Finn's Shot (Eden's Odyssey Book 1) (15 page)

I spring to my feet and
whisper, “Darcy.”

I can’t tell what she’s going
to do by the look her face but I’m a little afraid she’s going to slap me and
I’d prefer to avoid that. I take a step toward her chair and she continues to
look at me. I take one more step and pause.

“Finn? Why are you here?” she
whispers.

“Tanisha told me what was
going on. I know you’re mad at me and I can explain, it’s not what you think, but
that’s not why I’m here.”

“It’s not?” she interrupts by
asking.

“No, of course not. I’m here
because I don’t want you to go through this alone. I know how much you love
your sister. I can’t imagine how bad you’re hurting. I also know Tanisha and
James can’t be here with you because of the club so I came.”

“You came.” Her expression
can be considered confused or awed, or maybe both. It’s hard to tell. I’m
praying for the latter.

“Yes.”

I don’t have to wait another
second because she’s out of her seat and in my arms like she flew there. God I
missed her, even if she smells like she needs a shower. I hold her as close to
me as I can get. Her body shakes with the tears of her grief. It’s been awhile
since I’ve heard anyone cry this hard and my heart breaks for her. I hold her
until she settles down, then I pull back and wipe the remaining tears from her
cheeks.  

“Can I stay with you? I’m off
for two days. I’m supposed to be at morning skate but I’ll call coach and tell
him what’s going on. I’m sure I can stay with you.”

A fresh wave of tears breaks
free and she nods and lays her head on my chest.

“What can I do for you,
honey?”

“Nothing. Please stay with
me. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I’ve been so alone. Doc has
been in every day and we’re tight but it’s not the same as having one of my
people here.”

“I get it. Here sit on my lap
and you can go back to sleep. If anything changes, I’ll wake you.”

I don’t give her a choice. I
tug her over to the recliner and pull her into my lap. I snatch her blanket off
of the floor where it fell when she jumped into my arms, and spread it over her.
I pull her against me so her right shoulder and head are against my chest, legs
sideways over the arm and we sit quietly and watch her sisters’ sleeping form. I
wrap my arms around her and listen to the cadence of her breathing as she dozes
back off.  

A few hours later, the door
opens and a short, round nurse creeps in to take Georgia’s vitals while I observe.
Darcy’s out cold so I hope that the nurse will stay quiet so she can sleep.
Once she’s done she sneaks back out the door. It’s quiet again for a few hours
until the next nurse comes in to take vitals. This time Darcy wakes up and
stretches, looking around like she is trying to figure something out. When she
looks up at me her eyes narrow.

I’m a little disoriented
right now, not to mention grubby. I’m not even sure when the last shower I had
was. The nurse gave me a tooth brush the first night I was here and I’ve been
using Georgia’s toothpaste but a shower would be wonderful. I turn my head to
see Finn awake assessing me. His expression is wary like he isn’t sure what I’m
going to say in the light of day. I narrow my eyes at him.

The truth is I want to be mad
at him but right now I don’t have the strength. I’m hurt and I don’t understand
why he’d cheat, but taking care of Georgia and staying with her during her
final hours on this earth are my priority.

He strokes my hair down a
little and back while he asks in a soft voice, “How do you feel?”

“Stiff, gross, still tired,
but better. You?”

“I’m okay. I do need to make
a couple of phone calls, but I’ll be right back. I didn’t want to wake you so I
waited until the last minute.”

I shift off his lap and let
him stand. He stretches his ginormous body which seems to dwarf this little
room further. He kisses my forehead and slips out of the room. I drag myself
into Georgia’s bathroom and brush my teeth. Then I pull a hairbrush out of my
bag and attempt to run it through my fuzzy ratty hair. I give up and put it
into a clip at the back of my head and walk over to the side of the bed. She’s
still curled on her side. She used to sleep like this as a little kid, but
hasn’t done it in awhile. I push the hair away from her face and stroke her
cheek with a gentle hand.  

“I love you baby sister. I
won’t leave you.”

She doesn’t move. Ten minutes
later Finn returns and places his large hands over my small shoulders and says,
“The nurse said Doc will be here within the hour. After he goes, if everything
is still the same I want you to go to a hotel I booked to take a shower and rest
if you want. Grab something to eat while you’re at it. It’s only a mile up the
road so you can get back here quickly if you need too. Everything is already
arranged. I have someone grabbing you all the necessities and a change of clothes.
I’m not sure what they’ll look like but they’ll be clean. Then we can run what
you have on through the wash. The nurse said they could handle that for us. If
there’s any change at all, I promise I’ll call you. I’m going to sit here so
you can take a break.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.
You haven’t even met Georgia.”

“No, but I met you and I’m
here to help. It’s not a big deal for me. I don’t have any where I need to be
right now. Just do this for yourself. You’ll feel better and be stronger for
her if you do.”

I debate for several long
minutes. The thought of leaving my baby sister while she’s dying goes against
everything I am, but I also understand what Finn’s saying. If I take care of myself,
I’ll better be able to take care of her. I run through the pros and cons in my
head until the idea of a warm shower wins me over, so I nod and say, “Thank
you. I’ll do it. Who is bringing me this stuff? I didn’t know there were
services here that did that kind of thing.”

“They don’t. One of the guys
on the team is from here so I called him and he set me up with his sister to
help us. It was going to be his mom, but I was afraid she’d bring you old lady
clothes. Her name is Casey and she’s really nice, you’ll like her.”

“Oh, Finn. You didn’t have to
go to all that trouble, I feel awful dragging someone out to do this for me.”

“Don’t. She doesn’t mind at
all and I plan to pay her for time and energy. It’s worth it if it helps you
get through this.”

His sincerity confuses me.
Why is he even here doing all of this for me? He cheated because I wasn’t
enough for him. I don’t understand why he’s trying so hard to help me. Why
doesn’t he move on? I wish I had the energy to ask the questions and hear the
answers, but I don’t. Emotionally I’m drained. Between Georgia and Finn’s betrayal
I’m a mess.

“Okay. I’m too broken at this
point to argue. Thank you.”

“I have to say one thing
before it starts getting crazy around here and you go to get cleaned up and
rest, so please listen. I didn’t do anything with that girl. She jumped in my
lap when I was having a conversation with some guys at a bar and kissed my
cheek and my neck before I realized what happened. The whole thing happened
really fast. When I did figure it out, the pictures were all ready taken. I
dumped her off of my lap, paid my bill and left.”

“Then why is she holding your
hand outside of the building like you are leaving together?”

“She followed me out of the
building and grabbed my hand. I shook her off and told her I already had a
woman and walked away. I swear that was it. I’ll let you talk to Jacque, the
guy I was with, when you’re ready. I’m pretty sure he took that girl and her
friend with him back to the hotel. I heard his roommate complaining on the
plane the next day.”

I don’t say anything I just
nod. I need time to think about it when I’m not so tired. I want to believe him
so bad, but it’s hard to ignore the pictures when they tell a different story.
We’re quiet as I check emails on my phone until Doc comes in twenty minutes
later and reads through her chart.

“Darcy, not much change here,
honey. I’m sorry. The notes say she’s been sleeping most of the time since I
was here yesterday. She doesn’t seem to be in any pain but most of the time
with Adult failure to thrive there isn’t any pain. The feeding tube hasn’t helped
at all except to make her more cantankerous. I guess it’s a waiting game. The
staff has my number and I’m staying nearby for now.”

He looks at Finn for the
first time since he got here and says, “I heard you two were dating. Good
choice, my boy! Not a better woman out there besides my Betty. Don’t screw it
up.”

Finn’s replies, “Yes, sir.
I’m trying not to.” Doc gives Finn a half grin and me a hug before he strolls
out the door.

 “Come on, let me take
you to meet Justine,” Finn suggests.

We wander our way back down
the halls to the front entrance. Next to Finn’s truck is a cute little yellow Volkswagen
Beetle. He walks up to the window and knocks, startling a shriek out of the
driver. Her hand flies to her chest and she narrows her eyes on a laughing
Finn.

“Dang it Finn. That was not
cool!” She half yells, half laughs at him as she maneuvers out of the
vehicle.     

As soon as she’s in front of
us she sticks her hand out to shake mine, “I’m Justine LaFevers. I’m sorry you’re
going through such a rough time. If I can help you in any other way have Finn
call me. I don’t mind. I’m in school a few hours a day but otherwise am very
flexible.”

“Thank you so much. I appreciate
this. I need a shower and clean clothes so bad.”

She smiles at me and jogs
around the back of her car to the passenger side and grabs a large duffle bag
and brings it back to me.  

“This should have everything
you need. I didn’t know your brands so I guessed but it’ll do for now. I’m
serious, if you need anything please call. I wrote my number down and placed it
in the bag.”

She waves and before I can
say anything else, jumps in her car and pulls away.

“Wait don’t we have to pay
her for this?”

“She already told me she
wouldn’t take any money. I’m going to give money to her brother to wire into her
account. Don’t worry I have it handled. Now before we freeze to death go to the
hotel. I texted you the address. Take as much time resting, eating, and
relaxing as you need. I will find you if something changes.”

He pulls me into a hug and I
bury my face in his Henley and inhale his scent allowing his comfort to flow
over me.

“Okay.” I tell him. “I’ll be
back in a little while.”

He gives me a half grin and
jogs back inside toward my sister’s room. I slide into my car and drive to the
hotel. I call Tanisha on the way.

She doesn’t answer but I
leave her a message:

I’m still mad at him but
I’m secretly glad he’s here. Thank you for sending him and for holding down the
fort for me so I can be here. Love you, girlfriend. I’ll call you later. He’s
sending me to a hotel to shower and rest while he sits with Georgia.
 

The hotel room he booked is
nice and the lady at the check in counter said that the room service is prepaid
so I should use it. I call and place my order, strip off my filthy clothes and
take the best shower of my life. I let the hot water roll over all of my sore
limbs, helping to wash the tension from my body. As I do this my thoughts drift
to Finn.

He’s adamant that nothing
happened and I have heard of situations like the one he described, but I can’t
seem to let what I felt when I saw the pictures go. I close my eyes as the
memory flows through my mind. I was standing at my desk getting ready to call
him when James entered my office and closed the door behind himself.

The look on his face
concerned me so I asked, “What’s wrong, James?”

“I don’t know how to tell you
this so I won’t, I’ll show you what was all over the Internet this
morning.” 

He nudged me over and pulled
up a website I haven’t seen before. Front and center are pictures of Finn with
a gorgeous brunette in his lap, kissing him and then one with them holding hands
as they leave a bar. I couldn’t see all of his face in that one but I knew it
was him. The set of his broad shoulders, the angle of his jaw, the large, thick
hand. My heart cracked right down the middle. I pulled my phone out to call and
confront him but then realized it died during the night. Probably a good thing
since he’d likely find anything I say unintelligible with how hard I was
crying. Not able to deal with the emotional tornado running through my heart I
went home. On the way I charged my phone so when power finally came back there
were several missed calls from Finn from the night before. Deciding I couldn’t
stand to hear his voice I was so hurt and angry I ignored his voicemails. Then I
cried all night and ignored the phone calls he continued to make. James wanted
to come with me to console me, but I wanted to be alone. I felt like an idiot
for believing I’d be his one and only.

My heart constricts at the
memory. I can’t seem to figure out why a man like him, who could have any woman
he wants, would chase me down, stay with me in an uncomfortable recliner over
night, go to all this trouble so I can rest and feel human again if he’s going
to move on. It doesn’t make sense. It makes me believe what he’s saying is
true. I guess I need to sit down and make a list of questions to ask him when
my thoughts are clearer.

Once my shower is over I wrap
myself in the robe hanging in the bathroom and collect the food from room
service. I eat and make notes about what I want to say to him when I go back.
The longer I sit there the more my body relaxes and the idea of taking a nap
before returning is seeming like a good one.  

I dial Finn’s number and he
answers. “You okay?” He asks, concern ringing clear in his voice.

“Yeah. How’s Georgia?”

“Still sleeping. The nurses
want to come in and bathe her in an hour. Is that okay?”

“Yes, yesterday she slept
through most of it. I was thinking maybe I would take a little nap if you’re
still okay to stay a little longer.”

“Darcy, sleep as long as you
need too. I’m planning to be here as long as I can so take advantage of this
time, please. That’s the whole point. I promise to call if something changes.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll call you
when I wake up.”

“Sleep good, honey. I’ll be
here.”

I hang up the phone and dig
through the bag Justine brought finding the hair gel and applying it. Then I fan
my hair out behind me on the bed so it’ll dry half way decent. Last, I pull the
fluffy comforter and ultra soft sheets up to my neck and breath a sigh of
relief as sleep moves in with a quickness.

I wake mid afternoon feeling
frantic, I didn’t mean to sleep that long. I pull my phone from the pillow next
to me finding three texts. The first was from James checking on me. The second
from Tanisha checking on me and the third from Finn about an hour ago letting
me know Georgia is exactly as I left her this morning. She didn’t wake up
during her bath and was still resting quietly. I let out the breath I was
holding and let the tears run down my face. I’m wound so tight right now. It’s
a wonder I made it as far as I have without cracking. I needed this time of
rest and I owe Finn for making it happen. I don’t waste any time as I dress and
brush my teeth. When I arrive at the facility I find Finn eating a plate of
fried chicken and mashed potatoes. He grins at me and holds up a drum stick.

I smile and shake my head.
“I’m good for now.”

“I ordered it awhile ago, but
it just arrived. They must not be used to getting large orders in the middle of
the day here.”

“Large orders?”

“I wanted to treat the staff.
They take good care of her and I couldn’t think of a better way to do it so I
bought everyone lunch, although it took so long it’s almost like dinner.”