Kathryn had planned to take time off between last night’s execution and the last one on her list, but not because of injuries. Whatever the reason, her plans wouldn’t change. Derek was next and the last. She planned a nine-day break, and she hoped she’d recover in that amount of time.
She ate a bowl of cereal and drank her coffee. The pain medication worked wonders and her knee only hurt if she twisted it. Her face didn’t hurt at all. Kathryn wasn’t sure what she’d do when the drug wore off, but she grabbed her jacket and purse and walked slowly and deliberately to her car.
~ * ~
Dr. Graydor arrived before Kathryn, and she did her best to walk to her desk and drop her purse in a drawer. She called out a cheery good morning hoping she could sit and get to work.
“Good morning, Kathryn,” Doc returned the greeting. “Could you come in my office for a moment? I have some paperwork for you.”
“Sure thing,” she called back while biting her lip as she stood.
Kathryn took a deep breath to steel herself against the pain and walked into the office. She held onto the back of the chair to steady herself.
Doc looked up and frowned. “Sit down Kathryn and tell me what the hell happened to you.” He stared at her as she walked around the chair to sit.
“Nothing, sir. I'm all right.” She smiled.
“Don’t ‘nothing sir’ me. I’m a professional observer. At first glance, I not only see you have an injury to your cheek, but all the makeup and bangs might hide the bruising on your forehead from the rest of the world, but not me. I’m trained to notice any skin discoloration immediately or did you forget?” He raised his eyebrows when he looked at her.
She lowered her head and said, “No sir, I know how observant you are.”
“I’m glad we agree. First, who hit you? Was it Nick or Joey Coyle? Second, what happened to your forehead, and third, how did you injure your leg?” He leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and waited for her answer.
Kathryn prepared what she thought would be a believable lie and took a deep breath and blew it out.
“Okay, first, neither Joey nor Nick hit me. You know I have been going through a lot so I decided that I would go out and have a drink. Just one. You know I don’t drink and drive. There’s a nice lounge near my place that I have been to before. I can sit and nurse a drink and have something to eat while listening to either a piano player or the string quartet that plays on occasion.”
“Uh Huh,” Doc grunted.
Kathryn continued, “After an hour, most of my cheese and cracker plate I ordered sat there along with my entire glass of wine. Being there didn’t help any more than being at home, and I didn’t feel like drinking anything except water. I paid my bill and walked to my car. I had just opened my car door when some guy who had at least one too many approached me in the parking lot. He mumbled something about beautiful girls shouldn’t go home alone, and we could go home together. I turned, and he grabbed my arm and hit me across the cheek yelling something about no one walks away from him. I yanked my arm back, and the ass kicked at me. He connected with my knee. At that point, someone walked out of the bar and asked if everything was okay. The guy threw up his arms and yammered ‘yeah, yeah, yeah.’ He walked away, and I got in my car and drove home. I was frightened and didn’t feel much pain until I arrived home.”
“Did you call the police?”
“No, I just wanted to get home.”
“That explains the cheek and limp, what about your forehead?” He leaned forward and stared into her eyes.
“This is where it gets weird.”
“Weird? Do tell.”
Kathryn blew out a breath and said, “I drove home and usually I close my garage door before I get out of my car. Last night I didn’t. I did my best to climb out of the car using one leg and Nick showed up at my garage door and called my name. He scared me. I spun to face him, put weight on the sore leg, and fell. I missed grabbing the car door for support and ended up reaching for the stepladder to try and break my fall. I missed but managed to knock it over, and my car broke the ladder’s fall thankfully because it was headed for my face. I covered my face with my hands, but it still hit my forehead and scraped my scalp. Nick rushed to help me up, but I was so angry with him I told him to leave. He finally left when I was at my kitchen door and closed the garage door.” She shrugged.
“I want you checked out in the E.R. before you do any work. You might also need a tetanus shot,” Doc said as he reached for his phone.
“I’ll go now, sir. I had a shot last fall.” Kathryn began to stand.
“Okay, maybe no shot, but they need to check your knee and face.”
He waved his hand for her to sit back down and spoke into the phone. “I need an orderly to bring a wheelchair down to the morgue and take a patient to the E.R. Of course, the patient is alive. Why would I send a deceased patient? Never mind, just make sure the orderly is not Nick Donnelly.”
He dropped the phone in its cradle and smacked his head with his palm. “Whoever answered thought I was sending a body to the E.R. Someone needs coffee up there.”
Kathryn was giggling. “Think about it, sir. When do we ever call them? They call us or bring someone down here.”
Doc smiled, “I guess I confused them. Oh well, it’ll keep them on their toes.”
The elevator dinged, and Doc looked around the corner. “Rand Gordon is here with your ride. Don’t come back until the E.R. doc assures you that you can work. Understood?”
“Yes, and thanks.” She smiled at Dr. Graydor as she changed seats from the office chair to the wheelchair.
~ * ~
Rand pushed the chair into the elevator and as the doors closed, asked Kathryn, “Are you okay? What happened?”
“Not much. I twisted my knee.” She drummed her fingers on the arm rests.
Rand bent over to look at her. “You hurt your knee with your face?”
“Okay, I fell in my garage. That’s the long and short of it.” She glanced up at him.
“Understood. I heard Doc caused quite a stir asking to send a patient to the E.R. It freaked out a couple of people.”
Kathryn laughed, “Someone asked him if he was sending a live patient.”
Rand laughed with her. He pushed the wheelchair to the nurse’s desk and announced, “Here’s your morgue patient, and yes, she’s breathing.”
A nurse grabbed a clipboard and answered, “Yes, I can see that. I’ll take it from here, thanks, Rand.”
Kathryn shook her head and dropped it into her hand.
“Hi Kathryn. Sorry, you’re here, but glad you’re alive,” the nurse quipped.
“Me, too.” Kathryn laughed, but she stopped when the nurse pushed her into an exam room, placed a gown on the exam table, and asked, “Do you need help getting undressed?”
“Thanks, I'm good.” Kathryn groaned.
“Sure thing, change, hop into bed, and I’ll send the on-duty doc in to check you out.” She smiled.
~ * ~
Two hours later Kathryn returned to the morgue on crutches.
Doc hurried out of his office when he heard the doors open. “Looks like they trust you can walk on your own, sort of,” he smiled.
Kathryn stood in the doorway and answered, “Yeah, did you see who left these flowers? Are they for you or me? I can’t reach them holding onto the crutches.”
Doc glanced at the flowers and stated. “They’re pink carnations. They better not be for me. Why do they look familiar?” He bent down and picked up the milk glass vase containing three light pink carnations.
Kathryn sighed. “They sell them in the gift shop. Usually, they’re for new moms. They also have baby blue carnations. I bet they’re from Nick. He likes to buy flowers from the gift shop.”
Doc handed her the card, and she read it aloud. “Sorry about scaring you last night. I hope you feel better. Love, Nick.”
“That’s nice,” Doc said.
“Why did he have to say love Nick? H
e said that last night, too. I’m confused.”
Doc motioned over his shoulder, “Come into my office and tell me what they said about your injuries, and we can talk about Nick.”
Kathryn sat across from Doc and explained, “The E.R. doc said I have soft tissue damage and bruising. He said it was fortunate I’m a jogger because my tendons and muscles are strong, but he said I still most likely have a bruised tendon. That’s what hurts so much. He made me get a CAT scan to be sure and said my face is only slightly bruised. No concussion from the head injury and the scrape on my scalp is already scabbing over. No broken or cracked bones. I need the crutches for a couple of weeks until I can walk without pain. I can go to PT if I want to strengthen the tendon and muscles after the non-use. He gave me a script for an anti-inflammatory. That’s about it, but you could’ve pulled my record up if you wanted to know.” She smiled.
“I know, but I’m your boss. You deserve privacy. Do you need time off? Do you think you can work with crutches?”
“Yes, sir Dr. Boss.” She grinned.
He shook his head and laughed.
“Seriously, I do a lot of work sitting at my desk. I can push specimens on the small cart instead of carrying them. If I need to stand to assist you, the chair in the specimen room is adjustable, and I can sit as high as I stand. See, no problem.” She nodded.
“Okay, that takes care of problem number one. What about Nick? Are you worried he’ll hurt you? I spoke to him once. I could do it again.” Doc interlaced his fingers and placed his hands on his desk.
“I don’t know what to do. I still love him. I had a long talk with Mac in security. He put up with a mother-in-law who thought he was a loser for years. He did it because he loved his wife more than he hated his mother-in-law’s words. If Nick and I are going to make it, I have to learn to do that, too.” She shrugged and leaned back in her chair.
“True, but Nick has to learn to stand by you and be sure his mother doesn’t get out of hand. A quip or a nasty remark here and there is one thing, but he has to be sure he doesn’t allow her to stomp all over you the way she did at dinner.” He raised his eyebrows.
“I agree. Now, all I need to do is get Nick to agree. I think that will be harder.”
“Make sure he knows before you try and patch things up that is what you need from him. Lay some ground rules. You both will be happier. If it doesn’t change from the get-go this time, walk away. Don’t let anyone shatter your heart over and over. Life can be wonderful, or a long, miserable sentence depending on who you’re with and what you do.” He smiled and nodded at her.
“Thanks, sir. I know where I want to be. I want to work here, and if I did go back to school it would be for science and research, not nursing. While I was in the E.R., I saw several patients come in, and nurses are very special. They have that certain sparkle to comfort others regardless of the situation. I lost that sparkle when I lost my mom. Now, working here or maybe doing research can still help people. I feel useful and proud of what I do. I should get some work done before it’s time to go home.” She struggled to stand and negotiate around the desk with her crutches.
Kathryn returned to her desk, but before she started her work, she sent a text to Nick.
“Thanks for the sweet note and flowers.”
She added a smiley face rather than a heart just in case he reconsidered his feelings again. They changed too often, and it confused her.
~ * ~
Kathryn stood in her garage leaning on her crutches with her drive-thru dinner bag in one hand.
Well, there is no way you are going to walk up the stairs with this bag. I doubt you can walk up without the bag. Going down in the morning seems frightening.
She placed the bag on the door threshold. Leaning her crutches near the handrail, she gripped it and hopped up one stair at a time. Once she hopped over her dinner, she turned around, grabbed the bag, and pulled the crutches up and into the kitchen.
She smiled and said, “Well done. I think I can handle it.”
After she enjoyed her dinner, showered, cleaned the gun she skipped doing last night, she watched TV until she knew Connor and Leah would be in bed. She needed to call Pam. She hated lying to her, but Pam needed to hear the same story she told everyone else.
Pam was understandably upset and made Kathryn promise to stay out of darkened parking lots. Kathryn promised. They chatted a while, and Kathryn ended the call. She settled back to watch TV when the phone beeped. It was a text from Nick.
“Glad you liked the flowers.
No school Friday night.
Can we talk? I’ll bring dinner.”
He ended the text with a red heart. Kathryn stared at the screen. She didn’t know whether to hug the phone or toss it across the room. She texted back.
“Okay, we can talk. Pizza?”
She added a blue heart because her heart still felt sad.
Immediately, Nick replied.
“Pizza it is. Friday at seven.”
He added two red hearts.
She replied with a smiley face.
Kathryn leaned back and smiled. She tried not to let her heart dictate her feelings, but she was excited to see Nick. Sharing a meal and talking. Maybe just maybe. Could they make it work? She would follow Mac’s advice and do her best to accept his mother for who she is. She would also let Nick know she expected him to stand up for her and not let his mom hurt her badly. Would it work?
Between knee pain and wondering about Nick, Kathryn slept fitfully. She had a nightmare of being attacked. She found a comfortable position for her knee and drifted back to sleep happy that the next execution would be her last. It would be put on hold for close to a month, but maybe in that time she and Nick could rekindle their romance.
She managed to sleep deeply for a few hours and dream pleasant dreams.
Chapter twenty-four
Kathryn’s week dragged by slowly. Each day seemed longer than the previous day. It had been a quiet week without any murder victims. Doc mentioned to her that he thought maybe the killings had stopped, and life would get back to normal. Kathryn knew things would return to normal as soon as her leg healed, and the last execution completed. She decided not to worry about that day. It would come when she was ready. Until then, she would take care of herself, do her best to aid her healing, and hopefully work things out with Nick. When it was time to leave on Friday evening, her stomach flipped as she wondered what the evening held in store.
~ * ~
Nick arrived a little after seven on Friday night carrying a large pizza box. Kathryn smiled when she opened the door, and Nick walked in and placed the box on the kitchen table.
“Mmm, that smells fantastic,” Kathryn said. “Let’s eat first and then talk.” Kathryn opened the box knowing exactly what Nick ordered. Sausage and pepperoni on the entire pizza and one side had added black olives and sun dried tomatoes for her and the other mushrooms and green peppers for Nick.
They ate and made small talk about the hospital. After they finished and cleaned up the dishes, they settled in Kathryn’s living room. Nick was going to sit next to her, but Kathryn suggested they each sit at opposite ends of the sofa and talk. Nick agreed.
Nick grinned at her and said, “Ladies first.”
“Okay,” Kathryn answered. “We have a lot to discuss so I think we should take turns and not cover things all at once.”
“Agreed.” Nick was still smiling.
Kathryn took a deep breath and turned so she could see Nick’s eyes as she spoke to him. “I think we should discuss this in small bits instead of one long speech. It will give us the time to address each issue separately.”
“Agreed,” Nick said again.
“Okay, first, I think I may have overreacted when I walked out of your parent’s house after dinner. That being said, I wanted to talk to you the next day, but you called and said you wanted your things. You seemed so cold and angry that I was convinced we were over. I didn’t give anyone details except Pam, and I receiv
ed some good advice from Mac and Doc. You have to understand that your mom hurt me; she tried to make me feel worthless, and she belittled me. Your turn.”
Nick nodded. “My mom can be overbearing and too verbal at times. I didn’t like what she said to you, but I also know my mom. Discussing it at that moment would have made it worse. I needed to talk to her alone. I should have followed you immediately, but I thought if I got you some pie we could go back to your place and talk and splurge on junk food. I was shocked that you took a cab and said goodbye. I thought we were over, and I just called so I could get my stuff out of your sight. Done.”
“Well, it seems as if we both jumped to conclusions, but we missed the chance to discuss it rationally. Things got out of control. I’m not sure how to fix it now. You told Brenda my most private secrets. Ones only you and Pam knew. A few of the details no one else ever knew except my therapist. Why did you betray my confidence?”
Kathryn stared at Nick doing her best not to cry. She interlaced her fingers and squeezed them together to keep her tears at bay.
“I didn’t mean to betray your confidence. After you had left me standing in the street, I was devastated. I did go back to my parents’ house and had a huge fight with my mom. Somewhere during the argument I blurted out that you had been through so much, and my mom should be kind to you. She stopped arguing with me and asked me what I meant. It all just came out. I thought it would help her understand.” He dropped his head and added, “That’s all.”
Kathryn’s tears fell, and she wiped them away. The pain of betrayal was still strong. “Well, I could maybe understand that. I know how you blurt things out. I think I could understand if you had told me you confided in your mom. What I don’t understand is everything you said to me in the cafeteria. You accused me of using you. Your turn, I can’t talk anymore.”
Nick dropped his head in his hands and rubbed his forehead. “I honestly don’t know how that happened. I was hurt, no devastated. My mom did her best to convince me we were wrong for each other. She found a way to incorporate what happened to you as a child and with James into what happened between us. I was hurt, confused, and stupid. She’s my mom, Kathryn, I believed her. I couldn’t imagine she’d lie because she didn’t think you’re good enough.” He looked at her with tears in his eyes.
Kathryn's Justice Page 21
