Crazy For You (20 page)

“Rich,” she mumbled, dazed, trying to open her eyes.
She could almost comprehend that something was forcing them to stay
shut. “Where am I?” She tried to move. Awful pain shot through her
chest. She winced.

“Take it easy. Don’t try to move,” he said
persuasively and laid on the nurse’s call-button. “You’re in the
hospital. You had a little accident.”

“What’s wrong?” She could almost grasp the reality
that bandages were covering her face, but she was too tired to
wonder or care. “Why can’t I open my eyes?”

The door opened and a nurse came in. Rich felt a
measure of relief. “She’s talking to me.”

“Coherently?” the nurse’s tone was skeptical.

“Well we’re carrying on a conversation,” he said.
“That’s about as coherent as you can get.”

“Ms. Simon…” The nurse picked up Candy’s wrist to
check her pulse. “Can you hear me?”

“Yes,” Candy said, weak and extremely tired.

“Do you know who you are?” the nurse started the
usual round of questions.

“Candy…my name is Candy.”

“Candy, do you know where you are?”

“No.” But she wanted to know what happened. And why
was Rich here? That nasty scenario had already played out…when? She
couldn’t think anymore.
So tired
…
maybe it’s all a
dream
…
so hard to think
…

Scrambled thoughts drifted through her consciousness
until it finally faded away.

T
he next morning, Frank
prepared a breakfast tray for Roxanne. He plucked a rose from the
bouquet on the table and laid it next to the plate.

Little Frankie followed him upstairs. “What’s that
for?”

“We’re going to take this up to Mommy so she can
have breakfast in bed.”

“Are you going to stay with us now, Daddy?”

“For a while.” Frank didn’t want to push the subject
just yet. “Let’s be very quiet when we go in,” he said, standing at
Roxanne’s bedroom door. “And we’ll have some fun waking up
Mommy.”

Little Frankie opened the door, and it pleased Frank
to see that Roxanne was still asleep. He set the tray on the
nightstand and stalled before picking up the rose. Gently tickling
the end of her nose, he recalled the incident from years ago when
the tables had been turned. He counted on the fact that Roxanne
would remember it too.

Roxanne twitched her nose, but she didn’t wake
up.

Frankie laughed softly.

Frank gave Frankie a
finger-at-the-mouth
gesture, urging him to keep quiet. After a moment, he tickled the
bridge of her nose.

She rubbed her nose, but still she didn’t wake
up.

Frankie giggled. “Mommy’s funny.”

Roxanne felt a feather-light touch tickling her
nose. Frank’s faint laughter invaded her senses, waking her. She
shook her head and opened her eyes to the shocking sight of Frank
sitting on the edge of her bed, holding a yellow rose.

Her thoughts traveled back to the morning after
their first time. But that was a different world. For one thing,
Frank loved her back then. She didn’t think he was capable of
loving her anymore.

And what’s Frank doing here, anyway
? Then she
remembered. Reality overshadowed her shock and confusion in a
horrid display of fear.

Roxanne wasn’t prepared to see little Frankie
standing behind his father, and she tried to smile for his
sake.

“Hi, Mommy.” Frankie giggled and waved.

“Come here.” She motioned him to her side, and moved
over to give him room to climb onto the bed. “There’s something we
want to talk to you about.” She looked at Frank. This was going to
be a tough conversation and she needed his help.

Frank nodded, as if reading her thoughts, and sat
down on the bed beside Frankie.

“What’s wrong, Mommy?” Frankie asked, as if he
sensed her turmoil.

“Sweetie, your Aunt Candy’s been in an accident,”
Roxanne said, weaker than she’d anticipated.

“Huh?” Frankie didn’t hide his confusion.

Roxanne combed her fingers through his jet-black
locks, brushing them back from his face. “Aunt Candy was driving in
her car last night and she got in a wreck on the freeway.”

Frankie’s eyes grew wide. He knew what a car wreck
was. He’d seen it on TV. “Will she be okay?” he asked, afraid. He
didn’t quite understand his fear, yet he knew it was there.

“Of course she’s going be okay,” Frank spoke up.

“Is she in the hospital?” Frankie asked.

“Yes, she is,” Roxanne said.

“You know what hospitals are for, don’t you?” Frank
asked, but didn’t wait for the boy to reply. “Sometimes, when we
get sick or we get into a car wreck…we go to the hospital and the
doctors make us all better. After a while, we get to come home…good
as new.”

“Can I go see her?” Frankie asked, hope filling his
baby blues.

“Well…” Roxanne’s voice trailed off. She didn’t want
Frankie to see Candy in her present, unconscious state and with all
those bandages.

“See, buddy...” Frank stepped in, and Roxanne was
grateful. “Aunt Candy needs to rest to get better, so she can come
home. If you go see her, then she’ll want to get up to play with
you,” he said, gently shaking his head. “But she’s not well enough
to do that yet.”

“Oh…” Frankie said softly, and his expression of
hope turned to one of sadness.

“But I’ll tell you what...” Frank bargained with
him. “How about you and I go down to the florists and we’ll send
Aunt Candy some flowers…just from you?”

Frankie appeared to think about it a few seconds
before his eyes lit up and a smile brightened his face. “Can I
write my name on the card?” he asked, as if he knew all about
sending flowers.

“You can write your name?” Frank was impressed that
he was even thinking about it.

“Uh huh.” Frankie nodded. “Mommy taught me how to
write my name,” he said proudly, and then proceeded to spell it
out. “F-r-a-n-k-i-e.”

Frank looked at Roxanne. At that moment, he felt
admiration for her, but he couldn’t allow it to last.

In his eyes, what she’d done to him was inexcusable.
Frank couldn’t let go of the fact that Roxanne had not only hidden
their son from him, but she’d also let another man publicly claim
to be his father. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get past
that. Still, he was thankful she’d been a good mother to his
son.

But no amount of good parenting would change his
mind. He could’ve been a decent father, if she’d given him a
chance.

F
rank and Roxanne slipped
quietly into Candy’s room and found Rich slumped over her bed.

“Rich…” Roxanne shook him gently. “Rich, wake
up.”

“Huh?” He sprang up and looked around.

“You okay?” Frank asked.

“Yeah,” Rich rubbed his eyes with one hand.
“She…ah…she woke up briefly last night.”

“She talked to you?” Roxanne asked, anxious.

“Yes, she knew I was here,” he said. “But she didn’t
really grasp the fact that she’s in the hospital.”

“But she was talking to you, and that’s good.”
Roxanne’s gaze traveled from Rich to Frank. “Right?”

“Candy’s going to be fine,” Frank said. “She’s the
only person in this world who thinks they can go a couple of rounds
with me.” His laughter spilled through the air. “Anybody who’s got
that much balls won’t let a little thing like a car wreck get them
down.”

“Frank Garrett…” Candy muttered. “I’m going to kick
your ass.”

“Candy…stay with me.” Rich latched onto her hand.
“Okay, baby?”

“Okay.” Her voice was soft and tired. “Where’s
Rocky?”

“I’m here,” Roxanne said. “We’re all here.”

“What happened?” Candy asked. “Why are my eyes
covered?”

“You were in an accident yesterday.” Rich’s words
were tainted with guilt. “After you left my place.”

Vaguely, Candy recalled how upset she’d been after
leaving his place. “Did I hurt anybody?”

“Just you,” he said. “Yours was the only car
involved.”

“Rich has been here all night,” Roxanne said. “He
hasn’t left your side for a minute.”

“Then he must be tired,” Candy said. “And really
hungry.”

“I’m fine,” his voice broke, like he was near tears.
“What’s important now…is you.”

Candy moaned. “I’ve got such a headache.” She
paused. Thinking took effort. “You should probably eat something,”
she said to Rich and then stopped again. Breathing hurt.
“Rocky...would you take Rich and feed him?”

“We don’t want to leave you alone right now,”
Roxanne objected.

“I won’t be alone.” Candy thought the clouds might
be clearing. “Frank’ll stay here with me…won’t you, Frankie?”

“Of course I will,” Frank said.

Roxanne looked at Frank and gave him one of those
what-do-I-do
looks.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “I’ll be here with her.
Just do what she wants.”

Rich and Roxanne left the room, practically at a
snail’s pace, and Frank sat down in the chair beside Candy’s bed.
“I’m very sorry that this happened to you.”

“How is Frankie doing?”

“He’s fine. He misses you.”

“Tell him…I’ll be home soon.”

“He’s anxiously awaiting your homecoming.” Frank
leaned back in the chair and folded his arms over his chest.

“How is Rocky doing?” Candy asked. “I mean
really.”

“I don’t want you to worry about Roxanne. I’m taking
good care of her.”

“She needs you, you know.”

“You think?” He tried to tamp down the skepticism
invading his tone.

“You have no idea,” Candy said with a hopeless
laugh.

“We don’t want you worrying about such things. You
just concentrate on getting better.”

“Yeah, Yeah.” She tried to laugh it off. If she
couldn’t pin Frank down to any specifics right now, she never
would. “Frank…am I going to be okay?”

“Candy, you’re gonna be fine.”

“My face…” She hesitated. Did she want to hear the
truth?
Depends on the answer
. Not knowing had its bad
points. Like being left in limbo. “Is my face disfigured?”

He was silent for a few seconds and that bothered
her. “Well…” he said, “I haven’t seen your face behind those
bandages.” Skillfully, he tap danced around it. “They did say you
have some facial lacerations.” His words were like swords’ points.
“But you’re going to be good as new in no time. So don’t you
worry.” He sounded confident, but she couldn’t be sure who,
exactly, he was trying to convince—himself or her.

Facial lacerations. Nasty, ugly images slipped into
Candy’s mind.
Oh, God.
How badly was she disfigured?

“Candy…I assume you wanted me to stay because you
knew I’d tell you the truth?” His words said it was a question, but
his tone suggested otherwise.

At any rate, it yanked her back to reality. “That is
true.”

“Then don’t do this to yourself.” His voice turned
hard. “You don’t know the extent of the damage. It may amount to
nothing really.”

“And it may not.”

“Well then…your face can be restored.” He laid it on
the line. “But that punctured lung could have easily killed you.
And neither your sister nor my best friend could’ve handled
that.”

Candy didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what
to think. Was she not allowed a little self-pity here? After all,
she was an actress with a disfigured face. He, of all people,
should understand. Singing was what he did, just like acting was
what she did. If he lost his voice—just like she’d lost her
looks—then where would that leave him?

Still, getting down in the gutter with her
misery—prematurely—wasn’t productive. Frank was right. Why go there
before she had all the facts? After another moment’s pause, she
said out loud, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Although, I’m not sure
for what.”

“You told me the truth. And you wouldn’t let me lay
here feeling sorry for myself.”

T
hat evening it took
outstanding persuasion from Candy before Roxanne would consider the
idea of going home.

“If you don’t go home…” Candy prepared to pull out
the big guns. “Frankie is going to start thinking something is
terribly wrong with his Aunt Candy…and we don’t want that, now do
we?”

Roxanne couldn’t argue with that one, so without
further argument she left the hospital with Frank.

Sending Roxanne home with Frank wasn’t the best of
ideas, but there wasn’t much Candy could do about it right now. She
had her own point of issue with Rich.

Of course, Rich was now saying that he’d accepted
what he was feeling for Candy—that he loved her and he always had.
Nothing like a trauma to make you see the light.

But Candy knew better. Clearly, Rich was feeling
nothing more than a case of pity. And the last thing she wanted
from anyone was pity. She tried to tell him not to worry. That she
understood. He didn’t love her anymore. And that was okay. But he
wasn’t listening.

Instead, he was vowing to take care of her. Why
couldn’t he understand? Candy wanted him to love her. She didn’t
want to be his charity case.

***

Chapter 18

W
ith Frankie tucked safely
into bed, Frank and Roxanne settled onto the couch to watch some
television.

“I know you’re more worried about Candy than you’re
letting on,” he said.

“I would think that’s understandable.”

“It is. But I’m here for you. You can lean on me if
you need to.”

“Frankie…I couldn’t get through this without you.
I’m not denying that.” She shook her head. “But I have to deal with
what’s happened to Candy the best way I know how.”

Frank was expecting Roxanne to cling to him, which
is what she would have done in the past. And while she may need him
to be there with her, she was no longer that girl from such a long
time ago. These days, she dealt with her problems silently. It
didn’t do her any good to talk about the things that bothered her
because no one ever understood why she felt the way she did.