Unforgettable (5 page)

Then he laughed. I couldn’t wait to
leave.

I went to my new patient’s
home.

It was modest. Once beautiful rose
bushes lined the walk. Dead flowers were hanging off, branches
broken. Life had obviously changed for the people in this
house.

A middle-aged woman, his mother, opened
the door. Her hair was flattened on her left side. I’d obviously
gotten her up.

“
He’s in a very bad mood
today. If he gives you any crap just leave. I don’t expect people
to put up with his foul behavior.” Her mouth was tight, turned
down, and her hands flew, palms open, as if trying to grab at
something.

She showed me into what once was a
dining room and now was a make-shift bedroom. The room smelled of
disinfectant and urine.

“
Abe, this is Miss Rose. BE
NICE!”

Abe, his eyes closing, turned away. He
was a thin teenager with a heart-shaped face, scraggles of a
hopeful beard, and large, fiery eyes.

“
Hi.” I sat on a dining room
chair with a plastic seat cover.

“
What the fuck do you
want?”

“
What do you want?” I threw
back at him.

“
Can you make me walk
again?”

“
No.”

“
THEN GET THE FUCK OUT OF
HERE!”

“
What movements are you
getting back?”

“
None, you moron! I’m
paralyzed. Didn’t you read my chart?”

“
I did. I majored in chart
reading at spy school. And from what I read you should have some
movement. In fact, I’ve worked with several people with your level
of impairment who have their own apartments. They have some help
but they do a lot on their own.”

“
They told me that in the
hospital. They lie.”

I sat still.

“
Well say
something!!”

Still.

“
You’re getting paid to be
here now do something.”

Still.

“
Are you just going to sit
there staring?”

He was crying and his nose was
running.

I couldn’t show him how much my heart
hurt for him. His anger, right now, was his most powerful
ally.

“
Wipe my nose.”

“
I don’t like snot, wipe it
yourself.”

“
Wipe my fucking nose. It’s
going to run in my mouth.”

I stuffed two tissues in his
hand.

“
Stop it! Help
me!”

“
Yes, I will help
you.”

An invitation. What I was waiting
for.

I lifted his arm a few inches.
“Take over. Snot’s running.”

He moved his arm. I lifted it
more.

His face had become a roadmap of bends
and folds, agony and rage. But also determination.

He moved it. And finally we reached his
nose.

“
So now you’ve fixed me,
right? I’m going to cooperate. And your work is done. All hail the
hero therapist.”

“
What did you promise
God?”

He stared.

“
That you’d be good? No sex?
No drugs? No alcohol? What?”

He stared.

“
It didn’t work did
it?”

“
What the hell do you
think?”

I got in his face.

“
I think what happened to
you is the biggest, baddest thing I’ve seen in a long time! You
hear me? It sucks so bad the universe should collapse right into
it! Woosh!”

I started throwing glasses and towels
and basins.

His mother peeked in.

“
Everything
okay?”

“
Doing fine.”

She hesitated and then left.

“
What else do you want me to
throw?”

“
My goddamn
trophies.”

“
No, what else?”

“
All that catheter
shit.”

I did.

“
What else?”

“
The goddamn nurses’
schedule!”

He sobbed and howled.

“
The goddamn nurses’
schedule!”

I held him tight.

His pain ripped through me. “I know,
babe, I know. I’ve got you, I’ve got you…”

“
You don’t understand.
I’m…I’m a virgin. I never even got a chance to fuck someone. Get
naked…and love ‘em…and feel all of that. Never!”

I smiled and let him go. I had wondered
when this would come up.

“
You know what the biggest
sex organ is?”

He smiled.

“
Well, yeah. Of
course.”

“
Your brain. That’s where
sex happens. And, you know what else you have?”

I grinned, drying his face.

“
Your mouth,” I
whispered.

He blushed.

“
So, let’s see, we have a
great brain, and a hot mouth, and shoulders, and arms. And soon
you’ll be able to wipe your nose…always a plus with the ladies. You
know, I know a man who is a quadriplegic, much higher level than
yours, and he’s married and has four kids. Great kids. Life won’t
be what you had in mind but it can still be fabulous. And
sexy.”

He giggled.

“
For real?”

“
Would I lie?”

I smiled and helped him comb his
hair.

“
Laughter’s the key, Abe.
You gotta laugh every day. That’s how you beat this. I swear. Now
let’s get to work instead of you sitting on your lazy ass. Let’s
turn your music on. Loud!”

He laughed again.

It was a quarter to five before I got
to Jack’s. Darkness would not be that far away.

Sarah met me at the door.

“
Come on in, he’s in a
meeting with some folks about the next movie…It’s wrapping up. I’m
heading home but I left some lemon bars in the kitchen. He said to
tell you that he’s sorry and he’ll be right there.”

I went to the kitchen and Fritz walked
in.

“
Jack is going to be hours
and hours. These meetings are never ending. I think we should go
dancing.”

He swooped me up and began tangoing all
around the kitchen.

“
Or perhaps, we should
just…slow dance.” He took my hand and held it to his chest. I was
warm all over.

What was wrong with me? I must be in
heat.

“
Have I told you that you
are by far the most gorgeous, most titillating, most brilliant
woman I have ever met?”

He bent and kissed me.

“
I have a nice little
bungalow in the back. I know you’re hungry. I’m an excellent cook.
We could have some dinner, get to know each other better. Play some
chess. Take our clothes off.”

He smiled a victorious
smile.

“
I don’t play chess. I never
could grasp the concepts…planning ahead.”

He held me tighter.

“
I could teach you.” He
kissed me again, vibrating all the way down to my toes.

Naked. Naked with this man. Oh, how I
could see that…feel that.

“
I’ll have to take a rain
check, I don’t…”

“
Get out after
dark?”

Everything stopped. How did he
know?

The killing cold within me started
around the scar then moved up to my heart and face.

Cold. Deadly cold.

“
I’d better see if their
meeting’s over.”

“
Sam, that was bloody stupid
of me. I shouldn’t have said that. Please, don’t go.”

He had been so delicious. But I had to
get away from him. He knew about the darkness.

I went into the office. The people in
suits were leaving.

My body had that sick, tingling feeling
you get when you step off a ripping rollercoaster.

I asked Jack how he was
doing.

“
Great. Just negotiated a
whopper of a deal. Let’s go celebrate.”

“
Jack, I’m sorry, I’ve got a
terrible headache. Would you mind if we…if I just went
home?”

“
Why don’t you lie down?
I’ll get you something. You probably haven’t eaten
again.”

“
Thanks. I just need to go
home. I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for understanding.”

I hurried out the door.

Tuesday

I could feel the alarm was about to go
off. I lay there wanting one more hour’s sleep. It had been another
rough night.

I always had the local news on while I
got ready. Most of all the sound made me feel less
lonely.

“
Possibility of rain today.
High eighty-six.”

I turned off the television
and tied my shoes. I had a full day, seven patients before Jack.
Before Jack
and Fritz
.

That thought put a little giggle in my
stomach.

Someone knocked on the door. I made
sure my knife was strategically placed as I answered.

“
Detective Silverman, Los
Angeles Police Department.”

Police. What were the police doing
here?

He held his badge up so that I could
see it through the peep hole. I removed the alarm and opened the
door.

He was an average height man with a
slight build, hair cut almost to the skin, high arched eyebrows,
with surprising deep, vertical dimples. He wore a dark suit with a
brown tie that was loosened.

“
Sorry to come barging in
just when you’re about to go see your patients. Have a seat,
please.”

“
How do you know I was going
to see my patients?”

“
I have a file on you. I
know that your alias is Samantha Rose but that your real name is
Samantha Rose Sinclair.

“
I know that you’ve just
moved here from St Louis, although you told your landlord that you
come from Kansas City.

“
I know that your parents
died when you were seventeen when their minivan was exploded in a
head-on with a dump truck.

“
I know you were raped and
tortured and mutilated two years ago by Robert Welsh, who has
recently escaped prison.

“
And I know that you are
running.”

He watched my reaction. I was a
squirming ant under a magnifying glass.

“
Why are you
here?”

“
I’m afraid I’m the bearer
of bad news, Princess. Robert Singer Welsh, is in Los Angeles. As
are his two brothers, Oscar and Eddie. A great trio.” He smiled,
unleashing his dimples.

“
My doorknob rattled the
other night. Somehow I just knew it was him.”

“
You
have
to call the police when anything
unusual happens. We know that Welsh is a psychopath of
extraordinary type. He is a stalker. And he is dedicated to finding
you.

“
He’s a big fan of yours,
Princess. Yessir. He wallpapered his prison cell with your
pictures, presumably taken by his brothers, or by him before he was
arrested.

“
We know that he has
completed the home study Jack the Ripper course. Did well, too. And
we know that you are in
extreme
danger.
And I’m here to take you into
protective custody.”

A weak “no” squeaked out of me. My
spine had turned to oatmeal.

“
Miss Rose, or Miss
Sinclair, you are in
danger.
I don’t have to tell you what he’s capable of or
what his unusual little hobbies are. It is not a matter of
if
he finds you
but
when.
And
when
he
does he will do to you what he did before. Only this time
you
will
die.
Slowly. Perhaps over days or weeks.”

“
This is my battle,
Detective. I appreciate all you can do for me but I will not run
again.”

He stared, the impish dimples now
strained.

“
Miss Rose, are you
listening to me?” he shouted. “He is going to catch you, he is
going to cut you, he is going to rape you--over and over. Now I
don’t know about you but that is not on my top ten list of fun
things to do. Or ways I want to die!” He was standing
now.

“
I can arrest
you…”

“
I know.” I felt small, I
could not lift my arms I was so weak.

“
Do you think these little
alarms and the knife under your pillow are going to stop
him?”

“
I will stop
him.”

He rubbed his face.

“
Okay, you have a cell
phone, right? You program in my number…here, I’ll do it. Just give
me the cell phone.”

He programmed his numbers into my
phone.

“
You call me, and you call
911 if there is ANY and I mean ANYthing unusual. If someone bumps
you at the mall and you feel odd about it, you call. If someone is
walking outside who looks familiar, you call. If the thread in your
door is moved, you call! Hear me?”