WISHBONE II: ...Some Wishes Should Never Be Made

by Brooklyn Hudson

  Julien looked back at Sarah. She was rambling to herself; they were getting to her. She looked into his eyes.

  Julien shook his head, “It is not true, Sarah. They’re lying to you.”

  She stepped back, moving further away from him. Her ticks increased and she barked out manic sounds he had never heard her make before.

  As Sarah’s symptoms worsened, Arlette’s confidence grew.

  “I know, Sarah…this is very hard on you. To be betrayed repeatedly by him. You know the truth…”

  Julien cut her off, “She is lying to you Sarah. Manipulating you. Do not listen to what she is saying. She is the one who betrays you. I only defend myself when you are angry with me…she uses you and beats you into submission.”

  Arlette spoke right over him, raising her voice, “…you know he is searching for every opportunity to take his daughter and return back to the city. To get as far away from you as he can. …but you won’t let that happen, will you? You are a very smart girl. He is like the others, Sarah…his time here is over. He can’t go home and you can’t safely keep him here. You know the rules of the game, Sarah. We must always follow the rules.”

  Julien tried to make a move toward Sarah, but she recoiled.

  He spoke soothingly, “Sarah, do not listen to them. They enslave you. They make up lies to make you angry with me. They control you.” He stepped closer again and Sarah moaned, shaking her head and backing away even more.

  “That’s it, Sarah. Don’t let him hurt you again. Make him go away. Make him go away forever. There will be more playmates for you. There are always more.”

  Julien tried to encourage Sarah to look at him, but she stared down at the ground, flicking her wrists and stepping from one foot to the next.

  Julien continued, “Sarah, calme toi. Calm down, please. I will promise you…we can make this work…here…or you can come to the city with us. Get away from this crazy woman. I will make it all work.” He took another small step in her direction, but she yelped and backed to the porch steps.

  “Sarah, don’t do this…do not believe the lies.” Julien pleaded.

  “Are you done?” Arlette asked. “You’re wasting your breath, Julien. She knows we are telling her the truth. She remembers everything you ever did to her…what your wife did to her. Isn’t that true, Sarah? Now, come…”

  Julien spun around, “Ta Gueule!”

  Hearing her father curse so angrily, Jessica let go of Jérome and ran for Julien, but Sarah reached out and grabbed her by the hair. Jessica squealed and Sarah bent down, crossing her arms over Jessica and pinning the little girl against her legs.

  Julien, turned around and took a step toward them. Sarah hoisted Jessica off the ground, holding her like a shield. She wrapped one arm tightly around the little girl’s throat, both girls facing Julien. The wild look in Sarah’s eyes warned Julien not to come any closer. Jessica, terrified, stopped wriggling.

  Julien held his hands up and moved back, “No, no, please, Sarah, stop...” Julien pleaded with her, “They’re lying, Sarah. It isn’t true. I promise this.”

  Sarah shook her head and took another step away. Jessica whined and Sarah tightened the crook of her arm, choking the little girl.

  Jérome slowly descended the steps.

  Arlette panicked, equally worried they might lose the child, “Sarah, you’re hurting her. I know you are very upset, but it is him you should be angry at. You can come home and bring the girl with you.”

  Julien’s heart raced, “No Sarah! Stay with me. We will all stay here together. Put Jessica down…”

  Arlette cut right in, “He’ll kill you, Sarah. He’ll dote all over that child…the one he loves, and he will kill you again. He doesn’t care about you. He loves that little girl and he will never love you!” Arlette roared.

  Sarah rocked back and forth, shaking her head and keeping her grip on Jessica, still dangling in her arms. She tightened her hold and Julien watched Jessica’s face flush red.

  “No, no, no! Sarah, stop this, please. Please…this is wrong. This is not what you are wanting to do. Please… What they say is all lies, Sarah…please believe me. You must believe me.”

  He stepped forward again and Sarah jerked herself sideways, swinging Jessica’s legs through the air. Jessica tried to reach for Julien, her eyes begging him for help; small, garbled sounds choked from her lips.

  Julien dropped to his knees, “Me, Sarah…you are angry with me. Hurt me! Don’t do this…hurt me! I am the one who has made you angry. I am the one who does these things to you. I am the one who has hurt you,” he pled, but she only muttered frantically to herself. He knew, if he dove at her, she would kill Jessica in an instant, keeping him to suffer in the wake.

  He began breaking down, “She loves you, Sarah. She did nothing to you.”

  Sarah narrowed her eyes and Julien felt the onset of pain. It was weak; hardly more than a dull ache, and he waited, but it did not increase. He knew then, that she was torn. She didn’t know who to believe, or who to punish. This rekindled his hope and he got up from the ground.

  Jessica kicked violently and Sarah tightened her arm. The little girl’s eyes rolled up into her head.

  “No! Sarah, don’t…” He turned to Jérome. “Do it. Do it!” he yelled, but his father didn’t move.

  Julien looked back to Sarah, “It is me you want to punish. I am the one who tries to leave you. Jessica has done nothing wrong, Sarah. Get angry with me!”

  Jessica went limp in Sarah’s arms. Julien took a few steps back then turned on a dime and delivered a swinging punch to Jérome’s jaw.

  Jérome’s face whipped to the side. His arms remained folded across his chest; his body didn’t sway. He slowly turned his head to glare at Julien. His lips peeled back slowly, like a snarling dog. A barely audible growl escaped his throat. Jérome stood his ground, but didn’t retaliate.

  “She knows the truth, Julien.” Arlette slid her hands into her pockets and casually strolled past him, heading for Sarah.

  Julien grabbed Arlette, wrapping his fingers around her throat, “Make her let go of my daughter,” he hissed through clenched teeth.

  Carl, startled, attempted to rush through the deep snow to Arlette’s aid. Arlette flailed and gasped in Julien’s hold.

  Sarah dropped Jessica to the ground. Her small body lay lifeless in the path. Julien let go of Arlette and rushed to his daughter. He bent to scoop her up in his arms; Jérome’s fist came up, knocking him backwards through the air.

  Ed Bale drove down Main St. searching for a place to eat. He knew he should call the station, but he was too hungry to think straight and had yet to decide what he would say. He pulled into a small diner parking lot and found a spot directly beside a county plow truck. His good fortune made him chuckle.

  En route to the door, he passed an old Jeep Bronco with a dead buck draped over the hood; still warm blood on its nose and mouth.

  “Geez…” he shook his head at the lifeless animal, only hours ago majestic, and now gone.

  He entered the diner. A middle-aged woman came around the counter with a menu in her hand.

  “Follow me.” She smiled and led him to an outdated booth. She held out a menu, but Ed didn’t take it.

  “I don’t think I’ll be needing that. Just a coffee and the biggest burger you got.”

  “Well, that was easy. Mushrooms and onions or bacon and cheese?”

  “Bacon and cheese, sounds good.”

  “Also comes with fries and soup or salad, for two dollars more.”

  “Why not? Make it the soup.”

  “Good choice…its tomato today,” she winked. “I’ll bring you some water too.”

  “Ah, you’re too good to me,” Ed winked back.

  The waitress walked away and Ed looked around the room.

  The tables were mostly empty. Two families sat back to back in booths on the far wall. A few teens sat texting at a table in the center of the room. Two men dressed in flannel and wearing orange vests a
t another table. In the back corner near a short hallway, were two men, both wearing pale gray uniforms. Ed removed his badge from his coat and clipped it to his shirt pocket, allowing the lapel to fall back over it.

  The waitress returned with his coffee, “Soup’ll be right out.” She walked away.

  Ed emptied four sugars into the mug and stirred. He took a sip and allowed his eyes to wander. The buck’s dead-eye stare, aimed in his direction, just a few feet beyond the window. He winced and shifted his body away. He sipped at the coffee again. He looked at the men in the gray uniforms. They were nearly done with their meal.

  The waitress returned with his soup and a glass of water. He thanked her then spooned at the soup until it was gone. His burger and fries arrived and he took a bite. He glanced around again and saw one of the men in uniform bring a wallet up onto the table. Ed wiped at his mouth with a napkin and got up.

  He approached their table, “Are you the gentlemen who run that plow in the lot?”

  The one with the wallet answered, “Yeah.”

  Ed placed his hand to his waist band, allowing his badge to flash momentarily. He saw the quiet one catch it with a fast glance.

  “I drove all the way up here to see a place up the road and the guy who usually plows couldn’t get his truck up the mountain. It was a four-and-a-half-hour ride for me…”

  “You a cop?” the quiet one asked.

  “Yeah, yeah. Just finished a shift and decided to come up and see a property the wife’s been nagging me about.”

  “In this weather?” the one with the wallet mocked.

  “Yeah, I know. Dumb, with a capital D, huh? Anyway, I figure, a truck, big as yours, would take that mountain in fifteen…twenty minutes, tops.”

  The one with the wallet interrupted, “Yeah, sorry…it’s a county truck. We can’t just plow a private road like that.”

  “Ah,” Ed glanced around. He removed his wallet from his jacket and opened it. He shifted two, one-hundred dollar bills, to peek up from the fold, “It would be a real shame to go all the way back to the city and have to come back again next week. I can make it worth your while...”

  The quiet one looked at his co-worker, “We’re done for the day, man,” he shrugged and lowered his voice, “do it on the way back to the garage?”

  Ed interjected, “Fellas…I’d really appreciate it.” He laughed and leaned in like he was sharing a secret, “If I go back to the wife not having seen the place…you know what that’s gonna be like.”

  Both men snickered.

  “Yeah, I do,” said the one with the wallet. “Why not, but we better go now.”

  He gave them the location.

  Ed returned to his table and grabbed his burger. He looked for the waitress.

  “Can I get a bag for this?” He pointed down at the fries then left a twenty on the table as the waitress filled a white paper bag. He rushed out the door with half of his dinner.

  The county plow was pulling out of the lot as he tossed his meal to the passenger seat in a hurry and followed them.

  Debby clocked in outside the door of the nurse’s lounge. She was coming back from two days off and feeling slow to start a fresh week. She had ten minutes before her shift would begin and decided to stop by the desk for updates and to review charts.

  One of the younger nurses was manning the desk alone. The girl was frazzled by three flashing phone lines. Debby motioned for her to relax and took a line. The younger nurse mouthed a thank you and blew her a kiss. Debby gave her a disenchanted smile.

  “Fair Oaks Hospital, fourth floor desk, this is Debby Pence; how may I help you?” Debby leaned against the counter, listening to the daughter of a long term patient. She reiterated details Debby had heard far too many times to count, and then asked for an update on her father’s condition.

  “I was just about to start my shift and review charts, so I can’t answer that just yet. If I put you on hold I can find out for you,” she offered. “Okay, hold please.” She put the caller on hold as the younger nurse hung up the other line.

  “I guess they hung up,” she said, staring at the now dark third line.

  Debby pawned off her caller, “You probably know better than me…it’s Silverstein on line two…update.”

  “Got it.” The girl picked up the call and Debby sat down at a computer to review patient charts.

  The younger nurse held a chart under her nose, “I didn’t get to enter this one yet…Grenier,” she whispered, cupping her hand over the phone receiver.

  Debby whispered back with a nod, “I’ll do it.” She took the chart.

  She opened to the last page and skimmed backwards.

  The young nurse hung up the phone and Debby turned to her.

  “Were you on shift for this incident with Rachael Grenier?”

  “Yes. It was mayhem.”

  “Who else was on? How did she get past everyone and out to the street?”

  The younger nurse’s eyes grew wide as she prepared to be chastised.

  “The storm…only two of us were on the floor at the time…everyone else was late getting in,” she hurried to explain, “Stanley was at it again. Anissa and I ran to subdue him and he managed to give Anissa a huge fat lip and there was blood everywhere, and then…”

  “Hey, hey…focus. How did Rachael get out to the road?”

  “I don’t know. She was in a gown, so there’s no way security didn’t recognize that she was a patient. We had a rent-a-cop at the door that night…the storm. Anyone coming from the city was stuck. She’s been strapped to her bed ever since, but that just made her more manic, so since then, she’s been sedated. I went in during rounds thirty-minutes ago and she was out like a light.”

  “That woman has been sedated for the better part of a week, what is Scott doing?”

  “It’s mild.”

  “I know the drug, thank you. I just don’t think we’re helping her.”

  “Well, I didn’t order restraints and sedation,” the young nurse defended. “Besides, what makes her so special? We sedate and restrain patients all the time.”

  “Yes, and I manage to feel compassion and to think what it would be like if it were me in that bed.” Debby stood up, “I’ll go make rounds…you watch the phones.”

  The elevator door opened and Dr. Scott stepped out. “Ah, nurse Pence… Can you come with me, please? The new patient in five. I need a witness…she’s one of those.”

  Debby left Rachael’s chart at her desk and followed Dr. Scott.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Carl Lind settled back in the easy chair. The dance of a blazing fire mesmerized him, but he couldn’t shake the memory of what he had witnessed earlier in the day.

  He agreed, Julien needed to be out of their hair, but seeing him beaten so violently left its mark on Carl and was against everything he had built his life on. Throughout his medical career, he had seen the aftermath of many traumatic events; from tractor accidents to bear attacks, but he never had to stand back and watch as they happened. He was there only to put the pieces back together, after the fact. What Arlette and Sarah did, when his back was turned, was not his affair, and he had hoped to keep it that way. Whomever that behemoth of a man had been, he showed no mercy toward Julien, and Carl had seen enough, grabbing Arlette and piloting them home at top speed.

  He looked at Arlette now, seated on the sofa; a glazed over look in her eyes.

  “Do you think they killed him?” he asked.

  “No,” Arlette said, still staring in a trance-like state. She shook it off, “We shouldn’t have left. I could have calmed her down.”

  “We would have been next, Arlette.”

  “You give her too much credit. She blows up, gets angry, but she doesn’t have the guts.” Arlette pulled the blanket up around her, “She needs us, Carl. She doesn’t know how to survive without us.”

  “She needs someone, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be you or me.” Carl removed his glasses, placing them on the table beside him, “
He’s different, Lettie. She feels differently about him than the others.”

  “Yes she does…and that is how I know she didn’t kill him.” Arlette kicked off her slippers and drew her legs up beneath the blanket, “And that is also why we are going to help her.”

  Carl furrowed his brow, “Help her to do what?”

  “To keep him.”

  Carl laughed, mystified by Arlette’s endless resolve. He moved to the edge of his seat. “I’m going to make some tea. Would you like some?”

  Julien lay still in the darkened bedroom. A dimming fire crackled beyond the foot of the bed. The drapes were drawn; window’s shut tight. The dusk light cast a shine on the black iron staircase leading up to the widow’s walk. He stared at the distorted reflection of his battered face in the side of the bedside lamp. He had not seen Jessica since he woke, but he thought he heard her habitual sounds traveling through the vents from the lower level.

  All was quiet now.

  You do not want her to see you like this….

  I want to know for sure, she is alive.

  … that she is being cared for.

  If this madness had to be, he felt he made a fair trade. He hoped Sarah had kept her end of the deal and that the sounds he was hearing were not just figments of his imagination, but those of Jessica; content and entertaining herself down stairs, until she could see him again. If he didn’t move, the pain was bearable. The bruises from the fight would eventually fade and he could face Jessica again without a fear of scaring her.

  She will not hurt her…

  She will use her to keep you in line.

  The roar of a massive white truck sent Sarah dashing to the window. She ducked low at the kitchen sink, peeking above the window’s ledge, as the enormous truck came up over the mountain at the foot of the property. She had never seen a county plow truck before and now it was heading straight toward the house, rumbling along the circular driveway and heading for her. The vehicle scooped wide trenches in the snow as it traveled in the fading daylight. She backed away from the sink then dove at the cabinet where she snatched the box of bones. She ran for the stairs, grabbing hold of the banister and taking the steps two at a time. She reached the second floor and hurried to hide in the now empty room that was once the nursery.