by Terri Reid
Bradley stepped back and took a shuddering gasp when he looked at Gary’s bloody face.
“I wanted to kill him,” he said, his voice a combination of disbelief and regret.
“Yeah, I get that,” Sean said. “But you didn’t and that’s what matters.”
Bradley met Sean’s gaze and nodded. “Thanks.”
“I’ll wait here for the paramedics,” Sean said. “Why don’t you take Mary upstairs to the waiting room?”
Bradley turned around. “Mary, are you all right?” he asked.
“I am, now that you’re here,” she said.
He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the small waiting room at the top of the stairs. He placed her on her feet and cradled her head in his hands.
“Bradley, you need to know something before you kiss me,” she whispered
He lowered his face. “Anything we need to discuss can wait.”
“Bradley, I’m not Mary, I’m Jeannine.”
Bradley froze and lifted his head. “No, you’re Mary,” he said. “I was married to Jeannine, I know the difference.”
Jeannine laughed. “No, I mean that I’m inside Mary’s body,” she said. “It was the only way to save her, because Gary had drugged her.”
Bradley shook his head. “You’re serious? Jeannine?”
She smiled at him. “Takes a while to get through that thick skull of yours, but you finally do catch on.”
“You saved Mary?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said with a smile. “I really like her. So, don’t do anything stupid and mess it up.”
He chuckled. “Well, I’ve tried pretty much every stupid thing I can think of. I hope I can start being smarter soon.”
She laid her head on his chest. “I really do love you, you know,” she said.
He hugged her close and kissed her hair. “And I love you.”
She looked up at him, her eyes bright with tears. “I don’t think Mary would mind,” she said, as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him for one last time.
She stepped out of Mary’s body and Mary collapsed into Bradley’s arms. He looked out and saw Jeannine’s ghost standing in front of them. “I get to go home now, Bradley,” she said. “Promise me…”
“Anything,” he said, cradling Mary’s body in his arms.
“Find my body and put me in a proper grave. And find our baby.”
Bradley thought about the tiny body in the freezer across town. Jeannine didn’t need to know what happened to their baby. She needed to rest in peace. “I will, Jeannine, I promise.”
“Good-bye Bradley,” she said, as she faded away. “Take good care of Mary.”
“Good-bye Jeannine,” he whispered to the empty room.
“Bradley,” Mary murmured in his arms. “Is Jeannine…”
“She’s gone,” Bradley choked. “Jeannine’s gone and my baby is dead.”
Mary shook her head, trying to clear the fog in her brain. “No, your baby is alive,” she whispered. “I heard her cry when she was born.”
“You heard her…?” Bradley asked, but Mary was already unconscious.
Chapter Forty-four
Bradley sat vigil at Mary’s bedside in the hospital in Freeport. He knew she didn’t like hospitals and wanted to be sure that he was there when she finally woke up.
Dr. Louise Thorne had examined her when she came in and said that until the drug wore off, they wouldn’t know if any other injuries had occurred. That was two days ago and everyone, including Dr. Thorne, was getting a little worried.
He looked around the room and had to smile. This place had more stuff in it than the gift shop. There were a half a dozen bouquets of flowers from red roses to yellow daisies. There were boxes of chocolates, dozens of cards, a goldfish in a goblet from the Brennan boys and several plates of cookies and baked goods from Rosie.
He got up and picked up a cookie from one of the plates and bit into it.
“Filching cookies from an invalid,” Mike said. “That’s pretty low.”
“She’s not an invalid, she just hasn’t woken up yet,” Bradley said. “And Rosie said Mary could share.”
Mike glided over to Mary. “Did you ever wonder if that fairy tale thing worked?” he asked. “You lean over and kiss her and she opens her eyes.”
“Well, I could run it past Dr. Thorne and see what she thinks,” Bradley said.
“Skeptic,” Mike countered.
“Hey, I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” Bradley said. “About that issue we had before I went into Sycamore.”
“Yeah, did you make a decision?”
Bradley nodded. “I called Jack and told him that I was going to have to follow up on the case,” he said, watching Mike’s expression fall. “But given my case load and the fact the insurance companies paid for all of the damages to the farmers. And since there was no viable forensic evidence; the investigation was going to have to be tabled for about eighteen months.”
Mike smiled. “You’re a good man, Bradley Alden.”
He shook his head. “No, I just got a peek of how people react when their loved ones have been hurt by someone else.”
“So, training and civility don’t always win?”
“No, they should, Mike, they really should, but there’s something primitive inside us that fights for release,” he said. “And if we’re not careful, we can rationalize that it’s right.”
“Are you saying that what Jack did was wrong?”
Bradley nodded. “Yeah, what he did was wrong. Because once we start taking justice into our own hands, once we think we have the right to decide who gets to live and who gets to die, we’ve lost our ability to exist as a civilized society.”
“So, why give Jack a break?”
Bradley smiled sadly. “Because, this time, whether justice works swiftly or slowly, the results will be the same.”
“Thanks anyway, Bradley,” he said as he started to fade away.
“You’re welcome,” Bradley said.
There was a soft knock on the door and Bradley turned to see Rosie and Stanley entering the room. “Is she awake yet?” Rosie asked.
Bradley shook his head. “No, not yet.”
“Oh, dear,” Rosie said. “We wanted to share our news with her.”
“Your news?” Bradley asked.
Rosie smiled. “Stanley’s asked me to marry him.”
“Well, you’ve tasted her cooking,” Stanley grumbled. “A man would be a fool not to snatch her up.”
Rosie giggled. “Come on, Stanley, tell him what you told me.”
“Darn demanding women,” he grumbled. “Fine, I’ll tell you, but don’t go spreading it around. People are going think I’ve gone and gotten soft.”
“I promise,” Bradley said.
Stanley walked over to Rosie and took her hand in his. “At our age we don’t have too much time left, so we can’t waste any chances we get. Iffen you find someone who makes your world a better place, you got to snatch her up and spend all the time you can with her.”
Rosie wiped a tear from her eye. “He meant me,” she explained to Bradley.
“Yeah, I kind of got that,” he said with a chuckle. “And he’s not only lucky, he’s a smart man.”
Rosie blushed. “Thank you Bradley.”
“So, when’s the date?” he asked.
“Oh, we can’t settle on that until Mary’s awake,” Rosie said. “She’s got to be my maid-of-honor.”
Stanley harrumphed. “And I’d be pleased if you’d be my best man.”
“Stanley, I’d be honored,” Bradley said sincerely.
Stanley nodded his head. “Well, good, thanks,” he said, pulling out his handkerchief and wiping his nose. “Appreciate it.”
Rosie slipped her arm through Stanley’s and sighed. “It’s like a fairy tale come true,” she said.
“Yeah, who’d every guess the troll would get the princess,” Stanley said, his eyes filled with love for Rosie.
Rosie lean
ed over and kissed Stanley. “I’ve always had a particular fondness for trolls.”
Stanley blushed. “Well, we’d best be going,” he said. “You call us when she wakes up, hear?”
Bradley nodded. ‘Yes, you’re at the top of the list.”
“Thank you, Bradley,” Rosie said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.
“My pleasure, Rosie.”
They left the room and Bradley turned back to Mary, still sleeping soundly. He walked over to the bed and looked down at her. She did look like a fairy-tale princess, lying there magically asleep. He wondered if…?
He started to lean over towards her when he heard a sharp rap on the door.
“It’s a sick room, Sean,” Ian was saying. “You don’t enter it like you do a pub.”
“I’d didn’t mean to knock so hard,” he said, walking into the room. “I didn’t wake her up, did I?”
Bradley shook his head. “No, she’s still asleep.”
Ian walked up to the bed, bent over and was going to kiss Mary.
“Wait,” Bradley said, panicked.
Ian looked up and grinned. “Ach, don’t worry, it’s only true love’s kiss will wake the sleeping beauty,” he said. “Mine is but a token.”
He kissed her and she remained asleep.
Bradley didn’t understand why he felt such a rush of relief.
“So, how long does the doc say she’s going to be sleeping like this?” Sean asked.
Bradley shook his head. “She kind of expected her to already be awake,” he said. “If she doesn’t wake up by tomorrow, they’re going to start running tests.”
“Could he have given her an overdose of the drug?” Ian asked.
“That’s a possibility,” Bradley said. “Or it could be that her system has just been overwhelmed by all she’s been through.”
Sean moved to the side of the bed and gently pushed some of her hair off her forehead. “You don’t think her time here is over?” Sean asked. “You don’t think she’s done all the good she was meant to do and now God’s taking her back?”
“No!” Bradley said. “No. That doesn’t make sense. Why now?”
“Well, she came into your life when you were grieving for Jeannine,” Ian said. “And now, not only is Jeannine at rest, but you can finally go on with your life.”
“Not without Mary,” Bradley said. “Not without her.”
“Yeah,” Sean said, wiping a tear from his eyes. “It was a stupid thought. She’s going to be fine. By the way, has child services contacted you yet?”
Bradley nodded. “Yeah, they’re going to search through their records and send me the information on my daughter. I just have to remember that’s she’s eight years old and has been with a family her whole life. She might not welcome me in her life.”
Sean walked over and patted Bradley on the shoulder. “It will work out,” he said. “And you’ll know what to do when the time comes.”
“I hope so,” Bradley said, shaking his head. “I’m not sure how I feel knowing I’m the father of an eight year-old.”
Sean laughed. “Wait until she’s sixteen, then you can be worried.”
Ian laughed. “That’s taking his mind off his worries. Will you be filling Mary in on the details of the case? I’m sure she’ll love knowing that Mercedes’ only offense was entering the scene of a crime and taking her basket so it wouldn’t get locked away in a police evidence locker.”
“Well, at least she had the good sense to call 911 after she took it,” Sean added.
Bradley looked over at Mary who hadn’t moved during the conversation. “Yes, I’ll let her know.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go back to Chicago with Sean?” Ian asked. “I feel a little strange living in her house without her being there.”
Bradley shook his head. “No, it’s good you’re there,” he said. “Maybe you can keep Mike out of trouble.”
Ian chuckled. “Not in this lifetime,” he said. “Or the next for that matter.”
“Well, I’ve got to get back,” Sean said. “Call me when she wakes up.”
“I will, I promise,” Bradley said.
“Come on, Ian,” Sean said. “I’ll give you a ride to Mary’s.”
The room was once again quiet, except for the sounds of the monitors recording Mary’s vital signs. Bradley walked back over to the bed and gazed down at her. Sean’s words had brought a fear to his heart that he hadn’t experienced in a long time. She couldn’t be taken from him. Could she?
He leaned forward and cradled her face in his hand, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb. “You are my heart, Mary O’Reilly,” he said. “You can’t leave me now. I love you.”
He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and then brushed his lips across her cheek.
“Mary, will you marry me?” he whispered.
He placed his lips on hers and kissed her with all the love he had in his heart. A single tear slipped from his cheek and landed softly on hers.
She suddenly took a deep breath and her eyes opened slowly.
“Bradley,” she whispered. “What did you say?”
*****
About the author: Terri Reid lives near Freeport, the home of the Mary O’Reilly Mystery Series, and loves a good ghost story. She lives in a hundred year-old farmhouse complete with its own ghost. She loves hearing from her readers at [email protected]
