“Sadie, get back in bed,” Hector ordered but I had my legs over the side and I stood up.
I walked two steps, wheeling my IV stand thingie with me (the IV stand thingie kind of bit into my bid for Queen Ice but I’d just have to work it).
I turned to them, hand on my IV stand and stood my ground.
“Both of you, leave,” I demanded.
Daisy’s eyes slid to the opposite side of the bed where Hector was standing. My eyes went there too. He didn’t look happy.
“I’ll ask you again, mamita, get back in bed,” he said.
“That isn’t asking, that’s telling,” I retorted.
“Then I’ll tell you again, back in bed,” he shot back.
“No,” I replied.
He started walking around the bed… toward me.
I wondered, in the nanosecond before I started retreating, why he seemed completely unaffected by my Chill Factor. Everyone else went into deep freeze.
Not Hector.
I had, of course, noticed that his body was preternaturally hot. Maybe that was it.
“Hector,” Daisy said softly as Hector advanced.
Something in her tone must have reached him because all of a sudden he stopped. So I stopped too.
Hector and I squared off and went into stare down mode. While we were doing this, Daisy came forward cautiously but didn’t get too close to Hector or to me.
“Sadie, we’re here –” Daisy started.
Again I didn’t let her finish, my eyes broke from Hector’s dark ones and cut to her.
“I know why you’re here.” I motioned to Hector. “And I know why he’s here. You wanted to get a good look at how the mighty have fallen.”
Daisy’s body jerked like I hit her at the same time I saw her flinch.
Hector didn’t flinch. His eyes narrowed, his face went dark and let me just say, it was scary.
Nevertheless, I was on a roll. I was beyond Ice Princess. I was Sorceress of the Antarctic and a bitchy one at that.
It hurt me to do it. It hurt more than my body hurt. But I had to.
I didn’t know why they were there and I didn’t care. It started like this, people being nice, doing nice things maybe trying to be kind.
It never ended like that. Never.
I went on, “Well, you had your look. Now you can go.”
Totally ignoring my order to go, Hector took a step forward. I took a step back.
He stopped. So did I.
We went into stare down again.
Finally he said, “The police are here.”
That surprised me but I covered before it could show.
“Why?” I asked.
Then Hector answered, “So you can swear out a warrant so they can go after –”
At his words, Sorceress of the Antarctic disintegrated, melted in an instant and I lost it.
Utterly.
“No!” I shrieked so loud and shrill I was surprised the TV screen didn’t burst.
He couldn’t say it. Not out loud. Not to me.
I retreated again.
“Oh sugar,” I heard Daisy say, her voice trembling but Hector was coming at me and I kept my eyes on him.
His face wasn’t dark anymore, there was something else there, something I didn’t want to see.
I closed my eyes to block it out, lifted my hand to ward him off, all the while wheeling my IV stand thingie and walking backwards. My back hit the wall.
“Mamita,” Hector murmured gently when I stopped. He didn’t touch me but he was close enough I could feel his heat.
With nowhere else to go, I turned my head away.
“Sadie?” another voice called.
I opened my eyes and peered around Hector’s body. I could see both Ralphie and Buddy standing just inside the door.
Hector stepped to the side and I saw them fully.
Ralphie was carrying an overnight bag. Buddy was carrying a huge vase of exquisite white calla lilies, my favorites.
They were staring at me and they looked pale (yes, even Buddy, I didn’t know black people could go pale but he did).
“Sweetie?” Ralphie said hesitantly.
Even though he called me “sweetie” (and he’d never called me “sweetie”), Ice Princess clicked into place.
“I’m okay,” I said immediately.
One second Ralphie was across the room. The next second I was in his arms.
“Oh Sadie, sweet ‘ums. You didn’t have an accident, did you?” he asked, his voice whisper-soft, one arm around my waist, the other hand stroking my back.
“Ralphie, I’m fine.” I held my body rigid and spoke to his throat.
He leaned back and looked down at me. “Sweetie, you are not fine. I can see, can’t I? I didn’t go blind in the night like a bad Jodie Foster movie. And I just got back from your apartment. It’s a disaster. What on earth happened? Who did this to you?”
This was not working well for me. It was all coming at me. Everyone was talking about it. How could I set it aside to deal with it later when people were talking about it?
“I’m gonna break his fuckin’ neck.” Buddy was now at our side.
I turned my head and looked up at Buddy, he got a close look at my face and I saw his teeth clench.
Then he repeated between his teeth, “I’m gonna break his fuckin’ neck. Who did it?”
“I’m fine,” I said again.