Treasured Legacies (A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery) (2 page)

Mary’s cell phone rang as Bradley left their bedroom to help
Clarissa. Mary was in bed, by order of her doctor, after her encounter with a
serial killer.
 
She reached over and
picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“May I speak with Mary Alden please?”

“This is Mary Alden,” Mary replied with a little smile as
she repeated her fairly new last name.

“Hello, Mary, this is Freeport Hospital with your lab
results,” the woman on the other end said. “There is no internal bleeding, but
you did have a minor concussion. You can take acetaminophen, but nothing
stronger, and no ibuprofen because of your condition.”

“My condition?”
Mary asked,
worried.

“Oh, you did know you are pregnant, didn’t you?” the nurse
said.

Mary sat up straight. “I’m sorry, could you please repeat
that?”

“You did know you are pregnant?” she repeated.

Shaking her head, Mary took a deep shuddering breath. “No.
No, I didn’t know that,” she said. “And how do you know?
 
I didn’t ask to be tested…
 
I never even considered…”

“When we do blood work in the Emergency Room, we routinely
screen for pregnancy in case any procedures that might be dangerous for the
baby are suggested.
 
You don’t have to
ask for it.”

“But, are you sure?” Mary asked. “That I’m still…you know…”

For some reason she couldn’t bring herself to say the word.

“Pregnant,” the nurse stated. “Well, a positive indicator on
a pregnancy test means that you have a hormone called
human chorionic gonadotropin or
hCG
in your bloodstream. That
hormone is released by your placenta soon after fertilization. The hormone
levels increase as the pregnancy increases.
 
However, considering what happened to you during the assault, I can’t
guarantee that you are still pregnant.
 
I
can only tell you that there are appropriate hormone levels in your system to
indicate a positive test result.”

“So, what do I do?” Mary asked.

“I can’t give you medical advice,” she said. “But I would
suggest you go see your OB/GYN before you do anything else.”

“Thanks, that’s a good idea,” Mary replied with a sigh.

“And be positive and happy,” the nurse added. “Endorphins
are good for the baby.”

“I will,” Mary
said,
a smile on her
face. “Thank you.”

She hung up the phone, lay back against the pillows and
tentatively placed her hands on her abdomen. “Oh, please be okay,” she
whispered, running her hands slowly up and down her sides.

“Hey, who was on the phone?” Bradley asked, carrying in a
plate of cookies and a glass of milk.

Mary dropped her hands to the bed, took a deep breath and
pasted a smile on her face. “The hospital,” she said.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, placing the food down on the
nightstand and sitting next to her.

“I’m …” she began,
then
stopped.
 
He really
doesn’t need any more stress
, she decided.
Besides, until I know for sure, there isn’t really anything to tell.

“I have a minor concussion, but there is no internal
bleeding,” she said. “And I can have acetaminophen for pain.”

“That’s it?” he asked.

Mary shrugged. “She told me to have a follow-up with my
doctor.”

“And when are you going to set that up?” he asked, raising
one eyebrow.

Smiling at him, she rolled her eyes. “I’ll call her first
thing Monday morning, okay?”

“Okay,” he replied, meeting her eyes. “Now, tell me what happened
today.”

Confused, she shook her head and quickly winced in pain.
“Ouch,” she said, pausing for a moment.
“When today?”

“Today between when you came home from shopping and when you
went to the hospital in an ambulance.”

“Oh, that today,” she replied meekly, biting her lower lip
and looking down at the blankets on the bed.
 
Finally, she looked up at him, met his eyes and tried as best she could
to lie. “I slipped on some paper and cracked my head on the butcher block
counter,” she said.
“Clumsy me.”

He placed a hand on either side of her and leaned close,
kissing her nose. “Good try,” he said. “But I’ve learned that lying is not one
of your strengths. So, why don’t you fill me in on the details?”

“It’s really not that important,” she said, slipping her arms
around his neck.

He scooted closer to her and placed his forehead lightly
against hers. “Mary, we are going to be doing this parenting thing together,
right?” he asked. “And if we withhold information from each other, I can’t see
it helping anyone.”

“I don’t want to be a snitch,” she said softly. “I don’t
want her to think I’m running to you with every little thing she’s done wrong.”

“But you haven’t, have you?” he asked. “She’s been testing
you since we got back from our honeymoon and you’ve tried to deal with it, on
your own.”

“You were busy with work,” she explained, shrugging slightly.
“I didn’t want to bother you.”

He sighed deeply and shook his head. “Yeah, I was busy. But
I need to remember I’m a husband and a dad now,” he said. “We are all going to
have to adjust to being a family.”

She placed her head on his shoulder and exhaled softly.
“Maybe she’s just adjusting too,” she said.

“And maybe she’s angry and scared,” he replied. “Maybe she
needs more help than we can give her.
 
Maybe her acting out is really a cry for help.”

A tear slipped down Mary’s cheek. “I’m so sorry, Bradley,”
she whispered. “I really tried to do what I thought was right, what was best.
 
I tried to show her I love her…”

He leaned back and put a hand under her chin, gently lifting
her face so he could see her.
 
Tracks of
tears marked her cheeks and more overflowed from her eyes. “Darling, this is
not your fault,” he said.

“But I’m her mother,” Mary replied with a stammer. “I should
be able to reach her, help her.”

“No,” he said, placing a kiss on her cheek and then, leaning
across her to the nightstand, pulled some tissues from the box and handed them
to her. “Now, wipe your eyes and listen to me.”

Blowing into the tissues, she nodded.

“If Clarissa were running a high fever or had fallen down
and broken her arm, we wouldn’t think twice about bringing her to a doctor,
right?” he asked.

She nodded.

“And you wouldn’t think you had failed her if you couldn’t
put a cast on her arm or write her a prescription for antibiotics, right?”

She nodded again.

“Well, Clarissa has gone through emotional trauma that no
child should ever have to live through,” he said. “But she did, she survived.
However, as she struggled to survive things got broken;
trust,
self-esteem… I don’t know
,
her whole view of the world
is a place that rips everything she loves away from her. She needs help to fix
the broken parts.”

“Professional help,” Mary said.
“A
counselor?”

“Why don’t you call your friend in Chicago, Gracie Williams,
the psychologist,” Bradley suggested. “And see what she thinks.”

Mary nodded. “Okay, I can do
that,” she said thoughtfully. “Gracie is great.”

“Maybe there are some group
meetings for kids dealing with issues,” he suggested.

 
“That’s a great idea,” she said, with a
relieved smile. “I just want her to be happy.”

He pulled her into his arms and
held her. “Rosie found all of the items that Clarissa pulled out of your box
and stored them safely away,” he whispered into her hair.

She tried to pull back, but he
held her. “My box?” she asked.

“Yeah, Clarissa told me what she
did,” he said. “But nothing was destroyed. It’s still safe.”

A tear ran down her cheek and she
brushed it away. “Thank you,” she said. “It’s just stuff, but…”

“It’s important stuff,” he said,
kissing her head. “I love you, Mary.”

Yawning widely, her day catching
up with her, she burrowed against him, content and drowsy. “I love you too,”
she said.

The room was dark and
Mary was trying to understand why she was there. She moved forward tentatively,
trying to find an exit door or a light. She didn’t feel afraid, but she knew
she didn’t really belong there. A low sound, like the thrum of a bass note, was
pulsing in the background, over some hidden speaker system. Everywhere she
went, the sound was present. She continued forward and heard another sound,
soft and whispered, in the distance.
The sound of a child’s
cry.
Dismissing caution, she hurried forward toward the source of the
sound. Running down dark corridors that turned and twisted, she became even
more frustrated. Finding herself at a dead end, she turned back and found a
staircase that hadn’t been there before. She jogged up stairs and down stairs,
still following the elusive cry. Finally, she arrived at a door at the far end
of a narrow hall.
 
Light flooded out from
beneath the door and around the sides into the dark hallway. The door was small
and she had to kneel down to grasp the doorknob.
 
The crying became louder, the baby was in
distress.
 
Mary yanked on the door, but
it wouldn’t open.
 
She braced her feet on
either side of the door and pulled on the knob, but it was stuck fast. “Help
me,” she cried out. “Help me save the baby.”

“Mary. Mary, wake up,” Bradley said softly.

“What?
 
What’s wrong?”
she asked wearily, trying to fully wake up.

“You were having a bad dream,” he said. “You were calling
out in your sleep and you were thrashing around like something was attacking
you.”

The baby!
she
thought.
I was
dreaming about a baby.

“Did I say anything?” she asked.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t in a language I understood,” he replied
with a crooked smile. “Something like ‘
oooo-ooo
” and
‘
ahhhh-ahhhh
.’ I thought you might be conversing with
chimpanzees.”

“Funny,” she said, rolling towards him and resting her hand
on his shoulder. “Sorry I woke you up.”

“Hey, that’s okay,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.
He leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I was actually just sitting
here, watching you sleep.”

She yawned and cuddled closer. “Watching me sleep?” she
asked. “Well, that’s exciting and a little creepy.”

Chuckling softly, he laid his cheek on her head. “Well, it’s
about as exciting as I want for now.”

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

Nodding, he leaned back in his pillow. “Right now, things
are great. But I was just thinking about how many times I’ve nearly lost you in
the past year,” he said. “And all of the other things we’ve gone through.
 
No wonder we’re stressed.”

“Who’s stressed?” she asked. “I’m not stressed.”

“No, nightmares with chimpanzees chasing you are normal.”

“Well, maybe I’ve been watching the National Geographic
channel,” she countered. “It could be that simple.”

“Mary, the first year of marriage is hard enough,” he said.
“Two people adjusting to living life together, that’s stress enough.
 
Then when you add in all
the other things in our lives.”

“But, those things are part of our lives, our jobs,” she
said. “It’s just who we are.”

He tightened his arms around her. “I just don’t want any
more bad things to happen to you.”

Turning, she placed a kiss on his bare chest. “Well, some of
the things were good things, right?”

She ran her hand seductively across his chest. “Right?” she
repeated.

He gently stroked her back in return. “Um, hmm,” he
whispered, feeling the heat grow.
“Very good things.”

Trying to keep the mood light, because of her injuries, he
kissed her lightly on the top of her head again. “I just want to make sure we
don’t add stress to our lives. Don’t get ourselves worked up over nothing.”

Biting back a smile, she leaned over and kissed him again.
“I’m already worked up.”

He looked down at her. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Physically?”

Grinning with eyes sparkling, she teased. “You tell me.”

With a sigh of relief, he ran his hands slowly up the sides
of her body. “I think you feel good, really good.”

“
Mmmmm
,” she purred. “I think I
feel great.”

He rolled to his side, so he was leaning over her, then bent
over and started nuzzling her neck. “Let’s see if we can’t upgrade great to
amazing,” he murmured.

She felt the heat growing in her body and wrapped her arms
around his neck. “Okay,” she moaned softly. “And afterward, we can talk about…”
she gasped when he stroked her body. “…about stress.”

“Sure,” he mumbled, moving his lips to cover hers and ending
any and all coherent thought.

Much later, Mary lay in his arms, exhausted, but relaxed.
“So, do you want to talk?” she asked, hiding a yawn.

He pulled her into his arms and shook his head. “No, all I
want to do is sleep,” he said.

“So, you’re not worried now,” she murmured, fighting to keep
her eyes open.

He kissed the top of her head and snuggled into the
blankets. “Tell you what,” he said slowly as sleep started to sweep over him.
“As long as we keep things status quo for a little while I’m good. Just no
surprises, that shouldn’t be too hard.
Right?”

Eyes suddenly wide open; Mary stared at the snoozing Bradley
with dismay.
“Right.
Not too hard at all,” she said
aloud, yet silently she thought,
Well
, crap!