Page 39 of Accidentally Mine
“She’s all I have left,” she whispered into my shirt.
A few moments later, a nurse appeared and told us that Marie was waking and that we could go in for a few minutes.
Roselynn sprang up, and I followed as she dashed to the elevator and then into her aunt’s room without hesitation.She immediately bent over the bed and hugged her aunt, who looked a lot smaller and more fragile in that large hospital bed.I could tell that Roselynn was very fond of her aunt by the way her voice broke as she said, “Auntie, are you okay?”
“Fine, doll,” the elderly woman said, patting her niece’s hand.“I’m not on death’s door or anything.I just had a spell.Now, stop worrying about me!”
She sounded every bit as annoyed as I felt whenever Ernest and Claudia babied me.
Marie’s eyes trailed to me as I set the flowers by the window.“Oh, hello,” she said, her voice husky.She gave me a come-hither smile as she scanned me from head to toe.“Are those for me, big boy?I’m sorry, handsome fella, but I don’t remember your name.”
I smiled at Roselynn’s mortified expression.“Brent, Ms.Monroe.I’m a friend of your niece’s.”
“Yes.Of course.Brent.You remind me of the young stud I lost my virginity to,” she said as I looked over at Roselynn, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates.Marie smacked her lips together and her eyes clouded with memory.“South Boston High.It was under the bleachers at school, and he was on the football team.Tight end.I don’t remember his name, but he had the absolute biggest—”
“Auntie!”Roselynn shouted.
“Helmet!The biggest helmet, I was going to say.”
“Okay, okay,” Roselynn said, exasperated.“Very nice.But I’m sure you’re really tired and Brent obviously doesn’t want to hear about these things.”
“Nonsense.I’m sure he’s rapt.He’s a red-blooded boy, like any,” she said, licking her lips as her eyes roved over me, clearly undressing me in her head.“And why is everyone so afraid of sex?It’s a natural thing.”
Roselynn was the color of a stoplight.I didn’t know she could blush that red.She gathered her hair into a ponytail at the top of her skull and let the hair fall, puffing out a long breath.
Marie paid her no attention, motioning me closer as she studied me carefully.I thought she might tell me to spin so she could get the full three-sixty view.When the fronts of my thighs hit the bed, she crooked her finger, motioning for me to move closer to her face, subjecting me to her inspection.I played along.
“Hey, hotness,” she said to me.“What’s the difference between a tire and 365 used condoms?”
I grinned at her.This was one of Ernest’s favorite jokes.“I don’t know.What?”
She sighed.Scratched her head.Threw herself back against the pillow so that her bright silver hair fell in her face.“Oh, gosh.I just had it.It’s on the tip of my tongue.Really.”
I leaned in.“One’s a Goodyear…” I prompted.
Her eyes lit up.“The other’s a great year!”She laughed hysterically, holding her hand up to give me a high-five.I responded, and she grabbed my hand, stroking it.And…from the grip she had, I could tell she probably wouldn’t let go.Ever.
“Oh, sweetie,” she said to Roselynn.“He’s much more handsome than that Anthony.Nicer, too.He doesn’t look like mafia at all.”
Roselynn reached over helplessly, grabbing her pillow to fluff it.“Now, Auntie, why don’t we get you comfortable.I’m sure you could use a nap.”
“If you ask me, prison’s the best place for that creature,” she continued, still eyeing me.She leaned in as if to whisper, but her voice remained at the same volume.“Obviously, he didn’t treat her well in bed, and that’s why she’s frigid.Now, you clearly look like a man who could take my niece and—”
“Auntie!”Roselynn shouted, louder than I thought she could.“Please.You’re embarrassing Brent and me.”
Actually, I kind of wanted to know more.What did she think I could do with her niece?And who was Anthony, and why was he in prison?
Roselynn gave me an apologetic look, then came over to my side of the bed and whispered, “Sorry.I have no idea where this came from.It’s all like, not even true.She’s been watching too manyGodfathermovies, I think.”
I laughed.“Hey.It’s all right.”
“Where’s Hugh?”Aunt Marie suddenly burst out, eyes wildly scanning the room.Roselynn stared at her aunt, at a loss for words.“He brought me here, and he left?Why would he do that?He’s probably with that Hoodsie Angela from the South Shore again.What a rascal!Remind me to hide his key.”
“No, Auntie,” Roselynn said gently, sitting on the edge of the bed and smoothing the sheets.“Ernest brought you to the hospital.Remember?”
Marie scowled.“Who?”
“She found out her ex-husband Hugh had another family and divorced him twenty years ago,” Roselynn whispered to me.“I don’t know where this is coming from.”
