by Hazel Hunter
Hugh stood with hands in the pockets of his white coat. “Only the good ones.” Her smile widened. “You were pretty wonderful in there,” he said.
She pushed away from the wall, embarrassed by the compliment and hoping she wasn’t blushing. “You’ve been waiting all this time?”
“Oh, yes,” he said. “It’s my understanding that bribery works.”
She remembered the scene in the cafeteria. Now she was sure her face must be red.
“But in all seriousness,” he said. “It’s absolutely pouring out there. I insist on giving you dinner and a ride home.”
“Really?” she said. It almost sounded like a date. And the thought of a dry car ride almost made her giddy––until she remembered where she lived. “Um, maybe I should just take the bus.”
To her chagrin, Noobie actually whimpered. She stared down at him with the silent “what?”.
“See,” Hugh said, taking her by the elbow and heading to the bridge. “You can’t argue with us both.”
Chapter 9
Ramon was about to give up, when he saw her––or rather Anubis. He’d bounded from the elevator, trailing his leash.
“Phoenix,” Ramon called out to her. “There you–”
That doctor was with her.
“Pastor,” she said, waving and smiling. They altered course.
Ramon stood there, a stupid smile plastered to his face. She gave him a light hug, which he didn’t return. Instead, he only stared at the huge man next to her.
“Dr. Colmain,” she said. “This is Pastor Bolivar. He runs the chapel.” She smiled at him. “You’re here late.”
“As are you,” he said, never taking his eyes from the doctor. Though Phoenix hadn’t noticed, they didn’t acknowledge one another.
“Noobie’s fans can’t get enough of him,” she said.
The big poodle trotted over now, trailing his leash, which the doctor picked up.
For some reason that irritated Ramon.
He handed the leash to Phoenix.
“I’ll get the car,” the doctor said.
“Are you sure?” Phoenix asked.
The car? He was going to drive her home? Ramon had to think quick.
“I’m very sure,” the doctor said, then headed across the lobby.
“Something special that you’re staying late?” she asked. “Things must get busy before Christmas.”
The doctor glanced at Ramon just before he exited.
“Yes,” Ramon said, finally looking at her. “Yes, that’s it. There’s a lot to do before Christmas.”
She cocked her head at him, then glanced after the doctor. “Well, look, I’ve got to get going.”
“I’ll walk you to the bus,” Ramon blurted out.
Though Phoenix had started to turn, she stopped and stared at him. “What?” The look on her face was one of complete confusion and surprise. “But–”
Though his heart felt like it might stop any moment, he kept his voice calm.
“I don’t want you riding with him,” he said flatly.
Now she couldn’t even find words, staring at him with her mouth open. Whatever he said, it’d better be good.
“It’s just,” Ramon said, glancing at the exit, “I don’t know him.” He’d been about to say ‘you don’t know him’ but checked himself, trying not to blame her. “I worry,” he said, trying to decide how far to go. The doctor was very good looking. “Especially given your…history.” When she blinked at him, he tried again. “With men, I mean.”
Ramon knew that what she’d endured at the hands of a so-called friend had changed her––in many ways. He knew that she had brought him back to life. He knew she was a witch, even if she didn’t. More than that, the “doctor” was a warlock. He couldn’t permit this.
For a second, her face didn’t change. But in only moments, realization sunk in.
“No!” she said, surprising him so much, he took a half step back.
Anubis took an abrupt seat at her feet and stared up at her.
Phoenix covered her mouth, her eyes wide, and shook her head.
Ramon was instantly sorry. This was not the reaction he’d anticipated at all.
“I’m sorry,” he said, about to retract everything, when she held up her hands.
“No,” she said again, more in control. “It’s just that… It’s not…” She glanced down at Anubis, who was cocking his head. “We weren’t…”
Her arms flopped down to her sides, and she hung her head.
“You’re right,” she said quietly. “I wasn’t thinking.”
The disappointment and hurt poured off her, and Ramon kicked himself. Of all the things in the world, causing Phoenix pain was the last thing he wanted.
She looked up and her glistening eyes fixed on him. It was like being skewered.
“Thank you, pastor,” she whispered. “I can always count on you.” She gathered up the loops of Anubis’s leash. “Come on, Noobie. It’s late.”
Too stunned to move, he simply stood there when she gave him a quick hug. Then she and Anubis headed to the exit and were gone.
Ramon looked at the rain coming down. He didn’t know how long it was before he moved. As though in a trance, he went back to the chapel. That doctor was a warlock. He was sure of it. More than that, he’d come between Ramon and Phoenix. He’d made him say things that had caused her pain, even if it was for her own good.
Ramon stepped inside the chapel, closed the door, and locked it. In his tiny office at the back, he did the same. He plopped down in the chair, and took out the address book he kept in the middle drawer. Though he’d never called the number, he’d always kept it. Now he knew why.
* * *
• • • • •
* * *
Outside, the cold air soothed Nix’s hot face. Gods, what had she been thinking? Before Hugh drove up, she strode into the dark rain, pulling up her hoodie. Though she had to tug Noobie’s leash a little, he followed at a trot. It took only several paces before they had both faded into the murky driveway that led to the street. She kept close to the tall hedges, blending in.
Though she didn’t dare look behind, she knew Hugh must be pulling under the overhang by now. She could hardly believe herself. The pastor was right. She didn’t know Dr. Colmain. In all her time at the hospital, no one had ever offered her a ride home.
But her pace slowed, because the awful part wasn’t that it’d taken the pastor to point that out. It was the fact that she wanted to go back. She wanted to get in his car, and see his smile. She may not know him, but there was something good about him. She glanced down at Noobie, who seemed not to notice the rain. Noobie liked him.
She almost laughed at herself. Anubis was a better judge of people than her. But at that thought, she suddenly sobered. In fact, she wasn’t a good judge. Her ‘history with men,’ as the pastor had put it, was ridiculously brief. It’d begun and ended that night in the alley.
A rivulet of water ran down the back of her neck. Her hoodie was already soaked through. It was going to be a long walk.
* * *
• • • • •
* * *
Hugh gave the horn one more try. Where could Phoenix be? From the shelter of the emergency entrance overhang, it was easy to see through the wide, glass doors. She wasn’t there.
He put the Mercedes in park, left the engine running, and jumped out. In a few quick strides, he was inside.
“Phoenix?” he called out.
Only the RN at the window heard. She was handing a clipboard to a young mother whose little girl was in a stroller. Hugh looked in every direction, as he approached the nurse.
“Did you see Phoenix?” he asked.
The nurse tucked her hands into the pockets of her sweater, eying him. “Who?” she said.
“The young woman with the dog,” he said, still looking up and down the corridor.
“I think she left,” the nurse said.
She left?
The young mother came back. “Am
I supposed to fill this part in?” she said, pointing to the middle of the form.
Hugh nodded at the nurse and backed away, at a bit of a loss. It wasn’t often he was stood up, particularly in so abrupt a fashion. To his surprise though, the confusion he felt turned to disappointment. He’d truly been looking forward to spending time with Phoenix. For a moment, he stood looking in the direction that Phoenix and Noobie must have taken––through the rain. What would have possessed her? If he hurried, he might be able to catch them before they reached the bus stop. But clearly she hadn’t wanted that. What had happened?
He crossed his arms, glancing at the nurse, then around the lobby. His eyes landed on the chapel door, now closed. He stared at it and felt his jaw clench. The chaplain who was working late. It had to be.
Lightning flashed outside, followed by a slow, rolling peal of thunder.
So the chaplain wanted to interfere? Hugh eyed the renewed deluge. Though he was a healer, he wasn’t without resources. His rank and years in the corps afforded him a knowledge of its operations to which few were privy. He knew the healing centers, of course, but also the covens, their masters, and many of their members. As the sheets of rain flowed through the parking lot lights, Hugh knew it wasn’t a weather Wiccan he needed. There was already plenty of that. He took out his cell phone and thumbed it on. What he needed was a way to control the water, and send it where it would do some good. He scrolled through his contacts. Phoenix couldn’t take the bus if it wasn’t running.
Chapter 10
Nix had managed to avoid Dr. Gorgeous all afternoon. It hadn’t been hard. He wasn’t a psychiatrist. Today she and Noobie had gotten the call to the psychiatry department, to work mostly with recovering addicts. But as the dim light of the rainy afternoon filtered in through the tall windows of the communal day room, Nix couldn’t help but think of the previous evening. No sooner had she reached the bus than she’d regretted leaving so abruptly. It had seemed mean, and Hugh seemed so nice. But the chaplain had been right. She didn’t really know him. She sighed. It was a fallout from the rape that she didn’t know how to get around: she’d lost confidence that she could read people. So far, she’d relied on trusting people like the chaplain. He’d never steered her wrong.
“I used to have a poodle,” Chris said again. “But she was a miniature.”
Chris had made several visits already. Though tall, she was painfully thin, and being treated for an eating disorder. Seated on the small couch next to her, she leaned down and hugged Noobie so close that the tall dog had no choice but to put his front paws on Chris’s slippered feet. Her nail polish was bright red and chipped. It almost matched her hair, the long auburn strands pulled into a messy ponytail.
“She was black too,” Nix said, since Chris had already told her. “What was her name?”
She’d already told her that too. It was Bitsy. Chris repeated herself––a lot. Whatever her troubles might be, they weren’t strictly related to an eating disorder.
“Bitsy,” she said, into the top of Noobie’s head.
Noobie panted a little and rolled his eyes toward her. He was getting tired.
An orderly who had helped someone with a rolling IV pole settle themselves at a small table, picked up the television remote and changed the channel. Though the volume was low, as the channels flashed by, a headline across the top of the screen caught Nix’s eyes.
“Whoa,” she said, standing up. “Could you go back one channel?”
The orderly, a young man with blond dreds who barely looked out of high school, aimed the remote and went back a channel. The headline read “Wilshire Boulevard Closed.”
“Oh no,” Nix moaned, stepping closer and looking up.
A reporter under an umbrella stood with his back to a scene that looked like a construction site.
“…couldn’t withstand the sudden deluge,” he was saying into the microphone. “Some of the aging infrastructure is nearly one-hundred years old. Incredibly, this burst drain was cast iron…”
Traffic, ridiculous at the best of times, would be completely tangled. But more important to Nix were the bus lines. If they weren’t completely shut down, they’d be an even bigger mess.
“Great,” she muttered. She wasn’t even sure how she was going to figure out how to get around the area with the broken pipe.
Though Noobie hadn’t uttered a sound, Nix frowned and turned to him. Maybe his nails had scrabbled on the floor, or maybe her internal timer had gone off. But he was clearly in distress. Though he was standing and trying to pull away, Chris had him around the neck.
“Okay, Noobie!” Nix said, careful not to address Chris. She clapped her hands once. “You need to spread the love.”
But rather than let Noobie go, Chris hunkered down.
Nix took a step closer.
“Anubis,” she said, her tone a bit more stern. She patted her thigh. “Come.”
She knew Chris had to have heard. Everyone in the day room had heard, including the orderly. They were all watching. Nix took a couple steps closer, as did the orderly. She held a hand up to him, and he stopped.
Chris had never been a problem. Maybe she just needed a few extra moments.
“All right, Noobie,” Nix said, moving steadily closer. “Time to say your goodbyes.”
Noobie whined a little, and a bit of panic leapt into Nix’s throat. Noobie never did that with a patient.
“That’s okay, boy,” Nix said, her voice soothing. She took the leash out of her hoodie pocket and unfurled it. “Let’s get you hooked up.”
Though Nix paused, Chris didn’t look up or move. Noobie rolled his eyes again. Though Chris had him around the neck, the clip for the leash was on the back of his service vest.
Slowly, Nix bent down. As she silently attached the leash, Chris made no move. But as she stood up, ready to give the leash a little tug, Chris lashed out. Though thin, the taller woman wasn’t frail. It seemed as though she’d meant to push Nix back, but her elbow caught Nix in the mouth. Nix lurched back with a yelp.
Noobie barked and yanked free of Chris, but the tug on the leash sent the already off-balance Nix sprawling on the floor. She landed hard, her shoulder smashing into the ground. Noobie barked again, but Nix clutched the leash.
Chris was standing now, towering over her. Noobie growled. Chris’s upper lip curled and twitched as she stared directly into Noobie’s eyes. The tall woman reared back and lifted her foot. She was going to kick him. Nix struggled forward.
A white coat cut her off, swishing just in front of her face.
“That’ll do,” the man said.
He was wearing light blue scrubs as pants. It was a doctor, but Nix could only see the back of his knees.
“Orderly!” he said.
She recognized that voice. “Hugh?” she said, tasting blood, the word coming out as though she had an accent.
All around her there were scuffling feet. Noobie was trying to jump up on someone.
“Bitsy is better!” Chris said.
“Noobie, no!” Nix said, pulling him back toward her.
“Easy, Noobie,” Hugh said, cutting off Noobie’s view.
In only moments, the orderly and an RN were ushering Chris out the door. Hugh crouched down in front of her, keeping Noobie between them.
“It’s not her fault!” Nix said. “It’s not Chris’s fault. It was an accident!”
Though she tried to get up, her shoulder hurt, and she was still grabbing Noobie’s leash.
“Hold on,” Hugh said. She got up to her knees. “I said, hold on!”
Nix froze. Finally she looked up into Hugh’s face. Though his voice had held a reprimand, his smoky eyes were full of worry. He stared at her lower lip.
“You’re hurt,” he whispered.
He glanced at her shoulder and pressed his lips into a thin line. He stood and reached out his hands over Noobie’s head.
“Can you stand?”
For a moment, Nix wasn’t sure. The shock of ending up on th
e ground so suddenly had left her shaky. But she nodded and took both his hands. He helped her to stand with just the good arm, and took the leash from the other hand. She teetered for a moment, but he looped an arm around her waist.
“Do you want a wheelchair?”
“No!” she said, too loud.
She swallowed hard and took a breath. Noobie was looking up at her, which she expected, but now she realized that the handful of patients in the day room were all staring at her too.
“Sorry, you guys,” she said, embarrassed. “It was just an accident.”
“No it wasn’t,” said the man with the IV at the table.
The RN for the ward rushed back in the door and immediately came over to her and Hugh.
“Have you got a room?” Hugh asked.
He started to move slowly to the door. Nix leaned on him and took slow steps as well, as the nurse led the way. Noobie trailed behind them.
“We’ll be back,” Nix mumbled, as they passed through the exit.
Only several feet away, Hugh helped her into a room, and sat her down on an empty patient bed.
“Go make sure the orderly doesn’t need any help,” he ordered the nurse. “Then get on the phone with whoever is on call for this department, and get them down here. Then make sure there’s someone with the patients in the television room.” She hesitated, a little wide-eyed. “Now.”
She jumped as though she’d woken up, spun on her heel and was gone. Hugh handed the leash to Nix, closed the door behind the nurse, and drew the curtain around the bed. He pulled open a drawer, and grabbed a few items before turning to her.
Nix gingerly tried to touch her sore mouth, but Hugh gently took her hand.
“Let me see,” he said. “Doctor’s orders,” he said, when she hesitated. She lowered her hand.
Hugh took a small pen light from his pocket.
“Look at the light,” he said, raising it up in front of her. She did as he said. He flicked it down, then pointed it at the other eye. “Did you hit your head?”