Abigail stretched and rolled over in Mateo’s bed, inhaling deeply. The sheets smelled like him, an enticing blend of soap and shaving cream. She curled her fingers deeper into the fabric and snuggled down.
“Isn’t this kind of creepy?” a voice whispered.
“Probably,” someone replied.
Abigail’s eyes flickered open and she saw two figures looming over her. The scream popped out of her mouth like a Jack-in-the-Box and the women hovering over the bed leapt back, one tumbling to her knees.
“Abigail! Abigail!” A familiar voice urged. “It’s okay! It’s us!”
The scream died abruptly and swift silence filled the bedroom. Abigail stared at Ida and Melissa who wore sheepish expressions as they picked themselves off the floor. She pulled the blanket closer and groaned.
“What are you doing here?”
“It’s Friday!” Ida said, her dark eyes wide. “We have Rump Shaking classes today.” “You could have called me,” Abigail said.
“I voted for that, but Ida wanted to come in,” Melissa explained.
“Sell out,” Ida nudged her friend in the side. “Mateo isn’t here, is he?”
“No. He slept at the hospital.” Abigail wiped the sleep from her eyes. “You’re seriously not going to apologize for creeping in here?” “Nope.” Ida shook her head. “Get dressed. Our class starts at nine.”
Abigail moaned, but did as Ida instructed. In record time, the three ladies were back in Melissa’s car and driving toward the gym.
“So,” Ida craned her neck to see into the backseat, “how’d things go after I dropped you off?”
“What ‘things’?”
“She means with Mateo,” Melissa said. “I hope you don’t mind, but Ida told me that you ditched the evil fiancé.”
“Really, Ida?”
“I don’t have secrets from Melissa!”
“I’m happy for you,” Melissa said. “I heard the guy was super obnoxious.” “He was.”
“So when are you and Mateo going to start dating?” Ida asked.
“Are you kidding me?”
Melissa slanted a look at her best friend. “What Ida is trying to say is that we understand that you may need some time to ‘find yourself’ or whatever, but Mateo’s been waiting for forever. Does he have to wait any longer?”
“You two don’t pull any punches, huh?” Abigail chuckled.
“When it comes to Mattie, no.” Ida pulled her hair up. “We’re just being interfering, Abby. I hope you’re not offended.” “No, I’m good,” she smiled. “Mateo and I are going to move very, very slowly.” “Mm-hm,” Melissa and Ida said together.
“But…”
“Mm-hm?”
“Yes, we are together.”
“Hallelujah!” Ida threw up her hands.
“Now I really feel like dancing!” Melissa declared.
The ladies pulled Abigail from the car and swept her up in a group hug. Abigail laughed with abandon, enjoying the taste of camaraderie and love that enveloped these women and affected everyone around them.
She was proud to be a part of their family, proud to have them in her life. Her years with Paul felt like something from a distant nightmare. The warmth of Belize invaded her soul and built her back up.
Abigail was right where she wanted to be.
He wanted to be anywhere but here.
Mateo held on to the hem of his coat with white-knuckled strength as the president outlined the allegations being brought against him. The severity of President Turner’s expression had sweat popping out on his forehead and he wiped his temple with the back of his hand.
The prospect of losing his job loomed like a guillotine and he scratched his neck anxiously. Mateo loved being a doctor. He loved taking care of people who were in pain, loved making the world a better place one patient at a time.
Life was tough and death was a blow, but each time he waged war against mortality and won, Mateo knew that he was meant to do this. Now, all that he’d accomplished could be ruined. “Do you understand, Doctor Hernandez?” “Yes,” Mateo swallowed.
“These are serious charges. Just the rumor of an affiliation with a gang can ruin this hospital. Now, your superior,” he glanced at Nick, “intensely vouched for you and because of that, I’ve decided not to dismiss you from the hospital.”
He breathed a sigh.
“But,” President Tucker continued, “we will be convening an emergency disciplinary hearing to deal with this problem. Please be ready for this afternoon.”
“Yes, sir,” Mateo said. He stood as President Tucker strode out and then turned to Nick. “What happened? Did you tell him about the club patients?”
“Of course not!” Nick shook his head. “And Parker wouldn’t either.”
“This is not good.”
“Should I ask Jonathan to come?”
“No, I’m the one who did wrong. I should own up to it.”
“At least give him a call, Mattie.” “Alright,” Mateo nodded.
“I’ll tell Nurse Elaine to cancel the appointments you had for the day. You’ll need all the help you can get to fight this.”
“Shoot!”
“What?”
“I had a date with Abigail at one.”
“A date?” Nick’s lips curled up. “Are you two already together?” Mateo, with his cell phone already pressed to his ear, only offered a smile, but Nick interpreted it easily. “Wow, you don’t waste time, do you?” He slapped Mateo on the back. “I’ll talk to Elaine.”
Nick walked out and Mateo remained, dialing and redialing until Abigail picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Abby. Is everything okay? I’ve been calling for a while.”
“Everything is fine. I was in the shower. Ida and Melissa took me to Rump Shaking classes this morning.” “Sounds fun.”
She paused and then he heard the rustle of fabric. “Mattie, are you alright? Your voice sounds weird.”
“I have a problem at the hospital so I won’t be able to come with you to pick up your stuff today.” “That’s okay. I’ll just go by myself.”
“Abby…”
“What? Why’d you say my name like that?”
“Because I know you’ll probably ignore me and do what you want anyway.”
“Mateo, what are you talking about?”
“Don’t go. Wait until I get there, please. I have a bad feeling about that Paul guy. He doesn’t seem the type to take rejection well.”
“That’s true and I would totally agree with you except he has my mother’s easel. I really don’t want to leave it there any longer than I have to.”
“Can’t you ask Mom or Melissa to go with you?” Mateo pleaded. He still hadn’t cleared up his suspicions about her fiancé and the thought of Abby going into his den by herself made Mateo very uneasy.
“Your mom has a lecture and Melissa has a class. Mattie, don’t worry. I’ll see you later, okay? I hope everything works out at the hospital.”
“Wait, Abby—”
The dial tone sounded in his ear and Mateo realized that she’d hung up on him again. He gripped the phone tighter and shook his head.
“That’s becoming a habit,” he muttered.
Letting his woman walk into potential danger without backup rubbed him the wrong way. If he could ditch the hearing and spend the afternoon at Abigail’s side, he would. Hopefully, Abigail timed herself right so that her ex wasn’t home when she stopped by.
He rubbed his temple and groaned. Abigail would be fine. Mateo had to focus on getting himself out of this mess and that meant finding out who had spilled to the hospital.
He swiped his thumb across the phone’s screen and called Jamal. His friend picked up and the sound of loud, dancehall music filtered through the speakers.
“Sup, Mateo?”
“Did you tell anyone about the patients I treated at your club?”
“Whoa! What’s with the hostility?”
“My boss found out. They’re having a hearing to decide if I should be punished for it. It probably doesn’t matter now, but I need to know if the informants padded the story or if they told the truth.”
“I don’t know about padding stories, but the leak didn’t come from my side. If I’d wanted to make this a bigger deal than it was, I wouldn’t have asked you to help out. You know what I’m saying?”
“Yeah.” Mateo sighed. “What about your other friends, man? Anybody was sniffing around? Asking questions?”
“Yo!” Jamal shouted in his ear and Mateo pulled the phone away. “Somebody sneezed and got my homeboy in trouble. Who was it?”
Silence descended on the other line and Mateo could imagine all the kids shaking in their boots at Jamal’s tone and expression. In the distance, he heard a squeaky voice yell out expletives before Jamal returned to the line.
“I got a squealer. Here!” Mateo heard a scuffle. “Tell him what happened.”
“Some guy was in front of your old house,” one of Jamal’s thugs confessed. “He was in a fancy ride. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. All I said was that I’d seen you helping out sometimes. I swear I didn’t mean to rat you out.”
“Blonde hair and blue eyes?” Mateo muttered.
Paul
“You know that guy?”
“It’s Abigail’s ex-fiancé. Thanks for the info, Jamal. I’ll take it from here.” He ended the call and paced the office.
Paul had made his play and Mateo had his back against the wall, but in his neighborhood, when someone cornered you, the only thing left to do was fight.