Hooked (40 page)

     “It means a lot to me that you’re here.  I’m glad I don’t have to do stuff like this by myself anymore,” he said as he kissed my hand while still holding it.

     We walked up to her door and Cash knocked.  Mary opened the door and hugged Cash instantly.  She looked so healthy and pretty.  Her cheeks were fuller and her hair looked healthier.

     “Hey mom, how are you?”

     “Oh honey, I’m good
,
really good.”

     “Millie, I’m so glad you came too,” she said as she pulled me into a hug.
 
“I see that you’ve been taking care of my boy.”

   
“Yes ma’am
, he keeps me on my toes
.
”
I laughed.

     “I’m
gonna
have to say it’s the other way around
,
sweetheart
,
”
Cash added with a grin.

     I blushed.  I don’t know why it still embarrasses me when he calls me names or kisses me in front of people.  He’s so careless with it.  He does it in front of people at school, my brother, even his own mom.  Even though it embarrasses me, it’s one of my favorite things about him.

     “Did you guys have a good trip?  I hope it wasn’t too long for you.”

     “It was great,” I answered politely.

     We talked small talk for a while and I knew that I was going to go down and look around for a little bit and give Cash some time alone with his mom
,
but I wanted to give her the gift I brought first.

     “Mary, I brought you a gift for Christmas since I won’t get to see you on Monday,” I said as I got up and walked over to my purse to get it.

     “Oh honey, you shouldn’t have done that.  I don’t need anything.”

     “I know
,
but I wanted to,” I said as I handed it to her.

     I felt Cash looking at me while she opened it.  I looked back at him and smiled.  He had a different look about him and I couldn’t tell what it meant.  I guess he could tell me what he was thinking later when we were alone.

     She opened my gift and started crying.  Oh
,
no
.
I wanted to cheer her up, not make her sad.  I looked at Cash while he got up and knelt beside her.  She didn’t say anything for a bit and I started getting nervous.

     “Millie, it’s beautiful.  No one has ever given me anything like this before,” she said as she held it up.
”

     “I’m so glad you like it.  I had them put yours and Cash’s birthstones in the center.  I guess it’s kind of a mother’s bracelet.  Maybe, just
an everyone
you care about bracelet, I don’t know
,
it just seemed like a cool idea
.
”
I laughed because
I was nervous. 

    
“I absolutely love it.
Cash, can you put it on me?”  S
he
asked
as she held out her wrist for him.

   
“Sure,” he answered gruffly.

     What in the world was wrong with him?  Did he not like it?  I just wanted to do something nice for her since she was going through all of this and I knew she was alone for Christmas.
  I wanted to make her feel okay about getting help for herself.  I had no clue how much courage that took, but I felt like that was a really good step for her future. 
We talked some more about school and how Cash was doing on his own and her therapy and the friends she had made while being here. 

    
“I’m going to go look around, give you t
wo
sometime to yourselves, alright?” I asked Cash.

     I moved to hug Mary and she wrapped her arms around me tight and whispered in my ear, “You are the person I’ve prayed that would come into his life.  I asked God for someone like you to love my son and he answered it.  Thank you for loving him and taking care of him when I couldn’t.  Thank you for my bracelet, I will cherish it always and I hope one day to add you and a couple of grandchildren to it
.
”
S
he winked at me.

     “You are welcome,” I said as I looked at Cash.  “You’re right
.
I do love him very much
.
”
I turned and walked out of the room to give them some privacy.

     I walked around and found a desk with a pamphlet.  I read it and tried to picture everything Mary had been doing.  I know this was hard for her and I really wanted her to succeed at sobriety.  I thought about Cash and my part in all of this
,
even though it was a small part.  I was here for him and I could tell his better days from the worse ones without him telling me
,
but I couldn’t feel the full effect because it wasn’t my mom.

     I guess I really am growing up because as I stood here in this hospital, it became crystal clear how lucky I was.  I had a family, two parents and a brother.  I have never felt alone in anything.  The thought
surprisingly made me sad because on
c
e again, this was a situation that we were in where I couldn’t relate to him.

     I walked around inside and watched some of the people there and looked at some of the rooms.  It was kind of a cool place.  It was like a hospital because there were doctors and nurses here
,
but it felt like a home on the inside.  The walls were decorated and tan in color, not the normal white.  There were plants and plenty of light and sunshine coming in from the windows. 

     “Hello there, are you visiting a patient?  Can I lead you in a certain direction?”  Great, I can’t even walk around right.  Obviously
,
this person can tell I have no idea where I’m going.

     “Umm, no sir, I was just looking around.  I’m actually visiting my boyfriend’s mom today.”

     “
I
’m Dr. Knight,” he said sticking out his hand.

     “Millie
Diamond
,” I said as I shook his hand.

    
“What’s her name?”

     “Mary
Davis
.”

     “Yes, Mary.  She is actually my patient.  She is doing very well.  I think she will succeed because she really wants to for her son.  She speaks of him often.”

     “That’s great.  I can tell she’s doing well, she looks great.”

     “Yes, she is.  I haven’t met her son
,
but you can pass on that he has a wonderful mother and I think she will do well with sobriety.”

     “Thank you, I will.  It was nice meeting you.”

     “You as well
,
Millie,” he said and patted my shoulder as he left.

     “I swear
,
I can’t take you anywhere without you flirting. 
An older man, Mil?
  That’s just sad.”

     I turned around to
a smug smile from my
boyfriend.  “You think your funny
,
don’t you?”

     “A little bit.”

     “Well, for your information, that was your mom’s doctor,” I said with my hands on my hips.

     “What did he say?”

     “Oh, now you
wanna
know what we talked about?” I said baiting him.  He raised one eyebrow and waited.  “You know the usual, are you single
,
h
ow long are you in town
,
w
hat are you doing later tonight?
”
 

    
He pulled my hand and led me outside to his car.  He pulled me in close as he opened the
passenger
side door with the other hand and asked,
“And what did you say?”

     I kissed his neck and put my arms around his waist squinting one eye like I was thinking hard
.
“No,
one
day, getting in the hot tub with my boyfriend.”

     “Damn straight
.
”
  H
e winked at me and opened the door.  I rolled my eyes at him and got in.

     “So, Dr. Knight said your mom was doing really well.”

     “I know
.
I almost couldn’t believe the difference.  She told me that they we’re treating her for her depression and with the counseling
,
it was working for her.”

     “She looked great.”

     “Millie, she loved the bracelet.  She talked about it a lot after you left.”

     “Good, I’m glad.  I was hoping she would.”

     “You don’t know how much I love you
,
do you?”

     He surprised me with this statement.  We pulled in the hotel parking lot and started walking in.  He put his hand on my shoulder as we entered the elevator.

     “I think I have a pretty good idea,” I said as I looked up at him.

     “You treating my mom the way you do…means the world to me.  When she told you that she’s never had anyone give her anything like that, she was telling you the truth.”

    
“I’m just glad she liked it.  Your mom is really sweet.  She loves you and
that’s
something she and I have in common.”

     We walked into our room together and sat on the bed.  “You are a very special person
,
Millie, I love you,” he said as he leaned down to kiss me.

     “I love you
,
too.  Let’s order room service for dinner and then go get in that hot tub.”

     “You don’t have to tell me twice.  Do you want to call Eli and see if he wants to join us?”

     “Not really,” I mumbled going over to my phone to call him.  I dialed his number
,
but he didn’t answer.  I left him a voice message and hung up to send him a text.  He didn’t reply.  “He’s not answering.  Do you think something’s wrong?
  He always answers his phone.  I know he would have it with him
,
especially with us being out of town.  I have a bad feeling Cash, he should be answering me.”

     “Calm down
,
sweetheart.  I’ll go to his room and check there, he may just be asleep or something.”

     “I’m going with you, I’m scared.”

     “Millie, just stay here in case he calls you back, alright?”

     “Yeah right, my brother is missing and you want me to just sit up here and wait like a good little girl while you go check in case something bad happened?  I don’t think so
,
besides it’s a cell phone, I don’t need to stay in one place for it to work
.
”
I pushed passed him.

    
“Alright, just calm down.  I’m sure he’s fine.”

     We both walked fast to his room.  I knocked on the door.  He didn’t answer.  I put my ear up to the door to see if I could hear anything…nothing.  I knocked again and looked at Cash with a worried expression.  He put his arm around me.

     “Maybe he went to look around.  This is a big hotel.”