Chapter 21

Another night passed, and Matti was feeling much stronger. He was strong enough to make his own trips to the bathroom, pushing a wheeled stand with his infusion pump along with him. He had been told by both the doctors and nurses that his wounds were healing nicely, and that he would soon be discharged. He was thankful for that.

Matti was back on his bed, and he had just finished drinking a cup of the hospital’s coffee. His blonde nurse, Marie, had brought him a cup when she returned from her afternoon coffee break in the cafeteria. It wasn’t very good coffee, and Matti was looking forward to returning home, where he could make his own. The head end of his bed was raised, and Matti had leaned back and closed his eyes for just a few minutes. He was wide awake, so he had no trouble hearing the quiet voice that spoke to him.

“Matti, are you awake?”

Matti’s eyes snapped open, anxious to see if the speaker was the same one as his mind had immediately assigned to the voice. A moment later he said, “Hello, Dawn. Where’d you come from?”

Dawn looked tired and a bit confused as she answered, “I ... I just got out of the police station. I was there all day.” Dawn was looking at him quietly, for long enough that Matti almost broke the silence himself. Finally she continued, “I had to talk to Detective Sanders ... about the Wolverines. He ... He said that you told him I ... knew about them. I guess ... Yvonne told you ... things.” She was watching him expectantly, and he knew that she expected an answer.

“Yes, Yvonne did talk about the Wolverines. Detective Sanders asked me, and I couldn’t lie.”

Just at that moment Marie, his nurse, hurried into Matti’s room, pushing a blood oxygen monitor. She took one look at Dawn and burst into a smile. “You’re back, Dawn. After all those nights you spent here, I wondered where you had got to. We’ve been taking good care of him for you, though.”

Matti was not expecting to hear what the nurse just said, and looked back and forth from Dawn to Marie several times before he said, “You two know each other? What are you talking about?”

The nurse grinned and answered, “Dawn has been practically camped out here, at least when you were unconscious she was. I haven’t seen her lately, so I must’ve been missing her.”

Matti turned to Dawn and asked, “Is that right? You were here while I was unconscious?” When Dawn nodded hesitantly he continued, “Were you holding my hand? And did you touch my face?”

Marie looked up from her monitor and quickly answered for Dawn, “You bet she was holding your hand. Some nights she didn’t even let go of it while we were changing your dressings ... and your clothing. I think she was afraid to let go, in case one of us made a move on you.” She laughed and continued, “She wasn’t just touching your cheek. She leaned over and gave it a kiss now and then. Maybe it worked, because you came through everything very well.” The nurse had her tests finished now, and she quickly left, pushing her cart in front of her.

Matti turned to look at Dawn, who had been quiet throughout the exchange between Matti and Marie. Dawn looked uneasy, as though she was expecting Matti to be angry with her.

Finally she spoke, “I was so surprised when I saw the news feed from our Vancouver affiliate. I thought you were up north, and all of a sudden I found out that you were shot, and Yvonne was shot. I flew right out here.” She was carefully studying Matti’s face as she continued speaking, “Were you staying with Yvonne? Was she ... was she the reason you broke up with me?” Dawn looked to be on the verge of tears.

Matti couldn’t mask his surprise as he answered, “Absolutely not, Dawn. I mean, we weren’t ... involved! I was staying there, just for a few days. In her guest room ... I was staying in her guest room!”

There was some relief on Dawn’s face, but she was also confused, and she quickly asked, “If you weren’t with her, then why were you here?”

Matti was now between the proverbial rock and a hard place. If he told her the truth, it would be sure to make her wonder why he had lied to her about the six-month job, and his Amber Newsom story. His other alternative was to tell her ... what exactly. He really didn’t have an option, so he decided that the truth would have to do. Perhaps she would offer him some confirmation of what Yvonne had suggested when she said that maybe Dawn was forced into spying on him by the Wolverines. Maybe she could help him get over his remaining fears and concerns that her interest in him was solely on behalf of the Wolverines. Maybe...

“I was just returning from a month in Costa Rica. Yvonne was one of the flight attendants, and she offered me use of her guestroom while I was in Vancouver. I ... I just happened to be there when ... Popeye came to the door and shot her. I ran in and he shot me too. That’s the whole story about why I’m here.”

Matti’s answer didn’t solve his problem, as Dawn quickly asked, “I don’t understand why you were on a plane ... or why you were in Costa Rica. What about you and Amber Newsom? What about the diamond exploration you were doing?”

Matti was now resigned to the fact that he would have to tell her the truth. “There wasn’t any six-month contract, and I have no interest in Amber Newsom, even if I knew where she was. It ... It was a stupid way to break up with you, Dawn. I’m really sorry.”

Dawn was shocked, and on the verge of tears, but she did manage to ask, “Why? Why did you want to break up with me so badly? I thought we were really doing well together.”

Matti was showing his sadness as well, and his eyes were also tearing up. “I know why you were going out with me, Dawn. I know you were working for the Wolverines when you came up to my camp that day. I ... I found the photo album ... with pictures of you and Dog and ... the others. I know about the tattoo, and Yvonne told me ... the rest.”

Matti had hoped that maybe Dawn could convince him he was wrong about her motives, but that wasn’t what happened. Dawn burst into tears and covered her face with her hands. “Oh God, you know everything about me! Oh, no! You must hate me!”

Instead of staying there to talk to him, Dawn turned and fled from the room. Matti was totally shocked, and he didn’t react for several seconds, but eventually he moved as quickly as he could. As soon as he stood up he realized the intravenous line had him tethered to the infusion pump on the opposite side of his bed, and he didn’t have time to get it and drag it along behind him. Instead he disconnected the line from the IV shunt in his hand. As quickly as he could, he followed Dawn into the hallway. He didn’t bother sealing off the line in his hand, and blood was beginning to drip from it onto the floor. While he had been up and walking, he wasn’t prepared for the exertion necessary to catch up to Dawn. He could see her turning the corner at the end of the hallway, her hands still held to her face, when he lost his balance and fell to his knees in the hallway. He was struggling to get to his feet when the nurses reached him. A puddle of blood was forming at his feet.

Two and a half years had passed since the day that Matti collapsed in the hallway at the hospital in Vancouver. A lot had happened since then, and as he leaned back in his lawn chair at the camp on Lake Watchanabi he once again ran it through his mind.