“No,”
“What do you mean no?” He didn’t mean for it to come out so coarse but this was ridiculous. She couldn’t just run back to her apartment every time she got mad. He stood up unable to sit anymore. “You’re going back—”
“I wanna stay with my dad for a few days. The doctor said his lack of discipline when it comes to taking all his medication and his diet is what landed him in the hospital. It wasn’t a stroke this time, but the doctor said next time he might not be so lucky. If I have to stay there and help Norma baby him then that’s just what I’ll have to do. I don’t…” She paused for a moment Alex heard her take a trembling deep breath. “I won’t let this happen again.” Her voice broke along with Alex’s heart.
He gripped the phone. Damn he wanted to be there, to hold her, tell her everything was going to be okay. He heard her clear her voice. “I have to finish getting ready. I wanna get back to the hospital as soon as possible.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
“No, Alex. There’s no point. You’ll just be sitting in the waiting room the whole time. You should be at the restaurant or at least getting some rest.”
Alex couldn’t believe it. Her father was in the hospital, she had a crazed lunatic stalking her, and she was worried about him getting rest?
“When will I see you?”
There was a brief silence then she spoke. “If they release him today, I’ll call you from his house. If he’s up for visitors, you can come by.”
Alex took an extra long shower, contemplating everything that he’d taken in in the last twenty four hours. There was no way he was going to argue with Valerie about staying with her dad. If that’s what made her feel better, he wanted nothing more. But it still didn’t change the fact that Valerie chose to go back to her apartment to get ready rather than come back to their place. He still had so many unanswered questions about her and Luke. He was trying to keep his cool, but his irritation levels were already climbing, and this day was just getting started.
***
Sal seemed surprised to see Alex when he arrived at the restaurant. Since Romero jumped in with Alex yesterday on the way to the hospital, he had Sal come pick him up. Alex didn’t want to leave the hospital. He had told Sal he probably wouldn’t be in today.
“How’s her dad doing?”
“Better.” Alex walked to the back office, and Sal followed. “He’ll probably go home today.”
“Really? Romero said it was a stroke.”
“Nah, it wasn’t after all. Look’s like he’s gonna be fine.” Alex took a seat in front of the computer and moved the mouse around.
After filling Sal in on Valerie’s dad, Sal went back to more interviewing. Alex felt a little guilty about leaving all the hiring to Sal, but his mind was too crowded to concentrate on much else. Only consolation was that Sal was damn anal, he relished on making sure they only hired qualified candidates. He liked being the one in charge of hiring.
Alex’s dark mood lingered. Everything seemed to annoy him all day, from the computer not being quite up to speed, to the bus boys laughing a bit too loud out back on their break. By the end of the afternoon, he still hadn’t heard from Valerie. Not even a text to check in on how everything was going.
He was beyond irritated and ready to snap when his phone rang and it was finally Valerie’s name on the caller I.D. Just like that, his mood shifted and some of the tension seemed to drain. “Hey Val, is he out?”
“Yeah, he’s home now.” Hearing her voice was even more mollifying.
“Good, I was getting ready to leave.”
“Alex, I don’t think it’s a good idea. He just got home, and he seems a little worn out from this whole ordeal. Maybe tomorrow would be a better.”
Alex pinched the rim of his nose and closed his eyes. “Baby, we really need to talk.”
“I know, and we will… Tomorrow.” She added firmly.
He had no choice but to accept. Alex had already alerted Romero of the need to have someone outside Valerie’s dad’s house through the night.
He drove home slowly, thinking. Always thinking. The more he thought about going another day away from Valerie, the more he was tempted to turn the car around and head to her dad’s. His feelings wouldn’t be hurt if her dad didn’t come out to visit with him. Hell, he didn’t even have to go inside. All he needed was to see her. Hold her, even if only for a moment. Most importantly he needed to explain himself, damn it. He couldn’t have her thinking for even one more night that he’d been spying on her.
Without giving it another thought, he turned the car around. She might be upset that he just showed up, might even ask him to leave. He would if that’s what she wanted, but not before she heard him out. Tonight. Not tomorrow.
***
Her dad was being stubborn again. Valerie and Norma wanted to settle him in his room and wait on him. The doctors had said he needed rest. But her dad wasn’t going down without a fight. Norma welcomed Valerie’s help. Over the years, they’d developed a buddy system. Valerie played the bad cop while Norma played good cop to try to appease her father when they ganged up on him. They had to. The man was impossible at times. Like tonight—they were in the living room because he refused to stay put in his bed.
“Look,” he said, lifting the handle on the side of his lazy-boy. His feet went up and he clicked the television on with the remote. “I did it all by myself. Now go get me a beer.”