Feel Like Makin' Love (Rock and Roll Trilogy #3) (13 page)

“My dad was Kyle and
my mom, Johanna, so they came up with Kyliejo,” the little girl said.

“
I guess we are here for the same thing.”

The girl looked up and smiled
, showing Carlee exactly what she imagined – the sparkling eyes and naturally-pink, rosy lips curled into a smile that seemed bright.
Luminous actually, and happy
, Carlee thought.

“Gonna get my
tats for when I get my head zapped,” she said.

“Me too,” Carlee said, attempting
not to giggle at her choice of words. “I wish I didn’t have to do it, but I guess sometimes we don’t have the choice.”

“
Yeah,” she said as though the whole thing was no big deal to her. “Your hair is so pretty. It’s really red.”

“It used to be really long, but when they told me they had to cut the patch out and shave it for the surgery
, I decided to whack it off and send it to Wigs For Kids.”

The girl turned, wide-eyed to look at Carlee closer.
“You did?”

“
It’s just hair; it’ll grow back. It was almost down to my waist, and it was just kinda in the way,” Carlee smiled. “I was ready for something different.”

A young woman came through the door
. “Kyliejo, I’m Bets; are you ready?”

“Yep. See ya, Carlee.”

“I hope so,” Carlee replied with a smile as they wheeled her away.

Finally, Candice came through the door to take Carlee away to begin the marking
for her radiotherapy.

By noon Carlee was back in her room; by 12:30 she was fast asleep.

~ ~ ~

Thursday morning, Andy woke in good spirits - excited that Geni would be back that evening. As he was getting ready to head to the hospital, his phone rang. It was his good friend, Roddy. It was three in the morning in the U.S.

“Something wrong?”

“No, just had to set the damn clock to get up to call you. I’m off to help Vince with some stuff later this morning and decided this was the best way to get some time to talk to you. It’s been too long,” Roddy said with a jovial laugh. “How’s our girl?”

“
Incredible. I’m on my way there now,” Andy laughed. “She’s the strongest woman I know. Isn’t that funny?”

“What do you mean?” Roddy asked.

“Woman. She’s not our little girl anymore,” Andy laughed.

“She’s been a woman for a while,” Roddy laughed. “Vince corrected me at t
he wedding when I called her a girl.”

“Everything OK back home?” Andy asked.

“All is well!” Roddy was 82 years old and was still working with Andy taking care of his business affairs, which had dwindled down considerably the last few years. Vince was still overseeing his restaurant in Houston, and Roddy didn’t like to be idle. Being there for whatever Andy needed, even if it meant someone else actually ‘doing’ what needed to be done, kept him busy.

“Everyone’s calling, asking for updates on Carlee. Didn’t take long for the word to get out.”

“It’s been pretty quiet here. I saw a paragraph or two in the London Times about us, but not much more than that, except for the flowers,” he laughed. “They are everywhere. There are so many she’s sending them to other patients’ rooms. Everyone seems to respect our privacy, even as I come and go.”

“When are you coming back?” he asked.

“Not ‘til this is a done-deal here. I can’t leave her, Roddy. Geni went home for a few days to take care of some things; I couldn’t go.”

Roddy thought
for a moment; he’d suspected they were a couple, but Andy’s words just confirmed it. He smiled to himself and stored that information for later.

“I picked up a keyboard the other day
; got some things humming through my head and had to get it going.”

“Marco told me. Are you thinking of recording again? Coming out of your self-imposed ‘retirement?
’”

“Who knows?” Andy chuckled.

“Tell me everything about Carlee; we’ve been worried sick. Vince wants to come over, but I told him we should probably wait a bit, see what’s going on.”

Andy filled him in as he drove. “They’re getti
ng everything lined up for radiation the first of the year. She’s in good spirits,” he paused, “Roddy, she cut her hair off before the surgery.”

“What?” he asked obviously shocked at this news.

“Yep, pulled it all into a ponytail on top of her head and had Geni lop it off with scissors!”

“Wow, that big halo of red is gone?” he chuckled

“Oh, the halo is still there - the hair was shipped off to Wigs for Kids. It’s short and curlier now, like when she was young – the halo is still there,” he said again. Quiet a moment, he added, “She’s handling this so differently than Beth. She’s so upbeat and positive about what’s ahead. She’s absolutely focused on getting through this and back to her life. I think Beth put on a brave face – to keep us strong. But Carlee
is
strong. There have been times that she could sense the fear and questions from the rest of us when the doctors were sharing or explaining something, and she just jumps in and steers us the direction our thoughts should be. She’s just amazing.”

They talked a while longer.
Roddy had talked with Marco several times and knew that both Zane and Addy had some things in the works.

“I guess I
ought to let you go; just hadn’t talked to you in a few days. I’ll call Carlee later. This old fella’s going back to bed for a while.”

~ ~ ~

When Andy arrived, Carlee was eating a bite of breakfast. He and Matthew had crossed paths as Matthew was leaving to go home to take a shower and nap. Andy settled in the recliner beside her, and they watched the morning news, chatting about what they saw.

After a while, they
came in to get Carlee ready to go to the radiation center for the mold and casting to begin the process.

“Back in about an hour and a half,” the aide told Andy as they wheeled her away.

~ ~ ~

Once again, Carlee found Kyliejo in the radiation center when she arrived.

“Well, hey!” Carlee said when she saw her.

“Hello, nice to see you,” the child replied.

“I guess today we get the cast so we don’t move when they zap us,” Carlee said, using the girl’s expression from their last encounter.

“Yep, it’s really not a big deal.” She spoke as one who knows.

“You already know about it?” Carlee asked.

“Sure, this is my second time.”

Carlee swallowed hard to keep the lump in her throat and the sour, acidy bile that followed it away. “Second time?”

“Yep
, first time was when I was four, but I remember it,” she said in a ‘been there – done that’ way. “They didn’t do a lot, hoping small doses after my surgery would take care of it. I guess it didn’t work.”

Four…
Carlee thought. “How old are you now?”

“
I just turned eight on November 3.”

“Cute pajamas
,” Carlee said noticing the pink top with five heart-shaped balloons that spelled CUTIE peeking from the blanket covering her. She felt as though she needed to change the subject or she was going to cry. “How come I have to wear this silly gown?”

Kyliejo turned to look her way. “Because you had surgery and you still have the pee hose.”

Carlee smiled at her direct reply. “You didn’t have surgery?”

“Not this time
; they decided to just do the radiation again – more, I guess, and in the front.”

“Ready Kyliejo?” the tech named Bets asked as she pushed open a door to get her.

“See ya later, Carlee.”

Carlee lay quietly as she waited for them to come get her, thinking about the little girl with so much knowledge of what she herself was experiencing
, and she cried. When Candace came for her she asked her, “Goodness Carlee, why are you crying so?”

“That little girl,” she blubbered.

“Kyliejo is a treasure,” Candace replied. “Always a positive spirit.”

“She’s so young…”

“And we’ll all pray that this time it will take care of everything. Come on, let’s go.”

~ ~ ~

She was gone about two hours. When they returned her to her room, Hatchet was there, along with Andy and Matthew.

“Glad to see you this morning,”
Hatchet told her as she helped get her settled. “Doc has a brain scan scheduled for a little later.”

“Brain scan? Why?” Carlee aske
d.

“To assure they actually left it behind,” Hatchet said in a snarky tone.

“Smartass,” Carlee laughed.

“They’
re looking to check the swelling and fluid. It’s nothing, really - just a look. And I wouldn’t bet my arse on it, but I reckon we’ll remove the catheter,” she said, leaning to whisper like it was the biggest secret ever.

“
What’s for lunch? I’m starving.”

“Can I tell you
how I’ve longed to hear those words?” Matthew asked with a snicker.

“
I’ve heard that about a hundred times!” Hatchet said with a laugh.

“Can I tell you in the time she’s been in my life how many times I’ve heard it
?” Andy laughed.

“Whatever,” Carlee replied sarcastically. “What’s for lunch
, Hatchet?”

Matthew observed her demeanor, and wondered where her t
houghts were. She seemed lost to them, but he knew she was putting on her happy face for them.

The nurse
looked at a piece of paper in her pocket and read off the menu: “Chicken and noodles with hot buttered peas, or potato soup and grilled cheese, with chocolate pudding for dessert.”

“Soup and grilled cheese. Thanks.”

Hatchet left and Matthew leaned closer to kiss her, and then asked, “Carlee, you OK?”

“Sure, just tired,” she replied.

“If you say so,” Matthew said, but still watched her somewhat cautiously.

~ ~ ~

Later, they came to take her for the brain scan and informed Andy and Matthew that she’d be away from her room about an hour-and-a-half, so the two men went to grab a bite of lunch.

“Your mom comes in on the flight at ten this evening. I’m kinda ready for her to be back.
”

Matthew listened, and
he smiled at Andy’s excitement for Geni’s return. “Me too. Carlee seemed kinda preoccupied; did you notice?” Matthew asked, finally.

“
Yeah, a little. Probably just anxious about the scan, and I know she is ready to have that catheter out!” Andy replied.

“Yeah, probably,” he said, but
still wondered.

When they returned to her room, Carlee was back, and
Hatchet was there to remove the catheter, so they stepped back out of the room for a moment.

“Do
c says it’s time for this to go,” Hatchet said.

“Yay!” Carlee responded.

“You shouldn’t feel any pain… maybe a little discomfort, and you should be able to pee on your own fairly soon,” she explained. When she was done, she opened the door to the room and invited Andy and Matthew to return.

“The hose is gone!
” Carlee exclaimed with glee.

“Now what, Hatchet?” Andy asked using the nickname they all
had become accustomed to using when referring to her.

“Well, if my timing is on, therapy should be coming in the door, right about… now!”

Ross, the therapist came in the room, “Up and at it!” he said with a big smile.

“Hunh?” Carlee looked at him, not
understanding what he meant.

“We’
re getting you up outta that bed. We’ll get you on your feet for a minute just to see how you feel, and then we’re putting you in a wheelchair to take a spin around this place and see something other than these four walls! Ready for it?”

“H
eck yeah!” Carlee said in a happy voice. It had been a week since her surgery, and she was ready to get out of the bed.

With Matthew on one side and Ross on the other
, they stretched her legs, finally, sitting her up on the side of the bed.

Ross put his arm around her back to help ease her up
, and she shouted, “Wait!”

“What is it? Does something hurt?” Ross asked concerned.

“No, it’s not that. I can’t go wheeling down the hall like this!”

“Why
not, Carlee?” Matthew asked, but he knew that face; nothing was wrong.

“I need panties on
!”