Chapter 34
Zephyr
”So, we have a problem?” Nick told me over the phone a couple of days after my epic meltdown and some absolutely fantastic make-up fucking that lasted all night long.
”What”s the problem?”
”Eddie has been asked to rough you up for owing him all that money.”
”What?”
”Your lovely cousin Hugo gave Eddie money to not break anything but give you a good beating. That”s a way to soften you up for Alina coming back to you.”
I lay in bed in Gaia”s old apartment, wondering how my simple life had careened into this shit show. ”Please tell me that Eddie isn”t actually gonna beat me up.”
Nick laughed. ”Yeah, so Grace is so afraid she”s ready to pull the plug on the whole thing. Ash and I had to calm her down.”
”How are we gonna do this?”
”We”re going to get some help from Dr. Gabe.”
Dr. Gabe Santana was Nick”s cousin in some convoluted way. But then, everyone was related to everyone in the parish. It was one of the pleasures of living in N”awlins; everyone knew you and your business whether you wanted it or not.
”This sucks.”
”You have no idea.”
I hung up and called Grace.
”I don”t like this, Zephyr. What if they escalate?” She didn”t sound like the woman I”d left happily fucked a couple of nights ago.
”Baby, it”s going to be fine.”
”I hate that I dragged you into this. I wish I wasn”t in love with you then I wouldn”t have to feel like this. This is all my fault…and yours for being such a fucking casanova. What will I do if something happens to you? Have you thought about that?”
She was ranting. I was starting to get used to it. When she was mad or upset, she talked gibberish. I doubted that she would do it with anyone but me. It made me damn proud to be that person for her. Yeah, I was gone for this woman.
”Darlin”, let me remind you that you asked me to do this little undercover stint for you.”
”Oh, so this is my fault?”
”I love you, Little Tempest. I”m gonna meet Eddie in some alley and then be taken to the ER where Dr. Gabe is gonna make a lot of noise about yet another Doucet in his care.”
I heard her sigh. ”By the way, your brother is on his way now that we”ve officially arrested your mother.”
”He gave you a head”s up on how it went down with Henri?” It still grated me that Grace believed Henri was capable of hurting us. A part of me had wanted her to be proven wrong, but I knew she was right. I didn”t know what to make of it, and I was following Blaze”s advice: just trust and see where it takes you.
I loved this woman.
I was going to blindly trust her.
I was still scared shitless.
”Yeah, he”s pretty pissed about Camille”s arrest. Wants her freed, blah blah. It”s all an act, Zephyr.”
”I don”t want you to think I doubt you, Grace, but…I just hate the thought of losing him.”
”I know,” her voice softened, ”it”s hard when the people we love and trust, the people who are supposed to protect and take care of us, let us down.”
Eddie did not let me down.
To make it look real, he did pop me once, so I was going to sport a real black eye. He apologized before, during, and after until I told him to just get it done. It wasn”t the first time I was in a fistfight, but I”d hoped those days were behind me. When we were teenagers, Rome and I had gotten into way too many scuffles to the point that Gaia had learned how to fix us up, including sewing up cuts when needed.
An ambulance took me to the Emergency Room, and Dr. Gabe Santana made a big production of going on about the perilous times we were living in. He shooed the nurses away, saying he had this because we were friends.
Lying on a surprisingly comfortable gurney in a private room of the ER, I couldn”t help but think how bizarre my life had become. The smell of antiseptic was strong, almost overpowering, mixing oddly with the faint scent of coffee that seemed to perpetually linger in hospitals. The bright overhead lights were a stark contrast to the dimly lit back alleys where one might expect to receive the kind of thrashing I was supposedly getting patched up for.
”Seriously, man, this is some weird kinda fucked up.” He gave me a cold compress for my black eye.
”Okay, Zephyr, you ready to look like you”ve been tenderized by a meat pounder?” Gabe quipped, approaching with a palette that seemed more suited to a theater than a hospital.
”I was born ready,” I replied dryly. ”Just make sure I”m still pretty enough to be a heartthrob after this.”
Gabe dabbed a sponge into some purple and yellow ointment that smelled like antiseptic, expertly beginning to add bruising around my one genuine black eye. ”Don”t worry, I”ll ensure you”re the most handsome victim of a beatdown. You”ll cause swooning nurses left and right.”
As he worked, adding faux bandages. ”You sure you didn”t miss your calling as a makeup artist for horror movies? And why does this all smell so bad.”
”Cause it”s iodine, Acriflavin, and Betadine Antiseptic Ointment.” He stepped back to admire his handiwork. ”Ah, perfection. You look like you picked a fight with a blender...and lost.”
I took the small hand mirror he offered and surveyed his work. The transformation was impressive; I looked like I”d gone a few rounds with a heavyweight and hadn”t bothered to throw a single punch. ”Guess I won”t be winning any beauty contests this week.”
”Definitely not. But you will win ”most likely to be mugged in broad daylight,”” Gabe chuckled, removing his gloves with a snap.
Just then, a nurse popped her head in, her eyes widening at the sight of me. ”Dr. Santana, is he—”
”Ah, he”s fine, Mary Jane. Just a mild altercation with...a flight of stairs,” Gabe interjected smoothly, winking at me.
The nurse nodded, though her eyes still held a twinge of concern—or was it confusion?—as she backed out of the room.
”Mary Jane can”t keep her mouth shut, so everyone and his mother in the parish is gonna know that someone pounded the shit out of you,” Gabe assured me.
Turning back to me, Gabe clapped a hand on my shoulder. ”Alright, Zephyr, you”re all set. Remember, limp on your left leg when you leave.”
I swung my legs over the side of the gurney, practicing my most pitiful hobble. ”Like this?”
”Perfect. You”re a natural. Maybe too good. I”m starting to worry about your acting career taking off and leaving your jazz musician job in the dust.”
I grinned as I limped toward the door. ”In that case, I”ll remember to thank my personal ER makeup artist during my acceptance speech.”
”See that you do,” Gabe called after me, his laughter echoing down the hall as I made my theatrical exit, limping and wincing in mock agony, a perfect portrait of a man who”d had a very bad day.