Chapter 21

Was just puttering along at about six miles an hour when the party barge passed me, and a blonde mermaid with a parrot jumped off, and a Mexican preacher hit me with a spar, and I got attacked by a coyote but an old guy with a cannon said "Make my day", then a guy in a toga barked at me, and I hit a horse and hurt my hand and all through it there was this weird ringing noise, and...

Phone!

Woah! Wake up, Rob! I groaned over and picked it up just as it stopped ringing. Didn't recognize the ring tone, looked at CID. Didn't recognize the number. Then the indicator flashed. I hit the button to dial up my voice mail to listen to it.

"Rob? Are you there? I forgot to have Leeza pack my charger, and my phone died. They let me use the hospital phone to call you. Are you okay? I'll be ready to come home in an hour or so, please call me back on this number. I love you!" Beeeeeep!

Kaitlyn! I sat up and shook my head. Crazy dreams! Then things started clicking into place. I remembered last night. Hand still hurt, so that must have been real, only it wasn't a horse, it was Todd. Shook off the dream and rubbed the sand outta my eyes. Just lay there for a minute, trying to get rid of the fuzzies, and finally had to get up to pee. That's something that never fails to get me out of bed! Relieved the pressure, then went back into the bedroom and called the number shown on the caller ID. Man answered, "Emergency Room, can I help you?"

"May I speak with Kaitlyn Sanderson, please? She's not..."

I heard some keyboard clicking noises, then the expected, "Sorry, I can't find that name on our patient listing, may I ask who is calling?"

Why do they always assume they know what you're gonna say next? Never listen before they just start typing or talking.

Took a deep breath. "Sure, this is Robert Lister. Kaitlyn is my fiancée, and she just called me from that number. She's not a patient, but she stayed with a patient named Laurel Lee last night. Sorry to bother you, but is she available to talk with?"

"Well, sir, I can try to locate her and have her call you back if you like. Do you want her to call the number you're calling from now?"

"That would be good of you, yes." I verified the number. "And thank you for your help!"

"You're quite welcome, sir, and I apologize for the delay; it's just that these privacy rules are hard to get around these days."

I assured him that I really did appreciate him following the rules in this. And I did, especially given the circumstances of the past couple of days. Hung up and went in to shower. Took the cordless and my cell phone with me, just in case she did call back right away.

Sure enough, I was just drying off when the phone rang, same generic ring tone. But it had to be her. "Hi, sweetie, how's our two gals?" Was her.

"Hi, Rob. Renee is doing a lot better. She has a little headache, but she's just about completely over it. Still feels like she lost a six hour chunk of her life, just about like I did. She wants to see you. They told her mom she'll be able to take her home this morning, so she'll make the 11:00 class that she needs to get to. Ruthie and I had some interesting bits of conversation, when both of us were awake at the same time, that is. She's gonna teach me to cook! At least a few dishes that I've wanted to learn. She spent some time in France and Germany too, when Bob was a sergeant in the army, so she knows some of that style cooking. They're good folks."

"That's good, Kay, but how's Laurel? I was really worried about her last night, too."

I could hear the distress in her voice as she answered. "She's doing a lot better this morning, but the doctor wants to keep her for another day, just to make sure. You can tell she's in denial over this, still feels like we can't possibly stand her for what she's done. I've been trying to reason with her, but it feels like I'm not getting anywhere."

I felt, for an instant, that same dark hopelessness. Jenna! But this time I've got Kay beside me to lend strength. Won't lose this one. Can't lose this one!

Kay guessed what I was thinking, and said, "Rob? I love you. And we'll get her through this together. No way those bastards win again!" And I knew she wasn't referring only to Todd, but to the guy who had drugged my first love, as well as to his lawyer, the judge, everyone who had contributed to Jenna's death.

"Thank you, sweetie," I choked, as my voice failed me.

"Just hurry, Rob, I need you to hold me," and she hung up. I think it was more the case that she knew both of us needed to be held.

Finished drying off, got dressed, and decided to grab a bagel on the way to the hospital, at the donut shop drive through. Their coffee is drinkable, too. Asked them to put cream cheese on a sesame bagel and cut it in half for me, then added a dozen assorted bagels to my order in case Kay, or Laurel, or one of the others, wanted one as well. Figured the nurses could always use whatever was left.

I got to the hospital in plenty of time to catch Renee and her mom before they left, and got my hug from Kaitlyn, followed by hugs, and sweet kisses on the cheek from both of the lovely black ladies. Renee hung on for a few seconds longer, and said, "Thank you, Rob." And my collar had a wet spot on it when she finally let me go. She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, and said, "C'mon Mom, gotta make it to class! Then she smiled at Kay and me, and Kay got a hug, and a whisper in the ear. And they left. Kay just looked at me with that sly smile.

"What?" I said.

Giggle! "She says to hang onto you, 'cause she knows of at least one girl who'd be happy to take you off my hands!"

"Who, Laurel?"

Another giggle, "Nope, she doesn't even really know Laurel!"

"Then who... " and it hit me. "Oh." My turn to blush. "Well, she is a beautiful girl!"

"Yes, she is, but Rob belongs to me!"

"And planning to stay yours. Forever!" Got another kiss, and we headed out the door toward Laurel's room.

The difference in atmosphere between those rooms was like day and night. Both rooms were on the sunny side of the wing, but where Renee's room was bright and cheerful, it seemed the sun wasn't getting past the window in the room Laurel was in. We could almost feel the despair as we entered the room. She was just lying there, awake, her uneaten breakfast on the bedside table. She turned her face away when she saw us come through the door, as if she didn't want anyone to see her shame. Kay countered that move, motioning for me to stay on the near side of the bed, while she walked around to the other side.

"Laurel? Honey? You've got to eat something." Kay took her hand as she spoke to her. Laurel didn't pull away. Took that as a good sign. But she didn't exactly hang on, either. Kay nodded to me, and glanced at her other hand. I moved closer, and reached out and touched that hand. This time she flinched. Just slightly, but noticeably. But again, she didn't exactly pull away.

I said, "Laurel?" Saw her eyes fill with tears. "Kay and I really do care about you. We want to be your friends, want to help you get through this in any way we can."

"But you don't even know me." She closed her eyes and the tears ran down her cheeks, "and you don't know what that creep is capable of." She looked at Kay, then at me. "If you get close to me, he'll hurt you too. And I don't want anyone else to get hurt. No." And she closed her eyes again.

"Laurel?" said Kay, "look at me." She did. "Rob and I have our own reasons to get involved in this. Remember he tried that on me last week. But Todd and his two toadies are in jail right now, and we're trying to make sure that's for a very long time."

Laurel almost smiled, "One of 'em is called 'Toad', and the other is Rabbit, but you're right, both of them are 'toadies'." She turned to me then, and asked, "Do you really think you can make that happen? His dad is rich, and he gets away with a lot of stuff that most people can't even begin to understand. Todd came after me once before. Doesn't like to lose his property until he's finished with it."

I squeezed her hand, and for the first time, she squeezed back, just a little. "I think we've got a pretty good shot at it. Remember that old grey haired guy from last night? He's a retired Captain of Detectives, and knows lots of folks who have scores to settle with Todd's old man. The other cops that were there have also seen him for what he is, and they won't take any crap from him at all. That's a bunch of people on your side, even if you don't know them all. The big black EMT who took Renee to the hospital? One of the cops last night told me that he has a sister about her age, and it was a good thing for Todd that he didn't have to be transported in that ambulance. There're others, too." I looked at Kay for affirmation, "And Kay and I are going to stay so close to you that he can't even see you without getting his lights punched out. Maybe permanently, if necessary."

She relaxed a little then, and looked over at Kay. "Thank you. For staying with me last night, I mean. It really meant a lot." She started crying again. "They said they called my mom and dad again, but they didn't bother coming in." Kay leaned over and held her as best she could, and kissed her on the cheek. "They just don't care at all." She shuddered again, "Didn't care about my brother Jakey either. He got mixed up with some bad kids in high school, got himself killed, and they just wrote him off. I got out of there when I turned sixteen, and they didn't bother looking for me. Couldn't be troubled." She shuddered again. "I thought I could dig myself out by going to school. Turns out I'm just as bad as they were. Met Todd, got in with the wrong crowd, and here I am." She squeezed her eyes shut again; "Just leave me alone. I'm not worth it."