Charitable Hearts Read online

  “It’s just me.”

  “Well, you do have Laura.”

  “True. She’s the only real family I have.”

  Gary frowned.

  “Okay, so I have you and Levi now.” She smiled and batted her eyes.

  He smiled and continued putting stuff up. He handed her some bottles of Gatorade, and a box of popsicles. “You can put those in the fridge downstairs. The rest can go up here for now.”

  Maggie nodded. “I’m gonna go back down. Try to get him to drink something, maybe eat a popsicle.”

  “I’m gonna stay up here so I can wait for the doctor.”

  She smiled and walked back downstairs. Levi was restless, tossing and turning on the couch. He was shivering and the towel had fallen off his forehead. Maggie sat down next to him and picked it up. It was like it had never been wet, so she dipped it the water again and reapplied it.

  “Hey,” she said and gently shook his shoulder. “I’ve got some popsicles and Gatorade. Do either of them sound good?”

  “Just something to drink.”

  Maggie helped him sit up, and take a sip of Gatorade. He had no color in his face at all and she was sure his fever was higher than when she first arrived. She looked at her watch and checked the time. It’d had been an hour since Gary called. “The doctor should be here soon.”

  “I hate doctors, hospitals, all of it. Hate it.” He hugged her around the waist and rested his head on her shoulder.

  Maggie rubbed his back. “I know and I understand.”

  “If he brings out a needle, I’m going for the door.” His mouth moved against her neck.

  She could feel how hot he was and yet he still shivered. Maggie pulled up the blanket which had fallen to the floor in front of the couch and wrapped it around him. “Don’t make me hold you down,” she said and chuckled.

  “I’m a biter.”

  “I’m a kicker.”

  Levi tried to laugh and began coughing again. When he stopped he winced. “My chest hurts.”

  “I know. You need to drink some more.” Maggie straightened the pillows behind him so when he leaned back he was sitting up.

  “I don’t want anything.”

  “Okay, so hospital it is.”

  Levi grabbed the bottle of Gatorade and took a long drink. “Ugh. Nothing sounds good or tastes good or looks good.”

  “I know.”

  “Thank you for coming and taking care of me.”

  What do I say? The internal war began to wage again. Maggie cared for him. I more than care for him, but I won’t risk hurting like that again. She leaned closer. “I don’t mind. I hate to see you feeling so bad.”

  Levi held the Gatorade and leaned his head back. He held Maggie’s eyes, and his expression changed. “I keep pushing myself on you and you keep pushing back. It’s like I can’t take a hint.”

  Maggie felt caught off guard. No, you are charming, funny, and I miss you when you aren’t around. The thought startled her even more. She bit her lip and her eyes watered. “No,” she said and looked down. The words were caught, she regained her composure. Maggie lifted her eyes to his, but he’d fallen back to sleep.

  She felt terrible. He thought he was being pushy, but he didn’t understand that it wasn’t him. It was her and her inability to let anyone in. Maggie wiped the tears that started to fall. It had been a long time since she cried and even then she hadn’t cried long. A few tears and she’d run from anything that could even remind her of what happened.

  “Hey, everyone decent?” Gary called down the stairs. “Doctor is here.”

  Maggie quickly wiped her face and cleared her throat. “Yeah. Wait. Why would anyone be indecent, Gary?”

  “I don’t know. A guy, a girl, alone in a basement. I’ve learned it’s better to ask.” Gary moved aside as the doctor walked to Levi.

  “He’s sick. What did you think could be going on?”

  “I was just making sure.”

  “Gary, sometimes, your mind is like a maze.”

  He smiled.

  Maggie crossed her arms and turned her attention to the doctor.

  “Hi, I’m Dr. Kline,” he said, extending his hand to Maggie.

  Maggie shook his hand. “Hi, I’m Maggie Lawrence.”

  “Are you the girlfriend?”

  Gary looked away and smiled.

  Maggie swatted him on the arm. “No, just a friend.”

  Dr. Kline sat on the edge of the couch. “Has he been keeping down the Gatorade?” He picked up the loosely held bottle and set it on the coffee table. Dr. Kline began his examination by checking Levi’s pulse and blood pressure.

  “So far, yes.” Maggie answered.

  “Has he eaten anything today?”

  Maggie looked to Gary. “Uh, no, not that I know of.” He thought for a second. “I don’t think he ate yesterday either.” He avoided eye contact with Maggie after that admission.

  The doctor tilted Levi’s head up and swabbed the inside of his nose. “I’ll need to take this sample back to my office, but I’m fairly certain he has the flu.”

  “I thought so too.” Maggie said.

  “His fever is pretty high.” The doctor wrote down a few notes. “I’m very tempted to call an ambulance so he can be kept under observation. With this high a fever, dehydration is quite possible.”

  “No,” Levi groaned.

  “Mr. Martin, I understand people can be very hesitant when it comes to hospital stays, but the flu is rather serious. With your history of asthma, it would be easy for this to turn into pneumonia.”

  “Gary will stay here. He’ll make sure I keep hydrated.”

  “I’m staying too.” Maggie interjected and Levi smiled.

  The doctor looked between the two of them and back to Levi. “If there are any changes whatsoever, anything to give you cause for alarm, I am ordering you to take him to the hospital. I don’t care how much he complains or screams.”

  “You have my word.”

  “Keep pushing fluids. He probably won’t feel like eating for a few days. I’m calling in a prescription for Tamiflu. If you have any trouble with the instructions, call my office and I’ll call you back. Should be pretty easy to follow, though.” The doctor dug in his pants pocket, pulled out a phone. “What pharmacy?”

  “Just the drugstore down the street.” Gary answered.

  The doctor tapped his phone, got up, and began walking to the stairs. Maggie followed him. “I’m gonna walk him out, okay?” Gary nodded and sat in the chair near the couch.

  They reached the top of the stairs while he finished calling the drug store, and Maggie showed him the way to the door. “Are you sure he shouldn’t go to the hospital now? I know he said no, but if he needs to go I’ll talk to him.”

  “I would be happier if he went, but it’s borderline and I’d be erring on the side of caution more than anything. If you keep pushing fluids in him, and get him started on the Tamiflu immediately, he should start to feel better. If anything changes, don’t call the office, just go straight to the emergency room.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you for coming.”

  Maggie shut the door behind him and leaned her back against it.

  Twenty Four

  “You have to drink something,” Maggie argued.

  “I don’t want anything.”

  “Okay, so hospital.”

  “Stop threatening me with that every time. I’ll stop believing it’s a real threat.”

  Maggie sat on the couch with Levi’s head in her lap, looking up at her. She leaned in closer to him and narrowed her eyes. “Never stop believing it’s a real threat. Never.”

  He flashed a half smile and held her gaze. “Message received.”

  “Good. Now drink something.”

  He picked up the Gatorade bottle with the straw and took a sip. “See? Drinking. Kinda sick of Gatorade though.” It had been two days since the doctor had been to the house, and Levi was feeling better except that his fever kept spiking when they’d forget the ib
uprofen the pharmacist had suggested in combination with the Tamiflu.

  “Well, stop spiking a fever and you can have something else.” His hair clung to his forehead and Maggie pushed it back with her fingers. “Your hair is making funny shapes.” She smiled.

  “I need a haircut.”

  Maggie frowned. “What?”

  “I need a haircut. It’s way too long.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  Levi smiled and looked at her funny.

  “I like your hair. I don’t want you to cut it.”

  He held up two fingers. “Just a little.”

  “Half-inch maybe a little bit more. That’s it.”

  “I didn’t think you’d care.”

  Maggie tucked her own hair behind her ear. “You know I care.”

  “Just about my hair.” He sounded petulant.

  “You know that’s not true.”

  “Prove it.”

  “That’s childish.”

  “I’m sick. I’m allowed to be childish.”

  Maggie rolled her eyes. “Fine. How do I prove it?”

  “When I get better. You have to go on a real date with me. I pick you up, we go to a super nice restaurant, and we paint the town red.”

  She looked at him and wrinkled her nose. “Red is not my color.”

  “Fine. Pick a color and we’ll use that, but it’s a real date, with us, dressed up, and we just spend time together. No charity talk. No talk about the past. We live in the here and now and enjoy ourselves.”

  Maggie bit her lip. How do I say no without hurting him? “All right, I’ll go on a date with you.”

  “Because you care about me.”

  “Because I care about you and I don’t want you to cut your hair either.”

  “Deal.”

  “So you two are dating?” Sonja said and Maggie jerked her gaze to the direction of the stairs.

  “Yes,” Levi said and smiled at Maggie.

  “No,” Maggie said and make a face at him. “It’s just dinner, Sonja.” She looked up.

  “Sounds like more than dinner.”

  “He’s fine by the way. He had the flu, but he’s better now.” Gary said from behind her.

  Sonja wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t want the flu and I don’t take care of people. They take care of me.”

  “Yeah, we figured. So, where have you been? Please tell me you’ve found somewhere else to live.” Gary walked around her, grabbed a drink out of the fridge and sat down in his chair.

  “I have.” She smiled at Maggie.

  “That’s great,” Maggie said. “Have you gotten a callback or something?” It was as genuine as Maggie could muster.

  Sonja’s lip curled slightly. “Right, because you really care.”

  “Sonja, I’m sorry I got off on the wrong foot with you. I really wish you success. I know it can be hard getting back on your feet after bad things happen. I’m really sorry I was rude to you that night. There was no excuse for it.”

  “Whatever.” Sonja rolled her eyes. “You know, I’ve met your kind before. You sound so sincere and yet you can’t wait for me to turn my back and stick a knife in it.”

  If Levi didn’t have his head in her lap, Maggie would have jumped up to meet Sonja eye to eye. “You don’t know me. You have no idea what I’ve been through and I can promise you I don’t wish bad things on anyone.”

  “As long as they don’t deserve those bad things. Which we all know I do, right?”

  “I don’t know you, Sonja. I know what the press says, but it’s not like they are reliable. They’re trying to sell stories. You are not just a story. You are a person and no one needs to be treated the way you have been treated.”

  Sonja looked between Levi and Maggie. “You think he really cares about you? This is LA. We are actors. We are paid to pretend. We get what we want from people and then we throw them away. Levi no more cares for you than he cared for Rachel or me.”

  Levi came off the couch so quickly it surprised Sonja and Maggie. His face was a mixture of anger and pure hatred. He pointed to the stairs. “Get out. Get out now. You have no idea what you are talking about. The only reason you know about Rachel is because of Phil. I wish I’d never introduced you to him. You lied to me when you asked to meet him. I don’t care where you go, but you are not welcome here any longer.”

  “That’s fine Levi. I moved my stuff out a week ago, but you were so busy playing with your new toy you didn’t even notice.” Sonja twirled and walked out of the basement.

  Gary acted like nothing had happened. Levi fell back on the couch and put his arm over his eyes. Maggie felt like she’d just been in a high school drama production. “Did that really just happen?”

  “Yep,” Gary said and took a sip of his drink.

  “Am I the only one a little freaked out?” She looked down at Levi.

  “She’s a drama queen.”

  “She had feelings for you. You told me you were pretending to date. Are you sure you were both pretending?”

  Levi moved his arm and looked at Maggie. “The only person Sonja has feelings for, is Sonja.”

  “Maybe you underestimated her, Levi.”

  “No, you’re giving her too much credit. Trust me.”

  Maggie eyed him. “You’re feeling better.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  Maggie rolled her eyes. “You may not be over the flu completely, but you are well enough you don’t need me here.”

  Levi pouted. “But I don’t want you to go.”

  “I need to go home. Gary only brought me enough clothes for two days.”

  “I’ve got a washing machine and a dryer. You can use them.”

  Maggie tilted her head and shook her head. “Levi. Really. I need to go home. I’ll call you in a few days to see how you’re doing.” She looked at Gary, who was pretending not to listen. “Gary, if he gives you any trouble, call me. I’ll straighten him out.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She looked down at Levi again. “And you, listen to Gary. Don’t give him a hard time. Just because you feel better doesn’t mean you are better. Your body needs to rest. Don’t make me come back here and kick your butt.”

  He laughed and took her hand. “Thank you for staying and thank you for not making me go to the hospital.”

  Maggie couldn’t help herself, and ruffled his hair. “You’re welcome. Behave or else. Now, let me up.”

  He smiled and looked down. His lashes cast shadows on his cheeks. Maggie’s pulse quickened. He’s sick, you idiot. Stop that. He shifted until he was sitting up so Maggie could stand. They sat shoulder to shoulder, looking at each other. She squeezed his hand, got up, and walked up the stairs.

  On the ride home, all she could think about was the last few days. Taking care of Levi had reminded her of things from a life left far behind. During the times he was awake, they talked about his childhood in Wisconsin, about Amelia, and how he met Gary. Most of the time she let him do the talking. It seemed to make him feel better. When he’d ask questions about her she’d answer ambiguously and then turn it back to him.

  It would never work. She struggled to force down the feelings she had for him. He did ask you on a date and you said yes. “Shut up, Maggie.” She leaned farther down on the bike and pulled back on the throttle. It was never a good thing to be lost in thought on a bike in LA.

  Twenty Five

  Toweling his hair dry, Levi walked out of his bedroom, down the stairs, and into the kitchen with another towel around his waist. Gary sat at the bar with a plate of leftovers in front of him.

  “Couldn’t make up your mind?” Levi asked, looking at his plate filled with Chinese noodles, half a chicken fried steak, and some sad looking nachos.

  “It was going to go bad and you know how much I hate that.”

  “Is it good?”

  Gary shrugged. “Eh, it’s food. Want some?”

  Levi made a face. “No. I’m good.”

  “Still not feeling great?”

&n
bsp; “I feel fine, and I’d like to keep it that way.” He laughed.

  Gary stabbed the steak with a fork and cut a piece off. “You finally get a hold of Maggie?”

  “Yeah, finally.”

  “Hey, she’s a smart girl. She knew it would take longer than a week for you to recover and she knew you’d fake being well.”

  “I know. I just wanted to see her.”

  “You got it bad for her.”

  Levi grinned. “I do. I have it horrible for her. I haven’t seen her for nearly two weeks and I feel like it’s been an eternity.”

  “So, did she say she’d go out with you Friday?”

  “She did.”

  “Where are you taking her?”

  “Le Canard Doux.”

  “That sounds nice.”

  “It’s the French man. They make everything sound nice. It means The Sweet Duck.”

  Gary set his fork down and chuckled. “What?”

  “I’m serious. I wanted to know what it meant and I Googled it. It means The Sweet Duck.”

  “Maybe they serve sweet duck.”

  “Or their guests are served by sweet little ducks.” Levi pulled out a drink from the fridge.

  “Listen, I know you have this special date with Maggie planned, and I think that’s great.”

  “Yeah…and?”

  Gary set his elbows on the bar, linked his fingers and placed his chin on them. “We know something happened to her and I think it is great you like her.”

  “Okay. Where is this going?”

  “I just think you need to be sure Maggie is who you want because I think if you hurt her, not only will you lose a good friend, but I will too. Plus, other than Laura, we’re the only friends she has in this world.”

  “Gary, I have no plans to hurt her.”

  “I know you may have no plans to hurt her. I’m just throwing this out there so you can think about it.”

  “I love her, Gary.”

  Gary sat back on the stool. “Whoa. That’s a big one, man.”

  “I’ve thought about this a lot. I love her. She is cool and funny and kind and beautiful and she never once treated you like a second thought.”

  “You never cared before how your girlfriends treated me.”