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............Part
28.......,
"Johnny's GONE?!" Joanne shrieked. Her eyes rolled back and she went limp, falling back on the pillows like an unstrung puppet.
"I didn't mean..!" the nurse blurted in surprise, then quickly began to deal with her patient's faint.
*****
"ME??" Mike yelped.
The volume of his voice startled the baby. Little Mikey wrinkled his face and wailed. By instinct, Mike found himself holding the infant closer, making soft shushing noises as he swayed. The good-natured baby decided this stranger wasn't so threatening afer all, and quickly quieted. He found the buttons on his father's shirt suddenly fascinating.
"You want ME to take care of Mikey while you traipse off to Africa?" Mike continued in a carefully modulated tone. "Sharon! I'm a firefighter! I work three twenty-four hour shifts a week, sometimes four! How do you expect me to take care of a baby!"
Sharon's eyes narrowed in anger. "How 'bout you do it the same way I've re-arranged MY life since the day I found out I was pregnant!" she shot back. She reached for the baby, "If you don't want to take any responsibility for your son, that's fine. We'll never darken your doorstep again!"
Mike took a step back, his grip tightening on Mikey. "Now hold on a blame minute! YOU rejected my proposal, you said you didn't want to be tied down so soon-- that you didn't want to see me anymore. Then, fifteen months later you show up and announce 'Hi, Mike, you have a son, keep him for a while, I have to leave to go to the other side of the world for three months' ?! "
He jerked his chin towards the sofa. "Sit down, Sharon. You're not going anywhere until we get this worked out."
*****
The elderly woman's concience pricked at her. She sighed, and turned into the next drive. She hesitated another moment, Harold will be so angry. He just lectured me about picking up hitchhikers. She put the car into reverse. But, it's just a young woman, and she was walking, not hitchhiking. It's not safe, for her, to be out here all alone on this deserted road.
Luellen headed back the way she'd come. She soon pulled up along side the plodding young woman, and rolled down her window. "Do you need a ride, dear?"
Alica's head swung slowly towards her voice, as she came back-- momentarily-- to reality. She smiled sweetly, "Oh, yes Ma'am! Thank you!" She opened the passenger door and slid into the front seat.
The older woman looked at her and gasped. "You're bleeding!"
Alica reached up and touched her stinging forehead. Her fingers came away bloodstained. "I...I had an accident. My car went off the road."
"Oh! You poor dear! I'm taking you straight to St. Francis Hospital!"
"NO!" Alica burst out. "No," she continued in a more even tone, "I don't have any insurance. I need to go to the county hospital-- Rampart."
"I understand, dear," Luellen told her compassionately. "You just lie back and rest. The seat reclines-- the button is down on the side. I'll have you to the hospital in no time."
As Alica reclined the Lincoln's passenger seat, her rescuer continued, "Oh, I'm so glad I decided to come back and pick you up!"
"So am I," Alica murmured. "So am I." She turned her face towards the side window.
Luellen never saw the lunatic little smile that crossed her passenger's face.
*****
Carol caressed Chet's hand. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, after all," she commented softly.
Chet blinked at her, realizing he'd been a million miles away--- for who knew how long. "I'm sorry, Carol. I can't get Gage off my mind." He shook his head, "What were you saying?"
Carol chuckled fondly. "I was saying, don't worry. I left this number at the nurse's desk so they could call if there was any news."
She tilted her head. "I think I need to work harder at distracting you." She lifted his hand to her lips.
"That'll work," Chet smiled. And it did, until several moments later. The hostile glare from the man at the next table hadn't wavered from the time he and Carol had been seated.
"You got a problem, mister?" Chet snapped.
"Not me, but you sure do! Why don't you stick with your own kind?" the man snarled.
*****
A nurse came hurrying up to Dr. Brackett and Dixie. "Dr. Brackett, the Atlanta CDC is on the line."
Kel hurried to the phone. He listened for a few moments, scrawling rapidly on a pad. "Thank you. Yes, I will, as soon as possible."
He replaced the receiver, turned to Dix, cautious relief on his face. He lifted the pad. "They came through with a course of medications. I hope it's not too late."
The pair hurried off down the hall.
*****
"Alica's mental problems are your fault? A genetic disease?" Joyce echoed.
Hank nodded miserably.
Hot fury flushed her face. "And all these years you've blamed me!"
Hank's mouth dropped open. "Joyce, I never..."
"Yes you did!" she hissed. "Oh, you never came right out and said it to my face, Henry Stanley, but I know what you thought! Just because my mother had to be committed, and I had that one little breakdown, you always blamed me! Always!"
Hank stared at her, speechless.
*****
Dr. Lambert straightened with a small sigh of relief. "Amazingly, he doesn't seem any worse for that little road trip. I'm beginning to believe he really does have nine lives," he commented to the nurse standing vigil by the bed. He checked the flow on the IV's one last time, then turned towards the door.
A weak voice stopped him. "Doc?"
He was back at the bedside in two strides. "Johnny?"
His patient gazed up at him, obviously weak, but lucid. "Where's Roy?" he rasped. "Gotta talk to Roy!"
