ROBERTA JENSEN hand shook while she signed a few forms on a clipboard file, with Dr Emma Rickman and her Aunt Florence Jensen watching her every move. Lilya Devon was by Laura's bedside in the ward.

Her aunt’s eyes were reddened after lots of heartrending, she spoke out…

“Consider your options once again, Robbie; do you really need Laura to be sent to Washington? She can always be here, and we can look after her.”

Roberta ignored her opinion since she has accepted a career transfer to Washington DC with a promotion. It was finalized in her mind but the annoyance from the old woman still kept lingering on. She tried hard from reacting in response while her aunt kept on persuading…

“You can always take a flight from Washington whenever you are not working on any cases to see Laura.”

Roberta Jensen spoke finally, after biting her own tongue from disputation; and from the corner of her eyes, she knew that Lilya was also observing her…

“Thank anyways, but where ever I go—I need my sister Laura there to be with me.”

Flo Jensen was still pushy and unrelentingly alleged…

“Our concern is that Laura is a heart patient, and it is not advisable for her to travel in her condition. Like I suggested, Laura is always welcome to stay back with us here.”

A sign of agitation was showing in her signature's stroke in the final form that Roberta had the ball-pen on, after hearing the dicey excuses from her aunt. She tossed the form and pen on the side-table. The ballpoint dropped and Lilya picked it from the floor; she heard her fiancé replying after pocketing out an approbation medical letter from her leather jacket...

“I have already got a second opinion from her cardiologist confirming that she is fine to travel but anyways, thanks for the concern, Aunt Flo.”

Roberta felt the pride of victory on her final animus day in Columbus, Ohio—and her rich aunt cannot buy her way into her life with her money because she has already earned her personal slush fund in her own street dealings.

 But her aunt was still persistent. “Please, if you...” Dr Emma Rickman knew the hot-tempered Roberta was about to erupt into an argument any moment, she held her wife’s arm and she interrupted...

“Come on, Flo—Robbie, we see you down at the lobby.” 

“Okay doc,” Roberta was relieved that the spineless-doctor intervened.

Florence Jensen felt really devastated, wiped her tears and she kissed Laura's forehead as a sign of goodbye. Dr Rickman led her consort out of the door.

Lilya Devon had observed the family drama and she remarked…

“Even on the last day here, you still want to play the bad-cop role—the big and mean Lieutenant Rob Jensen to bully her.”

“Now what?” Roberta was looking at her over her shoulder in defence.

“Why can't you be a little sensitive, they are just both old people?”

“Shut up and stay out of this, Snowy. You don't know them as I do—and the amount of crap I took from that old nagging hag when I was growing up.”

Roberta retorted, remembering the cumulative resentments of her past that she still felt were denigrating.

“But she was there for you and Laura for all these years, Rob—can't you be a little nice to her on your last day here? I know you are the ungrateful kind that will not come back to Columbus again to visit your aunt in the future.”

The animadversion caused Roberta to kick the chair beside the bed. “What's wrong with you? I don't need this today from you, Lilya—just back off, okay!”

This was her derisive lover who has been with her for the last five years but still could not understand her despite proclaiming that she loved her for who she was—Lilya simply disparaged a lot at Roberta’s every demeanour acts.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“I’m just trying to understand you better, Rob—and I want to know if this is how you will treat me someday. Because of your attitude—your aunt has even distanced herself from me; even though I am trying hard to get close to her.”

“Shut the fuck up, will you—we are leaving Columbus soon and I don't want to get into one of your arguments now, okay?”

Roberta has been in the unreasonably mistrustful and suspicious mood ever since she was made Lieutenant a month ago after her major breakthrough drug seizure from both gunning down the legendary Hernando of the LA Chicanos and the bust of recovering the greatest narcotic haul in Columbus for the DEA.

 It has been an accelerating month since her new promotion coupled with the media frenzy that made Roberta once again the centre of attraction for the Whitehouse anti-crime campaign of street wars. It was the word on the streets that was bothering Roberta—the LA Chicanos have put a hit on her and her family to reckoning the deaths of Hernando and Ohio’s warlord family heads; before even the Russian Daughters of Oligarch found out about her involvement of siphoning part of their cocaine in the haul—Roberta has requested for her transfer to Washington for the sake of safety. Even Roberta’s top informer Mister Clarkey has been avoiding her and has not been picking her call for a meet—it was a telling sign that she has been green-lighted by anyone of her enemies.

 Roberta was now assiduous to keep her aloof mind from further deterrent remarks. She tested a small remote device and held it against Laura's Mimi pendant—the device made a beeping sound.

“Now what the fuck is that?” the tattooed albino girl sneered back.

“I have placed a tracker in Laura's pendant,” Roberta replied while adjusting the levels on the small gadget, making Lilya even curious…

“Why in God’s world are you doing that for?”

“So that I will know where she is at all times, in case she is abducted.”

But to Lilya, that was the most ridiculous thing she has heard from Roberta—and the albino teen burst into laughter and continues to belittle…

“What a paranoid jerk you are turning out to be lately! See that, even Laura is smiling!”

“Fuck off Lilya, you don't know what it is like to be a cop dealing with high profile criminals who are wanting me dead—they will try to hurt me in any ways possibly. If they know I have a sister, there is a big possibility they will abduct her to get back at me. That the reason I can't leave any tracks back here in Ohio; I even have to fake Laura a death certificate so that she can remain anonymous once she is admitted in Washington.”

“I think you are being lots silly lately with the wedding date approaching; so will that shitty thing affect Mimi’s pacemaker?” Lilya was now concerned for the frail woman who has been in a comatose state for almost eighteen years who was now GPS-wired. The ire Roberta vexed…

“No, it will not. It is low level—and I can only pick the signal from less than half a mile range.”

The sharp albino girl mordantly mocked, laughing out loud to restart her altercation…

“Get one for me then. Am I not the fiancée of a gangsta busting super-cop? Come fit a GPS tracker on to my Princess Albertina, so that I can be safe too.”

“Bitch!”

“Moron!” The obdurate natured Lilya left the wardroom.                            

**

Roberta followed the two female medical assistants who were pushing and loading Laura's gurney into an ambulance at the hospital’s driveway. Aunt Flo and Dr Rickman watched from the lobby, the ambulance door closing before they both walked over to Roberta.  Lilya drove her car and parked behind the ambulance.

Roberta was feeling perturbed and turned to her aunt, “You sure you both don't want to come to the airport?” The old woman kept wiping her tears “No Robbie, I am not very good with goodbyes.” Roberta did not know how to get out of the situation so she made a passing remark…

"I will fly down to visit you all when I can.” Her aunt nodded and Dr Rickman spoke on her behalf. “Please do that Robbie, your Aunt Flo and I would like that very much.”

“Yes doc, we are family,” said Roberta before hugging Flo Jensen tightly. She pulled Dr Rickman in with her free hand and the three of them hug together briefly. This made Lilya who was behind the wheel to smile as she watched them in the affable gesture—and then she overheard Roberta saying…

“I am going to miss you very much Aunt Flo...thank you for everything you have done for both Laura and I. I can never repay you both.”

“Just be safe and take good care of yourself—and Laura for both of us when you are over there...that all we ever want,” the old woman responded and Roberta kisses them both before getting into the car. Her aunt walked over to the driver’s side window.

“Bye Lilya...take care you both, and call us the moment you land in D.C.”

“Will do Aunt Flo, bye,” she kissed her farewell before Lilya steered away. The car stopped over at the entrance of the hospital main gate; Lilya turned and grabbed Roberta by her collar and kisses her lips. “That was a beautiful thing you did just now, Rob...I love you.”

“I love you too, Snowy.”

The car was into the main road and it tried to get closer to with the ambulance that was driving ahead.  Lilya teased back…

“I hope what you did and said to them was genuine, or was it one of your deceiving undercover cop routine act that you pulled on your poor aunt?”

“Shut up, bitch—just drive.”  They both ended up laughing.