“No…I didn’t see anything like that.” What she did see she wasn’t going to say, but what the hell else could the man assume?
Stone’s gaze dropped to the tabletop and he began to drum his fingers. “Carmel’s not well. Her delusions are growing stronger and more intense. I’m going to make arrangements for her to transfer to another facility—one that’s more appropriate for someone at her stage of deterioration.”
Amanda took a deep breath. Damn it, Carmel was not losing her mind! Those shadow things were real! But what the hell could she say?
Stone looked up. “That’s why I asked to speak with you, Amanda. It’s going to take a while for a spot to open up for her at the facility I have in mind. I’m going to need your help. It’s a real challenge, but you’re the only one here I can count on.”
“What do you need?”
“Carmel needs twenty-four hour care.” When she nodded in agreement, he continued. “And you’re the only member of the staff she thinks has her best interests at heart. What I’m going to order is that you’re to be with her 24/7 until I can arrange for the transfer. It’ll only be for a few days—I’m sure I can have a spot arranged for her by the first of November.” He leaned across the tabletop. “Please…this is a big ask, but I’d like you to share her room until then. You’ll sleep when she does, and be with her at all times.”
“You want me to move in with her?”
“Yes, but just for these few days. We’ll pay you for the full twenty-four hour shifts; so most of your earnings will be overtime. On top of that, out of my own pocket, I’ll double the amount.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“I am. Carmel’s very, very important to me, Amanda. She’s been a large part of my life for ages.” He shook his head with a sad smile. “I wouldn’t be where I am today were it not for her.” His eyes brightened. “And she thinks the world of you. If you can help me with this…I’d be forever in your debt.”
“I like Carmel too. But 24/7? Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“For a short period, yes. There may be some anxiety on her part when she’s transferred, but we need to stabilize her mood, and do the best we can to diminish her delusions. I really think you can help. Will you?”
“If you’re sure, Doctor…”
“I am.”
“Okay then.”
“Thank you so much, Amanda!” He gave a small laugh. “Not only have you lifted a weight, you just made my recommendation for the promotions committee simple as well!”
“I’m not doing it for that…”
Stone made a small wave with his hand. “I know, I know. I just want you to realize that you going above and beyond for the sake of a resident isn’t going unnoticed.” He gave her a warm smile and rose. “I suppose you’re going to have to make arrangements at home?”
“I’ll phone my husband. Kelly’s an only child, and he’s holding down the fort at home.” She nodded. “Yeah, we’ll be able to handle this on a temporary basis. He’ll bring me some changes of clothes.”
Stone reached across the table, and they shook hands. “Thank you Amanda. You’ve lifted a great weight from my shoulders.”
As they went back to the nursing station so Stone could write up the new orders, Amanda could barely keep from floating off the floor. A ton of money right away, the promotion in the bag, and Carmel would be looked after until they got her out of this place.
What could be better than that?
TWENTY TWO
LINDA FINISHED MAKING HER BED and noticing the card still resting on her nightstand, she picked it up to reread. Her throat tightened when the picture of Etienne slipped from it, falling to her lap. She couldn’t help smiling at the quirky lopsided grin in a face the color of cinnamon. His dark chocolate eyes still held that impish spark while a corkscrew lock of hair fell onto his forehead.
Normally correspondence with the teen was by email but actually receiving a card and current photo was something he knew she treasured. He never once forgot her birthday in all the years since she’d seen him last.
Bon Anniversaire, Mama Linda! I hope that you celebrate this day with your many friends. How is work at the nursing home going? You will be proud to know that I just completed a first aid seminar offered by the Red Cross. It’s not quite doing the important work you do as a nurse but you never know when it might come in handy.
I’m going to miss being a student after high school ends. The classes are simple for me—even the advanced ones! Mssr. Rochelle is unhappy that the scholarship for Universite’ de Haiti went to the principal’s son, but that is the way of the world, I suppose. I’ll be attending the junior college in the fall if all goes well with my new job!
I have been working after school at the Marriott hotel doing everything from bussing tables to sweeping the walkways. The pay is okay but the tips are fantastic. My boss, Manuel thinks I can work full time when I finish this school year. Maybe I can save enough money to visit you for a while Mama Linda.
Missing your sweet smile and loving support!
Yours,
Etienne
Linda wiped a tear from her eyes as she folded the card, propping the photo against her lamp. The boy had grown so much from when she’d seen him last more than fifteen years ago. Had things worked out differently Etienne would have been hers and Lucien’s adopted son.
With a sigh she picked up the boy’s photo and stepped over to her dresser. On top of the dresser was another photo, held in a black wooden frame. A wistful smile crossed her lips as she studied the image of her younger, more innocent self.
It had been taken in Port Au Prince shortly after she and the other sisters had arrived to help with the clinics that had been devastated by the earthquake. A younger (and much more slender) version of herself was smiling at the camera. She was wearing her habit; the shorter ‘sickbed work veil’, a gray tunic that went down past her calves and sensible black shoes.
Standing beside her was Lucien. They had just met; he was the attending physician of the backcountry clinic she and two other sisters had been assigned to. He had just completed his residency in Paris, but had come to Haiti with Doctors Without Borders.
Just like her, Lucien was all business when it came to patient care. If she was thought of as cold, he was gruff.
They were the same age, and side by side were doing difficult and important work. Small wonder they fell in love during that time of crises. The two of them bonded over their common love for that poor orphan boy they spent a full day and night attending.
Etienne had staggered into the clinic; a tiny boy with a broken arm. That was complicated by his gross malnutrition and the variety of infections. They almost lost him twice that night, but with her prayers and attentiveness and Lucien’s world class education and training, the boy survived.
Over the next month as Etienne healed, a part of her own heart opened. As had the gruff, all business doctor’s. When he kissed her that moonlit night, she knew that she had met her soul mate.
Dreams became plans very quickly. She’d leave her order, they’d marry and adopt Etienne (and, God willing have a child of their own?).
She had never been happier.
But that had changed when a freak car accident had claimed her fiancé’s life.
Her jaw set in a hard line. A freak accident? Considering the turmoil she’d encountered with the Vodou cult in Haiti she often wondered if Lucien’s death wasn’t retribution.
During her time in that small village, she and Maman Brigitte had crossed swords repeatedly. That evil, death worshipping minion of Vodou had turned ‘Sister Linda’s’ stomach on sight. They were bound to lock horns.
And they certainly did. The sisters and even gruff Dr. Lucien brought a sense of peace, love and hope to the isolated village.
Rather than spells, chants and blood sacrifices under a full moon, Linda and the other sisters demonstrated faith in action. They cared for the sick and dying, of course. But they also dug fresh wells
with their own hands, helped rebuild fallen structures, and re-opened the abandoned school.
With each project, the influence and fear that Maman Brigitte held over the villagers diminished. As her status declined, her rage towards the sisters grew.
Brigitte’s fury exploded in the village square that afternoon when their paths crossed. Spewing the most hateful of bile, she harangued and screamed at Sister Linda. Shaking her bead filled staff, waving her incense laden crucible she swore and cursed in a thundering diatribe that brought the entire village out to watch.
Linda stood in the center of the square fingering her rosary as Brigitte’s attack rolled over her. As strong as her faith was, she was frightened by the cacophony of the bellowing woman. She remained quiet, letting the Maman exhaust herself. When covered in sweat and out of breath, Brigitte finally fell silent. Sister Linda, knees shaking like a tuning fork under her tunic, stepped up to the woman.
“Maman Brigitte,” she said in French, “you have ruled this village through fear and terror of the beyond. I, my sisters and the doctor came here in love.” She lifted her hand, her palm facing the woman. “In the name of love, I rebuke you,” she said in a firm voice. “By all that’s holy, I rebuke you. Leave this place, and take your filth with you!”
The gasp from the townspeople rose in a single sigh. They had all expected Sister Linda to be overwhelmed by the Maman’s incantations; and there she was rebuking the priestess?
Brigitte’s eyes turned a furious red. Her own hand rose, her index and pinky sticking out from her clenched fist. “You will pay, Sister Linda!” She jabbed her hand at Linda two more times. “I say this three times, you will pay, you will pay!”
She stomped her staff on the ground three times and with a flourish walked away.
The crowd sighed once more in wonder. From the back of the crowd, a single person began clapping. It took hold like a lightning bolt and the entire village was immediately cheering and applauding as they watched the Maman turn down the road back into the forest.
Linda knew the Mambo priestess she’d tangled with was renowned in the community to be one of the most powerful ones on the island.
Two months later, after she had withdrew from the order, her world came crashing down when Lucien’s car freakishly ran off the road killing him instantly. There would be no apartment in Paris. There would be no adoption of Etienne. And she was still a virgin.
Under a leaden weight of grief Linda returned to the States. She had kept in touch with Etienne through the years, doing what she could for the boy as he grew to a young man.
Linda let out a long, sad sigh. She rarely indulged in ruminating over the past; that was water under the bridge and nothing could be done about it. It was that run in with the new client Carmel Turner which brought these memories back. She hadn’t been cussed out in French since that episode in the village. No wonder her mind was back in those days.
“Thanks Carmel,” she said aloud with a sardonic smile. “Thanks a lot!”
She looked at Etienne’s photo again. The lure of easy money working in the tourist industry was a bonus for him but long term? Unh, unh. And with his brains! No way was he wasting that mind when he could easily finish college or university. Haiti needed doctors, not bellhops.
With a long sigh she propped the picture against the bedside lamp. Of course, he was concerned about money for college. Well, not really concerned—he didn’t have any. She’d helped him so far but the cost of higher education for him was beyond her means...unless she got that Supervisor position.
She pictured having Etienne visit before he settled into college. Her place wasn’t large but it could be managed.
The buzzing of her cell phone in the other room dragged her from her daydreams. She stood up and hurried to her living area where the phone was charging on the small end table. A glance showed that it was the nursing home calling.
“Hello?”
“Hi Linda, Liz here. I’m sorry to disturb you on your day off but I was wondering if it would be possible for you to work tonight. I’ve had to shuffle a few shifts around to accommodate Dr. Stone and I’m afraid that I’ll be short staffed on the overnight.”
Linda wasn’t scheduled to work for another two days. Not that she had any special plans for her time off but still... But this was the Director Of Nursing asking, and that promotion interview was still to happen. She forced a light tone when she answered, “No problem, Liz. these things happen. But what’s up with Dr. Stone? Why the change?”
There was a pause for a beat before Liz answered, “He wants private care for Carmel Turner for a week or so. He claims it’s needed for her adjustment and that she’s a special friend.” She snorted, “He’s paying for it out of his own pocket if you can believe that.”
Linda’s back stiffened at the mention of Carmel Turner. “We’re having an outside nurse on the ward exclusively for Miss Turner? I’m not sure how well that’s going to go over—”
“No. No. He’s asked that Amanda Ennis cover Carmel Turner’s care. And it’s just for a little while. I know it wouldn’t be good for the other residents’ to see her get such special care but I think, seeing as how it’s short term….”
The last piece of information, that Amanda was helping Stone with this, added fuel to the fire that burned in Linda’s gut. Still, she was a professional and presenting that front was even more important now with the looming Supervisor position in play. “Certainly. I’ll be in at seven. You know you can always count on me, Liz.”
“I know. Thanks again, Linda. I’ll remember this.”
Disconnecting the call, Linda exhaled slowly through gritted teeth. Well! Wasn’t that a fine howdy doody! That bitch Carmel Turner was not only manipulating the nursing staff but now she had Stone dancing to her tune! In the process getting brownie points for that little snit Amanda.
Well the pair of them might think they ruled the roost over at Serenity but she was going to set a few things straight. Amanda better not think this was some kind of promotion that she could order the other staff around, seeing as how she was so ‘special’ with the ‘special resident’.
The good mood she’d had reading Etienne’s letter and dreaming of seeing the kid was gone now. A glance at the phone once more showed that it was around five p.m. She’d only get an hour of sleep before she had to go in and work twelve.
She trudged back into the bedroom and toed her slippers off. Etienne’s photo was the last thing she looked at before she settled in the bed and closed her eyes.
TWENTY THREE
KELLY GLANCED OVER AT HER FATHER as they drove through the small town. He looked tired and the set of his jaw showed that he was a little T’d off at the situation. Not only did his normal routine get disrupted having to come pick her up but now he had to shoulder the full responsibility of running the house while Mom worked.
But really, he didn’t look all that sick. How could he be sick and out every Wednesday for a few hours whenever Mom worked nights? She’d slipped just that once, complaining in front of Mom about it, but never again.
She remembered that morning when she’d faked being sick to get out of that science test. Dad had been giving her the gears and she’d shot back at him about how he’d been out for hours the night before. Mom tried to act nonchalant but she’d seen the shock flare in her eyes for a moment. Did she also suspect he was cheating, probably seeing some skanky woman?
Holly sure thought so! She was a big fan of that soap opera The Bold and The Beautiful; she watched it with her Nana every day after school and was up on the sort of crappy stuff men do.
The glance she threw at her father driving the car was foul. Poor Mom. Not only working herself to death, but Dad sneaking around too.
From the backseat, Neil broke the stony silence in the car, “Hey Kell, why don’t you come to my house for a few hours? You could try my new Starcraft game? I’ll walk you home afterwards.”
She turned to look at him. Sometimes when he talked lately his voic
e did this weird change of pitch in the middle of a sentence. His blond eyebrows tugged together above flaring cheeks amplified by his fair complexion. He had grown a few inches over the last year and now seemed all skinny legs and clumsy hands. The corners of her mouth twitched suppressing a grin.
Her father looked over at her, encouragement in his smile. “I don’t mind if you want to visit with Neil for a couple of hours. But I’ll pick you up after.”
For a moment she was tempted to say no if for no other reason than to be obstinate to her dad. But she’d been spending more time with Holly lately and Neil had asked her more than a few times in the past week to hang out—something they used to do every day. “Okay. That would be cool.” But Starcraft really wasn’t her thing. Video games in general were boring.
“Great! Mom left pizza for us. She’s working tonight.” Neil pulled his phone out and his thumbs flew on the tiny keyboard. “I’m just letting her know. She gets nervous when she’s not there when I get home”
Kelly stared straight ahead watching the street where the car had turned onto. It was only a couple of blocks from where she lived but it was an older neighborhood with smaller homes, many of which were in need of repair. There was a smattering of run-down apartment buildings hulking under poorly lit streets. There was an air of dejectedness about the area which was probably why her father wanted to give her a lift home from there.
Her father looked in the rear view mirror, “How is your mother doing? I haven’t seen her in a while.”
Kelly’s eyes narrowed and she barely managed to not elbow her father in the ribs. The unspoken concern underlying his question really was ‘How was she doing now that she was alone?’ Neil’s father was killed a year ago in a hunting accident, and Dad’s question was just a painful reminder.
“She’s good. She gets tired from working at the Seven Eleven of course. But she’s doing okay.” Seeing his face morph from carefree to wistful as he replied proved Kelly’s point as he watched the houses drift by. “It’s that one right there, Mr. Ennis.”
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