Tex, probably irritated with my turtle-like speed, came over and helped shove me very lovingly into the passenger side of the car and nearly slammed the door on my foot.
Once we were both in and driving out of the hospital, he spoke again. "Look, all I know is that Mo sent me an I love you text. It's not that I don't get those type of texts, but lately she only sends them when she's really upset about something, like she doesn't want me to forget we're a team and— Why the hell am I sharing this with you?"
"No idea," I muttered, "but for what it's worth… thanks."
"Serg…" Tex tapped his fingers against the steering wheel then gripped it tightly with both hands. "I have a bad feeling."
I swallowed the hollow feeling in my chest and glanced out the window so he wouldn't see the fear in my eyes. "Yeah, Tex. Me too."
****
"Sergio…" A soft voice said my name, whispered it in my ear. "…wake up."
I shook my head and hugged the pillow tighter.
"Wake up, and I'll show you my boobs."
"Huh?" I mumbled, blinking my eyes open.
Andi was hovering over me, her smile wide. "You've been sleeping for a really long time."
"What?" I covered my yawn with my hand. "What time is it?"
"Well…" She grabbed my hand and read my watch aloud. "…six at night."
"Shit!" I tried to jolt up then remembered that I'd already met with Nixon, and because Andi had been out with the girls, he'd agreed to drop me off at my house so I could sleep in my own bed. "I'm so sorry."
She frowned. "For sleeping? Right… you should be."
Six. Six meant the hospital had to have called. I frantically searched my pockets for my phone.
"Whoa. You okay?" Andi sat on the bed and tucked her feet under her body.
"Yeah." I finally located my phone on my nightstand. One missed call. "I just… was expecting someone."
"Oh, your other lover." She winked.
"She's a redhead." I nodded solemnly. "Hates Russians. Loves cats though."
"Ah, so she has that going for her."
I smiled and held up my phone to my ear. "Mr. Smith, this is Nurse Holingway. While I'd much rather have this conversation in person, I understand you need the test results as soon as possible. It appears we won't have the final results for another twenty-four hours. If you are somehow a match, we will need to start the process sooner rather than later, as your wife's condition has, as you know, worsened. Expect to hear from us soon."
I dropped the phone onto the bed.
The room was silent.
Andi cleared her throat and reached for my hand. "Everything okay?"
I jerked my hand away. "What happened at your appointment?"
"Well…" She bit down on her lower lip. "…I tried to convince my doctor to try the entertainment industry again."
"Andi…"
"And…" She sighed. "…the girls came and rescued me."
"Andi…"
Her face fell. I reached for her hand, this time squeezing it tight.
"It's not good, Sergio. I kind of have the black lung and all that."
"This isn't Zoolander."
"Wow!" She tilted her head in appreciation. "Points for the movie reference. See? You're not that old!"
"Andi!" I yelled her name, not because I was angry, but because I knew her, backward and forward. She was trying to let me down lightly, trying to make light of a very serious situation. "What did he say?"
Her brown eyes filled with tears. "It's in my lymph nodes… and they found a few spots in my lungs. I can't do chemo. The chances are pretty rare that it would help in the first place. Once you've done it, your body doesn't respond as well the second or third time."
"And a donor?"
She shrugged.
"Andi, I have something to tell you."
"Can we not?" She wiped away a few stray tears. "At least for the next hour, can we just lie here? Can you just hold me? I don't want to talk about it, not yet… please?"
I sighed heavily. "Yeah." No use in upsetting her more. But we would have that conversation. And it would be soon. If there was a chance at saving her, I was going to take it, even if I died trying.
"Kiss me." She pressed her hands against my shoulders and pushed me against the bed, straddling my body with her legs.
I was finding it extremely hard to stick to my promise, to not shed any tears. I had to be strong for her, for us. "Kiss you, huh?"
"Yes." I would never get tired of her smile, of the way it lit up her entire face. Shit, the way it lit up my entire world.
I brought her head down and met her mouth with mine in a tender, desperate kiss. Every touch inflicted a slow-burning fever of need — not to just kiss her, to make her mine again and again — but to mark her, to possibly mark her so hard that she stayed with me.
Logic, numbers… hell, even reality told me that it was an impossibility. That no matter how hard I kissed her she wouldn't stay, but I had to try, right? I would be foolish not to.
So I kissed her harder.
I dove deeper into the madness of our feelings — the desperation of the love I felt for her.