Save My Soul

by K. S. Haigwood

  I got in my Land Rover and drove to the hospital. I turned the radio up as loud as I could stand it and sang along with Theory Of A Deadman. He had a bad, bad girlfriend. It had a good beat, and I knew most of the words. The ones I didn't know, I made up as I went along. No one was here to criticize my singing anyway. Well, maybe Coen and Rhyan could hear me, but they weren't complaining.

  It didn't take long to get to the city. Like with any city, you had to travel during off hours or you got stuck in traffic. Ten o'clock in the morning wasn't too bad a time to travel. I only hoped I could make it back out before noon.

  I used the parking garage where Mason's truck had been parked yesterday. There wasn't a sign that told me I couldn't. I pulled in and found a spot somewhat close to the elevator. I got out, locked my doors and headed for the elevator.

  I heard someone whistle, but I didn't turn around. If it was meant for me, I didn't have time to be flattered.

  I pushed the button and heard the whistle again, a little closer to me this time. I was really starting to get creeped out, so I hit the button three more times, trying not to look obvious that I was a scared shitless. I had thought I was the only one in the very poorly lit garage.

  The doors finally opened and I forced myself to walk slowly into the box. I didn't look back out as I pushed the button for the fourth floor.

  "Hey, Kendra, hold the door!" Mason shouted from the garage. I caught the doors just before they closed.

  He rolled a wheelchair into the elevator and hit the button for the second floor then smiled at me.

  My heart was still up in my throat, and I knew my face had to be beet red. "You scared me. I thought you…"

  "You thought I was an evil monster whistling at you in a dark garage?" Mason said with a grin.

  I had to laugh then. "Yeah…yeah, I guess I did." I looked at the wheelchair, then back up at his face. God, he was so good looking. "What are you doing down here?"

  He looked at the wheelchair and made it do a little wheelie. "I was taking a patient to his vehicle. He was discharged a few minutes ago, and unlike you, he didn't refuse the wheelchair exit. It's standard protocol for the patient to be wheeled out in one of these and helped into their vehicle. I think it's frivolous, but if a patient refuses and they fall and get hurt, they can sue us."

  The elevator dinged, and we both looked up as the doors opened. "I think Adam is in surgery right now. If he isn't in his office, come back to this floor and ask for me. I really do need to check you out. If the surgery goes all right, he shouldn't be much longer.

  I nodded and the doors closed. Damn. There went my chance of getting out of the city by noon. It was only about fifteen miles to my house from here, but driving fifteen miles in rush hour traffic could take up to an hour and a half. I might as well take my time and wait until traffic slowed back down at one-thirty. I did not want to spend three and a half hours in a hospital that I had been in such a hurry to get out of yesterday. This is what I get for telling Aven I have a client coming at twelve-thirty, when I actually don't. Karma's a bitch.

  I went up to the fourth floor, and sure enough, Mason had been right. Adam wasn't in his office. His door was open, so I peeked in. I wasn't going to touch anything. I only needed to find something personal of his that I could relate to. It's easier to talk to someone if you at least know a little bit about them.

  I stood in the center of his 12 x 15 room and looked around. There were very few pictures on his desk and absolutely none on the wall. There was a painting on the wall behind his desk, in between the only two windows in the room. It was a landscape. I didn't recognize the print, but it was good if you asked me.

  I looked again at the pictures on his desk. There were three, all candid shots. There was one with a little boy and a teenage girl. The boy looked like a miniature Adam, so I assumed it was him when he was around ten. The girl in the shot looked a whole lot like Adam as well, and I assumed she was probably Adam's sister. In the second photo, there was a man and woman. The man had his arm around the woman in a loving embrace; must be their parents. The last photo was of all of them together. Adam was sitting on his dad's right shoulder with a baseball raised to the sky. His mom, sister and dad were all smiling up at him.

  I wondered if he'd won the game or if he had caught a foul ball or homerun ball at a minor or major league game. I smiled. They all looked so happy.

  I did notice something though. There were no recent pictures of his family in the room. Had they all died but Adam? Was that his reason for turning against God?

  "Excuse me," Adam said. I couldn't help it; I jumped and screamed like a girl. He didn't smile, he just looked annoyed. You're not supposed to be on this floor unless you are accompanied by a member of the staff, or a doctor asks for you to come." He looked around, then back to me. "I don't see anybody else, and I'm positive that I didn't call you, Ms. Larkin."

  I closed my eyes and counted to five, there was no time for ten. "I came to apologize for my outburst, and me storming out of here yesterday. I can now see how that all must have sounded to you, Adam."

  He walked to his chair behind the desk and sat down. He didn't look at me; his gaze went to the third picture, the one where he was holding the baseball.

  "Did you win the game, or catch a fly ball?" He didn't look at me, but he did answer me. It was a start.

  "My little league team won All Stars in 1991. I was twelve years old, and I hit the home run that won the game."

  "Your family looks really proud of you." I said, and he tensed.

  "Why are you really here, Ms. Larkin?" He stood and walked slowly around to me. I didn't know what he was going to do, but I did know I didn't want to be sitting down when he did it.

  I didn't back up after I stood. I didn't want to show weakness. I may have been shaking in my shoes, but I wasn't going to let him know it.

  He looked angry, but somehow I didn't think he was angry with me. I looked away from him. "I'm sorry for wasting your time, Dr. Chamberlain. I'm supposed to meet with Mason so he can look me over and make sure there's nothing wrong with me. I will see you again in six days."

  I started for the door of his office and he spoke.

  "Why six days?" he asked me.

  I stopped, but I didn't turn around. I just answered his question. "Because six days is how long I have before I die and we both lose our souls. See you Friday." I said, then walked out the door.

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  Chapter Eleven

  I had every intention of seeing him before my six days were up, but I was hoping he would come to me first. I didn't really even have six whole days, more like five and a half. I stepped off the elevator onto the second floor. There was a nurse's station about twenty-five feet from the elevator. How convenient. There were two nurses, cackling like hens with their eggs about to hatch, behind the big counter. I really hated to interrupt, but I was going to.

  I cleared my throat. "Excuse me…"

  They both immediately fell silent and gave me harmless, helpful smiles. "Can I help you?" one of the brunettes asked me.

  "Yes, maybe you can. I was looking for Mason." I said.

  They gave each other a funny look then looked back at me. The other brunette spoke this time. "Is he a patient or staff?"

  I raised an eyebrow. Of course, a "Mason" could be either one. "Staff."

  They gave each other another quick glance, then turned back to me again. The brunette that answered this time didn't look so happy with me being here. Actually, neither of them did. "We don't know of any Mason that works in this hospital."

  Oh, really? Huh. I could play this game too. "Well, I do, and Adam sent me to get him from the second floor." One of the girls looked surprised, the other confused.

  The girl that had looked surprised responded back. "Adam who?" she asked, and I could tell she was a little nervous about what would come out of my mouth next.

  I smiled sweetly, with a little menace behind it. "Adam Chamberlain," I said and watched closel
y as her expression changed from snotty to frantic.

  She swiftly picked up the phone receiver and hit a button on the phone. "Mason Carter, come to the second floor, station one, please." She hung up the phone, but didn't look at me when she spoke. "He'll be here in a minute. You can wait in the waiting room over there." She pointed to her left and I turned to look at the small waiting room. There was four chairs lined up against one of the walls, with a drink and snack machine across from them.

  "No, I think I'll be fine right here." I said.

  "Whatever you want, ma'am. Just trying to make sure you're comfortable." Man, what kind of asshole was Adam?

  A pair of hands reached around and covered my eyes from behind. "Guess who?"

  I smiled and turned around. Mason didn't back up, so he was standing all up in my personal space, but with the attitude I had gotten from the nurses behind the desk, I wasn't going to show that I cared.

  "How was your talk with Dr. Chamberlain?" I moved my eyes toward the nurses so only he could see and then looked back at him. He smiled and gave them his attention. "Danielle, Ashley…you girls staying out of trouble today?"

  They giggled like they were high school Freshman girls, and the hottest guy in the Senior class had just flirted with them. I rolled my eyes. Mason gave them both a cunning look, then laced his fingers with mine and led me down the hall.

  "They weren't too hard on you, were they?" Mason said before he pulled me into a room. It wasn't a patient's room, it was smaller. It had a small cot, some medical equipment and that was it.

  "Typical bitches." I whispered.

  "What?" Mason grinned at me.

  I shook my head. "Nothing," I looked around and found a stool with wheels on it. I started to sit down.

  Mason shook his head and pointed at the cot. "Shoes and socks off."

  I gave him one of my best looks; one that plainly asked a person, "Really?"

  He shrugged. "I could have you strip down and put one of these on." He held up a hospital gown, complete with missing backside. I hopped up on the cot without another word and slipped my shoes and socks off.

  He got something out of a drawer that looked like a small metal gavel. One end was pointy and made of metal, and the other end was rubber. He took my foot gently in his hand, and with the other hand he ran the pointy end from heel to toe. I shrieked and almost fell off the cot, but he caught me. He was laughing as he helped me sit back up straight and then did the same to the other foot. My reaction wasn't as bad that time because I knew what was coming.

  He used the rubber end of the contraption to check my reflexes. "You're good. You can put those back on, and then I'll check your vitals." He wrote on a chart as I put my socks and shoes back on.

  "Is that my chart?" I asked. He nodded then laid it down. He picked up the blood pressure cuff and placed it gently around my arm. I was looking at him the whole time, but he was focusing on his job. He had to be really good at what he does to not get distracted by a woman he has a date with tonight.

  Oh shit, I'd forgotten I had to cancel. He was so distracting. I looked up at him. He had to be a decent person if he was a nurse, right? He cared about people. It wasn't my fault that Rhyan couldn't find his guardian angel. He or She may be on vacation for all I knew. I knew I needed to cancel, but I just really, really didn't want to.

  He had me breathe in and out several times while he listened with his stethoscope. He placed it on my back and listened to my lungs, then moved it to my chest and had me breathe deeply again. My heart was beating normally at first, then I thought about him with his shirt off the day before and it went into overdrive.

  He looked at my face and gave me a strange look. "Are you all right?"

  I nodded and turned my head, a little embarrassed. "I was only thinking."

  He smiled and put the stethoscope around his neck. "I would like to be in your head and know what you're thinking right now."

  "I'm sure you would." I said a little flirtatious. He was already in my space so I leaned a little closer. He seemed to realize what I wanted him to do, but he backed up and wrote something in my chart instead of meeting me in the middle. Well. That had been the first move I'd ever made on a guy that had backfired.

  "So, did you get anything accomplished with Adam?"

  I huffed. "He makes me so angry. I swear I could bite through metal nails if I had any."

  He chuckled. "It went that well, huh? He kind of has that effect on people until you get to know him." He seemed to realize that I wasn't in a joking mood. His expression changed to concern and he rolled the stool over to the cot and sat down. "Look, don't get discouraged. We'll think of something."

  I hopped down from the cot. "I don't have time to get to know him. I only have six days left."

  He slowly blinked. "Do you really think you only have six days left?"

  My eyes grew wide. "I thought you believed me."

  He grabbed my hand. "I do…I do, Kendra. It's just a lot to take in. I don't see why God would take your life over this though. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

  I nodded. "It wasn't God I made the deal with. It was Coen, and he tricked me. Not only will I die in six days, well, actually five and a half, but I'll lose my soul, too."

  "Well, it sounds like Coen may have made a deal with the Devil instead of God." He stood and hugged me. "We'll get this figured out. I'll kick Adam's ass myself if I have to."

  I laughed through tears, and nodded.

  "I'll see you tonight, and I won't leave until we come up with something." He tilted my head up by my chin. "All right?"

  I knew I should break the date, but I couldn't do it. He was going to help me find a way to convince Adam I was telling the truth. I nodded my head and smiled. "I'll see you tonight."

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  Chapter Twelve

  Mason walked me, past the two cackling nurses, to the elevator. Of course they shut up the moment they saw us. I looked at my watch when we stopped at the elevator. It was 11:45 a.m. Damn, there was no way I'd be able to get out of here and out of the city in fifteen minutes. Truth be known, the traffic was already at a standstill.

  Mason picked up on my agitation and he smiled. "You aren't going to get out of the city in time, are you?"

  I shook my head. "It doesn't look like it."

  He lifted my hand that he was still holding and kissed my knuckles. I wanted more than that, but if that was all I could have right now, so be it. What the hell was wrong with me? I'd never acted this way before. "I'll see you at 6:30."

  I hesitated and he caught it. I spoke before he could. "I don't know how tonight will go between us Mason, but with everything that's going on right now with Adam, and my imminent death," I shrugged. "I have a lot of work to do in the next couple of weeks, senior pictures and a few other things. I just think after tonight, we need to wait until after I find out if I am going to live or not. Now is not the time for me to get distracted."

  He ran the back of his fingers along my cheek. "You're so beautiful."

  I smiled as I blushed. "You're distracting me, Mason."

  "Not on purpose." He leaned in to smell of my hair. "Mmmm, I think that you're the one distracting me."

  I was having trouble breathing. I couldn't think straight with him standing this close to me. He smelled so good. I think he was wearing Pleasures. Aven wore it sometimes. It was one of my favorites. I threw his line back at him. "Not on purpose."

  I heard him breathe a soft laugh. "I'll see you tonight and we'll get the Adam thing resolved. Then I can distract you all I want, deal?"

  I nodded. I definitely wanted to be distracted by him when this all blew over. The elevator dinged and I pulled away from him. When the doors opened, Adam was standing there looking at us.

  He nodded at Mason. "Mason,"

  Mason nodded back and flashed those pearly whites. "Dr. Chamberlain,"

  Adam looked back at me and sighed. "I'd like to finish our conversation if that's all right with you, Ms. Larkin.
" I heard shuffling and I looked back at the nurse's desk. The two brunettes were no longer cackling hens. They were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Adam. I was still irritated with him, but at least he was willing to talk to me.

  I looked back at Mason and he let go of my hand. "You want me to go with you?"

  "No, I think I can handle him all by myself." I said as I stepped into the elevator beside Adam.

  "I had no doubts, Kendra." He smiled and the doors closed, shutting me inside the small box with the guy who was in total control of my fate.

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  Chapter Thirteen

  We didn't go back up to the fourth floor like I thought that we would. He had hit the "G" button in the elevator, and the doors opened to the garage.

  I expected to walk up to a Corvette or Porsche, they seemed like the kind of vehicle a doctor would drive, but he surprised me when he unlocked a bright red 1967 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500. I may be a photographer, but cars have always been something I've taken an interest in.

  I let out a low whistle, and he looked up at me. There was still no smile on his face. Man, he was going to be hard to save. I thought as he unlocked my door from the inside. I got in. I wasn't worried about him killing me and hauling my body off to bury it in the woods somewhere. Mason and two other nurses had seen me leave with him. I really didn't think I could count on the hens, but I was counting on Mason.

  "So…where're you taking me during lunch rush hour? You do know that it will take us forever to get there, and then get back." He didn't respond so I looked at my watch. It was straight up twelve o'clock.

  He pulled out of the garage and took a right. He turned left down an alley and then turned right again at the end. We were close to the older part of the city now, and traffic wasn't nearly as bad here. He continued in that direction, and soon we were completely out of town, heading north.

  The radio was off, and I couldn't hear anything but the soft purring of the big engine. He wanted to finish the conversation, but he wasn't talking at all, just driving. Maybe I should start. "So…where are you taking me?" I asked again. A few moments passed and he didn't say anything. I slumped back in my seat and looked out the window.