Old Flames

Old Flames: Chapter 20

Old Flames: Chapter 20

“Come on,” Aaron said to the kids as they entered the emergency room entrance to St. Vincent’s Hospital.  “Let’s go find your mama.”

Chloe grasped his right hand and Chris clung to his left, darting their wide-eyed gazes around the bright interior of the waiting room.  They trembled beside him, and he smiled gently.  “I’m sure your mama’s fine.”

About ten feet into the building, both children came to a dead stop, and Aaron’s arms almost pulled out of their sockets.  He glanced at them.  Both had turned pale and Chloe looked about to cry.  Aaron released them and knelt down to face them.  “Hey...it’s okay.  Your mama was probably dehydrated.  That’s why she fell.”

Chloe’s hazel eyes peered into him.  “What does de-hybrant mean?  Is Mama going to die, like Daddy?”

“What?  No!  Of course not.”

Chris’ pale complexion began to turn green, but he didn’t say anything.  Chloe leaned forward and whispered.  “They brought Daddy here to the ‘merge’cy room, too...and he died!  That’s why they bring them here...I don’t want Mama to die.”

Sweet Jesus.  Maybe bringing them here wasn’t such a good idea.  They were obviously relating this visit with the one from when their father died a few months ago.  Aaron mentally punched himself.  They might only be four years old, but the memory of Gary’s death was still fresh in their minds.  Aaron pulled the little girl into his arms and hugged her tightly.  “Shh...nothing is going to happen to your mama.  I won’t let them.”  He shifted to look at Chris.  The boy’s eyes began to water, and he clamped a small hand over his mouth.  “Chris?  Are you okay?”

His little body heaved, and he threw up all over the linoleum tiles.

Chloe began to cry.  “Bubba’s going to die, too!”

Aaron didn’t have a clue what to do now.  He held onto a sobbing, terrified Chloe as he tried to guide Chris to the nearest garbage can, and he was finally saved by an angel.  The desk nurse, Anita, and a woman he knew well due to the fact she was his aunt, rose up from her chair and said, “Good evening, Aaron.  I see you’ve got your hands full.  Too much candy?”

He smiled wryly at his aunt.  “Nah, probably just scared.  Their mother was brought in earlier.  Lainie Moon?”

Aunt Anita nodded.  She picked up her phone and called a cleaning crew to mop up the vomit before addressing his inquiry.  “You sure it’s not something else?  I saw Ms. Moon when they brought her in.  It looked to me like she had the flu.  Maybe we should have a doctor look at the little boy.”

Chris took his head out of the can and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.  He looked a little better...not green any more.  Chloe clung to Aaron’s neck and wouldn’t let go.  “After they see their mother,” he told Aunt Anita, who frowned at her nephew.

“Aaron, you know the rules.  No children back in the ward...especially sick children.  And you’re not family.  I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait here until we release Ms. Moon or move her to a private room.”

Aaron set Chloe down beside him and took hold of the children’s hands again.  Then he stood and solidly stared at his aunt.  “I am taking them to see their mother,” he said calmly and absolutely.  “Just a few minutes to reassure them that she’s not going to die.”

Aunt Anita looked at him for long moment, and then she glanced at the children and how he clung to them as much as they hung on to him.  And she smiled slowly.  “I see...”  She picked up a stack of papers and shuffled them.  “So, I’m assuming that you are her...fiance'?  Practically family?”

He knew what Aunt Anita was getting at.  She was giving him a loophole to get in the back rooms to see Lainie.  He smiled gratefully at her.  Chloe tugged on his arm.  “What does fancy mean, Mr. Aaron?  And de-hybrant?  You didn’t answer me the first time.”

“It’s fi-ancy,” Chris informed his sister, seemingly back to normal.  “And de-hy-drant.”  He looked up at Aaron for the dictionary lesson, too.  Aaron groaned and gave his aunt a Thank you, very much frown.  She grinned, You’re welcome.

He cleared his throat.  “Well...dehydrated means that your mama doesn’t have enough water in her body...and fiance' means...um...”

“It means he wants your mama’s hand,” a voice sounded behind them.  Aaron turned to see Genna Moon, dressed in a bathrobe and curlers in her hair.  She held out her arms to the kids.  Neither moved.  “Well?  Come here.  Give your Gramma a hug.”

Chris and Chloe shuffled over to her.  Aaron wanted to snatch them back to his side.  And Genna glared at him over their heads.  “Nice to see you again, Mr. Dozier,” she said.  “Maybe next time something like this happens, you could give me a call, instead of hearing about it from Mrs. Longstern?”

Aaron stood erect.  He wasn’t about to quell before her.  Genna Moon was half the reason he lost Lainie the first time around.  “We were about to go see Lainie now,” he said.  Genna stood up, keeping her hands on the kids’ shoulders.  

“Now that I’m here, I can take them back.”  She ushered the twins toward the wide double doors at the end of the hall.  Aaron had been dismissed.  Never mind the fact that he’d been the one that saved Lainie and took care of the kids after the ambulance drove off.

Aunt Anita shook her head.  “I never liked that woman,” she muttered.  He turned to her.  

“You know Genna Moon?”

She snorted.  “Not by choice.  We’re on the same charity board for the Heart Center.  Now, why are you still standing here?  Go on!  Go see your...fiancee'.”

He smiled gratefully and came around the desk to hug her.  “Thanks, NiNi.

“Oh, Lord, you haven’t called me that in years,” she said.  “And if you see your father any time soon, tell him he still hasn’t called me back.”

“Do you really want him to?” Aaron asked sarcastically.

She laughed.  “Well, no, but he is my brother, so I have to make exceptions.”

Aaron laughed, too, and went to find Lainie.  In the back ward, she was stretched out in a bed, already hooked up to a drip and holding her babies close to her, tears trickling down her cheeks.  “Shh...it’s okay,” she was telling them.  “I’m just sick with the flu.”  She looked up when Aaron approached.  “You shouldn’t have brought them.  I can infect them.”

He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck.  “They needed to see you.”

She blinked back more tears.  “Thank you, Aaron.  They didn’t give you any trouble, I hope?”

“Nah,” he replied.  Genna grunted as she hovered on the other side of the bed.  He shot her a look, but she only grinned sourly at him.

Lainie glanced between them.  Then she asked, “Mom, can you take the kids tonight?  They’re going to keep me overnight to get some fluids in me.”

“I’ll take them,” Aaron said before Genna could answer.  “They can come home with me.”

Lainie said, “Oh, no, Aaron...you’ve done so much already.  I can’t ask you to do that.”

Genna said, “You can’t, and you shouldn’t.  They’re my grandchildren.  I’ll keep them.  They’ll be safer with me.”

Aaron made a sound in his throat.  Genna turned a glare on him.  “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked him.

Aaron met her glare boldly.  “It means I don’t think they will be safer with you.”

Lainie sighed.  “Mom...Aaron...not now, please.”

Genna said, “I’m their grandmother.  I’m family.  Of course, they will be safe with me.”

“You set your couch on fire,” he reminded her savagely.  “I’ll not mention the many other times my crew had to come out to your house because the smoke alarm went off.  I fail to see how you are more capable to care for them.”

Lainie blinked for a second.  “How many times did you set off the alarm, Mom?”

Genna said to Aaron, “I am much more capable than you, Mr. Dozier.”

“Why?” Aaron asked.

“Because I said so,” she replied, and Aaron rolled his eyes.

“Typical mother response.”

“Mom?  How many times?”

Genna pointed a bony finger at him.  “Don’t you sass me, young man.  I may not be your mother, but I can take you out of this world, and I won’t make another one like you, that’s for damn sure.”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve, Mrs. Moon.  After all the disasters you’ve caused, you really think you’re better for these kids?”

“I think I know a damned more about raising kids than you do,” Genna retorted.  

Aaron clenched his fists by his side.  “Does your parenting skills include teaching children how to curse?  Even I know not to do that!”

Lainie closed her eyes.  “Stop it, you two,” she implored.

“I’ll stop when he stops,” her mother said with petulant anger.

“I’ll never stop fighting for those kids,” he said in an even angrier tone.

“They’re not your kids!” Genna threw at him.

“Yes, they are!”

Awkward silence filled the small curtained cubicle.  Aaron reared back at the echo of his declaration, snapping his jaw closed.  What a way to toss that out there.  He looked at Lainie, about to explain everything, but the fearful, muted haze of her eyes kept his mouth shut tight.  She held her kids closer, as though he was about to rip them from her arms.

Chloe shifted next to her mother.  Both children had their mouths open, gaping at him and their grandmother.  Chloe suddenly frowned.  “Mr. Aaron, how will you get Mama’s hand without cutting it off?”

Lainie looked confused.  “What, Chloe?”  And Genna chuckled, regally sitting down on a nearby stool.  “Oh, yes, Mr. Dozier.  Let’s hear your explanation for this one.”

*****

Lainie sent the children home with her mother...and told Aaron to go away.  She couldn’t handle this now.  She couldn’t handle his testimony of love two days ago, and she really can’t handle the fevered possession in his voice when he yelled out, “Yes, they are!”