Political Relations (Book I of the BWWM Political Series)

Election Day, Part II

The ballroom was packed with people who had poured in to watch Oliver Reed become Governor Reed.

Oliver spotted Lucille greeting guests and marched over to her. He pulled her away earning curious looks from many people. At this point, Oliver didn't care.

"Oliver are you crazy?", she questioned as he dragged her outside of the ballroom with a firm grip on her arm. When they walked through the doors she was faced with someone she hadn't seen in a long time.

She had to admit he looked well. She approached him.

"Aaron, what are you doing here?"

"Lucille you need to come with me", he said, his voice laced with angst, "it's Nanna Sarah." He reached for her hand but she yanked it away.

"What, what's going on?", she asked on the verge of tears. Her mind had already thought up the worst possible scenario.

"She's in the hospital. The police think she walked in on a burglary at her home but when they brought her into the hospital she was barely conscious. We need to go now."

Aaron reached for her hand again and she let him lead her out of the door. She took a moment to glance back at Oliver. The look of despair on his face said more than what words could ever say.

Lucille, at this time, thought this had happened by chance. Of course she wasn't thinking clearly at the moment and could only think about getting to her grandmother, but Oliver, he knew this didn't happen by chance. He knew those people were dangerous and he still asked Lucille to help him alter the results of the election. This was his fault.

--

Lucille and Aaron were now at the hospital in the waiting room. She wondered why no one had called her but she remembered she destroyed her phone earlier when she threw it into the wall.

They stood together when a doctor entered the waiting room.

"How is she?", Lucille asked.

"Your grandmother suffered from two stab wounds to the abdomen and lost a great amount of blood but she's stable. If she hadn't made it in so soon, she would've bled to death."

Lucille started crying. Aaron wrapped his arm around her shoulder trying to comfort her.

"Your grandmother is going to be fine", the doctor reassured. "But she's going to need you now more than ever. This type of traumatic experience can really scar someone." He patted Aaron on the shoulder before turning to walk away.

Lucille rested her head on Aaron's chest and started crying even harder.

"I should've been there", she said through deep breaths.

"Lucille this is not your fault", Aaron said running his fingers through her hair. "No one should be attacked in their own home."

Lucille pulled herself away and used the sleeve of her blazer to dry her eyes. They both took their seats.

"Aaron, I know things ended badly with us but you've always been there for us. For me and Nanna. I mean you're still one of her emergency contacts for Christ's sake."

Aaron smiled at that. "I care about y'all, a lot."

"I still care about you, too", she admitted. "But what made you feel like you couldn't talk to me about what was going on? I felt betrayed, Aaron."

He leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees as he spoke. "The way I was raised, a man was supposed to do whatever he needed to do to provide for his woman. I've had that mentality my whole life so when I couldn't provide for you the only way I knew how, I got scared. I didn't want you to think less of me, you know?"