Shaking Off the Dust Read online

  Tom moved until he could see his friend’s face. “His mother shared her dance studio space with a dojo. Takeshi trained since the age of five in martial arts and thought himself quite the badass. He didn’t feel like he should have to earn his spending money, so he would sneak out with a few other delinquents.”

  Shimodo closed his eyes and his head dropped down.

  “The night his family died he was out shoplifting. He returned with his backpack full of stolen items to find his home and family in ashes. He came to America the following month to live with his father’s sister. I think that’s enough.”

  I finished repeating it all back to Shimodo. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  “Thank you.” He turned to where Tom stood.

  I took a deep breath to steady myself while I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. My heart began racing again. “Damn it all to hell,” I said out loud. I was nearly to the door when I spoke. “I have to go now. It was nice to see you again, Dr. Shimodo. Call me tomorrow if you want. Tom, stay and visit for a while.”

  Both men looked at me.

  Shimodo crossed over to me. “What is it, Hannah?” He took my hand sliding his fingers over my wrist to find my pulse. “I should call an ambulance. Your heart rate is over one-eighty.” He frowned at me.

  “I’m not paying hundreds of dollars for a five-minute ride. I can drive myself. I need to go now though.” I took those three steps to the door.

  Shimodo took my elbow. “Come along then, let’s get to the car.” We walked through four rooms to reach the garage.

  I stood looking in awe at a Corvette, classic Mustang and a sporty new Lexus. “Which one is yours?”

  “They are all his now.” Tom grinned possessively at the cars.

  “This one.” Shimodo pointed to the Mustang.

  “You’ll have to take yours to get around my car.” I scooted in the passenger side.

  Once we were out of the neighborhood, I shifted in my seat to see his profile.

  “How are you feeling? Are you short of breath or having chest pain?” Shimodo asked.

  “I’m a little dizzy, but otherwise it isn’t bad.”

  Tom watched us from the backseat like we were his favorite television show. By the time he’d asked me three times what my heart rate was, Shimodo had pulled up under the canopy to the emergency room. As I opened the door, a wave of dizziness hit, so I sat back down. He came to my side of the car, leaned over and picked me up in his arms. No easy task, I can assure you.

  “Please put me down. I’m too heavy for you to carry.” I was embarrassed. You never want to have a guy in a position to guess your actual weight.

  “Quiet, Hannah Campbell,” he admonished.

  “Just Hannah, please.”

  The triage nurse came running out. “May I help you, sir?”

  I lifted my head off his firm chest. “Ginny, it’s me again.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “I’ll get a cart.”

  “No,” said Shimodo. “Lead the way to a room.”

  “Ginny meet a friend of mine, Dr. Shimodo.”

  It didn’t take long for Dr. Perez to come strolling in, giving me a curious face. “I spoke with Professor Shimodo.” He emphasized the last two words. “He tells me you confided this has been going on all day and you’re pale and dizzy. I agree you look like hell.” He stopped, waiting for a reply.

  “Does he think Takeshi and you have something romantic going on? Oh, this is good. I can’t wait to give Takeshi a hard time,” said my least favorite ghost.

  “Give me the proper drugs and I’ll be out of your hair.” I gave JJ my best blank expression as he tried to stare me into explaining Shimodo’s presence. “That’s all you’re going to get from me on the subject.”

  He shook his head and ordered medications, before he did his exam. “You know you’ll be staying overnight. How is the hand doing?”

  “It isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. JJ, must I stay? I’m exhausted by this place.”

  The nurse gave me the medication and in minutes my heart rate was normal. Ah, the miracles of modern medicine.

  “I’m going to see about a bed. I’ll have them give you a sleeping pill, but stay you must.” JJ waved his hand and left.

  Maryann, the night charge nurse, came behind the curtain to my bedside. “Who’s the tall, dark and handsome waiting outside your room? Is he the one who crawled into your bed last night?”

  “Tall, dark and handsome is already in the room,” Tom interjected. “Pale, kind and pretty is waiting outside the door. I thought you women liked the bad boys.”

  I laughed at Tom. “He should have gone home. Please ask him to come in?” I winked at Maryann as I straightened out my poorly fitting hospital gown and smoothed the blankets.

  Shimodo stuck his head in. “Hannah, did you need me?”

  I pointed to the heart monitor. “See, all better.”

  He glanced at the heart rate displayed, then back at me. “I see.”

  “You can go on home. I’ll call you when I get out of here. Thanks for the ride and stuff. It’s late and the dogs probably need to go outside.”

  He pulled the chair up to the bedside and sat down. “Do you detest having me here?”

  That incredible, deep voice of his was mesmerizing. I wanted to ask him if he’d do my answering-machine message. The other girls at work would call just to hear it.

  “Jeez, Hannah, you act like a teenager with a crush.” Tom frowned. “I can’t even watch, it’s embarrassing. I’ll be out in the ER.”

  “Hannah?” Shimodo’s face was neutral as he looked at me, but he darted his eyes around and mouthed the word “Tom”.

  I nodded, once. “Sorry, I was distracted, but all gone now.”

  Maryann left the room and I sighed.

  “You are my hero.” I definitely like having handsome men nearby that I can goggle at. “I’m embarrassed at how I hung onto you last night. You got me back when you stared at me like I was a crazy woman earlier. You even looked mad at me.”

  “I don’t think you’re crazy, at least not at the moment. Is he gone?”

  “Not before he crushed my ego.”

  “What did he say to do that?”

  “I won’t repeat it, he was probably right.”

  “He must be fond of you, Hannah. He prefers a stony silence when he doesn’t like the person.”

  “He doesn’t have much choice, does he? It’s either talk to me or no one. He was initially thrilled to discover I could see and talk to him. The thrill is gone. He already finds me an embarrassment.” I was going to work hard not to let that bother me.

  Shimodo shook his head. “Nothing embarrasses Tom, take my word for that.”

  We sat in a companionable silence for a few moments.

  “Will you inform your family that you are here?” Shimodo asked.

  “Heavens no. I need a good night’s sleep and they need to get away from here. My folks have not taken a vacation or left town for two years because they were afraid to leave me alone after my car accident. Two days ago, they took off on a long vacation. There is no way I’m going to spoil that.”

  Maryann came back to the room and announced she was calling report to the floor nurse. I asked her to bring in my sleeping pill. Once I swallowed it, I returned my thoughts to Shimodo.

  He’d sat next me the entire time and managed to appear serene as Maryann made furtive stares in his direction. By the time she left the room, I let out the laugh I’d been holding back.

  “You realize the rumor mill is already in overdrive since last night’s sleepover. We need to come up with an explanation for your presence in my hospital room.”

  “I don’t think anything we might say would impact hospital gossip. I’ll continue in the role of concerned friend and you may say whatever you choose. Although, I’d refrain from mentioning Tom being involved.” He took my hand, squeezing in a conspiratorial way.

  That was the moment Dr. Perez chose to walk back int
o the room.

  I started to snatch my hand away, but he held on. I gave up and let it rest in his fingers. I could feel my face getting red.

  “Dr. Shultz is on call for cardiology. He’s admitting and will see you first thing in the morning.” He looked at Shimodo and grinned. “It was nice to see you again, Dr. Shimodo.”

  Shimodo stood to shake his hand. “Yes, I appreciate your excellent care of Hannah.”

  “She’s one of us.” JJ winked at me. “We take care of our own. I expect they’ll want you to take some time off, Hannah. You’ve had a busy couple of days.”

  “You have no idea,” I said for only Shimodo to hear.

  JJ left the room so I gave the handsome Dr. Shimodo my full attention. “He’s going to mention the hand holding. You should have let go.”

  “Once he saw us, it would have made it worse to be uncomfortable about it. If we are friends, we need to be at ease with each other. Tom and I will need you to be with us for a time. Until we can sort this out.”

  Maryann returned with a transport monitor. “Let’s get you up to your room. You’ll be in 4307; it’s a private room.”

  “Good.” I nodded to my visitor. “I guess I’ll talk to you in a couple of days.”

  “I’ll check on you. I need to make some phone calls.” He took my hand in his larger one and gave a firm squeeze. “Perhaps you’d like me to bring you some clothes from home?”

  Maryann’s eyebrows were trying to leave her forehead.

  “When I am wearing this…oh-so-flattering nightgown?”

  He chuckled as he left the room.

  “You have so much explaining to do, Hannah. How’d you hook up with that man? I don’t know that many Asian men, but he is plain beautiful.”

  I pantomimed a zipper to my lips. “He is a handsome thing.” And a great kisser.

  “If you’re not talking, I can see I’ll be pumping Vicki for information in the morning.”

  “Any chance you’ll let this go?”

  “Hannah, I’m in my forties, married with three kids. I need to live vicariously through others with more exciting lives. Who could have known it would be you?”

  “I think I got insulted,” I mumbled.

  As she pushed my cart out of the room, Tom walked up. “I was hanging out at the doctors’ dictation station so I could hear your test results. Your electrolytes are off, potassium, calcium and magnesium. I should have Takeshi take you to Louisville. Have them do a workup on you there. You’re the perfect subject for his research.”

  I had been feeling pretty good until that moment, enjoying the attention from Dr. Shimodo. Now I knew why he showed me so much consideration. I fit into his neurology research. A personal relationship with a male who could kiss like Shimodo was meant for women younger and less worn by life. Not me. I wasn’t going to let it bother me. I didn’t like complications and getting attached to a gorgeous man, who was only looking for a research lab rat, was over my limit today.

  Chapter Four

  A bed alarm off in the distance woke me and reminded me I was in the hospital. My left leg was freezing. I opened my eyes to find Tom sitting on the foot of my bed, partially on my leg.

  “My foot is ice cold, Tom. Get off of me,” I grumped.

  I heard a chair creak and looked up into Shimodo’s face.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “What did you mean, when you told Tom to get off of you?” Obviously, he had chosen to ignore my question.

  “He’s sitting in the only chair in the room,” Tom grumbled and grudgingly moved until he was not touching me.

  “Go sit on the window ledge.” I pointed to it and turned to the other male crowding my space. “Tom was on my foot. When he touches, actually, when he passes through human flesh, the person feels a cold sensation, so my left foot is now frozen.” I looked at Tom again. “Just how long have you been there?”

  Shimodo moved to the end of the bed, taking my foot out from under the covers. He started rubbing it. “It is cool to the touch and you have chill bumps all the way up your calf.”

  Damn, when was the last time I shaved my legs? I pulled my foot back from him. “That’s all right. Now that he’s moved, it should warm up soon. You never answered my question. Why are you here?”

  “Ask Tom if he’ll demonstrate on me. I’d like to know how it feels.”

  “Ask him yourself. He can hear you fine.” How dare he disregard my question?

  Tom moved forward, putting his hand on Shimodo’s right shoulder and his eyes widened in delight. “It’s an odd sensation.”

  “You keep avoiding my question, Shimodo. What are you doing here?”

  “I stayed to protect you from Tom. He is single minded when he has a purpose and you required rest. I wanted to make sure you got what you needed.” He jerked his shoulder away when Tom put both arms into it. “Tom, you know it’s true. You often forget what others need or desire when it interferes with what you want.”

  Tom stuck his fist through Shimodo’s chair and on through his abdomen.

  “Cut it out, Tom.” It came out louder than I intended.

  Tom pulled out his arm. “I planned to let you rest for as long as you need.”

  “Glad to hear that. So, you believe he’s here? That’s a relief.” I turned to Shimodo as the nurse came into the room.

  “Morning, you’re awake bright and early. Dr. Shultz is on the unit and will be in to see you shortly. Do you need anything?”

  “No, I’m just peachy,” I said.

  She looked at Shimodo and I swear her breasts grew two inches. “Dr. Shimodo, I can bring you some coffee, if you’d like.”

  He smiled at the nurse. “Thank you, I don’t drink coffee. But if you have some herbal tea, that would be nice.”

  “I’d like some coffee.” I interrupted their little lovefest.

  “She’ll have decaffeinated,” Shimodo said like I was his patient, and the nurse left to carry out his orders.

  Patient and doctor. Keep reminding yourself that is all it is between us. Besides, it’s against hospital policy to bitchslap that cute little nurse. I glanced over at Tom who watched us closely.

  Shimodo considered me for a long time. I figured I had a bad case of bedhead and started to get up to go into the bathroom to see how dreadful I looked.

  “Wait for a minute, if you can. I have a few quick questions then I’ll leave you alone this morning.”

  I sat back in the bed and nodded.

  “When Tom is not with you, where is he?”

  “He can be wherever there is a physical piece of him, like his home, where there are bits of him in the form of hair and skin cells. You know, the usual DNA samples. Oh and he told me if you call his name, he can hear it and be there in a blink. He can go to any of the patients who have his organs or tissue, or the plane crash site, or the hangar where they are reconstructing the plane. Wherever he is, he can be.”

  “I’ll take him home with me, or at least I’ll call him home. With the ability for his touch to cause a somatic reaction, we should be able to communicate. I know Morse code and so does he. There are many questions about the estate that I’d like him to answer. We can work on that until you are released and come to stay with us.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You will need someone to be with you for the next few days and you’ve already said your parents are out of town. It will be easier to figure out what we can do for Tom.” He searched my face. “I know it’s not fair that you are part of his situation, but I think it might be resolved quickly this way.”

  I shook my head. “People will talk if I go stay with you. I have friends who can check up on me. Some may even be willing to spend a night or two, although I think that’s unnecessary.”

  “Is it so dreadful for them to believe we are friends?”

  “They won’t believe we are just friends.”

  “We are mature adults in our thirties. In today’s society, it is not uncommon. We will be thrown together he
lping Tom. Is it such a bad thing to let them think what they want, rather than let anyone discover the real reason we will be staying in the same house?”

  “It is for me. I’ve worked with these people for over ten years. They will be very surprised.”

  “You will have to tell me why that is, but for now you need to continue to rest under the watchful eye of a healthcare provider.” He headed to the door. “Tom, I’ll call you when I am at your home.”

  Tom sat in the chair Shimodo had vacated. “I knew he’d know what to do.”

  Not long after Shimodo left, Tom blinked away. To his summons, I assumed.

  Vicki came up on her morning break, furious that she didn’t know I was actually seeing that dreamy neurologist and begging me to explain how that happened. I claimed selective amnesia. She wasted her entire break trying to pry information out of me. I held her hostage until she agreed to run by my house and pick up a change of clothes for me after work.

  Five minutes before four, my clothes arrived in her arms and I cheered. I went into the bathroom to change and as I came out, Tom appeared in front of me. He scared the life out of me…almost, and I screeched.

  Shimodo, who’d just arrived, came bursting through the door to do battle with whatever had caused me to scream. He rushed across the room catching me to him, saying, “What is it?”

  I saw Tom reach over and touch him, and he noticed Vicki in the chair.

  “I tripped on my way out of the bathroom. I’m quite clumsy you know.” I was still pulled against his chest. “I’m not sure why I screamed. I must be jumpy.”

  He smelled like fresh soap, with some spicy scent that I liked, so I took another deep breath. His soft black hair stood on end in the style every teenager in town tries to attain with a pound of gel.

  Vicki took this all in with a knowing arch of her brow. I stepped out of his arms to sit on the end of the bed and gazed around my suddenly crowded room.

  My afternoon nurse came into the room. “Are you all right? I thought I heard a scream.”

  “I’m fine, although embarrassed.”

  She nodded and left. She must have had better things to do.

  “Takeshi, this is Vicki Barrett. Vicki, this is Dr. Takeshi Shimodo.” It was odd using his first name. Did kissing qualify as first-name basis? I thought he would answer yes, but I still didn’t know how I felt about it.