Piano in the Dark (4 page)

“Ow,” I allowed to escape my lips when I finally dared move.

The woman standing by my bedside chuckled, rubbing my forearm in a comforting manner. She wore a lavender sleeveless shirt and a pair of tight-fitting jeans. “How do you feel?” she asked. Ignoring the question, I allowed my surroundings to register. The bedrails and smell of antiseptic were a sure giveaway.

A hospital room.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“Memorial Hermann,” she answered. “Want me to get the nurse or something?”

“No. I’ll live,” I said as I strained to sit up in the bed. My neck was stiff and my face was sore, but fortunately it was milder than my last hangover. “What are you doing here?”

“I rode with you in the ambulance,” Ava answered. “You don’t remember?”

“No,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “But thank you for doing that.”

“Do you know who I am?” she asked, her brow furrowing.

“Yes. I don’t have amnesia. And I still know you about as well as I did last night, Ava,” I joked. “How’s my car?”

“Um…pretty bad. It was towed away. That big dump truck didn’t see you stop for the dog and creamed you.” Her eyes widened as she probably relived the moment.

“Oh. Got it,” I said with a smile that didn’t match the state of things. In spite of my pain, it was comforting that she was here. But I had to be careful not to confuse her kindness with something else. “Why’d they let you ride in the ambulance anyway?”

“You want the truth?”

“Yeah.”

I watched her redden with embarrassment. “Uh…I told them I was your wife,” she said, turning away as her voice diminished.

“Heh,” I chuckled. “You must’ve been bored to do that.”

“No. Just wanted to make sure you were all right. I feel bad because I distracted you.”

“Don’t. It was my fault. Was looking for you anyway. To thank you for the gift. It’s a very lovely painting. Unique. I like that.”

“You’re welcome,” Ava responded, taking a mock bow. “I hope you didn’t mind my going by your office to drop it off. I had no other way of getting in contact with you and last night, you said where you work.”

“I did, didn’t I? Sometimes I talk too much.”

“It was always one of your adorable qualities, Chase,” Ava said. It was as if she were looking not at me, but through me. And it wasn’t just the meds they’d given me. Eerie. “Any other faults I should know about…since school?” she teased.

“My wife would say I have a bunch,” I said with a grin. Then things really hit me as I looked at the clock on the wall, realizing the time. “Oh God.”

“What? Are you in pain?” she asked as she touched me on my shoulder.

“No. My wife. I have to call her. She’s…she was waiting on me. We were supposed to go to dinner. Shit,” I uttered as I ran my hands over my face in frustration.

“She’ll understand,” Ava said as she reached in the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out my iPhone. “Here. I removed a few of your personal items from your car. Didn’t want someone stealing your stuff from the wreck.”

“Damn. You’re a regular guardian angel, aren’t you?”

“I do what I can,” she replied, sharing a smile with me quite like the one just before Scruffy’s misadventure occurred. I didn’t understand our connection, but it was there. This could’ve had a whacko stalker vibe, but it didn’t.

Ava was about to say something just before I called Dawn, but the doctor interrupted both of us with a quick tap on the room door.

“How are you feeling, Mr. Hidalgo?” he asked, quickly reviewing my chart in his hand.

“A little sore, but ready to get out of here,” I replied to the diminutive man in the lab coat.

“Well, it shouldn’t be too much longer, sir. Looks like we’re going to have some soreness over the next couple of days.” Love how he said
we
as if he felt my pain.

He shined a light in both my eyes, then instructed me to follow it, speaking to Ava as I complied. “Mrs. Hidalgo, your husband has a mild concussion,” he said, startling me momentarily. “He’ll be okay, but I’m going to need you to continue to monitor him once he’s released. Just be on the lookout every hour or so for any irregularities.”

Ava didn’t tell him any better, simply nodding in agreement as I curiously eyed her. She cut a mischievous grin my way. Absent her shopping bag, I had a chance to take her in fully minus the haze of a streetlight or drunken stupor. I could tell the way I looked at her made her nervous, yet also pleased her.

“That was good to know, wife of mine. Be sure to follow those orders,” I teased as the doctor left us alone. Before joking any further, I told Ava to hold a moment as I returned one of several missed calls from my real spouse. Dawn must’ve been worried shitless when I didn’t come home.

“Baby, it’s me.”

“Chase!” Dawn screamed loud enough for even Ava to hear. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Sorry about dinner. I was in a car wreck.”

“I know,” she said, out of breath as she scrambled somewhere. I heard a car door slam. Sounded like an echo wherever she was.

“You do?”

“It was on the news. It looked like your car and when you didn’t answer your phone, I called Jacobi. He came get me. We just arrived at the hospital, baby.”

“So you’re not mad at me?” I joked.

“No baby. Not this time,” she said with a nervous sigh. “See you soon.”

I hung up, looking at Ava. “She’s here,” I said.

“I guess I better go then. Only room for one wife,” she said as she leaned over, kissing me without hesitation. I didn’t know how to react, but smelled the coconut again, taking me to my fantasy. She took her thumb and carefully eliminated any traces of lip gloss from my dry, tired lips. It seemed she wanted to tell me something else, but refrained.

“Ava,” I called out as she walked away.

“Hmm?”

“I still don’t really remember you, but I’m glad we met again…in spite of my car.”

“Me too,” she whispered as if hiding a secret from the world. “See you around, Chase. Get better.”

I opened my mouth to call out, still at square one without a phone number or anything. When a female silhouette appeared in my door, I thought I might have another chance. But it was my beautiful wife instead, wearing the dress she’d probably selected for dinner, followed by a flustered Jacobi.

“Bro, what happened?” Jacobi asked, his lawyerly mind wanting to assess liability right away.

“A dog ran out,” I said shaking my head as I avoided eye contact with my friend. “And I slammed on my brakes. I was just…stupid.” He had to know roughly where the accident occurred, yet said nothing of it or what I was doing around there.

“We’re just glad you’re alive,” Dawn said as she sat on my bed and embraced me.

“I’m not going anywhere, baby,” I said as I held her tight. Dinner plans ruined because of me.

In addition to my phone, which Ava retrieved for me, a tiny framed painting rested on the table beside my bed. When asked about it, I told Dawn it must’ve been left by the hospital staff.

Concussion and all.

My alarm went off before daylight, bringing me out of my deep slumber. The standard call to arms at the beginning of my day. As I labored to move, I was greeted by stiffened parts beyond the usual morning wood. Felt like I’d been used as a punching bag for Floyd May-weather Jr.

“Hey. What are you doing?” Dawn mumbled as she felt the bed shifting with my sitting up.

“Time to get up,” I replied as I yawned.

“Uh-uh. You have amnesia or something? No work for you today. Go back to bed,” she said as she rolled over in the direction of my voice. I watched her eyes softly open. Same enchanting eyes that greeted me for the first time back at Sam Houston State. Before my attempt at law school.

“You’re my doctor now?” I asked of my once-upon-a-time math tutor.

“Nope. Just your nurse.”

I didn’t protest much when she nudged me back onto my pillow. In addition to her college-prep business, Dawn worked part-time at Macy’s in the Woodlands Mall, but didn’t go in until this evening. No dinner last night, but maybe we could work on dessert as she slid closer, her hand exploring beneath the covers.

“Sore?” she asked as her hand moved sensuously back and forth across my chest.

“Some. The muscle relaxers helped.”

“Not
too
relaxed, huh?” she asked, her hand snaking past my waist.

“Um…you might be on to something there,” I said with a grin as she awakened my dick with her skillful touch. I let out a deep sigh of relief, my remaining tension subsiding as Dawn pulled the covers off. She took me in her mouth, quickly coaxing me to a hard, effective state within the warm, inviting space beyond her lips. As she worked me over, I reached toward the curvaceous ass presented before me. I eased my thumb against her clit while probing the perimeter of her anus with my middle finger. Her asshole puckered at my touch, urging me to continue as she bumped her ass against my hand.

“Mmm-hmm,” she mumbled, her mouth full of me, sending good vibrations through my body of the most wonderful kind.

In the bedroom, we never truly had problems. Problems existed whenever I put on my suit and ventured out beyond the bedroom walls. Where expectations were never met in someone’s eyes. Maybe I’d stay here all day.

Dawn made that familiar sexy pop of her lips as she released her oral grip on my dick. She wiped the product of her labor from the corner of her mouth, then slid her nightgown over her head. I paused from kicking my underwear off my ankles to admire her.

I went to reach for her. To take her in my arms and kiss her like my life depended on it.

“Uh-uh. Take it easy,” she said as she forced me onto my back. “Nothing too strenuous for you, big boy. Just lie down and enjoy.”

I eagerly obeyed my nurse’s instructions as Dawn mounted my erection, her hips quivering and flaring. I grunted as she lowered herself onto me, deliciously damp and wanting more.

True to her word, Dawn did all the work. After a shower, she found comfort in a peaceful sleep. Good for her, as I wasn’t ready for a nap after all the activity of yesterday. As much as she’d object, I needed a moment to clear my head. I threw on some clothes and ventured out in her car.

Despite its tiny interior testing my current condition, I jetted down the street FM 1960 in Dawn’s MINI Cooper to pick up a treat I knew she’d like. As the satellite radio played uninterrupted jazz on the Watercolors channel, I noticed the time. Close to noon. Rather than going to the Smoothie King at the corner of Red Oak by Houston Northwest Hospital, I proceeded the four extra miles to the next location by Veterans Memorial Highway.

Did one make better smoothies than the others? Probably not.

I was in front of the HB Japanese Steakhouse when my iPhone rang. I grimaced, suspecting Dawn had realized I was no longer in the bed beside her. Worse. It was Jacobi.

“What’s up, bro?”

“Hey, Jay,” I replied, lowering the volume to Paul Hardcastle as I placed my Bluetooth in my ear.

“Thought you’d be asleep. How you feeling?’

“Sore, but I’ll live. Thanks for bringing Dawn by the hospital.”

“No problem, sir. She’s nursing you back to health?”

Thinking of our morning interlude, I chuckled. “She’s taking care of me,” I replied.

“Maybe get your mind off your old classmate.”

“She’s not on my mind, man. You saw I was taking Dawn out to dinner last night.”

“Uh-huh. But where were you when you got crunched? Nowhere near your house. Don’t think I didn’t notice that.”

“I’m not dignifying that with an answer. I was on my way home.”

“Okay. You’re lucky I’m not deposing you, though.”

“I’ve seen you in action. Remember? You ain’t so scary, bro. But debating your skills isn’t healthy for my recovery. What’s up?”

“Gayle’s filling in for you and can’t find the discovery responses to the Polk case in your office.”

“That’s because I left them in your office. It’s the last thing I did before I left yesterday. They’re on your desk beside yesterday’s mail and your billing sheets for the month.”

I listened as Jacobi fumbled around at his desk before everything went silent. “Okay. Got it, man. Thanks,” he said. If he didn’t call me from the courthouse later, I’d be lucky.

“Can I go now, boss?” I asked as I crossed Veterans Memorial, preparing to make a left turn into the Smoothie King parking lot.

“Yeah, bro. Sorry about calling you over this mess.”

“S’okay. It’s what you pay me for.”

“Need anything? You car okay? Need a ride or something?”

“No. Dawn filed the claim with State Farm last night. Waiting to hear from them. I’ll get a rental later today. Just trying to take it easy right now.”

“All right,” Jacobi responded, his voice easing. “I’ll leave you alone, man. See you soon.”

“Later, bro.”

I ordered Dawn’s Passion Passport and my Power Punch Plus. As I waited for my frequent customer punch card and the smoothies in the drive-through lane, I eyed an elderly man on the curb. Dressed in a pair of wrinkled khakis, flip-flops, dark blue socks, and a dark blue Hawaiian shirt, he sat comfortably on an overturned shopping cart with his back to me. It was a makeshift stage for a lunchtime performance.

I lowered my window some more, better to catch the notes from the trumpet he prepared to play. As the drive-through window opened, the employee handed me my card and the drinks along with my receipt. The man on the shopping cart blew.

The beginnings of “The Girl from Ipanema.” He always warmed up with that song. Every time I watched him without his knowing. Call it nagging concern, but I’d been doing it more frequently these days. Having loosened up enough, his worn and weathered fingers were ready to perform admirably for the public.

I pulled away from the drive-through window, anticipating surprising Dawn with her favorite. But before I’d gone five feet, I stopped. Leaving the MINI Cooper running, I walked over from the drive-through lane and came over. He glanced over his shoulder, surprised to see me. He looked at least ten years older than what he really was. Despite that, we shared the same light brown eyes and skin hue. Without registering anything on my scratched face, I dropped a five-dollar bill in the white plastic bucket at his feet.

“Thank you, sir,” he said with a nod and smile as he paused from his joy. I turned without speaking, returning to Dawn’s car before someone thought about jacking it.

“How’s your momma?” Joell Hidalgo, my father, asked after a single hastily ended note.

“Same as always,” I replied loud enough for him to hear before I drove off.

Back to my world and away from his.