Chapter 10

“Mr. Reynolds?” I had been semi dozing and at the same time, reading the mail that Mabel had delivered the day before. I looked up at the nurse was standing at the door. That was unusual. The usual pattern was to come in and announce, “Knock, knock, can I come in?” after they were in the door and halfway to drawing another blood sample. But this was different. The nurse was still at the door, and I could see someone behind the nurse.

She seemed embarrassed. “You have a visitor, Mr. Reynolds. Is that alright?”

I smiled at her, trying to see who was in the hallway. “Sure, it’s not like I have any pressing appointments.”

Suzy came into the room.

“Suzy, it’s great to see you, come in.” sunlight and rainbows, my day, week, and month just got 100% better.

She seemed hesitant about coming in. “I’m not interrupting anything, Mr. Reynolds?”

“What’s this, Mr. Reynolds stuff, I thought it was Matt and Suzy? is there a problem?” suddenly, clouds were on the horizon.

She edged closer to the bed. “No, not that I know of. It’s just that you seem to have become famous. The news media has been talking about you almost nonstop for the past month. They are calling you the hero in the hills. There’s even talk about medals and awards.”

“Horse pucky, I didn’t do anything that anybody else wouldn’t do. And that includes you. Don’t forget, I’ve seen you in action.”

She was blushing and seemed ready to argue with me when I changed the subject. “I was told that you headed back to school. What, are you on a break or something?”

“No, actually, I was just short of what I needed for my degree and would have graduated this year anyway. But because of everything that happened with Professor Barth, the university decided that I had satisfied my degree requirements. On the condition that I keep my mouth shut about what happened on the mountain. I got the impression that public relations were more important to them.”

That seemed like a good thing, but I was going to reserve judgment for now. “Well, if it’s legitimate, good for you. What are your plans now?”

She brightened up, “I hope you’re not uncomfortable with this, but I’ve been helping Mabel out with your animals. I’ve also been helping Pete and the others with getting your supplies up to the cabin.”

“No problem, Suzy. It’s been preying on my mind how I was going to do that. It’ll be late in the season before I get out of here, and I don’t want to spend the winter down here.”

We continued for about an hour talking and getting to know each other better. I told her that I had planned on returning to my mountain. And I had just asked her about her plans when all hell broke loose. There was a major commotion in the hallway. Women yelling and shouting.

Suddenly my door burst open.

There standing in all her fiery magnificence was Mary Reynolds, my ex-wife.

“Matthew, tell these needle jockeys to get out of my way. I am your wife by God, and it’s my right to tend to you in your hour of need.” Mary was blocking the door and glaring at the assembled nursing staff for that floor.

The head nurse, backed up by two large security guards, pushed past Mary and stood between her and me. “Mr. Reynolds, do you want this person removed?” Jackie was not a person to be trifled with. We had become buddies while I was here, and she was as protective of me as all of her patients.

But in this case, Jackie probably saw an opportunity to play bouncer and send Mary down the road with a size ten nursing shoe imprint on her butt.

I thought about it for a moment or two, then decided that it would probably be best to get this over with and not have to worry about it anymore. “Nurse Farnsworth, Jackie, while it seems there might be some dispute about our marital status, Mary is my ex-wife. I think I’ll be able to handle her. You and the riot squad can leave.”

I could tell that was not what Jackie Farnsworth wanted to hear. And that she was reluctant to leave. “I’ll tell you what Jackie, my friend Suzy can stick around if she wants?” I looked at Suzy. There wasn’t fear or astonishment on her face. She was glaring at Mary and was quite obviously not happy.

“I think it would be an excellent idea to stick around,” Suzy said, gritting her teeth.

I started to think about hiding places at that point, cover, and concealment as it’s known in the military. Nurse Farnsworth said, “Ok, Mr. Reynolds. But if you have a problem or start feeling uncomfortable, you push the call button, and we’ll be here in a flash.” I could see several of the other staff, including the security guys, frowning and nodding their heads. “In the meantime, I am going to call Dr. Stone and let him know about this. I know he isn’t going to be happy.” with that, Nurse Farnsworth and her medical flying squad departed, reluctantly closing the door behind them.

Mary let loose with an exasperated gasp. “Well, I’m glad those peasants are in their proper place now. You would think that they were important or something.” as Mary was saying this, she turned towards me for the first time.

“Oh my god, those eyes, perfect. Is that permanent? Is it cosmetic? I need to get a camera crew in here asap.”

“Mary,” I tried to interrupt

Looking around, she continued, as if nothing had been said, “Of course, this room won’t do. The lighting is all wrong. I’ve never looked good under florescent. some filters and other technical junk.”

“Mary,” Again, I tried to get a word in edgewise.

Looking over at me, “I guess we could leave you in the bed if we have to. But, hey, here’s an idea, how about we shoot this in the woods. Scene of the crime and all that. Do you know if there are still any bloodstains? that would make a great visual.”

“Mary!” I shouted, “Will you please shut up for a minute?”

Startled, Mary stepped back a half pace. “Of course, Matthew, anything you say, darling. What’s the problem?”

At this point, I had lost my temper, “The problem is, what are you doing here? We’ve been divorced for what 15, 20 years. And in all that time you’ve never tried to get ahold of me. Even when I was laid up in Kuwait, and I know that you were notified. I had you listed as my emergency contact. I didn’t hear a peep from you. And now this? What’s going on? why are you here?”