Chapter 11

"Nalani? Lani, can you hear me, sweetie?"

Her head was incredibly fuzzy, but the voice was slowly getting through, her eyelids twitching just the slightest bit.

"I think she's going to be alright." Another voice said, sounding relieved, though Nalani couldn't fully place it.

"Can I go home now? Christ, I've been here nearly NINE hours!"

Nalani knew that voice anywhere and slowly opened her eyes, groaning as a bright light shone in her eyes. "Turn the damn light off!" She growled, her head throbbing, and sighed with relief when it suddenly vanished from sight. "Thank you…"

"You're welcome." Cheryl said with a soft chuckle, glancing over at Mitch, who was the other voice that said she was going to be alright. "Maureen, talk to the boss, I'm just the nurse."

"Go home, Maureen." Mitch ordered gruffly, his eyes focused on Nalani, hoping she was going to be fine. "I'll walk you out myself." He escorted the whining employee out of the exam room, deciding he would be firing her on the spot for her attitude and behavior.

"What happened to you, Lani?" Cheryl asked, sighing when Nalani winced at the huge bruise on her forehead Cheryl was currently examining. "You look like you got ran over or something."

"Gee thanks." Nalani snorted, wincing again. "I don't have a concussion right?"

Cheryl shook her head, walking over to grab some salve to spread on the bruise. "This will help with the pain because I know it has to hurt like hell right now." She explained, spreading it on thick. "No, you don't have a concussion, you're very lucky."

"I had the weirdest dream. This has been a morning from absolute hell." Nalani grunted, glancing down and groaned at the hospital gown she wore instead of her beautiful lavender blouse. "I guess the patient throwing up on me wasn't a dream…"

"No it wasn't." Cheryl chuckled, still looking concerned over at her friend. "I put your shirt and shoes in a bag, separate of course, but the heel on your shoe isn't repairable. It broke completely off when you were apparently sprinting inside the hospital."

"Great." Nalani groaned in agitation, just wanting to get the hell out of there, but knew she still had her shift to do. "I suppose you don't have something I could wear, right?"

Chuckling, Cheryl nodded and tossed Nalani a navy blue scrub top, smiling. "That's the best I can offer, but it does match the skirt, so you should be fine." The receptionist was allowed to wear scrubs if they chose, but most preferred to look professional for the patients and look nice. Cheryl had a feeling Nalani didn't care either way.

"Thanks Cher, I really owe you for this." Nalani immediately peeled the hospital gown off, after Cheryl was finished applying the salve to her forehead, and slipped the scrub top on, smoothing it down her body. "I need some aspirin…thanks." She smiled when Cheryl handed over a bottle of ibuprofen, popping three instantly.

"No problem, if you want to rest a little while longer, I'm sure Mitch won't mind. He had Marissa covering for you right now." Cheryl walked around the office cleaning up, her bright green eyes sparkling. "Though I have to tell you, when you fainted, it was in front of possibly the most gorgeous man I've ever laid my eyes on."

Nalani blinked, tilting her head slightly. "What do you mean?" She asked, deciding resting for a few more minutes might not be such a bad idea.

"Oh honey, he was stunning. Long beautiful black hair, though it was pulled back in a braid and he stood at least seven feet tall, I'm sure of it. His arms were covered from wrist to shoulder in tattoos and he had the most stunning shade of green eyes I've ever seen on a man!" Cheryl gushed, having recently been divorced from her husband of seven years, so she was definitely on the hunt for a new man. "Now that my divorce is finalized, I think it's time I get back on that saddle."

Nalani suddenly couldn't move, frozen to the bedding, her big blue eyes as wide as saucers. Long black hair…green eyes…at least seven feet tall…Nalani suddenly began shaking violently from head to toe, managing somehow to lift her hand to cover her dropped mouth. The dream she had wasn't a dream…it was a NIGHTMARE come true!

"Mark…" Nalani whispered, suddenly needing to get out of the hospital before he saw her. "Cheryl, I really hate doing this, but I have to go. I have to go NOW."

Cheryl blinked at Nalani's sudden reaction, watching her move around quicker and knew her head had to be throbbing. "Lani, Lani relax." She grabbed the frantic looking woman by the shoulders, forcing her to stop in her tracks. "Take a deep breath, what's going on?"

"Nothing, I just really don't feel good suddenly. I think I'm coming down with something or maybe it's just been the stress of the morning…I don't know. I just think it's best if I take the rest of the day off and go get my kids from daycare, spend some time with them." Nalani said quickly, trying to keep the fear and franticness out of her voice, but all she really wanted to do was run as far away from Dallas as possible with her twins.

Cheryl narrowed her eyes and pulled Nalani over to sit on the bedding, folding her arms in front of her chest. "Talk right now." She had a feeling it had something to do with that monstrous man that Nalani fainted in front of.

Nalani sighed heavily, knowing she couldn't keep much from Cheryl, and twiddled her thumbs in her lap. "Patient confidentiality?" Cheryl nodded and waited patiently for her friend to talk, not saying a word, and listened to everything Nalani told her.

When Nalani was finished, all Cheryl could do was stare at her in shock, seeing the tears in the woman's eyes full of heartbreak and pain. "I'm…I don't even know what to say." Cheryl stood up, blinking. "How could you just walk away from a man like that? He didn't make you happy or something?"

"Something happened, Cher, something that I can't tell anyone. I haven't even told Kaci and you know how close I am to her. I have to take the reasoning with me to the grave." There was no way Nalani could ever talk about what happened to her and what forced her to walk away from Mark forever.

"I understand."Cheryl knew there were some reasons why women left the men they loved, no matter the circumstances, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here for you if you ever need to talk, Nalani. You can trust me."

"Thanks Cheryl, would you mind telling Mitch you recommended I went home for the day?" Nalani asked hopefully, wiping the tears from her eyes, sniffling a little.

"I was already planning on it, go on home with your kids and we'll see you tomorrow." Cheryl knew Mitch would believe anything she said, considering she was a doctor. "Go on and try to relax."

"Thanks."

Nalani walked out of the exam room and headed down the hallway, her head killing her, still not believing Mark was actually here in Dallas. It'd been three long years since she'd last seen him and…he looked better than ever. He looked more built if that was possible, though Nalani knew Mark enjoyed working out. She couldn't believe she fainted in front of him like that, especially after being vomited on. Nalani was careful to turn corners in the hospital, hoping she didn't run into her ex-boyfriend, and somehow miraculously made it out to her car without seeing him again. She glanced around the parking lot and finally spotted a Chevy Silverado, blinking, knowing that was Mark's truck.

"Fuck me…" She grunted, immediately unlocking her door and slid behind the wheel, starting the ignition. "What the hell is he doing here?" She wondered, putting the car in drive and sped out of there, trembling from head to toe.

Narrowed green eyes watched her drive away and Mark vowed he wasn't going to let her get away from him again. He'd watched her since she walked out of the exam room, having been worried she'd cracked her head on the floor when she fainted. He was the one who carried her to the exam room and had to change his shirt because of the vomit, the hospital gift shop managing to find a plain black t-shirt in his size surprisingly.

Why was she running away from him? Mark didn't understand it and silently wished he'd eavesdropped on the conversation in the exam room, though he didn't want to be caught. Glen Jacobs was currently on the third floor installing the security and Mark already liked the man, knowing he would be a great addition to the company. Mark wasn't worried about his company right now, his focus only on his ex-girlfriend who kept running from him at every turn.

What the hell was she doing in Dallas of all places?

The way she dressed, Mark knew she worked here and that just astounded him even more, not believing how close she'd been all these years. He knew what he had to do, even though it was going to be somewhat incriminating, which Mark vowed he would never do again because of his past. He had to see her again though and corner her, had to find out what the hell happened three years ago to make her leave him. If she really didn't want to be with him, Mark wanted to see it in her eyes so he could move on with his life. This was the closure opportunity he'd been waiting for and nothing was going to stop him from having it, even if he had to do something incriminating.

Squaring his shoulders, Mark headed back inside the hospital and went to find Glen. "Hey man, how's it goin'?" Mark asked, watching Glen finish up the rest of the installation.

"Good, I'm done." Glen smiled, turning around to face his new boss. "Thanks for the opportunity, man. I think I'm gonna enjoy working for your company."

Mark nodded, his mind occupied on his ex-girlfriend, though Glen didn't need to know that. "Looks good, I need ya to sign these papers and mail them to me immediately." Mark handed over a packet of papers, which included the official CSI application along with tax forms and other annoying documents the government required.

"Great, I'll have them done tonight." Glen promised, placing them in his back pocket securely, knowing Keela would be ecstatic to find out he got the job. "Anythin' else you need me to do tonight?"

"Nope, you're free to go. Just make sure to get those papers in, you'll be paid well." Mark said, already examining the installation, knowing he would have to test it out to make sure everything worked.

At least, that's what he wanted Glen to think.

Glen left shortly after; leaving Mark to look over the installation, though Mark could already tell it was perfect. He began typing on the main computer that showed him all the employee files, one of the many things his company had access to with every company he installed security for. Narrowing his eyes, Mark typed in the name Nalani Martin on the screen, watching her picture instantly pop up, which was the same one on her hospital ID badge.

It didn't take long before Mark got what he wanted from the file and printed out a copy on the printer that connected to the main computer. He folded it up and slipped it in his pocket, logging out of the system with ease. Steve had taught Mark how to use a computer and it didn't take long for him to catch on, though Mark flat out refused to have any instant messengers or go on any of those ridiculous websites like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. He had one email specifically linked to his company and that was it, though Steve on the other hand was a Twitter nut.

"What Austin?" Mark answered his phone on the third vibrate, not wanting to be disturbed during Glen's tryout.

"So Rigamortis, how'd it go?" Steve smirked, sitting on the couch with a can of beer in his hand, his arm wrapped around his beautiful blonde girlfriend. "Did he pass or not?"

"Austin, what business is it of yers?" Mark grunted, clearly not amused; though Steve was his best friend and Mark didn't keep anything from him.

Austin snorted, pulling away from the couch as he finished his beer. "Be nice or I won't tell ya what happened with Bobby's dumbass." He threatened good-naturedly; grabbing another can from the fridge.

That perked Mark up right away as he walked out of Dallas Memorial, heading toward his Chevy Silverado. "Out with it, what did the asshole do now?" Mark demanded, pulling his keys out, knowing he would have to do some driving around to find out exactly where Nalani lived. He had her address so it wouldn't be that hard to find.

"Apparently, the jackass decided to get piss poor drunk and drove right into a fence in cow shit." Steve started laughing hard while his girlfriend went to the bedroom to slip into something more comfortable. "He's all over the front of the newspaper for tomorrow, Trish made sure of it."

Mark smirked, already knowing Steve was dating Trish Stratus, who worked for the local newspaper and was the anchor woman for the seven o'clock news throughout Houston. "What a fuckin' dipshit." Mark chuckled, leaning back against the seat, his mood suddenly lifting a little. "What did the cops charge him with?"

"DUI and destruction of property." Steve wheezed as he set his can of beer down, not wanting to waste it by dropping the damn thing. "I swear, the boys at work all cried they were laughin' so damn hard. This happened right after I called to let ya know Bobby was gonna try suin' the company."

"So he did it in broad daylight?" By now, Mark was roaring with laughter, actually hitting his hand on the steering wheel, his stomach hurting from both hunger pains and laughing too hard.

"Needless to say, we won't have to worry about that jackass gettin' a lawyer besides savin' his scrawny ass from a jail cell." Steve smirked, knowing luck had been on their side, even though Bobby hadn't technically hurt himself.

"Good, listen man it's been a long fuckin' day. I'm on my way to the hotel to get some sleep, I had a hell of a day." Mark lied smoothly, just needing to get Steve off of the phone so he could find out where Nalani resided, hoping it wouldn't be hard to find.

"Alright man, I'll keep ya posted on what's going on. You comin' home tomorrow?" Steve asked quickly, his eyes widening at the sight of his girlfriend walking out in a pale blue negligee, making his mouth instantly water.

"I'm not sure yet, I'll keep ya posted."

Mark hung up and tossed his cell phone in the front seat, putting the Silverado in drive before peeling out of the parking lot, knowing he would inform Mitch Danielson on the completion of the installation tomorrow. He pulled the piece of paper from his front pocket and unfolded it at a red light, nodding at the address crumpled, though it was clear enough to read. His eyes were peeled for the street to turn on, finally finding it after passing it three times, having to turn around.

Nalani had to put given the twins a bath and put them down to sleep with a movie, when a knock sounded at her door, She wore a simple pair of black and white Mickey Mouse pajama pants with a long Mickey Mouse nightshirt she'd gotten from Wal-Mart. It had to either be Keela or Kaci, knowing both of those women had the uncanny ability to know when she was upset. Honestly, all Nalani wanted to do was take a hot bubble bath and slip into dreamland, not in the mood for visitors. When she opened the door, holding some of the twins' toys, Nalani suddenly dropped them as her mouth fell open, not believing who stood before her.

"Hello Nalani."