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“She has to get up at six. I decided not to wake her. Besides, I want you to come back home with me. We can talk all this out over there. Okay?”
“I’m going to have to find a rehab center. Mel needs help real bad.”
“Charlene will help you with that. Right now, I just need you to get dressed and let’s get out of here.”
Adrienne wandered wearily into the bedroom and found a pair of sweatpants to drag on. She was looking for a matching shirt when the telephone rang. She listened to the voice on the other end, and a cry escaped her throat.
“What’s the matter?” cried Dan as he rushed into the room.
Adrienne just kept getting dressed, unaware that tears were streaming down her face for the third time that day. Dan grabbed her by the wrist. It hurt, but she stopped moving.
“Tell me what has happened,” he said sternly.
“Mel’s been shot!”
Dan released her. “Oh, my God!”
They reached the street and in record time hailed a cab, one that that ended up stuck in an East Side traffic jam. “Can’t you do something? I’m in a hurry!” Adrienne pounded the glass that separated her from the hapless driver, who started honking the horn in desperation.
Adrienne marched into the emergency room and up to the nurses’ station with Dan trailing behind her. Several cops stood there. One of them stepped forward when she gave the nurse her name. “I’m Officer Delino, Mrs. Jordan.” Adrienne stared at him without answering. She had mixed feelings about this whole surreal experience. Mel shot by a known drug dealer, Officer Delino had said on the phone. The look on the face of the nurse at the desk scared the hell out of her. What if Mel was dead? Her knees trembled. Please, God, let him be all right, she prayed.
“Where is my husband?” she asked.
At that moment, a young doctor marched into the waiting room. He looked at all the scared and patient faces of the relatives seated on the hard chairs. “Are any of you related to Melvin Jordan?”
“I’m his wife,” Adrienne said. There was something about the doctor’s face that reminded her of the soot-covered fireman who had stopped her car on the day Delilah had died. Her heart began to race.
“Mrs. Jordan . . .” the doctor began as he fumbled with the stethoscope around his neck.
Adrienne couldn’t stand to hear him say it. She started flailing her arms, pushing and shoving Dan and the nurses who stepped in to help. “I want to see him.” Her voice was a breath of agonizing pain.
“Mrs. Jordan, please calm down.” The doctor sounded surprised at her reaction. “I’ll take you to him.”
Their heels seemed to make a lot of racket as they started down a long hallway. Finally, one of the nurses stopped at room 503. She turned the knob and pushed the door in. The first bed was empty, and a curtain surrounded the other. Adrienne turned to face the doctor and nurses. “I want to be alone,” she said. Everyone except the doctor moved back into the hallway. He didn’t close the door. “Mrs. Jordan, your husband is heavily sedated. He won’t be able to talk to you.” Adrienne walked to the other side of the curtain. There was a form lying still in the bed with a sheet pulled up to its neck.
Adrienne yanked the sheet off. Mel lay on his side, his chocolate complexion now an ashy gray. His eyes were closed, and the lips were pursed tightly together as though still grimacing in pain. Tubes ran from his nose, and an IV needle was still stuck in one arm. Adrienne collapsed hysterically onto Mel. She cried for what seemed like hours. “Is he going to live?”
The doctor placed a warm hand on Adrienne’s arm. “Yes, he will recover from his wounds.”
Adrienne clung to Mel until she felt Dan’s strong hands against her back. “Everything is going to be okay, Adrienne. Come on, let’s go down to the cafeteria and wait until he wakes up. Come on, it’s almost dawn now.”
She wiped her eyes. “All right, but first I’ve got to call Debra,” she said, her eyes tearing up again. She knew how much Debra loved her brother, and Mel would do anything for his sister. They were so close—for a long time had only had each other. Adrienne didn’t know how she was going to break this terrible news to Debra, but she took a deep breath and mustered up the strength to punch the first few digits.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The next day Mel lay in his hospital bed, staring out the window. One arm was hooked up to an IV. The other lay across his stomach. The bullet wounds were painful but not life-threatening, and for that he was grateful. That had been a suicide move. On some level he had wanted to die. He should have been a dead man, but once again his life had been spared. He needed help for his drug habit, and he knew it. Debra, who had gon
e downstairs to smoke, had called from the lobby to say that Adrienne was on her way up to see him. He felt that his marriage was over and now wished there were something he could do to save it. Mel was genuinely sorry about all the anguish he had caused Adrienne, and he wanted to beg for another chance, but that wouldn’t be fair. It was time to come clean about everything and get out of her life.
She stood in the doorway. Mel closed his eyes, wishing she would say something to start the inevitable confrontation. She cleared her throat, but he did not turn toward her. His body did not move. She entered the room and tiptoed to his bed. “Are you awake, Mel?”
The question floated around the room. What should he say? Yes, I’m awake and more alone than I’ve been since the day my mama died? He could try pretending to be asleep and postpone the breakup until the next day. Mel sighed and opened his eyes. He was tired of playing stupid-ass-little-boy games. The only thing left to do was tell Adrienne how sorry he was and wish her better luck with the next man.
“How long have you been on drugs, Mel?” Her tone was weary, and when he turned over, her red eyes told a tale of lots of tears and no sleep.
“Things haven’t been right with me since the fire. It was bad enough us being homeless and separated. But to make matters worse, I couldn’t even hear your voice for a long time. You wouldn’t come to the phone, and Dan always said you were out when I came to his door.” He twisted his hands. “I know it’s no excuse for all this, but I felt as down as a man can feel for a long time.”
Adrienne sat down. “I want to hear everything you’ve done that I don’t know about since the day of the fire, and I want the whole truth, Mel.”
