She occasionally snuck a peek at Sam as they walked along the stream’s banks. She could see the pain on his face.
They had passed several yellow ribbons when she finally spoke. “We’re almost there.”
“Yes, we are.” He turned his ear toward the west. “I can hear music.”
“Music? They’re having a party?”
“I reckon not, silly. I’d imagine it’s so you can hear your way home.”
“I wonder how long I’ve been gone?”
“What time did you leave?”
“This morning, after breakfast. What time do you think it is now?”
Sam looked at the sun. “Four o’clock?”
“Oh, heavens! They must be frantic. Dad is probably organizing a search party.” Kat began to run.
“Kat, stop!”
Her head lurched forward from the abrupt halt. Catching her balance, she spun around.
“I don’t always look this way.” He gestured to himself.
“And?” Impatient, Kat began walking again.
Sam reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder. “The more people I’m around, the harder it is for me to maintain a body form.”
Kat didn’t get it. “Why are you telling me this? I gotta get home!”
“Because I don’t want your parents to go berserk when I meet them!”
Unable to understand Sam’s concerns, Kat mindfully tugged on Sam’s hand as she led him past the engraved tree. “Don’t worry! Both my mom and dad are ‘with-it’ kind of people.”
“I hope you’re right,” Sam grimaced.
As the two approached the backyard, Sam cautioned Kat to slow down as he scanned the area for people. No one was in sight.
“They must be inside,” Kat whispered as they reached the sliding patio door. “And remember to smile. You’ll look friendlier with a big smile.”
“Whatever you say,” Sam said, standing up tall. “Here goes nothing…”
Kat grabbed his hand and looked up at the man, who looked more like a giant than a sister’s boyfriend.
Elizabeth and John were inside, waiting for the local sheriff when the doorbell rang alerting them of his arrival. “I’ll get the door,” John called out to his wife, who was busy making a fresh pot of coffee.
Elizabeth was setting the coffee mugs onto a tray when something blocking the kitchen patio glass door caught her eye. “Johhhhhn—” she called out in a strained voice. “Apologize to the sheriff. Kat is home.”
As John bid the man in uniform good-bye, he puzzled over his wife’s strange reaction to the good news of their daughter’s return. Quickly entering the kitchen, John came to a screeching halt. Before him was a sight he could not comprehend. His eyes darted back and forth from the patio door to his wife. Standing just inside the open patio door, was his daughter, smiling, holding the hand of a…giant…flickering on and off like a dying flashlight. His wife, now fainted, lying on the floor.
Sam leaned over and whispered in Kat’s ear, “I think that went well.”
“Hi, Daddy,” Kat said, beaming with pride.
A staring, speechless John went over to aid his wife as she attempted to get up from the floor.
“I’m sorry for, um, startling you folks.” The giant looked down at the floor as he struggled for words; his six-foot, four-inch muscular frame still hazing in and out. “But Kitty here tells me that Emily is, well, in the hospital. I’m here to tell you that… I’m Sam.”
John, who was perched on one knee, fell back onto his hind-end in slow motion, pulling Elizabeth over with him.
“Please don’t act like a couple of idiots and embarrass me in front of Sam!” Kat fussed. “I told him that I had cool parents.”
“Ease up, little lady. I’d imagine I must be a sight to see.”
“That you are,” Elizabeth finally found her voice to speak. “Please excuse us.” She stammered as she crawled off John and proceeded to wipe imaginary dirt off her pants.
John was still staring but had managed to close his mouth.
Still unsure what to say to their unexpected guest, John and Elizabeth both stood in the middle of the kitchen waiting for their senses to digest this revelation. John was close to forming a coherent sentence when his eyes grew wide with alarm.
“Emily! Oh dear God! We have to get Emily!”
Elizabeth clutched her husband’s arm. “What is it, John?”
Fear ripped through his body, cutting off the ability to speak.
Elizabeth increased her hold on his arm. “Speak, man.”
His thoughts zipped back to the last words Emily spoke to him. He regretted leaving her all the more. “We’ve got to get Emily and bring her back, now!”
“What’s with the urgency?”
“Don’t you see? Sam’s real!”
John’s panic invaded Elizabeth. “All right! We’ll leave now. But what are we going to do with Kat?”
The two parents turned and looked at their youngest daughter whispering something to the giant.
“We can’t bring her along!” John exclaimed.
“She’s too young to stay home alone.”
“Maybe we can leave her in the car. People leave dogs in the car.”
“In the car? Come on!” Elizabeth groaned.
John smacked himself in the forehead. “You’re right, bad idea.”
Elizabeth’s hand shot up to massage her temple with her thumb. An idea popped into her head. Making eye contact with John, she glanced over to Sam without moving her head. She repeated the movement until John picked up on the idea.
“You want to leave her with Mr. Strobe Light?!” John asked in a voice all too loud.
Elizabeth let out an exasperated sigh, “You have a better plan?”
Kat jumped up and down. “Oh, goodie!” Clapping her hands, she turned to Sam. “Will you pleeease babysit me?”
The two parents looked at Sam. John rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
“Sam,” Elizabeth asked, “would you mind staying with Kathryn while we rescue our daughter from the hospital?”
Chapter Thirty-three
AN ACT OF KINDNESS
“EMILY, YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP,” a voice whispered in my ear.
“Hmmm?” I mumbled.
“Listen carefully.”
Hot breath tickled in my ear.
“I didn’t give you your last dose of meds. I realize some strange stuff has been going on, but that Dr. Kendall… he’s the crazy one! You’ve got to get out of here. As soon as you feel strong enough, you must leave!”
Silence followed.
With closed eyes, the warning circulated in and out of my head, urging me to wake up, wake up, get up. But why?
“He’s the crazy one…you must leave!” the voice repeated only in my head.
Who was crazy?
And where should I be going? I was too tired to be going anywhere. I just wanted to roll over and curl up with Bunny. I loved Bunny.
Instead of dreams, I heard the echoing voice: “Emily, wake up.”
My eyes opened to slits.
The voice annoyed me like a tiny gnat, buzzing about my ear and interrupting my sleep. Yes, it was only a gnat. My eyes closed again. Go away, gnat. I want sleep.
“No meds,” the gnat said.
That was ridiculous. Insects can’t speak. Maybe someone was here.
I opened my eyes far enough to see. Nothing looked familiar.
“He’s the crazy one…you must leave!” the gnat continued to speak.
Annoyed, I took a swat at the gnat, but only managed to slap myself in the chin. Although painless, it seemed to jar some sense into me, and the idiocy of a talking gnat became evident.
I wondered where I was. Ruthlessly tired, the room swirled terribly as I tried to rise. My arms and legs seemed to weigh an impossible thousand pounds. Then I started to remember….
Of course! I was in the hospital. Strange events revisited my mind. But who did the voice claim crazy if it wasn’t me?
The name fell from my lips. “Kendall!”
“He’s the crazy one,” I repeated with the voice.
Once again I fought to keep my eyes open. I hated this place.
Paranoia crept into my thoughts and I feared for my safety. Somebody knew something. Something about Kendall.
Yet, why would someone warn me of danger only to leave me in no shape to do anything about it? And who? I thought back to the voice: I didn’t give you your last dose of meds.
Someone risked their job for that bit of information. An insider, but why? And who would leave me in this condition? It took a minute more to register. Then it seemed obvious. Brandy.
My tired arms couldn’t even begin to reach the phone. Each futile attempt exhausted me even more. As the room grew dim, I knew I didn’t want to find out what kind of sick plan Kendall had in store for me. I had to get away. At least I had to try…
…my eyes opened again. Crap! I’d fallen asleep. I wondered how much time had passed by.
I looked around. Nothing had changed. Yelling for help would only make a scene—I’d end up with a shot in the arm, rendering me unconscious and vulnerable. Ensnared in torment, I cursed Kendall’s name while I waited for the medication’s disabling side effects to wear off.
The clock’s slender red second hand glided across the face in the expected circular fashion; except that it moved too fast. I could only hope I had enough time to escape before whatever awful plan could be implemented. I wondered how long it’d been since my last dose of medicine.
With any attempt to raise my head, the room spun uncontrollably. Foolishly, I sent out ESP messages to anyone who might come to visit. The second hand had just completed another full circle when two unfamiliar men entered my room.
Time had run out.
Chapter Thirty-four
AN EMPTY ROOM
JOHN STOMPED ON THE ACCELERATOR. The needle passed the eighty mph mark.
“I’m worried too, but let’s be sure we make it,” Elizabeth said, wringing her hands.
John didn’t hear his wife. He was too busy mentally rehearsing all the different ways he could apologize to his daughter for leaving her in the hospital.
The white truck barreled down the highway. A blanket and pillow lay in the back seat.
“I’m such an ass.” John spoke up. “To think I actually believed I was helping my daughter.”
Elizabeth reached out for John’s arm. “It’s not your fault. Nobody knew the truth. Even Emily was convinced she was hallucinating.”
John looked starkly at his wife. “Kat knew the truth.”
“Yeah, but she still believes in the Easter Bunny.”
“You’re missing the point, Izzy. Emily asked me straight out for my help. And I left!”
“When?” Elizabeth’s voice cracked.
“Just after you phoned about Kat missing. She was only mumbling, I thought—I don’t know what I thought. Somehow, she must have figured it out… and I abandoned her.”
“For Pete’s sake John, we didn’t know! You drove out to the farm yourself.”
John pressed his lips together and his forehead creased. “How will we ever make this up to Emily?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “We can’t. But hopefully, she will forgive us, anyway.”
John thought back to his days of playing hockey. He remembered the first time he broke someone’s nose during a fistfight and wished for a similar meeting with Kendall.
Tearing into the hospital parking lot, John came to a screeching halt, occupying several stalls of the first row. The elevator seemed to take forever as John repeatedly jabbed the button with his thumb. Finally, the elevator opened with a ding. John took his wife’s hand and boarded.
Entering Emily’s room, John immediately noticed the vacant bed. His breath stopped short. “What the hell?”
Elizabeth peered in the bathroom and shook her head.
“Maybe they saw improvement and took her out for a walk,” John said, searching for a positive scenario.
“If she was awake, she’d be calling,” Elizabeth replied. She turned and left the room. John followed his wife to the nearby nurses’ station. An unfamiliar nurse sat behind stacks of paperwork.
“May I help you?” the nurse asked, almost like she expected something unpleasant.
Elizabeth’s eyes were focused on the nurse’s name tag. “Yes… Jenna, you can. Where is Emily?”
“Emily?” the nurse echoed back, wrapping her fingers around her badge.
“Yes, Emily Stokes. Our daughter, who should be in room 308.” Elizabeth thumbed over her shoulder.
“I-I’m sorry, but she’s not here,” Jenna stammered.
“Where is she?” John asked, his tone accusing.
The nurse seemed to shrink. “Across town at Parkview.”
“What? Transfer orders were canceled!” Elizabeth yelled.
“Not this again!” John’s temper flared.
“She wasn’t transferred. She’s obtaining out-patient services. She just left,” said Jenna.
“How long ago?” Elizabeth demanded.
“Minutes. W-w-while Mr. Stokes was here this morning, he signed some papers authorizing additional treatments.” The nurse held up sheets of white papers, maybe as some sort of proof, or to deny responsibility.
John’s thoughts bounced back to a homely nurse interrupting the story he had been reading to his daughter. She handed him a stack full of papers to sign. “Just file fillers” were her exact words. “It was a whole pile of papers. I read the first few—”
Elizabeth’s eyes flashed. “I can just see Kendall burying his damn treatment papers in the middle of something else.”
John’s stomach tightened. “What exactly did I authorize?”
“Dr. Kendall requested Emily take part in an experimental procedure he’s developing for sudden onset of psychotic symptoms. It’s called TMS.”
Elizabeth blinked like she was in pain. “What’s that?”
“Trans-magnetic stimulation,” the nurse replied. “It uses magnetic currents to stimulate certain areas of the brain.”
John felt his skin turn cold.
Elizabeth reached over the counter, grabbed the phone and thrust it at the nurse. “Put in a call to stop it,” she ordered, then grabbed her husband. “Run.”
“Are there side-effects?” John asked as they took off down the hall.
“It’s her brain we’re talking about,” Elizabeth screeched as she pounded on the elevator door. “I don’t want anybody doing anything to her brain!”
John scoured the halls. “The stairs!” he yelled, yanking his wife’s hand.
Racing down the steps, Elizabeth huffed, “We can’t be late.”
“Don’t even go there,” John said, over his own breaths. “We’ll make it.”
This time, when John got in the truck, he didn’t let off the gas until they skidded in front of the Parkview entrance doors. John and Elizabeth sprinted towards the admissions desk hollering for directions.
John made it to the attendant first. “Where’s the brain lab?”
“Excuse me? Please calm down, Sir, or I’ll have to call for security.”
“Where is the damn lab?” John pounded his first on the desk.
“Sir!” the receptionist threatened.
“John, over here.” Elizabeth tugged her husband’s sleeve, guiding him in a short sprint down the corridor. “I once had to pick up one of my parolees here.” She gasped for breath as she stopped in front of a directory. “We’ll find it ourselves.”
“Look.” John pointed an unsteady finger to the white letters inside the glass covered directory. “Let’s try the third floor.”
The lit numbers above the elevator door indicated the lift was at the top floor. “Can’t we get a bit of luck today?” John growled as he searched for the stairwell door.
Running up the first set of stairs seemed easy.
“I’m out of shape!” Elizabeth wheezed as they raced past the second floor
. Half way up the next stairwell, she began to falter. “Oh, God, please don’t let me have a heart attack.”
“Are you serious?” John took his wife’s arm and helped propel her up the spiraling stairs.
“I hope not, but I think this is the third floor,” Elizabeth heaved in exhaustion, then fell against the door while trying to open it. John supported his wife with one hand as he held the door open with the other.
Elizabeth scanned the hall from right to left. “I don’t… think this…is it,” she puffed.
“Up or down?” John asked as he inched further into the hall.
“I…don’t…know,” she said on the verge of a sob.
His stomach suddenly burned like it was full of molten lava. His fists clamped shut. He turned his face upward and his voice boomed, “Help us…please?”
“Hey, you!” A staff member poked his head out from a room down the hall. “Keep it down.”
John returned the unfriendly look. “Hey yourself. We’re looking for the…” he looked to Elizabeth.
“TMS,” she said, her hope returning. “The suites for the TMS procedures.”
“It’s up on the next floor,” the man replied. “Hey, wait—”
“Thanks man,” John called over his shoulder as the two dashed back for the stairwell.
Racing to the next level, John reached the doorknob first. Adrenaline-rich muscles yanked the door with excessive force; the door opened too far and bounced off the wall, slamming back onto John’s face. A gash broke open beside his left eye. Blood poured out like a water faucet.
“Aughh–” John let out a husky howl, slapping his hand over his wound.
Elizabeth frantically scanned the barren area for anything that could be used as a bandage. “I’ll find a bathroom.”
“Give me your shirt,” John demanded.
“What?” Elizabeth’s eyes went wide.
“You women wear four layers nowadays, for Pete’s sake! Give me your damn shirt.”
Elizabeth ripped off her blouse, sending buttons flying. She wadded it up and handed it to her husband.
John stuffed it on his face. “Now, let’s go,” he said, pushing Elizabeth into the hall.
A heavy set of silver doors just started to close up ahead. Above the access, a sign read: “Treatment Suite.” A smaller sign attached to the door stated: “Authorized Personnel Only”.
A Kiss for Emily (Emily Stokes Series) Page 20