Zenith Rising (17 page)

Erica raised her eyebrows at him. “Yeah, and
you should take your talent more seriously. That’s my advice to
you.”

They pulled into the parking lot and Erica
glanced around. She was practically freaked out seeing the parking
lot. His jaw tightened. Someone sure as shit made her so paranoid,
and he intended to find out who it was and fast.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be around this time. Call
me whenever you’re ready to leave your office. I mean it, Doc.”

“It’s not part of your job description to
baby sit me.”

He leveled his gaze at her. “You’re not
paying me for this.”

“Thank you,” Erica said finally. Gravely.
“You might as well keep my car for awhile. It’s not like I can
drive it. Besides, it will save you time.”

“You’re not serious.”

She shrugged. “I am.”

“Doc, your car is…”

“My car. And I can loan it to whomever I
want, and trust. And I trust you.”

He stared at her before turning forwards.
“Looks to me like you should quit trusting everyone.”

“No, I won’t. I can’t. Besides, your way too
tall to be the guy that attacked me. And if I quit trusting
everyone, the perp wins. It’s not my way.”

“Not like my way, you mean?”

“Exactly. Perhaps having a little more faith
wouldn’t kill you.”

He glanced at her. “I don’t know; in my
experience, it just might.” He got out and slammed the car door,
censoring any further comment Erica might have made.

****

Erica suffered through the day with
annoyance. She couldn’t walk on the crutches easily. She never
realized how often she was up and down throughout the day, and on
her feet. Her usual mood of kindness, caring, and patience had long
evaporated. The incessant headache and throbbing ankle kept her
from being her normal self.

The days passed by without much change.
Spencer chauffeured her everywhere, and she hobbled about, trying
to keep her frustration at bay. She felt less annoyed, but grew
more confused as the days went by. Who would have done this to her?
The question often arose during the oddest moments, and at the
oddest times.

A week later, she looked up after hearing
loud voices that shattered her curious thoughts as she filled in a
patient’s chart. Puzzled by the disturbance, Erica hobbled out of
her office, only to find Roy Bennett in the waiting room. He was
the source of the loud talking and his arms were moving vigorously
about.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Bennett, Dr. Heathersby is
with a patient, and she can’t see you right now.”

“I don’t care if she’s up the Queen of
England’s pants, I want to see her at once.”

Erica hobbled forward. “Roy, calm down.
What’s going on?”

Roy turned around. His face was flushed, and
his eyes flashed in anger at her. Erica stepped back, rather
surprised. She’d never seen Roy so furious before. His fists were
clenched tightly, and his mouth was contorted into a weird
expression.

“What’s going on!? I just returned from the
police station after being interrogated about you!”

Erica’s eyes widened. “What?”

“You heard me. You must have told them about
me or why else would they think I attacked you?”

“I didn’t tell them about you, Roy. And I had
no idea you would be questioned.”

“Questioned? Try accused, Erica. I was
accused, apparently because I saw that pamphlet about you. What
better way to get back at me than fuck me over as you seem to think
I did to you?”

Erica breathed slowly, in and out, as she
stood up straighter. Everyone’s eyes were fastened on them. She
felt the heat of her cheeks reddening and could not believe Roy
would act like that. She opened her mouth to answer him, but
Spencer unexpectedly came from behind her without a word. He took
Roy’s arm and said in a low tone, “I suggest you come into the
doc’s office, and shut the fuck up. This is her place of
business.”

Roy looked up as he shoved Spencer away,
pulling his arm from his grasp. But Roy complied with Spencer’s
command after a moment or two when he lost their stare-down
contest. Roy always was a wimp, Erica concluded. He almost knocked
her down when he passed by her and Spencer followed, however he put
his elbow out for her, and she smiled appreciatively. She took it
and hobbled after Roy into her office before collapsing onto her
desk chair.

Spencer shut the door, and stepped into the
office, standing before her desk with his arms crossed. Erica was
startled when he stayed, and surprised at his stance. He almost
looked like her body guard.

“You can leave now,” Roy said, glaring.

“No. I don’t think so.”

“What are you? Her trained pit bull?”

Spencer’s jaw clenched.
Shut up, Roy.
Didn’t he see the fury in Spencer’s eyes? She did. And she’d seen
it before. She knew what he could do when he got mad. And he was
well beyond mad right now.

“Fuck you,” Spencer finally said, lowering
his arms and clenching his fists.

“Both of you, knock it off. Roy, particularly
you. Now, if you’re ready to talk to me like an adult, I’ll
listen.”

Roy took a breath, and finally assessed
Erica’s appearance, starting with her head, and traveling down to
her bandaged leg. The color in Roy’s face began to fade. “You were
actually attacked?”

“Yes, I was.”

Roy fidgeted and ran a hand restlessly
through his hair. “I’m sorry. I was angry. I guess, I thought you
made the whole thing up.”

“No. Someone knocked me down the stairs.”

“I’m sorry. But it sure as hell wasn’t
me.”

“I never said it was. Not once. The police
asked all kinds of questions about my life, including boyfriends,
recent break-ups, and all my patients… everything. I answered their
questions. I never once pointed a finger at you. In fact, it never
even crossed my mind that it might have been you.”

“Well, the cops came to the hospital, and
almost strong-armed me to leave right then to discuss a private
matter. The nosy onlookers thought I’d done something wrong.”

“I appreciate that, but I didn’t tell them
to. I’m sorry.”

Spencer suddenly moved forward, and sat on
the edge of her desk. She glanced his way. He kept so silent, she
almost forgot he was there.

“Grow up, asshole. They questioned every man
with access to the doc’s life, especially you, me, and the
preacher, because we had firsthand knowledge of that crappy
pamphlet.”

She glanced swiftly at Spencer. “They
questioned you? You never mentioned that.”

Spencer shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal. Just
routine. I’d have been angry if they hadn’t bothered to question
me; they have a job to do.” Then, addressing Roy, he added, “I
certainly saw no need for you to yell at the victim in her place of
work.”

Roy squirmed. “I didn’t know she was a
victim.”

Spencer leveled a look at him and Erica
shivered. She hoped to never be on the business side of Spencer’s
wrath. “Yes, you did. They told you. Just look at her hobble around
and you can see for yourself. Unless, of course, you’re just angry
because they’re sniffing a little too close to you.”

“How dare you accuse me!”

Spencer shifted his eyes from Roy, as if
dismissing him. “I remember now why I never liked you.”

“You low-class, spic. I knew all the while I
dated her, you were sniffing around. I always knew. But you know
what? No matter what you do, you’ll never be good enough for her,
will you? You’ll always be her errand boy.”

Spencer sat there, and his expression seemed
lazy. He didn’t react, but Erica did. She stood up on one foot.

“That’s enough! You’ve been the source of too
much drama in my life today. I was sorry you were embarrassed by
the police investigation, but now, I hope you were humiliated! And
in front of every other doctor you know. Just get out of my office,
you two-timing, piece of shit.”

Roy stood up and his expression darkened as
he turned on his heel and exited Erica’s office, leaving Erica
standing, staring, and fuming. Only after the door slammed did she
glance over at Spencer.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. Calling
Spencer a low-class spic was about as tasteless as Roy could
get.

“You should be. Sorry that you ever dated
such an overbearing, conceited asshole.”

“Yes, well, I think I’ve paid for that in
spades.” Erica sat back down, and glanced at Spencer again. “They
really questioned you about the attack?”

“Sure. It’s standard. I knew about the
pamphlet. I was here at the office. Stands to reason I’d be
questioned.”

“You should have told me. I’d have explained
how ridiculous it was. For one, the assailant wasn’t nearly as tall
as you.”

Spencer slid off her desk and shrugged. “It
wasn’t that big of a deal. I would wonder though, why old Roy got
so upset, that he would vocalize his displeasure so loudly over the
incident. He
did
know about the pamphlet, and he
is
shorter than me.”

Erica stared at him, her mind now reeling.
“You can’t be serious. You don’t really think that Roy could have
done this to me? He cheated on me, not vice versa. He couldn’t have
been that heartbroken over my dumping him.”

“Maybe. But you did dump him. His ego
probably couldn’t accept that. He thought he could eat his cake,
and date you too. Losing you wasn’t something he ever
envisioned.”

“Still... to attack me? No, I can’t believe
that.”

Spencer turned to leave. “Yeah, I know you
can’t.
But someone
attacked you. It had to be someone. Don’t
forget that for a second.”

Erica stared after the door closed. Why did
Roy react so violently over being questioned by the police? Could
he have hurt her? No… she couldn’t see Roy doing
that
to
her. Spencer’s parting words rang through her head:
Someone
attacked her and inflicted bodily harm. But who? And, more
importantly, why?

Chapter Eleven

Monday, two weeks after the attack, there
were still no leads, much less, a viable suspect responsible for
attacking her in the stairwell. Her ankle was practically healed,
although she hobbled around a little still, and it ached after
spending all day on it.

The morning started off routine enough. There
was nothing beyond the norm. She dealt with a urinary tract
infection, a pre-natal visit, a six-week post C-section follow-up,
and miscellaneous paperwork.

When the phone rang at one o’clock with an
emergency call from Seattle City Hospital, it was about Erica’s
favorite patient, Beth Carson.

Beth had been trying for ten years to get
pregnant. Her husband, Quinn, and she took every fertility test
available. They even consulted multiple fertility specialists, many
of whom were referred by Erica. They even tried
not
to get
pregnant, and just move forward, childless. But eventually, the
urge for a baby resurfaced and they tried again. There was no
medical explanation or diagnosis any doctor could suggest as to why
they couldn’t conceive, so they continued trying, despite the
preceding decade without any success.

Then one day, Beth came into Erica’s office
pregnant! Erica bumped her previously scheduled patients to squeeze
Beth in. Sure enough, she was pregnant, and doing quite well for
the five-week-old fetus. Nothing indicated that she would have any
problem carrying the baby to term. Beth wasn’t even high-risk, now
that she was pregnant. All went well right into Beth’s eighth month
of pregnancy. Until nine o’clock on Monday morning.

Erica gripped the phone tighter when she
heard that Beth was in the ICU. Beth’s car got T-boned on her way
to work, and Beth was brain dead. She was being kept alive strictly
by machines and there was no hope for her recovery.

Miraculously, however, the baby was
uninjured. That’s all Erica heard, although the nurse told her
Beth’s husband was out of town, and en route. She inquired if Erica
could come to the hospital immediately after he arrived, as
decisions had to be made regarding the baby.

Erica hung up slowly and her fingertips went
numb. Her heart began fluttering erratically and her mind spun with
so many thoughts and images, she felt like she might fall over. Oh
God! No! Fate couldn’t be that cruel to such a lovely couple. They
did everything right. They didn’t cheat on each other, drink, or do
drugs. They just wanted to have a healthy baby. And now? Now, Beth
was virtually gone without ever knowing the joys of childbirth.
Erica knew Beth well, and held her hand while trying to encourage
her throughout the ten long, torturous years of trying to have this
child.

She sat down on her office couch, now feeling
completely numb. She ignored the phone beeping at her as well as
the knocking on her office door. She was utterly frozen in grief.
Not just because she was Beth’s doctor, but also her friend.

And now she was being asked to physically
remove Beth’s baby from her comatose body. Erica shivered. God,
this day was one when she hated, loathed, and despised her job.
When her days were good, they were the best. When they were bad,
nothing could be worse. She dealt with life and death on a regular
basis. She’d seen cancer in young women, and wonderfully healthy
babies, along with stillborns, and deformed or brain-damaged
newborns. If she focused on the magnitude of grief that she felt on
the bad days, it could have almost kept her from coming in at
all.

But she did come in. Every day. And faced it.
She hardly ever lost her cool, or her ability to separate her
emotions from common sense. Except now. Right now, she couldn’t.
But she had to and tonight.

She huddled on the couch, curling her legs up
under her arms. She laid her head on her arms, until she was a
tight ball and cried long and hard.