It was already a week and still Eric refused to see Tanya. She was in a bad mood. She walked over to the west wing and knocked on Lloyd's room door. There was no answer. She hissed her teeth and walked away when she saw Lloyd walking down the hall toward her. Lloyd had very little to say to her since the incident with Eric, even as he took care of all her needs including driving her to her doctor's appointment. All his family was mad at her for shooting Eric. She could not blame them.
"What's up?" Lloyd asked as they met in the middle of the hallway. It was not often that Tanya visited the west wing of the house.
"It's been over a week; I need to see Eric," Tanya announced obviously annoyed.
"Tanya, I don't know what to tell you. I gave him all your messages. He is not ready to see you. You have to understand after what you did. You shoot him missing his heart by inches."
She was in tears. "I went up there and the entire floor was guarded by Linden's people. They would not let me near Eric."
"Yea I heard. Linden is really pissed at you. What did you expect after almost killing his favorite nephew?"
She looked so fragile and Lloyd's heart went out to her. "Look, stop the crying. I will talk to Eric again," Lloyd consoled her.
"Ericka misses him so much. Did you take her to see him?" she asked.
"No, she talked to him on the phone, but he doesn't want her seeing him, like that in the hospital."
"Why is it taking so long for him to come home? Are you telling me the truth? Is he getting better?" She asked in frustration.
Lloyd hesitated and that made her anxious. "Tell me, is something wrong?"
"Well, he was running a temperature. They have him on intravenous antibiotics. They won't let him out as long as he is running a temperature." Lloyd informed her.
That only made her cry more. "He might still die; that is what you are not telling me."
"Tanya that is not unusual for someone with that type of wounds to run a temperature," Lloyd explained.
Tanya nodded.
"Do you need anything? How is the baby? How are you feeling?" Lloyd tried to change the subject.
"I don't know; I can't think of anything or anyone but him...Eric, I just snapped when I heard him say he love that woman," she continued.
"Are you sure you heard him say that?"
"He said it; I know what I heard," She was so overcome with grief.
"Hey, come here," Lloyd called her to him.
The two embraced. It had been a while since they were this close. He lifted her chin.
"If you want to help, then take care of you and the baby. You know how important that is to Eric. He is on his back in a hospital, but he has done everything to keep you out of jail. He wants you and this baby healthy and so do I," Lloyd said.
"He cares nothing for me. He cares only for this baby and Ericka. That is evident by his behavior. I heard him on the phone. He is seeing other people," She sobbed.
Lloyd shook his head. He could not understand why she thought the way she did, when Eric sleep or awake, thinks only of her. "Tanya I am with Eric almost everywhere he goes. There is no other woman in his life. Yes, he cares deeply for the kids, but he cares even more for you; he loves only you girl," Lloyd tried to convince her.
Tanya ran away in tears. Lloyd sighed. From talking to Eric, he did not know if these two would have a marriage going forward. He thought that trust was going to be a major problem for them. He didn't have the heart to tell her that Eric was ok with her leaving.
<><><><><>
Lloyd walked into the room. He brought coconut water for Eric. He poured some in a glass and gave it to his brother.
"Where did you get this? I hope not from my wife or my mother," Eric looked at his brother for confirmation.
Linden had put out the word that no food from Eric's house or his mother's house should come through the hospital room door.
"No Aya, I would never defy Uncle Linden's Law or your law; I got it from a street vendor on my way here," Lloyd assured him.
Eric sensed something was up. "Everything ok on the home front?"
"Just have another talk with Tanya. She wants to see you," Lloyd told him.
Eric closed his eyes. "Not fucking happening, did you tell her that she is free to leave...that I will not stop her?"
Lloyd fidgeted. "No, I did not tell her. She seems too fragile at the moment,"
"I just want her to know that she is free...of me, from me" Eric said.
"I don't know if that is what she wants to hear now,"
"I don't understand what you are saying. She has been wanting to leave for sometime, before my accident,"
"You remember?!" Lloyd excitedly asked.
"Yes, I remember, although I am not sure what is real at this point or what is just a figment of my imagination,"
Lloyd teared up. "I am glad that your memory is back; I just wish that things weren't so fucked up with you and Tanya."
"Me too little brother, but how can I live with a woman that is capable of killing me in fucking cold blood. I could never feel safe again to close my eyes and sleep in the same bed with her or turn my fucking back on her ever again."
"So what are you saying? Is it over with you and Tanya?"
"I know that I did not fucking dream this. She told me just a few days before all this shit went down that that she was leaving as soon as she had the baby . She told me that love was not enough for her to stay with me. I should have listened to her,"
"She changed after she found out about Mila and the kid. I think she just snapped. She could not deal with it Eric. If you remember, you went crazy too when you heard about her and Luke," Lloyd defended Tanya.
Remembering Tanya and Luke still angered Eric. "I remember that ... her and that fucker Luke. That was one of the few things I wish I did not remember. But I did not fucking shoot her even though the evidence on that was striking ."
"Knowing Tanya, I don't see being in her right mind and pulling a gun on anyone; her mind must have been in turmoil," Lloyd said.
"Are you saying that she is crazy?" Eric asked.
"I think she needs help dealing with all that shit with you, Mila and that kid. I think it is not so much Mila that did her in, but you having a kid with some other woman,"
"Yea and I don't even know if the kid is mine," Eric countered.
"Well, you can find that out anytime you wish; Linden still has that information locked away,"
The two brothers looked at each other. "Do YOU know if she is mine?" Eric asked.
Lloyd looked away, then back at his brother. "Only Uncle Linden knows, but I think you should too before you decide on what happens next in your marriage. If the kid is not yours, then Tanya should know that. "
"Sunday was here yesterday. She seems to think that Tanya and I are like water and oil. We are great but not together," Eric countered.
"What about the kids? Ericka does not do well when both of you are not around. She keeps asking me where you are. How are you going to deal with that?" Lloyd asked.
Eric frowned. "That is what is tearing me apart right now; I can't see myself not having her with me every day. I don't know what to do. I need time to think about this."
"Tough,"
"Just ensure that Tanya has everything she needs. Tell her that I have removed restrictions on the accounts. She could take it all if she wants to. I don't fucking care at this point. I probably don't have much time left on the clock anyways so let her have it all," Eric continued.
Lloyd was angered that Eric was thinking of dying and not of living. "Why the fuck would you say such shit? Are you giving up on life?"
"I am just being realistic little brother. My head injury and now this shit so close to my heart, I may not live past thirty," Eric said.
"How are you and Dad getting along? I need you to work closely with him to learn the business,"
Lloyd got up and paced the floor. "Yea it's fine but, it's not the same without you. I don't have that connection with Dad like I do with you and Grandpa. Linden is there helping out too. I sometimes forget that like you the man has an ivy league education. He has some great ideas but him and Dad don't see eye to eye on much. "
"Look Dad doesn't wear his heart on his sleeves but, I can assure you that he loves all of his kids. He just shows it differently and he loves having you in the business. He told me that much. "
Lloyd didn't want to hear such talk. "You never said what actually happened that night. Tanya said she heard you tell a woman on the phone that you loved her, you keep saying it did not happen," Lloyd said.
"I never said any such shit. Except for Tanya and my mother, I have never told any woman that I love them, and they are the two who have fucked me over," Eric said.
"She is still at the house, she has not mention anything about leaving. Looks to me like she is waiting for you to come home to her," Lloyd said.
Eric looked at his brother. "Come home to her? I hope you didn't tell her that I am coming home. I can't go back there," Eric announced much to Lloyd's surprise.
Lloyd tried hard to keep his cool at hearing this bit of news. "What do you mean that you are not coming home? Where will you go?"
"I think I will go back to the little house on the beach. If you could have it clean up for me. I don't need much. I just need a place to rest up and do some thinking," Eric said.
"Or you could go home to Sahita," Lloyd teased.
"Fuck no, at this point I don't know who is deadlier, my mother or my wife," Eric joked but he knew none of it was funny. 'To not be able to trust my mother or my wife, the mother of my children is fucked up'
"What are you afraid of? I mean why don't you want to see her or take her call?
Eric looked at his brother. "What would you do if you were in my situation?
Lloyd looked back at Eric. "I don't know if I would want to see her so soon after she just tried to hurt me, but I would take her call and tell her what you are telling me to tell her. I would want her to hear it from me and not my brother."
Eric sighed. "I can't ... not right now.
Lloyd smiled. "You are afraid, aren't you? Afraid that you will not be able to resist her if she walked in here right now. I don't see how the two of you move forward without the other. I don't fucking get it. She has been wanting to leave but each time she gets an opportunity to go, she stays. It's as if she can't leave and the same fucking thing with you. It's as if there is some supernatural power preventing you from being apart ....Obeah?"
Eric closed his eyes. He was in pain, not only from the bullet wound, but his heart was in pain. Lloyd was right. He did not see how they move forward apart but he did not see them moving forward together either, even with their young daughter and another on the way.
"I don't know what the future holds, but we can't move forward together and pretend that she didn't just try to kill me,"
<><><><><>
Tanya was waiting for Lloyd when he got back from the hospital. She couldn't wait to hear about Eric. "Did you talk to him? Can I see him?" She asked.
"He is not ready Tanya, but he wants you to know that he is not standing in your way anymore. He knows that you want to leave and he is ok with it if that is what you want. He removed all the restrictions on the bank accounts, so you can have what you need," Lloyd told her.
"He wants me to leave. He hates me and I don't blame him; he is probably thinking that he can never trust me again, that we can never sleep in the same bed or turn his back on me again," She cried.
Lloyd looked at Tanya in shock as she repeated word for word the exact words Eric used to describe his feelings.
"Tanya you are missing the point. He believes that you want to go. He is just saying that you can if you want to," Lloyd explained.
"I will leave. I will move to the little house on the beach. That is where it all started. I will stay there and do some thinking about what I want to do next," She said.
Lloyd was at a loss for words. This was beyond weird. He thought that she would say that she was going to her mother's but instead she said the exact thing Eric said. And she had not talked to him or seen him in over a week. Lloyd looked at her puzzled at what she said. Could it be true what she once told him...that hers and Eric's souls were intertwined? "How fucking weird," Lloyd said out loud without realizing it.
Tanya looked at him. "What is weird about moving to the little house?"
"You don't want to do that. How am I suppose to take care of you if you do that?" Lloyd quickly said. He could only imagine the chaos if they both ended up going to the little beach house at the same time. That would be hilarious, but quite disastrous.
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