Package Deal (72 page)

“
I’ve only read the first chapter, but I
think
I’m going to like it
.” S
he
patt
ed his hand where it rested
on the bed
.
“
I could
bring it to the hospital and read it to you
if you want
—to help you get better
.
”

Her
curls were a golden crown
blurring before his eyes
.
“If the nurses let you,
I’d like that
.”

She
beamed at him
and then at her mother.
“Okay
.
I’ll
come
back
after your nap
.
”

Later that day, Amanda brought Cecelia back to see
him
. The
child
was reading to him when
two
detectives
enter
ed
the room
.
One
of them
w
as Will Park
.

“
You can’t
make him upset
,” the
little g
irl warned. “He needs to rest so he can get better.”

They nodded their heads
.
“We won’t stay long,
”
Will said.

“We’ll be in the waiting room,” Amanda said, and escorted Cecelia outside.

The
other
detective
spoke first.
“Professor Dunbar, you
look kind of
tired
.”
He paused to glance down at his notes
.
“
If you’re up to it,
we’d like
to ask you some questions.”

“
Go ahead
.”
He panted
. “Could on
e of you move the bed up a bit? It’s kind of hard for me to breathe in this position.
”

Will
cranked up the bed.
“Mr. Winslow insists you attacked him. What’s your story?”

“The closest I came to attacking him was
when I pushed
him against the wall. He was threatening Aman
da
with a knife
when I came into the office.
” He took a breath.
“
H
e
was holding it
at her throat.
I was trying to get it away from him.
Have you talked with her yet?”

“She’s on our list.”

Marcus nodded. “He has a history.
I
alerted
you
guys
about
what he tried to do to Cece last spring.
Have you
called the Madison
p
olice
yet
?
You should
talk to
them.
He’s dangerous.”

They took notes.“Are you going to press charges
? His
knife cut you. That’s assault
with a deadly weapon
, with intent to harm
,” Will Park said.

“If that’s what it takes to put him away, count me in.” He
shifted in the bed
again
, trying
to get comfortable
. Pain
shot through his abdomen
and into his back. He groaned
as he gripped the side rails
. “I need another
pain
shot. Could
one of
you ask the nurse to come in?”

A young
nurse ushered
out the
detectives
and looked ove
r his chart. “Professor Dunbar, y
ou just had
your
pain meds
. You have to wait
at least
another two hours.”
She turned away from the bed as she headed for the door.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you before,” he
said, squinting at her
.

“I’m
new
,
my first time on the s
urgical floor. And it’s shift change.
I’ll
come back
later to give you your meds
.”

“Then send Cece
lia
in. She’s the only one who can make me concentrate on something other than where the doctor
s
carved me up.”
He looked toward the door as
the nurse left
and
squirmed to get comfortable
and
unsuccessfully stifled a groan
when
pain overwhelmed him again.
He
gripped the side rail
s
tightly. Then
every
thing spu
n into darkne
ss.

Cecelia
walked
in
to Marcus’s
room
, the book under her arm
. She
reach
ed
for
his
hand
and
patted it gently
.

“Marcus, are you too tired to read now? I can come back.Or maybe you need some water. Water helped me when I was here.” She patted his hand again and sat down in the chair, unsure what to do
when he did not answer
. Then she turned toward the door
.
“
Mom, I think Marcus
fell
asleep
.
”

Her
mother looked in at her
from the doorway
. “Then let’s leave. We’ll come back later.”
Her mother
motioned for her to use her quiet voice.

“But don’
t you want to
give
him
a
good
-
night kiss
or something? He wouldn’t talk to me. He—”

Her mother
approached the bed
. “What do you me
an he wouldn’t talk to you
?”She leaned over the bed
then turned suddenly and yelled for the nurse.

The nurse
who entered the room
took one look
at Marcus and
said into a box on the wall, “Code
Red
. Room 210,”
before ushering them out of the room
.

“Mom, what happened?”

“
I don’t know.
We’ll wait here, Cece,” her mother said calmly,
as they stood in the hall
after
nurses, aides and doctors
rushed into Marcus’
s
room
. But the look on her face told Cecelia
something was really wrong.

Chapter 20

Amanda
brought Cecelia home
.
The waiting room in the hospital was no place for
either of them that day
. She was waiting for Janet so she could return to the hospital when the phone rang.

“Is this Amanda Gardner?”

“T
his is she
.”

“I’m Mike
Dunbar
.
We added your name to the family list—so the
doctor
will
talk to you. But t
he call we got
a few hours ago
makes us wonder if we ought to fly out there to say good-bye.
”

Amanda gasped
,
and her heart started to pound
.

“I was
hoping
you could help us out
,” Mike continued, “
since you know him so well
and you’re local
. W
hat have you heard
about his condition
?”

“My daughter was reading him a story when the police
came
to interview him. Something happened then or shortly thereafter. Cece said he
was asleep
but then
everyone ran into the room and took him back to surgery
after I yelled for the nurse
.” Tears slid
down her cheeks. “Did the doctor say he was dying?”

“He didn’t use those words, but he said things
were pretty serious
.”

“What do you want me to do?
Tell me what you need
.” She couldn’t lose Marcus. Not now.
“I’
m headed back to the hospital as soon as the babysitter arrives.”

“If you could find out the latest and call us back? I left a message for the doctor, but
he has
n’t
returned our call
.”

“Of course, Mike. I’ll get right back to you.”

Amanda
left Cecelia with Janet and drove to the hospital. She
nodded as she
walked past several of his colleagues, who were standing vigil in the hall.

“Troy, how did you find out?” She stopped in front of one of the journalism
professors.

“Ian called.” He grinned at her and squeezed her hand. “Said he had a hot tip, but that I couldn’t mention him as the source.”

She nodded and
went
in
to
Marcus’
room. A nurse was adjusting another IV. “Are you
fam
—? Oh. It’s you. He
’s not awake
right now.”

Grim-faced, she
returned
to the nurse’s station.
“Please c
all the doctor
for Marcus—Dunbar.
Room 210
. I’m here on behalf of his immediate family
. In
Omaha. They want the latest news
,
and I’m not leaving until I get it
.”

The nurse
paged the doctor
.
Amanda
returned to
Marcus’
s
room and
pulled a chair
close
to
his
bed. His skin was so pale, his hand so cool, not like it usually felt.She sandwiched
one
large
hand between her
two small
ones and leaned toward him.

“Marcus. It’s Amanda. You have to hang on
—for me, for us
.
I want to tell your brother he doesn’t have to fly out here to say good-bye.
Don’t you dare die on me. I can’t take another man dying on me.
And
Cecelia will never forgive me if you die
. She told me she want
s
to thank you for being a hero
.
I know, deep down,
she still likes you and we’ll—
I was going to call you to come over on Saturday before—
”
she gasped
between gulps of breath, trying not to cry
—“you and I, together, we’ll get her to see that
it’s okay—okay for you and
me
—
we
’ll
talk about living together
when you’re recovered
.
And, Mike wants me to call him back. I don’t want to
have to
tell him you
’ve
left us.” She kissed his hand and let her tears
flow
.
“Please
,
Marcus
, I love you so
much
.
”
Please d
on’t die.
You can’t die,
became
a
mantra.

At last she hear
d
the door open and close
.
“You asked to see me, Mrs. Gardner?” The surgeon stood near the door.

She
looked up
, reached into her pocket for a handkerchief
and
mopp
ed her eyes
. “Yes. Give me all the details. I hav
e to tell the family. They weren’
t able to reach you earlier.”

“I’m sorry about that. I
was in surgery
—bad car accident
.
The liver is a hard organ to stitch. Some of the sutures
didn’
t hold
, causing additional bleeding
into his belly
.
He should be fine
now
. For
the next
twenty-four
hours, we’
re
watch
ing
him
very
carefully
,
and he’s getting extra blood, too
.
” He paused. “I
f you want to stay with him for awhile, I’ll tell the nurses it’s all right.”

“Thank you.” Amanda
stood near the window
and gathered herself.
I can’t cry when I talk to
Mike
.

After several minutes
during which she
struggl
ed to pull herself together
, s
he
called
Marcus’s brother
on her cell
, relaying the information to him
, her voice still shaky
. “If the doctor says he
’s getting
worse, I’ll let you know right away. For now, he seems to be holding his own. I’m staying
here
tonight.
And at least half the journalism d
epartment has
already given
blood
. A bunch of them are outside,
kind of standing guard.” She smiled
, not caring that Mike couldn’t see
her face
. “Just between you and me, I think they’re getting in the way of the nurses, but nobody
has dared
tell them to go away
. I expect other faculty will want to
give blood, too
—
after
they hear
what happened
.
”
It’ll be all over campus tomorrow.

She stayed with Marcus for another hour then called
home
to speak with Cecelia.
“I’ve asked Janet to sleep over tonight. I have to stay
here
with Marcus. His brother needs me to do that.”

“Can I see him tomorrow
to make sure Eeyore is keeping him company
?”

“If he’s stronger.
I know
Marcus
will like
tha
t
. I have to go
now
. Sleep tight, Cece.”

She
return
ed
to
the chair
beside
Marcus’
s
bed and gathered his hand in hers. It seemed unnatural that he would feel so slack, so unmoving. Not like when he held her hand
as
they walked the beach, or
how he swung Cecelia in the yard, her squeals of laughter punctuated by his deeper chuckles.

The image of her grandmother
came to mind
,
the
day she
’d told
them about her cancer, the day
when she had patte
d Amanda’s hand
after placing the filigree necklace in her palm and closing her fingers around it
.

“Be brave
through this
, Amanda.
Y
ou have
more
strength
than you know
. You’ll be fine, my
sweet
Mandy. My fine, beautiful Mandy.
I’m not
leaving you
without a fight
.
And when I’m gone, j
ust think of me as your own personal
fairy
godmother
, perched behind your right ear, whispering encouragement
when you need it most
.
”

She
had
to be brave. She rose and looked out at the deepening
shadows as the sun set behind the far mountains
. Being brave meant she had to
overcome
her fears
about
what others might say about
her
and
Marcus and their relationship
. Otherwise s
he couldn’t go on.
For herself and for Cecelia. So she and Marcus
, actually the three of them,
could be together.
Like a family.
That’s w
hat she wanted.
More than anything.

She
spent the night in Marcus’
s
room, sleeping lightly, waking whenever the nurses came in to check on him
or adjust IV bags
. He was quiet
through the night, and when she woke during the
six a.m.
check, he stirred slightly.
In spite of
her
intention to be strong
, h
er tears began again.

“Marcus, darling.
I love you so much.
”
She rubbed his hand.
“
Please wake up. I spoke to M
ike. He
told me you
had
one of the hardest head
s
he’s ever known, and that
you
are
stubborn to a fault
and you never give up
and that
your liver has to be hard
headed, too—if that’s possible. He said you would know wh
at that means. Your buddies in j
ournalism have all
been to the
blood
bank
to replace what you soaked up and spit out again. I
did
, too,
even though
I’m not the same blood
type as you. Cece wants to
read to you again, but she can’t do that if you’re go
ing to
die
.
” She could
n’t
seem to stop the words from spilling out now—all that she was feeling and hoping for.
“
Please don’t leave us
.
I want you to be a
n official
part of our family.
I
really
do.
You and I—
we’ll
figure out how to do that.
You
have to
come over
so we can talk
to
Cece
.We should have done it already.
It’s my fault we didn’t
, and I’m so sorry about that
.
W
e’ll do i
t
together
…
as soon as you leave the
hospital—”

“Is that a promise?”
a hoarse whisper came from the bed
.

She
glanc
ed up.
He look
ed like he hadn’t slept in days. H
is pall
or made
her think of a
recluse
, someone
who never saw the sun. But he was a
liv
e
and talking
.