HisMarriageBargain

by Sidney Bristol

  She leaned against Isaac, finding more comfort from her unlikely friend. “I don’t know, but his face moved.”

  “Is that good?”

  “He hasn’t done that yet.”

  “Lookie there.” Isaac leaned over the bed.

  Sammi tossed his head on the pillow and his legs moved, just a little, but it was more.

  “Hello.” A nurse breezed in Autumn vaguely recognized from maybe the first day. “He’s still trying to wake up, isn’t he?” She busied around the room, checking the machines.

  “When will he wake up?” Autumn gripped Sammi’s hand tighter.

  “When he’s ready.” The nurse smiled cheerfully.

  Tamara circled to the armchair and sat down without a single glance at her son. For a woman so concerned about keeping Sammi with her, she was awfully unconcerned with him.

  “What did the doctor say this morning? Anything?” Since she’d missed the ten-o’clock visitation time, she’d probably also missed the doctor doing rounds.

  “Just keeping him on a lot of fluids, flushing out his system and keeping an eye on him,” the nurse replied. “If you need anything, I’ll be right outside.”

  “Thanks,” Autumn replied, her attention back on Sammi’s face.

  He grunted in his sleep and the side of his mouth screwed up.

  “Hey there.” Autumn brushed his cheek.

  “Hm?” He turned into her touch and the tension lines eased.

  “You waking up yet?” Autumn prayed he was.

  “Of course not,” Tamara replied.

  Autumn resisted informing Tamara the comment had not been directed to her and focused on Sammi.

  Sammi’s eyelashes fluttered and Autumn’s lungs stopped working.

  He blinked and squinted.

  “Hey.” Autumn cupped one hand over her mouth, tears springing to her eyes.

  Sammi groaned and lifted a hand to his face, rubbing across the stubble. He glanced around him, clearly confused.

  “Hey. I missed you.” A smile flickered across his lips and for a moment the whole world felt right. “What’s going on?”

  “Sammi?” Tamara shot to her feet, crossed to his other side and clutched his hand to her chest. “Oh Sammi. I was so worried. Rabbi and I have been here every day.”

  Autumn gaped at the woman. What reality was she from?

  “Hi, Mom,” Sammi muttered.

  Tamara continued to babble at him, about what, Autumn wasn’t certain.

  “You need tea. Let me get you some tea. It will make you feel better.” She stroked Sammi’s hair, flattening it to his skull.

  “No, Mom.” Sammi shook his head and tried to fend her off with one hand while the other had a strong grip on Autumn.

  “It always makes you feel better.” Tamara returned with a thermos of tea, which she poured into the cup top.

  “Mom, no.”

  Autumn stared at the tea as it sloshed around in the cup. She’d never been much of a tea fan, despite its popularity in Texas, but this tea looked a little murky.

  “If Sammi doesn’t want the tea, he shouldn’t have to drink it. He’s a fucking adult, treat him like one,” Autumn snapped.

  Tamara finally looked at her, and if looks could kill, Autumn would have died a week after she was born.

  “I am his mother,” she snapped.

  Autumn rolled her eyes. “I know. You’ve reminded me both times you’ve been here.”

  “What’s going on in here?” The nurse stuck her head through the door.

  “Sammi woke up. Should the doctor see him?” Autumn said, grasping for straws.

  “Hey there, glad to see you’re awake.” The nurse leaned over the bed. “I’m going to grab your chart and take your vitals real quick.”

  Isaac leaned over and patted Sammi’s arm. “Good to see you awake, man. I got to get back to the office but I’ll be in later.”

  Sammi murmured a goodbye. He seemed pretty out of it so far but was coming around well.

  “You should drink something,” Tamara said again.

  “Fine, give it to me.” Sammi reached for the cup.

  “I really don’t think that’s a good idea.” Autumn grabbed his arm and held it back. “You haven’t eaten or drunk anything in days.”

  “It’s just tea. What can be wrong with a good cup of tea?” Tamara huffed.

  “Okay, Mr. Zimmerman.” The nurse stood at the foot of the bed and jotted some things down.

  “Nurse, can Sammi have tea?” Autumn asked.

  The nurse glanced up. “No, that’s not a good idea yet. I can get him some water or ice chips.”

  Tamara harrumphed and poured the tea back into the thermos. She set it down on the table and went into the bathroom to wash her hands.

  “Actually I’m probably going to need you to leave so I can get him changed out and get the guys in here to ask him some questions.” The nurse glanced at her with a look that conveyed orders not to mention the police. Yet.

  “Okay, I understand.” Autumn leaned across and grabbed the thermos.

  “I still don’t know why I’m in here,” Sammi said. “Where are you going? Can’t she stay?”

  Autumn bent and kissed his forehead. “If they let me I’ll come right back in. You scared me so badly.” She wrapped an arm around his neck and hugged him gently. “I thought I’d lost you.”

  “I’m here.” Sammi hugged her back.

  She straightened and wiped her face. “I’ll be back as soon as they let me.”

  Autumn took the thermos straight to the nurse’s station. “Excuse me, is Officer Ryan still around?”

  “No ma’am. Can I help you with something?” The woman had to be a marathon nurse or something. Autumn had seen her buzzing around ICU more days than she’d been off.

  Autumn glanced over her shoulder. “Are you aware of what’s going on with Mr. Zimmerman? My husband?”

  The nurse’s cheek muscles twitched and she tipped her head back. The beads at the end of her braids clicked together. “Yes ma’am. How’s he doing?”

  “He just woke up.” Autumn grinned, the relief still strong enough to make her giddy.

  “That’s wonderful to hear.” The warmth in her voice was genuine and made Autumn smile.

  “What I wanted to ask, or find out, is if someone can look at this.” She set the thermos on the counter. “It’s tea his mother brought him. He complains all the time about how awful her tea is, and he goes over there almost every day to see her.” Tremors raced through her body as the thought formed words. “What if she’s the one doing this to him? Her own son?”

  The nurse’s brows rose, but it was the only change in her expression. She accepted the thermos from Autumn. “I’ll handle it. Don’t you worry. Officer Ryan’ll be back up here soon.”

  “I’ll be here. I want to know what’s in that tea.”

  Autumn didn’t know if she hoped her suspicions were true or false. She might not like the woman, but she didn’t wish anyone that kind of evil.

  * * * * *

  Sammi turned the channels on the TV without paying attention to the content. Physically he was exhausted, but his mind was reeling. After nearly two hours with the doctors and cops, he didn’t know what to make of anything. And yet he looked at his fingers. Again.

  White stripes ran across each nail. The doctor had pointed it out as one of the factors that had sent them down the road of determining the toxins in his system. While many of the poisons could be treated, and there were plenty that would have no lingering side effects, arsenic poisoning stuck out in his mind.

  Skin damage he’d attributed to too much time in the sun.

  Possible cancer in his future for several organs.

  The lethargy was a potential side effect.

  And coma from lead poisoning in the arsenic.

  All this time he’d been willing to blindly accept the end because there was no cure for Guillain-Barré syndrome. Because he’d been ready to lie down and die, he’d let someone alm
ost kill him. And they still might.

  “Knock, knock.” Autumn tapped on his door, standing in the entry.

  “Hey.” He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her. Her answering grin was a breath of fresh air.

  Autumn walked toward him. She still looked exhausted, but the purple discs under her eyes were covered with makeup and her hair appeared freshly washed. She’d changed clothes even.

  “How are you feeling?” She set her bag in the armchair and leaned against the railing on the bed.

  “Restless. My throat hurts, but they said I had a tube shoved down my throat so that’s to be expected.” He reached for her hand and his gaze caught on the wedding set she still wore. For some reason that comforted him. “How are you?”

  “Happy you’re awake. You scared me.”

  “It wasn’t intentional.”

  “I know, it’s just…been a lot to figure out.” She didn’t meet his gaze, but stroked her fingers over his hand, wrist and arm.

  There was so much to talk about. So many lies that had come to the surface while he’d been out. He didn’t know how to tackle the elephant in the room, and wasn’t sure if he had the energy to do it yet.

  They stayed that way for a long time, not speaking, simply holding hands and touching. Autumn could have left him once she found out the truth, but she’d stayed with him.

  “Have they fed you?” Autumn asked after a while.

  “They’re supposed to send some broth around sometime soon. I’m getting real sick of liquids.”

  “I can’t blame you.” That got a smile out of her and she shook her head. “You should get some rest.”

  She tried to pull away but he held tight to her hand.

  “Don’t go.”

  Autumn pursed her lips and her brows drew down. Uncertainty flitted across her face. Was it him she didn’t trust anymore? He couldn’t blame her, but he couldn’t lose her again. Not yet.

  “I know we have a lot to talk about and I owe you so many explanations.”

  “Sammi, we—”

  “Just sit with me awhile?”

  She paused and thumbed at the bathroom door. “I need to pee.”

  He didn’t believe the answer but let her go anyways.

  Autumn escaped into the bathroom and he scrubbed a hand across the short beard lining his jaw.

  If he wasn’t dying, would Autumn stay with him?

  Did they have the kind of love that would last through this?

  Sammi didn’t know the answers.

  * * * * *

  Sammi rolled his eyes and glanced at the clock. How long was he going to have to put up with this before Autumn got back?

  “Isn’t this a better view?” His mother pulled the curtains in the new hospital room, no longer in ICU. Late-morning sunshine stabbed him in the eyes.

  “Oh, come on, Mom. Close those, will you?” He shielded his light-sensitive eyes and groaned as another headache pulsed in his temples. The list of side effects and lingering symptoms of poisoning was long, and meant everything he did was fraught with some kind of pain or complication.

  “Sunlight is good for you,” she insisted.

  She busied about the room, arranging vases of flowers that had arrived from friends at the synagogue and work. His room was starting to look more like a florist’s shop every passing hour.

  “They should be here by now.” Her frown deepened as she stared at her wristwatch.

  “No one needs to come see me.” The last thing Sammi needed was people visiting to see the attempted homicide victim, or possibly come into contact with the person responsible. After a second chat with Officer Ryan and Autumn, he realized many of his sicknesses over the last year, maybe even two years, were likely a result of poison.

  “Don’t be silly. Everyone wants to.”

  Sammi slipped his phone out from under his pillow. He’d had to stash it earlier to keep it from his mother’s obsessive cleaning for company.

  He tapped out a quick text to Autumn.

  Is there any way to not have visitors?

  A few seconds later, she responded.

  We could always ask the nurses to keep people out. I’d be down for another conjugal visit.

  What he wanted? Now that was another set of ideas.

  I’d rather be back at St Maarten with you. Remember that little tent?

  “What are you smiling about, Samuel?”

  “Oh nothing, Mom.” Sammi lifted a knee to tent the blankets in a non-suspicious manner.

  Do you really want me to answer this? Are you looking to get a boner in front of your mom?

  Guilty.

  Autumn had stayed with him all night, and though she’d remained grave and serious, she’d kissed him and held him as though he was a man she didn’t want to leave. He’d have to trust in that.

  “Rabbi! How good of you to stop by,” his mother exclaimed.

  “Hello.” The old rabbi followed by two elders stepped into the room. “Good to see you’re awake, son.”

  “Glad I am.” He nodded and let the phone rest under the blanket.

  Great. Company.

  The three men were followed a few moments later by more people—Aaron, Michael, Dalya and even Christine. In a matter of moments, his almost quiet haven was a riot of sound, people and even a food tray being passed around. It was absurd, and the last thing he wanted. They were awfully comfortable standing around talking about him, but not a word to him.

  “What the fuck is this?” Autumn’s voice cut through the noise like a knife.

  “Oh my, it’s her,” Dalya sneered. “Someone call security.”

  “What the hell?” Sammi’s voice was lost in the sudden rush to speak.

  Michael and Aaron headed toward the door but quickly backpedaled.

  “I’m going to need everyone to please exit the room except for family,” the raised voice of Officer Ryan boomed over the small crowd.

  The crowd dispersed almost as fast as it arrived. There was food where flowers and plants hadn’t been, and if he weren’t mistaken, at least one champagne glass.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” His mother stood at the end of his bed, arms crossed over her chest, flanked by the rabbi and an elder.

  Autumn came to stand next to his bed, her face creased with more worry.

  “It’s okay, there were just too many people in here,” he muttered to her.

  “Hm.” She squeezed his hand but never took her gaze from the three officers.

  “Tamara Zimmerman, you are under arrest for the attempted homicide by poisoning of your son.” Officer Ryan’s voice was drowned out by the shriek of rage from his mother and the outraged cries of the rabbi.

  “What?” Sammi sat up straighter, but the officers were handcuffing his mother and reading her her rights.

  His mother’s gaze was wild and she snarled.

  Two officers hauled her out of the hospital room, and all Sammi could do was stare.

  * * * * *

  Autumn stood on the curb, eyeing the Escalade with dread. She’d never driven something so large, but Sammi had insisted on riding home in his own vehicle. Since he hadn’t spoken unless asked a direct, unavoidable question since his mother’s arrest on Wednesday, Autumn complied. Almost three full days of the silent treatment didn’t make for the best TGIF.

  “Here you are, Mr. Zimmerman.” The orderly wheeled Sammi to the passenger-side door and flipped on the brakes.

  “Thank you, Dennis,” Autumn said automatically.

  Dennis merely smiled and handed over Sammi’s belongings. She stowed them in the backseat and turned around to find Sammi, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt from home, stepping into the passenger-side seat under his own power.

  She’d watched his first tentative steps on Wednesday afternoon following the arrest. He’d showed so much improvement on Thursday they’d considered releasing him then, but it eventually was pushed off until Friday. The whole nightmare had taken an entire week, yet it felt as if a year had passed s
ince they’d been home and happy together.

  Dennis shut the door and gave her a grin. “All set, Mrs. Zimmerman. Hope we don’t have to see you around here again anytime soon.”

  She shook his hand. “You and me both. Make time for some snow cones with your kids, okay?”

  Dennis nodded. “If they haven’t all melted, I will.”

  Autumn circled the SUV, pausing outside the driver’s-side door to take a deep, calming breath. She pushed her shoulders back and collected herself. Finally she screwed her smile in place and slipped into the car.

  “Okay, let’s see if I can drive this thing.” She chuckled and slipped the seat belt on. It had taken almost half an hour of fiddling with the buttons to get the seat right that morning in preparation for the drive home.

  Sammi did not reply.

  “Home we go.”

  Autumn spoke out loud more for her benefit than his. The silence was unbearable. She had no idea if he was angry with her, his mother, depressed, happy, relieved or what. The line of communication had been severed, either by her disappearing act or the unfolding events at the hospital, she didn’t know, but she also couldn’t blame him. She had left him when he needed her.

  Another person might be celebrating the new lease on life.

  Sammi was not dying. In fact, he was recovering quite well, according to the doctors. There would be possible complications in the future, so a string of checkups were scheduled, for which Autumn had purchased a small paper calendar that tucked into her purse. It listed all the doctors, their phone numbers and even many of the physician assistants’ names. She feared she was finally getting the hang of this adult business.

  A car honked as Autumn took a turn too wide and slipped into the middle lane.

  “Watch out,” Sammi barked.

  “Oops, sorry.” Autumn swerved back into her lane and gripped the wheel so tight her knuckles turned white. “I’m sorry.”

  Sammi blew out a breath and relaxed back into the seat. “It’s okay, just turn like you would your car. This has a pretty decent turn radius.”

  “Okay.” She nodded, more than ready to agree with whatever he said since he was, you know, talking to her.

  “Hungry for something other than hospital food?” she asked, hoping for a reply.