Prelude (An Alec Winters Series, Book 1) Read online

  Although Chaz was quick to admit Sabrina had suffered several life-changing circumstances, and he truly felt for her, he was disappointed in her new career choice. He recalled their first conversation the night she had told him about it.

  “A hooker? You’re going to be a hooker?” He’d blurted out in utter surprise.

  “Not hooker, Chaz. I’m a paid escort. Some men are too powerful to let any woman into their circle without proper screening and vetting. The very fact that I’m associated with Madam Tabby, gives me credibility. My clients know that I’m not only discreet, I’m also healthy.”

  “Just a fancy word for hooker,” Chaz had stubbornly argued. “What will Alec think of you now? Have you considered his feelings?”

  “Alec loves me. He will understand.”

  “Well, I don’t understand, Sabrina,” he’d stormed.

  “Please don’t be like this, Chaz. You’re my best friend, my only same-age-friend. I could really use your support, at least emotionally.”

  “I will always be your friend, Sabrina, but I don’t have to like the changes you’ve made.”

  Chaz was frustrated. He felt abandoned because she wasn’t there to study with him as she had been for years. She had broken the promise they’d made to each other when only young children: they’d complete their medical degrees and residency together. Now, Sabrina planned to complete her bachelors and he’d have to face medical school and his hospital residency alone. It irked him.

  Logically, he understood the necessity Sabrina felt to provide for herself financially, especially after her father had flaked-out and lost everything the family owned. Henry Devereux’s last days had left his daughter, not only ashamed of him, but also destitute and homeless. As heartbreaking as that was, Chaz couldn’t reconcile Sabrina’s current choices with the young girl he had known for most of his life. She was brilliant. She would’ve made an excellent doctor. He couldn’t reconcile the fact that she would waste her talents on men who only wanted to use her. Chaz was shocked, but he was also disheartened about the entire situation.

  In truth, neither his prior education nor his parents had successfully prepared him for the many changes that occur during a person’s course in life. They’d said the words, but the information was lost on him then. He was just beginning to understand that life happens, moving along a current beyond anyone’s control. He was beginning to see that plans, even specific plans such as he’d made with Sabrina, can, and often do, go awry. Looking at Alec and Sabrina’s life was proof of that. It was disturbing.

  Though nothing compared to his friends’ path, Chaz had to admit that his own life was also problematic. His prior education hadn’t fully prepared him for college. Still, he held true to his personal commitments and refused to compromise those goals. He couldn’t afford the distractions of the ‘new’ Sabrina or her three-ring circus. It hurt. It hurt a lot, and his anger kept him from being more sympathetic. He offered Sabrina the support of a friend, but that was as far as he allowed himself to get involved.

  As far as Alec Winters was concerned, Chaz had a clean conscious and wanted to keep it that way. He’d stood by Alec throughout the trial and the hypocritical attitudes of community and school. He’d never believed that Alec or Catalina killed their drunkard father and couldn’t believe others thought they did. He also accepted that his loyalty to the Winters’ family was very unpopular. That friendship had cost him dearly in many ways.

  Always interested in medical reports, and trying to prove Alec’s innocence, Chaz had read the medical examiners conclusions about Buck Winters’ death and he disagreed with the M.E. He even ran it by his parents to get their professional opinion. They supported Chaz’s theory that Buck Winters had died of fright or a heart attack that horrible night, but the old M.E. wouldn’t listen to anyone’s opinions. He stuck with his initial assessment, labeling the cause of death as murder.

  After Alec was released on bail, Chaz and Danaé had even gotten into the morgue to get a look at the body. That was a trick in itself, but Danaé was the most resourceful person he knew. Somehow, she pulled it off.

  When Chaz and Danaé saw the terrified, frozen look on the old man’s face, they were convinced. Chaz used a pencil to lift the sheet and examine the deceased’s neck. “This is why they called it murder,” he’d pointed out. “See the redness and bruising?”

  “Yes,” Danaé replied, “but Alec explained that he jumped on his father’s back to keep him from raping Catalina. He admitted that he tried to choke him out. Remember, Alec said Buck was so strong it had little effect. There has to be a way to tell that those marks were made from behind rather than from a frontal assault. There has to be a way to prove his innocence.”

  “There is,” Chaz said. “They, the police and the M.E., just don’t want to see it. The body supports everything Alec and Catalina Winters reported. It’s here for anyone to see. Clinically, and considering Buck Winters’ preexisting health issues, there isn’t any other way to interpret it. The old M.E. is a stubborn old bastard though and he won’t change his report.”

  “Well, it makes me feel better to know that Alec didn’t do it,” Danaé admitted. “Not that I ever believed him capable of this trumped up rot.”

  “Me too on both accounts,” Chaz had solemnly agreed.

  Chaz often thought about Alec Winters, especially during lulls between classes or when driving. Admittedly, he was angry that his closest friend hadn’t contacted him. He knew that Sabrina, Cassidy, and Catalina had seen him each time he returned to New Orleans. Being left out hurt his feelings.

  Chaz, consumed by those thoughts while driving home, stopped at a traffic light. A homeless man approached his car with a dirty rag, offering to wipe his windshield for a dollar. Chaz rolled down his window to wave away the vagabond, but then looked more closely. He discovered that bright blue eyes twinkled with amusement behind the dirty hoodie and grimy face.

  “Alec!” he exclaimed. “Get in!”

  “Chaz,” Alec grinned as he slid into the passenger seat.

  “Jesus Alec, I would’ve never recognized you if not for the eyes!”

  “That’s the point. How are you?”

  “Better now that I’m honored by your company. I admit that I was feeling a bit left out…I knew you saw your mother and Sabrina on occasion, but I haven’t seen ‘hide nor hair’ of you since you left.”

  “I know,” Alec admitted, “but it’s more difficult to catch you off campus. You don’t make it easy to show myself.”

  “Is this how you look when you see Cassidy and Sabrina?” Chaz curiously asked.

  “Sometimes. Sometimes, I wear a baseball uniform. Other times, I wear some other disguise. That’s the way it has to be for now.”

  “What do you think about Sabrina’s new career, Alec?” Chaz cautiously asked.

  “I think Sabrina is making the best of a very bad situation.”

  “She’s given up her goals and become a hooker!” Chaz angrily blurted out. “It makes me so mad, Alec. I can’t believe she is wasting her life like this.”

  “No, she hasn’t,” Alec’s voice was calm, but steely. “There’s a significant difference between the kind of woman who sells herself on the street and will fuck anyone-anywhere because her pimp tells her to do so. What Sabrina does is selective and discreet. Most of the time it isn’t even about sex. Give her some slack, Chaz. Life can turn like a dime and it certainly turned on all of us. Be kind and forgiving towards her. She was your friend long before I met you. She deserves the benefit of the doubt.”

  “So, you don’t mind that she sees other men, that she is intimate with paid customers?”

  “I didn’t say that I didn’t mind. I said that she is doing the best she can. Just as I had our lives planned out, which included LSU and marriage to Sabrina, nothing went along with the schedule. Life kicked that option to the curb. Do you hate me because I joined the army and never made it to college?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “
I can’t fault Sabrina either. I respect her reasons. I respect and love her. So do you, even if you’ve forgotten that right now,” Alec explained.

  “You’re right,” Chaz grudgingly admitted. “I have been a little hard on her.” At Alec’s raised brows, he added, “All right, I’ve been very hard on her. I’m sorry. It was such a huge change from what we planned to do. The fact that she changed and wouldn’t fulfill the promises we made as young children hit me hard.”

  “I know it did. You must remember that breaking those promises wasn’t something she planned to do. Keeping those promises was something that she could no longer do. Imagine how she must feel to see her dreams washed away by such torrential thunderstorms. Just don’t kick her when she’s down, ok?”

  “Sure,” Chaz sheepishly replied before changing the subject. “How long are you in town?”

  “I’m on my way out now. You were my final stop.”

  “Glad I made the cut this time,” Chaz said.

  “It’s tricky. One thing I’ve learned from all of this, Chaz, is that I’m not navigating the ship. I never was. I’m only along for the ride. Let me out at the next intersection. I’ll try to spend more time with you when I’m back. Do you know Zack Weaver?” Alec asked.

  “No, I can’t say that I do. Who is he to you?”

  “Mom started dating him a few years back. They knew each other in high school and reunited a couple of years after dad died. He lives off Magazine Street on Delachaise. Since I can’t easily go to the house on Carrollton, I meet mother over there. The reporters don’t know about Zack yet, so his home has become a safe meeting place. Look him up; get familiar with his address. I’ll get word to you next time I’m in town,” Alec said as he got out of the car. Chaz watched him disappear into an alley before he continued on his way.

  Chapter 27

  Chaz met Celina during his second year of medical school. Medical school was grueling, much harder than pre-med. Chaz missed Sabrina as his study partner more than he cared to admit. He missed her unconditional support and keen insight. Regardless, he threw himself into his career, and even though he loved the work, he often felt washed out, frustrated, and alone until he met Celina.

  They had an easy relationship that gave each of them what they needed most: Time together and time alone. Celina, a nursing student, was trusting and trustworthy, something that Chaz deeply desired. She was attentive, but never over-bearing or clingy. She was also very different from the girls he had known during the first twenty-four years of his life. It was a new experience for the shy, unsure young man that had never really dated anyone for more than a few weeks at a time. In this case, however, new wasn’t as frightening as it had been in the past.

  Although Chaz’s parents were not overly accepting of his new girlfriend, he often thought that Celina and Alec’s mother would get along great. They had a similar outlook on life. Like Cassidy Winters, Celina was positive and filled with hope no matter what life threw at her. Oh, he well remembered the dull phase Cassidy had gone through during the early years of her marriage. Chaz had been friends with Alec since fifth grade when Alec wouldn’t let other sixth graders bully him. He knew the family history and understood that Cassidy’s lost faith didn’t return until after her husband’s death. However, when the chips were down, Alec’s mom had made a powerful comeback, a comeback that anyone could honor. With renewed hope, Cassidy helped everyone around her.

  Chaz knew Celina had the same inner faith and fortitude. He knew she’d always do the same thing, the right thing. Even though he couldn’t fully explain it, the knowledge comforted him. That understanding allowed him to fall in love with Celina.

  Due to that affectionate and caring relationship, things were going well. Chaz had never felt better. He was satisfied and no longer envied Alec’s happiness with Sabrina because he was with Celina. He didn’t resent that Danaé had escaped the darkness of the city by moving to Rhode Island because he was at peace living in New Orleans, his birthplace. Chaz found that he was content for the first time in his life. However, during his second year of residency at the University Medical Center of New Orleans, misfortune found him.

  Chaz had worked a double shift at the hospital, and finished for the day, was on his way home. As he passed by Tulane’s campus, he noticed a frantic crowd gathered at the outer edge close to its Carrollton Avenue side. It was late, but assuming it was an organized rally, a bonfire lit the way. Enthralled, Chaz stopped to watch the unusual commotion.

  An undergraduate, hyped-up on some unknown street drug, went berserk. No one could corral or manage him. Out-of-control, he wounded several other students and faculty members before he displayed superhuman strength and threw an industrial trash bin into the crowd. It was so sudden and bizarre that many of the looky-loos froze; no one could get out of the way fast enough. Chaz pushed several other bystanders out of the missile’s path, but he didn’t make it. The hard metal crashed into him, knocking him unconscious.

  An investigation would blame PCP. The drug had made a comeback during the 1990s, and was still available on the streets in some form today, especially on the streets of New Orleans. Campus Security never mentioned in their investigative report that Chaz was a hero, preventing serious injury to others. Rather, it stated, ‘Chaz Lambert was unlucky. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.’

  Chaz was in and out of consciousness for some time. With a compound fracture of his femur, surgery was a necessity. The surgical team used metal pins, rods, and screws to repair the bone. As Chaz drifted in and out of consciousness after surgery, he felt Alec Winters’ presence. Chaz felt cool, caring hands check his bandage. He heard the scribbling of a pen notating his chart. He heard his friend’s soothing voice, encouraging him. “You can do this, Chaz. Put your mind to it. Get better and pull through. You’re going to be all right, buddy.”

  When Chaz finally woke up, he discovered that his right leg was broken, but he’d had surgery to repair it. He also learned that the blow had caused severe nerve damage and pain in his lower back and right hip. Sometimes, he felt numbness and tingling in his right arm and hand.

  During Celina’s next visit, he asked, “Was Alec Winters here in my room?”

  “Not that I’m aware of, however, there was a doctor here that I’ve never seen before. He had bright red hair and his nametag read Alexander. I thought that was odd, but he had me look at your chart. Oh my gosh. You had the early signs of sepsis around the incision and you were running a slight fever. Before I could get more doctors to start the antibiotic protocol, he’d disappeared. No matter, just getting me to see the notes was a miracle in itself. We averted that major problem.”

  “What color were his eyes?” Chaz mumbled. He was feeling very tired.

  “His eyes? Oh, they were very blue,” Celina replied just as Chaz nodded off.

  Morphine helped while he was in the hospital, but nothing the doctors gave him helped with the suffering he experienced during and after rehab. With the support of a cane, he returned to the hospital’s residency program, but the constant pain was unbearable.

  Chaz would’ve never treated a patient the way his physicians treated him. Begging for something to make the pain stop only resulted in suspicion from his doctors. Thinking that the pain he described was all in his head, they referred him to a staff psychologist. Other than that, Chaz was offered very little help or support. He was advised to take over-the-counter pain medications, such as ibuprofen, but that was similar to a fly biting an elephant. It had very little effect.

  Desperate for help, the promising young surgeon developed a heavy addiction to Oxy, street slang for the painkiller OxyContin. It was the only medication that would dull the continual pain and suffering, but it never completely relieved it. In spite of these obstacles, Chaz finished his third year of residency. However, the injury responsible for the nerve damage he suffered, along with his addiction, successfully ended his future as a surgeon.

  Oddly enough, Celina was the only one who could he
lp him. She taught Chaz to meditate when the pain was unbearable. She trained him to manage the pain in nontraditional ways, ways that often were considered quackery during that time. She introduced him to energy workers who could cleanse his body, mind, and soul of emotional traumas that might hinder his improvement. She led him through gentle stretches, yoga, and guided imagery until he was finally able to achieve a life that became, to some degree, normal.

  Although Chaz regretted the mistakes he’d made after the accident, he tried to make up for it by helping others. His surgeon skills learned during residency certainly weren’t wasted. He often patched up those who couldn’t easily get treatment at the emergency room or reputable clinics. As the underground community secretly utilized his services for their various traumas and medical emergencies, his skills grew from the many surgeries he preformed.

  He successfully operated on gunshots, knife wounds, and any other injuries that might bring police department inquiries if notified. He treated rape victims who refused to go to the E.R. or report the incident. He circumcised grown men after their girlfriends or wives complained of urinary tract infections. Through the course of his work, Chaz’s expertise grew and there were many in the city who thought he was the best surgeon around.

  As it is everywhere, many citizens in New Orleans didn’t trust the government-run and parish-controlled facilities meant to protect its society. He treated many who simply wanted to keep their affairs as private as possible. In doing so, Chaz Lambert was a name that could be trusted.

  Now, he lived with Celina in the home his grandfather had left to him. The couple prepared a small, but efficient, surgical room in the back of the house that was similar to an urgent care facility. As his nurse, Celina assisted him there. Although the cane was still a necessary part of his life, Chaz and Celina managed to supplement their income by accepting cash payments for the work and miracles performed