by Susan Kohler
“He wasn’t the right one,” Laura said dismissively. “Trust me.”
Having heard that phrase from Laura hundreds of times, Nick could only sigh and sink back into sleep.
The matchmaking continued. It was almost a legend among the hospital staff, but there was a division among those eager to find true love and those who were trying to avoid being caught.
One of her other doctors, her plastic surgeon, was a brilliant man in his mid-thirties, Dr. Simon Haskell. He also seemed to be interested in Nicole. He was a single man with blond hair and green eyes, and a harried manner. During his frequent visits he tried to maintain a professional bedside manner, but his interest was apparent. His eyes lit up as he spoke to her, often holding her hand without realizing it. His smile seemed glued to her face, his manner was almost too gentle. He always had one more surgery to suggest, one more treatment.
Nicole had seen many men interested in her over the years and was well aware of the signs. Even though she thought her scars had ended that part of her life, she was reassured by the doctor’s attention. That is, she was reassured right up to the moment when Laura and Kate, who were visiting along with their friend Lanie, caught sight of him. Lanie was the mother of the girl who was going to start exercising Nicole’s horse, and she wanted to get to know her better.
Dr. Haskell stopped in Nicole’s room just for a moment, checking on the results of her last procedure, as well as the progress of her healing. He barely got started when his pager suddenly went off.
“I’m sorry, Nicole, I’m needed in the ER. I’ll be back, probably in about an hour.” He rushed out.
As soon as he’d left the room, Laura gave Kate the look.
“Lanie,” Kate said casually, “why don’t you call your sister Tina and have her meet us here?”
“Gee, you two,” Nicole said sarcastically, “I find another man who can see past the scars and now you’re planning to set him up.”
Lanie was already on her cell phone. Having gotten married as a result of a Kate and Laura set-up, she knew what they had in mind. She also knew love didn’t always come easily because she’d fought the set-up tooth and nail and almost had to be dragged to the altar kicking and screaming. She was now very happily married.
“I know, I know,” Nicole added before Laura could open her mouth, “he’s not the one, trust me.”
“I think she’s onto us,” Kate said in a stage whisper, behind her hand.
Laura just laughed.
Nicole went into a minor sulk, two men, two, who were attracted to her in spite of her scars, and Kate and Laura set them both up with other women. Traitors! She glared at them but they seemed oblivious.
Lanie’s sister arrived at the hospital, looking fabulous. She had a dress that set off her curvy figure without being obvious. Her blonde hair was piled in a flattering mass on top of her head with a few tendrils trailing down. And since she’d been doing a lot of outdoor work her freckles were, well, covering her face.
Dr. Haskell came back from his call. “I’m back, Nicole. Let me look at you and see how those burn scars are doing before I get called away again.” He looked her over, making small hems and haws as he explored her body. “I think we can do more for your face and neck, but from the neck down, I think we should let it be, at least for now.”
Nicole’s burns mainly ran down the left side of her body. Her face and her neck were the least scarred, and her chest had a shiny, melted wax appearance. From the chest down, the left side of her body was more scarred.
After the doctor finished his exam he stood up and acknowledged the others in the room for the first time. “Hi, I didn’t mean to ignore you guys, but I was focusing on my patient. She’s doing really well. I want you to know I’m consulting with surgeons all over the world for the latest treatment of burn scars. There will be some residual scarring, of course, but I’ll do what I can.”
“Thanks, Doctor,” Kate said. “We know you’ll do your best for her. Have you met our friend, Tina?”
Tina met the doctor’s eyes, and he returned the gaze. There was a zing in the room that was almost palpable. “Nice to meet you, Tina.”
“Doctor, you should know, we’re being set up.” Tina was a frank girl. “Kate and Laura are matchmakers.”
The doctor turned and winked at Kate and Laura. “Good job! Darn good job.”
Nicole groaned as she sank back on the bed. Her second admirer was gone! At this rate she’d be an old maid. She glared at Kate and Laura, who pretended not to notice.
Then the day turned worse as the time for her physical therapy came up. The nurse wheeled her down to a gym in the basement. Nicole groaned as she saw her therapist, Troy Dixon, walk over to her.
The physical therapist had wavy blond hair, a bit longer than most men’s but not hitting his shoulders, and he had stern brown eyes. He was a strong man, physically appealing and well-muscled, and firm in his manner. He almost had a drill sergeant mentality as he pushed Nicole extremely hard to regain her strength and mobility. He was careful because of her pregnancy and the severity of her injuries, but still her workouts were very demanding.
“Get out of that chair, you lazy woman.” He handed her some dumbbells. “We have work to do.”
This was the one admirer she failed to notice. He kept the signs well hidden, but he had fallen head over heels in love with her.
Usually when she went down to PT, Kate and Laura would go to lunch, but one day they decided to follow her down and watch her workout. They saw his no nonsense manner, and how hard he pushed her. They also saw how careful he was of her condition, especially her growing pregnancy. Almost instantly, as they watched the trainer work with her, they turned to each other with grins on their faces.
“This is the one,” Kate whispered. “He’s perfect!”
“He sure is,” Laura agreed. “He’s good looking, he knows what’s best for Nicole, and he’s working hard to give it to her. He pushes her to do her best but he’s also very careful because of her pregnancy.”
“And it won’t be hard to get them together,” Kate laughed, as she watched Troy slide a hand gently up Nicole’s leg to correct her position.
“Almost too easy.” Laura smiled. “No challenge.”
Kate and Laura looked at each other and smiled as Laura gave him a thumbs up.
“Hey, Nicole!” Laura whispered in her ear, “We won’t chase this one off.”
“Troy! Troy?” Shocked, Nicole dropped a weight. “He’s inhuman! He’s not interested in me, except to torture me.”
“Trust me,” Kate told her. “Trust me.”
“A double trust me? A double? I’m in trouble!” She wiped her forehead with a towel.
Still, she looked at Troy with a fresh eye, not too shabby! And he seemed nice, a drill sergeant, and taciturn, but nice. She shrugged to herself, he had already agreed to work with her in her own gym once she was home.
Chapter Five
“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”
(Matthew 5:4)
A few days later, Lanie brought her daughter, Cassie, to the hospital for a visit. She also brought Nicole a picture of Cassie riding Burgie.
With the innocence of a child, Cassie plopped herself down on the side of the bed. “Wow! You got hurt really bad!” She looked at Nicole with a grin. “Does it still hurt?”
“Not so much now, but they keep doing surgeries to try to hide the scars, and that hurts sometimes.” She grinned back at the girl with her slight dusting of freckles and long, fiery red ponytail.
“Mom said I wasn’t supposed to mention your scars.” Sitting on a chair in the corner, Lanie groaned as Cassie continued. “But you don’t look so bad to me.”
“Cassie!” Lanie snapped, even though she was trying not to laugh. “Nice job of not mentioning the scars! Sorry, Nicole.”
“No problem, Lanie.” She turned to Cassie with a puzzled look and a wink. “So what do you think, should I go as Frankenstein for Hallo
ween?”
“More like his bride.” Cassie giggled. “Since you’re a girl and Frankenstein was a dude.”
“Well... that would be closer.” Nicole seemed to consider. “But Halloween’s a long time away.”
“So what are you going to do now?” Cassie asked.
Nicole laughed. “Well, for one thing, I’m not going to model clothes anymore. They don’t like scars on fashion models.”
“Their loss,” Cassie stated firmly. “They always seem to want perfect people to model, and no one’s perfect.”
Cassie’s observation astonished Nicole, coming from a pre-teen child.
“You’re very bright, aren’t you?” She stared at Cassie.
“Frank, my new dad, said he can’t keep up with me.” She looked like an imp. “But he only married Mom about six months ago. I expect he’ll learn how I think sooner or later.”
Lanie, who was letting Cassie lead the discussion, just laughed. “He still can’t figure out how to handle me.”
“Oh, I bet he can.” Nicole grinned. “That’s why you look so happy.”
“But other than Halloween, since you can’t model anymore,” Cassie drew the conversation back to her original question, “what are you going to do? For a job, I mean.”
“I have a gym that I’m going to open, to help people gain confidence and feel healthier about themselves. But not just to lose weight.” Nicole pushed a button and raised her bed a bit. “What do you think of that?”
“Sounds good to me. Will you allow kids?” Cassie asked.
“I hadn’t thought about it because most gyms won’t but maybe we can set up some programs and times for kids.” Nicole instantly had a few ideas. “Would you like to help me plan some things?”
“Sure, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” Uncharacteristically Cassie hesitated.
“What’s up kiddo?” Nicole prompted, then took a sip of soda.
“I wanted to thank you for letting me ride Burgie, he’s so cool.” Cassie was excited. “I love Buddy, my horse, but he’s only trained for Western Pleasure Classes, and they’re so slow and always the same. Practicing Barrel Racing on Burgie is exciting. He’s so fast and his turns are so neat.”
“Thank you for riding him while I can’t,” Nicole said quietly.
“Can I show him sometime? David said it would be up to you.” Cassie practically bounced up and down with eagerness. “Mom said not to ask you, but if I don’t ask, how will you know I want to?”
There was a choking sound from the corner where Lanie sat. “Cassie.”
“Aw, Mom.” She was unrepentant. “I had to ask.”
“I’ll think about it after I’m home,” Nicole told her. “After I see how you do on him, fair enough?”
She held out her hand, Cassie took it and grinned. “Okay. Deal!”
Later that day, Detective Reynolds stopped in to update her on the investigation. “We’re going through all the emails and letters you received from fans and focusing on the ones that seemed obsessive. Have you remembered anything more?”
“Just what I told you, and that I heard two thumps before something crashed into my head and the lights went out,” she answered.
“Autopsy results on the victims showed traces of a knock out drug in their systems, the thumps were probably them falling down,” he informed her. “They were probably unconscious...”
“All four of them?” she asked.
“Four? There were only three bodies.” The detective hid his excitement, this was new information. “Why did you think four?”
“Well, my hairdresser, make-up, stylist, and the photographer’s assistant, Adam.” Nicole was puzzled.
“We should have discovered this long ago.” Detective Reynolds got out his cell phone and dialed Detective Mollney. “I don’t know how we missed it.”
When she answered he was excited and urgent. “There were four people there with Nicole, the three vics and a photographer’s assistant. Norma, she’s seen the suspect!”
After a short conversation the detective turned to Nicole. “Would you be willing to work with a sketch artist?”
“Of course. I want this... this person caught.” She was bitter.
“One last thing.” He stood up. “Why weren’t you drugged like the others?”
“I brought my own coffee in a large mug, along with some bottled water,” she explained. “It’s just a habit of mine.”
“Good habit, as it turns out. I’ll send you a sketch artist.” He paused. “Also, since we know you can identify the suspect we’ll increase your protection.”
“I’m practically tripping over the patrolmen guarding me now!” She laughed.
“One thing, do me a favor and please keep Kate and Laura away from my officers.” He tried to sound stern. “Three of them are in love, and practically useless.”
“And how is Doctor Sullivan?” Nicole laughed at his slight blush.
“Okay, I get it, but this is getting ridiculous.” He shrugged. “All these policemen with little red hearts and butterflies floating around their heads. It’s embarrassing.”
“Just send married officers.” She laughed again and shrugged. “Problem solved.”
It was after dinner before the sketch artist arrived. She sat with Nicole working on the sketch for about an hour before she came up with a drawing Nicole found acceptable.
“Wow! He’s pretty good looking for a murdering rapist!” She studied the final picture. “What a waste. Don’t worry, Nicole, we’ll catch him soon and then he’ll spend the rest of his miserable life in jail. I guarantee you his good looks won’t help him there.”
The next day her publicist, Shannon Wells, came to the hospital to visit. She had not been in before. It turned out she was not staying away because of a lack of concern, she had simply been very busy in New York and London with major shows.
For a publicist in the fashion industry Shannon sure didn’t dress the part unless she was working. Her favored attire was cut off shorts, an oversized T-shirt and sandals, with her long brown hair pulled back in a tail.
“You know how it gets during fashion week, Nicole.” She sighed and relaxed. “Crazy, busy, and always filled with last minute problems. I missed you and wanted to be here. You know you were a big topic of conversation around the catwalks. People love you, not just fans, but other models and stylists.”
“That’s good to know,” Nicole admitted. “I was wondering how this was playing out with people who know me, and who knew Hans, Lacey and Ivan. It’s weird, but I feel guilty about their murders. I know it wasn’t my fault, but I still feel guilty.”
“Well,” Shannon stood and paced, figuring out how to convince Nicole to go along with her idea, “I have an idea I think you’re going to hate, but please hear me out.”
She explained how she was handling reports in the media about Nicole’s injuries.
“I really think you need to do an interview.” She was convincing. “A radio interview if you’d prefer. We could even do it here, in this hospital room. And of course if you’re still shy about showing your scars, radio is the best way to go.”
“If I did it, this interview would have to be more about my friends, who were innocent victims of the attack, than about my looks. My looks are unimportant and insignificant compared to their lives. This attack was painful, degrading, and its effects are still coming to light.”
“What do you mean?” Shannon asked. “What is still coming to light?”
Nicole paused, knowing Shannon did not share her beliefs on abortion, although she’d tried to convince her. “Well, Shannon, for one thing, I’m pregnant, by my rapist.”
“What!” Shannon was stunned. “Even you must admit it, you can’t have this monster’s baby.”
“I am. I’m having my baby, and raising it with love.” Nicole smiled at her shocked friend. “What has this baby done to deserve the death penalty? I’m looking at this baby as a gift from God, to help erase the terror and horror
of the attack.”
“It’s your choice,” Shannon admitted, “and it’s a brave choice. I will admit I do admire your courage and your faith. Now about the interview, how would you feel about doing it with Shelby Newsome? She’s interviewed you before.”
“I remember the interview with Shelby. I liked her as a person.” Nicole remembered. “Since I did like her and feel comfortable with her, I’ll agree to Shelby.”
Later that day Nicole got a call from the police. The suspect had been identified, his name was Adam Hannan. He was a radical Muslim and had a history of violence against women. The reason he had slipped under the radar screen was because his attacks were spread out over several states, even other countries, and the cases had never been connected before. Most of his friends and family thought he was a quiet, decent man and refused to help the police find him. To make it worse, he’d gone into hiding. Some reports had him in Canada, some in New York, others in Michigan, and some even put him in the Middle East.
The next few days went by slowly, waiting for word about the suspect and hoping for his arrest. She had her morning sessions with Troy, who teased and nagged her into putting out greater and greater effort in her workouts. He was always ready to rub her neck or massage her sore calves. He always had a warm smile for her just before he tortured her.
Finally the day for the interview arrived. First a sound technician came into the room to make sure everything was ready for the interview. Then Shelby came bustling in, cordless microphone in one hand, and an earpiece in one ear.
Once she arrived, Shelby was shocked to see Nicole. In spite of knowing what had happened to her, the scars caught her off guard.
“Oh my God, you poor thing!” she gushed, tears forming in her hazel eyes. “How could such a terrible...”
She stopped and caught herself. “I’m sorry that was unprofessional.”
“No problem. I’ve always wondered how reporters can see the things they see every day and not be moved,” Nicole assured her with a grin. “Now I know you’re human.”
“Oh, I’m human alright,” Shelby said slowly. “And you are a walking, talking illustration of one of my secret fears.”
