Burning Down the Spouse Part 21

Thankfully, the traffic was light due to everyone being where they should be on Christmas Eve. At home. With their families. Warm. Safe. Nikos looked out the window as they pa.s.sed a blur of decorative lights, but his glance didn't stray to her. Cosmos's silence was palpable, leaving Frankie feeling awkward and an imposition.

No one spoke while Christmas music played, soft and bittersweet to her ears.

Cosmos pulled into the emergency room entrance with a jolt. Frankie yanked the door handle and hopped out as fast as her heels would allow, the sharp wind whipping at her jacket, relieved to get away from a tension she couldn't figure out. "I'll go find Mitch and Juliana and meet you back here in the waiting room."

Frankie took off in the direction of the reception desk to find Mitch already there, sitting in a wheelchair, moaning and holding his chest with one hand, clinging to a blanket with the other. Juliana was at the desk, scrolling through papers.

Her approach to Mitch was hesitant, her steps sluggish. "Mitch?"

"Frankie!" Juliana called to her, her full cheeks red, her misshapen clothes askew. Frankie felt a pang of remorse for her. She looked run-down. No doubt, now that Mitch didn't have her to run ragged, Juliana was likely taking the brunt of his workload.

Frankie smiled in her direction, drawing her coat tighter around her neck. "It's good to see you, Juliana. How've you been?"

Her cheeks puffed outward. "Tired, but okay. Listen-"

But Mitch cut her off, managing to roll his wheelchair between the two women. His hands shooed at Juliana in impatience. "You go fill out the forms, Juliana, and go home. It is Christmas Eve. I'll speak to Frankie." He coughed, his eyes searching hers.

For what, she didn't know.

Frankie's lips pursed as Juliana c.o.c.ked an eyebrow in Mitch's direction before making a reluctant retreat and turning her attention back to his release forms.

Frankie crossed her arms over her chest. "So what's going on, Mitch? You look fine to me. I'm not sure why you called me to begin with, but seeing you, it doesn't look like it was anything dire." And definitely nothing that should have dragged her from the warmth of Nikos's bed.

His lined face went slack with a defeated, hurt expression. "I disturbed your Christmas Eve, didn't I?" His hand reached for hers, cold and smooth, so different than Nikos's. "Accept my apology?"

Frankie's sigh was a mixture of impatience and frustration. The h.e.l.l he was going to pull the martyr act with her. It drove her absolutely insane. Whenever Mitch wanted something, he put on his sacrificial victim pants and had at her, twisting the situation to his advantage by creating guilt because she was aggravated. Nope. He didn't get to do that anymore. "Why did you need me here, Mitch? What was so urgent you asked for, of all people, me? Because this doesn't look urgent, Mitch. You're being released, for c.r.a.p's sake. It's not like you're dying."

He let his wide shoulders crumble inward. His gray-blue eyes grew watery. "But that's just it, Frankie."

Her teeth clenched, her hand remaining slack in his clingy grasp. "What's just it, Mitch?"

"I am dying, Frankie."

She blinked.

Shock washed over her in a wave of disbelief.

Dying?

Mitch was dying? Of all the horrible things she'd wished on his person after he'd trashed her life, never once had she wished death as his fate.

Wait-honesty check. She'd never wished it and truly meant it.

Frankie's shock was followed by the sharpest stab of guilt she'd ever experienced in her life, bar none. She'd been so aggravated with him for dragging her away from her antics with Nikos and now look.

She'd even gone so far as to accuse him of martyrdom.

Dying trumped martyr-ish activities-big.

Frankie's hand went to Mitch's cheek just as Nikos and Cosmos whisked into the emergency room on a cold blast of air.

But the air wasn't nearly as cold as the glare Nikos gave her.

Whoever said timing was everything could stuff it up their a.s.s for being so spot on.

"Did we really just give that a.s.shole a ride home?" Cosmos sneered at Nikos, who stood in the middle of plastic Mitch's living room, wondering how Frankie had ever fit into this lacquered, gla.s.s, and white-marbled sterile world. Not a single square inch of this brownstone felt like Frankie.

Nikos clenched his jaw, narrowly avoiding a gold and gla.s.s sculpture shaped to resemble something he totally didn't understand. He pulled his brother to a corner away from Mitch's bedroom. Their old bedroom, he a.s.sumed. The bedroom with the bed Frankie was busy settling Mitch into with comforting hands that should be only on him. Not f.u.c.king Mitch. G.o.d, that was a s.h.i.+tty thought to lob at a dying man. "Cos, shut it. Yes. We gave him a ride home. Did you hear what Frankie told us? He's dying," he hissed low and infuriated. "So quit being a s.h.i.+t and knock it off."

Cosmos jammed his hands into the pockets of his jacket with an angry grunt. "She's divorced. Why does Mitch's dying involve Frankie?"

Nikos positioned himself in front of Cosmos, letting his lips thin. "Because she's a decent human being, Cos. That's why. What was she supposed to say? 'Sucks to be you. Merry Christmas, gotta run'? Don't be a moron today, okay? Just for once, take the day off and stop running at the mouth with the first thought that comes to mind, and keep your opinionated yap still."

Cosmos pointed an angry finger at Nikos's chest, his white teeth clamped together, but his face screamed disbelief. "Do you really believe all that c.r.a.p about all these tests he's supposedly had since the last time he came into the diner? Seems to me finding out he had cancer happened pretty quick."

Nikos's eyebrow rose. "How long does it really take to find out you have cancer? It just takes one test."

"So why do you think he chose tonight to tell Frankie? Tonight of all nights?"

"You heard what he said, Cos. He wasn't feeling well, and he panicked. I suppose if I had cancer, I might freak over every little ache and pain, too. When you have a terminal diagnosis, I'd imagine you're always on red alert. Reaching out to Frankie was just a gut reaction born out of the fear this might be it. Maybe he wanted to apologize for being such a s.h.i.+t to her? You know, like making things right before you buy the farm? They were married for a long time." Even he couldn't believe he was defending Mitch. But there it was.

"Okay, fine. Then tell me this. Does he look like he's dying, Nik?"

There was that. "Just because he's not on life support doesn't mean he's not seriously ill, Cos. Plenty of people look fine and don't stop living until they're forced to. You heard what he said."

"You mean while he was slapped up against Frankie in the backseat, clinging to her like she was a starving man's last jelly donut?"

Nikos ignored the jab and the subsequent anger he'd felt since he'd had to bear witness to that. "The doctor told him to keep living his life while he gets treatment. You heard the doctor say that himself. Wouldn't you want to do the same?"

Cosmos blinked. "You're kidding, right? I don't know about you, but that doctor looked like he'd just graduated kindergarten. Mitch's playing her just like she's playing you. Jesus Christ, Nik, I can't believe you did her!"

Anger, spiky and jagged, gripped him, making him gather Cosmos up by the collar of his jacket with rough hands. "Never, ever, as long as you live, refer to her that way, Cosmos, or I'll kill you." He shook him off with a hard shove, leaving his brother to fall back against the pristine white wall.

Cosmos threw his hands up in a gesture of acquiescence. "Fine. I'm sorry. I like Frankie, too. But I'm just calling it like I see it, brother. It's Anita all over again. Plain and simple. All you have to do is look in that bedroom and see it with your own eyes."

Nikos ground his teeth to keep from bas.h.i.+ng in Cosmos's. No. This was nothing like Anita. He'd never felt this way about Anita. "When I need your opinion, I'll let you know. Otherwise, I'm a big boy, and I can take care of myself."

A snort escaped his brother's lips. "Right. I remember how well you took care of yourself the last time s.h.i.+t like this went down-"

"s.h.i.+t like what, Cosmos?" Frankie asked from behind the two men, making them cringe in unison. "And shhhhh. He's finally asleep."

"Color me all kinds of happy the Sandman's taken Mitch to peaceful pastures," Cosmos retorted.

Frankie stepped between Nikos and his brother, putting her painted nail at Cosmos's chest. "Look, I don't know what I did to tweak you, but you offered to bring me to the hospital. Yet the entire way, you were a total cranky a.s.s. If you've got some kind of problem with me, spit it out, Cosmos, and do it while you can still claim to have a set of b.a.l.l.s."

Nikos's mouth fell open before he had to clamp it shut so his laughter wouldn't wake Mitch. He made a face at Cosmos over Frankie's shoulder.

She whipped around, facing Nikos, her eyes luminous with a harsh glare up at him. "That goes for you, too, Antonakas. You have some nerve offering to bring me here, then grudging about it the whole way. Very pa.s.sive-aggressive, if you ask me, and totally not okay by this girl. So those sticks you two have up your a.s.ses? Be good boys and help each other by pulling them out!"

Frankie pushed past Nikos with a hand to his shoulder to gather her jacket and purse. "Now be quiet and let's go. Juliana's on her way over, and I need to get back to Gail before she finds out what I'm doing. And you two beasts need to get home to Voula before she has my head for killing you both. Which I will do if you don't spit out your beef with me by the time we get in that car!"

With that, she stomped past both of them toward the elaborate front door-its etched-in-gold gla.s.s pristinely smudge-free-while two sullen, checked men followed her on heavy feet.

Nikos couldn't stop himself from noticing how hot she was when she was riled up. She was d.a.m.ned s.e.xy all seething and spouting orders.

Nikos leaned over her and said, "You're a little hot when you're angry."

With a sigh of disgust, Frankie folded her hands together under her purse. "I'm glad you feel that way because that means by the time it takes to get back to Jersey, I'll be smokin'. Now get in the car and spill the problem."

s.h.i.+t. Now he'd have to explain his irrational, knee-jerk reaction to her running to Mitch's aid. That meant they'd have to talk feelings, and he'd have to have an explanation for his feelings, which had to have some basis. Otherwise they'd appear knuckle dragger-ish and petty.

That basis was Anita.

Scrubbing a hand over his face, Nikos groaned.

He hated to talk feelings when they were his. He was a much better listener.

Though, if Frankie's stiff spine and dour expression were any indication of what was to come, he'd probably be better off deaf.

Cosmos pressed a b.u.t.ton on his key fob, starting the engine via remote.

Nikos held the back door for Frankie to slide in, then followed suit by climbing in beside her.

Cosmos snorted. "You're being taken for a ride, Frankie."

She bristled in her heated seat. "Meaning?"

"Cos thinks Mitch is lying to you because he wants something," Nikos offered, averting his gaze once more, tight of jaw, eyes gleaming.

Now Frankie snorted. "Weren't you there when Doogie Howser gave us the skinny?" She still couldn't believe Mitch was actually dying.

She couldn't believe.

Oh G.o.d. Had she just thought that? Was she doubting Mitch? Yet, she'd heard the news herself. With her own ears, she'd heard a doctor who was all of twelve if he was a day tell her Mitch had cancer and his chances of survival weren't good-complete with stats and percentages she couldn't remember for the attempt to process it all. He'd said it while he'd looked at the wall behind her instead of directly in the eye.

He'd said it with a tone that had been as impersonal as if he'd been ticking off grocery items on a list.

"Yeah," Cosmos snorted, interrupting her thoughts of doubt. "I was there, and I still don't believe it. Mitch wants something."

Frankie snorted back. "Right, because I have so much to offer. Really, Cosmos, what is it that you think I have that Mitch wants enough to tell me he's dying of cancer for?"

"Maybe he wants you back? He wouldn't be the first guy to pull a desperate, stupid stunt like that."

"And when he doesn't die? Then what?" Frankie reached over the seat and patted Cosmos on the shoulder, ignoring that niggling fear Mitch was lying. "Good try, but I doubt Mitch wants me back, and for the record, even if he did, I don't want him back."

Ah, revelation. Saying those words out loud felt good, but better, they felt right. If she'd had even a small misgiving about any residual feelings for Mitch, they'd been quashed tonight. Even in light of a possible terminal illness, it didn't change how she felt. Though, she'd be there for him when she could. What decent human being wouldn't offer at least some solace? Yet, it didn't change the fact that she was so over Mitch and ready to continue her life, move forward, and maybe toward Nikos, she'd barely paused.

Her words clearly changed Nikos's att.i.tude by the way he walked his fingers across the leather seat and reached for hers.

Frankie's eyes warned him he'd better back off. "Oh, no," she whispered with a fierce glance at him, flicking the back of his hand and s.n.a.t.c.hing hers away. "There will be no making up until we talk about what led us to have a reason to make up. Again. So back on over there, pal. Now, your crazy theory, Cosmos? Any other nefarious conspiracies you'd like to share?"

Cosmos gave a light tap to the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. "I don't know. I just know he's up to something and it smells. I just haven't figured it out yet, but I will."

Sitting back in the seat, Frankie turned to Nikos with flas.h.i.+ng eyes. "Pearls of wisdom you'd care to share?"

Nikos's jaw cracked before he spoke. "Look, I'm not saying the guy's a liar, but you won't catch me discounting the idea that he's capable of it. He did cheat on you. That requires lying. Pearled enough for you?" He followed up his sarcasm with a grin. The one he seemed to innately know made her melt.

But all melting was on hold until she found out what bug he'd had up his a.s.s. "That's true. Point taken, but cheating and dying are huge leaps apart. So here's what I think. I think I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. There aren't many who know Mitch the way I do. He's been known to stretch the truth to suit his needs, definitely. But this . . . Telling me he's dying for some unknown purpose is disgusting and cruel. If he's not telling the truth, I guess I'll know when he doesn't turn up dead, but he'll wish he was. Until I hear otherwise, as far as I'm concerned, the least I can give him is my compa.s.sion, and that's just how it's going to be."

Cosmos shook his head. "So why does he need you to help him finish out the season's shows, Frankie?"

"Because he's sick? All he asked me to do was help him with a recipe or two so he can finish up the season before he begins treatment. It's not a big deal. I did it all the time for him when we were married. Do you blame him for not wanting anyone to know, Cosmos? Especially his audience? Look, I don't think I have to explain to you both that Mitch might have been a s.h.i.+tty husband, but don't you think he at least deserves some kindness because he's a sick man, not to mention a human being?"

Her gut tightened. She was torn in half by the part of her that wanted to spit in Mitch's face for not just hurting her, but not even caring enough to see if she was all right after her media blitz. The half that wanted to tell him to go to h.e.l.l-he didn't deserve her sympathy when he'd given her not an ounce.

While the other half of her reasoned that Mitch was a man she'd once loved and he could die if the chemo he'd talked about didn't work. There was just no way she couldn't at least try and do something.

"Consider it fulfilling a man's dying wish . . . or whatever. Either way, I make my own choices and if I choose to help Mitch at his request, that's what I'm going to do. What kind of person would I be if I didn't? So deal."

Boom.

First single, postdivorce, "live your life the way you want to" serious decision made. Though, the doubt Cosmos's words created niggled at her, made her sympathetic heart twist in indecision. Would Mitch do something so awful? And why? He wasn't exactly above some pretty low-down stunts, but that sort of lie would make him a much s.h.i.+ttier person than she could've ever imagined.

"It's a bad idea, Frankie. That's all I'm saying." Cosmos's tone was lighter, but his statement held the intent of his supposition.

She pursed her lips in the dark warmth of the car. "Noted. Now let it go, and take me home. I'm tired. I'm cranky, and I haven't eaten in twelve hours."

"You missed that entire spread at the party? How could you possibly miss all that food?"

"Ask your brother," Frankie offered.

Cosmos paused, then cleared his throat. "Sorry. Never mind."

Nikos inched his fingers over her knee. "If you make up with me, I'll cook you something back at the diner. But only if you stop giving me the evil eye."

"You're due evil eye, mister. You evil-eyed me the whole way here. And I'm not sure you have enough food in two diners to make that up to me." She gave him a condescending glare, turning to look out the window.

His grin was sheepish in the pa.s.sing headlights of other cars. "I can try."

Frankie made a face at him, tightening her jacket around her.

Nikos slid over closer to her, walking his fingers up her arm until they tangled in her hair. He twirled a long piece of it. "But it's Christmas."

"And that means you can be an eternal s.h.i.+t with me? No. I don't think so," she whispered, turning to look at him, fighting the warm swell of emotions gathering in her belly when he grinned. "If you want to make it up to me, you'd better tell me what's stuck up your a.s.s, and then-and only then-can you cook for me." She gave him a flirty smile filled with this new brand of sa.s.s she'd acquired. "You have your relations.h.i.+p requirements, and I have mine. Mine include no covert attacks I can't defend myself from because I don't know what the attack is for. I had enough of that in my last relations.h.i.+p."

"That means you have to talk about your feelings, Nik," Cosmos crowed, clearly enjoying antagonizing his brother.

Nikos flicked the back of his brother's head. "Can it. And don't you have headphones for your iPod, or those ear things? Put them on and mind your p's and q's." He pulled her closer to him, and while she wasn't reluctant, she wasn't losing her footing either. "Now, where were we?"