Madeleine & the Mind (7 page)

He held up his hand in front of her.

"No, absolutely not. I'll do the front." She took the bottle from him so he could watch her do it. "Now. Can we please go to the pool?"

He walked to the door.

When they got outside, Madeleine made sure Steven walked beside the pool. As they walked past the deep end, she shoved him in. Then she stood over the edge and watched with glee. He bobbed to the surface.

Madeleine laughed and held out her hand. "How's the water, sweetums?"

He reached for her hand and yanked her over his head into the water.

She grabbed at him as she came up, laughing and spluttering. "Oh, you stinker. I should have seen that coming."

She turned on her back and floated across the pool. She loved to swim. After going several lengths of the pool, Steven appeared beside her. He pointed at the far end.

"What? You want to race me? A dinky little girl like me can't beat a big strapping boy like you." He pointed at the end again. "Ok…Ready, set, go."

Madeleine swam as hard as she could, but Steven was nearly at the end before she got halfway. When she caught up to him, she was laughing so hard she couldn't talk. She took several deep breaths. "Think you're a jock, don't you?"

He grinned at her and headed back to the shallow end. Madeleine turned on her back and closed her eyes. She felt a tug on her foot and kicked. He was playing again. She felt a strong grip on both ankles and opened her eyes. She could see Steven at the shallow end. He had his back to her. Who was pulling her feet?

She opened her mouth to scream and choked as her body sank under the water. She tried to kick her feet, but couldn't get loose. She clawed at the water and rolled her body like a crocodile.

A streak of pain scraped down her leg as she got one foot free. Her assailant had clawed her.

Madeleine fought frantically to loosen her other foot, but she was nowhere near the surface. She was losing the fight. Where was Steven? Had someone attacked him, too?

She blacked out.

The next thing she knew, her mouth hung open as water spewed out. She gasped for air and retched. The heat from the concrete burned into her back, yet she shook all over. She moaned and opened her eyes.

Steven stared down at her. She reached up her arms, and he held her.

"Steven," she whispered. "Someone tried to drown me." And then she burst into tears.

She heard voices approaching then Mike ran up. Steven moved away from her, and she wrapped her arms around her stomach and tried to stop shaking.

"Madeleine, are you all right?" Mike put a hand on her arm. "Did Steven push you in the water again?"

Madeleine looked at the concerned strangers. She shook her head. "No, I fell. Excuse me." She stumbled to her feet, and Mike rushed to her side with a towel. She reached for it. "Bring Steven, Mike."

"He's gone. Let's go back to the room."

They rode up the elevator in silence. Madeleine unlocked the door to her room, and after she shut it behind them, she turned on Mike.

"Look at this." She pointed at her leg. There was a long, red streak that glistened with tiny beads of blood. "Someone pulled me under the water and held me until I lost my breath. I felt them scratch my leg when I tried to get free."

"Steven wouldn't do that to you, Madeleine."

"Mike, I told you he didn't do anything. I saw Steven at the end of the pool. I know it wasn't him. But I couldn't see anyone else. There was just a dark blur underneath me. Someone tried to kill me. Who was in that lab with you?"

"No one. It's lunch time. I thought I'd check on the two of you."

She closed her eyes. Her head throbbed. "Go check on Steven. He saved my life. If he hadn't pulled me out of that water…"

Mike walked into the other room, and Madeleine shut the door and locked it. Steven had been sitting in the window in his wet bathing suit. For once, she was going to let Mike deal with him.

She turned on the water and took a long shower. After she got out, she towel-dried her hair and put some salve on her leg. She didn't even feel like eating.

At a knock on the door, she rose. "What is it?"

"The doctor is here. He'd like to speak with you."

She rolled her eyes. Perfect timing!

She put on white scrubs with a teddy bear print and entered the other room.

A short, round Spanish man was just packing his briefcase. He snapped it shut then greeted Madeleine.

"Senorita Price, I'm Dr. Hidalgo. How are you getting on with the patient?"

Madeleine shrugged. "I'm not sure. He's pushed me in the pool, lost me in the maze, and all he ever seems to enjoy is staring out that window. What am I supposed to be doing?"

"He's trying to get rid of you, too? Well, physiologically, there's nothing wrong with him. The concussion is gone. The bump on his head is gone. And there were no lasting effects from the smoke inhalation. I've checked his brain waves and his EKG. This has to be some type of mental block. He could speak if he wanted to.

"The usual types of voice therapy won't work on him, because there's nothing wrong with his voice. He chooses not to use it."

Madeleine didn't really like discussing Steven while he sat in front of them. But the doctor gave her no choice.

"What about his tendency to wander aimlessly? His movements are not always coordinated, and sometimes he doesn't look as if his mind is working at all."

"I assure you, it's working. But it may not be working on what you want. He had a shock, and he lost his voice. His symptoms often resemble someone with shell-shock. My only advice is to keep introducing visual and auditory stimuli. If he'll cooperate, use different activities."

The doctor stepped toward the door, and Madeleine hurried after him. She wasn't finished asking questions. Like, when was she going to get some time off, and who did she ask to get it?

When she came back to her room, Mike stood waiting for her. "Madeleine if you're all right now, I think I better get back to the lab."

"Don't tell anyone what I said about the pool."

"If that's what you want. I'll come by after dinner to give you a break."

"Thank you."

He left the room, and Madeleine looked over at the window. Steven sat in his usual perch. She didn't feel like forcing him to do anything, so she picked up her cold lunch tray and started to eat. She watched his back the whole time. Something out there mesmerized him.

When she finished her food, she put the tray in the hall then she got the Bible. "I'm going to read to you now, Steven. You can sit there or lie in your bed…whatever you want."

She should at least make an effort to force him to acknowledge her. "Steven, look at me."

He turned his head.

"I don't know how you got me out of the water, but you saved my life. Thank you. Did you see anyone, anyone at all?"

There was no change in his expression. His empty stare looked past her shoulder.

"Well, thank you. Do you want to sit beside me while I read?"

He staggered to the bed and sat on the edge. Then he pointed at Madeleine's leg.

"I'm sorry, Steven, I don't understand."

He stared at her as if he didn't really understand himself, then he pulled her pants leg up from her ankle.

"Oh. It's the other leg."

She stretched out her leg and pulled at the hem of her pants.

Steven put his fingers at either end of the scrape and stared. Then he let go of her leg and lay back on his bed. He looked completely relaxed with his arms behind his head.

Madeleine opened the Bible and turned to Psalms. "I'm feeling a little low today, so I'm going to read from Psalms. It's a collection of songs, many of them written by the second king of Israel. His life became one turmoil after another, and yet he always remembered God was his source, his strength, and the reason he should get up, praising every day. I figure if he can do it, so can I."

She flipped through several chapters before she found the one she wanted.

"I think you'll like this one." She read from chapter one hundred and two. "Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers.'" She looked up. "That sounds like you, Steven."

He didn't look at her.

She kept reading but stopped as she got to verse eight. "Listen to this, 'All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail against me use my name as a curse.' I feel sure someone feels that way about you. You've discovered something they want, and you won't let them have it.

"'But you, O Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through generations…He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea. Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord: The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death. So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem.'"

She sighed. "That gives me hope when I have none. Did you like it? The next one is so moving, it makes me want to sing at the top of my lungs. There's no way I can feel low after I've read it. 'Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.'

"Can you say that, Steven? Can you say that all the things you've achieved brought you satisfaction? Has there been anyone to tell you that your sins can be forgiven, that your diseases can be healed?"

His eyes were closed, and she wasn't sure he listened. But God's Word encouraged her, so she continued.

"'The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.'

"I think that's one of the most beautiful psalms in the Bible. He knows who you are, he formed you, and he wants to get rid of every wrong you've ever done. I don't know about you, but I've made my share of mistakes. I'm glad he wiped the slate clean."

Steven seemed to be resting, so Madeleine went to her room and collapsed on the bed. She needed to think about the day. So many events had occurred; she didn't feel she'd been able to process them all.

Father, I know all these circumstances are leading me somewhere. I'm asking you to make sure my path is straight. Make the enemy fall into his own traps. Anoint the works of my hand, and grant me success according to your Word. And Lord, give me inspiration in working with Dr. Faraday. There has to be a reason for what he experienced. Reveal the truth and protect us all from evildoers. Thank you for saving my life today. I know your hand sent deliverance just in time. And Lord, if Dr. Faraday doesn't know you, show me how to make you real to him, more real than anything he's ever known.

Who would want her dead? Dr. Faraday was the only person in clear sight at the time of the attack. But, he would hardly try to kill himself. She was safe with him.

Mike? A difficult question. He had argued with someone about her. But it sounded like he was on her side. And his hair had been dry when he found her at the pool. Still, he was hiding something.

Dr. Giliteau. Something about him always made her feel apprehensive. He watched her too closely. And that annoyance in his face when she praised Israel. Perhaps, he was a Muslim.

She'd read recently that a large percentage of the French population was now Muslim and that France, as a whole, was antagonistic towards Israel. No Muslim terrorist would want Israel to gain such a military advantage.

If she accepted Dr. Giliteau's offer to show her around on her day off, she could keep her ears and eyes open.

What about her job in the United States, her apartment, her parents? She could be home where she was safe. No one had ever tried to kill her or knock her out and steal her things.

Lord, Lord, why can't I just go home?

A picture of Steven's childlike smile floated across her mind. That's why she couldn't go home. Steven Faraday was surrounded by evil, and he needed her. Madeleine drifted off to sleep.

When she woke, Steven sat in a chair beside her bed, watching her.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep. I was just thinking. You know, you're the only person here I can trust. I heard Mike talking to someone in your room the other night. I'm not sure what they were talking about, but I'm not convinced he's on my side. And then there's Dr. Giliteau…The only way I can find out what he's up to is to let him take me shopping like he said. Maybe he'll say something that will tell me whether he's good or bad."

Steven shifted in his chair. His hands clenched and unclenched.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself. But you're still my hero."

Steven's brows drew together, and he plucked at his shirt with one finger as if worried.

"Come on. I want to go for a walk in that maze. And don't you run off and leave me."

She took his hand and they rode downstairs in the elevator. Then she led him out to the maze. As they passed the flowerbeds, the heady scent of roses wafted past and she reached out to grab a rose. "Here. Smell this."

She held the crimson blossom to his nose. He took it and slid it behind her ear.

"Why, thank you, kind sir. But you were supposed to sniff it."

Madeleine walked very slowly through the maze. Steven didn't seem to be in a hurry this time, and she hoped that meant he wasn't going to try and lose her. "So far, we've gone twice to the right and twice to the left. Now we're going right again…"