Fallen Woman(54)

Trace opened the door, and I knew there was something wrong. Derrick was crying, Megan was holding an unhappy Emmy, and Miss Pearl was nowhere to be seen. He grabbed my hand, and without so much as a hello, dragged me to her body crumpled on the ground in front of the stove.

As soon as I saw her feet, I ran to her on the floor. “Oh God, Miss Pearl.” I shook her as I said her name. Then directed my attention to Trace. “Buddy, what happened? How long has she been like this?”

He shrugged but didn’t speak.

“Son, I need you to tell me what you know. What happened to Miss Pearl?”

“I dunno, Mommy. We woked up, and she was sleepin’ on the floor. I tried to wake her up and Derrick yelled at her, but I made him stop. I know I wasn’t ’posed to, but I came and knocked on our door, but you didn’t hear me. I tried to yell at you, but when you didn’t come, I came back over here. Derrick’s been cryin’ and so has Em, but I didn’t know what to do.” He raised his little shoulders, indicating he was at his wit's end.

I kissed the top of his head as I stood. “You did perfect, buddy. Mommy needs to get her phone. Can you stay right here? I’ll be right back.” He agreed to my request and I dashed out the door. I didn’t know Jase’s number by heart, and it dawned on me I should have called 9-1-1 before I called him anyhow. I dialed the number as I ran back to Pearl’s apartment. Unable to give them much information other than a faint pulse and shallow breathing, they dispatched an ambulance.

While we waited, I called Jase.

“Hey, babe. Why didn’t you call me last night? I waited up for you.”

“I need you to come to The Village, now.” I didn’t offer an explanation and he didn’t ask for one.

“I’m on my way.”

Shortly after, the ambulance arrived and took Pearl to Memorial Hospital. It pained me to send her alone, but I couldn’t leave four kids behind, and they couldn’t ride, so there was no other option. I knew Jase would take me the moment he got here, so I scurried the kids along to get dressed. They were all terrified, not understanding what was going on. I did my best to calm their fears, but the truth was I was scared, too. We met Jase in the parking lot; Emmy immediately reached up for him. He grabbed her and started firing questions at me as we all piled in his SUV.

“I don’t know, Jase. I got there, the kids were crying, and she was in a heap in the kitchen. I don’t know how long she’d been that way, but she was still breathing and had a faint pulse.”

“I’m sure she’s fine.” The deception in his voice was clear, but I knew the lie was for the kids. He loved all of them and didn’t want to further upset them. Emmy didn’t want to let go of his neck but finally relented when he promised to carry her when we got to the hospital.

I dreaded going back to the place I’d just left but didn’t see any way around it. The six of us went traipsing into the emergency room—Jase toting Emmy, and the twins and Derrick holding my hands and each other. He asked for her and was told we needed to take a seat. None of us were family except Derrick, and this was going to be a nightmare.

It would have proven difficult for me; it did not, however, prove to be much of a challenge for Jase. He knew the hospital administrator and offered a donation in exchange for allowing us to accompany Miss Pearl’s only relative—a minor—Derrick, into her room. She’d been moved to a room in ICU while Jase had been pulling strings. Just as we stood up to leave the Emergency Room, the nurse who’d brought me the clothes this morning spotted me and came over. I tried to avoid her, but Megan pulled me back. “Mommy, that lady was talking to you.”

Jase stopped to turn around and wait for the nurse to catch up to us.

“Is everything okay? I didn’t expect to see you back.” And with that, Jase set Emmy down against her protesting and set his eyes on me.

“What’s she talking about, Gia?”

I turned to the nurse and quickly told her we were there to see about Derrick’s grandmother. Her face blushed crimson red, and she knew she’d just outed me. With Jase behind me, I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and thanked her for her concern while she quickly turned on her heel and trotted off.

Facing Jase, the stormy gray clouded his eyes, and I knew there was no escaping this, but I’d be damn sure we wouldn’t do it in front of my kids. “Not now, Jase. Miss Pearl first. Then you and I can talk.”

He nodded curtly, unhappy with my answer but accepting our current limitations with four pairs of little ears around us. Emmy climbed back up his body and Derrick claimed his free hand. With the twins on opposite sides of me, the six of us went to the ICU where we were met with more red tape. Jase was able to get Derrick admitted to see his grandmother, but my kids weren’t allowed back no matter how large a donation he made. With Emmy’s illness, and the other two being four, the risk to the patients was too great, and the administration was adamant.

We’d been there most of the day when Jase finally got Derrick back to see his grandmother, but before he left me, he pulled me aside. “Gia, baby, you need to understand, the only reason they’re letting him back is to say goodbye.”

I was dumbfounded. I knew she wasn’t in good health, but they couldn’t know already what was wrong or that she wasn’t going to make it. There was no way. “You don’t know that, Jase.” I refused to believe anything he was saying. It hadn’t been long enough for anyone to make that determination.