Everything Pales in Comparision

by Rebecca Swartz

  She closed the door just as the two nurses stepped out from behind the curtain with a tray of instruments, swabs and disinfectant.

  “She’s all yours,” one of them said. “She’s just getting dressed.”

  Emma nodded and held the door for them as they left. She then turned to face the curtained-off area and listened to Daina dressing. She felt distinctly uncomfortable. She was supposed to be in the room for her own protection, so she couldn’t leave. She glanced around the room, trying to find something to occupy her attention.

  “You okay out there?” Daina asked from behind the curtain.

  Emma brought her gaze down from the ceiling, back to the curtain. “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Okay, I won’t be much longer.” A few moments later, the curtain was pulled back. Daina peered around the edge of it. “You sure you’re okay?”

  It suddenly occurred to Emma to wonder if Daina might be obliquely referring to her earlier abrupt departure. She had absolutely no intention of discussing that event. She quickly said, “Yes, I’m sure. You look well. No more bandages?” The dressing on the left side of Daina’s head was absent.

  “No more bandages and no more sling. I still have to be careful though, and I’ll need to continue with the physical therapy for a while yet, but otherwise it’s all good.” She sounded immensely pleased. “Oh, and the staples in my belly, they come out next week.”

  “That sounds…painful,” Emma observed. “Why the staples?”

  “Well, apparently I ruptured my spleen and almost bled to death, which is why I arrested. They had to remove it. They used staples to hold me together.”

  “Oh, wow, I didn’t know that, any of that.”

  Daina shrugged. “Not many people do, I’m guessing.” She reached up to gingerly touch the wounded area at her left temple. It looked angry and tender.

  “Does it hurt?” Emma asked.

  “A little.” Daina’s brow furrowed. “How does it look?”

  Emma, meeting her eyes, saw the worry there. She smiled gently. “You look fine,” she said, with complete sincerity.

  Daina colored slightly, but her look of relief was unmistakable. She gave a small smile. “Thank you.”

  “Are you sure you’re ready? Because the chopper will be here in about ten minutes.”

  “Chopper?” Daina’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Do you mean as in helicopter?”

  She nodded. “I couldn’t say anything while the nurses were present. But it’s the quickest and safest way to get you out of here.” She decided that was all she would say on the subject. She was barely clear on what was going on herself. And besides, her head still hurt abominably. She really didn’t feel, either mentally or physically, up to answering any questions.

  Daina looked at her thoughtfully. “You take your job very seriously.”

  “There’s a life at stake,” Emma returned quietly.

  Daina nodded, her face expressionless. They were both startled by three sharp raps on the door. Emma moved first, heading for the door.

  “Yes,” she called out.

  “It’s Michaels.”

  She cracked open the door.

  “We’re going up now. Everything’s in place, chopper’s almost here. Ready?”

  Emma saw that the hall was crowded with uniformed police officers. Their escort, no doubt. She nodded at Michaels, then looked back at Daina and smiled at her. “Let’s go,” she said easily and, holding the door open, allowed Daina to exit first, then quickly followed after.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Daina had never been in a helicopter and she wasn’t quite sure if she was nervous or excited at the prospect. Her adrenaline was up and her heart was pounding, but she didn’t let on about her current state. She carefully stilled her expression to neutrality before leaving the room. As she stepped into the hall, she was startled to see so many police officers and that those officers wore Kevlar vests.

  “What the hell is going on?” she asked, some of her surprise creeping into her voice. “Why so many cops?”

  “Don’t let it bother you, just keep moving,” was all Emma said.

  Daina felt Emma’s hand at her back, gently urging her forward in the direction of the elevators. She saw Michaels a little way down the hall, also wearing a vest. Everyone was looking at them, and as they came upon the nurse’s station, the staff on duty murmured well-wishes and goodbyes. It all began to feel somewhat surreal; she almost felt as if she were going to her doom instead of her supposed salvation.

  Daina was aware of police officers falling in behind them and as she and Emma entered the elevator, she ended up in one corner. Michaels stood directly across from her, Emma beside her, and two other officers blocked the doors.

  Daina shook her head. “When did this become a SWAT exercise?”

  “We’ve decided this is necessary,” Michaels answered.

  “Why, did something happen?”

  His eyes flicked briefly in Emma’s direction, before he looked back at Daina. “I really can’t say anything, either way.”

  “Okay, you know what? Fuck you,” Daina snapped at him. “I’ve had enough of your cryptic little remarks and your bullshit secrets.” Everyone in the elevator had tensed, but she didn’t care. “When are you going to get it through your head that this is my life we’re talking about here, and I deserve to know what the hell is going on?”

  “Daina, hey—” Emma started to say, her voice pitched low as she reached out to touch Daina’s arm.

  “No, piss off!” Daina snapped, rounding on her as well. She knocked Emma’s hand away. “And don’t fucking touch me. Any of you. Just piss off.”

  Emma’s face briefly registered hurt surprise, and a part of Daina was instantly sorry for her actions, her words, even while another part snidely congratulated her on being the poster child for overreacting. A moment later Emma’s expression had closed down, reverting once more to that cool inscrutability Daina had become familiar with. And she was just fine with that, content to hold onto her anger and brandish it again if need be. She couldn’t believe their arrogance or their ignorance, and she was fed up with all the secrecy. She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead.

  The remainder of the elevator ride was completed in tense silence. They filed out singly, into a large, enclosed concrete and glass area, to be met by another Kevlar-clad officer.

  “All clear,” he said to the sergeant. “Chopper’s ETA is one minute.”

  Daina took a couple of steps off to the side, putting some distance between herself and the rest of the group.

  Emma glanced over and then dropped back to stand beside Daina, seemingly undaunted by her earlier behavior. “Are you all right?” she asked, voice lowered.

  Daina didn’t look at her, just gave a single stiff nod in answer.

  Michaels looked back. “Have you ever flown in a helicopter before, Daina?”

  She shook her head once.

  He eyed her briefly, then asked, “Are you okay with flying?”

  She looked him dead in the eye. “Bring it on,” she said quietly.

  Surprisingly, he grinned. “Damn, you’re a tough one,” he said, with a shake of his head.

  Daina said nothing. A moment later, the thumping sound of helicopter blades announced the arrival of the police helicopter. When it came into view, she watched as it hovered over the pad momentarily before touching down.

  “Blake?” Michaels said to one of the other officers present. “You’re with Daina, get her in safe and strapped in.”

  Michaels addressed Daina. “Keep your head lowered and stay away from the rear of the helicopter. That rear propeller can be hard to see and it’ll chop you to bits.”

  Nice, Daina thought. She shook her head and made ready to follow Blake, when she felt a light touch on her left arm. She looked across at Emma.

  “Are you afraid of heights?” Emma asked her, keeping her hand in place. She spoke in that same low tone that Daina, almost in spite of herself, was quickly com
ing to find quite riveting.

  She frowned. “No.”

  “I didn’t think so.” Emma almost seemed to smile, without actually doing so. “I just want to tell you something then: Planes and helicopters are two totally different birds. They fly completely different. You’ll see what I mean. I think you’ll be fine.”

  Daina blinked, a little nonplussed. “Okay. Thank you.”

  A few minutes later, everyone was on board. She tensed as the helicopter powered up and then lifted off, but within seconds she relaxed. The ride was smooth and the view incredible and she gave herself up to the pleasure of the moment. Certainly they were high in the air, but everything that lay below was identifiable and on scale. Just being able to see traffic was immensely comforting. She had been stuck inside the hospital for a week; the sense of freedom was indescribable. So she was surprised and disappointed when the pilot’s voice came over her headset, informing them that they would be landing in a few minutes.

  Once they had touched down and disembarked, she glanced back at the chopper, filled with a vague sense of yearning. But then, with a soft, derisive laugh at herself, she shook her head and turned away, only to come eye to eye with Emma. She must have paused, even as Daina had, but not likely for the same reason.

  With a slight nod of acknowledgment Daina said, “You were right. It was great.” She glanced over her shoulder once more at the chopper, then again met Emma’s eyes. “I’m going to have to get me one of those.”

  She stepped past Emma to follow in the direction of Michaels. Beyond him, parked on the tarmac, were a plain white sedan, and a black SUV with darkly tinted windows. Both were flanked by two men in plainclothes; more police officers, she guessed. Michaels came to a stop at the vehicles and spoke briefly with the two men. Daina did her best to ignore them, concentrating instead on the warmth of the summer sun beating down on her, the breeze brushing past her, and the wide open space surrounding her, all of which uplifted her spirits and calmed her fractious state of mind.

  Michaels turned to face the two of them, as the plainclothes officers strode off to the white sedan.

  “Okay, the two of you will ride with me,” he said, jerking a thumb at the SUV. “They’ll tail us and then we’ll leave the Explorer with you. This way, if you need a vehicle you’ll have one. We sent your personal belongings ahead, they’re already at the house.” He turned to open the back door on the passenger side. “Now then, shall we?”

  The drive was silent and for that Daina was grateful. She wasn’t in the mood for conversation of any sort, and thankfully, neither Michaels nor Emma seemed inclined to make any small talk. She contented herself with staring out the window, trying not to give any thought to the multitude of issues that were clamoring for her attention.

  Fifteen minutes later, the vehicles slowed near the outskirts of the city. “Here we are,” Michaels announced, and he turned into a paved circular drive which led up to a moderately sized ranch-style house.

  The house and neatly landscaped property were encircled with what Daina guessed to be a seven foot high wrought-iron fence, an impressive and rather daunting counterpoint to the comfortable façade of the house itself. There were two other vehicles in the driveway, parked in the loop. Michaels pulled the SUV up to the gate, beyond which sat a two car garage. He pulled his visor down to reveal what appeared to be two-garage door openers.

  “Okay,” he said, “you’re going to want to park behind the fence, obviously, not that I foresee you going anywhere, because realistically you shouldn’t. Anyone else who comes, like cleaning staff—they’re here once a week—will park on this side of the fence. They will buzz you on the intercom here.” He pointed at the box attached to the fence, which also housed a keypad. He then reached up to press the button on the smaller of the two black remotes. The gate proceeded to retract.

  “Only you, the security company, and select members of the police force have access to the code. Anyone other than you wishing to gain entry must be cleared first by the security company. You receive confirmation and then you let them in. There is no deviation from that procedure. It’s foolproof, so no mistakes are made. And the cameras are constantly on, monitoring twenty-four/seven.”

  Michaels drove the SUV ahead about fifty feet and stopped before the garage. Daina looked back to see that the gate had already closed behind them.

  “This remote,” Michaels went on, drawing her attention back to the larger of the two, “is for the garage, obviously.” He pressed the button; the garage door opened and he drove inside. The garage door trundled down behind them.

  The three of them left the garage and Michaels led the way to the house, taking them around to the back to show them the grounds and the large inground pool. They entered the house through the back patio doors and Michaels gave them a quick tour of the interior.

  The house was roomy, boasting four bedrooms and two bathrooms, one of which was attached to the master bedroom. One of the bedrooms had been converted into an exercise room of sorts with a treadmill, Stairmaster, and a rack of free weights against one wall. The overall floor plan of the house was open and airy, with both a tasteful décor and comfortable-looking furnishings. There was a finished basement complete with a pool table and an entertainment area with sofa, armchairs, TV and stereo.

  Daina was impressed and pleased. Stealing a glance at Emma, she could see that she obviously was, as well. Their forced confinement and seclusion would not be too hard to endure, at least from the perspective of material comforts. Their personal belongings they found in the living room.

  Michaels instructed them in how to go about ordering anything they might need and, finally, went over the security features and codes. “This house is a little more…lavish than what we might normally have set you up in. But we thought it a good choice, since we have no idea how long you’ll be here.” He then clasped his hands together. “My job here is done.”

  He looked at Daina. “Anything you need, whatever you need, let us know and we’ll see that you get it.”

  “Thank you.”

  He turned his attention to Emma. “Can I speak to you privately for a moment?”

  Taking her cue, Daina decided to go sit by the pool. Making her careful way outside to one of the patio chairs, situated a few feet from poolside, she eased herself down. With a sigh of contentment, she leaned back and closed her eyes.

  A short time later, she heard the patio doors open, and the approach of murmured voices. Emma and the sergeant came into view. Michaels stepped close.

  “So, what do you think?” he asked her.

  Daina shaded her eyes against the late morning sun. “I’m trying not to,” she replied with a half smile.

  “I can understand that,” he acknowledged with an answering smile.

  Never once taking her eyes off him, she said, “I do still have questions, and I deserve answers to those questions. In case you’d thought I’d forgotten.”

  “I didn’t think that.”

  “Good. Then we understand each other.” She straightened in her chair, and then carefully rose to her feet. They shook hands. “Thank you, again.”

  “Take care of yourself. I’ll be in touch.”

  Hands thrust into her pockets, Daina watched him go until he disappeared around the corner of the house. Finally, after almost a full minute of silence, she spoke up. “Do you realize that this is the first time I’ve been outside in a week?” She turned then, and smiled as she met Emma’s eyes. “It’s heaven.”

  Emma merely dipped her head slightly, a smile touching her eyes and the corners of her mouth.

  Daina looked away, her gaze roaming over the beautifully landscaped yard. “I certainly didn’t expect a setup like this,” she said, admiration creeping into her voice.

  “It is very nice,” Emma agreed. After a brief pause, she added, “I thought that all things considered, you would be better off in the master bedroom.”

  Daina glanced around, a little surprised. “Thank you. That’s very th
oughtful.”

  “It just makes sense,” Emma replied with a shrug.

  The contemplative look that Daina fixed upon Emma was returned steadily. Daina finally blinked and looked away, to squint in the direction of the pool.

  “Are you okay?” Emma asked into the silence.

  “Yeah,” she replied without looking back. “I think…I’d like to stay out here for a while. Just enjoy the sunshine.”

  “All right. Sure.”

  She heard Emma walk away but remained where she was, blinking against the brilliance of the sun reflecting off the surface of the pool.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Entering the house through the patio doors, Emma looked out at Daina’s unmoving figure. Doubtless the woman needed some time to herself. Things had happened so fast for both of them, they both needed to regroup. But the sight of Daina, standing alone by the pool, hands in her pockets, her back straight and her head slightly raised, struck a poignant chord. She stood there for quite a few moments, just looking at her, with no clear or cohesive thoughts. Finally, with a shake of her head, she turned away.

  She gathered up Daina’s things and made the trip down the hall to deposit them in the master bedroom. She then got her own things and went to her own room. Someone had had the foresight to convert what had most likely been a den or office into a bedroom. It was situated at the other end of the house and allowed for a measure of distance and privacy. It too was comfortably furnished and tastefully decorated.

  She put her things off to the side, to be unpacked later, and sat on the edge of the bed. She felt a certain longing to just lay back, close her eyes and go to sleep. But now, when she actually could sleep, she wasn’t supposed to. Her head no longer felt all that bad. Still, she supposed it was in her best interests to stay awake for a while yet. She was more thirsty and hungry than tired.

  With a sigh, she pushed off the mattress and headed for the kitchen. She quickly searched the cupboards and the fridge, but other than the staples and some canned Sprite, there was nothing to eat. She grabbed one of the Sprites, picked up a pad of paper and pen by the phone and the order list for the groceries, and sat down at the dining room table. From where she sat she could see right through the patio doors out to the pool. Daina was now seated on the ground at the pool’s edge, shoes and socks off, pants rolled up, her feet dangling in the water.