Gabriel
Back in my apartment, I sit.
I sit on my lush black leather seats, watch, wait.
It’s been half an hour, and still Hannah hasn’t stirred.
She’s on the other couch, covered by a woolly afghan Momma made years ago. It’s canary yellow and stands out ridiculously in this black room. Then again, so does Hannah.
She’s always been a flash of color and this outfit she was kidnapped in is no exception: bright teal tank, neon lime skirt with a choker to match.
The others left on a beer run, knew better than to try talking to me.
Until I know she’s okay, nothing else matters.
Only Pip stayed, the only one who matters anyway. He’s a pre-med dropout, so he can help. I wouldn’t have let him leave if he wanted to.
I pat Hannah’s head, smooth down her soft blond hair.
Did I make the right choice in taking her here instead of a hospital?
The clenching of my hands at even the thought is the answer.
No, if Hannah were there, being taken care of by strangers, being protected by no one, neither of us would’ve been able to rest. No, not when Carlos and the Piccolos are still out there, could take her again.
As Hannah sleeps, I scan her once more. Her clothes look dusty but intact. Her fingernails have dirt under them while her fingers are clenched.
I want with everything in me for Hannah to wake up and yet, I’m afraid for her to. Afraid of what she’s been through, of what it’ll make me do.
She may look fine, but her face is tense and her every breath sounds like something of a fight in itself.
The Piccolos are going to pay for this.
And to think, that all this time Toni knew…
I stand up, start pacing. I won’t think of it now. I can’t. Hannah is all that matters.
Hannah’s body shudders with a cough.
I crouch down, and one of her eyes peeks open, blinks sleepily before closing again.
“Hannah?” I say softly, and she smiles.
The other eye peeks open, and she murmurs, “Black on… black on…”
I laugh, feel like lifting her up right here and now. But instead, as both of her eyes open, I help her into a sitting position.
Regarding me with an amused sort of stupor, she declares, “You saved me. I knew you would.”
I throw my arms around her, and she hugs me back.
I hold her tight, never want to let her go, never want to have this moment end. This moment before I know. I don’t want to know what they did to her and yet, I have to.
As we draw apart, Hannah nods, reads my thoughts with a grin.
“Don’t worry. It wasn’t that bad.”
I scrutinize her face.
“So, you… remember?”
Another prompt nod.
“Everything. Though I do feel like an idiot for getting conned by Carlos when I was trying to con him.”
She gets up and flops down on the couch. I flop down beside her.
“So, you knew all along?” I ask, and she nods, brushes her bangs out of her eyes.
“Thought I could help for a change.”
“Want me to give you a minute, Boss?” Pip asks.
He’s risen from the other couch. I stare at him. He looks happy but uncomfortable. I’d forgotten he was here at all.
But Hannah shakes her head, sighs.
“No, everyone already knows how stupid I’ve been. I mean, I thought I could get information from him, maybe mess with him a bit, but I think he knew all along. When he caught me snooping in his phone, it was all over.” She frowns, shakes her head, murmurs, “Thank God you came, I can’t imagine what would’ve happened if…”
Now, it’s my turn to shake my head.
“Let’s not even talk about it. How are you feeling?”
I gesture to Pip.
“Pip, come over here.”
As he comes to sit in the spot I’ve patted on the couch, Hannah shrugs.
“I feel groggy, but that’s from whatever drugs they gave me to keep me sedated in that horrible cement room. Otherwise I’m fine.”
I nod, turn to Pip.
“How does she look?”
Hannah pouts at me.
“Gabe, I’m serious…”
I stand up.
“No, I’m serious. I almost lost you. No way am I not having you checked out.” I put my hand on her shoulder. “Or letting you out of my sight, for that matter.”
As Pip takes what looks like a stethoscope out of his bag, Hannah regards me with an unimpressed expression.
“So what, I’m on house arrest in your bachelor pad until further notice, is that it?”
I smile, go over to the kitchen to get us some water bottles.
“Something like that.”
When I return with three Aquarellas, Pip is shining a LED flashlight in Hannah’s eyes, peering into her mouth, then her ears. All the while Hannah’s glare is on me.
Once he’s finished I hand both of them bottles, then turn to Pip.
“So, what’s the verdict?”
He looks nervous, maybe from my intent stare boring into him. When Pip speaks, however, his voice is calm.
“She’s fine Boss, a bit dehydrated but it doesn’t look like they did anything to her unless…”
His face goes red, and Hannah stands up.
“I’d know if they did that. And at any rate I’m not having either of you check that, so there!” She storms off to the hallway, then pauses. “So, you’re saying I’m stuck here, then?”
I follow and pass her, coming to a stop in front of her with a nod.
“Yes.”
She stretches herself to her full height.
“Here in your bachelor pad, even when you have your guests. Who is it lately – or should I ask who are the latest ones?”
I shrug. “No one.”
My sister’s jaw drops. “Seriously?”
I shrug and she lets out a low whistle.
“Damn, me being gone really hit you harder than I even imagine. You okay? You didn’t…”
The image of that second whiskey a few days ago appears, and I shake it away with my head.
“No, no, don’t worry.”
A warm smile spreads over her face and she throws herself onto me in a hug.
“I love you, Gabe.”
“Love you too, Hannah.”
As we separate, she heads for the guest room, saying, “My usual room’s okay?”
“Yep and Hannah?”
She stops.
“Who was it, other than Carlos, that you saw when you were there? Did anyone else come to see you?”
Hannah turns, shakes her head.
“Nope. Carlos was the one who dumped me in that godforsaken little room and he was the only one who came periodically, to lord his victory, sneer at my helplessness. There was a hole in the wall too. Sometimes I’d stare out of it, but the only other person I saw was this woman – his sister, I think – who came down, but didn’t seem aware that I was there. The walls were pure cement, too thick for my yelling or banging to get through.”
“Oh,” I say.
I steady myself on the wall, resisting the sudden urge to sit down.
Toni might have been telling the truth.
“Gabe, what’s the matter?” Hannah is asking, peering into my face.
I slide down the wall until I’m sitting on the hardwood floor, staring at the black wall ahead of me.
Damn it, Toni couldn’t have been telling the truth, could she?
“Gabe?” Hannah is asking, sitting on the floor beside me.
“About before... when you asked if there were any women while you were gone, I wasn’t completely honest. There was a woman. Toni. Toni Piccolo.”
“What?” Hannah asks, her voice a shocked hush.
I nod.
“I’ve been seeing her for a few weeks, but I had no idea who she really was until today. I found out when I came to rescue you, she was there, said she didn’t know anything about you being there.”
“Shit Gabe, did she know who you were?”
I nod again.
“Don’t know for how long, but yeah she admitted she knew, said she wanted to tell me but… Hann, she’s a Piccolo, this had to be part of them screwing with us, trying to get information out of me.”
“Probably,” Hannah says, “Just… what was she like?”
The words come out before I can stop them, “I don’t know. She was an enigma: passionate yet subdued, fiery yet playful. I always wondered why she was so closed-off, but I guess that mystery’s solved for now at least.”
I frown at the wall.
“And when I was with her... Hann, it was crazy, it was like I wasn’t myself, like time slid away. It was like, everything was perfect.”
I stand up, offer Hannah my hand.
“Though it doesn’t matter now. Everything she told me was basically a lie, so our entire relationship probably was too.”
Hannah stares at my hand, doesn’t take it.
“I don’t know, Gabe.”
I shrug.
“Well I do. The Piccolos have caused us enough problems to last us decades. Now that you’re home safe, I’m going to end it. I’m going to put them down for good.”
Hannah rises, raises her blue-eyed gaze to mine.
“Is that what you really want to do?”
I don’t respond and she continues, “Put them down – just how they’ve been trying to do to us, continue this never-ending conflict?”
I look at her, my rosy-cheeked, clear-eyed little sister. My Hannah whom I almost lost.
“You don’t get it,” I say, “They almost took you from me. I almost lost you, Hann.”
She puts her hand on my shoulder.
“But you didn’t.”
I turn away, back to the living room.
“I’ve got to get to work.”
I’m halfway there when Hannah says, “Oh and Gabe?”
I pause.
“Yeah?”
“I’ve never heard you talk about any woman like that. How you just did about Toni. I’d think about what you’re going to do. Toni’s different and you know it.”
I say nothing, and Hannah continues, “I’m not saying to trust her or go back to her. I’m just saying, maybe make sure she’s lying before you dismiss her altogether.”
I walk back into the living without another word. Sit down and sink into the leather couch in silence.
Hannah doesn’t understand. Just how intense this casual “fling” with Toni has gotten. That I’m not worried that Toni is a liar. I’m worried what I’ll choose if she is.