Part 45 (1/2)
A white uniform entered the room. I jerked, hoping it was Cordelia, but it was only a nurse to take my temperature and pulse and to give me some medication. For the pain, I hoped.
I looked up to see a figure obscuring my entire doorway. ”Hi,” he said, ”I know it's not visiting hours, but I thought I'd take advantage of being a few doors down and stop in. Millie told me that you were awake.”
”Hutch!” I yelled, delighted to see the gentle giant. I must have looked as happy as I felt, because he broke into a great big grin as he came in. ”What happened? I saw...”
”They forgot how big I am. They tried to knife me in the heart, but * 291 *
they missed by a mile. Probably couldn't reach far enough into the car to have gotten to the center of my chest. I got a punctured lung. No big deal,” he said, grinning again.
”I am so happy to see you.” I grinned back.
We sat and chatted while I finished my lunch. Hutch promised to come by and play a few games of chess when I was less groggy. After he left, I must have dozed off.
”Well, Micky Knight, someplace where I can find her twenty-four hours a day. What a novelty. I couldn't be as a.s.sured of your whereabouts when we were living together.”
Danny entered, carrying a bag full of books and magazines in one hand and my very own bunch of flowers in the other.
”I did it just for you, Danno.”
”I'm sure,” she bantered back, then turned serious. ”Oh, honey, I'm so glad to see those brown eyes open and smiling again.” Danny put down her packages and carefully put her arms around me. ”It took us forever to find you in that swamp,” she said, holding me.
”You found me?” I asked.
”With a little help from Beowulf. Good thing we still had a pair of your dirty underwear at our place. The ones that say, 'Cunning stunts performed here.'” Danny let go of me with a laugh. ”Or is it, 'A stunning cun...'”
”Wonderful. If I had known that, I would've died of embarra.s.sment.
Wait a second, I don't have any underwear that says...”
”You will,” Danny replied, grinning.
”Who found me?”
”Me, for one. Reverting to my swamp-rat days. Too bad my waders were out at Mom and Dad's. I could have used them. They say, hi, by the way, and that as soon as you're better that we all have to come out for crawfish and crabs.”
”The sooner the better. Who else?”
”Elly. She wouldn't let us leave her at home. She did come in handy. You weren't in the best condition when we found you.”
It was time to ask the question I was afraid to ask.
”What about Joanne? Is she all right?”
”Of course. She was there. And the mud didn't seem to do too much damage.”
”They laid a trap for her. How did she escape?”
* 292 *
”She'll be along soon. You can ask her yourself.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. ”I'm glad she's alive. I'd miss her yelling at me.”
”Right,” Danny said, catching the concern I was trying to hide.
”Someday one of you will be nice to the other and the world will probably stop.” She shook her head. ”And Cordelia was there,” she added.
Ranson entered, preventing me from asking the questions I wanted to ask. She came and stood next to the side of my bed. She started to say something, but stopped. Instead she bent down, put her arms around me, and held me.
”I would have never forgiven myself if you didn't pull through,”
she said finally letting me go. The world stopped, but only for a second.
”I wouldn't have been too happy either, if I hadn't made it. But it wasn't your fault, Joanne. You can't make up for all the bad deeds in the world.”
”Where is my tape recorder?” Danny joked. ”Elly and Alex won't believe me if I don't have proof.”
”Enough of this,” I interjected. ”Now, Joanne, find something to yell at me for and let's get things back to normal.”
”I remember the way you looked when we found you. It will be a while before I yell at you again. I'm so sorry-”
”Never mind.” I cut her off. I could only stand Joanne Ranson apologizing to me for a short while. ”I thought they had gotten you.
How did you escape?”
”I didn't,” she replied. ”I never showed up. Lafitte was pretty high on my list of possible informers. He called me to meet him out in Slidell.
I got suspicious and called Hutch. Millie told me that the two of you had left and about Lafitte's phone call. I called good old Jackson Ford and let him deal with it. Unfortunately they blew it, so Lafitte slipped away. There's a big search on for both him and Korby. We're keeping a guard on you for a while. Don't worry,” she added antic.i.p.ating my next question. ”Barbara Selby videotaped her statement, notarized it, and just about everything else. Killing her would only add another murder rap.”
”They got away, huh?” I said.
”So far,” Ranson, replied tersely. She was disappointed, too.
* 293 *
”But they're on everybody's wanted list now. They'll be caught,”
Danny added. ”You think you might be up to making a statement tomorrow?”
”Yes, I think so,” I answered. ”When do I get out of here?”
”Well, you got shot, pretty banged up, lost a lot of blood,” Danny answered.
”Not to mention exposure,” Ranson added.
”A few more days, at minimum,” Danny finished.
”Great,” I said sarcastically.
”Hey, take a break. All you have to do is lie around and flirt with the nurses. There are a bunch of cute ones on this floor,” Danny added.