Hot Number (Hot Zone 2)

"We all agree with you." Micki smiled at the older woman and eyed her uncle's closed door. He knew she was coming, so where was he?

"Well either he gets laid or he moves out. I'm not sure I can take much more of his obnoxious behavior. You tell him I said so, you hear?"

Micki wondered if the older woman was actually offering her services and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. "Oh, I'll tell him all right."

"Got to go. Jeopardy!’s on." Mrs.Murdoch slammed the door shut again.

Micki raised her hand to knock this time, when her uncle opened the door. "Sorry. I was in the John"

She rolled her eyes. “Too much information," she said, greeting him with a kiss.

"I can't believe you're back already. Is Damian that much of a dud?"

She raised an eyebrow, staring at her uncle. "You sent me off with him hoping we'd hook up?"

"Damn straight. So did you?"

Micki stepped around Yank and into his large apartment. They'd always been close and she didn't see any point in hiding the truth from him now. "Whatever we had was temporary and now it's over. So how did your doctor's appointment go?"

"Nothing's changed, nothing will. Are you telling me Fuller screwed you and took off?" Her uncle squared his shoulders, ready to fight on her behalf.

She shook her head. "Damian's a lot better than that and you know it or you wouldn't have sent me off to be alone with him "

"I-"

"You're caught red handed. Now I'm going to forgive you for disregarding my feelings because I love you. And I'll tell you what you need to know about Damian. He's not capable of putting anyone or anything above the game, at least not at this point in his life, and he was honest about that. Okay? And now that I've bared my soul, I need you to do the same." She hugged him tight. "Are you saying the specialist couldn't help you?"

"It's a degenerative disease. My stage isn't early enough to change things and don't go yelling at me that I should've gone to him sooner because your sister already yelled enough for all three of you."

Micki swallowed hard. Twice in two days. Twice she had to face men she cared about and not show any pity no matter how much she wanted to. Damn men and their pride, she thought, taking a minute to compose herself before stepping back and facing her uncle.

"Well, you'll just have to carry on as you taught us to once we realized Mom and Dad weren't coming back, won't you?"

As if she understood, Noodle barked in agreement.

"You see? With Noodle by your side, you won't have any problems." Micki would see to it.

Her uncle grabbed her in a bear hug that expressed everything he couldn't say.

When they finally broke apart, she smiled at him. "So what can I make you for dinner?"

ALL THREE JORDAN SISTERS and Lola met at Annabelle's home in Greenlawn. They all sat surrounding Annie,who remained with her feet up on the couch, surrounded by her pets and plants. Some things never changed, Micki thought and a warm feeling filled her chest.

They'd chosen the location because it gave them privacy from Yank's prying and allowed Annabelle to remain off her feet as per doctor's orders. It had been a while since they'd all been together this way and they talked to each other, over each other and across one another. A true girls' meeting. Getting together with them reminded Micki of how much she'd missed their bonding time.

Annie clapped her hands, demanding their attention. "As much as we need to catch up, we're here for a reason."

They all nodded.

"I've tried to keep everyone up to date on Uncle Yank's condition. Does everyone understand the details?" Sophie, the sister who'd taken charge of the doctors and of the gruff man himself, asked.

"I'm confused," Micki admitted. "He lies and fudges the truth. One day he says he's fine and the next day he's wearing that talking clock like he can't read the dial on his wristwatch. I'd like an explanation I can understand."

"As you know, Uncle Yank has the wet form of macular degeneration," Sophie said. "Statistically, wet is less common than the dry form and accounts for ninety percent of all cases of legal blindness in people with the disease. It isn't curable and since Uncle Yank ignored symptoms for quite a while, the disease has progressed too much for any of the newer treatments."

"What exactly can he see or not see?" Annabelle asked.

Obviously Micki wasn't the only one who didn't understand their uncle's condition.