Soul and Shadow (18 page)

"
I
'
ve got your milk, Lily,
"
he said, brandishing the carton triumphantly.
"
Do you want to drink it now?
"

I could feel the sob rising up in my throat.
"
I want to be alone. Both of you, go.
"

Stephen shot an apprehensive glance at me and a murderous one at Kent.
"
But, honey—
"

I squeezed my eyes shut.
"
Go, now!
"

I buried my head in the pillow. I could hear their low, angry voices muttering as they left, but the words were lost to me as my tears began flowing. No one was taking me seriously. Stephen treated me like a confused child, and Kent was willing to let my attacker wander around free. Briggs could be escaping at this very moment. I felt utterly abandoned.

A nurse came in to check on me and I sobbed,
"
I want my Mom.
"

"
I
'
m sorry, Miss Evans. Your mother isn
'
t here right now. Is there anything I can do for you?
"

Not here? How could my mother not be here?

With my own mother leaving me at a time like this, my misery was complete.

"
No one cares,
"
I said with a moan.

"
Of course they do,
"
the nurse replied soothingly.
"
I know this has been a terrible ordeal, but you
'
ve come through it now. Everything will be better tomorrow, you
'
ll see. By then, you can have a phone in your room, and you
'
ll be able to talk to all the people who have been calling to check on you. We can start letting in visitors outside of the family as well.
"

She moved to the side of the bed and fiddled with some of the machines. After a minute she turned back to me.
"
Remember, you
'
re not going to be thinking clearly right now, and that
'
s nothing to worry about. Go easy on yourself. You
'
re recovering. Why don
'
t you just try to rest? Take a drink—that
'
s right. Good. Would you like me to stay for a while?
"

"
No, thank you. I just want to sleep.
"

"
That
'
s the best thing for you. Push the button if you need anything.
"

And suddenly, I was too tired to even cry any more. Any further thought or action was going to have to wait. I closed my eyes, and a dream I had had tugged at the edge of my mind. A smile, warmth, a feeling of love so powerful that it dispelled the pain like the sun banishes mist. Disjointed images floated across my consciousness. My father. A middle-aged Egyptian man with a face full of dignity and kindness. A beautiful blue flower. I was falling down into sleep, and I surrendered myself to it.

Chapter Twenty-One

My night was mercifully free of any dreams. So deep was my sleep that I was not even aware of the medical checks. The blood draw early the next morning put a stop to that, however. It is hard not to notice a needle probing around in search of a vein.

Once that grisly business had been conducted, I attempted to eat the breakfast they put before me. I wasn
'
t sure exactly what it was, but it reminded me of the gruel that was given to Oliver Twist. I pushed the spoon around in it listlessly, then drank some of the hot tea on the tray. The staff had decided that it would be good for me to get out of bed. While simple in theory, in practice it involved about the same amount of energy that would be needed to climb Mount Everest.

I took two steps, then turned right back around.
"
Very good,
"
my day nurse said encouragingly.
"
Later on, you can sit for a while in the chair.
"

I hoped so. I didn
'
t like lying helplessly with everyone looking down at me. But for now, I had no choice. I was exhausted.
"
Has Dr. Mallory been in touch today?
"
I asked, as I settled back on my pillows.

"
Oh, yes. In fact, he looked in while you were still asleep. He said he
'
d be back by eleven.
"

Good. I was determined to get some answers out of Stephen.
"
And do you know if my phone is working yet?
"

The nurse checked it and shook her head.
"
I
'
m afraid not. Did someone arrange to have it turned on?
"

"
I don
'
t know.
"
This was very aggravating. I felt cut off from the whole world.

"
I
'
m sure someone will see to it.
"
She poured me a glass of water from the pitcher on my table.
"
Why don
'
t you try some of this? The more you drink, the sooner we can get you off the IV.
"

I swallowed a few sips dutifully, glancing at the clock. Visiting hours were almost due to start. Where were my mother and Kent? Did they have higher priorities than seeing about me? I was feeling very sorry for myself when a welcome face appeared at the door.

"
Katy!
"
I exclaimed.

My friend rushed over and gave me a hug.
"
Oh Lily, you don
'
t know how glad I am to see you. I
'
ve been so worried. Thank God you
'
re all right. How do you feel today?
"

"
Better. There was really no place to go but up.
"
I smiled faintly.

"
Everyone is asking about you. Did you see the flowers we sent?
"

Without waiting for an answer, Katy opened the bag she was carrying and set some toiletries on the bedside table. She then produced my favorite photo of my father.
"
I stopped by your place and got you some things. And here
'
s your own pillow. Thought you
'
d like that. I would have smuggled Cleo in for a visit, but she isn
'
t exactly the type to come quietly.
"

"
Who
'
s looking after her?
"
I asked anxiously.
"
Is she at Mom
'
s?
"

"
No.
"
Katy turned away to put my slippers on the floor.
"
Stephen
'
s got her. They
'
ll probably be giving interviews on the six o
'
clock news. I hope your TV
'
s turned on.
"

"
What do you mean?
"
I demanded.

She looked at me in surprise.
"
Don
'
t you know? I mean, what Stephen did?
"

"
No,
"
I replied, staring at her.
"
I can
'
t remember much of anything.
"

"
Well,
"
Katy leaned forward,
"
he called you on Friday night. The phone was picked up, but no one answered. All he could hear was Cleo yowling. He said it sounded so unearthly that it sent chills down his spine. He was worried that something was wrong, and drove over to your house. He saw your car, but when you didn
'
t come to the door, he
went inside. He found you unconscious on your bed. The phone was still off the hook. We reckon that Cleo swiped it with her paw. The two of them saved your life.
"

I let out a long breath.
"
Wow.
"

"
Wow, indeed. I guess I
'
ll never be able to criticize Stephen again. But still, your Kent is fabulous too. I can see why you flipped for him. He was just like a knight in shining armor. Oh, those gorgeous eyes! It
'
s simply not fair for a man to have those long charcoal lashes.
"

"
Where did you run into Kent?
"
I asked in confusion.
"
Is he outside? I haven
'
t seen him yet today.
"

"
Well, I don
'
t suppose you will, until he gets out of jail.
"

I put my head in my hands.
"
Stop. I don
'
t understand.
What
are you talking about?
"

For the first time, Katy looked nonplussed.
"
You really haven
'
t heard about any of this? Gosh, Lily, I hope it
'
s all right for me to tell you. Maybe we should wait—
"

I fixed her with a steely gaze.
"
Katy Morrison, you will explain everything to me right now.
"

Concern and the desire to burst out with the information warred on Katy
'
s face.
"
Don
'
t worry,
"
I assured her,
"
you won
'
t kill me. But I may kill you if you don
'
t spill it.
"

Being thus absolved, Katy continued eagerly.
"
Well, I took the day off to come and be with you. I went to your house, and then I stopped by work to print off an important letter. I had just finished when in walked a tall, dark stranger. He looked at me and asked if I was Katy Morrison, and when I heard his accent, I knew who he must be.
"

I smiled.
"
His accent gave him away?
"

Katy shrugged.
"
Sure enough, he introduced himself and shook my hand. Such lovely manners. I figured he had come to talk about you. But he wanted me to show him where Dr. Briggs
'
office was. I took him down the hall to the great man
'
s den.
"

She took a breath.
"
The door was shut, but you could hear him moving around in there.
'
Thank you,
'
Kent said.
'
Now will you ring the local police and have them come over here? And if you
'
d be so kind, this is my grandmother
'
s number. She
'
ll need to be seeing about bailing me out.
'
I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn
'
t joking.
"

"
So you called Ursula?
"

"
I didn
'
t actually call the cavalry until the shouting started. We all tried to listen, of course, but the office is pretty far away. I heard snatches about artifacts and mothers and you, Lily, with various obscenities thrown in. Mostly Briggs
'
voice. Then some thuds and crashes. Someone else must have notified security because they came busting in like the Earps at the OK Corral. Poor little McKenzie was bringing up the rear. You remember him?
"

I shook my head.

"
The guy who helped you when you locked the keys in the car?
"
When I gave her an apologetic smile, she said,
"
McKenzie
'
s never been involved in anything more serious than a parking violation. If you could have seen how terrified he looked, your heart would have bled for him. Still, he did his duty. I
'
ve got to give him credit.
"

"
Katy,
"
I said through clenched teeth.

"
Sorry. But there
'
s so much to tell. Anyway, they crouched down outside of the office and yelled,
'
Break it up in there. Come out with your hands up!
'
I never thought I
'
d hear that in real life. Nothing happened for a minute. Then the door opened and Kent and Briggs came tumbling out. Briggs
'
glasses were gone and he was bleeding all over Kent
'
s shirt.
"

"
What happened then?
"

"
Briggs shouted,
'
Arrest
this
man. He
'
s assaulting me!
'
And Kent said,
'
Arrest this man. He
'
s a thief and a blackmailer.
'
Security pulled them off each other and led them away until the police came.
"

"
Did you ever call Ursula?
"

Katy nodded.
"
I did. And I
'
m sure Kent will be free soon. I know he must have been defending your honor somehow, but of course, if it
'
s too emotional right now, I don
'
t want you to tell me about it.
"

She meant it too. I had never appreciated her friendship more than I did at that moment, knowing how curious she must be, but willing to wait if explanations would upset me. I wished I could put her out of her misery.

"
It
'
s a long story, Katy, and not really mine to tell. But it makes me very happy to know that Kent did that. Briggs is a terrible man who hurt Kent
'
s family, then tried to get me to hush it up. It
'
s the whole reason he poisoned me. I
'
m surprised that he didn
'
t run, but I guess his reputation is so damn precious to him he actually thought he
'
d get away with it. Thank God he
'
s finally in jail where he belongs.
"

Katy looked confused, and I didn
'
t blame her. But I couldn
'
t say any more until I had talked to Kent.
"
Maybe I should get a lawyer myself,
"
I mused.
"
Will you do me a favor, and go to the patient office and make sure the telephone gets turned on? I can
'
t stand being so out of touch.
"

"
Sure,
"
Katy agreed.
"
I
'
ll do that right now.
"

She left with such alacrity that I wondered if I
'
d upset her. But I couldn
'
t tell the whole truth without Kent
'
s permission. As soon as I could communicate, I would call his mobile to make sure he was all right. And then I would check on my mother.