Page 58 of Her Passionate Hero

“How come I feel like I just met Vice Principal Novak?” Hunter asked.

“Welcome to my world Hunter,” Aliana drawled. “I feel like I just met a Jarhead.”

“Hey! Tarzan is acceptable, Jarhead is unacceptable. That’s a Marine. We’re Frogs,” Zed said.

“That’s not manly,” Aliana frowned.

“Just roll with it girlfriend,” Shorinda advised as she patted her arm. “I can take vacation starting tomorrow. I have so much saved up, they’ve been trying to boot my butt for months. This is perfect. I can get the ball rolling to coordinate the hospital bed and everything, and we can have her moved in twenty-four to forty-eight hours. You can arrange to have her signed out for a couple of weeks when you leave this afternoon. Now, go spend some time with your Mama while I entertain your admirers.”

“They aren’t my admirers,” she protested.

“Your protectors then or the hot men who are standing here in front of me. I don’t care what the hell we call them, let me talk to them while you talk to your Mama.”

“Shorinda, I think it would be best if you don’t objectify them. You should refer to them as Zed and Hunter.” Aliana was using her professional training.

“Nope, I like being objectified. It makes the day go faster,” Hunter laughed.

“I don’t think Zed appreciates it,” Aliana said primly.

“I bet you’re hell on wheels as a Vice Principal. I sure as hell wouldn’t have predicted this when I saw you sixteen years ago,” Zed’s voice was full of admiration.

“You saw me back then?”

He nodded. That made no sense. She thought back to who she was at twelve and cringed. Hunter must have seen it.

“Let’s go say hi to your Mom,” he said.

She looked over her shoulder at her Mother who currently looked catatonic. Introduce him? What was he talking about? But then again, she always believed part of what she said was getting through, even on nights like these.

“Okay.”

He snuck his arm around her waist.

“Maminka, this is Hunter Diaz, do you remember him?”

She didn’t move a muscle, not even batting an eyelash.

“She’s not always like this. Sometimes she’s asleep, sometimes she’s awake. Sometimes she recognizes me.” She wanted Hunter to understand her mother was so much more than who he was seeing at the moment.

“I know, Cariña.” She saw they had an IV set up. That meant that her mother had either been like this for a while or while she was cognizant, she hadn’t been eating. “Do you speak to her in English or Czech?” he asked.

“Czech.”

“She sings to her,” Shorinda called from across the room. Then she opened up a cupboard and brought Aliana her guitar. She looked at Hunter. “She sings like an angel.”

Just how often could one person blush before their face became permanently red?

Hunter frowned. “I didn’t know you played the guitar.”

“Babička taught Maminka how to play, then she taught me. I guess it’s a family tradition.”

“Play one of the songs you wrote,” Shorinda encouraged.

Aliana glared at her friend.

“I’m going to play one of Maminka’s favorite songs, it’s one she danced to at her wedding.”

Aliana plucked at the guitar chords and soon lost herself in the music. She really liked this song, it talked about how the couple was meant to be together in both this life and the one after. She knew how much her mother loved her father, and for her sake, she hoped they would one day meet again, and it would be like it used to be when Aliana was little and her dad was nice and kind. When she finished the last note, she looked down at her mother and saw a single tear dripping down her temple.