Close Your Eyes

by Iris Johansen

  Lynch said quietly, “I don’t know either, Kendra.”

  She stepped toward the window and looked down at the dark parking lot. “Most people hate hospitals, but I never have. Do you?”

  “Yes. I’ve watched too many people die in rooms like this.”

  “I haven’t. Yet. I guess that’s the difference.”

  “You’re lucky. You also had a great gift given to you in a hospital. I imagine that would give you a different perspective.”

  “It wasn’t that dramatic. Not like the old movies, with gauze bandages being peeled away to suddenly show me a new world. Once the procedure was done, it took about eight weeks for my corneas to regenerate. I was only in the hospital for a few hours.”

  “It’s still a miracle.”

  “Absolutely. But even before that, hospitals have always been places of great hope for me. You’re surrounded by people who are, by and large, extremely good at what they do. And they’re doing everything in their power to help you.”

  “Hmm. Again, you and I have obviously have had some very different experiences.”

  She smiled. “There are incompetent idiots everywhere, but at least here, people aspire to a higher standard. I’ve actually spent a lot of time working in hospitals.”

  “I didn’t realize they offered music therapy as a treatment option.”

  “They don’t, really. But when doctors think I can do some good, they occasionally recommend me. It’s come in handy for my research. My first study focused on the effectiveness of music therapy on hospitalized infants.”

  “Babies?” He half smiled. “And how did that work out for you?”

  “Better than your skeptical tone implies. A music therapist isn’t necessarily a music teacher. We try to get our patients to engage with the music on any level. If it’s not working, we try different instruments, different rhythms, different dynamics, whatever it takes. Anyway, I showed that interaction with a music therapist significantly reduced stress behaviors in those hospitalized infants. And if you lower stress, you increase their chances of healing.”

  Lynch motioned toward the woman in the bed. “What about her? Could you help her?”

  Kendra turned toward Lesley. “I don’t think so. There’s been a lot of debate about the use of music to stimulate coma arousal in patients, but I haven’t been convinced by the studies on the topic. I believe you might have to have some in-depth knowledge of the patient to trigger it. In any case, I’m not inclined to use her as my guinea pig. She’s getting the very best care already.”

  She took Lesley’s hand in her hand.

  Cold. Still.

  Kendra leaned over and whispered. “Come back, Lesley. Don’t believe anything you’ve heard, anything they’ve said. In the end, it’s all up to you. You can do anything, be whatever you want. Remember that, okay?” She squeezed her hand, then gently released it. “When you’re ready, we’ll be here for you.”

  * * *

  “YOU OKAY?” LYNCH LOOKED sidewise at her as he pulled out of the hospital parking lot. “I’m surprised you’re so upset. She’s a stranger to you.”

  “That doesn’t make any difference. I hate those scumbags who prey on the innocent. That woman probably didn’t even know who attacked her. Not if it was a professional job like the others. One minute you’re going about your life, making plans and looking forward to the future. The next minute, you’re in the hospital, and people are wondering if you’re going to die. It’s not fair and it’s not right and it makes me feel helpless. I hate to feel helpless.” She shook her head wearily. “I just hope she makes it.”

  “She’s got a bunch of doctors trying to make sure she does,” he said quietly. “For more than compassionate reasons. She’s got a chance.”

  “Yeah, I know.” She moved her shoulders, trying to shrug off the depression. What else had she expected? A miraculous recovery? If Lesley fought hard enough, then that chance might be enough.

  She checked her watch.

  “Shit. It’s seven fifteen.”

  “And that means?”

  “I was supposed to meet Olivia at my place at seven. We’re going to have drinks and go out to dinner. How long will it take to get me home in this buggy?”

  He flinched. “Buggy? That’s sacrilege.”

  “How long?”

  “Twenty minutes.” He stepped on the accelerator. “Or less.”

  “Make it less. I hate people who are late for appointments.” She reached for her phone and dialed Olivia. “I’m late. God, I’m sorry. I’ll be there right away.” She looked at Lynch. “Fifteen minutes.”

  “You should be sorry,” Olivia said with mock sternness. “It’s just lucky that I was smart enough to realize that this might happen. You don’t have to hurry. I never made the reservations at Alfredo’s. I’m cooking dinner for us at your place. We’ll have more time to talk. I’m browning the hamburger and onions for the spaghetti sauce right now … Lord, I love that smell.”

  “So do I. And your sauce is incredible.”

  “You bet your ass,” Olivia said cheerfully. “And by the time you get here, it will be simmering, and we can have that drink. Hurry.” She hung up.

  Lynch gazed at her inquiringly. “I take it that you’ve been forgiven?”

  She nodded. “Since it suited her convenience. Otherwise, she would have given me hell. Olivia’s not shy about making her displeasure known.”

  “Then you must be very good friends.”

  “The best. We grew up blind together, and our friendship survived my getting my sight. If she’d been less giving, less loving, I’d have lost her.” She smiled. “Not everyone has that generous a spirit. Until recently, she never even told me how much it chafed her that I’d left her behind.” She added soberly, “But I’d never really leave her behind. I’m just waiting for her to catch up.”

  “Is there a chance?”

  “There’s always a chance. My mother is in touch with all kinds of teaching hospitals around the world. They’re trying out new operations all the time. Olivia will have her turn.”

  “You seem very certain.”

  “I am certain. There has to be a way. I won’t let her be cheated.”

  Lynch smiled. “Well, in the meantime, I’ll keep you as much as I can out of her bad books. I’ll have you there in another seven minutes.”

  “How precise. But I’m not in quite so much of a hurry now. She’s in the middle of cooking our dinner at my condo.”

  He went still. “Your condo? How did she get in?”

  “She has a key. I gave keys to both Olivia and my mother when I bought the condo. It was more convenient.”

  “I can see that it would be.”

  There was a cautious note in his voice that caused her eyes to narrow on his face. It was without expression, but that only made her more uneasy. “What’s wrong?”

  “Probably nothing. We’ll be there soon.”

  She stiffened as his meaning hit home to her. “No! She was cooking. There was no one in that apartment but her. Okay, she’s blind, but her other senses are supersharp. She would have known.”

  “I’m not saying that anything is wrong.” His voice was soothing. “I don’t know. You’ve noticed how suspicious I am. I just didn’t like the sound of her being in your condo alone.”

  And neither did Kendra. It was scaring her to death. Her hand was shaking as she dialed Olivia back.

  No answer.

  Voice mail.

  She felt as if she’d been hit in the stomach.

  “Oh, God,” she whispered.

  She dialed again.

  “Answer me, Olivia.” It was almost a prayer.

  Four rings.

  Voice mail.

  “Get me there,” Kendra said between her teeth. “Fast, Lynch. Please. Fast.”

  “Two minutes,” Lynch said. “It could still—”

  “Be quiet. Don’t talk to me.” She didn’t want to hear comforting reassurance, not when she had this terrible fear icing th
rough her. “Just get me there.”

  * * *

  A CROWD OF HER NEIGHBORS were in the courtyard in front of her condo when Lynch drove into the parking area.

  The door of her condo was wide open and she could see the security guard, Les Berber, who was usually at the front gate, standing there in the doorway talking on his telephone.

  Talking to whom?

  She jumped out of the car before it came to a full stop and ran toward the front door.

  “You shouldn’t go in there, Dr. Michaels.” Berber, the security guard, tried to step in front of her. “It’s Miss Olivia. Such a pity. Who would want to do that to such a nice lady?”

  “Do what?” She pushed him aside. “Dammit, what happened to her?”

  “I’ll find out.” Lynch held the security guard back. “Go to her, Kendra. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

  Kendra ran into the condo.

  Mrs. Jimenez from the condo next door was standing in the kitchen doorway. She turned to Kendra with relief. “I’m glad you’re here. We’ve called the ambulance, but we didn’t want to leave her like this. I was the only neighbor with first-aid experience, but I don’t want to touch her. I’m afraid I’ll hurt her more than help.”

  “She’s not dead?” Kendra ran across the room. “I was afraid that she—” She inhaled sharply as she looked down at Olivia. “Dear God.”

  Olivia’s beautiful face was a mass of cuts and bruises and was swelling rapidly. She was unconscious, and her breathing was shallow.

  Mrs. Jiminez nodded. “She’s been badly beaten … I don’t know if that blood coming out of her mouth is from a cut or if she has internal injuries.”

  “I can’t tell either until she’s X-rayed.” Kendra did a superficial examination. No cuts or open wounds except on the face and head, but she was lying crumpled in a weird position. There were dark imprints on the left side of her blouse. “I think she was kicked. The son of a bitch knocked her down, then kicked her in the ribs and back. She shouldn’t be moved. There’s no telling what kind of damage he’s done to her.” She wanted to cradle Olivia in her arms, and she couldn’t even touch her, Kendra realized in agony. “Did they say how long it would be until they could get some help for her?”

  “I checked. The EMTs should be here in another five minutes.” Lynch was suddenly kneeling beside her. “Damn, he really worked her over.”

  “She’ll be lucky if she—” She stopped and gently stroked Olivia’s hair back from that poor battered face. “No, she’s going to live. Do you hear me, Olivia? We’re going to get through this together.” She looked at Lynch. “I was afraid that he’d killed her.”

  “A few more minutes, and he probably would have beaten her to death.”

  “Why? Did he mistake her for me?”

  “Maybe. Or maybe he just surprised her and she made him angry.” He looked around the kitchen. There was spaghetti sauce all over the kitchen. Floor, stove, walls. “Where’s the frying pan?”

  “Outside in front.” Mrs. Jiminez said. “That’s how we knew something was wrong. The frying pan came flying through the window, breaking the glass. My husband and I had just driven up, and he said that we should see if everything was all right with you. It’s not as if you’re the kind of woman who would be throwing—Anyway, Marco was getting out of the car when your front door flew open, and a man ran out. He darted around the house and disappeared.”

  “Would you recognize him if we can show you a photo? Maybe the security cameras got a shot of him.”

  She shook her head. “It was too dark, and we only got a quick glimpse. I’m sorry, Kendra.” She looked toward the door. “I hear a siren. I’ll go out and meet them.”

  “She fought him,” Kendra said. “And when she found out he was too strong for her, she threw that pan out the window to try to attract attention.” She looked at Lynch. “He kicked her, Lynch. And he kept on kicking her. Look at those boot prints on her shirt.”

  “Easy.”

  “Easy? She could die. And it’s my fault.”

  “For giving her your house key? How would you know that—”

  “No, for getting involved, for dragging her into this—” The EMTs were coming through the front door. “I’m going to ride to the hospital with her. Find out who did this, Lynch. He’s not going to get off scot-free.”

  He nodded grimly. “I’ll ask questions and check the video cameras. I’ll catch you later at the hospital.”

  She nodded as she stood up and let Olivia be surrounded by the medical team. “I’ll be there.”

  He hesitated. “Will you be all right? Would you like me to come with you?”

  “No, I want you to find out the name of the man who shoved his boot into Olivia’s ribs. That’s all I need from you.”

  He looked down at Olivia’s slim, crumpled body. They were preparing to lift her onto the gurney, but she was still deeply unconscious. “I’ll call you later.” He turned and left the condo.

  He thinks Olivia is going to die, Kendra thought dully. He thinks I’m going to need someone when my best friend passes.

  But it wasn’t going to happen. She wouldn’t let Olivia be killed by a random attack by a beast who would do this to her. She’d keep her alive and with her by sheer will.

  And by prayer.

  Olivia had been cheated of so much all her life, but she had fought back and reclaimed as much as she could. Surely, God wouldn’t take away her chance to make that life even richer.

  “You’re coming with us?” one of the EMTs asked over his shoulder as they carried Olivia out of the kitchen toward the front door. “We’re taking her to St. Anthony’s. It’s closest, and we’ve got to get her there right away.”

  Because he, too, probably thought there was a good chance that Olivia was going to die. They were wrong, they had to be wrong.

  “I’m coming.” She jumped to her feet. “Let’s get out of here.”

  St. Anthony’s Hospital

  “How is she?” Her mother breezed into the hospital waiting room with her usual bold confidence, but her expression showed grave concern as she studied Kendra’s face. “Not good. How bad?”

  “I don’t know. She’s still in surgery. Severe concussion. One broken rib pierced her lung, and she has kidney damage. Internal bleeding. They won’t know if there’s anything else until they get in and start trying to put her back together.”

  “That’s more than enough.” Deanna sat down in the chair next to her. “My God. Olivia. You always think things like this happen to other people, not to women like Olivia. Have you called her father?”

  “Not yet. I thought I’d wait until she was out of surgery. He’s in Stockholm at some conference. He can’t do anything with an ocean between them.”

  “I’d want to know if it was you. I’d be on the phone with your doctors and make sure that they were doing what I wanted them to do.”

  “We have a different kind of relationship. Olivia’s mother died when she was only six, in the accident that blinded Olivia. Her father has always been overprotective and resents the fact that Olivia won’t live with him and let him take care of her.”

  “It doesn’t change the fact that he loves her. I remember when you were kids, he’d pick her up after the two of you had been playing together. He adored her.”

  “But he couldn’t let her go.” She leaned wearily back in her chair. “So she had to break with him. It hurt her.”

  “It’s not easy to let go of a child. Particularly one with … problems.”

  “You mean blind as a bat,” Kendra said ruefully. “But you managed. You let me be as free as I could be. Then you made sure that I had that operation.”

  “I’m remarkable. What can I say?” She reached out and covered Kendra’s hand on the arm of the chair. “And I had a remarkable daughter.” She squeezed her hand, then released it. “But I think I’ll be the one to call Olivia’s father. We share a problem and a search for a solution.”

  “Whatever.” She was too tense
and raw to argue. If her mother had made up her mind, she would prove an irresistible force, and Kendra wasn’t up to struggling against her at the moment. Something else suddenly occurred to her. “How did you know about Olivia?”

  “Not from you,” her mother said tartly. “I would have thought you’d have called me. I care about Olivia, too. She was in and out of my house from the time she was eight years old.”

  “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “No, you were only feeling. It didn’t occur to you that I’d want to be there for you?”

  “Mom, drop it, okay?” She repeated, “How did you know?”

  “Lynch told me.”

  Kendra’s eyes widened. “Lynch?”

  “He drove by the campus. I was teaching a night class, and he came in and introduced himself.” She tilted her head. “He’s … very unusual. Very different from Jeff. I’m not sure I approve of him, but he’s interesting.”

  “That’s for sure,” Kendra said dryly. “And you don’t have to approve of him. I don’t approve of him either, but he’s excellent at what he does. So he told you about Olivia’s injury?”

  “Yes, then he whisked me out of the class, canceled my coffee date with Todd, and drove me here.”

  “Whisked? Canceled? And you permitted it? That’s not like you, Mom.”

  “I didn’t think so either. It just kind of happened—and then it seemed very reasonable in retrospect. That’s why I’m not sure I approve of him. Was I manipulated?”

  “Probably. You’ll have to decide that for yourself. Lynch has that reputation. Where is he?”

  “He dropped me off at the front entrance. He said he had something to do for you.”

  “Yes, the video cameras at the condo.” But he had decided that picking up her mother and bringing her to the hospital had first priority. He’d wanted her to have someone she loved with her during this time of pain.

  And she was suddenly passionately grateful to Lynch for bringing her mother to her. There were only two people in the world that she loved, and one of them was in that operating room fighting for her life. The other one was sitting there in silent support, ready to wade in and fight any battle Kendra had to wage. It didn’t stop the pain or the worry but it made her feel less alone.