Country Secrets

by Caz May

  "No worries Addison,” I say, before reaching out to hug her, noticing that she practically melts against me before she pulls away and smiles at me as she walks away.

  It appears that she isn't quite ready to let go of the idea of us yet.

  But her response to my friendly hug, even though she melted against me a little seems like she is more open now to be friends than she was before.

  She may have been naive at times but she’s also smart and she knows me a lot more than some people.

  I'm sure she’s noticed how I’m feeling about Savannah, because a person would have to be blind to not notice that I’m feeling something for her.

  I’m not really certain about what those feelings are, but I know one thing and that is that I want her more than anything.

  (16) Herbert

  Being the hospital chief isn't always an easy job.

  I always found having to make decisions about how to run the hospital to ensure the best interests of the patients in our care a huge burden to deal with.

  Not many people ventured into my office, as usually if anyone was in my office news of their family or friends was not pleasant.

  And that was exactly how it was last time Hunter Mackenney was in my office.

  The last time he'd been in my office was to discuss if turning his father's life support off was the right decision.

  It was part of my job, however it never got any easier to discuss bad news and now seeing him in my office only makes me fear the worst.

  Looking at the papers on my desk, I think for a minute about who in my hospital Hunter would be barging into my office to discuss, but I’m stumped.

  He stands overbearingly by my desk, pressing his palms hard into the wood, as he tries to calm himself before he speaks.

  His breathing is laboured and panicky so I wait to give him a moment to collect his thoughts before I speak, "Hunter, how can I help?"

  "I...um...came to..." he stammers.

  "Take your time, Hunter. Take a seat,” I say calmly, gesturing for him to sit in one of the tub chairs in front of my desk.

  He sighs deeply, running his hands through his hair before he settles into one of the chairs, taking another deep breath in before he declares, "I came to talk to you about Savannah."

  Again I shuffle through the papers on my desk, scanning for any information about a 'Savannah'.

  Finding it, I look up at Hunter and his face is wrought with worry.

  "What about her?" I ask.

  "Well, I..um found out some information about her."

  "Oh?"

  "You know, her bruises and stuff?"

  “Yes, Hunter. But unless you're an emergency contact we can't discuss a patient with you."

  "I know that Herbert, but I think; well I've heard that she might be married. Could we contact the husband?"

  It’s my turn to sigh, as I try to stifle my anger.

  I have my suspicions as to how Hunter would have found information out about a hospital patient, and it’s unacceptable, but so as to not rock the boat and upset him or my staff I know it’s best to let it go.

  The best course of action in this case, considering the history I have with the Mackenney family and the odd behaviour Hunter is displaying is to speak to the patient.

  "Well, Hunter, considering she is conscious we would need her consent to contact him."

  Before I can even think he’s out the door almost immediately and I have to sprint to catch up with him in the hallway.

  Patting him hard on the back causes him to stop dead outside her door and he speaks to me before he turns the handle to enter.

  "She hasn't spoken to anyone Herbert."

  "I know Hunter, but we have to try. We need to ask her,” I say following him into the room, flicking the light on.

  Her eyes flutter open, and she smiles wide seeing that Hunter has entered the room.

  There is definitely something going on between them, which definitely worries me considering his barging into my office with information regarding her.

  Looking at me on the other side of the bed though, her smile turns to a frown so I nod at Hunter. “Maybe you should ask her,” I say, swallowing hard and shuffling my feet on the spot.

  He pulls a chair to the side of the bed and takes her hand in his, "Savannah I need to ask you something,” he says softly looking down at her.

  She nods and squeezes his hand so Hunter continues, "We've found some information out and we'd like to contact your husband, is that ok?"

  Time seems to stop, as the horror of the question Hunter has asked hits her.

  She turns as white as a ghost and without warning screams out, "NO, NO PLEASE DON'T!"

  Hunter is completely stupefied that she'd spoken, looking himself like he’s seen a ghost.

  He’s still clutching her hand and lightly presses a kiss to her forehead.

  He doesn't say anything, instead stands up and without even looking back at either of us he leaves the room.

  Reassuringly I nod at Savannah before following Hunter, finding him leaning against the wall outside her room, his hands in fists like he’s ready to punch someone.

  "You ok Hunter?" I ask him in a friendly tone.

  "Yeah, but Herbert you heard her."

  "Yeah, but..." I start, unsure of what I’m actually going to say, as I’ve never been in a similar situation before.

  "She hasn't said anything the entire time she's been here and now that."

  His body tenses up more as he pushes his hand into the wall and grunts in rage.

  "We have to respect her wishes Hunter but I'll look into it."

  He takes a deep breath to calm himself down, extends a hand to me and shakes mine in thanks.

  "Thanks Herbert. Please keep in touch."

  "No problems, Hunter. You take care of yourself,” I say turning to walk back to my office, leaving him standing by her room.

  I’m worried about him, as Hunter Mackenney is almost like a son to me.

  His father had asked me to look out for him and his reaction to this stranger is definitely of concern.

  I don't want to see him get hurt by another woman, like he had been when Addison broke his heart.

  It would surely break him more and he doesn’t deserve anymore heartbreak.

  (17) Savannah

  Blurting out my protest at the question of Dante being contacted was far from planned.

  Naively I thought changing my name, or at least telling people a different name would make my past go away and that no one would find me.

  I feel nothing short of an imbecile to think I could escape in his car.

  I really had not thought about all the details when I'd escaped, but being stuck in this hospital bed for weeks, I've gone over and over leaving in my mind and I definitely had not thought some things through.

  One being taking Dante's car; I should have hired a car instead but i'd panicked and the keys were there and it had far more petrol than mine did.

  Now though I have nothing of my own with me.

  No keys to the car, no clothes, no phone or ID.

  Not that ID really mattered, as for all these people know I’m Savannah Galison and my ID suggests otherwise. I probably should have just gotten rid of it, to truly become Savannah.

  Being released from the hospital is all that matters now though.

  I will find a way to get out of this town and continue my escape from Dante.

  But just thinking about leaving this town now and in particularly my sweet mystery man, Hunter, is so painful.

  I don't want to leave, and face not seeing his gorgeous face again, however I need to.

  My stitches have been removed and I’m just waiting for the day when they tell me I’m free to go.

  ~~

  A day has passed since Hunter had come in with the hospital chief to ask if they could contact Dante. He hadn't been back after my protest and it has made me feel really upset.

  I want to say goodbye to him, to thank him for
being so kind and for making me laugh during the endless days holed up in the hospital bed.

  All the same though I’m glad he’s not come in, because if he had I don't know if I could actually say goodbye.

  The doctors had let me be a little more mobile in the last week or so which was extremely welcome.

  Climbing out of the bed to head to the bathroom, a little sleepily I head out of my room and bump into a tall, rather muscular man wearing scrubs.

  It isn't the chief but another doctor. He apologises and looks me up and down before he speaks, "Ms Galison?"

  I nod.

  After my outburst I haven't spoken again.

  No words are better in my current situation.

  "I'm Doctor Rivnay. I was just coming to see you to work out your discharge papers."

  His words make me feel a little giddy.

  Smiling, I point towards the bathroom.

  "Thats fine. Go ahead. I'll just be in the room checking your charts."

  Just as he'd said Doctor Rivnay is in my room when I return from the bathroom.

  Hesitantly I sit on the edge of the bed, but there is an odd tension in the room.

  He seems friendly enough but I still feel uneasy like he’s about to tell me bad news.

  "Well, Ms Galison," he begins, "You've certainly been through quite the ordeal."

  My only response is a nod; I must not speak or i'll blurt out everything, so I cannot open my mouth.

  "So, your leg and bruises have healed nicely and we are happy to discharge you, however..."

  He stops talking.

  Why does there have to be a however?

  I need to get out of this town, like yesterday.

  Looking directly at him I smile to assure him I’m listening.

  “Without being able to contact someone you know we are a bit hesitant to just discharge you."

  I can't help myself. I burst into tears.

  This is not happening.

  I want to get out of here, the hospital and the town and this new doctor is slashing all hope of that.

  I’m a grown woman for fucks sake.

  I don't need anyone to hold my hand, but obviously that isn't how it works out in the country or probably anywhere the more I think about it.

  "I'm sorry Ms Galison,” he apologises, breaking my thoughts, “Is there someone I can contact to come take you home?"

  Home.

  His words, the mention of home stab at my heart.

  Do I even have a home anymore?

  Shaking my head causes him to look at me with pity. This is hell, literal hell and I want out, now.

  My feet make contact with the floor and without looking back at Doctor Rivnay I rush out the door. If they aren't going to let me go; then I’m going to escape.

  Confusingly I run down the hospital hallways, looking for any signs that point to an outside the hospital exit.

  'Carpark'; a carpark has never sounded so good.

  Rushing up to the automatic sliding doors, I stop a moment, resting my hands on my knees and taking in a few deep breaths to calm myself.

  When I feel ready to go I take a step back to make the doors slide open, about to walk out when a familiar figure walks in.

  He smiles when he sees me.

  Not smiling back I brush past him out the door, but he catches my arm and pulls me back.

  "Woah, Savannah, where are you off to so fast?” he asks, even though he knows I’m likely to not answer.

  I try to pull away, but his grip on my hand is too strong.

  I know the tears have begun dripping down my cheeks and I feel so torn.

  Torn between wanting to run away from the pain more and torn between wanting to stay for him; the amazing man gripping my hand tight.

  Again I try to pull away, but his grip tightens and before I can protest he pulls my body against his in a firm hug.

  I feel his kiss on my hair and can’t help but melt into his embrace.

  "Please Savannah, come back inside,” he says looking at my tear stained face.

  There is something in his eyes that gives me hope, that makes my heart skip.

  Breaking away from his hug I don't hesitate or try to run when he tugs me back inside the hospital. Doctor Rivnay is standing at the nurses station, speaking to them, flapping his hands about frenziedly.

  He turns towards us and sighs in relief.

  "Oh thank god,” he says exhaling a deep breath.

  Hunter extends his other hand to him in greeting.

  "Hunter Mackenney, you must be the other new doc in town?"

  "Yeah, nice to meet you Hunter. I'm Doctor Zane Rivnay."

  Neither man speaks for a minute, both a little tongue tied and not sure of the situation.

  Zane looks at me and then down at my hand that Hunter still has a tight grip on.

  "So I'm presuming you know Ms Galison then?" he asks Hunter.

  "Well, not exactly. She was found unconscious in my farmhouse a month ago and I've been coming in to see her the past few weeks."

  Zane nods as Hunter spoke, attentively listening.

  I can sense something is ticking over in his mind and I’m not sure if I should be happy or scared.

  "We haven't been able to contact any family or a partner for her."

  "Yeah I'm aware of that,” Hunter replies to the doctor, looking across at me.

  "We can't discharge her without knowing her contact details, you know where she will be staying and such."

  Hunter nods, giving Zane a look that is like an unspoken connection, as though he can read the doctors mind.

  "I'd be happy to have her at the farmhouse with me. Just for a couple of weeks."

  "That's not normal protocol Hunter, but…" Zane pauses.

  Is he going to say 'yes' to Hunter's offer? More importantly, do I want him to say 'yes' to Hunter's offer?

  Encouragingly I squeeze Hunter's hand. I do want to escape this town but to do that I need to get out of the hospital and I get the feeling that this is the only way.

  "But I guess in the circumstances we can make an exception,” Zane states, nodding his head slightly.

  “Great!",Hunter beams, "So do I just sign the papers now?"

  "Yeah just fill out the details with Maggie and all good."

  "No worries Doctor Rivnay."

  Hunter still has a tight grip on my hand.

  He leads me up to the counter, letting go of my hand to fill out the paperwork.

  Zane turns to walk away.

  I could have turned to run again, but Hunter has made me feel safe and for the moment I’m not going anywhere but back to Hunter's farmhouse.

  Hunter is being an absolute gentleman.

  After signing the discharge papers he spoke to the nurses, buttering them up so he could search through the lost and found to get me some clothes to wear.

  He whispered in my ear after I came from the bathroom wearing tracksuit pants that were a little too big for me and an oversized t-shirt that he'd take me shopping for some new clothes sometime.

  It could have made me feel like a charity case but something about the way he looked at me wearing the ridiculous clothes made it seem more sincere and gave me the sense that Hunter is extremely genuine, as if I didn’t already know that from the past few weeks.

  Now sitting across from him in his Ute heading back towards the farm I have to tell myself to breathe.

  Partly because just being so close to him does things to my body I don't want to acknowledge and partly because I’m scared.

  He seems to be a nice person but I don't know him and I’m about to go to his house to act like I do.

  I tug at the car door handle but it’s locked.

  Jumping out would have been crazy anyway and probably would have sent me straight back to hospital, which is the absolute last place I want to go to.

  What I really want though is to get away from the tension between us.

  There has been some kind of connection between us ever since I'd woken up in
the hospital and he was there.

  His presence made me feel safe, not to mention a lot of other things that I’m too scared to admit to myself that I’m really feeling, about someone who is essentially a stranger.

  We are getting closer to his farm now as he begins to slow the Ute down, pulling up to a gate.

  A wave of nausea washes over me looking at the fence of his farm causing my leg to throb, as my thoughts wander back to climbing over it and I inwardly curse myself for not realising the gate was mere metres away from where I climbed over the fence slicing my leg from the knee to my ankle.

  Before Hunter climbs out of the Ute he touches my thigh, asking "Are you ok?"

  My nod reassures him, even though I’m not ok.

  After closing the gate behind us the farmhouse quickly comes into view and I swallow the lump in my throat that surfaces from looking up at his rundown farmhouse.

  I’m frozen, scared to go inside the farmhouse, just afraid in general.

  Do I really want to go inside?

  I can't think anymore about what is happening though as Hunter is at the door of the Ute, holding a hand out to me to help me out.

  He slings the bag of found clothes over his shoulder and leads me up the verandah.

  We are greeted by a scruffy dog bounding up to us.

  He looks at me, cocking his head to the side and eyeing me as though he knows me.

  Hunter speaks to him, "Yes Blitz it's her."

  Blitz registers acknowledgement at Hunters' words, coming up and nudging my legs.

  Bending down to pat him, he greets me with a sloppy, soggy, doggy kiss to the face.

  "He must really like you," Hunter says smiling, "not even I get kisses like that."

  Blitz happily follows us inside, eagerly wagging his tail and padding down the hallway after us.

  Passing the first room the nausea rushes in again. I turn to look in as we past and the déjà vu hits.

  I feel for sure that I’m going to have a major panic attack right there when the pain of the events a month ago come rushing back to my mind, but against the small of my back I can feel Hunters hand gently guiding me further down the hallway to another room.