“I’m gonna get some fresh air. Do you want to come?” he asked when we broke apart.
“I don’t want to miss the doctor. The nurses said it shouldn’t be long before there was news.”
Andrew glanced at the clock. “That was an hour and a half ago.”
“I have come to realize that hospitals work on their own time.”
Stretching his arms above his head, Andrew’s shirt rode up and flashed a tantalizing strip of skin. My skin heated as lust roared through my veins.
He quirked an eyebrow. “Unless you want to find a hall closet and get busy. I promise it will take five minutes max.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “We both know it will take longer then that. You are very thorough.”
“Hell yeah, I am. I’ll be outside if you change your mind.”
I watched Andrew’s sweet ass walk into the hallway and disappear around the corner. The doctor appeared soon after, clipboard in hand. His stern expression immediately caused me to jump to the worst possible scenario. My coat billowed open as I stumbled to my feet.
“Is Sumiko going to be ok?” I asked.
The doctor’s thick Russian accent butchered his words. “She is stable, but her body cannot take much more drug abuse, yes?”
“I know that, but she won’t listen to anybody.” For some reason, I felt compelled to defend Sumiko. “She has had a hard life and likes to self medicate with drugs. It’s the only way the nightmares dissipate.” My hands tangled themselves as the doctor’s bushy eyebrows hit his receding hairline. Judgment rolled off of him in waves. “You don’t understand,” I mumbled.
“There are no excuses when it comes to drugs,” he said sternly. “I’m going to recommend she check herself into a drug treatment center.”
“Of course.”
“She should be awake by now. Would you like to see her?”
“Please.”
Turning on his scuffed blacked shoes, I followed him to Sumiko’s room.
With her bleached blonde hair and pale complexion, Sumiko blended into the sterile environment. A heart monitor beeped steadily next to her. I wanted to ask a million and one questions but today wasn’t the day to get answers. Sumiko was a mystery. After knowing her for almost half my life, she still felt like a stranger sometimes. Just like my mother, I had no idea what nightmares Sumiko was trying to bury, but I’m sure most of it had to do with her father, a mean man who used his money to make up for his lack of heart. Sumiko got the brunt of his wraths while I was sent to my room. Covers over my head, I would try to block out the sounds of screaming followed by what could only be described as body meeting floor. To tamper the guilt for not intervening, Sumiko’s wounds would be tended by the first aid kid I’d kept hidden under my bed. I should have done more though. I should have blocked the blows, thrown a lamp, anything instead of hiding.
Sumiko stirred, tangling the sheets around her feet and moaned. The doctor mentioned she would feel like death warmed over when she awoke due to the withdrawal. I’m glad I wasn’t in Sumiko’s shoes.
Opening her milky green eyes, she trained her gaze on me. Surprise registered. “Haven?”
I threaded my fingers through hers and scooted my chair closer to the hospital bed. “Hi, how are you?”
“How do you think I am?” Tears ran down her cheeks. “I stole money, started using again, and lived in a cracked out stupor for the past two weeks. Big Ted gave me an endless supply. It was as if he wanted me to die.”
My hatred toward Big Ted multiplied. I shouldn’t have given him the money. It only allowed him to continue peddling drugs and screwing up young kids’ futures. If I didn’t though, Sumiko wouldn’t be lying here. She’d be on a marble slab in a morgue somewhere.
I handed Sumiko a box of tissues from her nightstand. She blew her noise then tossed the snot rag off to the side. Personal cleanliness was never her strong suit. When we’d shared a room, I divided the two spaces by a piece of blue duct tape. My side looked immaculate while hers looked as if a tornado blew in.
“It’s over now,” I said soothingly. “I give Big Ted the remaining money and he promised to stay away from us. It goes both ways though. You can’t return to that hellhole no matter what. I don’t care if zombies invade and that is the only non-infected area. Don’t go back there.”
Sumiko rolled her eyes like she did when she thought I was being over dramatic. “Jesus, I’m not a glutton for punishment. I know I can’t. How did you get the money?”
I wasn’t comfortable with Sumiko knowing Andrew gave me a loan because that’s exactly what it was. A loan. I fully intended to pay him back as soon as I could. Sumiko wouldn’t understand though.
“That’s none of your concern.” I fiddled with the skull ring on my finger. “It’s done. We can both move on and hopefully get a fresh start. The doctor suggested you check yourself into a drug treatment facility and I agree with him. You have to kick this habit once and for all.”
Sumiko analyzed my expression to an uncomfortable degree. A smile tilted up her lips. “It was that man you were with the night I stopped by.”
“Broke in, not stopped by,” I interjected.
“Whatever, same thing. He was the one who gave you the remaining money.” My emotions I wore on my sleeve deceived me. Sumiko punched the air in victory. “Haven has a sugar daddy,” she taunted. “Does he match your blow jobs for money?”
She was nine months older, but I always felt like the older one. Irritability crawled underneath my skin.
“Don’t act like all high and mighty, Sumiko. He saved us,” I bit out. “And stuck his neck out to do so.”
Taken aback by the venom in my voice, her mouth gaped open. “You never once defended any of your boyfriends before. You usually join in until he is ripped to shreds.”
“Things change.”
“No he is special, I can tell. I was honestly worried you would never fall in love. I’m glad you’re opening your heart.” She fluffed her pillows and leaned back. “Does he treat you right?”
“Yes,” I said hesitantly. “He does but were you really worried?” Sumiko never seemed to care about my personal life, so this was news. “It’s not as if I didn’t have boyfriends.”
She pinned me with a look. “Those weren’t boyfriends. They were distractions from your own problems. Besides, they would treat you like garbage because that’s how you thought you should be treated.”
I stared at Sumiko as if she had three heads. It seemed as if there was an old wise woman trapped her inside her all along.
“Why didn’t you express this earlier? It might have saved me some time,” I said.
“You really think you would have listened to me?” She huffed. “Please, your head was so far up your own ass you couldn’t see the light.”
“Hey!”
“It’s true.”
After the string of her insult lessened, I saw the value behind her words. The men I’d dated were a warm body to cuddle up against at night. They were didn’t push my boundaries or attempt to eradicate the walls around my heart. They allowed me to float through life comfortably numb. Andrew had entered the scene a week ago with a hammer and didn’t stop swinging until I was naked and exposed. Literally.
Sumiko gave me a self-satisfied smirk. “I can’t wait to meet the man who was won the keys to my little sister’s heart.”
“Be quiet,” I mumbled. Done with the discussing my love life, I moved on to the elephant in the room. “I know you don’t want to talk about this but what caused your downfall? You said it was your nightmares. What nightmares?” Lowering my voice, I brought up her least favorite person. “Where they about your childhood? About your dad?”
Sumiko’s face immediately turned cold. She pushed a red button on her side table, ignoring my questions. “Stupid nurses don’t give you the good stuff unless you ask.”
I pressed on. “You can trust me.”