Part 30 (1/2)
The nurse shook her head. ”That's not true. We'll be right here with her. If there's an emergency, then we'll-”
”She'll die,” Kendra said. G.o.d, make them believe her. ”I'm holding her back. Something happened when he hurt her so badly. It scared her, and she doesn't want to come back. No one ever hurt Olivia like that before. It was a terrible shock. She thinks it's safer to stay in the dark. But it's not, and she'll slip away. I can't let her-”
”I'm sorry, but we'll have to call security if you-”
”I'll handle this, Nancy.” A man in teal scrubs with a young face but receding hairline was coming toward the bed. ”No security.” He smiled at Kendra. ”I'm Elden Rawlins, and I really do have to examine your friend. I promise I won't hurt her if you'll just step outside.”
She shook her head. ”She'll die. She wants to go deeper. She's only waiting for me to leave.”
”Perhaps I should get Dr. Michaels a sedative?” the nurse suggested tentatively. ”She's been here all day and most of the night. She's a little distraught.”
Don't scream at her or this doctor. Doctors were G.o.ds in hospitals, and they could keep Kendra out of ICU. Her gaze clung to Rawlins. ”I'm not hysterical, but I am determined. I know what I'm talking about. I can pull her through this if you don't get in my way.” She gestured to Olivia. ”She's not in a deep coma. She can hear me. I know it. She just doesn't want to hear me. She needs time to heal, then she'll come back. But I have to be here. She has to know that I won't let her go.”
Dr. Rawlins tilted his head. ”And how do you know she can hear you?”
She wished she could give him a clever, incisive explanation based on fact and logic. But she couldn't do it. Now, when it was more important than anytime in her life, she couldn't do it. ”I've been there in the dark with her. I know what she's thinking, what she's feeling.” She moistened her lips. ”Please. Believe me. Let me stay.”
He studied her face. ”It's not good for you. You're under severe stress. And you're not being logical about this.”
She repeated, enunciating every word with slow precision. ”Let-me-stay.”
”Doctor?” the nurse murmured.
He hesitated, then turned toward Olivia. ”Let her stay.” He heard an exclamation from the nurse and glanced at her with a smile. ”I've heard of stranger things in the years I've treated patients in ICU, Nancy. Astral projection, the power of prayer ... When death is so near, you never discount anything. Screw rules and protocol. As long as she doesn't do anything that could hurt the patient, permit her nonstop access.” He took the chart from the bed. ”Now let's see if we see any signs of...”
”I BROUGHT YOUR GUITAR.” Her mother took it out of the case and handed it to Kendra. ”Though I can't see how it will help. You're sure Olivia can hear you?”
”I'm sure.” She tuned the strings. ”Though the nurse believes I'm crazy. That's okay; Olivia is getting used to the idea that I'm not going to let her go. I think some of the shock is dissipating.” She made a face. ”At least, I've felt safe going to the bathroom for a few minutes and throwing water in my face.”
”What does the doctor say?”
”That she could pa.s.s at any minute.” She looked down at the guitar. ”Or not. That I mustn't get my hopes up, that she's still on the edge. He's not offering much hope. But he lets me stay, and that's all I want from him. I'll do the rest.” She glanced at Olivia, and said to her, ”No, we'll do the rest. It's time you did your share. So get ready.”
”May I ask what the guitar is for?”
”Olivia loves true country but hates what she calls tw.a.n.gy, whiny hillbilly. So I'm going to occasionally play the whiniest hillbilly tunes I can find for her.” She said to Olivia. ”Do you hear me? If you want me to stop, you've got to open your eyes and tell me to do it.”
”That's a most unusual application of your therapy skills,” Deanna said doubtfully. ”Are you sure that it won't drive her the other way?”
”I'll play some of the stuff she likes, too. I have to strike a balance. But she's very intolerant when it comes to music, so I'm hoping that constant exposure to whine will spark something.”
”Are you going to sing to her?”
”I hope she breaks before that. I'm no good at the nasal whining required. They fired me from a bar in Fort Worth.” She said sternly to Olivia, ”But I might if I don't get the right response.” She started to play ”Scarborough Fair,” and she immediately felt the rush of serenity that the music always brought her. ”Don't get used to this. I know you like it, but we're going to move on.”
Her mother stood looking at her for a moment, then moved forward and touched the dark circles beneath Kendra's eyes. ”You look like h.e.l.l. If you don't get some sleep, they're going to be treating you in ICU.”
”When she comes back to me.” Kendra's gaze was searching Olivia's face for some response. All those d.a.m.n bandages ... ”I can't leave her.”
”I know that.” Deanna dropped down into the chair across the bed. ”And you shouldn't pay any attention to those doctors. If I'd given up on you, then you'd still be blind.” She was silent. ”A good friend is worth anything, just like a good daughter. Do what you need for Olivia. And then we'll worry about you.” She leaned back in the chair. ”I have to teach a cla.s.s in an hour, and I have to leave soon. So please don't start your hillbilly repertoire immediately. Perhaps a little Debussy?”
”I guess we can manage that.” She changed to ”Claire de Lune.” ”Though it's much too soothing.”
2:40 A.M.
There was someone next to the bed.
The doctor, Kendra thought hazily. No, he'd been here only an hour ago. She liked Dr. Rawlins. He never gave up even though he couldn't see that- It was Lynch, looking down at her.
”h.e.l.lo,” he said quietly. ”How is she doing?”
She shook her head. ”Why ask me? I'm sure you've talked to the nurses at the station.”
”I don't want to hear it from them.” He smiled faintly. ”I didn't expect to see her still alive after twenty-four hours. You two must have something going for you.”
”You bet we do.” She looked down at her hand clasping Olivia's, and said unsteadily, ”She's being very stubborn. But we'll get there. What are you doing here?”
”Is it too much to believe that I was concerned about you?”
”No, you're not as hard as you pretend to be.” She grimaced. ”No, that's not true. You're every bit as hard, but you're still very human. But it's the middle of the night, and that indicates urgency.”
”I told you I'd be back.”
Her gaze was on his face, and even in the dimness, she could see something that made her uneasy. ”Why are you here?”
”Lesley Dunn is dead.”
She stiffened with shock. ”When?”
”Right before I left you yesterday. I met Griffin in the hall on the way to give us the word.”
”But he didn't tell me. Why?”
”For G.o.d's sake, you were contending with enough,” he said roughly. ”I wasn't going to let Griffin pile anything else on you. I saw you with the Dunn woman. I knew it was going to tear you up.”
She reached up and rubbed her temple. ”So unfair ... She fought so hard. I thought she had a chance.” She could feel her eyes sting. Strange that she had not yet cried for Olivia, but Lesley Dunn was bringing tears ...
Not so strange. It was over for Lesley, and Kendra was still fighting for Olivia. She would not let it be over for Olivia.
”She did have a chance,” Lynch said. ”She had rallied a few hours earlier.” He was silent. ”Someone slipped poison into her IV. We just got the results back.”
”s.h.i.+t.”
”And the media got hold of the story. They don't know all the details, but they know about the poison. That's why I'm here. It's going to be all over the cable channels. I didn't want you to hear it from anyone else.”
”Do we have any idea who did it?”
”Not yet. It could be the male nurse who changed the IV or any one of a half dozen hospital personnel.” He shrugged. ”Or the invisible man who managed to slip onto that floor and do the deed. I'm leaning toward the male nurse. I've been checking up on him, and he's a gambler who's often low on funds. We're trying to check on phone calls, etc. before we gather him in.”