Chapter 3 - The Flight to Boston
The air at 30,000 feet was quiet. Holly lay wrapped in three layers of heated blankets, her small form strapped securely into the specialized medical gurney inside the fuselage of the air ambulance. The soft hum of the jet engine was a massive contrast to the chaotic, screaming arguments that had defined my life for the past year.
Calvin Rhodes sat across from me in a leather captain's chair, a cup of black coffee held tightly in his weathered hands. He looked older than he had at my mother's funeral, but his eyes were sharp, filled with the fierce loyalty of a man who had promised his dying best friend he would protect her daughter.
"You look like hell, kiddo," Calvin said softly.
"I feel like I've been run over by a train," I admitted, staring at the IV drip feeding medicine into Holly's arm. "Did we get everything out of the house?"
"My boys went in two hours after you left for the airport," Calvin nodded. "Derek was there with a U-Haul, trying to pack up your mother's silver and the living room furniture. We showed up with an emergency eviction notice and a police escort. He didn't even get his shoes out of the closet. Vanessa was crying so loud the neighbors called the cops for a noise complaint."
I felt a cold surge of satisfaction, but it was fleeting. My mind was entirely focused on the girl in front of me. "What about the Boston clinic? Dr. Kincaid?"
"He’s waiting for us," Calvin assured me. "The deposit cleared. The entire wing is prepared for her. The T-cell therapy she needs—the one Derek called a 'waste of money'—is already being cultured from the marrow sample Dr. Patel sent ahead. She has a real fight ahead of her, Marissa, but she’s got the army she needs now."
I leaned forward, resting my forehead against Holly's mattress. "I gave up so much of myself trying to keep him happy, Calvin. I thought if I was a better wife, if I worked harder, he would love Holly more. He would want to save her."
"Some people are black holes, Marissa," Calvin said, his voice dropping to a gravelly register. "You can pour your whole life, your whole soul into them, and they’ll just swallow it up and ask why you didn't give them more. Derek didn't marry you for love. He married you because he thought the Rhodes name was a golden ticket. When your mother died and left everything tied up in trusts he couldn't touch, he grew bitter. Vanessa was just an easy target for his spite."
"She’s my sister," I whispered, the betrayal burning fresh in my throat. "We shared a bedroom. I held her when she had nightmares."
"Vanessa always wanted what you had because she didn't want to work for it," Calvin said bluntly. "She thought she was stealing a prince. She’s about to find out she inherited a beggar."
The plane began its descent, tilting slightly as it broke through the heavy gray clouds over Massachusetts. Below, the lights of Boston stretched out like a carpet of fallen stars.
"Look, Mommy," a tiny, raspy voice murmured.
I snapped my head up. Holly’s eyes were half-open, her pale blue irises cloudy but focused on the window.
"Hi, baby," I choked out, grabbing her hand. "We're in Boston. We're going to see some special doctors who are going to make your boo-boos go away."
"Is Daddy coming?" she asked, her voice smaller than a whisper.
My heart broke into a thousand pieces, but I forced a smile. "No, baby. Daddy had to stay behind. From now on, it’s just you, me, and Uncle Calvin. We’re going to be an adventure team."
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Holly closed her eyes again, a tiny, faint smile appearing at the corner of her lips. "I like adventures," she murmured before drifting back to sleep.
"Me too, baby," I said. "Me too."
