My Kind of Town
>> Queen's Medical Center It’s all over
HPD Sgt. Mits Ah Sun knocked on the door tentatively, then a little harder. "Come in," Grace said. He took a deep breath and entered. What he saw made his heart sink.
It wasn't his nephew Lance lying in a bed with wires and tubes running into and out of his head that was so disturbing. It was his brother Sheets, slumped in a chair on the other side of the room, so lost in misery that he didn't notice the brother he hadn't seen in 21 years coming through the door.
"Oh, Mits!" Grace cried, hurrying to him with tears of happiness streaming down her cheeks, hugging him. "Thank you for coming."
Mits should have known Grace would welcome him. She was the greatest. That's why Sheets had done what he had done to defend her honor.
"It's all over, Mits," Sheets blurted, not bothering with pleasantries. Grace misunderstood. "No, Daddy, Lance is better, he's been moving! He responds when I talk to him!"
Sheets ignored her, stood up. "We need to talk," he said and ushered his brother toward the door. "Nice to see you, Grace," Mits said, and as the door closed behind them managed to call, "I'm sorry to hear about Lance."
>> Quinn Ah Sun thanked Nurse Nina Ramones for bringing a new dose of painkiller, and when the door was closed Lily kissed his lips softly.
"Mmmm, Lily," he said and kissed her back, but then pulled away. "We have to talk, and quick, before this pill kicks in."
Here we ago again, Lily thought. Quinn was having guilty second-thoughts again about a relationship with her. She could feel the rejection coming, and pulled away.
"Talk about what?" she said coolly.
Maybe it was the pain or the drugs, or just his enthusiasm for the topic at hand, but Quinn didn't notice the chill as Lily slid off the bed and stood there, hugging herself defensively.
"Listen, there's one thing we have to find out," he said, charging ahead.
"What happened between our fathers 21 years ago? What was so mega-important that you and I didn't see each other all that time? What could have been so terrible?"
It wasn't what Lily expected to hear. "What?"
"I think we deserve to know, don't you? And I need your help with some research. Now that I found you again, Lily, all the questions that used to drive me crazy as a kid are back! And I want answers! I think it's important for us."
Lily had never in her 27 years been so happy to be wrong about what a man was thinking. And this time Quinn didn't stop her kisses right away.
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek.
His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin
with weekly summaries on Sunday.
He can be emailed at dchapman@midweek.com