Message Received (10 page)

When Brady returned to her room, he found she
was still luxuriating in the shower, rather than getting dressed and ready for
the day ahead.

Since Amanda’s eyes were closed, she hadn’t
realized he had stepped into the bathroom, nor did she notice when an arm
snaked into the shower and shut down that glorious spray of water.  She gasped
when it snapped to an abrupt stop, and then screamed when she saw his arm
retreating from the shower.

“Brady!”

“Amanda!”  He lowered his voice, and spoke
soothingly.  “I know you don’t feel well, but we have to get moving.  You’ve
been in that shower long enough.”

“Who says?”

“I says … say.  Now, come on.  Get out.”  He
thrust a plush towel at her.

She accepted it and wrapped herself in it,
relieved the shower curtain was thick enough to prevent him from seeing her, or
even her silhouette.  “Okay, I’m getting out.”

“Okay.”

“Uh, Brady.  I’m getting out.”

“Uh, huh.”

“Brady.  Get out!”

He laughed.  “Oh, okay.  Sure.”

She stepped out of the shower, and had to make a
grab for the sink to stay upright.  She suspected she was fighting an ear
infection, since she found her equilibrium off.  With a frustrated sigh, she
dropped the toilet cover and sat down. 

Brady found her there a moment later.  “Amanda,
really?  We have to move.”

“I can’t.  I’m dizzy.  And everything above my
shoulders hurts.”

“I’m … sorry.”  He ran a hand through his hair
as he gave her an assessing glance.  “Well, come on.”  He helped her to the
bed.  “I’m going downstairs to get you something for the pain.  Please get
dressed while I’m gone.”

When he returned, he found her dressed and
actually ready for the day.  He gave her a questioning glance.  “Are you …
ready?”

“Yes.”

He checked his watch.  “I was gone, maybe,
fifteen minutes.”

She nodded again.  “Yeah, so?”

He only shook his head again, but didn’t
respond.  Instead, he passed her a couple pills.  “These should help with the
pain.”

“I think I have an ear infection,” she said with
a sigh.  “It always happens when I fly.”

“No wonder you hate planes,” he said
sympathetically, and then glanced around the room.  “Did you get everything
packed?”

She nodded and he gave an appreciative whistle. 
“Ready and packed in under fifteen minutes.  I think you’re one in a million
among your gender.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve never met a woman who could be dressed and
ready in a matter of minutes.”

“I did take a forty-five minute shower,” she
said drolly.

“That was for medicinal purposes,” he said in
her defense. 

“True,” she said with a yawn.  “Well, let’s hit
the road.  Cocoa Beach, here we come.”

“Good-bye, Cocoa Beach,” Liz said fondly, as Ike
pulled onto the main drag and steered away from their hotel. 

“Hey, we’ll be back,” he assured her.  “I
figured we could head south for a day or two, see more of the ocean, and then
come back.”

“That sounds fine.  I’d love to see more of the
coastline.”  She shook the large cup full of shells they’d found during their
earlier walk on the beach.  “I’d love to find more seashells.”

“Oh, we’ll find more shells,” he assured her.

As they drove along the roadway, Liz glanced to
her right.  She spotted glimpses of the sparkling Banana River through the gaps
in the commercial strip.  She shook her head, and Ike noticed.  “What is it,
Liz?”

“It’s just hard to wrap my mind around the fact
that I’m really here.  And to think, there’s water to my right and water to my
left.  It’s just so … cozy.”

“Cozy?” he repeated, chuckling.

“Yes, I just love this town.”  She furrowed her
brow.  “I think I could live here.”

He smiled.  “I don’t know.  I’m still partial to
the Pacific Ocean.”

“Really?”

“It’s so rough and majestic,” he said.  “A man’s
ocean.”

Liz chuckled.  She loved the Pacific too, but it
was often so cold and windy along many of the West Coast beaches.  Here, it was
so warm and inviting.  She gave a shrug.  “Both oceans have their perks.”

He nodded. 

“Oh, Ike…  I see a department store ahead, to
the right.  Should we stop and see if we can pick up phone chargers?”

“I don’t want to,” he admitted, “but I suppose
we should.”

She reached across the seat separating them and
patted his hand.  “We can always screen our calls,” she said with a mischievous
chuckle.

“I like how you think,” he said, returning her
smile. 

***

Brady slowed the rental car as they entered the
town of Cocoa Beach.  He glanced around, taking in the sights of the coastal
town.  It had been years since he had visited.  He noted it had really grown.

He slowed to stop at a light and turned toward
Amanda briefly.  She was resting against the door, her head tipped at what
appeared to be an uncomfortable angle.

He gently nudged her.  “Hey, Amanda.  Wake up. 
Your neck is going to hurt worse if you don’t straighten it.”

She stirred and then shifted, wincing from the
pain in her head, ears, and neck.  “Did you really have to wake me up?” she
asked with a moan. 

“I’m sorry.  But your neck was all…”  He
gestured with his hands.  “…You know.  Bent funny.”

She sighed as she tried to sit up straighter in
the seat.  She glanced around.  “We’re in Cocoa Beach?”

“Yep.  We’re almost to the hotel where the
grandparents are staying,” he told her.  “The turn is just ahead.”  He gave a
triumphant laugh.  “I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when we knock
on the doors to their rooms.”

“Speaking of rooms, I need one,” she told him. 
“I really need to sleep.”

He winced.  “Aren’t the pills helping the pain?”

“No, not really.  I think I need something
stronger.”

He nodded.  “After we locate the fugitives,
we’ll get you to a doctor.”

“I don’t need to see a doctor.  I just need
sleep.”

He searched her face, and then reached out a
hand and checked her forehead.  “Amanda!  You’re burning up.”

“I know,” she said wearily.  “It always happens
when I have an ear infection.”

Brady sighed.  “You do think it is an infection
then?”

“Yeah, I think it started when I was on the
beach back home.  It was pretty windy.”

“Okay, look, we’ll get a place to stay, just as
soon as we find the grandparents.  And then we’ll take you to a doctor.  After
that, you can sleep as long as you need to.”

“I appreciate that.”

The light changed and he drove through the
intersection, and then took a left turn at the next light.  He drove straight,
a couple blocks, to what appeared to be a luxury resort right on the shore of
the Atlantic.  “Wow, Granddad didn’t spare any expense,” he murmured.

Amanda studied the front facade, and then sent
him a glance.  “We’ll find something a little less luxurious.  I’m not a
wealthy woman.”

He nodded absently in response, as he pulled
into the circular drive at the front of the hotel.  “Why don’t you wait here?”
he suggested.  “I won’t be long.”

He left the engine idling as he dashed inside. 
He was gone all of two minutes and slipped back into the driver’s seat.  Amanda
could see by the set of his jaw that he wasn’t happy.

“They’re gone,” she said.

“Yep,” he agreed.  “Checked out a few minutes
ago.”

“Did they happen to mention to anyone where they
were going?”

“Nope, but the clerk wouldn’t have told me if
they had.”

“Privacy laws,” she muttered.

“Yep.”

“What do we do now?” she asked.

“We need to get a room.”

“Rooms,” she corrected.

“Room,” he repeated.  “You look awful and I’m
the nearest thing to a nursemaid you’re going to find right now.”

“I don’t need a nursemaid,” she protested. 
“Just find me a bed and I’ll sleep for the next few hours.”

He nodded and pulled away from the hotel.  He
drove a few blocks and pulled into the lot of a different hotel.  It appeared
every bit as upscale as the one they’d just left. 

“Keep driving,” Amanda instructed.  “I can’t
afford this one either.”

“Don’t worry about that right now.  We have to
get you out of this car.  I’ll be right back.”  He soon returned with a single
room key in his hand.

“Hey, Brady…” she began, eyeing that lone key
card.

He gave a dismissive wave.  He wasn’t going to
argue with her, but instead drove around the side of the building and parked. 
“We’re in Room 312.”

She climbed slowly out of the car and squinted
against the Florida sun.  It felt so good on her face.  If only she felt well
enough to enjoy it.  She moved around to the back of the car.

“I’ll get the luggage later,” he called, and
walked over to her and took her elbow.  He helped her to their room.

She dropped onto the nearest bed and fell back
against the pillow.  She closed her eyes and struggled to ignore the pain in
her ears.

“Okay,” Brady said crisply, “the first order of
business now is to get you to a doctor.”

“Uh, no, first on the agenda is getting a hold
of the grandparents.”  She rose to a sitting position with a groan and found
her cell phone in her purse.  She texted her grandmother.  She asked her to
tell her where they were, and informed her about Ike’s medical condition, and
need for weekly blood work.  Once done, she fell back against the pillow. 

Brady sent her a questioning glance.

“And now we wait,” she told him.

****

“Ike!  You should have told me!” Liz cried.

He gave her a startled glance.  “Told you what,
sweetheart?”

“I just got a text message from Amanda.  She
says you’re on a blood thinning medication and that you need to have blood work
done each week, in order to determine how much medication you need to take.”

He ran a hand through his hair and gave a weary
sigh.  “Yes, but…”

“…But nothing.  We’re going to get you to a
doctor. 
Now
!”

“Okay.  Okay.  Listen.  Back home, I actually go
by the lab every Thursday, for the blood work.  That’s tomorrow.  There’s a
clinic in Cocoa Beach.  We’ll head south along the coast today—see more of
it—and then we’ll turn back this way tomorrow morning.  I’ll stop by the
clinic, have the blood work done, and we’ll continue on our trip.”

She gave him a suspicious glance.  “Are you
telling me the truth?  You go in every Thursday?”

“I would never lie to you, Liz.”

“Okay.  We’ll get you in tomorrow then.”

“I’m sorry, Liz.”

“What are you sorry about, Ike?”

“I’m sorry that we’re not free to come and go as
we please.”

“But we are,” she said, smiling his way.  “And
I’m having a terrific time.”

He reached for her hand.  “Me too.”

***

“Come on,” Brady said.  “I have the address for
the urgent care clinic.  Let’s get you to a doctor.”

“I just want to sleep right now.”  Amanda made a
pleading face.  “Can I take a nap and see how I’m feeling later.  Maybe I’ll be
better.  If not, I’ll go into the clinic tomorrow.”

He seemed to be weighing her request, and then
appeared to relent.  “If your temperature goes higher, I’ll be hauling you to
the hospital,” he warned.

He dropped onto the other bed and stretched
out.  He reached for the remote and aimed it at the television.  “Do you mind?”
he asked her.

“No.  Watch away.”

“I’ll keep the volume on low.”

“Don’t worry about it.  I’m sure I can sleep
through it.”

“Oh!”  He jumped up and retrieved the ibuprofen
tablets he’d purchase.  He tipped out two and gave them to her, along with a
plastic cup full of water.

“Thanks,” she said, and fell back against the
pillow.  She was asleep in no time.  When she woke again, it was nearly
midnight.  Brady was stretched out on the top of the bed beside hers,
apparently having decided to forgo getting under the covers.

He was wearing boxers and was shirtless.  Her
eyes lingered on his broad chest.  Wow.  Who knew that was beneath his shirt? 
Her eyes lowered to his six pack, and then to the fine dusting of hair trailing
down his lower abdomen…