In a Heartbeat - Elizabeth Adler [83]
Camelia watched her go. She had forgotten he even existed. He sighed, but he knew that was the way it should be. He got on the phone and called home.
“I’ll be there in a couple of hours, honey,” he told Claudia, and heard her laugh at the unexpected endearment.
“You’ve been in the south too long,” she told him. “Since when did you ever call me honey? It was always tesoro between us.”
“And it still is. Tesoro,” he added softly.
But he thought she was right. He had been in the south too long. Mel Merrydew had grown on him, like kudzu. He remembered her kiss with a tired grin as he headed back to the precinct house, the place Claudia called the Permanent Detective’s Second Home.
Mel’s heart was in her mouth as she ran down the endless shiny corridor.... She should never have left him, she might be too late....
Officer Brotski was pacing the hallway, head down, hands behind his back, exactly like Camelia. Hearing her footsteps, he was instantly alert.
“Oh, it’s you,” he said by way of greeting. “Back again.”
“How’re you, Officer Brotski,” she cried, ever polite, as she headed for the door.
“Hey, miss, the doc’s in there. You can’t go in. . . .”
But it was too late. She was already in.
Art Jacobs was standing by Ed’s bedside, a sad expression on his face as he watched over his old friend. He glanced up as Melba shot through the door. He took in her mop of blonde hair, the huge anguished eyes, the long legs and short skirt, and the special aura that was all her own.
“How are you, Zelda?” he said, holding out his hand.
She clung to it like he was saving her own life and not Ed’s.
“Is he all right? Oh, please, tell me he’s still okay.”
“He’s still the same, if that’s what you mean.” She sank onto a corner of the bed, gazing at Ed, still inert, still with all those tubes and the ventilator. “Oh, thank the Lord you didn’t die on me,” she whispered.
The monitor blipped as Ed’s heart rate suddenly lifted a notch or two, and Dr. Jacobs glanced at it, astonished. There was no doubt he knew this woman was here.
You’re back . . . you’re back with me, baby. Why did you go there? Why go to Hainsville? I locked that part of my life away somewhere and threw away the key. . . . It hurts, even now. . . . And I have that permanent fault line in my heart that reminds me that I still want to kill my brother. I know it’s wrong, I don’t need Ma to tell me that it’s a sin . . . but that hatred may never go away. . . . I never saw Mitch again, you know. Never, after that time at Duke . . . and thank God for that, or he would have been dead and for sure I would be the one in Rikers. . . .
Mel leaned close to him, whispering in his ear. Like a blind man, he would have recognized her anywhere just by her scent, it was inlaid in his senses forever. . . .
“Mamzelle Dorothea sends you her love. She loves you so much, Ed. She told me all about you, about how hard you worked. How she looked after you, then you took care of her. I’m so proud of you, my honey. So very proud.”
He felt the wetness of her tears on his cheek, and even had he been able to, he would not have brushed them away. He was happy that she was crying. It meant that she cared . . . that she loved him. . . . Zelda, Zelda. . . .
“I’m going to have to leave you again, Ed,” she was saying, and the thought of it made him tremble inside.
“It’s Riley. I have to go to her. It’s been eight days now, Ed, since you were . . .” She couldn’t bring herself to say “shot,” after all he might not realize that he had been shot, it might scare him. . . .
Riley. That cute, sweet little girl, born of Zelda’s lovely body. . . . I so wanted another one, a matching set. My baby this time, too, though Riley will always be my first daughter. . . . He almost laughed at himself then. Look at me, making plans for kids when I can’t even open my eyes, let alone play the father role. . . .
“I’ll fly out, just for one night, honey,” she was saying, and her grip on his hand tightened. “Just one more night. But Riley needs