Chapter 76

As they got out of the SUV in back of the retreat, it was obvious that Turcott was having problems. Laura had parked as close to the door as she could, but Alesha was unsteady on her feet as she stood up from the vehicle.

Ann took one look and frowned. "I'll run get the wheelchair."

"I don't need that," Alesha protested. "It's just that I've been dizzy ever since this happened. I don't know if it is caused by him slamming my head against the wall, or that gun going off next to my ear. The doctor called it vertigo. Sometimes it's worse than others. Just let me stand still for a moment, and it will get better."

By the time Laura and Arlene got Turcott into the mudroom, Ann was back with the wheel chair — and Diana.

"No, I can walk. I just get really dizzy sometimes. It comes and goes," she said, but they managed to get her to sit in the chair, anyway.

Diana put out her hand. "Hi. I'm Diana. Of course you don't know me, or any of us except for Joyce, and her for only a few minutes before all the bad things happened. But please believe this," Diana said leaning down and hugging Turcott. Pulling back a little, but with her face still close, "You helped to save the life of one of us and we are eternally grateful. To say that you're welcome here is an understatement."

Standing up and taking Turcott's hand, Diana continued. "We can never repay the debt we owe you, but that's not going to stop us from trying. You're going to be introduced to a number of people. They're all part of our family. It isn't our intention to overwhelm you or make you uncomfortable, but we want to make you understand that you are now very, very high in our esteem."

Turcott continued to protest, saying that she had only helped Jesse with the pressure bandage on Joyce's head, that she hadn't really done anything.

"'Only helped, '" Diana quoted, "to save our very special friend's life. Enough of that for now. Let's talk about things less stressful. We'll get you in your suite and into bed. You'll feel better tomorrow," Diana said with total conviction in her voice as she thought about the healer. "We'll bring you a nice meal in a little while..."

"Could I please see Deputy Cramer?" Alesha asked trying to look up into Diana's face as Ann began pushing her down the long hall.

"Sure," Diana replied, "That's where we're heading now. She's in the living room, still a little weak, like you."

As they turned into the living room, Joyce, who was sitting on a couch, her wheelchair parked nearby, stopped talking in mid-sentence. As soon as Ann pushed the chair near Joyce, she stood and grabbed Turcott in a hug.

After a tearful reunion where each woman thanked the other for saving her life, Arlene introduced the rest of the immediate family, keeping Jeff for last. Jeff hugged her as everyone else did, but Turcott didn't react to him in any noticeable manner, since he had locked down on his pheromones and mental push.

After talking with everyone for a while, it was obvious that Turcott was tired and not feeling well. When Arlene asked her, Turcott agreed that she would like to lie down. As they left the living room with Arlene pushing the wheelchair this time, Ann and Laura walking on either side, Turcott fretted, "Jesse said he would come to visit me when he got off work. I don't want to go to sleep and miss him. If I could just lie down for a few minutes, I'll feel better, I think. A lot of the dizziness seems to go away when I close my eyes for a while."

Arlene leaned over a little, addressing Turcott, "Oh, we won't let you miss him. If you go to sleep, we'll wake you when he gets here. The suite has a nice sitting room where you two can be alone to talk as long as you like, or you can visit with him in the living room if you had rather, and feel like it. Mom just told me that she has stocked the refrigerator with soft drinks and snacks. If Jesse will stay for dinner, and you're up to it, we can all eat together in the kitchen, otherwise, you can eat with him in your suite, if you prefer. We have all the latest movies. If you want to, you can watch a movie with him."

"I don't know what to say. You shouldn't be going to all this trouble for me."

"Oh, poo. It isn't any trouble, and I think that Jesse likes you. It surely seemed like he did back at the hospital."

"Do you think so? Oh, but remember what I said while we were in the room. He won't be interested in me. He's bound to know by now that it was my ex-boyfriend that shot Deputy Cramer..."

Ann gave a little laugh. "I don't think he's bothered by any ex-boyfriends you might have. And one of them surely isn't going to bother anyone. Joyce saw to that. Besides, it surely did look like Jesse could hardly take his eyes off you at the hospital."

"Yeah," Arlene laughed as Ann held the door to a suite open for them. "If he's driving all the way up here to see you right after he's visited you at the hospital ... Seems like he's showing a little more than just a casual interest in your health."

Turcott sighed, but didn't answer. When they got to the couch in the sitting room, she got slowly to her feet. "Oh, my. This is so nice." Looking around for a moment and commenting on the furniture, she sat and opened a small white sack that she had been holding with her purse. "Could I have something to drink? That nice doctor gave me some samples because he knew that the drugstores would be closed on Sunday in the area and I wouldn't be able to get a prescription filled today."

"Sure," Ann said, going to the small refrigerator to get her a coke.

Opening a plastic tab that contained a pill, Turcott continued, "He said I was supposed to start the antibiotic as soon as I got home, and take this other pill twice a day for the vertigo."

After taking both types of medicine, she took another sip of drink and relaxed into the soft leather of the couch. "Everyone has been so nice. One of the paramedics went back into the house and got my purse out of the kitchen before we left in the ambulance. Jesse told me that they found my car in the bushes about a quarter mile away. Keys were in it, so I guess that Crawford must have made a copies that I didn't know about. After they fingerprinted the car, one of the deputies drove it back home for me. Jesse brought the keys when he came to visit."

Looking at the medicine boxes again, she said, "The doctor gave me the name of an ear, nose and throat specialist who I'm supposed to call for an appointment to see if there is anything he can do for my hearing. I just hope this sorry insurance company will pay for it. It surely cost enough, but with just a few employees at the car lot where I work, we apparently didn't wind up with much of a policy."

Alesha's eyes pooled with unshed tears. "I've really messed myself up this time. First, that idiot I lived with in Denver, then I got involved with yet another idiot. Now I'm half deaf. Oh, how did this happen?" she said, putting her face into her hands and leaning forward. "What am I going to do? I answer the phone at Lennie's and keep his books for him. I can barely tell that someone is saying something when I put a phone to my left ear, and with my right ear, there's nothing at all, no matter how loud the noise is."

Fighting to not sob, "I don't have anybody. How am I going to make a living with what little hearing I have left? I can't afford a hearing aid. Those things are extremely expensive."

Laura quickly sat with her. Taking Turcott in her arms, she hugged her. "I know that you can't believe this right now, but everything is going to be all right."

"But Lennie will fire me, if he hasn't already. Saturday is our big day at the lot and I wasn't there, and I didn't call in. I was mostly asleep all day yesterday from something they gave me at the hospital for the dizziness and nausea. By the time I woke up enough to realize what was going on, it was past closing time at the lot. I'm sure that when I didn't show up, he fired me. He doesn't give a shit about anybody. He yells at all his employees, me included. If anyone ever messes up in the slightest way, he just fires them."

"What did you do other than answer the phone?" Laura asked, just to break the silence that dragged out.

"Oh, I managed to take a couple of courses in accounting before the guy I was living with in Denver made me quit. I talked my way into this job at the car lot and moved out here to get away from my live-in. I've been using QuickBooks to keep Lennie's accounts for him, and I answer the phone. Heck, keeping his books isn't hard; anyone who's reasonably computer literate can do it with the software."

She tried to smile at Laura. "He sells cars, mostly, but he has a small mechanic and body shop there as well. That's where I got my car. It had been wrecked, but the owner never did come and pay for it after it was fixed. Lennie sold it to me for what he had in it. Truth is, he probably thought he was going to get in my pants, but when he found out that wasn't going to happen, he started treating me like he does all the other people working for him. In other words, yelling at me like I was a dog or something. But I don't really have any job skills, so I have to put up with it."

Laura smiled back at Alesha. "You don't have to worry about him yelling at you any more..."

"I can't just come into your wonderful home and take your charity. I just need to find another job that I can do..."

"What about college?" Arlene asked. "Would you like to go back?"

Alesha chuckled, but made it sound a little morose. "I would love to go back. But even if I could, I wouldn't be able to hear the instructor well enough to get by. Maybe I'll be able to get a hearing aid sooner or later. But right now, I guess I just need to concentrate on getting another job. One where I don't have to talk on the phone."

Laura and Arlene now flanked Alesha on the couch, with Ann sitting on the coffee table in front of her.

Laura smiled at Turcott. "Do you feel like getting a shower and shampooing your hair, if we helped you? We can fix your hair and maybe assist you with your makeup so that you'll look really nice when Jesse gets here."

Alesha's eyes lit up. "Yeah. I think I can do that, but I can fix my own hair ... And I don't have any makeup with me. I don't have anything except what you wonderful people bought for me. Jesse said it might be a week before I can get back into my house."

"Nonsense," Laura broke in. "We would love to help. We do each other's hair all the time. We'll go slowly, and if you get dizzy, you can take a break. And trust me, there's enough makeup around this place to sink a battleship — at least that's what Jeff says," she laughed. "As pretty as you are, we'll have you looking fabulous in no time."

Turcott giggled a little. "Okay, I'll try," she said as she got to her feet, a little wobbly, but they got her into the wheel chair and headed for the shower.

Later, Jeff, Dave and Deputy Goodman sat in the living room. Turcott was taking a nap while Jeff's wives, Margaret, Evie, Linda and Annie were fixing supper. Madison, Wainwright and Jeb had gone for a walk.

" ... Okay," Jeff laughed. "We'll dispense with the 'Deputy Goodman, ' but remember, it goes both ways. Jeff and Dave, or we go back to the Deputy routine."

"Sorry," Jesse said. "But like I said before, part of our policy is to refer to everyone we meet on duty as Mr., Mrs., or Ms. It gets to be a habit. I'll try, uh, Jeff."

Diana and the girls walked by the door, and Diana winked at Jeff.

Jeff smiled at her and turned back to Jesse. "They're going to get Alesha up and dressed. If she feels like it, they'll bring her to the kitchen to eat. Otherwise, she wants you to eat with her in her suite."

Jeff, sitting with his legs crossed, uncrossed them and leaned toward Jesse who was sitting on a couch only a few feet away. "I hear that you blew your engine getting to Joyce..."

"Well," Goodman broke in, "the truck is an old Nissan four cylinder. It belonged to my grandfather. When he went to the nursing home, I bought it from him. I've put a lot of miles on it since then, and it certainly wasn't new when I got it, either. It was just its time. I pushed it beyond what it was still capable of doing. I redlined it and it started knocking just before I got to Alesha's place. It was going to go sooner or later, anyway."

"Yeah," Jeff said, "'sooner or later.' But I suspect that you babied that truck and it would have lasted a long time if you hadn't have had to stress it like that."

Goodman chuckled, obviously uncomfortable. "Like I told Joyce, don't make a mountain out of a mole hill. We've backed each other up on some bad calls. She would have gone to the wall for me in a heartbeat..."

"I saw on the security system that you're in a pickup, a Chevy 1500."

"Yeah, my dad let me borrow his until I can have the motor rebuilt in mine."

"You're not going to buy a new truck?" Dave asked, knowing the answer.

"Are you kidding? On my salary? I'm going to have to wait a little while before I can fix ... uh..." he wound down, realizing what he was saying, afraid that Jeff was going to offer him money.

Jeff frowned, knowing exactly what Jesse was thinking, but trying to come up with a way of replacing Goodman's truck. Doggonit, I know that he's too damn proud to let me buy him a truck, but he saved Joyce's life, and now he's hurting because of it. And from what Arlene says, Turcott is going to be the same way. She just wants to find another job so she can buy a hearing aid. I've got to help them, both of them — somehow — while still allowing them to salvage their pride.

"How long have you been with the county?" Dave asked as Jeff continued to think about the situation.

Little One will fix Alesha's hearing problem tonight, and she wants to finish with Joyce. Looks like I won't get much sleep, but I can live with that. At least I'll be able to do a little for Alesha by having Little One take care of her, and surely, we can come up with a job for her. Yeah, and she's going to suddenly come into contact with a foundation that will put her through school, if that's what she wants, but how in the hell am I going to get Jesse a set of wheels? Money running out my ass and I can't even help the person that saved my new wife. Shit.

Jeff sat, barely paying attention to the conversation, as his mind toyed with the new problem.

The intercom buzzed. When Jeff picked up the phone, Diana quietly said, "Alesha was really dizzy when we woke her. She's a little better now, and we have her dressed and her hair refreshed, but I don't think she's up to a meal with the rest of us. The girls are preparing food for the two of them and will carry it to the suite. You should probably have Jesse come down when the girls bring the meal." Then more quietly she continued in a teasing voice, "She cleaned up really nice. Jesse is going to have a stroke." Giggling, she hung up.

Later, they sat at the table, the family back together again. As conversation quieted for a moment, Diana said, "We're going to have to have Carla, Jessica and Fred up for at least a meal, preferably to have them spend a day or two with us. I haven't even talked to them in several days."

Jeff took a swallow of tea, then looked over his glass at his first wife. "Yeah, we worked our butts off, but we had a good time with the farm, didn't we? And speaking of farms, I imagine the call on the answering machine from the lawyer means that they are ready to sign the papers on the Thompsons' farm. I'll have to call back first thing in the morning..."

The kitchen door opened and Alesha came through in the wheelchair pushed by Jesse.

Jeff turned to look at the couple. Diana is right. She is pretty as she can be. Amazing what relieving a little stress and fixing her hair did. I imagine there's going to be a lot more difference when Little One gets through with her. According to Arlene, Alesha doesn't think she's good enough for Jesse because she's lived with a guy and been involved with the idiot that tried to kill her. Hah, even I can tell that's bullshit by just looking at Jesse. Looks like we're going to have a regular visitor until Alesha can get back into her house.

Smiling, Jeff stood, as did all the men. "Hi, Alesha. There are several people whom you haven't met yet. Okay, to my right..."

Late in the evening, Jeff, his wives along with Joyce and Caitlin sat in the living room. Jesse had left hours ago when he realized that Alesha was tired, but had promised that he would be back tomorrow after work.

Jeff had already spent a couple of hours with Alesha while Little One sat over first one ear, then the other, the woman fast asleep. Tomorrow would be an exciting day for her when she discovered that she was so much better, but her full hearing wouldn't be back for a couple of days. Jeff had talked to the healer about this, and she had completed the major part of the healing, but left some for Alesha's body to do on its own, albeit enhanced by the healer, so that the recovery would seem more normal.

At Jeff's suggestion, the girls brought snacks and drinks into the living room. Seeing that everyone was settled, Jeff got up and closed the door. After instructing the computer to warn them if anyone walked down the hall toward the living room, he said, "Let's everyone gather close by."

The women pulled chairs close, while the girls sat on the floor. Jeff smiled at his wives, thinking how lucky he was. Turning to Joyce, he started. "All my wives know about, and have seen Little One many times, have become friends with her to the extent they can be with the language barrier involved."

"Little One?" Joyce said.

"Yeah, 'Little One, '" Caitlin repeated, fighting to not giggle. "You're going to sh... , uh, crap on yourself when you see her?"

Jeff turned to Caitlin as the room grew quiet. "Why don't you tell her what happened at the hospital?"

Caitlin looked astonished. "You've got to be kidding me. She'll never believe..."

Jeff shook his head. "Just go ahead, please. We'll help you out."

Caitlin and Joyce were sitting side by side on the couch. Taking Joyce's hand, at first looking a little uncertain, Caitlin told about their ride to Denver, and Jeff's admonition to get him with Joyce for an extended period of time without hospital personnel being around.

"I thought he was nuts, but he, uh, somehow convinced me that I should do that, and it turned out to be fairly easy after all. Someone got the idea that he was your husband when you kept asking for him, and well ... it worked out."

Caitlin stopped talking for a moment, then sighed. "You were a lot worse than we've admitted to you." Tears sprang to her eyes as she stared at her lover. "Oh, I guess you would have recovered, if ... you had managed to live for the next forty-eight hours or so ... maybe. The damage to your heart was severe, as well as the bleed in your brain, and well, things could have gone either way. No telling how long the recuperation would have been, or ... how successful it would have been, either. Whether you would have been able to go back to work or not ... Oh, well, it didn't happen. Little One took care of that."

Joyce knew that Caitlin was serious; the tears in her eyes were evidence of that. She shook her head, "You're not making sense," she said, squeezing Caitlin's hand. "Who is this 'Little One?' Is that a nickname for some doctor that I didn't meet?" She looked around her at Jeff's wives. "You guys are scaring me."

"Yeah, well, you're not by yourself. When I saw her come out from under the sheet, she scared the crap out of me." Laughing, Caitlin added, "If I hadn't just gone to the bathroom, that might have been a literal statement."

"Alright. Alright, I'm beginning to think that you're pulling my leg, even if you did have tears in your eyes a moment ago..."

Jeff had turned away, but when Joyce glanced back at him, she forgot what she had been saying as her eyes focused on the healer who was now sitting on Jeff's lap.

"This is what healed you," Jeff quietly said. "I can only tell you a little about her. Actually, I'm somewhat violating my oath even in showing her to you, although I do have permission for my wives."

Jeff held the healer out a little toward Joyce. All she saw was a somewhat innocuous, almost translucent, rectangular object with rounded corners, a little bigger than a thick paperback novel. "This is her 'normal' state, but she has the ability to change her appearance and size as she did with you to cover your injury."

Joyce looked at Jeff like he had lost his mind. "That is what made me well?"

"She's an alien," Caitlin broke in. "She can..."

"An alien?" Joyce said, trying not to laugh. "Hey, I'm the one who reads science fiction, not you," she grinned at her lover. "Is she an illegal alien, or did she get her visa?" she kidded. "She looks like a big blob of plastic that someone tried to form into a thick rectangle."

She doesn't believe you're real, Jeff mentally told the healer.

A thin tendril extended, so fine that Joyce didn't even notice it, although she was looking directly at the healer. After a couple of seconds, a faint blue glow surrounded the tip. Joyce felt a rustling in her mind. As she stared, Little One was suddenly surrounded by what appeared to be a mist as hundreds of the tendrils moved about with lightning speed.

Joyce gasped, putting her hands to her temples as the feeling in her mind intensified, then suddenly quit.

Jeff cleared his throat, waited. Joyce looked over at him when the tendrils disappeared. "In her own way, she just told you that she had been honored to heal you," Jeff said, knowing that the words only partially conveyed the emotions and concepts that Little One had tried to send.

"She's real? Really alive?" Joyce asked quietly. "She really healed me?" Startling everyone, herself included, she put out her hand, stopping just short of touching the healer. Joyce chuckled, "I almost asked if she would hurt me. I guess that's ridiculous considering that she's supposed to have healed me."

Moving her hand the remaining short distance, she touched the healer with her fingertips, then stroked her like she might a cat. "She's warm. I expected it to feel like a block of plastic, but her ... skin, whatever, gives as I touch it like something alive..."

"She, not it," Helen broke in.

"She," Joyce repeated. "Sorry. Uh, that buzzing in my head. Was she really trying to talk to me?"

"Yeah," Jeff quietly said, "but she's ... attuned only to certain individuals, I guess you could say."

"To Alpha Primes, we think. And maybe some others," Diana said. "But don't hold me to that. I may not be right. But Arlene and I can understand her a little. Well mostly just emotions, but sometimes we get concepts. All of us — all of us wives can at least feel some emotions from her. Contentment, something that's probably love according to Jeff — even worry — sometimes a little more."

"But you're saying that Jeff can communicate with her?" Joyce asked

"Yeah, I can, but certainly not as well as I would like. Her creators were, or are, telepathic. The whole concept of a vocal language is foreign, almost ... barbaric to her, and to them, I suppose."

"What do you mean? Are you saying that you don't know whether this ... race exists?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Although she has learned to keep track of time using our measuring system, it's a whole other ball game when we try to discuss her creators. There isn't just time involved..." Mentally, he added, No there's more. Once she tries to discuss what I think are dimensions, I can't seem to unravel them from her concepts of time.

"Where did you get her? Were we visited by aliens like those weird articles you see at the checkout counter in the grocery store? I can't believe that crap."

"I ... can't tell you."

"You what?" Joyce said, sitting up straighter. "You show me this ... this... thing, expect me to believe it healed me, then tell me you can't tell me where it came from? Jeff," she said, glaring at him, "this isn't funny any more. And Caitlin, I didn't think you would make fun of me like this."

Jeff put Little One in Joyce's lap. Make her believe, Little One. I think she's had a little more than she can assimilate between the injury, the recovery and you. See what you can do to convince her, please.

As Joyce stared down at the healer in her lap, Diana and Arlene sat beside her, Arlene encouraging Caitlin to slide over and give her room. Mother and daughter each took one of Joyce's hands, then touched the healer. Joyce hissed in a breath as a blue beam bathed her face for an instant. Slowly, she relaxed back into the cushions, a puzzled expression on her face. A little later, a smile touched her lips as her breathing deepened and she fell into a deep sleep induced by the healer.

As obvious concern crossed Caitlin's countenance, she knelt down in front of Joyce. Jeff assured her, "Joyce is fine. Little One can't talk to her, but she's learned to project a few concepts and 'pictures' to my wives. It works better with Arlene and Diana in the loop for some reason." Smiling, Jeff continued, "Well, you know that all my wives can — I guess the term is — feel where I am. That ability, or an offshoot of it applies to ... uh, other things, as well. I think that you and Joyce have felt a little bit of it when my wives and I are making love. Strong feelings, strong emotions seem to transmit better. Joyce isn't going to feel much at this point, but as the two of you grow closer to me and ... to all of us, you will be able to feel our emotions better."

Diana and Arlene sat quietly holding Joyce's hands as she slumped against the back of the couch. After five minutes or so, the blue beams swept across Joyce's face again. For a moment, nothing happened, then Joyce slowly opened her eyes and looked down at the healer sitting in her lap. "Oh, my," she whispered.

"What happened?" Caitlin asked, impatient. "Did she talk to you? Did you see anything?"

Joyce seemed to have to tear her eyes away from the healer to look at Caitlin. "I ... don't know. But I felt..." Stumbling to a stop, she sighed. "I felt some things and there was a swirl of ... almost pictures. They didn't make sense, but I had a feeling that someone ... cared. She is alive. Somehow, I'm positive of that, and I'm not afraid of her anymore," she finished, smiling down at Little One.

"Would you like for her to do the same thing for you?" Jeff asked Caitlin.

Caitlin, still kneeling in front of Joyce, stared at the healer only a couple of feet from her face. "Uh, I have no doubt that she's alive, but I think I'll wait. I guess I'm still a little afraid of her, but," she hastily added, "I'm extremely grateful for her healing my sister."

Caitlin sat back a little as Jeff reached over and took the healer from Joyce's lap.

"Where do you keep her?" Caitlin asked as she turned her back to the couch, leaning back between Joyce's knees. "She just seemed to suddenly appear when we were in that ICU room. How did you manage to hide her?"

Jeff sat back down and put the healer in his lap. Jennie, Melissa and Ann quickly sat at his feet to reach over and touch Little One, almost petting her, smiling as they felt her mental touch.

Jeff smiled at his younger wives before answering Caitlin. Joyce continued to listen to Jeff, but her eyes kept drifting to the healer.

"I think she has always had the ability to contour her body to fit more tightly over an injury, but after I started keeping her with me more, she's ... adapted, I guess you could say. She can now — spread is not the correct term, but I'll use it anyway in lieu of a better one — spread herself over my shoulders until she's hardly noticeable under even a tee-shirt."

Jeff looked down at the healer sitting in his lap, touched her as his wives were doing. "Since she healed Helen and me, I've been keeping her closer to us. A lot of the time actually on my shoulders. She learns a little about our society through my interaction with people. She can't exactly understand the things people say to me, but I'm learning to translate for her as I talk to someone. At least in a general sense. I think she still feels that we're about one notch above the cave man stage, but she has formed a strong bond with all of us, anyway."

Jeff got an evil little grin on his face. "I'm going to sleep with you two tonight," he said, looking at Caitlin and Joyce.

Two stunned women looked back at him.