Authors: R. E. Bradshaw
RAINEY DAYS (32 page)
Rainey smiled widely, when she asked, “Does that mean you’re saying yes to living with me?”
Katie switched subjects, “I think I remember him arguing with you in a hallway. I told a nurse to keep him away from me. Did I dream that?”
“No, actually you called him an asshole. The nurse kind of picked up on the fact that you didn’t want him around,” Rainey said, still wondering about Katie’s answer to her question.
“Even out of my mind on drugs, I didn’t want him near me, I remember that,” Katie said.
“He won’t be coming back. I sort of threatened him,” Rainey said.
Katie looked alarmed, “You didn’t threaten to kill him, did you? He’ll have you locked up for threatening a public official.”
Rainey was proud of her answer, she thought she had handled JW nicely, “No, I just told him he didn’t want me digging up skeletons. He got the picture pretty quick.”
Katie was relieved. Then she asked, “What about my family, has anybody talked to them?”
“I’m sorry Katie, I don’t know the answer to that, but I’ll find out. I’ll call them myself, if you want me to.”
“Yes, please. Tell them I’m all right and not to come. I really don’t want my family hovering over me in that little cottage.”
Rainey brightened, “Does that mean you are saying, yes?”
Katie touched her face again. She said, “Yes, I want to live with you, now please call the nurse, my face is throbbing.”
Rainey immediately pushed the red call button. Margie appeared almost magically at the door, syringe in hand.
“I bet it’s time for another pain shot,” she said, knowingly.
“Yes, please,” Katie, said in desperation. Her pain level had increased significantly, in the short period she had been awake.
Margie inserted the needle in the tube and Katie visibly relaxed as the drugs began to circulate through her blood stream.
When Margie was finished giving the shot, she threw away the syringe and turned, calling Rainey to her. She said, “I’m going to bring you some ice bags. I want you to hold them on her face for ten minutes. It’s time to get that swelling down. We couldn’t do it before, because a side effect of one of the drugs she was on is hypothermia. Her body temperature is stable now, so we can start the ice.”
Rainey did as she was told, holding ice bags on the sides of Katie’s face, while she drifted under the effect of the pain medication. After ten minutes, Rainey removed the bags.
Katie whispered, “Thank you,” without opening her eyes.
Soon, Katie returned to a deep sleep. Rainey went back to her laptop and shot Danny an email explaining that she could not identify the man in the photo. She also wanted him to get her the contact information for Katie’s sisters and parents. Rainey was not going to call JW for their phone numbers, and Danny had more resources than she did at the moment. Rainey had forgotten to ask Katie what their names were. She spent the next few hours alternately holding ice bags against Katie’s bruises and trolling the internet, reading everything she could find on Dr. John P. Taylor. Rainey also checked her email for a response from Danny.
Rainey got Katie’s family contact information from Danny about five o’clock. She called the numbers from the bathroom and got voice mail on all of them. She left a brief message, giving them Katie’s room number and an update on her condition. She told them to call back on that number to speak to Katie. Rainey hoped that was enough to keep them away from Chapel Hill. Katie had to understand, Rainey could not stop them, if they wanted to come.
Katie reawakened shortly after the phone calls had been made. She felt better this time and the swelling had gone down quite a bit. Katie felt like eating so she was given some soft foods, so she would not have to chew. Moving her jaws hurt. Rainey ordered a chef salad from the cafeteria and ate with her. More pain meds were administered and the cycle began again, Katie sleeping, Rainey applying ice packs and searching the internet. Night fell and Rainey finally went to sleep in the chair, waking when Janet, who was back on duty, came in and out, and when Dr. Marsden came by to check on Katie several times. He thought her progress was remarkable and thought she may be able to go home Wednesday afternoon. Rainey became very excited at the prospect of getting out of this hospital room.
The rest of the night, when they were alone, Rainey slept with her arm stuck through the railing, holding Katie’s hand. For the first time in a long time, Rainey had sweet dreams.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Rainey awoke again at sunrise, this time before Katie. She was standing over Katie’s bed looking at the swelling that appeared to have mostly dissipated, in the night. Katie looked more like herself now, only with different shades of bruising on her beautiful face. Katie’s eyes fluttered open. She stretched and smiled up at Rainey.
Rainey said, “Good morning.”
“Good morning to you,” Katie said, sounding much stronger.
“You sound like you’re feeling better this morning.”
“I do actually,” Katie said, “and I think I could eat a horse.”
That was good news to Rainey. The more food Katie could consume, the stronger she would feel. Maybe they would get to go home today. Rainey did not want to get Katie’s hopes up, so, she did not mention it.
“Your face looks better,” Rainey said.
“I haven’t looked in a mirror,” Katie said. “I know I must look terrible.”
Rainey smiled, again, “You look great, to me.”
Margie walked in with Janet. Margie said, “Okay, Rainey, you’ll have to leave for a few minutes. We’re going to remove these IVs and the catheter and let you take Miss Katie here, for a walk before breakfast. How does that sound?”
Katie answered for Rainey, “That sounds fantastic. I’m ready to get out of this bed.”
Janet beamed, “Katie, you seem so much more alert today. That’s wonderful.”
“No offense ladies, but I’m ready to go home,” Katie answered.
Rainey laughed at Katie, who was so much more herself and entertaining the nurses, while they poked and prodded. Rainey stood outside the door, waiting. In just a few minutes, she heard Katie moan loudly. Rainey burst through the door, to find Janet and Margie changing the sheets. She turned toward the bathroom, to see Katie sitting on the toilet. That sound Rainey heard was the pure moan of ecstasy Katie let out, when she was finally able to urinate on her own. Rainey remembered well her own experience with the catheter and laughed aloud at Katie’s contented expression.
Rainey took Katie for a couple of spins, up and down the ICU hallway. They went as far as they could go, without being seen by the reporters, who were constantly coming and going, to get their shot of the glass ICU doors for their evening newscasts. Rainey held Katie’s gown closed in the back, at Katie’s insistence, while Katie held on to Rainey, when she felt a little woozy. Disconnected from the tubes, Katie’s arms reanimated as she talked.
Katie waved her hands around, punctuating her plea, “Please, Rainey, you have to convince them to let me go home with you, today.”
Rainey applauded Katie’s enthusiasm, but she had no say in whether Katie would be released from the hospital. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, but it really is up to Dr. Marsden.”
“You have to back me up in there,” Katie said, as if she were ramping up for a confrontation with a parent, “when I tell him, I want to go home and that you will take care of me. Deal?”
Rainey played the partner role well, she said, “Deal,” with no hesitation. This made Katie too excited and she almost lost her footing. She had to grab Rainey’s waist to maintain her balance.
Rainey, still holding the back of Katie’s gown closed, said, “Whoa there, cowboy. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
Katie lost some of the color in her face. She looked up at Rainey, saying, “I want to go lay down, now.”
Rainey put her hand in the small of Katie’s back and let Katie lean into her, the smaller woman wrapping her arm around Rainey’s waist. The two women had just rounded the corner, leading to Katie’s room, when Katie suddenly stiffened and froze, in place.
A loud shriek of, “Katie!” followed.
The noise had emanated from a blond woman, who looked a lot like Katie, but not as well put together. She was about the same height and build as Katie, but heavier and older by at least ten years and she was heading straight for Katie. Another woman waited by the door. She was taller than Rainey and lean, with the body of a model, and Katie’s best features, blond hair, crystal blue eyes and a dazzling smile. She was older than Katie was, maybe five years at the most, in Rainey’s estimate. This woman was a drop dead knock out, and from her expression, she was completely embarrassed by the blonde heading for Katie, arms stretched out, in an anticipatory hug.
Rainey heard Katie say, “Fuck, it’s my sisters. I thought you called them.”
“I did,” Rainey, said defensively. “They could have already been on the way, caught the red-eye or something. JW could have called them.”
The oldest sister was now close enough to see Katie’s face clearly. She stopped charging at them and threw her hands up to her face, sliding to a stop. She screeched out, “Oh my, sweet Jesus! Look what that monster did to that beautiful face.” She turned back to the other sister and said, loud enough to disturb everyone up and down the hall, “Helena, did you see what that monster did to our baby sister?”
“No Maria, I haven’t yet, but I bet everybody in the hall is going to come out to see it, after your little announcement,” Helena cracked.
To which Maria replied, “Oh, shut up!” and turned her attention back to Katie.
Katie, in the meantime, had been mortified by her older sister’s reaction to her face. She looked up at Rainey and asked, “Is it that bad?”
Rainey said, “She should have seen it yesterday,” with all the seriousness she could muster.
Katie put her hands to her cheeks, saying, “Oh, my god.”
Rainey started laughing, “No Katie, you are not scarred for life. You heard what the plastic surgeon said.”
Katie appeared to remember suddenly the conversation with the plastic surgeon, “Oh yeah, that’s right.” Katie turned to the sister, still standing in front of them, frozen with a comical expression of horror on her face. “Stop being so dramatic, Maria. It will heal.”
“I know that it will heal,” Maria said, falling in step with them toward Katie’s room, “but it just looks so horrible right now.”
Katie, already tired of this sister, said, “I really don’t care to know how I look, so thank you, for your vivid imagery that will now haunt me in my dreams.”
Rainey stifled a laugh. Katie and Maria took pot shots at each other all the way to the door. Then Helena joined in, once they entered the room, taking up for Katie. It sounded like laughing gulls fighting over a piece of food, about fifty of them, all three women talking at once, but no one was listening. Rainey stood clear of the main action, once she put Katie in her bed. She leaned against the doorframe, amused by the trio. Margie charged into the room. She looked at Rainey for an explanation. Rainey simply shrugged her shoulders and gave Margie one of those, “It’s out of my hands,” looks.
Margie stepped forward and in a commanding voice, said, “Ladies!”
The room fell silent. Katie, who was sitting in the middle of the bed, flanked by her sisters, was the first to speak.
“Margie, I would like for you to meet my sisters, Helena and Maria,” indicating each, when she said their names.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, but you must keep it down, this is an intensive care unit.” Margie told Katie, “I’ll be back with your breakfast,” and left.
The next thing Rainey knew, the sisters were involved in a group hug. Rainey was so glad she did not have a sister, at that moment. These three were involved in a very dysfunctional relationship, from what Rainey had witnessed so far. If this is how they handled one of them in trouble, growing up together must have been quite an experience.
Katie finally acknowledged Rainey’s presence. “I want you to meet the woman who saved my life.” She motioned for Rainey to come to her side, “Special Agent Rainey Bell, these are my sisters. I guess you figured that out.” Katie’s accent grew stronger as she went on, “This is Maria. She lives in Beverly Hills, with her millionaire husband, and she is my oldest sister.” She added quickly, “By ten years.”
Maria reacted immediately, “Thank you, for broadcasting it.”
Rainey grew up around Southern women like Maria. She might live on the West coast, but Maria had not forgotten from whence she came. She probably attended numerous charity events during the week and church on Sunday. These women were always impeccable in dress and manners. Yet, they did have a way of saying, “thank you,” meaning, “fuck you” instead, and it was an acquired skill. Maria, Rainey thought, had achieved the mark.
Maria extended her hand to Rainey, saying, “It’s so nice to meet you. Thank you so much for saving my baby sister.”
Rainey shook Maria’s hand and gave her a standard response from years of dealing with grateful families, “You are very welcome.”
Katie was smiling at Rainey, having come to realize how shy she really was, and how she had to fight it. Rainey had not always been that way. She was full of self confidence until the attack and then she shut herself off from the world, for so long, Rainey was now enduring the difficult process of re-joining it. The mostly solitary life of a bail bondsman fit her better now, than that of the Special Agent she used to be.
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