Eye of the Nightingale

by R. D. Hunter

“Good, close friend.” I emphasized each word, hoping to send the hint that he was spoken for while not tied down.

  “How good and close?” So much for that.

  “Good and close enough that he doesn’t need you pawing over him like he was a prime piece of real estate you wanted to build on,” Jenny said in her usual direct manner.

  Bless her for it.

  Hunter / Nightingale / 73

  Ruby withdrew, looking embarrassed but not feeling that way. “My apologies, Officer. I have this condition, you see, where I just can’t control myself. It’s very…bothersome.”

  “Ah, yes. Well, I hope you get better,” Michael said, squirming like a worm on hot concrete. I felt like giggling again but managed to hold it in. “Ava, I better be going.

  If you need or remember anything, you have my number. Feel free to call anytime.”

  “Does that invitation extend to anyone?” Ruby asked suggestively. “I might

  ‘need’ something.” I could actually hear the emphasis on need.

  “Um…well, I’m sure the staff at Sunny Pines can help you.”

  “Not as well as you, I’m sure.”

  “Uh, right. Listen, I gotta check in with my supervisor. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said and rushed out the door like the devil himself was on his heels. All three of us burst out laughing when he was gone, before a question that had been nagging me suddenly formed in my mind.

  “Ruby, what are you doing here?” I asked.

  A mischievous glint came to her eye. “Oh, well, I had these chest pains, you see, and they brought me here for some X-rays. They said it would be a while before they got the results back so I thought I‘d slip off and take a walkabout.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Chest pains, huh?”

  She put her hands behind her back and looked down like an errant school girl.

  “Well, I may have exaggerated a bit. But I wanted to see how you were doing. We all did.”

  I was touched. My feeling of acceptance hadn’t just been in my head. The fact

  Hunter / Nightingale / 74

  that Ruby had faked an illness just to check on me proved it. Before I could say as much, another person burst into the room, and I had to stifle a groan.

  “There you are,” Mount Randy said angrily. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Do you have any idea how much trouble I could’ve gotten in if you’d gone missing?” He walked forward and grabbed Ruby by the arm, causing her to wince.

  “Hey!” Jenny and I both shouted at the same time. He sneered at us and the feeling I got from him was one of supreme confidence combined with overall nastiness.

  Jenny stepped forward with fists curled and I was contemplating my chances of getting out of bed and joining her, when his face twisted up in a grimace of pain and the sudden surprise he felt sent a shock through my system.

  “Yow!” he yelled, releasing Ruby just in time to be slammed against the wall.

  Michael stood behind him, wrenching the bald man’s arm into a painful knot behind his back.

  “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to be rough with a lady?” he asked through gritted teeth. He looked over at Ruby who was rubbing her wrist. “Are you okay?”

  She managed a shaky smile. “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you, Officer.”

  “You want to press charges?”

  “For what? I didn’t do anything…Ow! Not so hard. You’re breaking my arm,”

  Randy complained.

  “Then I suggest you stop talking,” Michael said and looked back at Ruby for her answer.

  “No, no. I’m perfectly fine,” she said quickly. “This is all just a big

  Hunter / Nightingale / 75

  misunderstanding. He works at Sunny Pines and was sent to keep an eye on me and I’m afraid my wandering off gave him a scare. Silly me. It really is all my fault.”

  Michael looked at her for a second, then released Randy’s arm and took a step back. The larger man turned around, rubbing his elbow and shoulder with his other hand and glaring at the young officer who’d just made a chump out of him. I cheered silently from my bed.

  He outweighed Michael by about fifty pounds. He was plenty mad and just stupid enough to try and enact some sort of revenge. But Michael was plenty mad too. And, unlike the undisciplined anger I felt coming from the C.N.A, Michael used his to enhance his focus and determination. He was cool and confident, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind he’d take the bigger man apart if it came to a physical confrontation.

  Randy must have come to the same conclusion because after a few seconds of posturing, he motioned for Ruby to follow him.

  “C’mon, we’re going back to the home,” he grumbled. “Doc said you could go.”

  “I’ll take her,” Michael said. His tone indicated this wasn’t a request, but the big man shook his head negative.

  “Against the rules. I could lose my job.”

  “And how much would you lose if I told them I caught you putting your hands on her?” There was another stare-down, with Randy’s anger and frustration growing more potent by the second. I found myself wishing they’d either fight or kiss, because all this tension was making my head pound like a snare drum.

  Finally, after a few seconds Randy nodded and stalked towards the door. Before he reached it, he glanced over his shoulder and shot Ruby a look of such pure hatred I

  Hunter / Nightingale / 76

  had to close my eyes and swallowed several times until I heard his heavy boots plod down the hall. We all breathed a sigh of relief.

  “My hero,” Ruby said. She rushed over to give him an overly-friendly hug and I couldn’t help but giggle when I saw him jump. Sure enough, one of her hands was clasped firmly on his right butt cheek.

  Hunter / Nightingale / 77

  Chapter Ten

  I wanted to go home immediately, but the doctors were insistent I stay the night for observation. I tried talking Jenny into helping me leave anyways, but she wouldn’t go for it.

  “C’mon,” I whined, “I thought you rebelled against any and all authority.”

  “Not when the authority is right. You stay here and get some sleep. I’ll be back to pick you up in the morning.“ I grumbled and whined some more, but she was adamant about her decision and left me to my fate.

  Whoever said that hospitals were restful places had obviously never been in one.

  Nurses came in to check on me almost every hour, asking if I needed anything. There was a steady stream of traffic outside in the hallway. Between that and the constant beeping of I.V.’s in and around my room, sleep was a statistical impossibility.

  As I lay there staring at the ceiling, something kept gnawing at me. Some detail I’d missed or a conclusion I hadn’t quite managed to jump to. I thought back.

  Things at Sunny Pines were looking grimmer by the second. Between discovering

  Hunter / Nightingale / 78

  the state of Mr. Burleson and my two encounters with Man-Mountain Randy, not to mention the overall apathy of some of the staff under the leadership of Jack Lowry, I was concerned for the safety of the residents there.

  I was more than concerned for Ruby. I hadn’t forgotten the look of venomous hatred in Randy’s eyes. And while I was grateful for Michael intervening and giving her a ride, he couldn’t be by her side twenty four hours a day. For that matter, neither could I.

  Then, of course, there was the fact that I’d been locked in a freezer and left to die in frozen agony. I didn’t believe for a second this was a coincidence. My gut told me this was a warning for me to shut my mouth and stop meddling.

  But why were they so worried about me? I was nobody, just a student nurse who…

  I sat bolt upright in bed. “Son of a bitch!” I said way too loud. My head spun for a second at the sudden movement, but I clamped down and forced my vision to right itself.

  Each hospital bed has an alarm that turns itself on after nine o’clock. The clock on my wall read eleven thirty eight. Fortunately,
I knew where the hidden switch was that would turn it off. After disconnecting my I.V. line from the port, I was mobile again. And I knew exactly what my destination was.

  The visitor elevators were right next to the nurse’s station. I didn’t want to be seen, so I bypassed these and used the staff elevators at the end of the hall. Once inside, I hit the top button, which caused me to hiss in pain as my hand throbbed from the light touch. On the way up I made sure to hold on to the hot pit of boiling anger in my stomach. I’d need every bit of it for what was coming next.

  The doors opened onto a darkened hallway with a series of office doors closed

  Hunter / Nightingale / 79

  and locked on both sides. All except for the last one at the end of the hall; the one that opened up to the penthouse office.

  A familiar hum began to vibrate the air around me as I stalked that way. I didn’t knock. I didn’t even pause to see if he was with anyone. I just burst in and yelled, “You used me,” my voice shaking with rage.

  The thrumming of Sebastian King’s emotions grew louder as his eyes widened in surprise. I crossed my arms and glared at him, trying to strike some sort of imposing figure. I hoped my gown wasn’t open in the back.

  It took a second for me to see he was on the phone. Well, whoever it was would just have to wait.

  “Mr. President, I’m going to have to call you back,” he said. Mr. President? Uh-oh. “Yes, Sir. I’m fairly certain from what you describe that it’s just a rash. Give my regards to the First Lady.”

  I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and stood my ground as he calmly closed the cell phone and put it back in his pocket. He fixed me with a cool gaze and, for once, I could see that he wasn’t perfectly put together as he normally was. His tie was loose. His sleeves were rolled up, and his jacket was tossed haphazardly on the couch to my left. Maybe this guy was human.

  The pause and shock had given me time to collect myself so I said, “You used me,” a second time much more calmly. “You knew something stunk at Sunny Pines and you sent me in to find out what it was.”

  To his credit, he didn‘t try to deny it. “You should really be in bed,” he said.

  “Why don’t you have a seat before you fall down?” He gestured towards a chair right

  Hunter / Nightingale / 80

  across from him that probably cost more than my whole living room suit.

  I ignored the temptation and stuck to my guns. “What’s the matter with you? If you knew something was going on in your own rest home, why didn’t you do something about it?”

  “I did. I sent them you.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I’m talking about the police, social services or maybe even the S.B.I. Someone who could do something about it.”

  King rubbed his eyes tiredly and, for the first time, fatigue and uncertainty replaced the cool confident demeanor he wore like a suit of armor.

  “Because by the time they got through the front door, any and all evidence of wrongdoing would be destroyed. Lowry isn’t stupid. He’s got half the staff at Sunny Pines in his pocket and the other half, along with the residents, are too scared to say anything. I needed someone on the inside. Someone no one would suspect. Someone intuitive enough and brave enough to see what was going on and blow the whistle on it.”

  “Someone like me,” I said quietly.

  He nodded. “I knew it had to be you as soon as I heard what you’d done down in the emergency room.” A ghost of a smile crossed his face. “A tiny little slip of a thing, so enraged by the cruelty inflicted on her patient that she took down the monster who was responsible. I needed you on my side.”

  “You could have just asked me,” I pointed out. “There was no need for all this cloak and dagger BS.” With my anger abruptly defused, my knees started to shake and the room began to spin.

  It must have shown on my face because King jumped up and led me to the chair

  Hunter / Nightingale / 81

  I’d rejected earlier. I sunk down into its cushy softness and managed not to groan. It really was the most comfortable thing I’d ever sat in in my entire life.

  But King wasn’t done. To my surprise he went around his desk and came back over with (I swear I’m not kidding) a leather brown doctor’s bag, like they used back in the day they made house calls. It was probably older than me.

  He reached in, fished out a blood pressure cuff and wrapped it around my arm.

  While taking my vitals, his face took on a look of supreme concentration and I was content to just sit back and watch him work. His emotions toned down to a dull murmur as he worked.

  “Pulse is good. Pupils are slightly dilated. Blood pressure on the low side,” he reported. “Standard side effects for the meds in your system.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “You know what meds I’m on.”

  “I should. I was your attending physician when they brought you in.”

  “You were my attending? Why?” I was mortified. It was like having the attorney general give you a flu shot.

  He looked at me intently. “Because I was responsible for you. I sent you in there, and you got hurt. Sit back while I get you something to drink.”

  He brought over a bottle of water and even held it up to my mouth so I could take a sip. The cool liquid slid gratefully down my throat. It was probably imported from a glacier or made from unicorn tears or something. After a few minutes, I was feeling stronger. It didn’t make what I had to do any easier, though.

  “Dr. King,” I said, “I don’t think I can help you with this. I’m just a girl trying to get through school. I’m not cut out for spying, gathering evidence and standing up to the

  Hunter / Nightingale / 82

  bad guys.” I held my bandaged hands up. “Obviously.”

  He nodded slowly, but I could sense he was troubled. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how much he’d been depending on me. This was a man who was used to being in control. This whole situation had him at the end of his rope and his disappointment in my refusal to help was evident. I actually felt bad for the guy.

  “Why don’t you just fire Lowry,” I suggested, trying to be helpful to assuage my own guilt. “He’s your employee, isn’t he? Just chuck him out in the street and put in someone you know and can trust.”

  King shook his head. “I have no proof of any wrong doing, and without it he’d just sue to get his job back and win. He’d be back in his old position in a couple months and the people there would have hell to pay for it. Besides, Lowry is only part of the problem. The corrupted staff there are just as guilty. I need to know who they are and what they’ve done so I can get rid of them all in one big purge.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said in a low voice. “I can’t help you.”

  King nodded. “I understand,” he said. He knew he was asking a lot of me. The fact that he’d asked at all showed how desperate he was. “I’ll make arrangements for you to finish out your clinicals somewhere else. You should get back to your room and rest.”

  I don’t think I’d ever felt lower about myself than I did on the way back to my bed. For the first time, someone had reached out to me for help and I’d turned them down flat. Worse yet, he’d been asking for help on other people’s behalf. People who had no other place to turn.

  Senior citizens are some of the most valuable and underestimated resource in our society. The knowledge and experience they possess are worth more than gold. Anyone

  Hunter / Nightingale / 83

  who would abuse or neglect them deserved every bad thing that happened to them. I just wasn’t the one who would dish it out. I slept fitfully that night, the image of everyone at Sunny Pines floating before my closed eyes.

  True to her word, Jenny was in my room bright and early as soon as the sun came up. I was more than ready to leave, as if by doing so I could put some of my shame behind me. To my surprise, though, Michael came in with her. I didn’t even need my empathy to feel the tension boiling off the two when they entered.<
br />
  “What is it?” I asked. They both looked at each other.

  It was Michael who answered. “Donald Lawson was released on bail last night,”

  he said. “We have reason to believe he intends to finish what he started.”

  Hunter / Nightingale / 84

  Chapter Eleven

  My hearing must have been damaged in the freezer. I sat there, my mouth hanging open in shock. “What did you say?”

  “He got out, Ava,” Jenny said seriously. “He got out and he’s probably coming after you.”

  “I thought you said he wouldn’t,” I said to Michael, my voice taking on an accusatory tone. “You said he’d be locked up and we didn’t have to worry about him anymore. What happened?”

  “Someone came up with the quarter million dollar bail and they had to let him go,” he said miserably. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but I had a hard time summoning up any pity for him when I had spent most of the night wallowing in it myself.

  Just then another thought struck and rocked me to the core. “Oh my God!” I said in horror. “We have to warn Gloria. She doesn’t know.”

  “She’s been informed. Mrs. Lawson was released earlier this morning. She and her kids were escorted to the bus station where they caught a bus to her sister’s house in

  Hunter / Nightingale / 85

  Vermont. They’re safe.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief, at least for a second. “So what are you doing here?”

  “I’m your escort,” Michael said. “Gloria Lawson might be out of Donald Lawson’s reach, but you aren’t. I’m going to see you both home and have an officer roll by your place and make a check every hour at irregular intervals. I want you both to stay inside with your doors locked. Lawson’s not supposed to have any contact with any of you, so if he tries to violate that restriction he goes right back to jail.”

  “Looks like we’re on lockdown,” Jenny said dryly. “Ironic, isn’t it? He’s the raping lunatic and we’re the ones who get turned into prisoners.”