Bumpy Roads - A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book 11) (The Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery Series)
Page 17
Chapter Fifty-nine
“I really think I could get up,” Mary complained from her bed.
“The doctor said if we wanted to keep you here instead of in the hospital, you have to have complete bed rest,” Bradley said.
“But we don’t even know if I have a concussion yet,” she said. “They haven’t even called.”
Bradley leaned over and gently ran a finger over his wife’s bruised face. “Darling, I don’t need a hospital report to tell me that…”
“Bradley,” Mary warned him, as she watched Clarissa slip into their bedroom.
“That really bad man,” Bradley inserted, “used you like a punching bag.”
“She punched him too,” Clarissa added, defending her mother. “She punched him hard and hit him with a bat. Right on the side of his head.”
Mary smiled down at Clarissa. “But only after Clarissa stabbed him in the leg to draw him off of me,” she said. “She probably saved my life.”
Clarissa shook her head. “But you wouldn’t have even been there if not for me.”
“Come up here on the bed next to me,” Mary said, holding her arms out to Clarissa.
She climbed up onto the bed and lay in Mary’s arms. Mary hugged her and kissed her on the top of her head. “I don’t want you to ever to think what happened to me was your fault,” she said. “It was Ray Giles’s fault. He was the bad man.”
Then she loosened her hold on Clarissa and looked down at her face. “But there are some things we are going to have to do, if we want to be a family.” she said.
“What?” Clarissa asked, looking up at Mary.
“Well, we need to make sure we talk to each other,” she said. “Especially when we are afraid or confused. If we don’t talk, we can’t help each other. We can’t learn to trust each other.”
Clarissa nodded.
“I want you to put the photo of your parents on your nightstand,” Mary said, “if you want to. They loved you and they were wonderful parents. And your dad and I are both so grateful they took such good care of you. We don’t want you ever to feel you have to forget about them.”
“Are they part of our family?” Clarissa asked.
“Of course they are, because that’s what families do,” she replied. “They love each other. And they protect each other.”
“Like you did at the hospital,” Clarissa said.
“And like you did when you cut the straps and stabbed Ray,” Mary said.
“There’s an old Chinese proverb that says when you save someone’s life, you are responsible for that person for the rest of their life,” Bradley said. “So it looks like you two are responsible for each other.”
“But you saved us when you came in with your gun,” Clarissa said. “So you’re responsible for both of us.”
“Yes, for both of us,” Mary said with a twinkle in her eye. “Now won’t that be fun?”
“So, we are all responsible for each other,” Bradley said. “That’s a pretty good start for a family, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” Clarissa agreed. “I like that.”
Mary hugged her again. “Good, I like that too.”
“Clarissa, Bradley,” Rosie called from downstairs. “I have a plate of get-well cookies and glasses of milk that need to be brought upstairs.”
“Cool,” Clarissa said, sliding from the bed. “I love get-well cookies.”
Mary laughed, “So do I.”
Clarissa ran from the room and they could both hear her running down the stairs to the kitchen. Bradley moved up closer to the top of the bed and sat next to Mary. He stroked her forehead gently and then picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. “How are you feeling, really?” he asked.
“I’m sore from head to toe,” she said with a soft smile. “But my heart feels full and wonderful.”
He lifted her hand and kissed it again. Then he just held it for a few moments. “I can’t begin to describe the terror I felt when I discovered Ray had both of you,” he said. “I thought my life was going to end.”
She stroked his face gently and nodded. “I knew you would come and rescue us.”
“I love you, Mary O’Reilly Alden,” he said, leaning forward and kissing her tenderly on the lips.
“I love you, Bradley Alden,” she replied.
Suddenly a thought came to her mind and she sat up in bed. “Celia,” she exclaimed. “Did anyone call Celia?”
Bradley nodded and placed his hands on her shoulders, gently easing her back against the pillows. “Yes, darling, I called Celia when the good doctor was making sure you were okay,” he said. “She was surprised, of course, that it was Ray and she was angry.”
“Angry is good,” Mary said. “I should call her…”
“I told her you would call her tomorrow,” he interrupted. “And that we would be sending a forensics team out to his place tomorrow to start careful excavation of the grounds.”
Nodding, she finally relaxed. “Thank you,” she said, sliding her arms around his shoulders, “For letting her know.”
He bent closer and pressed a kiss against her lips. “Now, where were we?”
“Daddy,” Clarissa called from downstairs, “I need you to help carry milk.”
Bradley shook his head, smiled and stood up. “It’s never going to be boring, is it?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”
Her cell phone rang as Bradley left the room. “Hello?”
“May I speak with Mary Alden please?”
“This is Mary Alden,” Mary replied.
“Hello, Mary, this is Freeport Hospital with your lab results,” the woman on the other end said. “There is no internal bleeding, but you did have a minor concussion. You can take acetaminophen, but nothing stronger and no ibuprofen because of your condition.”
“My condition?” Mary asked, worried.
“Oh, you did know that you are pregnant, didn’t you?”
About the author:
Terri Reid lives near Freeport, the home of the Mary O’Reilly Mystery Series, and loves a good ghost story. She lives in a hundred-year-old farmhouse complete with its own ghost. She loves hearing from her readers at author@terrireid.com.
Books by Terri Reid:
Loose Ends – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book One)
Good Tidings – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Two)
Never Forgotten – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Three)
Final Call – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Four)
Darkness Exposed – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Five)
Natural Reaction – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Six)
Secret Hollows – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Seven)
Broken Promises – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Eight)
Twisted Paths – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Nine)
Veiled Passages – A Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery (Book Ten)
The Ghosts Of New Orleans – A Paranormal Research and Containment Division (PRCD) Case File