Spirits In the Trees

by Morgan Hannah MacDonald

  Driving off the ferry, he’d headed straight to the Henderson home. He slammed the door, strode up the front steps and knocked.

  Angela’s mother answered with a warm smile. “Why, Doug Lindstrom, what a pleasant surprise! Come on in.”

  “Good morning, Mrs. Henderson. Is Angie around?”

  “Oh, it’s way too early for her, Doug. You ought to know that,” she said as if chastising him.

  “Could you please wake her,” he said, sternly. He was a man on a mission and someone not to be reckoned with.

  Mrs. Henderson stared at him a moment as if weighing the pros and cons. “Okay, you take a seat in the living room, but I warn you, she’s not exactly a morning person.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I remember. I take full responsibility. I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t extremely important.”

  “If you say so.” She hesitated a moment with a look of uncertainty before heading up the stairs.

  Doug paced the room until he heard heavy footfalls plodding down the steps. He watched Angie defiantly enter the room.

  “What the hell, Doug? It’s the crack of dawn!” She threw up her hands. “This couldn’t wait until a more respectable hour, like say, noon?”

  “What happened to your hand, Ang?” He stared at the thick bandage that surrounded it.

  She looked down at her hand, then back at him, “Don’t try to change the subject. What do you want?”

  “I came over to find out what happened to Maddy, but now that I see you’re injured too, I’d bet my paycheck it’s connected.”

  “Why don’t you just ask her instead of coming over here to hassle me?” She puffed up her chest, putting her hands on her hips.

  “I’m asking you, Ang. Tell me, what happened to you girls?” he said, trying to keep his cool.

  Her expression changed, she looked nervous. His spidey sense was tingling. He should have known the whole thing started with Angie. She probably introduced Maddy to the guy, or guys that attacked her. His hands fisted at his sides as he watched her plop down in a chair trying to act nonchalant.

  “It’s really pretty silly,” she began. “As I’m sure Maddy told you.” She was stalling.

  “I want to hear it from your lips, Ang. What happened?”

  “Nothing, really. It was just a stupid accident. I went to pick up a pot off the stove with my bare hand and burned it. Maddy cut herself running to my rescue. See, it’s really embarrassing. I’d rather you not tell anyone.”

  “What did she cut her arm on?”

  Angela was silent a moment. “You know, we couldn’t figure that one out either. We were so worried about getting to the hospital, it didn’t occur to us to check. Isn’t that funny?” she said, sheepishly, unable to meet his gaze.

  “Yeah, a riot,” he answered. Then he grabbed her by the shoulders tightly and pulled her up until they were standing nose to nose.

  “Doug, you’re hurting me!” Angie struggled against his strong grasp. “What’s gotten into you? Let me go!”

  “Tell me the truth, Angie, what the hell happened in that house?”

  Angie tried to shrink back away from him, but he held her tight.

  “What did Maddy tell you?”

  “She can’t tell me anything right now, she’s in ICU at St. Mary’s. She was so ravaged I barely recognized her. She’s in a coma. So cut the crap and start talking! Take it from the beginning and don’t leave out one single solitary detail. Remember, Ang, I can tell when you’re lying,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Doug couldn’t remember a time when he was ever more angry in his life. He wanted to snap her like a twig for getting Maddy almost killed. He shook her once for emphasis.

  “What the hell did you get her into?” he yelled.

  Angie stared back at him with venom in her eyes and shrugged off his hands. “I didn’t get her into anything. Maybe if you’d believed her in the first place, none of this would have happened!”

  Doug pulled his hands away and glared at Angie.

  “Believed her about what?” he asked incredulously. He couldn’t believe she was shoving this back on him.

  For the next fifteen minutes Angie paced back and forth in front of Doug, regaling him with the most fantastic tale he’d ever heard. When she’d finished, he stared at her in stunned disbelief. When he finally found his voice, “Jesus, Ang, you’ve sunk to an all time low this time. You expect me to believe that shit!”

  “See what I mean? You didn’t believe her either. At least I tried to help!” Angie yelled.

  “If that’s what you call help. You almost got her killed!” Doug yelled back.

  Angie stood before him with her fists on her hips. “Hey, she was fine when she left here. She only needed a few stitches. I was so out of it, I didn’t wake up until the following evening. My mother says I spoke to her, but I don’t remember. The pain meds had me pretty loopy. I’ve been trying to reach her ever since!”

  “Okay, okay. Calm down,” Doug said.

  A look of indignation crossed Angie’s face.

  Before she could say more, he continued, “Fine, let’s say I do believe you. That still doesn’t even begin to explain the rape.”

  “Rape! You never said anything about her being raped, when did that happen?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out!” He took a deep breath, tried to calm down before he spoke again. “So let’s try this again, Ang.” He splayed his hands out in front of him, took a step back to show he was backing off. “Look, I’m not upset anymore. Just tell me the truth. You girls went to a bar and met some guys, right?”

  “No, damn you!” Angie turned her back to him.

  Doug stared at her back curiously. He’d known Angie most his life. He knew she was irresponsible and tended to exaggerate greatly, but he also knew she wouldn’t knowingly hurt someone. So now he was thoroughly perplexed. Why was she still sticking to that ridiculous story?

  “You know, she told me not to tell you,” she said without turning around.

  “What! She told you not to tell me?” Doug could not believe what he was hearing.

  “Exactly, not you, not anyone, but especially not you. She said you were treating her as if she was crazy and she couldn’t stand it.”

  Doug dropped into the nearest chair. He felt as if he’d just had the wind knocked out of him. He was hurt that Maddy didn’t trust him, but he also knew Angie was right. He had treated her as if everything she had told him was a figment of her imagination combined with some idiotic kids playing practical jokes. But this was no joke, she’d almost lost her life. He had to get to the bottom of this.

  “Thanks, Ang,” he said, defeated, the anger now drained from his body. “I’ll talk to you later.” Doug headed out of the room.

  “Sure, Doug,” Angie said, quietly.

  He was halfway to the door when she called after him. “Doug?”

  He stopped and turned. “Yeah, Ang?”

  “Will you keep me informed of how Maddy’s doing?”

  “Sure, Ang.” He turned back around and left the house.

  He must have driven home because here he was sitting in the driveway. He leaned his forehead against the steering wheel. “Please, God, wake me from this horrible nightmare before I lose my mind completely.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Doug crawled off the bed and into the shower around five that evening. As he dried himself off, his stomach grumbled. He realized he hadn’t eaten since yesterday. After frying up four eggs, he stood over the sink and wolfed them down straight from the pan.

  While in the shower he’d made at least one decision, he would pack a bag and stay in a motel near the hospital. Quickly, he shoved some clothes in a duffel bag. He needed to hurry if he was going to get to the hospital before visiting hours were over.

  After he got to the hospital, he had to stand in line at the security checkpoint for fifteen long minutes. When he finally received his room badge, he ran to catch the elevator. He knew from the time his father
was sick, the elevators around there were slow.

  After he was buzzed into the ICU, a kind nurse was there to show him to Maddy’s bed. He walked cautiously around her. She was connected to so many machines.

  As he gazed down, his heart filled with sadness. He reached out with the back of his hand and stroked her cheek. “Hey, beautiful, it’s time to wake up.” His soft voice cracked on the last word.

  He looked around for a chair and pulled it as close as he could. He heard that coma victims could hear you, so he started talking to her as if she were awake.

  First he told her about the fire they had fought the day before, then he told her some of the jokes he had heard at the station. He was actually glad she wasn’t awake for those, he wasn’t sure they were appropriate for a lady.

  He just wanted to keep talking so she knew she wasn’t alone. He also confessed his feelings to her. He reasoned that if she knew how much he cared for her, she might come back to him. Even if it was just to tell him to fuck off. Not that she would use that actual word, he improvised that one.

  After an hour or so of non-stop chatter, he couldn’t think of anything else to say. He got an idea, “I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere.” Excitedly, he jumped up and rushed out of the room. He almost ran into the nice nurse who had helped him earlier. “Excuse me, ma’am,” he said, embarrassed.

  The woman smiled and said, “No harm, no foul.”

  He returned thirty minutes later with a book in his hands. He beamed for his brilliance. He had wandered around the gift shop without knowing Maddy’s taste when he happened upon a classic. Knowing it was his mother’s favorite book, he began to read. “Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, page one.”

  He opened his eyes, surprised when he noticed it was after three a.m. He wondered why he hadn’t been thrown out yet. He decided to take advantage of the extra time he’d been allotted and began to read again.

  A different nurse woke him the next morning.

  “I’m sorry, sir, but you’ll have to leave. I’ve got to change her bed and give her a sponge bath. You can come back again in about an hour.” He realized he’d been sprawled out in the chair, his mouth agape. He straitened up quickly and swatted at his chin. He must have drooled in his sleep. He wondered, embarrassingly, if he had been snoring to boot.

  “Sure,” he answered as he unfolded his lengthy body from the clutches of the hard metal chair. He groaned as he stood and stretched, immediately rubbing his neck. He searched for the book’s receipt and slipped it between the pages to mark his place. He set it on the table next to the bed before removing himself from the room.

  He stood in the hall a moment and wondered how to fill his time. Finally he wandered downstairs to the cafeteria.

  As he sat at a table drinking the sludge they passed off for coffee, he watched as tired doctors and nurses shuffled in, seeking a quick pick-me-up.

  Doug noticed people who looked as if they had been there all night, staring down at their tables with tired solemn eyes. He felt their pain. He knew what it was like, the waiting, wondering if your loved one would be all right. Every now and then a couple of nurses would walk in, chatting and giggling, but that was rare at this time of morning. Most people had been here all night like himself.

  Suddenly he felt the need to get out of there quick. He jumped up, made his way to the door and threw his half-empty cup in the trash on the way out. He decided he would check into some motel in the vicinity and take a long shower. He found a vacancy at the Lazy Bear Motor Lodge two miles down the road.

  As he stood under the scalding water, he pictured a giant iron smoothing out the kinks in his muscles. When he finally emerged he felt like a new man.

  He called Grady to see if he had any leads. He prayed he would, after all, an assailant that was flesh and blood was a lot easier to deal with mentally and physically. Unfortunately, he had nothing yet, but he reasoned that it was still too soon in the investigation.

  Grady had the house dusted for prints, but only found Doug’s, Angela’s and Maddy’s. There were no signs of a break-in, in fact, no physical evidence whatsoever.

  Next Doug called Angie to update her on Maddy’s condition. The tests came back negative, no permanent brain damage imminent. The doctor couldn’t estimate how long she would be in the coma, only that the swelling in her brain was going down.

  As he waited on the line for Mrs. Henderson to wake Angie, he began to reflect. He knew Angie’s life was anything but perfect. She was unable to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming a fashion designer. She had graduated from the Fashion Institute in New York, then stayed there to forge her new career in fashion design.

  She met and married a famous fashion photographer. The marriage lasted longer than her career, but not by much. Poor kid couldn’t catch a break.

  She’d landed a position with a top designer starting relatively low on the food chain, when she decided to show her designs to her boss. The woman said she would see what she could do. Then she came back to Angie and told her better luck next time.

  Six months later the spring line came out featuring four of Angie’s designs. Her boss claimed them as her own and got a big fat promotion. Angie got drunk that night and broke into her husband’s studio where he was to shoot the line for Vogue magazine the following morning.

  She destroyed the entire spring line. They found her passed out on top of the shredded heap of clothes with a pair of scissors in her hand. Not only did she get herself fired, but when word got around, she was blackballed by the entire New York fashion industry. Labeled crazy and unstable, no one would listen to her side of the story.

  To make a bad situation worse, her husband divorced her. He didn’t want his name sullied in the industry. Guilty by association.

  She had spent the next six months on a permanent drunk. She claimed not to remember a thing until she woke up one day in rehab. After drying out, she ended up back on the island working for her brother in their father’s hardware store. Depressed and feeling like a failure, she moved back into her childhood room to lick her wounds. That was three years ago.

  Angie had earned herself a bad reputation for picking up strange men and going home with them. A different one every night. Doug knew her devil-may-care attitude was a ruse. She was simply unhappy. She’d blown her one big chance at success. In her mind that’s all you got.

  Angie didn’t have any girlfriends. Doug could see how Maddy would be a good influence on her. Maybe she could help ground her a little. He snapped back to the present when Angie answered the phone.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  A week later, Doug sat by Maddy’s side, reading. He looked up and noticed her staring at him. “Hey, beautiful, it’s nice to have you back.” He smiled and brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek. God how he’d missed those beautiful green eyes.

  “Where am I?” Her voice squeaked on the last word.

  He jumped up and poured her a glass of water.

  “You’re in the hospital, but don’t worry, everything’s going to be all right.” Then, just under his breath, he said, “Now.”

  After raising the bed to a sitting position, he held the water up to her face. She tried to re-adjust the straw that was poking up her nose.

  “Oh, sorry.” Doug laughed self-consciously and righted the straw. He couldn’t figure out why he was so nervous.

  “I guess I’d better keep my day job. I wouldn’t make a very good nurse.” He smiled bigger hoping to get one in return.

  “Who are you?” Maddy scowled at him.

  “Doug, Doug Lindstrom. Your handsome handyman?” He joked, thinking she was doing the same. But as he gazed into her eyes, he realized she wasn’t. She simply stared back, her face a blank slate. He was both hurt and confused.

  The swelling was gone from her face, the bruises had faded. She was now able to see out of both eyes.

  “Where’s Bob?” She croaked, cleared her throat, then drank some more water.

  “Who’s Bo
b?” Doug couldn’t believe his ears. Was she messing around with him while she had another man back home?

  “My husband!” Those words rang out loud and clear.

  Stunned, Doug started walking backward toward the door.

  “Uh, I’ll just go get the nurse.” With that he spun around and fled the room. Once the door shut behind him, he leaned up against the wall. “What the hell?”

  * * *

  Maddy gazed down at the IV and felt her face where the oxygen tube was. She tried to move, but a sharp pain in her side stabbed her like a knife. Instinctively her hand flew to the spot. Her eyes roamed the room, she wondered why she was in a hospital.

  Was I in a car accident? She wiggled her toes, then eased one knee up at a time. Nothing amiss yet, she continued her inventory. Her eyes came to rest on the heart monitor, her hands grabbed the front of her gown in a panic. Nope, everything okay there too.

  As far as she could tell, except for feeling achy all over, she seemed all right. Her bed was next to a window, it was night. There was a giant bouquet of flowers sitting across the room. Bob’s so sweet. Too bad I had to get into an accident for him to bring me flowers.

  A pretty, heavy-set nurse with skin the color of cocoa walked in, her smile genuinely warm. The top of her cornrows were tied back with a giant clip. She reminded Maddy of Queen Latifah.

  “Hello, Sunshine, how are we feeling this evening?” She grasped Maddy’s wrist and started taking her pulse.

  “A little groggy and very sore.”

  “Well, that’s to be expected.” The nurse pulled the blood pressure cuff from the wall and strapped it to her arm.

  “Have you seen my husband?”

  “I called the doctor, he should be here in about thirty minutes. He’ll be able to answer all your questions.” Before Maddy could ask anything else. “You must be famished. I’ll have something brought up for you from the cafeteria. It will be mostly liquid of course. Would you prefer cherry Jello, or chocolate pudding?”