CHAPTER SIXTEEN
GABE
I’m on top of the world heading to Mom’s hospital room. Shannon’s at work, no doubt walking around on the same airy cloud I am.
I walk in to find Mom asleep, Matt by her bed with a copy of GQ.
I sit in the chair by the wall. “You still reading that shit?”
Matt smiles up at me. “Hey, someone in this family has to look stylish.”
I look down. “What, tactical pants and tight tees don’t do it for you?”
He holds up the magazine. “It’s GQ, brother, not Gay Times.”
“Same thing last I checked,” I shrug.
Matt places the magazine down. “Speaking of same-same, how’s it going with your ‘fiancée’?”
The sarcastic slur on ‘fiancée’ doesn’t go unnoticed. My brother and I rarely hold anything back from one another. I’m not about to start. “We slept together.”
“As in catching some Zs or breaking the headboard?”
My smile provides the answer.
Matt sits back. “I’m happy for you—jealous, but happy.”
“Thank you.”
“And given that goofy fucking grin on your face I’m thinking you enjoyed it.”
I haven’t smiled this much in years. “More than a hot shower after being holed up in Kandahar for two months.”
“That much, huh? Did you tell her that? I bet she came on the spot.”
I squint, leaning forward to look inquisitively at my brother. “Oh, yeah. I can see the green-eyed monster now. He’s right there under the giant penis sprouting from your head.”
“At least you got the ‘giant’ part right,” Matt retorts.
He jerks his head sideways to the bed. “You’re lucky she’s asleep.”
“What, you can’t fight your own battles?” The teasing’s been in good humor until now, but I sense I’ve taken it too far with these words. “I’m sorry,” I add. “You’ve been here through this whole thing. I haven’t. That makes all the difference.”
But Matt wasn’t offended to begin with. “You’re damn right about that, but this thing with Shannon. Do you really think it’s a good idea? I mean, she’s not exactly the kind of girl you go for.”
“And what kind of girl do I go for, O’ brother? I’m curious.”
“Loose with even looser morals.”
“Those days are over.”
“Clearly, given you’re engaged to Anastasia Steele.”
“I’m not intending to bend her over my knee and spank her… yet.”
Matt leans forward over his knees. “I’m serious, bro. I’m happy for you, like I said, but I don’t think she was the best choice for this scam.”
“It’s not a scam.”
“So she’s your actual fiancée?”
I let it go. A thought occurs to me. “She hasn’t been to visit, has she?”
“Shannon?” replies Matt. “No, not that I know of.”
It’s a good thing. She did well the first meet, so well I thought she might try and go it alone.
“Who’s visiting?”
We both turn to the bed where Mom is slowly raising herself up onto the pillow, a crooked grimace on her face.
“No one, Mom,” I say.
She scowls at me. “Gabriel.”
I know by that tone I’m in trouble here. I look to Matt for a clue, but he simply shrugs back.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Mom says.
“Of course, Mom. You know I’m here for you,” I tell her.
She’s on the attack. “I know, but what I’m concerned about is how you treat others.” I look to Matt again, who shoots me back a similarly puzzled expression.
What the hell’s bringing this on?
“Mom,” I begin, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her features screw up in frustration. “I think you know full well. It’s about choices—the bad choices you’re making.”
Does she know?
She’s on a lot of painkillers, sometimes get confused, but she’s completely lucid, more lucid than I’ve seen her to date.
“When she came here…” Mom starts.
I’m trying to work out what she’s talking about. “Who, Mom? When who came? Was it Shannon?” I ask the question even though Matt said she hasn’t been around.
“No, Gabriel. It was the other one, calling herself your girlfriend.”
It takes a second for it to sink in, but once it does I’m speechless. I literally cannot speak.
Matt too, seems shocked, looking at me dead-on. His expression also says ‘Who the fuck is she talking about?’ Maybe the painkillers are really doing a number on her.
“Are you cheating?” says Mom. “I don’t think that’s fair, on either of those poor girls.”
She yawns and her eyes close, head sinking deep into the pillow.
I stand. “Mom?”
She’s fallen back asleep.
I look to Matt. “Do you have any fucking idea who she’s talking about?”
Matt lifts his hands. “Hey, I don’t know how many girls you’ve got involved here.”
“Just the one, and even that’s enough. Do you think she’s confused?”
“Go check at the nurses’ station. Maybe they know something.”
I head down the hall, almost bowling over a guy in a wheelchair I’m in such a rush. I arrive to the nurses’ station breathless, hands on the counter.
The nurse on duty looks up slowly and smiles in that practiced away only medical professionals know how. “May I help you?”
“I’m Gabriel Reed,” I begin, “Ah, Mrs. Reed’s son.”
Duh.
Another false smile. “Yes, Mr. Reed. How can I help?”
“I was just curious if anyone beside my brother Matthew has been by to visit our mother.”
She calls over another nurse, an older woman with a square jaw and marbled eyes. “Jan, has Mrs. Reed in forty seven had any visitors lately besides her sons?”
‘Jan’ provides the same, practiced smile to me. “Yes, there was a woman—dark hair, olive skin. I didn’t catch her name, sorry.”
“You don’t have any records?” I ask.
The nurse at the desk shakes her head. “No, sorry.”
“She said she was a family friend,” continues Jan.
It’s possible this is some acquaintance from Mom’s old work, maybe a distant friend or acquaintance.
But they’re saying she was a family friend?
Whatever the case, my suspicions are raised. I see the darker side of people, the scam artists and those ready to prey on the weak and sick, get their wills signed over or worse.
I’m paying for this facility, so I try to make my next point clear without coming across too aggressive. “From now on, only myself, my brother and my fiancée Shannon Bailey are to be admitted. Is that clear?”
The first nurse replies. “Yes, Mr. Reed. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
I’m sure they’re talking behind my back when I leave.
I head out front. I hold my cell ready to call Shannon and double-check she didn’t, in fact, visit at some point.
I’m standing there about to hit call when I hear a familiar voice behind me.
“Long time no see, Gabe-Gabe.”