Part 7 (1/2)

Doc shrugged and came at me with a huge needle. I leaned back. ”Okay, forget I asked,” I said seriously. I heard a small laugh from the aalmost' doctor. Sure, now she laughs.

Doc smiled. ”This will hurt you more than it will hurt me.”

After administering the anesthesia, Doc nodded. ”Okay, look at Maggie if you're squeamish.”

I'm not a squeamish person. However, I turned my head and looked at Maggie. She smiled slightly and put a warm hand on my shoulder. I felt a jolt that was not caused by Doc's suturing skill.

”So, you didn't tell me you were a doctor. You didn't tell me about the clinic. Is there anything else you haven't told me?” I looked at her with a good deal of uncertainty.

Her smile faded. ”I wasn't aware that it was important.”

”Someone is scaring the h.e.l.l out of you, if not trying to kill you. It could be a disgruntled patient. It could be anything or anybody. It may not have anything to do with your wealth, Maggie.”

Doc finished st.i.tching me up and stripped off his latex gloves. ”Maggie why don't you finish dressing this? You need the practice,” he said with a wink. ”And you, Miss Ryan, will be fine. Don't move around too much. St.i.tches can come out in a week. You can see your doctor at home.”

Maggie bandaged both my shoulder and my forehead. As I struggled into my s.h.i.+rt, she gently pushed my hands away.

”Sit still,” she said.

I sat staring off into s.p.a.ce while my body reacted to the warm fingers on my neck as she smoothed my collar. Okay, Ryan, deep breaths, deep breaths. When I looked up, I saw her standing at my side, frowning.

”This is a nasty scar,” she said.

Doc walked up behind me and gently pulled at my collar. ”Hmm. Looks relatively new.”

Okay, too much attention. I instinctively pulled my collar up. ”It happened a few years ago,” I said, very aware of their scrutiny.

I glanced up at Maggie who gave me a curious look but said nothing. All at once, I was exhausted. I lifted my arm and tried to get a feel for my range of motion. I immediately winced at the sharp pain that ran through me.

”He told you not to move it too much. My G.o.d, you're like a child,” Maggie said, handing me a small bottle of pills. ”Here, take two and-”

”Call you in the morning? I don't like taking pills. I'll be okay.”

”Suit yourself, but you're gonna be sore.” She shrugged and put the pills in her pocket as Hannah appeared in the doorway.

”How's the patient?”

”She'll live,” Maggie said with a smug grin.

Doc laughed and went over to Hannah. ”You okay?” he asked.

She nodded.

He gave her a hug and kissed her forehead. ”Okay, everybody home and to bed,” he ordered.

It was an eerie feeling to stand in the living room. True to his word, Steve had a piece of plywood over the pane of gla.s.s that had been broken.

Hannah had gone to the kitchen and come back with a broom and dustpan to begin sweeping up the shards of broken gla.s.s.

I went to the front door and looked out to see a police car right in the front. I felt a little better seeing a patrol car cruise by them. I looked at my watch-4:30.

”Well, are we going to bed or staying up?” I asked.

We all looked at each other. ”Staying up,” we said in unison.

”I'll make some coffee,” Maggie said.

”I'll light a fire,” I said, trying to maintain control. I quelled the urge to break into a dead run and go screaming into the night, never looking back.

”I'll get the cognac,” Hannah said.

I stopped dead.

”I just wanted to see if you were listening,” she said.

My body was turning against me as I bent over for the firewood. I groaned and grabbed at my shoulder.

Maggie came out of the kitchen and put the coffee on the table in front of the couch. ”What's the matter, sore?” Her voice reeked with sarcasm.

I looked to at the ceiling and counted to ten. What would I get for strangling a snotty rich kid?

”Kate, you could have been badly hurt. What have we gotten you into?” Hannah asked.

”After tonight, nothing,” Maggie answered as she pushed me out of the way. ”Go sit down.” She grabbed the wood from my hand and busied herself with the fire. ”I will not have anyone else hurt over whatever this is. Call your sister, get your car and get back to your normal life.” She slammed the wood into the fireplace and faced me. ”Why didn't you tell me you saw someone in the woods? Didn't you think I could take it? Let me tell you, I've had a lifetime of this so don't treat me like a child. And another thing-why did you go downstairs? We could have called the police and stayed in the room. What if something happened to you? Did you think of that? No, you didn't. And now you're standing there, bleeding, bandaged up and...Christ!”

She got that all out in one breath. To say she was upset would be a drastic understatement.

”Look,” I said indignantly. ”I heard a noise from your room and went to see if you were all right. You were asleep. Then I heard a noise downstairs, so I went to check the locks again. I noticed the doors opened and whoever it was-was right behind me. I had no chance to do anything but try to get him off me. I didn't plan this. Good grief, you can be the most ungrateful-” I stopped and put my hand to my forehead.

Maggie turned, flew past Hannah and went upstairs. I heard her slam her door.

Hannah winced. ”That went well. She hasn't gotten that angry since earlier this morning. You seem to be the common denominator. You must bring out the best in her.” She patted me on the back as if I'd won first prize.

”So, now what?” I asked. ”I wasn't trying to do it all by myself. It just happened. You must know she's not the easiest-”

We heard her coming down the stairs. Maggie appeared as white as a ghost, and her eyes were wide.

”Did you leave my bedroom door opened after you checked on me?” Maggie asked.

”No, why?” I said.

”Because when I heard the gla.s.s door break, I flew out of bed and had to unlock the door. Did you lock it?” she said, shaking.

”It was locked? From the inside?”

I moved her out of the way and ran upstairs and into her room. Her bathroom door and closet door were both closed. I began to get panicky all over again.

Both the Winfields were behind me. Maggie was holding onto the back of my s.h.i.+rt and making me nervous. Hannah was standing next to Maggie holding her hand.