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patient, uh—”
    A.J.’s sister, Moni slid up in front of the nurse and answered without hesitation. “Mrs. Victoria Baptiste.”
    The nurse looked up from the chart and glanced at everyone with a puzzled look. “Hmm, I worked with Dr. Baptiste over at Children’s Hospital when he was chief of pediatrics. I don’t recall him being married.”
    Brie, Moni, Aimee, and Caitlyn converged on the nurse like a pack of pit bulls ready to attack.
    “Things change,” Brie hissed.
    “Didn’t you just hear us say she’s his wife?” Aimee announced curtly.
    “Uh-uh. That’s okay. I got this.” Louise pushed her way through the huddle until she stood in front of the nurse and gave her a glaring look. “Darlene, this is a family affair. Besides, I ain’t but a half step off you anyway, having me thrown out the emergency room like that.”
    “Now, Louise, you know and I know you were being disruptive. It wasn’t good for Dr. Baptiste,” the nurse said defensively.
    Louise looked at the women around her. “Did she just say what I thought I heard her say?”
    The women all nodded at the same time.
    Louise dragged the nurse off to a nearby corner, hemming her between the wall and herself. “Darlene, I’ma wax you regular, then turn you around and buff you to a high-gloss sheen if you don’t come up with a room number for my child—and quick. Feeling me?”
    “Uh…Mrs. Baptiste,” the nurse stuttered over Louise’s shoulder, nervously flipping through the pages inside of A.J.’s chart. “Y-Your husband is in Room 505.”
    Once the nurse exited, Vic turned to everyone. “I-I don’t know what to say.”
    Marcel smiled and beckoned Ray and Alex. “Come on, guys. Let’s get down to admissions and try to cover up this lie we just stood here and told.”
    Mama Z chuckled softly. “No need to rush, son. We told the truth. Just ain’t come to pass—yet.”
    Vic stared speechless at Mama Z. “But—”
    “No buts.” Alcee gently shoved Vic by the shoulders. “Go.”
    Vic nodded, and a second later, raced out of the waiting room.
    * * *
    Vic tiptoed inside Baptiste’s room a few moments later and eased back the partially drawn curtain around his bed. Though she was shaking from fear and racked with guilt, somehow her feet carried her closer to his bed.
    “Oh, my God,” she gasped, covering her mouth with both hands as she peered down at Baptiste.
    The entire left side of his face was swollen and bruised, and the broken blood vessels caused a purplish hue that markedly discolored his complexion. When she noticed the wide strips of white tape wrapped around his chest, her heart pounded, and an intense emotion welled up inside her until she thought she’d explode trying to control it. When she finally found her voice, it was faint and hoarse. “Baptiste, baby, it’s me…Honey.”
    “Hmm…” A.J. grunted, too dazed to recognize the voice. Who’s calling me? Balls of cotton had been stuffed inside his mouth, his head pounded mercilessly, and he felt as if a steel blanket had been draped over him. His eyes fluttered and struggled to stay open. Jumbled thoughts swirled through his head as he slowly abandoned the world of unconsciousness. Pain so intense that it knotted his muscles invaded him, and he groaned in agony.
    “Baptiste.”
    “H-Honey,” he drawled in a faint tone.
    Vic pushed the bedrail down and sat on the edge of the bed, gently running her fingers along his temple, carefully avoiding the injured side. “Hush now, and don’t try and talk anymore.”
    He tried to shift his body and follow the sound of her voice, but immediately ditched his efforts when a searing pain zigzagged along his left side. A bubbling sensation erupted inside his stomach, and he heaved.
    Vic registered the retching sounds right away and quickly grabbed a plastic kidney-shaped pan off the table and held it to his mouth. “That’s right. Let it come on out.” Afterward, she cleansed his face and mouth with a cool, wet