Chapter 13

Dave and Evie were in the kitchen at six the next morning drinking coffee when Doctor Boswell walked in, her hair still wet from her morning laps in the pool. She and Evie exchanged greetings. Dave smiled a good morning and stood up. "There's no one in the living room this morning. How did you get him to go to bed?"

"Sit down, please," Doctor Boswell, laughed, "You make me feel old."

"Sorry, Doctor. I was raised to stand when a lady entered the room. Old habits are hard to break."

"Especially, when an old woman walks into a room?" she teased.

"Doctor Boswell..." I wonder why she's so touchy about her age. She can't be more than forty.

"Oh, hush, I'm just teasing you," she smiled, touching his arm. "Let me get a cup of life, as Jeff calls it, and sit with you two." When she had done so, and was stirring in creamer and sweetener, she continued, "He woke up and had to go to the bathroom about midnight. He managed to get into the wheelchair with our help, then after the bathroom, he just told us to take him on to the bedroom. I think he was finally awake enough to be more aware, saw our blankets and pillows on the floor, and realized we were sleeping beside him."

Taking a sip of the coffee, she smiled, "I stayed with them last night — Diana insisted. Even after the compulsion was almost gone, it seemed as if it were the thing to do. In addition to the night-light, we kept the closet light on with the door cracked just enough to be able to see Jeff. We took turns watching him all night, although I doubt if Diana, Laura and Arlene got much sleep anyway, since they kept waking up to see that he was okay. The healer spent at least half the time on his head. Every couple of hours after the time you two went to your apartment, until I went to swim, it would alternate between his shoulder and head. It seemed like it was trying to talk to us. Diana and Arlene say they can feel emotions from it, and get faint ideas that they think it's projecting."

Evie and Dave looked at each other, then Dave said, "Doctor, are you saying that thing can read minds, that it's, uh, telepathic, I guess the term is?"

Doctor Boswell took another sip of coffee, then set the cup down, her face for an instant, wan. Just when Dave thought she wasn't going to reply, she said, "The first night I came up here, I was very reluctant, to understate, to get involved with anyone or anything that would constitute my returning to a work environment. I didn't want to be around anyone, and I didn't want to associate with anyone. After my husband and sister-wife were killed," Evie and Dave looked at each other again, "... my world narrowed down to the minimal routines of the day, and... remembering."

"When I met Jeff and his family in that restaurant, I thought I would eat their food, be rude to them, leave, and they would never bother me again. Instead, somehow, I found myself in the back of this convention center, knowing I was going to spend the night with them — primarily because they had intrigued me, and partly because of that damn driveway from hell."

Evie almost strangled on her coffee, but grinned at the doctor.

"The more I was around them, the more I wanted to be around them. Then, I died, for all practical purposes, and Jeff used the healer on me. They changed me like a baby, and Jeff picked me up and carried me to the bathroom when I was a little better. Without them, I would probably be dead by now. Even if the heart attack hadn't happened that particular morning, it would have happened sooner or later. I lived alone. Someone would have found me, eventually.

"Then I started to notice things — not that they tried to hide anything from me, other than their plural marriage, in the beginning. But other things, like they always know where Jeff is, the touching of each other, and... Oh, I don't mean sexual touching. They certainly do that, but touching just because they love each other. And it goes both ways. It's not just the women yielding, or responding to their Alpha Male. He is just as likely to fix them coffee, bring them a coke, or pet them, as they are him. My goodness, he carries them shopping, and sometimes even suggests it; although, his pretending to like to do it is a little beyond his acting abilities," she laughed.

As Dave started to say something, Doctor Boswell interrupted, "Please, don't bother saying anything about the Alpha Male concept. I don't believe in it, either, at least, I don't think I do. I'm not a scientist by profession, but rather, an educator, but I do have degrees in physics, math, and chemistry. The scientific method is not a total stranger to me," she grinned. "I did not wish to believe, and I'm not sure that term is correct yet — although, it fits as well as any for the moment. However, I am sure that Jeff is different.

"Scientists are frequently the last to believe in new things, particularly if it is something they didn't discover. But there is something different about him. Jeff's six women get along beautifully. When they disagree — which is rare — they have an instant huddle, and a moment later, they're in full agreement. When one of them gets grouchy from PMS, they huddle, and cuddle her, then everyone is happy again. I've worked around groups of women for years. I've never felt that a good cuddle with someone with PMS was a thing I wanted to do," she chuckled. "But it works for them. Six women sharing one man, no matter how well he, uh... takes care of them, without at least, some friction between them, just... seems unusual — and that may be a slight understatement," she smiled.

"It's easy to be scientific about something not felt, not personal, but yesterday, I was already up and frantically putting my clothes on when Laura announced on the PA that Jeff was hurt. Oh, everyone knew something was wrong when Diana screeched out of here, but I knew it before I heard her leave. It was the most awful feeling of dread — no, that isn't quite right, perhaps apprehension would better describe it — that I can ever remember feeling. I met the others in the hallway. They told me that Diana and Arlene had awakened, screaming, and Arlene had said that Jeff was hurt, as she and Diana ran out. Then we all gathered to wait for news about Jeff.

"I did manage to make coffee for the others twice during the day. But I can't even explain the almost terror I felt each time I began to leave that room — from being away from Jeff. He was the Alpha Male, hurt, calling his females to him. I can't be scientific about that. It just was.

"The feeling diminished when Jeff was able to get up, but hasn't totally gone away, even now. I don't know whether he's an Alpha Male, as Diana and Laura so strongly believe, or he's a latent telepath — or something else. And, up until yesterday, I would have scoffed at the idea of anyone with telepathic abilities. No one, to my knowledge, has ever shown consistent evidence of any such ability; however, I felt Jeff calling me. Oh, not in words, I just had an extreme compulsion to be near him and to not leave him."

"Oh, shit," Evie very quietly said.

"Another thing, I've timed his morning runs, not very accurately, of course. But I know when he leaves, and many times I'm in the kitchen when he comes back. When I finally asked him how far he ran, he said it was fourteen miles — seven miles down and seven back. Have you ever been a runner Dave?"

Dave grinned, "Yeah, I used to run a little."

Doctor Boswell looked him in the eye. "How about five minute miles on this mountain, fourteen of them in a row?"

Dave sighed, "Doctor, I probably couldn't manage ten minute miles on this mountain even if I was in good shape. Part of that road is really steep, and none of it is flat."

"Well, he walks the last several hundred yards to cool down, and he told me he slow-jogs the first couple of hundred yards to warm up, instead of doing stretches — and he's still averaging five minute miles by my calculations. Sometimes, I wonder what a real world class distance runner could do on these roads," she said, absently turning her cup round and round on the table. "Could even world class do what Jeff is doing? And, although he's covered in perspiration when he comes in, he is obviously not physically stressed. When I asked him about his run, he minimized it, as he does with most everything else he does. I don't think his wives even know how far he runs each morning. Although fourteen miles is probably trivial to a true distance runner on reasonably level ground, still, almost every day, and on this mountain — it's impressive to me.

"So, getting back to your question, I'm not nearly so quick to mock the idea of the healer being telepathic as I was a few days ago. I'm beginning to wonder if it is, somehow, alive. It can change itself until it contours to perfectly fit Jeff's head or shoulder, and it can slowly move around on his body. If it isn't alive, there is an artificial intelligence in there that is so far beyond any computers, or computer programs, that I have ever heard of, that there just isn't any comparison."

Doctor Boswell suddenly sat up straight. "Oh, my," she mysteriously said. Quickly getting up, she took a cup from the rack, filled the cup with coffee, and had just set it on the table when Jeff slowly walked through the door, flanked by a herd of women fussing over him.

"She knew," Evie mouthed to Dave.

Dave sat, stunned for a second, then asked Jeff how he felt.

"Don't ask," Jeff tried to joke, waving his hand in a negative gesture, his voice weak. "I don't even want to think about how I feel. But I will say that I never realized how far it is from our bedroom to this kitchen," he added, sitting down and pressing his good arm against the top of the table, in an effort to hide the tremble.

"I told you it was too soon, Honey," Diana said, helping him slide his chair up, fighting the urge to coddle him, but unable to hide the concern in her voice.

All the women were stressed, and reluctant to leave Jeff long enough to begin breakfast. Jeff, seeing the stress reflected on Helen's face as well, reached over and squeezed her hand for a moment.

Jeff hugged each of his wives in turn, then spoke to them all. "The healer told me my blood volume would be back to normal by day after tomorrow. I'm just weak from blood loss, trauma, and the effects of shock. I'm fine — so long as I don't get in a fight with a three-day-old kitten," he joked. "My buddy here," he said patting the healer affectionately, "is putting me back together. And my wives, and my friends," he said nodding at Dave and Evie, "have saved my life." He squeezed Doctor Boswell's hand again to let her know that she was included in there somewhere.

He picked up the cup of coffee, propping his elbow on the table, trying to nonchalantly take a sip while keeping his hand from shaking. He managed to set the cup down without spilling any, but just barely.

With tears in her eyes, Diana kissed him, then announced, simply, "Breakfast."

The production line dropped into gear. The boss bitch had spoken.

Evie laughed, and got up to help.

Breakfast was quieter than usual, with occasional half-hearted bantering between the girls. There were furtive glances at Jeff as he seemed to have to force his food down. Diana had cut up his steak before she brought his food, the steak only a third the size of the one he usually ate, plus two eggs instead of five or six. He had only a small glass of milk, small orange juice, and his coffee, instead of the large glasses he normally had — and those refilled.

His face had a faint sheen of sweat as he finished the last bite of steak, pushing the plate back to finish his coffee.

Dave pushed his plate back as well, although he had been done for some time. "Boss, if it's okay with you, Evie is going to start the crew on demolition for the classroom space. There's still light rain, off and on, and even if it quits, the range is going to be too wet to do any work there."

"Sounds good to me," Jeff answered. "You'll forgive me, I hope, if I don't come around and harass you today," he said, forcing a grin onto his face.

"Uh, Jeff, I don't mean to... well... You need to listen to these women. You need to take it easy. Nobody should be up in one day with a wound like that. Man, you lost a lot of blood."

Jeff peered down at his left arm, overemphasizing the look, "Oh, you mean this little thing?" he grinned. "It's just a scratch." Everyone dutifully laughed, but the laughter fell almost as flat as the joke did.

Laura had cut the left sleeve out of one of Jeff's tee-shirts, then widened the armhole until the wound was totally uncovered. He would have, at least, some clothing on his upper body. Even with the healer sitting molded to the top of his shoulder, the wound was obviously ghastly; large areas exposed with tissue totally missing.

Seeing Evie and Dave looking at the shoulder, Diana said, "Last night we got gauze to cover the wound when the healer moved to his head, but we got, well... fussed at, I guess you could say, by the healer. It wants the area open. Each time it stays on a place for a while, then moves, there is less tissue missing where the healer has been."

Jeff, obviously unable to move the arm, adjusted the sling, then repositioned his left arm with his other hand, and smiled. "Don't ever get a grizzly pissed at you."

Arlene caught her dad's eye. "Daddy, we couldn't ask before. Uh, what did you do to make him mad at you?"

"Darned if I know," Jeff laughed. "The wind had gusted, and I thought I heard a limb from one of the trees blown across the pavement. When I looked around, it wasn't a limb. He was coming for me, hell bent for leather. Thinking about it, I know that dogs will chase you if you run from them; some instinct kicks in. Whether that applies to bears, I have no idea. Maybe he saw me as prey because I was running. But I didn't feel like lying down and playing dead. He meant business."

"Could you have climbed a tree?" Melissa asked.

Jeff shook his head. "When I first saw him, he was about twenty yards from me. I took a few steps running full out, then looked back. He was on me in seconds. It was like a car coming at you. I don't want to exaggerate. But it seemed like he was running forty miles an hour. Maybe it was my excitement, but you should have seen him when I stopped and stepped aside. His charge missed me — barely. He slid to a stop, his body turning toward me while he was still sliding. I'll always remember the sound of his claws on that pavement as he was stopping. He was back on me before I could even get my gun out from under my shirt in the back. Then he hit me. When he started to rear up, I just stuck the gun in his face and pulled the trigger. You know the rest."

"Yeah," Dave said, "one dead grizzly with a .45 caliber hole where his left eye used to be. Not to try to kiss my boss's butt here, Jeff. But most people would never have been able to put a round into his eye, no matter how close the bear was. Not under those circumstances. Particularly with half their shoulder torn off."

"Bullshit," Jeff said. "You would have."

Dave, a little flustered, said, "I seriously doubt it."

"And thanks again for bringing me into this house, and checking on the bear..."

"And cleaning the blood out of the Escalade," Laura added.

"And for everything else you two did yesterday," Jeff finished.

Evie looked at Diana, then back to Jeff. "We checked our bank account yesterday when we went home. I paid some bills and reconciled our checkbook on the phone with the bank's computer. Dave has been working for you for two days, and his check is already in the bank, and... there is a duplicate deposit as well."

Jeff and Diana just grinned. "Our accountant doesn't waste time," Diana broke in.

"But," Evie persisted, "even if you did hire me the other day — and yeah, we saw the vote, I'm not worth as much as my husband... He's the contractor..."

"Oh, do we need to give him a raise, so you two won't be making the same salary?" Diana teased.

"No," Evie said, almost frantic until she belatedly realized that Diana was teasing her.

Jeff broke in, "You two proved your worth yesterday, but we already knew it. End of discussion."

Evie's eyes sparkled with tears as Jennie, who was sitting on the other side of her, reached over and hugged her. The tears really started then.

While the women were hugging, Dave got up and left. Shortly, he was back pushing the wheelchair.

"I'm not riding in that thing," Jeff objected, eyeing it as if it were a week-old carcass.

"Jeff," Dave teased, in a stern voice. "You might be able to whip my ass on a good day, but this isn't a good day. Now get your butt in this chair and we'll take a ride to the living room," he finished, grinning.

The two men looked at each other for a moment, then Jeff grinned and got slowly into the chair.

Dave, as shocked as everyone else, turned them around and headed out the kitchen door, saying over his shoulder, "Bring the man some coffee, please. We'll be in the living room discussing our projects."

Dave got Jeff into the recliner and comfortable, and they shortly had coffee, smilingly delivered by Laura, with an insulated carafe sitting on the table when they wanted refills, plus a platter of assorted sweet rolls delivered by Melissa.

Dave had discreetly tried to get a close look at the wound to see how it was coming along, as he helped Jeff into the recliner. When the women left, Jeff said, "Go ahead and check it out. I understand."