Lou gave the TV a disgusted look and flicked it off. “Don’t know why we’re watching it,” he said. It got quiet, just the beep of the green line on the monitor filling up all the space. I preferred the TV.
There was a knock at the door and Donnie poked his head in. “You up for some visitors?” he asked. Didn’t wait for my answer before him, Rudy, and Barney filed in, looking sombre, like they were coming to a funeral.
“You guys didn’t need to come,” I said. “They’re letting me go in a couple hours.”
They all shrugged. “Thought we’d be visiting Barney in the hospital before you,” Rudy said with a rumble.
“What are you talking about?” Barney replied and rubbed his belly. “This is muscle!”
Dizzy’d been curled up in a ball, but I saw her relax a little as the guys started ribbing each other. Donnie crouched down beside her and whispered something in her ear. He’d always had a way with her. Even when she was little.
“There can’t be this many people in a room at once,” a nurse said, bustling toward me, checking some things against the file that was stuck at the foot of the bed. “Some of you will have to leave.”
“It’s not that many.” Rudy grinned at her. “Just my big personality that fills up the space. Makes you think there’s two of me.” One corner of her mouth went up. God love him. He’d try to charm any woman within ten feet.
“Trust me. It’s not your personality that fills the space.” The rest of us snorted, jeering him.
“We’ll go,” Lou said with a sigh. “I could use some food anyway. Get the taste of this coffee out of my mouth.” I looked at Dizzy, not sure if she’d follow them, but she did.
Felt more like myself having the guys around. “You see the news?” I asked.
They all got quiet. “We weren’t going to say nothing.” Barney eased himself into a chair. His beard lay on top of his belly.
“There’s photographers all over the store …” I let my voice trail off. “Dizzy went to the concert. Met Georgia backstage.” Donnie’s eyebrows went up as I said that.
“What happened?”
Shook my head. “Didn’t go well.” I left it at that. Everything she’d told me about the concert was fuzzy. Locked in my memory somewhere. I didn’t remember the reporter’s phone call either, but Lou did. He said I passed out just after I hung up.
“You and the kids wanna crash at my place, till things clear up?” Rudy offered.
I couldn’t think that far ahead, but I appreciated the offer. “Gotta keep the store open.” I frowned. If I still had a store. What Dizzy had done was exactly what the lawyers didn’t want to happen. She’d violated the contract, made a spectacle of herself and Georgia. Those papers gave Georgia’s people the ability to come after me. Felt my heart start to beat faster thinking about what came next. Calm down, I told myself. Nothing you can do from a hospital bed anyway.
“You know, you might want to make a statement. Something to get them to back off, like you need your privacy right now. Something like that.” Donnie, always the voice of reason.
“That’s a good idea. I can’t do it, though.” I gestured to the IV. All the guys looked at Donnie.
“You want me to do it?”
“It was your idea,” Barney said.
He sighed. “Anyone got a pen?” We fumbled around for something until Barney found a pen in his jacket pocket. The paper was easier — Donnie used his grocery list. Right after broccoli, he wrote: “Ray and his children ask for privacy during this time. He would like me to remind everyone that his daughter is only fifteen. He also has a business to run. His family will not answer any questions about Georgia Waters until they are ready to do so. Thank you.”
“So, when are you gonna read this out?” Barney asked.
“I could do it now. Maybe they’ll clear out before you get home.”
I snorted. “Fat chance. They’re like a pack of dogs sniffing for fresh meat.”
“You’re forgetting something,” Rudy said. He pointed at himself and Barney. “You got security right here. We can keep those dogs on the other side of the street. Get a few neighbours to complain, and all of a sudden, you’ve got a police presence. They’ll push ’em back.”
That made me feel better. I didn’t want Dizzy dealing with them in her face every time she left the house. “Guess we could use the fire escape at the back of the building, instead of the front door.”
“You hear anything from Georgia yet?”
Shook my head. “Nothing. Supposed to be a press conference tomorrow.” To say what, I didn’t know. Maybe she’d accuse Dizzy of being an infatuated fan, of making the story up. Be easier for us to deal with that lie than the truth.
Donnie tucked the paper with the statement into his jacket pocket. “We better get going. Let the kids back in.” Barney manoeuvred himself out of the chair. All of them came to the bed and slapped me on the shoulder. “Get better, okay? Stop scaring us.”
“Yeah, no shit. If anyone’s gonna have a heart attack, it should be me,” Barney said. “I could get to know some of the nurses around here.”
“See you, man.” Donnie looked me in the eye. “If you need a place for the kids to crash, I’m sure Sylvia would be okay with it, too. This is gonna be tough on them.”
“Thanks. I’ll let you know. Might be a good idea, at least at first.” Barney lined up behind Donnie, the unasked question clear on his face. “It’s not your fault,” I said. “After all you did to get the ticket, I never gave it to her. Knew it was a bad idea.”
“Father knows best, right?” He slapped me on the arm. “See ya, old man. Get better, okay?” I nodded, and the three of them left. All my feelings for Georgia were mixed up. Hard to untangle how I felt about her. The way she left, there was so much unfinished. Like a conversation that never ended properly. Even when she came back that one time, we never settled anything. I wanted her to see the kids, thought being around them would convince her she needed us in her life. But it backfired, because the next thing I knew, I had a manila envelope in my hand from a law office in New York City.
The ball was in Georgia’s court now. What she did would set the course for us. Like always, I had no idea what she’d do. Admit the kids were hers? Or call Dizzy a liar? The press would believe her either way. She had the money to buy the truth, forge a document, get lawyers to file injunctions, or whatever the hell people do to stop other people from talking about them.
Here I was, chained to a frickin’ hospital bed, useless. That little green line kept bumping up and down.
The phone beside my bed rang. Didn’t even notice I had a phone till I heard it. I reached for it and took a breath before I said hello. The other end of the line was quiet.
“Ray.”
It was like a punch in the gut hearing her voice. Made my head spin. I couldn’t say anything at first. Held the phone tight and closed my eyes.
“Yeah.”
“It’s Georgia.”
I lay on the bed, speechless. Reeling.
“I’m outside. I wondered if I could come up and see you.”
Rubbed a hand over my face. Scratchy stubble. Lying in a hospital gown. No shower. IV tube. “I’m not —”
“I know it’s not the best time. But I leave later tonight.”
Now or never.
“Okay. Just, I’m not at my best.”
Georgia gave a wry laugh. “I know the feeling.”
My hand shook when I put the phone back on its cradle. Goddammit. How’d she still do this to me? Made me feel like I didn’t know if I was coming or going. In a few minutes, she’d be standing at the end of my bed. In this room.