Star Bright (38 page)

Maria felt her heart skip
in relief when she saw a ball of tears escape Dave’s closed eyes.
She moved to cradle his head on her lap and kissed his face as she
laughed and cried at the same time.

“
Miguel what’s
wrong with you!” Edna scolded, swatting him with the now red
cloth.

“
What?” Miguel
sounded offended, “It was a through and through shot and in the
shoulder not his chest.”

“
Oh sure, a
hole in the shoulder is just like a paper cut.” Edna said
sarcastically.

“
Si
.” Miguel’s answer earned him
another swat.

Maria had so far ignored
her parents, but the blood seeping out of Dave’s shoulder made her
very uneasy, “Are you two waiting for Dave to bleed out before we
call an ambulance!”

“
One is
already on its way.” Edna answered, handing her the cloth, “Here,
put this over his wound.” she placed her hand on Maria’s cheek,
“the nightmare is finally over honey, it’s over.”

“
Not yet mama,
when Dave wakes up and starts running my life again, then it will
be over.”

Chapter Twenty
Two

Maria walked into their
room with a food tray in her hands. It had been two weeks since the
ordeal and Maria had been trying to make up for it ever since. She
felt guilty for what they went through, Michael’s nightmares and
Dave’s pain, she was glad Izzy was too young to understand
anything, but she would jump and stiffen at loud noises.

Yes, everything her
family was going through was her fault, but she was determined to
make up for it.

“
What are you
doing carrying that? You are going to hurt yourself.” Dave pushed
the papers and the laptop aside to make room for the
tray.

Maria set it down next to
him and picked up his sling, “You should be resting, not working,
give me your arm.”

“
I’ll wear
mine if you wear yours.” Dave spoke, picking up a piece of toast
from the tray.

She got onto the bed and
crossed over to him, “Don’t be a child, you got shot.” she felt a
shiver remembering him lying lifeless on the ground. She really
wanted to forget that, but it was impossible seeing Dave
wounded.

Dave slid his arm in and
watched her fasten the sling. Her face changed from fear to relief
then guilt, “It wasn’t your fault Maria.”

She snorted, blinking the
tears in her eyes away, “Keep telling yourself that if it makes you
feel better, I’ll just live with the truth.”

Dave pulled her and held
her against his chest, he winced when she pressed against his arm,
“I’m taking this thing off, it hurts more having it on than having
it off.” he pulled the sling off and threw it across the room.
Maria went to get it, but he pushed her back, “What happened was
Ricky’s fault, like every other bad thing in your life. He hurt you
too just like he did us.”

“
What do you
guys call it.... chain of causation?”

“
Just because
you met him first doesn’t mean it’s your fault.” he spoke in her
hair as he nuzzled her tighter against him.

That night when he felt
the bullet go through him, he was sure he was never going to get to
hold her like this again, he saw the life he was never going to
have with his family and it scared him more than dying
did.

But he was here, they
were all here and he wasn’t going to waste this second
chance.

“
Things happen
for a reason Maria, its called life.”

“
Really? What
reason would there be for you having a bullet hole in your
shoulder, or Michael having nightmares every single night, or Izzy
stiffening at the sound of loud noises or me adding a bummed
shoulder and a few more ribs to my file of broken body parts. What
exactly is the universe trying to tell us Dave?”

Dave sighed. He was
giving up on that venture. Maria was determined to carry another
load on her shoulders.

“
Is Michael
talking about his nightmares? The doctor said it would do him some
good if he does.” he lifted the tray with his good hand and placed
it on the bedside table.

Maria chuckled, “I still
can’t believe Michael is seeing a shrink. It just seems like a rich
kids thing. I bet now he’ll fit into his rich kids school much
better.”

Dave pinched her and she
whined, “Will you stop hitting on the snooty kids, they were once
my people.”

She laughed, “I’m sorry
I’ll only hit on them once a month from now on. Yes he talks about
it, it’s the same thing, like someone taped what happened and is
forcing him to watch it every night. But they’ve been less these
past few days and he’s sleeping a lot more.”

“
You aren’t
sleeping too well. How are your nightmares?” he twisted her hair
with his fingers and pulled the locks over her shoulder.

“
I keep
expecting Ricky to jump out of the bushes and yell surprise or wake
me up in bed with a butcher knife on my throat.” she cradled his
arm around her tighter.

“
He’s dead,
you identified his body in the mortuary yourself.” he kissed the
top of her head. He understood her fear, the man had already been
dead twice and he came back, “He’s dead and he’s never coming
back.”

“
Maybe his
ghost will this time.” she exhaled, changing the subject, “Anyway,
I can handle the nightmares, I’m used to it, I don’t need a shrink
to...” she stopped when he pinched her, “Ow, what was that for, I
didn’t say anything!”

“
You were
about to. And anyway, you are rich now so having a shrink will make
you fit better in my snotty society.”

“
Oh well,
after everything that’s happened I think I can handle your snotty
friends, and of course your dad, without.” she turned to face him,
“having to marry you.”

Dave smiled, amused by
her insistence, “We’ll see. Speaking of marriage, how are your
parents doing in Mexico or is it Cuba?”

Maria settled back
against him, “Mexico. I don't want to know what papa is up to,
plausible deniability, and I worry about mama, I’m scared she might
get into the cross fire or something because of his
business.”

“
She isn’t
going to leave him, you know that.”

“
I do, she’s
been waiting for him for over twenty-three years, how could I
possibly ask her to leave him just because she might get shot,
because of him.”

“
She’s in love
Maria.”

“
I thought I
was in love and it got me beat up, two kids kidnapped and a
boyfriend shot.” she shook her head, trying to clear it of constant
memories that insisted on haunting her, “Forgive me if that word
doesn’t hold a lot of weight for me.”

Dave raised her chin so
that he could look into her green eyes, “So you don’t love
me?”

She fully turned to face
him, “I do.” she smiled then planted a kiss on his lips, “I got you
shot so the least I can do is love you.” she kissed him again,
longer this time, “Not fall in love with you, but grow in love with
you.”

Dave drug his hand in her
hair, he loved her jet black hair, “Grow in love, is that the new
thing young people do these days?” he gently pushed her head closer
and locked her lips in a deeper kiss.

He hated that they were
both hurt, he hated it more that the recent incident had taken him
back to zero with her. There was no way she would be willing for
anything more than kissing and the fire for her was scorching his
insides.

She pulled away and
looked at him, a fire simmering slowly inside her, “You aren’t
old.” she looked at his lips and she felt the urge to kiss him, to
do a lot more than just kiss him, “If you slide down I’ll show what
else girls my age like to do.” she said so seductively that she
surprised herself.

Dave looked at her with a
raised eyebrow. He wasn’t sure if he heard right or if he
understood what she meant, and if he did he was surprised she was
initiating it, “Are you sure?”

She nodded, biting
delicately down on her lower lip in half a smile, “Unless you are
in too much pain... ‘cause I know you want to, you’ve been wanting
to for a very long time.”

“
How do you
know that?” he smiled sliding down under her.

She shrugged her shirt
off and left the tank top on, “I was screwed up, but I’m not
blind.” she laid on him as she kissed him, careful not to hurt his
shoulder, “Does it hurt?” she asked, tracing the huge bandage under
his vest.

“
Not as much,
but I’m sure if you keep kissing me I’ll go numb.” he spoke, as he
traced her neck with his lips.

Maria giggled, his lips
on her neck tickled her, “I hope only your shoulder goes numb.” she
felt her throat tighten when he nibbled on her chin and traced his
fingers lightly along her back. She couldn’t remember the last time
she felt like she was going to explode, usually she felt like she
wasn’t wearing enough clothes, but at that moment the little she
had on felt too much like a barrier.

Dave rolled over until he
was on top of her, “How about we talk after, before...”

Dave was cut off when the
kids came in running and jumped on the bed laughing. He rolled off
Maria and watched them, wishing he had locked the door or called
for a baby sitter to take them out for a few hours or for the whole
day.

Maria sat up laughing,
“Before they come in.” she finished his sentence pulling Izzy on to
her lap.

Michael settled down
between them, “So what were you guys doing?”

“
Yeah, what
were you doing?” Izzy echoed.

Maria was grateful her
son wasn’t so clever in some areas. Explaining the birds and the
bees to a five year old wasn’t anything she was looking forward to,
she was so much more relieved that Dave was in their life now, when
Michael was older he would have a man to have that uncomfortable
embarrassing conversation with.

“
They were
wrestling.” Carol said as she walked in.

“
Wrestling?
Who was winning?” Michael asked, looking up at Dave.

“
Oh, they both
were, but I think Dave was enjoying it more.” Todd said as he
walked in with a file in his hand.

“
Why?”

Dave tossed Michael up
then brought him down on his lap. He laughed when Maria got a
pained look on her face then gently touched his wounded shoulder.
He smiled, loving the fact her concern was very visible on her
face. She really cared about him, there was no doubt about that,
“Michael don’t pay any attention to Todd.”

“
Call me in
another five years kiddo and we’ll talk about it.” Todd winked at
him with a sheepish smile on his face.

“
Carol I don’t
mind having you here, but Todd what exactly are you doing in our
bedroom?” Maria asked bluntly.

“
Wow, Maria
you are mean when you are horny.” Todd spoke, passing the file to
Dave. Maria’s eyes popped out before she covered her face with her
hands.

“
What’s
horny?” Michael asked. Maria looked at him before she put her face
back in her hands and groaned.

Dave laughed, signing the
papers, “We’ll talk about that later.” he handed Maria the papers,
“Sign this before I throw Todd out.”

“
How much
later?” Michael’s question made Maria laugh. She was so glad Dave
was around to take that bullet.

“
When are you
guys getting married?” Carol cut in trying to change the subject,
but it only stole the laugh out of Maria’s lips as she raised the
topic Maria was trying hard to avoid.

“
Yeah mama
when?” Michael beamed up a hopeful smile at her.

“
Yeah mama
when?” Izzy echoed, busy tangling Maria’s long hair in her
fingers.

“
Thanks Carol,
now Dave has two more supporters to nag me about it.” she took the
pen from Dave’s hand, “I’m not ready for marriage.”

Dave stared at her,
surprised, “After all we’ve been through.....okay just sign here.”
he said with a low tone.

Maria stared at him, she
heard the disappointment in his voice and it saddened her, but she
wasn’t about to change her mind. It had only been a couple of
months since they both got out of disastrous relationships. It was
too soon to get hitched, and if they did she wouldn’t have an easy
way out if things got bad.

“
What’s this?”
she asked, looking away from Dave.

“
They are
custody papers. We’ll have joint custody of our kids. To make
medical and all other legal matters easy for Michael and of course
change his name to Greer.” Maria stared at him with a raised eye
brow, “Just because you don’t want to carry my name doesn’t mean he
shouldn’t, and besides, he already is.”

She was about to argue,
but she let it go. She would give him this and there would be no
harm in it, and the upside to all of this was she was legally
gaining a daughter, there was completely no harm in it, “All these
papers for adoption?”

“
Yes, it’s a
complicated procedure with a lot of work.”

Maria chuckled, “Oh, I
can see Amy’s face now.” she perused the papers and wondered why
there were so many pages just to say, ‘I’m adopting this child to
be mine.’