Page 32 of Hollywood Undercover
Chapter 14
ALEXANDRA awoke with a startle.She had been dreaming again. Three days had passed since Dad came home. She sat up in bed, tears on her face. The dream was still fresh. She was Alexandra and Lexxi Rock, in two bodies at the same time. Alexandra had been watching Lexxi perform on stage, except it wasn’t her rock star self. She wasn’t singing. She just stood there, smiling and putting up a cheerful front until her face cracked and fell to the floor. No one in the audience noticed what had happened; no one but Alexandra. They kept screaming and cheering and bursting into rounds of applause for her cracked face on the stage floor. It felt more like reality than a dream. The fact was, that was herlife.
Now, she was in a different kind of reality. It was far from the hollow glitz of Los Angeles and the world of rock stardom, but she was happier here. She hopped off the bed and tapped the alarm to turn it off. It had been set to remind her of all the times her father needed his doses of medicine. His next home health nurse would arrive soon to relieve another from her night shift. Just in case she didn’t arrive, Alexandra would take care of him. She got dressed in a pair of plaid skater shorts and a black t-shirt, which she covered over with a tan button-down shirt. She spritzed a tiny amount of cologne at her chest,coughing.
“That should do it,” she mumbled, stepping into some masculine flip-flops before strolling out of her bedroom to start theday.
The sun hadn’t yet crested over the horizon when she went downstairs. The old house was drenched in milky gray shadows, as thin, weak light tried to penetrate the dense blinds and closed curtains. She looked around. She had practically turned their home into a mausoleum. She threw open the curtains as she walked by. She would shop for some items to brighten up the space next time she went to the departmentstore.
It was time to help take care of Dad. She had effectively gone through a crash course on how to take care of him, but now that Rosa was out of town, she felt ill-equipped for the job. Alexandra was grateful Rosa had the twenty-four-hour nursing service start before she left. She hadn’t paid much attention to why Rosa had to go out of town. All she remembered was something about a building Dad owned that needed better property management. Whatever the reason, Rosa’s absence meant it was entirely up to Alexandra to stay on top ofthings.
“Good morning,” she said to her sleepingpatient.
He was out of it with the meds they had prescribed, but she chose to believe he could hear her. She nodded to Lynn, the overnight nurse. Lynn was already gathering her things, so she could leave as soon as the day nurse arrived for her shift. Anxious to get home, no doubt, but who could blame her. Working late nights couldn’t befun.
“Good morning, Lynn. Thank you for taking care of him lastnight.”
“Of course,Alex.”
“Anything I need to know? Any changes?” sheasked.
“Nothing serious to report. He did wake up for about twenty minutes during the night. That was a couple of hours after you went to bed. He was fine, though. He asked for something to drink, and was back to sleep in notime.”
“Great. Thanksagain.”
“No problem, Alex. I’ll see youtonight.”
She picked up her bag and headed to the main floor bathroom to change into her streetclothes.
Alexandra quickly headed to the kitchen. She placed her cup in the coffeemaker. Caffeine was a must if she was going to stay awake for up to eighteen hours today. She was also hungry. She threw a pre-made pouch of her breakfast smoothie in the blender. It reminded her to check on his medication. She padded across the converted dining room and looked at the medicine lined up on the side tray beside thebed.
“Hey Daddy,” she said softly when she returned to his side. “Do you remember how Mom joked around every time you gave her those awful meds? She’d say you finally found a way to tone herdown.”
She smiled down at him, remembering how cheerful Mom had been through her illness. Remaining at his bedside, she watched his chest slowly rise and fall. She couldn’t wait to talk to him now that all the tubes were gone and he was only wearing a breathing mask. The new medications were supposed to keep him pretty out of it for the next few days. Already, he looked so much better than he had in the hospital. He was in his favorite pajamas and was tucked in under his owncomforter.
The doorbell rang, breaking Alexandra from her sentimental thoughts. She went to let the day nurse inside just as Lynn came out of thebathroom.
“Good morning. Right on time, Felicia,” she said on opening thedoor.
“Hi there, Alex!” Felicia beamed back at her with the thousand-watt smile women reserved for guys they were hoping would pay attention tothem.
Felicia completely ignored Lynn. Alexandra ducked her head, feeling slightly embarrassed at the interest this day nurse had been sending her way for the past two days. Unlike Lynn, who was middle aged, Felicia was in her twenties. Even with the spray-on tan, she was an attractive woman, and Alexandra noticed that because she envied her slightly—Felicia had a body with the fit curves she had never been lucky enough tohave.
Today, her fine chestnut brown hair was pulled back in a twist, and she was wearing pink scrubs. She looked like the type of woman who was used to getting the guy she wanted. Alexandra seriously wished the nurse would stop throwing herself at her while she was being ‘Alex’.”
“See you later, Lynn,” Alexandra said, to make up for Felicia’s blatant neglect of hercolleague.
She looked out at the neighborhood as Lynn stepped out and Felicia came inside, her eyes trained on Sebastian’s Jeep parked next door. The thought of a visit from Bash later in the day sent waves of heat shooting through her, but there were things she needed to do before she could socialize. Felicia followed her to the dining room, and Alexandra did her best to steer clear of the nurse’scome hitherstares.
“So, how’s Mr. Storme this morning?” Felicia made small talk as she checked her patient’svitals.
“He’s been sleeping peacefully, as far as I cantell.”
Alexandra moved to the opposite side of the room and crossed her arms as Felicia prepared her father’s cocktail ofmedications.
“My father has always been such a busy guy. It’s weird to see him like this, laid up in bed. Usually by this time of day he’d be down at the office for hours, talking to clients on the other side of theworld.”
“Oh, he’s your dad? I didn’t know Mr. Storme had a son. I was watching on MTV the other night about his daughter Lexxi Rock being somewhere out in France. What a sister you have, huh? How does it feel to be related to such a self-centered person?” Her annoyed expression ended on a gulp when she noticed the expression on Alexandra’s face. “I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect. Sometimes this mouth of mine gets away fromme.”
