Jail's Bait: Time Served (Book 5)

Regine stood down by the ER entrance, smoking a cigarette and staring out at the street, running over all the mindblowing events of the past 48 hours.

Lionel suddenly appeared beside her.  “Can I bum one of those?”

Regine handed a cigarette to him, and let him light it off the end of hers.  She leaned against the wall, inhaled and blew a steady stream of smoke into the air.  “You know, I don’t care what Joe thought of you,” she replied.  “Whether you were taking his dick or his dictation, you were a great assistant, I saw that myself; so I’d like to hire you on as my assistant.  Like a companion to play cards with, that also does the books, you know...?”

Lionel blew out smoke, and nodded, clearing his throat.  “Why, that’s nice of you.  I need the job, too.”

“So it’s done then,” she said, holding out a hand to which Lionel took and shook.  “You don’t have to move out of Crimson Crest, you keep your room.”  She looked back towards the street.  

“I’m thinking I’ll extend the invitation to gool ol’ Ray to come live with us; I get the feeling he’ll need a bedroom suite real soon.”

“So he’s not even going to fight for Danny, you think..?” Lionel asked curiously, flicking off the excess ash from his cig.

Regine chuckled archly.  “Have you not seen long-lost Trey and your brother joined at the hip..?  Danny was perfectly content to be sealed up in the West Wing for all time with ol’ Trey.  Trust me, its better Ray not even try to fight that fate,” she added.

Just then her cellphone rang.  “Hold it,” she said, reaching into her purse and picking it up.  “Hey Cheyenne.”

A frantic voice came through from the other end.  “Regine..?  I just heard on the news that half your family is in Seattle Grace.  What is all this?  Is my son okay?”

Regine sighed then.

* * * * * *

Marquis faced Kap as he sat in bed, one hand on his stitches as he stared back at his lover.  “Well,” Kap said then, “you said the floor is yours…”

“Damn right,” Marquis replied then, taking a deep breath.  “Now, I know that ‘it takes two to tango’; having said that, I get that I was hanging out with Jake to the point where we weren’t really spending too much time with each other, with us at the library and you having wrestling practice a lot; we were drifting apart a bit, I’ll admit that.  But I depend on you to call me on my shit like I would call you on yours.  You just kept coming off like a jealous guy.  You never told me we were in trouble, because of my friendship with Jake.”

“First off, all this started ‘cause you and Jake were driving me crazy,” Kap replied.  “He used to say these comments behind your back to piss me off in your face.  You wouldn’t believe me.  Had you not put him in front of me none of this should have happened.”

“Why were you so jealous?” Marquis frowned.  “I told you nothing was going on between Jake and me.  Now come to find out, he’s my 1st cousin… and my half-brother.  Do you believe me now..?”

Kap ran his fingers over his head in frustration.  “How would we know that yall were related..?  All I saw was that you were shutting me out, and Melo was there, showing me attention.  I thought he was cool, and-”

“Don’t give me that,” spat Marquis.  “You thought he was hot.”

“I thought he could be a good friend to us,” Kap defended.  “Until he tried to kiss me. I asked him to respect my relationship with you, and he said he would.  But there was a part of me that was flattered that a guy of his caliber would look at me, no lie.”

“And when you thought yall had sex?  Why didn’t you come clean about that?” countered Marquis.

“I thought I had time to try and explain this,” Kap admitted.

“How could you betray me?” Marquis growled, smashing his fist into the door; it made a small dent in the wall.

“I didn’t know I had-” Kap began.

Marquis waved him down.  “I’m not talking about the date-rape.  I’m talking about your feelings for Melo; I know you have feelings for him, ‘cause I FEEL them coming off you.”  He faced Kap, who saw the pain in his eyes and cringed.  “No wonder the asshole keeps fighting for you; you keep giving off the vibe that he has a fighting chance.”

Tears of frustration stung Kap’s eyes.  “That’s not-”

“Don’t LIE, man, please,” Marquis groaned.  “You know what..?  Never mind me.  Don’t lie to yourself.  I think you don’t want to believe it, but the proof is there for all to see, stamped on your face.”

“Key, you know I love you with all my heart-” Kap pleaded.

“Do you..?   What I think is, you have a lot of soul-searching to do, and you have to come to grips with what you feel inside.”  He turned and strode to the door, swinging it open and looking back at Kap.  “When you can tell what’s really there, or who - get at me.”  And he turned back to the door- and took a double-take, snorted, and then walked out, knocking his shoulder into Melo, who just happened to be standing just outside in the hallway.

Melo looked at the retreating Marquis with a scowl.  “Asshole,” he said, coming back into the room and closing the door behind him.

“WHAT DOES IT TAKE to get rid of you..??”  Kap asked, almost screaming.

“I heard what Jack-ass just told you,” Melo said; “and he’s right.  You got me in your system, like I got you in mine.  Now you asked me to go prove myself to you, and turn myself in.  So I’m headed back to school to pack up my things, break up with Necie and go down to campus security.”  He reached into his shirt and pulled out a solid gold link chain with a gold NCAA medallion hanging from the end.  “Hold onto this for me,” Melo asked, holding out the chain to Kap.  “I don’t want Coach to take it back, I’ll just tell em I lost it.”

“Is that what I have to do to get you to get a move on..?” Kap groaned.

Melo shook his head deprecatingly.  “You’ll stop fighting this thing between us sooner or later.  And when you do, I’ll be there.”

“Not behind bars you won’t,” Kap flared.

But Melo gave him a grin.  “You’ll do the time with me.  Here, let me put it on you-” he said, reaching to place the chain on Kap’s neck.

Kap jerked back- “STAY BACK- I’ll put the chain away but I’m not wearing it,” he declaimed.

Melo just stood there for a moment, and then gently placed the chain across the part of the covers where Kap’s leg lay.  “Thanks.  See you soon.”  And with one last flashing smile, he was gone.

Kap lay there, staring at the chain which glittered on the bed, wondering to himself why he was suddenly so worried whether Melo would survive prison with a rape charge… he reasoned that he, as a stand-up guy, would be worried about anyone he knew that was going off to jail for a long time.

Kap reached for the chain and looked at the solid gold medallion closely.  On the front was the NCAA standard, and on the back was the name Carmelo Johnson, with his Grizzlies number and start-year.  He brought the medallion close- he caught a whiff of Melo’s cologne…

His eyes began to blur, and without realizing it, Kap had absently slipped the chain around his neck, letting it settle under his shirt before reaching for the box of tissue on the nearby bedstand.

* * * * * *

“Why, hello, lil girl,” said a gruff voice.

Jamara Hill ran across the hospital room laughing as she held out her arms to Ray, who scooped her up and spun her around.  She yelped and laughed aloud.

“Hello sir,” Sophie said, coming up to Ray with a big smile.

“Hi, Billy Goat,” Jamara said, squealing with chuckles as she kissed Ray on the cheek.

“Billy Goat..?” Trey asked, a curious smile on his face as he came over to where Ray was tickling Jamara and she was all-a-glee with laughter.

“He read her the Three Billy Goat’s Gruff once, you know the old fairytale,” Sophie replied, “and made the voices and everything.  When he read in the troll’s voice, she just broke up in laughter; he has to read her that story ever since, it’s her special request when he comes by HT.”

“Ahhh, I see,” Trey smiled, watching his twin pretend to gobble Jamara up.

“She loves him,” Sophie said in a lower tone, “ever since he saved her from falling over the cliff three years ago… you would think she would have forgotten about that terrible thing, and maybe she has, but she knows that Ray is special to her… though she might not remember why.  Okay, Jamara,” Sophie said aloud, “it’s time to get back home.”

“Okay,” Jamara said happily.  She kissed Ray on the cheek and let him put her down, where she placed her hand in her nanny’s hand.  “Bye, see you tomorrow,” Jamara waved at Ray as she and Sophie headed out of the hospital.

“I know that she might be your biological daughter,” Trey said, coming up to Ray while he stared off towards the retreating girl and her nanny.  “You have a great connection to her; you think it might be because of the father-daughter bond..?”

Ray scowled.  “I am curious, but I can’t break up their happy home; I’m not heartless- like you.”

“Ouch; I deserve that, I suspect,” Trey said quietly, his eyes downcast.

Ray turned to face his twin directly. “I just want to say that I won’t fight you for Danny; I’m getting out of your way.”

Trey appeared as if he didn’t know what to say.

“It’s fine,” Ray replied; “I always knew that I was just keeping your side of the bed warm; I came to grips with that.  So, now that you’re back from the dead, I hope you guys work out.”

Trey sort of smiled.  “Well, thank you for that, but do you think maybe one day we might be able to be as close as twins are supposed to be...?  It’s not fair that we were put in this position before we could ever get a chance to know each other as brothers.” 

Ray looked at him grimly.  “Time will tell, I guess.  I’ll make the first move right now, however; can you keep a secret?”

“Sure, what’s up?” 

Ray’s eyes glittered.  “I’m going to find out if our brother Joe was right, and Jamara really is the daughter I had with Cheyenne.”

“Cheyenne- I was told that she’s Kap’s mother, correct?” Trey asked.

“We met a long time ago,” Ray replied shortly.

“If your DNA test is accurate, that would make the baby Kap’s little sister, huh?  Talk about a small world,” Trey exclaimed.

Ray nodded in agreement.  “I want to know how small the world really is.  I’m going to run a DNA test on her.”

Trey frowned.  “If you’re going to test her, why hide it?  Joe put his version out there, why not just verify yea or nay to everyone?”

Ray shook his head.  “I don’t want anyone to know about my test because I will not take that girl away from her fathers, but I just want to know for sure… I mean, you never know when she might have a medical emergency… and at least I’ll be able to step up then, you know… if the DNA says she’s mine, of course.”

“How are you going to pull this off behind everyone’s back,” Trey asked.

“I grabbed a strand of her hair when I hugged her,” Ray exclaimed, holding up the loose strand.  “Since we’re here at the hospital, I’m gonna get that duty nurse right there to give me a home DNA test,” he pointed towards the nurse behind the counter that stood near the swinging doors.

“A DNA test...?  Like the one that Jake tried to use?” Trey frowned.

“Exactly.”

“What happens if you get confirmation that the child is yours?” Trey said then.

Ray looked at his twin, and then shook his head.  “Nothing happens.  Have you seen how happy that child is?  I would never take her away from those boys.  I just want to know… like I said, just in case of a medical emergency or… something.”

“I see,” Trey replied.

Ray looked over at the duty nurse.  “Wait here, and watch your younger twin work his magic.”

“We were born in an orphanage.  How do you know I’m not the younger twin..?” Trey whispered wryly.

“‘Cause I called it first,” Ray said, sticking out his tongue at his brother and stalking off.

“Prima Donna,” Trey smiled, shaking his head.

* * * * * *

The twins had gone to get their grandmother some tea and Angelina stepped out into the hall to take a call on her cellphone.  The shift nurse brought in the papers for Carmen to sign, clearing her to leave the hospital.

Angelina came back in the same time that Carmen finshed putting pen to paper.  “Well, I’m all signed out,” Carmen said happily; “clean bill of health, me and the kid,” she added, patting her stomach.  She looked up at her girlfriend and finally noticed the shell-shocked look on her face.  

“What’s wrong, baby..?”  She saw that the cellphone was still loosely held in Angelina’s hand.  “Who was that?”

Angelina looked at Carmen as if she had just been kicked in the gut.  “That was the hospital near Berkeley campus.  I didn’t sign out and I left before they could give me my test results, which is why they called me just now.”

Carmen frowned.  “But we know what you had, you were knocked out by a sedative.  Was there anything else..?”

Angelina’s eyes found her girlfriend’s.  “They just wanted to make sure I understood that the sedative… didn’t hurt the baby.”

Carmen looked at Angelina - “…?”

“Yeah, I said it… the baby,” she repeated.  “They just told me… I’m pregnant..!”

“Youre gonna have a baby???” Carmen shrieked.

“We’re gonna have a baby together!!!!” Angelina cried out, and the two of them squealed and danced around the room like little girls.

“Are you sure..?” Carmen finally said, laughing aloud.

“Remember, I made Melo sneak me out of the hospital before they could give me a full diagnosis; I just can’t believe it…!” Angelina replied, breathing hard as she ran her hands through her hair, placing her hands on her stomach with wonder.

Carmen grabbed Angelina’s arm.  “We’re going to be unbearable, both with morning sickness and cravings…”

“There are cravings, and then there are cravings…” Angelina replied, suddenly swooping in and giving Carmen a sexy kiss on the neck.

“Oohhh… you are baddd…” Carmen smiled leeringly.  They embraced.  “I love you, Angel.”

“I love you, Cici,” Angelina murmured as she leaned in and they began kissing, caressing each other’s tongues, running their hands through each other’s long hair...

Suddenly, into the room rushed the twins with Ranell just behind them.  “What happened, we heard screaming!!” Danielle was yelling as they entered the room- and then stopped short.

“WHAT THE FUCK!!?!?!?”

Angelina and Carmen pulled apart, smiling sheepishly at the shocked faces of both twins and Ranell Hill.  “Oh, no, not yall too...?” Tyra exclaimed then.

Carmen and Angelina nodded.  “Well yeah, but there’s more- Angel just found out that yall left the hospital before they could tell she that she’s pregnant!!!” Carmen yelled out.

“WHATTTTT!!!!” the twins screamed.  “OH MY GOD, I cant believe it!!!”  and the girls all danced around together, laughing happily.

“But seriously, yall are together, together..?” Tyra asked, chest heaving from the laughter.

Angelina grinned.  “Yeah, same way Marquis and Kap are together- I know yall caught that show.”

“Sheesh- has the whole world gone gay..?” Danielle asked incredulously.

“Now girls, let’s be more tolerant about these things,” Ranell cautioned gently.

“How could you say that, Grandma?” Tyra asked.

“Well, let’s just say that one day I’ll sit you down and tell you girls the story of your father, and why the two of you were named after him and his best friend Dante,” Ranell replied mysteriously.

The implications of her words, however, sank in.  “Oh, say it aint so, Ma…!” Tyra gasped in growing shock.

“Another time,” Ranell said.

“Seriously, are yall okay with this?” Carmen smiled at the twins.

Danielle and Tyra sported identical grins.  “Oh, sure- we were just messing with you.  We grew up around chicks that got down harder then dudes,” Danielle chuckled.

“It’s your thing, and we’re still all friends, nothing changed,” Tyra added, hugging Carmen and Angelina both.

“Except the fact that the lesbians in the crew are the ones who are pregnant and engaged to perfect men, and the straight girls still can’t find a guy and are childless...?” Danielle proclaimed then, scratching the top of her head.

“I might need a moment to wrap my head around that one, too…” Ranell said, laughing along with the girls.

Angelina grabbed Carmen’s hand.  “Let’s go- I can’t wait to tell Kap…”

* * * * * *

There was a knock at Jake’s hospital open door.  Before Jake could speak, RahRah held up a cautionary hand.  “Come in,” RahRah said aloud.

Marquis gingerly stepped into the room, awkwardly looking at the floor.  “Hey Dad,” Marquis said then.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” RahRah replied.

“I wasn’t about to come this way,” Marquis confessed.

“What made you..?” RahRah asked.

“I stopped at your room and you weren’t there. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude you wanted to see your son,” he replied, still looking at the floor.

RahRah looked over at his lover, who sat in the corner, holding onto a wheelchair.  “Hey Marcus, can you pull that wheelchair over here.  Listen,” he said then to Marquis, “I want you to talk to your brother.”

Marcus got up and pulled the chair over for RahRah to sit in.  “Dad-” Marquis protested.

RahRah settled down in the chair, and patted Marcus's hand.  “For me, son.  We’re going to leave you two alone-”

“DAD!” Marquis yelled.

“But-” Jake said, also protesting.

But RahRah held up his hand once again.  “Both of you, get it together- and no hitting, Marquis.  You’ve done enough,” he added.

Marquis opened his mouth to argue again.  “But-”

“WORK IT OUT.  I’ll be down the hall, back in my own room.”  And with that Marcus wheeled his lover out of the room and closed the door, leaving Marquis and Jake alone together.

Both guys stared at the door where their father had just been, and then they sort of stared at each other…

…Five minutes later, Jake broke the awkward silence.  “Look, you can go; I know you don’t want to be in here with me.”

Marquis turned baleful eyes upon Jake.  “You killed Leo.”

Jake swallowed.  “I wasn’t trying to; and you almost killed me for that.”

Marquis smiled evilly.  “Let me finish you up, then.”

Jake started, and then threw his hands in the air.  “You know what? Go on, do it.  Break my neck this time, make sure I’m dead.  I don’t care anymore.”

Marquis actually looked as if he was considering the proposal… but then the indignation cooled from his expression.  “I can’t kill you,” he sighed.

Jake looked down at the floor once again.  “Marquis, I… I want to-”

But Marquis spun around to halt Jake in mid-sentence.  “NO, you don’t get to apologize.  You can’t be let off that easily… you put half the family in the hospital just because you didn’t get a daddy to raise you- well, let me tell you, I didn’t have him either- and you KNOW this.  All those times I confided in you… you got the scoop.  And you would still hate me for Lamar and Malik stepping in to raise me, because my own father was in an insane asylum..?  You perfect JERK.”  All this seemed to burst from him in one great rush.

New tears made Jake blink.  “All I can say is- I know you don’t want to hear it, but I really am sorry, Marquis, for all of it.”

Marquis stood with righteous anger for a few more seconds… and then he sat down on the side of the hospital bed, his next words revealing recrimination and agony: “Why didn’t you just tell me who you were, what you were looking for..?  If you had just told me the deal, I would’ve helped you uncover the truth and then embraced you as my little brother, for I already loved you like that.  Did you know that?  I loved you, Jake- as my little brother; that’s why I was so protective of you to eveybody.  If we had known the truth then Kap wouldn’t have been so jealous.  NONE of this would have happened.  But you were so damn deternmined to hate, hate… and now you got your wish.  You’re now my little brother for real, Jake; and I HATE you.”  He laughed a bitter laugh.  “And I don’t hate anybody; that’s not who I am.  I hate you for turning me into that person… someone who could harbor hated in his heart.  I don’t even recognize myself, and it’s all your fault.”

Jake wiped at his eyes.  “Listen Marquis, I’m trying to make things right; I-I put the money back, and I’m going to jail- at least for gun possession.  So you get your wish; me locked up and out of your way.”

“I don’t want you to be locked up,” Marquis said then.

“Really..?” asked Jake with a trace of expectation.

Marquis's eyes burned.  “I want you out and free- so I can kick your ass halfway up Mt. Rainier myself.”

Jake looked at Marquis, and then sighed, lowering his head in sorrow.  “I guess you and I will never be real brothers then, huh?”

“I’m guessing you might be right about that,” Marquis replied honsestly.  “That ship has sailed; too much stuff was done between us.  When I attacked you that was just for Leo; I never even began paying you for putting my unborn kid in danger, much less my girl and my lover… so you’d better be lucky that I respect my dad- I mean, our father.”

Jake nodded in affirmation.  “Well, like I said, I’m going to be headed for WA State Pen for a moment, so we can bring this up after I get back out, because by then some… time will have passed.  Maybe we can find a way to talk to each other then,” he added hopefully.

Marquis looked the other way.  “If you say so.  I’d better go,” he murmured, getting up from the bed and heading for the door, swinging it open.

“Umm, congratulations on the baby..!” Jake called after him.

Marquis looked back awkwardly, about to put Jake on blast for even mentioning the baby he had a gun pointed at less than twelve hours ago….

 “Umm, thank you,” Marquis replied aloud.  And he left the room.

* * * * * *

Jacqueline was headed to Jake’s room to try once again to reach her son, when she saw Marquis go inside, and RahRah (wheeled by Marcus) exit the room, shutting the door closed behind them.  Appropriately deciding that disturbing them would amount to no good, she turned and headed back down to the ER waiting room- where she spied her sister Marquette facing the other direction.  “Marquette…?”

Marquette turned around to reveal that she was currently on her cell phone.  “Hold on,” she said into the receiver, then she looked up at her sister.  “Hey, I was just about to come check on you and Jake.”

Jacqueline shook her head.  “RahRah shut Jake and Marquis up together and told them to work it out.  They should be in the middle of doing that right now.”

“Oh, dear….” Marquette murmured, one hand still holding the cellphone to her ear.

“Well, I see you’re on the phone.  I’ll talk to you later,” Jacqueline said, excusing herself.

Marquette held up one hand.  “Wait, it’s actually someone that wants to talk to you,” she said mysteriously.

“To me..?” Jacqueline replied, frowning.

“Just take the phone,” Marquette said then, thrusting the cell phone into her hand.

She took the phone and put it to her ear.  “Hello…?

Marquette beamed as Jacqueline’s eyes filled with sudden tears.  “Hi, Papa…”

* * * * * *

Marquis was walking down the hall, absently noting that his shirt was completely dried with Leo’s blood, and whether or not he should either wash the shirt or burn it, when he was suddenly face to face with Carmen, her eyes dancing.  “There you are!”

Marquis frowned.  “Carm- what are you doing out of your room...?  Did the nurses say you could go?”

“I’m signed out, and they said me and lil’ man are fine,” she replied, turning to kiss him on the cheek, and then she grabbed his hand again.  “We gotta go back to Kap’s room..!” She grabbed his hand and began to drag him along.

Panic flared in Marquis.  “What happened- is he okay?” he asked loudly.

“Hol up- not until we get there…!” Carmen said with a chuckle.  Her upbeat demeanor showed Marquis that whatever the news was, it wasn’t bad- so he decided to let her lead him back to Kap’s room.

They reached the door and went inside.  “Kap, are you okay?” Marquis asked, seeing Angelina, Aunt Ranell and twins standing around his bed, all the women grinning largely.

“Yeah man, I’m fine- these people are suddenly out of control,” Kap replied, looking at the girls a bit strangely.

“Okay, everyone’s here,” Carmen said to Angelina; “go for it..!”

Kap turned to Angelina.  “Angel… what is it???”

Angelina had stars in her eyes.  “Baby, the hospital called, I left before I had finished letting them give me my test results.”

Kap’s face paled.  “Oh, no.  Did that sedative Jake gave you do something to you?”

Angelina grinned widely.  “Noooo, it didn’t; it didn’t hurt the baby, either.”

Kap smiled as he squeezed his girl’s hand… and then the last words she spoke started to sink in.  “The… what..?”

“Baby,” Angelina said; “I’m pregnant too… it’s true, Michael…”

Kap’s eyes widened.  “You… called me Michael… oh my god, its reall!!!!” he screamed.

“WE’RE HAVING OUR KIDS TOGHETHER!!!” Carmen and Angelina squealed once again, they and the twins danced around.

Marquis came up to Kap, and grabbed his hand.  “This is wonderful!!!  And with your inheritance you can set your lil man up in style…!”

Kap started.  “Oh wow, I forgot all about that.  My own Hill Inheritance…. By the way, did your little brother put back what didn’t belong to him..?”

“So he said,” Marquis replied somberly.  “Dad must have made him do it.  So we’re all back to normal, huh..?”

“Well, if you call a twenty million dollar inheritance for each of us going back to normal…” said Tyra, and everyone laughed. 

“Don’t forget us baby mamas…” Angelina cried out, snapping her fingers.

“Heh heh- that’s right, we can be the new HouseWives of Seattle!!!” Carmen joked.

“Whatever.  Let’s just be happy that we all made it through this drama and we’re going to be okay,” Angelina said with a grin on her face.

“There’s just one more thing we have to worry about,” Danielle replied.

“What now??” Marquis and Kap exclaimed at the same time.

“Where yall are going to have the weddings- will it be a double wedding, or one after the other..?” 

“Wow, we’ve got a lot to work out,” Carmen replied to Angelina seriously.

“Well, I helped my co-worker throw her wedding, so if you’d like my opinion…” Ranell offered.  The girls dissolved into pre-wedding planning chatter, and it became apparent that they’d forgotten that the boys were still standing there. 

Kap leaned over to Marquis.  “You think that we still have a chance to disappear..?”

“Only if we want shotgun weddings,” Marquis replied with a wink.  “Congratulations.”

“Same to you,” Kap replied, grasping his hand.

* * * * * *

Danny and Claire stood over their son Lamar, watching as he and Malik read the list of things he was going to have to learn to get used to as a transplant recipient.  “So the docs want to keep me for a week to make sure that there isn’t any infection nor rejection,” Lamar said as he read on.

“You mean that your body just might reject the heart anyway, after all we’ve gone through?” Malik asked with some alarm.

“It’s possible, it was part of the risk of having the transplant,” Danny replied.

“Didn’t you do the research before you decided to put me on that list behind my back...?” Lamar asked Malik directly.

Malik actually managed to look guilty.

Lamar sighed with a smile.  “We just have to hope that the transplant takes.  I’ve got to take so many pills, it’s almost like being on an HIV protocol.”

“Yeah, I see this list of stuff I gotta pick up at the pharmacy.  Almost reminds me of the days I used to sell,” Malik grinned; “no offense,” he murmured to Claire, who only shook her head.

“Yeah, before you found out you could own the whole east coast drug trade,” Lamar reminded Malik.

“That’s why I got out, it wasn’t a challenge anymore,” Malik replied grandly.

“Awwww. Poor little rich boy,” Danny said wryly.

“So the others are all getting ready to go home?” Lamar asked.

Claire nodded.  “This whole hospital looks like the Hill family reunion show.  Even Jacqueline the supermodel is here.”

“I remember when she was just my first girlfriend, Jackie,” Lamar smiled.  I’m still a little tight that you had sex with her too,” he said to Malik, “but I guess that was when we were all too young to have sex to begin with; this is how all these secrets started.”

“Yeah, I gotta remember to keep it in my pants,” Malik declared.

“Oh yeah..?  And how should we determine whether my new heart can handle it if you keep your pants zipped..?” Lamar asked liscentiously.

“Lamar!!” Claire gasped in mock shock.

“Oh, sorry Ma, no disrespect meant,” he apologized.

“But he does bring up a point, Malik,” she added with a sly grin.

“MAAAAA???!!!”  Lamar blushed red like crimson.  And yet, her candor showed him just how far she’d come; there was a time that she hated his relationship with Malik because it was gay.

Chuckling, his ‘new’ mother leaned over and kissed her son.  “Good to see you getting back to health, my son,” she smiled; “I’m heading back to Crimson Crest.”

“You’re still going to stay on as Stella the maid, then?” Danny asked.

“That,” she replied with a broad smile, “is between Regine and me; I’ll let you know.”  And with that, she left the room.

Danny leaned over and kissed Lamar as well.  “Thanks for not dying.”  And with a wink to Lamar, he followed after Claire.

“So, how long are you staying tonight?” Lamar asked his lover.

Malik looked sideways at Lamar.  “I’m not leaving you.  I’m spending the week here right by your side.”

“You don’t have to do that-” Lamar began.

But Malik held up a hand.  “Man, you almost died.  I would’ve lost my fucking mind.  So, having said that, I’m here as long as you are in this hospital, and we leave together.  I’m going to get your meds from the pharmacy, and they will roll me a bed in here with you.”

“Okay, I admit that I’d go crazy in here if you didn’t stay,” Lamar admitted.  “Thanks.”

“Man they’re gonna have to roll us into the same coffin,” Malik said wistfully; I see that now.”

“Long as I’m in your arms, I don’t care where they bury us,” Lamar smiled at the man he loved for all of his life.

“I love you,” Malik said to Lamar, his heart in his eyes, just as they were the day they first fell in love.

“I love you too.”