waking

5.Chapter 5 Not Clueless

“Fine, I’ll donate, but I gotta hit the ladies’ room first,” Naomi said, shrugging off Javier’s grip like he was a pesky fly, “Time of the month, you know.”

“Victoria, go with her. Make sure she doesn’t slip away,” Javier commanded.

“C’mon,” Victoria urged, her voice tinged with stress. She had this nagging hunch that was driving her nuts. But up until now, Naomi hadn’t pulled anything too wild. ‘Could she have figured out she wasn’t our real kid?’ Victoria pondered.

“Mom, you coming or what?” Naomi didn’t care about Victoria’s suspicions. If they treated her like dirt, it was on them if she ditched the family love.

Inside the bathroom, after Naomi was done with her business, she took her time washing her hands, working the soap into a lather, while Victoria got all twitchy, ready to drag her out. But in a blink, Naomi clapped a hand over Victoria’s mouth and nose; there was the slightest whiff of something sharp, and Victoria’s eyes started to droop.

Naomi whipped out a pair of hospital scrubs from her backpack for Victoria to change into, quickly slipping off her own jacket to show a black sweater she had on underneath. Then, carrying Victoria on her back, she hustled out of there.

Keeping her head down and acting with urgency, she blew right past Freddy and Javier. Once she reached the elevator, she hit the button for the basement level. That was where the Edwards family’s car was waiting.

She stuffed Victoria into the car and shot off a text from Victoria’s phone to hers, a neat little trick she picked up after Rosalind had shoved her down a hill in her old life, and she later discovered her phone in Freddy’s pocket.

She dug up some real dirt while snooping through Victoria’s texts: there were deleted messages with racy pics between her and this dude, whose display name was “Mr. Garcia”.

Getting into Victoria’s role, Naomi texted the man, luring him to the hospital’s underground parking with the allure of a “wild time”, and suggested there was a special surprise waiting for him. Their messages had always been pretty racy, so it wasn’t like this would set off any alarm bells.

After her little setup, Naomi left the car, got changed, and made her way back to the hospital. She was itching to see the look of sheer panic on Rosalind’s face. Rosalind, always scrambling to stay one step ahead of death while constantly trying to trip her up, had nothing but her sweetheart Freddy’s devotion to fall back on. She was betting her life that love wouldn’t let her down.

As Naomi approached the elevator, a familiar voice called out her name. She turned to see Chandler wheeling Shawn along.

“Ms. Edwards, I thought you were sticking with the Edwards. What’s up with the hospital visit? You’re not feeling well?” Chandler said, his worry clear. Just as he was about to let Naomi know the Edwards family was on the lookout for her earlier, Carla mentioned she’d left. Shawn, paying her hardly any attention, kept quiet.

“Yeah, just dealing with some cramps.” Naomi decided to play it straight. “But what’s real serious is my sister’s got a bad episode; she’s here and my family thinks I should come by to give blood. I was telling Carla earlier today that I’m gonna grab a couple of things from the Edwards manor and then settle in at Spring Villa to help out Mr. Fischer. I wanna show my gratitude.”

“So, are you heading in to give blood now?” asked Chandler.

“Hell on,” Naomi said without missing a beat. “Rosalind’s not about to kick the bucket anytime soon.”

That comment got Shawn looking at her—turned out she wasn’t as clueless as he figured.

Naomi flashed a smile. “I’m gonna take good care of Mr. Fischer.” If she was planning on sticking around Shawn’s place, she needed a legit excuse to bail on the Edwards family.

“What if I take on the job of being Mr. Fischer’s personal assistant?” she offered gently. “I finished school early, and Mr. Fischer’s saved me. I want to work for him to pay him back—just need a place to crash and food to eat.”

Cash was tight, but what she needed even more desperately was the protection of someone influential to ditch the Edwards family and steer clear of that cruel man until she could stand on her own two feet. As for money, She had her design skills, and the cash flow from her online comics wasn’t too shabby. Linking up with Fischer Group would be a smart move to climb the ranks fast.

Back when she was just out of college, Naomi got a gig at the Sanders family’s biz, working like crazy for Freddy. All her design ideas ended up with Rosalind’s name on them. Naomi was the brains and soul behind the work, but Rosalind was the one basking in the spotlight and raking in the dough. When people talked about the lovely couple, the ace designer Rosalind and the rich heir Freddy, Naomi was just seen as the odd one out.

Shawn kept mum for the longest time, and Naomi was on pins and needles. Just as she was about to break the silence, the elevator pinged.

“Ms. Edwards, the doctor you booked is at the end of the hall. I’ll leave Mr. Fischer with you,” Chandler said and took a step back. “I’ll fill you in on his schedule and routine later. Any questions, just come find me.”

Naomi paused, and then a smile spread across her face without her even trying. “Sure, thanks. I’ll look after him.”

“Let’s roll.” Shawn finally piped up. His voice was deep and cool, with a hint of impatience. His beautiful eyes flickered with a touch of annoyance. As soon as he wheeled out of the elevator, he gave off a strong “back off” signal to anyone who didn’t know him.

While Naomi wheeled Shawn around, she didn’t press him on why he was pretending to be handicapped or why they’d come to the hospital. Shawn might treat her a tick differently than the gossip mills said, but Naomi wasn’t fooling herself into thinking she had some kind of spell over him.

Going by Chandler’s directions, she wheeled Shawn down the hall to the last office. After a knock, a steady voice came from inside. “Come in.”

Naomi pushed Shawn through the door. Oscar Rogers—the doctor in a white coat—glanced up, and for a flash, his eyes showed shock at the sight of a woman with the wheelchair, but the look vanished quickly. He greeted them with a friendly grin. “Who’s this lady we have here?”

“Naomi Edwards,” Shawn said flat, “my personal assistant.”

“Personal assistant?” Oscar looked from Naomi back to Shawn. “Okay, let’s get going with a basic checkup.”

Shawn replied, “Sure thing.”

“Ms. Edwards, you good to help out?”

Naomi quickly nodded.

“Step right into the exam room.” Oscar ushered them in and asked Naomi, “Ms. Edwards, can you help Shawn with his jacket?”

Naomi hesitated just a beat before helping as asked. Shawn sat still as Oscar took his temperature, checked his heartbeat, and jotted down: “Looks normal, temp’s normal, and heartbeat’s normal.”

Then he began, “Ms. Edwards, just hold onto Shawn for a second.”

Naomi looked over at Shawn. His face was the picture of cool indifference.