded disgusted. “She wasn’t with him to get back at Ireland. They were in a committed...”

“I don’t care what Ireland told you. I’ve seen how they are. Derrick even spoke to me about it. He knows that Ireland is temperamental.” His voice was rising as I zipped up my suitcase and wheeled it over to the door, doing a final check before we left. “She’s an attention seeker, Mather! Why do you think she slept with Luke in the first place?” I cringed at his name. “Look, no matter what way we look at it, one of our daughters hurt the other...”

“Those were harmless pranks, and Ireland loved them. You never saw Lucy sleep with one of Ireland’s boyfriends to get back at her and she certainly didn’t get pregnant!”

“I know the pregnancy wasn’t planned, but it is happening!” Dad started pacing the room. I leaned back on the door and watched him move around. I hated that I had been part of the reason his life was being ripped apart. I had played some harmless pranks on her, but nothing that would, well as Dad and I thought, that would contribute to her sleeping with my fiancé.

“No, I don’t see a way.” His voice was quieting down now. He sounded defeated. There was a knock at the door, welcoming the distraction I turned and opened it, stunned to find Rick standing there with those bloody keys dangling from his hand.

“Mather, I will not say this again....Agh, do you hear yourself? How can you condone what’s happening to our children?”

Rick looked over my shoulder as I stepped out of the room, closing the door behind me. “Is there a problem?” Rick asked.

“Dad left Mather, and she’s trying to get him back,” I explained leaning against the door. Rick just stood there before pushing the keys into the front pocket of my jeans.

“I can’t leave you without a car, Lu. Use it and don’t give it back because no matter what, I will keep returning it.”

“I can’t take it, Rick.” I pulled the keys out of my pocket and pushed them back into his chest. “Take them,” I gave them another push.

“No,” he said pissed off. I went to put them in his pocket but he grabbed my hand and stopped it from going any further. A few people passed us in the hallway, glancing our way to see what was going on and a few of them gave us a weird look.

“I can’t drive your car, Rick. Please stop trying to get me to.”

“You’ve driven it before. What’s the difference now?”

“The difference is that it reminds me of you, and it makes me miss you too much, so please.”

I let go of the keys and pulled my hand free. Instead of Rick letting go, he pulled me to him until our lips crashed together. He kissed me hard, pushing me up against the door. When the door opened behind me I would have fallen if Rick hadn’t grabbed me and held me tight to his chest.

“Ray,” Rick said over my shoulder.

“Derrick, I wasn’t aware that you two had sorted yourselves out. I’m glad to see that Ireland hasn’t destroyed this relationship too.” His voice was bitter.

“Dad,” I turned to him. “We’ve been through this.”

He threw his hands up in defeat. “I know, I know. I just can’t get over what she did to you. That’s all.”

“I know.” I stepped out of Rick’s hold and into the room. “We better get going if we want to stop at the apartment. I’m going to be late.”

“I can take Ray to the apartment, that way you can head straight to work,” Rick offered while my back was to him.

I turned around slowly. “Its fine, we’ll make it.”

“It’s fine Lu. You go save lives while Ray and I head to the apartment and drop everything off. Then we can head to a bar.”

“Its 7:30 in the morning!” I exclaimed.

“By the time we’re finished it won’t be and by then it’ll be five o’clock somewhere.”

“I like the way you think, Derrick.” Dad pointed a finger at him. “Lucy you head to work and we’ll get this moving stuff done.”

I studied Dad. He could probably use a drink, “Fine.” I sighed, heading back into the room to grab my bag. Bending down to pick it up, something poked me in the thigh. Knowing what it was before I got them out of my pocket, I threw the car keys at Rick as I kissed Dad goodbye. Rick smiled at me as I shook my head and walked past him.

“Take the car, Lu,” he called after me.

“We just went through this, Rick.”

“I know but take the car. Please.” He handed the keys back over to me.

“How will you and Dad get to the bar when you’re finished?”

“Kye or Dad... Don’t worry about it,” he said with confidence.

I put my forehead in my hand. “Rick,” I whispered, “this is too much for me to handle right now.”

He kissed my forehead, placed the keys in my hand and spun me around. “Go save lives, Lu.”

RICK

Ray was looking at me as if he was deep in thought. “You keep looking at me like that, Ray, and I might think that leaving Mather has changed you.”

He sat up straighter while taking a mouthful of his beer. “I’m glad you and Lucy worked past this whole Ireland thing.”

I spun my beer between my hands, “I’m trying. I mean...let me start again. I have. I was shocked at first, more from what Ireland did then what she said. Lu told me that she wasn’t ready to be with anyone, but I didn’t listen. I think that might have amplified the situation some. Lu, though,” I leaned forward in my chair, arms on the table as I tried to figure out a way to word what I wanted to say. “I wouldn’t say that she is punishing me for what Ireland did, but I don’t think that she can be around me without thinking that it was my own sister that did something so horrible to her.”

“You love her.”

There was no denying it, “With everything.”

“Lucy says that Ireland did her a favour. She says that by Ireland doing what she did, she stopped a lot of heart ache from being caused in the future. Ireland brought out Luke’s infidelity, and for that, in a twisted way, Ireland saved Lucy from an unfaithful marriage.”

I’d never thought about it that way. “That’s such a Lu way of thinking about it.”

“She’s an optimist, for the most part,” Ray declared as he signalled for the bartender to bring us another round of drinks.

“Lu said you’ve left Mather.”

“Yeah, she doesn’t see how what Ireland did was wrong.” He took the last mouthful of his drink. “I get that you have to look out for your children and yeah, Lucy glued Ireland into a leprechaun suit, but...”

I broke out into laughter, “What?”

“Lucy and Ireland used to play pranks on one another. Lucy would talk to Ireland in an Irish accent. Ireland would put plastic snakes and spiders in Lucy’s bed. That sort of thing. So Lucy glued Ireland in a leprechaun suit and denied it, as she did with every prank, and Ireland just thought that she would sleep with Luke as payback. To make things worse Lucy walked in on it.”

“Oh shit,” I groaned, rubbing my face with my hands. “Fuck, no wonder she left.”

“Yeah, that night she went and stayed with a friend. A few days later, I got a call from her. She was at the airport. She told me she couldn’t stay there any longer and then she was gone. She didn’t contact me for a month. That was the worst time of my life, besides her mother dying.”

“I’m sorry, Ray. Ireland...”

“Don’t, Rick,” he interrupted me. “You didn’t tell Ireland to do what she did.”

LUCY

“Do you have a moment?”

I looked up from my tablet to see Mark standing in front of me. “Is everything alright?” I stood up to have a look at him.

“I’m fine, Lucy.” He sat down as I signalled over to the empty chair next to him.

“This is awkward, and I’m really uncomfortable doing this,” he began. “Mather told me what happened with Ireland and Ray and well...” He entwined his fingers together on the table, “she’s here. In the city.”

I took a moment to take in what Mark was telling me. “She wants to ambush Dad?” I guessed.

Mark shook his head. “She wants you to come over and have a sit down with Ireland to try and figure this all out.” He was cautious as he spoke. I looked down at the table, unable to look him in the eyes any longer. “I’m sorry, Lucy. I told her that this was a bad idea, but she was persistent and she’s taking up my home. Between her and Ireland, I don’t recognise the place anymore and I know that’s not your problem, but…” He trailed off as he pantomimed strangling someone.

I smiled and laughed, “Yeah.” I whispered, “I can’t, Mark. I hope you understand why.”

“Oh, I do, and I don’t blame you, honey, not one bit. What Ireland did, well I brought her up better than that. At least I thought I did. She has to deal with the consequences now.”

“I’m sorry”

Mark reached across the table and took my hands in his, squeezing them as he talked. “You have nothing to be sorry for. This is all on them.”

Mark left shortly after our conversation ended and I finished my day at the hospital. Eager to head to my new home and see how it looked with all my belongings in it, I snuck out after my last consultation. When I got home Dad had dinner on so I took the time to look around as I headed to the shower.

I came back in to the kitchen to the smell of food cooking and Dad putting the delicious things onto plates.

“What’s on your mind, Lucy?” Dad asked as he served up dinner.

“Mark came and visited me at work today.”

“What did he want?”

I could guarantee that he wasn’t going to like what I had to say. “Mather’s in the city.”

Dad stopped and looked up at me, more worry on his face then anger. “Have you heard from her?”

“She asked Mark to come and speak to me and she made him very uncomfortable. He said so himself.”

“What does she want?” His tone was starting to get tight, his anger coming.

“She wants me to have a sit down with Ireland, to try and sort this whole thing out.” I watched him take his phone out of his pocket. “I told him that I won’t do it.”

“Good.” He held the phone up to his ear and I could hear the ringing in the background. “You’re in the city! Then you send Mark to talk to my daughter about forgiving your daughter after what she did!” His voice got louder and tighter as he spoke. “Stay out of our lives, Mather!” He yelled before slamming the phone down on the bench and storming off, slamming his bedroom door behind him.

I finished serving up my dinner and set Dads in the oven for when he was ready. It was much later when Dad finally came back out of his room. “Dinner’s in the oven.” I told him over my shoulder.

He got his plate and joined me in the lounge room. “I’m sorry, honey. She just gets me so mad.”

“Its fine, Dad. I get it.”

“I wish it was.”

Dad looked depressed and I really worried about him. This isn’t fair on him. I got up from my spot on the couch and kissed his on his head goodnight before turning in for the night.

***

“Dr. Jackson.”

I stopped walking and turned around to see Dr. Hunter approaching me. “Dr. Hunter.” I put the chart that I was on my way to present to my interns, under my arm.

“I couldn’t help but notice that your surgery for Mr. Roman hasn’t been scheduled yet.” Oh shit. “Has it fallen through?”

I cleared my throat, trying to find some time to figure out something believable to say. “No, it’s still in discussion.”