TRUE LOVE: FOUR SEASONS [Chapter 7: Summer]

Months had gone by and nobody had seen any sign of Teddy. I had continued to go see Dr. Nolan a few days after the incident with Teddy. I didn’t tell him about the rape, but I told him that there had been some sex involved. He told me that I was much stronger than he had ever seen me because I took the initiative to come and talk to him. Anytime, I felt like I was going to fall apart, I would always know to go see the man behind the orange door. I was able to get back on track in my life, going to work spending time with my family and friends. It was back to the good times. Summer was here and we made it a bi-weekly occasion to all meet at the beach. Larissa had mentioned that she was seeing someone on a regular basis, which surprised us all, but we were happy for her. Jasmine and Devin were still together and he had even joined us on a few occasions to meet up at the beach. Natalie had decided to get a custom made wedding gown, which would take up to eight months and cost over ten grand. My dad hired Jasmine at the restaurant and surprisingly had a huge connection with Larissa. It was nice to have us all bonded. As we were talking on the beach, spread out to get suntans, I saw something dancing in the wind. I looked up trying to block the sun. The object fell delicately onto my chest. With my left hand, I grabbed it, identifying it as a cherry blossom.

“Look babe.” I said

“A cherry blossom.” He said scrunching his forehead

“What?” I asked confused by his look

“It’s just…they never fall until autumn…like ever.” He said

“That’s weird. You think the tree is dying?” I asked

“I hope not.”

My cell phone interrupted us. It was my dad. I quickly answered it.

“Hello?” I said

“Son…I need you to come over.” He said flatly

“What is it? Are you okay? Is Mom okay?”

My frantic voice alerted my friends and Cameron. They all looked at me hoping nothing bad happened.

“I just need you and Cameron to come over please.”

He hung up. I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. I stared down at my phone unsure how to feel.

“What happened?” Cameron asked

“I’m not sure. My dad wants us to come over right now.” I said

“We’ll come with you.” Natalie said as she and Phillip stood up

“No, no…it’s okay. We’ll call you guys.” I said

Cameron and I rushed to my car. He grabbed the keys from my hands and offered to drive, since I wasn’t sure how I felt about the call from my dad. With flip flops on, board shorts and tank tops on, we drove to my parents. Upon arrival, I sat in the car, daydreaming. Cameron had to grab my hand to snap me out of it.  We walked in the front door. We saw my mom and dad sitting at the dining room table.

“You guys…what’s wrong?” I asked

“Hi sweetie.” My mom said

“Mom.” I said walking over to her kissing her cheek, I then walked to my dad to hug him.

Cameron followed my example and we both stood at the opposite end of the table.

“Sit down guys.” My mom smiled

We sat down without a word. My mom looked at my dad. He took a silent but deep breath. He then looked down at his hands. I looked at my mom and kept my eyes on her.

“Remember the day I fainted at the restaurant?” she began

“Yes.” I said

“Well…after testing and bloodwork and testing and bloodwork…they found out the reason that happened.” She said

“What is it?” I asked

Under the table, Cameron was holding onto my leg. He was as nervous as I was, because he was holding on with a firm grip. My mom leaned to the side of the table towards the ground. She pulled something out of her purse. It was a yellow envelope with the hospital’s logo on it. My mom slide the envelope to us in silence. I looked confused and concerned. I hesitantly opened the envelope to pull out documents and a couple x-rays. I examined the x-rays, unsure of what to make of them. Finally, I could see that it was an x-ray of my mother’s skull…her brain. There were markings on the x-ray, a circle with an arrow pointing at a dark mass.

“Mom.” I said with a shaky voice

“The doctor found it during my last CT scan.”

“What is it?” I asked as tears filled my eyes

“A brain tumor.” She said

My dad couldn’t hold back and broke down. I closely followed with a stream of tears pouring down my face.

“Mom…” I said fighting it

“They only gave me four months.” She said trembling

I leaped from my chair and latched onto her. We both sobbed uncontrollably. She held me tightly as if trying to merge us together as one. My dad also leaned into hug us. Cameron walked over, crying in silence as he hugged us from behind me.

“There must be something we can do…surgery…or medicine…chemotherapy…” I said through sobs

“I wish there was a way.” My mom said wiping my tears from my face as I crouched down by her lap

“This can’t be right…this isn’t fair!” I shouted in pain

“They caught it too late.” She said

“I’m not ready…I’m not ready…” I cried in her lap, “I’m not ready for you to go.”

“I know baby…I’m not ready either.” My mom said crying into the back of my head

As we sat there and cried for what felt like an hour, my entire life flashed before my eyes with my mother – the good, the bad, the funny, the sad, the talk we had when she first found out about me loving Cameron. After collecting myself…I wiped my eyes and noticed two tear stains on her lap. I looked up at her and her eyes were red from the crying. She held my hand as I scooted my chair next to her so I didn’t have to let go. Cameron stood behind me hunched over rubbing my back. My dad knelt down on the other side of my mom holding her other hand.

“We have to be strong.” My mom said

I nodded my head, trying to process what I was just told.

“I don’t want anything to change.” My mom looked at both Joey and I

I looked at her confused.

“Keep living your life normally. Just…come visit me a little more often…”

“Mom…” I tried to cut her off

“Listen…” she said, “these next few months are going to be tough as it is…I don’t my last days to be sad with my family.”

That hurt like a knife to the heart. Her last days.

“Promise me.” She squeezed my hand, “Promise me…that you will both live long happy lives…be happy, love one another.”

More tears rolled down my face as I nodded, shaking them loose. We sat there and talked for a while, asking questions about what the doctor said, treatment options, what was next. It was tough to listen to, but necessary. My mother stood up from the table and grabbed my hand.

“Come with me.” She said

I looked at my dad and Cameron. They stayed at the dining room table in silence, unsure how or what to talk about at this point. I walked up the stairs behind my mother, still holding her hand. She led me to her bedroom and closed the door.

“I want to show you something.” She said

She walked to her dresser and pulled opened a drawer almost completely out. She moved around some clothing and lifted a small chest out of it. The small wooden chest looked old and worn. She placed it between us as we sat on the bed. She opened the lid and it contained a few keepsakes she’s collected over the years including old glasses, a fabric daisy and a seashell among other things. The most noticeable item was the biggest and it looked like a brown leather book. She pulled it out slowly and handed it to me. I looked at her and she smiled at me.

“It was my diary, when I first met your dad. I kept up with it until you were two years old.”

“Why are you giving this to me?” I asked

“Because you have memories of me from as long as you can remember…now you have memories of me, from before you were born.” She smiled

My lip quivered again as I filled with emotion and hugged her. As we hugged, I was looking down into the chest. I saw something shining in it. We released each other and I fished for the item. It was a silver wedding band two diamonds in it.

“Whose is this?” I asked

“That was your grandfather’s.”

“It’s beautiful.” I said

“It’s simple, but has strong meaning.” She said

“Why are there two diamonds?”

“One represented him…the other…the person he loved…your grandmother.”

I glared at the ring, thinking about the years of love that were accumulated in this symbolic piece of jewelry. My grandparents stayed married for over sixty years and they truly loved each other.

“He gave it to me before he died. He told me to pass it down to my children when the time was right.”

“Mom.” I smiled

“Joey,” she laughed, “I’m not hinting that you should get married tomorrow.”

“I would love to get married one day.” I said

“I’d love to see you get married.” She said under a breath

Here it came again…the tears.

“But I want you to be there…when I do.” I said unable to control myself

“Shh.” My mother whispered holding me as I sobbed

She rocked me in her arms until I could somewhat control myself again.

“Listen to me, Joey,” she began, “When you get married…whenever that may be…I will be there.”

I looked at her through tear filled eyes.

“Whenever you see a white dove…that will be me…watching over you. I’ll be your guardian angel…forever.” She said

We sat there, crying together for a few moments. We eventually left the room and rejoined my dad and Cameron. I held the diary tightly in my hands, not paying attention to my surroundings. My mother was trying to change the subject by discussing dinner. It got later in the day and I didn’t want to leave, I wanted to spend every moment with my mother. But she urged me to leave. She reminded me that I made a promise to not change my life. I smiled and hugged her. I put on a brave face until we got in the car. I cried all the way home and cried myself to sleep.

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.

TRUE LOVE: FOUR SEASONS [Chapter 6: The Seduction]

A few weeks had passed and my mother was getting the necessary testing done. She was doing great. She kept reassuring us that she just suffered from a dizzy spell. My dad had recommended that she don’t work as much and just work in the back office of the restaurant, but my mother was not going to just sit down and let everyone else do the work. On her days off, she would stay home. I’d visit her, or if I wasn’t able to, Cameron or Natalie and Phillip would check on her and offer to get her anything or take her anywhere. She really didn’t need the assistance, but she enjoyed the company.

            Teddy had come to Cameron and me about a week after the incident with my mother asking for our help. He explained that his family was moving out of state and selling their house. He didn’t have anywhere to go and practically begged us if he could temporarily stay with us. I told Cameron I didn’t feel comfortable for reasons that I was only aware of, but Cameron, being the good hearted soul he was, told him he could stay for two weeks, but needed to use that time to find an alternative living situation. I never felt comfortable alone with him, there were times where I would lock myself in the room when Cameron wasn’t home or I would just go for a run, or make up an excuse to leave all together. One evening, while I was home alone, Cameron called me telling me that he was asked to work a double. This meant that he wouldn’t be home until the morning. I didn’t mind that because Teddy worked at a nightclub as a bartender. He didn’t get home until almost 3am, which was perfect because I didn’t have to try to entertain him. I was sitting at the desk in the living room facing the ocean. I had my diary open and writing about my day. It was something I started after Cameron and I got back together. I didn’t write in it every day, just the days that mattered or counted. Lately and I had been writing mostly about my mother. Cloud rubbed against my leg, purring loudly begging for attention. He jumped onto the desk and nudged his head against my chin. I pet him as he closed his eyes with satisfaction. He began to play with a paper clip on the desk, using his paws to scoop it back and forth. I stared out into the ocean, watching the moonlight glisten through the breaks of the waves. It was getting late, I should get some sleep. I text Cameron that I was going to sleep. Within a few minutes he had called me to wish me a goodnight, tell me he loved me and that he would see me in the morning. Cloud and I walked upstairs, I had my diary in my hand. I closed the door behind me to our bedroom, letting cloud in of course and shoved my diary in a hidden wedge under the bed which hid it between the frame and the box spring. Cameron knew I had a diary, but never questioned what I wrote and respected my privacy. I lied on my right side with Cloud cuddled against my back, I continued to gaze at the beautiful night sky. The wall on my side of the room was pure floor to ceiling glass with a sliding door. I began to drift into a sleep.

            I felt someone rubbing my arm, pulling me out of a deep sleep.

“Joey.” Said the voice

I squinted my eyes trying to make out the figure in front of me. I quickly sat up realizing it was Teddy.

“Teddy. What the fuck?” I said frustrated

“Sorry.” He said smelling of alcohol

“You’re drunk.” I said stating the obvious

“Duh.” He laughed

“What do you want?” I asked

“I just wanted to see if you wanted to have a couple of drinks?”

I looked over at my clock on my nightstand.

“It’s 3:30 in the morning, Teddy. Maybe another time.” I said

“Come on. Let’s celebrate.” He said

“Celebrate what?” I asked

“I got a promotion!” he said with excitement

“You did? Wow. Congratulations.” I said half a sleep and still annoyed

“Thanks, now come on.” He said ripping the blankets off me

“Ted!”

“Don’t be such a baby, come on.” He said grabbing my arm and lifting me up out of bed

“Fine…just one.” I said giving in

We walked downstairs and headed to the kitchen. Teddy had brought home a small box of alcohol. He pulled out the different bottles – Patron Tequila, margarita mix, Jack Daniels, Grey Goose, and Martini mix.

“What’s your poison?” he smiled

“I’ll have whatever.” I said honestly and sitting on a bar stool

He grabbed his mixer and poured in different bottles. He then grabbed a couple of our martini glasses and poured in an orange colored drink. He then splashed a drop of grenadine into it. He grabbed a grapefruit from our fruit bowl and sliced a couple pieces off. He placed one slice in my martini and placed the other in his.

“What is this?” I asked

“Just drink it.” He urged me

I took a sip. It was delicious! It was like a tropical orangey drink.

“This is really good.” I said sipping some more

“Thanks.” He smiled taking a drink of his

We began to chit chat about his job, about his plans of moving out and then eventually just laughing. I didn’t realize until two drinks in that I was having a good time. Teddy was being sweet and just a good friend. I began to let down my walls as two drinks turned into four drinks. After an hour and a half of drinking his delicious drinks, I stumbled to the kitchen spilling a bit of the drink on the floor.

“Shit.” I laughed

“You’re wasting it.” Teddy giggled

“I have to clean it up, or Cloud will get drunk.” I continued to laugh

I grabbed a paper towel and walked to my spill and cleaned it up. I stood up, losing my balance and falling on my ass.

“Shit. Are you okay?” Teddy laughed

“I think I’m drunk.” I said

“I think we should stop drinking.” Teddy suggested smiling

“Yeah. Good idea.” I slurred

“I’m ready for bed.” He said

“Okay. I should get some sleep too.” Giggling

Teddy came over to me and linked onto my arm to help me up the stairs. I tripped twice, almost taking Teddy down with me. We reached the top of the landing and he guided me to my bedroom. Cloud was still in the room, asleep on top of our dresser. He sat me on the bed laying me down on my back. He picked up my feet and pushed them up.

“Teddy.” I said forcing myself to sit up

“Yeah?” he asked

“I just want to say…I had a good time tonight. You were so nice…and…it was nice…that you were nice.”

“What?” he laughed at me, “I’m always nice.”

“I mean…where you are not trying to get in my pants.” I admitted

“Oh. Well. I realized that even if you were single, I would never have a chance with you.” He said smiling down at me

“Teddy.” I said making a sad face

“Don’t make that face.” Teddy laughed

“I don’t want you to think that though. You’re a very sexy guy. I just can’t see you that way, because I’m in love with Cameron.”

“I know. Every day, I wish I was him.” He said in a low voice

“You do?” I asked

“Yeah.”

I stood up and threw my arms around him, hugging him.

“I want you to be yourself.” I said

We lost our balance and fell to the floor. We laughed uncontrollably.

“Ouch.” I said

“Are you okay?” he asked

“No.” I laughed, “I hurt my hand.”

“Let me see.” He said grabbing it gently

He began to inspect it. I kept my eyes closed, as the room seemed to be spinning. I then felt something on the top of my hand. I opened my eyes and realized he was kissing my hand.

“What are you doing?” I asked, not moving away from him

“Kissing it to make it better.”

He kissed my hand again.

“How does that feel?” he looked at me

“Better.” I smiled

He kissed me again, on the knuckle of my middle finger.

“Does that feel good?” he asked

“Yeah.” I said

Finally, he wrapped his lips on the tip of my middle finger, kissing it. He simply looked at me, maybe waiting for a reaction. But all I could do is just smile.

“Can I make you feel better?” he asked

“Yeah.” I said

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small bag. He got up, walked to the bathroom in our bedroom and sat back down next to me. He brought a hand mirror and placed it on the floor. He opened the bag and poured out a small amount of white powder. I looked up at him in disbelief.

“Cocaine?” I asked

He didn’t respond. He made two lines and rolled up a dollar bill he had in his wallet. He leaned down and snorted it. He extended his hand holding the dollar bill.

“Teddy. Last time this almost killed me.” I said

“That was poisoned. I wouldn’t do that to you. Besides, this one isn’t as strong.” He said egging me on

“I can’t.” I said

“I thought we were finally friends. Why would I try to hurt someone I care about?”

I shrugged.

“It’s only a little anyways. It won’t hurt you.” He said

I grabbed the rolled up dollar from him. I took a deep breath, realizing it was a stupid thing to do, but it’s like the spontaneous side of me took over. I leaned down and inhaled the line. I coughed a bit, somewhat tasting it in the back of my throat. I dropped the dollar and tossed my head back closing my eyes. Time began to slow down. I felt like the entire world had gone into slow motion. I looked back down at Teddy who was smiling. He stood up on his knees and moved towards me. His hands wrapped around my neck and leaned in to kiss me. His lips were soft. He opened his mouth and I opened mine. I let his tongue enter my mouth and I rubbed mine against his. He began to stand up, not releasing my lips and I was forced to stand up too. We both took off our t-shirts, only unlocking lips for that moment. He walked towards me as I walked backwards and laying down on the bed. He crawled over me and kissed my chest, abs and back up to my nipples. He unbuttoned my pants and slid them off of me revealing that I hadn’t been wearing underwear. The tip of his tongue circled my belly button and he then ran it down my happy trail to the base of my penis. I was hard. His lips, wet and full, wrapped around the head of my dick and with suction, he lowered his head onto it. I arched my back in pleasure. He ran his hand from my waist, up my body to my neck, his index finger slithered passed my chin and into my open mouth. I wrapped my lips around his finger sucking it gently and he withdrew it slowly. As his hand slowly retracted down my chest and stomach, both of my hands traced his slithering down until I grabbed onto the hair on his head. I pulled him up and locked lips on his again as I let go allowing him to get back to sucking me off. As I lied there, the room was spinning and fading to black on and off, like someone was flicking the light to the room on and off. The cocaine was beginning to take over. Teddy flipped me over on my chest and began to eat me out. I couldn’t really remember too much of what was going on at this point. There were flashes of his tongue inside me and then feeling tightness. I had realized that he was beginning to penetrate me. He grabbed my hair with one hand as he pounded me hard. Once again I blacked out, not remembering what had happened for a short period, then I remember being on my back with him over me. Things were starting to get blurry and didn’t make sense. I could hear Cameron’s voice. I pretended it was Cameron who was fucking me instead. I then saw a flash of both of them, I heard shouting and finally back to black again.

            Through my lids, I had a sense of it being daylight out. I could hear crying, sobbing, people whispering. With my eyes still closed, I turned my head to my right and began to crack open my lids. Through blurry morning vision, I could see a small group of people huddled up together in the distance. I could start to make out voices and realized that I heard Cameron, Natalie, Phillip, Jasmine and Larissa. My eyes were fully open and I could see clearly. My mouth and throat were dry and I began to cough. Cameron quickly stood up wiping his face and walking towards me.

“Babe…are you okay?” he said with a shaky voice

I couldn’t talk. I gestured to my mouth and throat, requesting liquids.

“I’ll get some water.” Jasmine said rushing to our bathroom

As she returned, Phillip, who was on the other side of me and Cameron lifted me up a little so I could drink water. The water burned going down.

“What happened?” I asked with a raspy voice

They all looked at each other, not sure where to start or how to tell me?

“Is it my mom!” I sat up in immediate fear

“No…your mom is fine.” Natalie said

“What is it then?” I asked again

“Do you remember last night?” Phillip asked me

I squinted my eyes trying to think of the last thing I remembered.

“I remember Teddy…” I began

“And?” Natalie interrupted

“He woke me up to have a few drinks with him to celebrate his promotion.” I explained

“What else?” Jasmine asked

“That’s it…that’s all I can remember.” I said honestly

Cameron looked down, closing his eyes and running both hands through his hair and rubbing his eyes.

“What’s going on? You guys are scaring me.” I said

Natalie sat down on the bed next to me and rubbed my leg, while Jasmine crouched down next to Cameron and grabbed my hand.

“Joey…” Natalie began, “Teddy…did something last night.”

My heart began to pound.

Natalie continued, “He drugged you…and…” she paused and looked at Cameron who with his eyes still closed, had tears rolling down his face.

Natalie’s eyes began to water, her mouth still ajar, trying to spit out the words.

“He raped you.”

My heart sunk. I immediately looked at Cameron who was now looking at me and crying uncontrollably. He leaned forward and hugged me tightly. My eyes also filled with tears, I was in shock, but I also believed it. As Cameron was hugging me, through my tear soaked eyes, I noticed the mirror and small bag of cocaine on the floor, but that isn’t what horrified me. Surrounding the drugs on the ground, were smears of blood, a few light splatters on the wall, broken glass and blood stained clothes. I quickly released Cameron and looked into his eyes.

“Blood.” I simply said

“It’s Teddy’s.” Larissa said

“Cameron…” I said fearful of what he was going to confess

“I wanted to kill him.” He said plainly

“I don’t understand.” I said confused and trying to piece everything together.

Cameron stood up and began to pace. He explained that he got off work early and got home around 5:30 in the morning. He saw the martini glasses and open bottles of alcohol and found it suspicious. He said that when he walked into the room, he found Teddy over what looked to be my unconscious body, fucking me. At that point, I cringed. I would fall to pieces if I ever saw Cameron having sex with someone else. My eyes filled with tears again as he continued. Cameron lunged at Teddy, throwing him to the ground. Cameron saw the drugs and began to punch Teddy in the face. Teddy was unwilling to fight back. He was crying, begging Cameron for forgiveness. When he was at his most vulnerable, Cameron asked him about the first time I was drugged in the club; Teddy admitted he did drug me, but he said that he never lied about being the one who gave me the ecstasy. That was true; the whole truth was that he gave the drugs to a go-go dancer to place in my pocket and wallet. He also confessed to being the one who gave me Mike’s number, the guy who almost killed me on his laced cocaine. The final confession was that he had drugged me last night. He had placed a small amount of the rape drug in the cup that I was drinking out of.

“I was watching him carefully. I didn’t see him do it.” I said

“He said that he had done it before he came to wake you up.” Natalie clarified

Anger, pain, frustration, disgust and hatred came over me. I was mostly emotional with sadness, because it’s something Cameron had to witness and I let it happen again. Cameron continued to tell me that with all of his confessions, he was filled with rage and attacked Teddy.

“Cameron…” said, “You didn’t, did you?”

“I wanted to…but no.” he said

“Where is he?” I asked

“I told him to never come around us again. I never wanted to see him, if I did…I probably would kill him. I don’t know where he is…and I don’t care. As long as he’s out of our lives.” Cameron said

“I’m sorry.” I broke down

“It’s not your fault.” He said comforting me

            With getting the clarity of who gave me the drugs, I was relieved to hear that Teddy would no longer show his face around.

“You need to go to the police.” Jasmine suggested

“I can’t” I said looking into Cameron’s eyes

“Why?” Jasmine asked in shock

“Because if I do, I’ll have to tell them about the drugs…about Cameron beating him up. I can’t put him or any of us through that type of pain. I just want to move forward.” He pleaded

Although I could see Jasmine and Larissa disagreed with my decision, they respected it. Cameron knew it was the right thing to do.

“I just ask…please…don’t tell my parents…you’re your mom.” I told Cameron and Natalie

They nodded and agreed.

For the remainder of the day, I stood in bed with Natalie and Jasmine by my side while Cameron and Phillip cleaned up the blood, Larissa disposed of the drugs and cleaned up the kitchen. This day ended up being a three pager in my diary…one of the many days now written down…as a day that would change me forever…it changed all of us forever.

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.

TRUE LOVE: FOUR SEASONS [Chapter 5: Marie]

I ran to my mother’s side. My dad rushed around the window as did a few of the servers.

“Mom…mom…MOM!” I shouted, trying to shake her out of it

“Marie! Hunny, come on, sweetie…wake up.” My dad said brusher her hair out of her face

“CALL 9-1-1!” I shouted to one of the servers

The young female server grabbed the phone and did as I told her.

“Mom.” I said under a shaky voice as my eyes filled with tears

My mother’s eyes twitched her under closed lids and she groaned.

“Oh my God.” I said in relief

“Joey, place this under her head, but be gentle.” my dad said giving me a clean towel to pillow her head

I grabbed it and gently lifted her head. Just as I did, she opened her eyes slowly.

“Is she bleeding?” my dad asked

“No, it doesn’t look like it.”

“Sweetie, can you hear me?” my dad asked

“What happened?” my mother mumbled

“I’m not sure…I think you fainted.” My dad said, “Joey, what did you see?”

“I don’t know. That’s what it looked like. You didn’t drip on anything.” I said

“I want to stand up.” My mom said

“No.” both my dad and I said, “just wait until the ambulance gets here.” My dad finished

I pulled out my phone and called Cameron.

“Hello?”

“Babe. My mom got hurt at work. We’re going to the hospital.” I said

“Shit. Where are you?” he asked

“Still here with her. Just meet us at the hospital.” I said

“Okay.” He said as we hung up.

The paramedics arrived and placed a neck braced on my mom as they put her on a stretcher and wheeled her out. My dad put another chef in charge and one of the senior servers in charge of the floor. We were both about to get into the ambulance, but the paramedic stopped us.

“Only one of you can be back here.” He said

“Go Dad.” I said

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’ll follow you.” I said running to my car

As I got in my car, my phone started ringing. It was Natalie. Cameron must have called her. I didn’t answer. A few minutes later as I was tailgating the ambulance, my phone rang again and this time it was Larissa, followed by Jasmine and Phillip. Teddy was the only one not to bother me, but there must have been other reasons as to why he didn’t. I couldn’t think about that right now. We got to the hospital and unfortunately I had to park pretty far. I rushed to the doors where the paramedics had just drove off. They must have wheeled my mother inside. I walked into the doors marked, Paramedics Only. I didn’t give a shit.

“Hey. You need to go around to the Emergency Room entrance.” A security guard shouted at me

“No, it’s okay…” Diane said

She must have been waiting for me to walk in. Luckily she worked in the emergency room. She gestured the guard to let me in. She grabbed my arm and we began to jog through the halls.

“Where is she? What happened?” I asked

“She was taken to get a cat scan. She hit her head pretty hard.” She said

“Is she going to be okay?” I asked

“I’m sure she will. Just sit tight in here.” She pointed me to a private waiting room where Natalie and Jasmine were waiting with my Dad. They were around him trying to comfort him.

“Joey.” Natalie said getting up and hugging me tightly

Cameron and Phillip walked into the room at that moment. Cameron squeezed me tightly.

“Is she okay?” he asked

“I don’t know.” I answered

Phillip walked over and gently hugged me rubbing my back.

“Joe…did you need anything? Water or coffee?” Cameron asked my dad

“I’m okay right now. Thank you.” He patted his arm in appreciation

“Okay. I’m going to go see if I can get any information.” Cameron said.

With his high position in the hospital, I’m sure he could be the first to find out what was going on. He kissed me and walked out of the private waiting room darting around the corner. We sat down and realized all we could do is wait. Twenty minutes after I had arrived at the hospital, I got a text from Larissa.

Larissa: I know you have a lot on your mind right now. But just let me know as soon as you find out what happened with your mom.

I didn’t respond. Eventually after what seemed two hours, but in reality only thirty minutes, Cameron came back with some minor information.

“The CT scan is done. She’s doing fine. Just a concussion. The doctor is heading this way with your mom in a few minutes.”

“Thank God she’s okay.” Natalie said

Phillip who was sitting next to me wrapped his arm around me to shake me out of my state of stress.

“She’s okay, J.” he said

I nodded my head. The doctor walked in followed by a nurse pushing my mother in a wheelchair. She was smiling.

“Mom.” I said wanting to squeeze her, but I was afraid to hurt me

“I’m okay.” She said in a low voice

“What happened to my wife?” my dad asked

“To be honest, I’m not quite sure. We need to run some tests. Based on what Marie said, she just felt very dizzy and she attributed that to the heat of the kitchen. Eventually leading to fainting. She is also somewhat dehydrated, so I’d like her to drink as much water as possible. She did suffer from a concussion, so she will need to be monitored and stay up for twenty-four hours.” He said

“You said, you needed to run tests. What kind of tests?” Cameron asked

“Blood work mostly. I’d like to conduct a few MRI’s. Her record doesn’t show any recent physicals and I’d like to set up an appointment with a physician to get a physical so we can update her chart.”

“Do you think it can be serious?” my dad asked

“At this point, I wouldn’t worry. I would request that your wife stay off her feet for three days and just rest and hydrate.” He told both my mother and father

They both nodded.

“Marie, if you feel dizzy or hot. I need you to quickly sit down and call someone to your side.” The doctor told my mom before turning to me and my dad, “If she alerts you that she feels dizzy or a rush of heat throughout her body, I want you to call us and bring in her right away.”

“Okay. Thank you doctor. Does she need any medication?”

“No. I wouldn’t take any medication within this 24 hour timeframe. She may feel a headache tomorrow from her fall, but just take aspirin for that.”

We all thanked the doctor and shook his hand.

“You have a wonderful family, Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez.” The doctor told my parents

“Thank you. We love these kids.” My mom said looking at me and Cameron and holding Natalie’s hand

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.