by Jo Chambliss
Finished with that ordeal, I bend down to pick up the gown and tell Ari to wash her hands. Yawning, I stand up and sling the bag around to my back again. My adrenaline crash and thirty-six hours without any sleep are starting to catch up to me.
Nightmare over, Ari and I walk out of the bathroom to see Harry walking down the hall toward us. “How’s Willa?”
“She came to a little but only said the girl’s name over and over again. The sheriff is now sure that when she wakes up, she won’t be calm enough to talk until she sees the girl. Take Ari in there and stay. Let me know when the mother is awake and settled.”
“Shouldn’t I be…?”
“Stop. You’re not a cop. Besides, do you really think she’ll stay with anybody but you?” I look down at Ari, who’s standing beside me, holding my hand and her new ocean blanket. Her sleepy little face is so full of trust that I’m powerless to do anything but stay.
I look to Harry then back at Ari. She’s rubbing her eyes again. “Let’s go, kid.”
At the door, I lean over and ask the officer standing guard, “Is she going to scare her own kid?”
Seeming to know what I’m asking, he answers, “Nah. They cleaned and bandaged her up. He didn’t touch her face, and the rest of her is under blankets.” I acknowledge him with a chin lift and open the door.
Just before walking through it, I kneel beside Ari. “Ari, your mom is sleeping. Can you be quiet and let her rest?”
She answers with a nod, and we walk in the room. Ari walks to her mother’s bed, pulling me with her. With the slightest of touches, she pats her mother’s hand, where it lies on the bed beside her.
She then turns to me and whispers,” Thank you for finding my mama.”
I should tell her that it was the sheriff that found Willa or that we found her because Ari was brave enough to make it to the road, but I’m too choked up to do either.
The tired girl yawns, prompting me to look around. Besides the hospital bed, the only furniture in the room is a typical hospital recliner.
I set Ari in the chair and look through the duffle bag for the stuffed animal I couldn’t pass up. Her eyes go wide, and she smiles, lighting up the entire room… and me.
Ari settles in with her blanket and fish, and I sit down on the floor with my back against the wall. Sighing, I lean my head back and close my eyes.
Seconds later, I feel a blanket being draped over me, and Ari snuggling into my side. A lump forms in my throat. After all she’s been through, she’s concerned about me being cold.
Well… I guess there’s no point in staying down here now. I stand and pick Ari up, sitting down in the chair with her in my lap. After I settle us both in the institutional-grade chair, Ari adjusts the blanket to cover us both and snuggles herself into my chest. Within minutes, she falls asleep, clutching the orange fish.
Curious, I watch her for a moment. Her face shows none of the fear I saw there on that road. I gently brush away the hair that’s fallen on her face.
Something’s happening to me tonight. I may have been forced into this situation, but I wasn’t forced to stay. In a matter of hours, this little girl has managed to grow roots in my mind and heart. And that scares me.
As a distraction, I look over at Ari’s mother and wonder what all the woman must have endured to save her daughter.
Ari’s earlier words come to mind, “He said mama would count, then he would come find me.” We’ve all been speculating, but no one will know for sure what happened until Willa wakes up and tells us.
Looking back at Ari’s blond curls, I sigh. Not exactly how I imagined spending my leave. After that thought, I finally close my eyes to sleep.
Chapter 4
Willa
“Do I hear a “fifty-three?”
My eyes snap open, but the evil monster isn’t coming at me with his knife again; that haunting voice was only in my head. Judging by the smells I’m detecting, I’m in a hospital. I wonder how bad a shape I’m in.
My skin is stinging from all the cuts that were made by that bastard, but I seem to still have all my appendages. I open my eyes, but everything is blurry.
ARI! I have to find my daughter. Whoever found me and brought me here might not even know about her. What if she’s still in the woods? She might be hurt.
I will my eyes to clear and my body to move out of this bed, but nothing is working.
The sound of unfamiliar breathing halts my efforts to escape. Turning my blurry eyes toward the sound, I can make out a sleeping form in the chair beside the wall. With my head resting against the pillow, I lie still and look at the still figure, waiting for the image to clear.
Little by little, the shape comes into focus. At first, I can only just tell that it’s a man… Then, a man that’s not wearing a uniform, so not police. He turns his head in sleep, and I don’t recognize him. What if it’s the man that took me? I never saw his face.
Panic strikes, making my body do something the machines don’t like, and they start beeping. The man opens his eyes and looks around. His eyes lock on to mine, and concern wrinkles his brow. “Hey, are you all right? Do I need to get the nurse?”
That voice... This is not the man that took us.
He turns away from me and seems to struggle with the reclining chair. A moment later, he awkwardly stands and turns toward me. My gaze travels downward from his face, and the sight of what he’s holding brings tears to my eyes.
Lying on his chest is a sleeping Ari. She’s wrapped in a blanket, holding onto a stuffed fish. The man smiles and then bows his head. “Ari… Ari, wake up.” My little girl stirs and wraps her tiny arm around the man’s neck.
“Come on, Ari. Your mama’s awake.” She lifts her head then. “Mama?”
I watch, speechless, as the man carefully lowers her to the floor and tosses the blanket on the chair. Ariel is wearing princess PJs, fish slippers, and still holding that stuffed fish. When the stranger releases her, he backs up toward the door. Ari rubs her eyes and then turns around to look for him.
She shocks me when she runs after him, grabs his hand, and pulls him back in the room. He has a What-do-I-do-now-look on his face but allows himself to be led by the tiny girl.
Seeing her sweet, little face again is a miracle. I reach for my daughter, and the man picks her up and helps her onto the bed. Wrapping my arms around her and her stuffed animal, I kiss her forehead and her cheeks. The whole time I’m holding her, she never lets go of his hand. “Baby, I’m so glad to see you. Are you ok? Are you hurt?”
“I’m ok, mama.” She wriggles out of my arms and stands on the bed, once again, wrapping her arms around the man’s neck. “Mama, this is Fish. I made him crash his bicycle, but he took me to see Sheriff Mike, and I went with Michele to her house. But I didn’t want to stay there. I wanted Fish to come and get me, and he did. He got me PJs and my fish slippers and my fish blanket, and my fish.”
Ari turns to look at Fish, realization dawning on her face. “Hey, I have a bunch of fish like your name.”
The man looks embarrassed and turns a bright red. “Fish, huh?” I ask Ari.
“I told him that Fish isn’t a real name, but he said that’s what his friends call him. Since I’m his friend, I get to call him Fish too.”
For a moment, I can only stare in disbelief. It’s as if she’s known this man all her life. Wait a minute; she said something about a crash. “Did you really make him crash his bicycle?”
“Yep, it made fireworks all over the road.”
My brows draw in concern, and I look up at the man. He looks sheepish as he starts to explain, “Ari was standing in the middle of the road when I came around a curve. I had to swerve to keep from hitting her and couldn’t recover. The motorcycle went down. I guess the skid caused a bit of a light show.”
“My god. What about you? How bad are you hurt?”
He waves off my concern. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
Spoiling the man’s attempt to downplay the night’s even
ts, Ari helpfully adds, “The bad man shot him. He even had to get stitches.”
“WHAT?!”
“No. No. No. He shot at me. The bullet hit the rock wall, and some of the ricochet hit me. It’s nothing to worry about.” In a grand effort to distract me, he changes the subject. “Ari tells me your name’s Willa. I’m Chris. Fish is my nickname.”
I force myself to take a deep breath since it doesn’t appear anyone was seriously injured. “So, you both are ok?”
“Yes. I got Ari out of the immediate danger the shooter posed and in an abundance of caution, met the sheriff at Dr. Miller’s clinic. Mel checked Ari out and said she suffered no injury or damage due to her exposure to the cold.”
“Thank you, Chris. Thank you for saving Ari and getting her help. Can you tell me what happened? How I ended up here?”
“I think that’s a conversation the sheriff wants to be here for. I’ll just run out and let the deputy know you’re awake.”
“I can go get Harry,” Ari offers.
“No!” I squeeze her tight, panicked at the thought of her leaving my sight. At the startled look on her face, I try to make myself explain, but Chris beats me to it. “Ari, Harry and I are going to go get you some breakfast and get Sheriff Mike. I need you to stay here and look after your mama. I’ll be right back. I promise.”
When he spoke, his voice carried a definite authority, leaving no room for argument, but he wasn’t threatening at all. It’s strange; Ari’s response to him was almost automatic. I was even compelled to sit up straighter.
Having secured Ari’s compliance, his eyes lift back to mine, and I stare into the deepest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. “I’ll be right back,” he vows.
Who is this man?
As soon as the door closes behind him, I look my daughter in the eyes. “Ari, tell me everything that happened after you left the cabin.”
Before she starts, she hugs her fish tight and squeezes my hand. I wince, but there’s no way I’d ask her to let go. “I ran through the back yard. He has a big back yard. The sticks and pinecones hurt my feet, but I kept going just like you said. My legs got tired cause I had to go a long way to find the road. When I got there, I didn’t know which way to go. I was lost.” Her chin begins to quiver. “I didn’t mean to make Fish crash. Am I in trouble?”
I tip her chin up to look at me. “Oh, no, baby. Did Fish look upset to you?”
“Uh uh.”
“See? What happened next?”
“After he crashed, I checked to see if he was hurt. I told him you needed help. That’s when the bad man shot him.”
“Shot at him.”
“Yeah. After that, Fish picked me up and ran to his bicycle. Then he made me lay on the ground while he picked up his bicycle off the ground. That thing was so loud I had to cover my ears.”
“It’s a motorcycle.”
“Oh. Fish picked me up and got on his mo-tor-cycle, but we only rode a tiny bit. I was glad because it was cold. When he stopped, he took off his coat and put it on me. It was way too big, but it was warm. He took me for another ride. We rode for longer this time, but I think he was mad.”
“Why do you think that?”
“He was yelling in his big round hat.”
“Was it a helmet?”
She nods. “When we were through riding, we were at Dr. Mel’s office. That’s where Sheriff Mike was. Dr. Mel said I was a healthy kid. Then Sheriff Mike took me and Fish to the police station. I got to have apple juice and goldfish. Fish asked me what happened, and I told him all about the bad man. He made me go with Michele so he could come find you.”
“Who’s Michele?”
“She’s Sheriff Mike’s wife. She’s nice, but I wanted to help Fish find you. He said I helped him good already and that I couldn’t go.”
“He was right. You did help, and that’s why he found me.” I playfully tap on her chin, grateful for the luck of perfect timing. “Ari, where did you get these cute PJs?”
Ari scoots off the bed and picks up a bag from the other side of the chair. She shows me the very-full bag and tells me about stopping on the way to the hospital. There must be enough clothes in that bag for a week. Not to mention the blanket, slippers, and the stuffed fish... Fish. Just like your name.
“Ari, did Fish tell you anything about himself? Maybe where he lives or works?”
“Uh uh. Michele told me he’s a sea lion.”
“A sea lion?”
“Uh huh. He’s a… a water soldier.”
“Oh. Do you mean he’s in the Navy?”
“Yep. He’s a Navy sea lion.”
“I think you mean he’s a Navy SEAL.”
“That’s it. Fish is a Navy SEAL.”
Well… that explains a lot.
Chris
I’m awakened by an unfamiliar beeping sound in an unfamiliar chair in an unfamiliar room. It only takes a second for the memory of last night to come rushing back. Especially when the little blond girl is asleep on my chest.
My head is pounding to the rhythm of the beeping, but that takes a back seat when I begin to wonder why the machines started beeping in the first place. Turning my head, I look over at Willa in case the beeping means something’s wrong.
When I see that she’s awake, my eyes find hers, and I’m struck dumb by their unusual color. Turquoise eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. They’re honest-to-god turquoise. And the woman they belong to looks scared to death. Of course, moron. She was nearly killed last night, and a strange man is asleep in her room.
“Hey, are you all right? Do I need to get the nurse?” She doesn’t answer my question, but some of the tension and fear leave her face. Looking back down at Ari, who’s still asleep, I realize that reuniting mother and daughter will go a lot further to calming the scared woman than anything I could say to her.
I disengage the recline of the chair and carefully stand while still holding Ari. When I turn to face Willa, and she realizes what I’m holding, her whole countenance changes. Watching her face closely, the transformation is immediate and obvious. Yes, she’s bandaged, weary, and scared, but there’s a strength in her eyes that’s hard to miss.
Gently, I coax Ari awake and place her on the floor by the bed. I back up to the door to give them some privacy and update Mike, but Ari realizes that I’m leaving and is having none of it. The toy-sized human drags my two-hundred-pound self back to the bed. All right, I let the toy-sized human drag me.
Back at her bedside, Willa reaches for her daughter, and I help the little one onto the bed. Their reunion is touching, and I feel like an outsider and voyeur at the same time. Still, Ari won’t let go of my hand. Pretty soon, Ari’s had enough of her mother’s hugs and kisses and starts talking about me and how we came to be “friends.” She’s so excited about her fish slippers, blanket, and stuffed animal, and I flame red when her mother realizes the Fish reference was intentional. Why the hell couldn’t I have just picked up Minnie Mouse? You know damn well why; you wanted Ari to like you.
When Ari starts telling her mom about the motorcycle crash and gunshots, Willa becomes visibly upset. She’s lying on a hospital bed with dozens of cuts all over her body, and she’s concerned about me having a few stitches. That’s a mighty selfless woman.
My throat tightens, watching Willa as she listens to Ari’s telling of the night’s events. The love that she has for her daughter is like a tangible thing that warms me, making me want things I’d never thought about before. I need to get out of here. The longer I stay, the harder it’ll be to leave.
It’s time for me to go find Harry, and I say so out loud.
Ari volunteers to go get him, but the look on Willa’s face is one of pure panic. If her daughter walks out that door, she’s liable to have a stroke. Taking Ari’s hand, I work up some reason I need her to stay and watch her mom for me.
Instead of arguing or pouting for not getting her way, she takes her job of Willa-watching seriously. Ari shoves the uncomfortable reclining ch
air over to the bed and hops up on its cushion. “You go on, Fish. I’ve got this,” she tells me while placing a hand on her mother’s forehead.
The smile that I feel growing on my face is bigger than any I can remember. There’s just something about this girl that gets to me.
Ok, food, Chris… Before walking out the door, I remember Thomas’s comment about food allergies and ask Willa about it. She reports that there are none, and I finally set out to complete my tasks.
As soon as the door closes behind me, Deputy Thomas stands up from the chair he had been occupying in the hallway. “Where’s Harry?” I ask him.
“We swapped. He’d already been on the clock for eight hours when this was called in.” Ouch. Long shift.
“Call Mike. Willa’s awake.”
His eyes go wide, and I can tell that there are a million questions that he’s burning to ask, but he keeps it professional. “She say anything?”
“I wouldn’t let her. I told her to wait for the sheriff. While you’re still here, I’m going to let the nurses know she’s awake and get the kid some food. You want anything?” He looks down at his watch, and I do the same. Six am. “I’d kill for some coffee.” Thomas reaches for his wallet, but I stop him.
After leaving Thomas, I visit the nurse’s desk and report Willa’s status. During the walk to the cafeteria, I start to wonder what it is that Ari would eat. I should have asked Willa about preferences when I asked about allergies.
I walk into the surprisingly busy hospital cafeteria. There’s a lot more to choose from than I would have imagined. I remember how picky kids can be and don’t know what to get. Kids eat cereal, so I look to see if there’s any to be had.
Hell. I find the cereal all right… all fifteen different kinds. There’s no way I’m going to guess and risk showing up with something she won’t eat. It’s time for a new plan.
To be safe, I get several plates, each with something different. Ari can pick first, and I’m sure Thomas and I can clean up the rest. Armed with milk, juice, and two gigantic coffees, I carry the bag of go-plates back to Willa’s room.