Until now.
“You okay, Mommy?”
“I’m fine, sweetie.” She wiped her eyes and turned away. “I need to find a bathroom. Are you all right here without me for a few minutes?”
“I’m okay.”
Melanie looked at Phillip. “I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time,” Phillip said with a knowing smile.
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. She just needed a few minutes to remove the emotion from her face.
When Melanie walked outside the double doors of the ICU, several familiar faces were in various positions on the couches and cushioned chairs.
Miss Gina noticed her first and shook the blanket from her lap.
Then Wyatt opened his eyes and caught hers. It took a second for the smile to come. When it did, both Miss Gina and Wyatt released a deep collective sigh.
“She’s awake, making sense.”
“Oh, hon.” Miss Gina took a few steps and pulled Melanie into her arms.
Wyatt ran both hands through his hair before he stood and took his turn hugging her.
Luke woke next and placed a hand on Zoe’s shoulder.
When did she show up?
Zoe jumped, saw Melanie, and scrambled off the couch. There weren’t any words . . . just Zoe taking both hands and holding Melanie’s eyes with a stare.
Then she hugged her . . . hard.
“You didn’t need to come.”
Zoe pounded on her back. “Bite me.”
The one face missing from the room was Jo’s.
“Where’s—”
“Back in River Bend with the FBI. Investigating,” Zoe told her. “Has Hope said any more about Mr. Lewis?”
“Nothing. I haven’t asked her.” The last thing she wanted to do was upset her when she did open her eyes. “She hasn’t mentioned Nathan either.” Another glance around the room proved Nathan wasn’t among the concerned. Then again, maybe he didn’t feel welcome with so many people in her world setting up camp. “Is he—”
“He hasn’t shown his face since the ER,” Wyatt told her.
That news brought some relief. “I should get back in there,” Melanie said, pointing to the door with her thumb. “You guys really don’t need to stay. The nurses say she’s stable for an ICU patient.”
“That doesn’t sound right,” Luke said.
“I know. The knock on her head is why she’s in this unit. In case something went wrong.” It didn’t appear that was going to happen, thank God.
“Really. I’m sure sleeping in here isn’t the most comfortable. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
Miss Gina let her gaze sweep down Melanie’s frame. “Like a change of clothes?”
The shorts she’d been painting in two nights before were still on her body. The only addition to that evening’s clothing she had with her was a coat Wyatt had placed over her shoulders during the search.
“What about some food? When was the last time you ate?” Zoe chided.
Melanie glanced at the ceiling as if it held the answer. Then decided to divert. “I’m sure the hospital has a cafeteria that opens soon.”
“But will you leave Hope’s side long enough to find it?” Miss Gina asked.
“I’m okay. Really.”
Zoe glanced around the group of them before turning her attention to Melanie. “So are we. You take care of Hope, we’ll take care of you.”
It wouldn’t be any different if the situation were reversed.
She kissed and hugged each of them, lingered a little longer with Wyatt and whispered in his ear, “Thank you for being here.”
“Anytime,” he whispered back.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Sometime before dawn, Zoe and Miss Gina left the hospital to gather a change of clothes for Melanie and to retrieve Hope’s favorite stuffed something. Wyatt was new to the world of kids, but it wasn’t hard to figure out what a little girl might like. In the hospital gift shop he found a plush purple teddy bear with a pink bow and added a bright silver balloon saying “Get Well Soon.” Because the ICU was extremely limited as to when they could come in and visit, he and Luke camped out in the lobby for the first half of the day. By noon, Zoe, Miss Gina, and Jo returned with a basket full of food and provisions.
Jo appeared to have taken a shower, but the color under her eyes suggested she hadn’t slept much, if at all, the night before. She wore her uniform and a frown. Beside her was a woman in dark blue slacks and a crisp white shirt. She had short, dark hair and an easy smile. “This is Agent Burton,” Jo told him when it was clear the woman was with them. “She needs to ask Hope a few questions.”
He saw that coming, he supposed.
“Is she awake?”
“Off and on all morning,” Wyatt told her.
Jo didn’t seem pleased with her position. “No time like the present,” she said before reaching for the phone that called into the nurses’ station inside the ICU. A brief conversation had the two of them being buzzed in. Wyatt didn’t ask, he just took his teddy bear offering and walked alongside them.
Jo nodded with a smile and followed his lead.
The ICU was much busier than it had been during the night. Doctors in white coats and a handful of radiology and respiratory technicians joined the busy ward.
Jo stopped by the nurses’ station while Wyatt detoured directly into Hope’s room.
She was sitting up, her broken arm resting on a pillow while she attempted to eat what looked like soup from a rolling table pulled up over the bed. “Hey, princess?”
Hope looked up and offered the most precious smile. She skipped hi and hello and went straight to the point. “Is that for me?”
Melanie released a long-suffering sigh when she noticed him standing there.
He stepped into the room and handed the stuffed toy to Hope before he ruffled the top of her head with two fingers. “You’re looking better.”
“My arm hurts, my head hurts, and my butt hurts!”
Wyatt laughed as he walked around the bed and greeted Melanie with a kiss to the top of her head. He leaned over so only she could hear his words. “Jo is here with an FBI agent to ask her questions.”
She sucked in a tiny breath and the smile on her face suddenly looked forced.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
He wasn’t convinced.
A few seconds later Jo and Agent Burton stepped into the room. Hope greeted her with an enthusiastic Auntie Jo! welcome, with Jo kissing Hope’s cheek. “So good to see you awake and eating.”
“They made me drink broth for breakfast.” Hope made a squishy face.
“She’s progressed to soft food,” Melanie told them. “By dinner she’ll be asking for a hamburger.”
Jo pulled up a chair along with Agent Burton. “Hope, this is my friend Mrs. Burton. She and I are working together to make sure we know exactly what happened when you were asleep yesterday.”
Hope scanned the four of them. “Am I in trouble?”
“No, baby!” Melanie patted her leg. “You’re not in trouble.”
“’Kay.”
Agent Burton started with a simple smile. “Hope, honey . . . do you remember what happened yesterday?”
“I fell and broke my arm. Mommy said I hit my head hard, too.”
“Right. What about before you fell? You were really far from the inn. Do you remember why you left home?”
Hope bit her lip and looked around the four of them again.
Melanie once again patted Hope’s leg through the blankets. “Honey, you’re not in trouble. Just tell us the truth.”
“M’kay . . . I was playing outside, in the backyard where Miss Gina could see me. I heard a dog barking. It sounded like it came from the front yard so I looked. I didn’t see a dog.”
W
yatt kept a hand on Melanie’s shoulder, which she covered with one of hers.
“Then what happened?” Jo asked.
“Uhm, I was going back when I heard it again. Then I saw Mr. Lewis by the trees on the other side of the road.”
Melanie gripped his hand. Both of them knew instantly how wrong this was going. Mr. Lewis had hustled from his room, or so they thought, and was outside when Melanie started screaming Hope’s name. Then he told them he hadn’t seen her since breakfast.
“Did Mr. Lewis say anything to you?”
“He went like this.” She made a waving motion toward herself. “I ran across the street. Mr. Lewis said he saw a puppy running off in the woods without its mother.” A pained look crossed Hope’s eyes. “I told him I wasn’t supposed to leave the inn. He said it was okay and that Miss Gina wouldn’t be mad cuz I was with him.” Hope stared at Melanie.
“It’s all right, baby. No one is mad at you.”
Jo pushed out a long breath. “Then what happened?”
“Mr. Lewis and I ran in the trees. He said he saw the puppy go down the hill. It was really steep. I was scared.”
“I bet,” Agent Burton said in a soft voice. “Did you go down the hill?”
Hope started to shake her head. “I-I didn’t want to go down. Mr. Lewis said I should find the puppy and maybe my mommy would let me keep it.”
“Did Mr. Lewis go down the hill?”
“No, he said he was too big.”
Wyatt felt Melanie start to tremble under his hand. His feet itched to move. Find Mr. Lewis and beat him within an inch of his life.
Instead, Wyatt did his best to keep all emotion from his face and listen while Agent Burton and Jo asked questions.
“So you went down the hill?”
Hope shook her head faster. “I didn’t. I guess I tripped or something. I don’t remember falling.”
“Did you see the puppy?”
“No. Mr. Lewis saw the puppy,” Hope told them.
“Do you remember anything else, Hope? Anything about Mr. Lewis that didn’t feel right?”
Hope sat in silence for a several seconds, then opened her eyes wide. “He had a tattoo on his arm.”
Jo leaned forward. “And that didn’t feel right?”
“Well, Mr. Lewis is always so nice, but the picture on his arm was like a scary Halloween.”
“Mel, have you seen this tattoo?”
“No. He was always in a full dress shirt when I saw him.”
Agent Burton lifted both of her arms to Hope. “Can you point on me where you saw Mr. Lewis’s tattoo?”
She pointed to the agent’s left forearm, right below her elbow. Wyatt tried to remember if he’d seen the man with short sleeves. Like Mel, he only remembered a suit.
“Was it his left arm?”
Hope shrugged. “I don’t remember.”
“What does a scary Halloween mean?”
“Dark and squiggly. And kinda like the picture the doctor put on that thing.” Hope pointed to a light box on the wall of the room.
“Like an X-ray?”
Hope nodded.
“An X-ray of your arm?” Jo asked.
Hope pointed to her head. “An X-ray of my head.”
Jo glanced at Agent Burton. “A skull.”
“Yeah,” Hope added. “I saw a few of them. They were mean and ugly.”
Jo patted Hope’s leg. “You’ve been really helpful, honey. I’m going to talk to your mom outside for a few minutes.”
“M’kay.”
Melanie kept it together until the four of them walked out the double doors of the ICU. Then she lost it.
“He hurt my baby!” She turned toward Jo, grabbed both her friend’s shoulders, and shook them. “He did this!”
The River Bend posse jumped to their feet and moved by Mel’s side, all asking questions.
“What happened?”
“This is about Mr. Lewis, isn’t it?” Miss Gina asked.
“Okay, okay . . . everyone needs to settle down,” Agent Burton attempted to calm the room.
“The man lured my daughter into the woods and left her there to die. I’ll kill him. I swear—”
“Mel, stop, please. You need to stay focused again. Okay?”
Luke slid next to Wyatt. “Is this for real?”
“Hope said he told her he saw a puppy running in the woods and they went to find it.”
“That bastard!” Miss Gina muttered. “If I get my hands around his neck—”
“Get in line,” Zoe added.
“Guys, enough with the death threats. Jeez, I am a cop and Burton here is a Fed.”
Agent Burton offered a little shake of her head. “Emotions are high. But Jo is right. If this bastard ends up dead, I don’t want to have to stand witness. Keep that among yourselves. I’m going to check in with my partner.” She looked around the faces. “Then I’m going to have to interview each of you . . . see if we can gather any more information about our Mr. Lewis.”
“His address and credit card are all at the inn,” Miss Gina told them.
Agent Burton released a drawn-out sigh. “All of which are bogus. Along with his name.”
“But I saw his ID,” Miss Gina said.
“When was the last time you saw a fake ID?” Jo asked.
“The sixties.”
Jo patted her arm.
Wyatt realized that Melanie had gone silent.
“You all right?” He placed his arm over her shoulders.
She shook her head. “Do you think he pushed her?”
“I don’t know.”
“The doctor said Hope might not ever remember falling. You saw her, she knew she didn’t go down the hill willingly. Why would he want to hurt my baby?”
Everyone stopped talking and focused on Melanie.
“Why would a grown man want to kill my child?” She started to tear up. “Hope wouldn’t step on a spider.”
“We’re going to find out, Mel.”
When she started to shake again, Zoe stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her. Wyatt moved away and watched.
“C’mon, Mel. You heard Jo, hold it together. We’ll find the bastard.”
“He hurt my baby, Zoe.”
“I know. C’mon . . . let’s find a ladies’ room and clean you up a little. Splash some water on your face so you don’t scare Hope when you go back in.”
Wyatt watched as Zoe grabbed her bag and led Melanie away.
“Why would he toss her down a hill?” Luke asked the moment Mel was out of the lobby.
“God only knows. Sociopath? Child molester?”
“Oh, hell no!” Miss Gina cussed.
Jo lifted both hands. “Hold up, Hope isn’t giving any indication that anything like that happened.”
“Could be an offender trying to avoid the crime. We don’t know yet,” Agent Burton said.
“Kill the kid so you won’t touch them? Damn, that’s sick.” Luke turned away and started to pace.
Wyatt had heard stories from his dad over the years of just how twisted and vile the human condition could get. Although his blood boiled that this had touched Hope, he wasn’t surprised at anything Agent Burton and Jo were concluding.
“Right now it’s all speculation. Once we find Mr. Lewis, we’ll have our answers.”
“I’m sure he’s long gone.”
Agent Burton offered a sly smile. “We’ll find him. Every perp leaves a path. It’s our job to find it.”
“He left a witness,” Wyatt muttered.
The small group went silent.
It felt as if everyone had ducked into their own heads after Hope had revealed the series of events leading up to her “fall” down the hill.
Jo had handed Melanie a notebook before returning to River
Bend with Agent Burton, Miss Gina, and Luke. Any time Melanie remembered even the slightest detail of the bastard that hurt her daughter, she wrote it down.
Zoe had found a physician’s shower that Melanie could use, and after three days in the same clothes, she finally had on something clean. Eventually, she knew she was going to drop. But as the afternoon started to slide into the evening, she had another shot of adrenaline forced on her.
An unavoidable shot of adrenaline.
Doctor Bellingham walked through on his evening rounds. The pediatric neurologist sat somewhere between fifty and sixty with a receding hairline and a thick waist.
“Good news,” he said with a smile as he walked over to the light box and flipped on a switch.
Hope was awake but groggy after her full day of tests and visitors.
Zoe and Wyatt had sweet-talked their way into the room with a plate of cookies for the staff, so Melanie had the distraction of friends while she sat by her daughter’s bedside.
“Looks like Hope’s second CAT scan is showing improvement.”
Melanie stood beside the doctor as he showed her a series of images side by side. “This is last night’s, and this is today’s.” He ran a pen alongside the spot on the film the doctors had told her was the bleeding inside Hope’s head. “It’s tiny, but it’s going in the right direction.” He pointed to a few other things on the film they were watching, but he didn’t anticipate any problems with a full recovery.
When he was done going over the images, he approached Hope with a smile. “It’s good news, kiddo. Looks like you have a pretty hard head.”
She lifted her purple cast. “My arm is soft.”
He laughed.
Melanie watched as he checked Hope’s eyes, her reflexes, and a few things that Melanie didn’t understand the need for. He asked Hope a few random questions that she was enthusiastic to answer. Hope told him she still had a headache and her arm pulsed.
“I will see you in the morning, Hope.”
“M’kay.”
“Mom.” He looked at Melanie. “Let’s have a chat.”
“Be right back, baby.”
“Want us to go with you?” Zoe asked.
Melanie shook her head. “I’m good.”
Doing It Over (A Most Likely to Novel Book 1) Page 20