What's Done In the Dark(60)

“I could never ask you to do something like that.”

“Please. Felise is my best friend and she’s a really good woman.” I swear I heard him laugh at that, but I kept talking. “Besides, I’ve done quite a bit of planning so far. I’ve sent out invitations. I got a cake. It’s doing me good to keep my mind off of things.”

“You’re a good friend, Paula.” He sounded so unbelievably sad, and it was breaking my heart. I knew now, more than ever, we had to have this party. Everybody needed the release.

“Felise has been a good friend to me. She really has. And I know the two of you have had problems, but I know that she loves you and this party would do us all good.”

The pause that filled the phone went on for so long, I thought he had hung up.

“Greg?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” he softly said.

I don’t know why, but I felt compelled to say, “Greg, if anyone can work through their problems, the two of you can.”

I heard a loud exhale. “You know what? I don’t want to talk about me. Have you found anything else out about Steven?”

It was my turn to pause. Should I tell him about the other woman? He and Steven weren’t that close, but they were friends. Maybe he knew something about her. But I was in a good mood today. I didn’t want to get myself worked up all over again.

“No, the autopsy confirmed that his heart gave out,” I said.

“Just gave out, huh?”

“Yeah.”

He tsked, then said, “Well, whatever you do, don’t blame yourself. Steven was at that hotel because he wanted to be. Couples fight all the time, but they should always come home.”

“You’re so right.” Greg was bringing me down, so I wanted to hang up and get back to the party planning. “But look, I know you have a lot going on at work and, well, I don’t and I need the distraction. So, I’ll take care of everything from here. You just get Felise to the Hyatt. Why don’t you tell her you’re taking her to dinner at the Hyatt Spindletop? Make her think you’re going to a quiet dinner for the two of you. Get a room and just make it a whole experience.”

“You really have thought this through,” he said.

“I have a lot of time on my hands. And I love doing this.”

“Well, I really appreciate it.”

“Cool, and Greg, what you two have is real love. I tell Felise all the time, you’re a good guy.” I laughed. “OCD and all.”

He gave a terse chuckle.

“So, I’ll take it from here,” I continued. “I’ll call you back when I’ve finalized everything.”

He agreed, and we hung up. I hoped the rift between him and Felise wasn’t serious. Over the years, despite everything they’d gone through, Felise had always been in Greg’s corner. Even when he had his brief affair. Even when she felt neglected. Even when she wanted to give up, she hung in there. He couldn’t be sounding defeated now. No, whatever they were going through, they needed to work through it. And I was going to do my part. I was going to help them both have a night to remember.





42


Felise


THE CHAOS WAS THE PART of my job I both loved and hated. The hustle and bustle of the ER was on full speed tonight.

“We’re losing her! Get me a working ventilator. Stat!” the ER doctor screamed as he stuck his head out of a drawn curtain.

“I’m coming!” I said, racing toward him. It had been a crazy night in the ER, and that was fine with me. I needed something to take my mind off my situation.

I hurriedly began removing the current ventilator, which we’d discovered wasn’t working. I know it took me less than a minute to get the new ventilator hooked up, but just as I snapped in the final tube, I heard the sound that all of us in the ER hated: the droning tone of the machine indicating flatline.

The room grew eerily silent until the doctor removed his mask and said, “I’m calling it. Time of death, 9:46 p.m.”

I inhaled deeply. I’d seen my share of murder and mayhem in the ER, but this one hit home for me. This one had happened right before my very eyes.

A young woman had come into the ER just after eight p.m., right after my shift started. She stumbled in with a stab wound to the stomach. She managed to mumble that her husband had stabbed her. I held her hand as she cried and pleaded with us to save her life. I managed to calm her down enough for her to say, “Please tell my kids I love them . . . Tell them d-don’t hate him . . . and I’m sorry I caused this.”

I didn’t have a chance to learn any more information because her husband walked in and announced, “This is what happens to bitches who cheat.” He fired two shots at her. One hit a nurse in the leg; the other hit the young woman in the stomach. After the shooting, the man dropped the gun and didn’t resist as the emergency room security tackled him to the floor. I assumed the police had taken him away because he was nowhere to be seen.