Anticipation

by Terri Breneman

  Patty went back to the bedroom and gathered some clothes for Toni. She found a gym bag in the closet and put everything inside.

  Then she located Toni’s keys and wallet and tossed those inside also. On her way out the door she grabbed Boggs’s bag and headed back to the hospital.

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  CHAPTER 24

  Toni awoke at 7:15 the next morning, unsure of where she was.

  The pounding in her head and the feel of cardboard sheets, however, reminded her she was in the hospital. She tried to push herself to a sitting position but found that her lovely hospital gown remained in the middle of the bed. She was still yanking and tug-ging on the miniature gown when a nurse entered the room.

  “How are we feeling this morning?” she asked.

  “We are having trouble keeping our nightie in place,” Toni said. There was no hiding the frustration and sarcasm in her voice.

  The nurse’s smile disappeared. Toni immediately felt bad about her snotty remark. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just anxious to get out of here and I guess I’m a little cranky.” The nurse’s smile returned. “That’s okay, honey. I’m sure you can check out after morning rounds.”

  Toni looked around her sparse room, an empty bed next to the window, and saw a plastic bag on the table. She could see her 231

  bloody clothing inside. Next to it was her gym bag. She silently thanked Patty and then pointed to the bag. “Can I go ahead and put my clothes on?”

  “Just as soon as I check your vitals,” the nurse said.

  “Do you know how my friends are?” Toni asked as the nurse took her blood pressure. “Boggsworth and Carter? They were brought in with me last night.”

  “I know the whole story, honey,” the nurse said. “Your friend Vicky is doing fine now. She was in surgery a while, but I think everything is okay. Now, the other one is giving us trouble.”

  “Boggs?” Toni said, concerned. “What’s wrong. Is she going to be okay? Is it serious? What happened?”

  “Hold on there, honey.” The nurse smiled. “She’s giving us trouble because she’s not doing what we tell her. I’ve already caught her trying to walk out of her room when she should be in bed. She’s been trying to check up on you. They stitched her up last night, but she’s supposed to stay off that leg for a few days. She keeps saying she’s fine. In fact, the only way I got her to go back to her room was to promise to tell her when you were awake.” Toni laughed, which made her head ache worse. That sounded like Boggs. After the nurse finished, Toni attempted to get out of bed. She was still a little woozy and her head throbbed, but it wasn’t too bad. She also had several cuts on her arms, but only two had needed stitches. The nurse helped her to the bathroom and offered to assist her in dressing. Toni refused, but immediately regretted her decision when she found herself unable to pull a sweatshirt over her head. Her left arm was stiff and sore under the bandages and dressing with one arm was nearly impossible.

  “Nurse,” she called from the bathroom. “Are you still here?”

  “Need a little help?” she asked.

  Toni laughed and gratefully accepted the nurse’s assistance. In a few minutes she was back in bed, dressed in her comfy sweatshirt and jeans.

  “Your breakfast should be here any time now,” the nurse said.

  “I’ll tell your friend you’re awake.” She smiled and left.

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  Minutes later Boggs appeared on crutches. Behind her was another nurse with a wheelchair. “I told you to stay off that leg,” the nurse said. Reluctantly Boggs sat in the chair, but she refused to give up the crutches. The nurse accepted the compromise and wheeled Boggs farther into the room. “Now stay here,” she ordered.

  Boggs grinned. She maneuvered herself to the side of Toni’s bed. “How ya doing?”

  “I’m just peachy keen,” Toni said. “I see you’re causing your share of trouble.”

  Boggs shrugged. “I just hate being stuck in bed. Alone, that is.” She winked at her. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re doing okay. I just found out that Vicky has to stay in here a couple days, but she’ll be fine. Want to go up to see her with me?” Toni started to get out of bed when her nurse reappeared. “Get back in bed, honey,” she said. “Both of you have to have breakfast or neither of you will get discharged today.” She’d brought in two trays. She put one on Toni’s table and pointed at the food. “Eat.” She took the other tray and placed it on the table from the empty bed next to Toni’s, removing the plastic cover from the plate.

  “Eat.”

  Both Toni and Boggs nodded. Toni took a sip of the lukewarm coffee. “Yum,” she said. “This is the best coffee I’ve ever had.” She took a bite of the cold toast. “Oooh. You’ve got to try the toast, Boggs. The next time I go out for breakfast, I’m coming here, for sure.”

  Boggs laughed and took a few bites of what appeared to be scrambled eggs. They managed to eat most of the toast and finish their juice. Toni was trying to drink more coffee when the nurse returned.

  “I’m so stuffed I can’t eat another bite,” Toni said.

  The nurse looked at their plates and shook her head. “I know it’s not the best food in the world,” she admitted. “But I suppose that’s good enough. Now if you two can wait a couple minutes, the orderlies will take you up to your friend’s room.” Boggs started to 233

  protest, but the nurse cut her off. “If you don’t wait, you can’t go.

  Anyway, if you keep moving around like that, you’ll open your stitches. That means they’ll have to go back in and you’ll be here longer.”

  Boggs didn’t seem fazed by this news.

  The nurse continued. “And if you stay longer, that means you have to eat lunch and dinner here.”

  That appeared to change Boggs’s mind. “We’ll wait right here,” she said solemnly. The nurse smiled and took their breakfast trays away.

  About fifteen minutes later two orderlies arrived. They looked like they were barely out of high school. One had flaming red hair and approached Toni with a wheelchair, which she refused at first but was informed that she was required to ride, just like Boggs. She was a little embarrassed, preferring to walk, but did as she was told.

  They were taken up to the fourth floor to Vicky’s room.

  Toni’s stomach flopped a few times when she saw Vicky lying in that hospital bed. She was hooked up to an IV, her arm wrapped in some type of soft cast.

  Vicky smiled when she saw them being wheeled in. “Geez,” she said. “Talk about lazy. I see you all hired a couple of handsome guys to wheel you around all day.”

  The two orderlies blushed and turned to leave. The redhead stopped at the door. “Remember,” he said. “You’re supposed to call the nurses’ station when you want to go back.” The boy grinned then lowered his eyes. “I’ll come back for you, okay?” Toni agreed and smiled back at him. The boy blushed again and left the room. Toni wheeled up next to Vicky’s bed, noticing that the privacy curtain was drawn between Vicky’s bed and the other one. “How are you feeling?” she asked. “I mean really, how are you?”

  “I’m pretty sore,” Vicky admitted. “But they’ve given me drugs for pain and stuff, so I’m not bad. My mouth tastes like shit and it’s really dry, but that’s just from surgery.” She pointed to her breakfast tray. “Have you guys had the food here?” she asked. “Is it hor-234

  rible or what? Even the juice tastes like metal. How can they screw up juice?”

  Toni and Boggs described their cardboard toast and powdered eggs. They laughed and bitched for several minutes. Toni was so grateful to be alive and thankful that none of them were hurt too bad.

  Vicky was the first to broach the subject of the previous night.

  “I haven’t pieced together any of what happened, have you?” Boggs shook her head.

  “I think I’m still in shock,” Toni said. “I can see now how Judge Haley would have let Paul into her house. At that time, who would have thought it was him? It also makes sense about the jail. Paul is
over there all the time. The warrant office is right next door.” Boggs and Vicky agreed.

  “Do either of you know how Anne is doing?” Toni asked.

  “She’s holding her own,” Captain Billings said from the doorway. “She’s out of danger.” He was balancing four large coffees. He handed one to each. “They told me you were here,” he said. “I just wanted to check on you. Is there anything I can do for any of you?”

  “Better food,” Vicky said. “But the coffee is wonderful. Thank you.”

  “Nothing I can do about the food,” he said. “But I do have a little bit of information you all might be interested in.” Toni wheeled around to face him.

  He opened his coffee. “Frank went through Paul’s desk at the office after he left your apartment last night. He found a stack of yellow legal pads filled with plans and observations about all the killings. Frank hasn’t gone through them all yet, but he said there was no question in his mind that Paul had killed all of the women.

  Frank said the notes kept referring to ‘destiny’ and his ‘mission.’

  Pretty scary stuff. There was also a supply of pills, probably speed, taken from the evidence room. Once we read the whole thing, maybe we’ll have a clearer idea of what was going on inside his head.” He took another sip of coffee. “I also talked to Paul’s wife.

  She didn’t seem too distraught about Paul’s death, but I guess that’s 235

  a whole other story. Anyway, the only pertinent information she gave me was that Paul had apparently weaned himself off his usual medication. She didn’t know what kind it was but thought it was for mood swings. She didn’t really know.”

  “Well,” Toni said. “That makes sense why he deteriorated so fast. Probably some type of psychotropic med.”

  “That’s my guess,” said Captain Billings. “We’ll know more once the investigation is finished. I don’t think anyone knew he was taking meds in the first place. Anyway, that’s all we know for now. I’ll let you know when we find out more.” He finished his coffee and stood to leave. “If there’s anything I can do for any of you,” he offered. “Just let me know.” He gently touched Vicky’s arm and smiled before leaving the room.

  “He’s a good man,” Boggs said. The others agreed.

  The nurse from the second floor and the two orderlies appeared at Vicky’s door. “If you two want to be discharged you have to go back to your rooms for rounds,” she said.

  Toni and Boggs promised to visit Vicky later and went with the nurse. One hour later they were discharged. Patty was waiting for them at the entrance. “I figured you’d need a ride,” she said. She was still in uniform and looked exhausted. “I hope you don’t mind riding in this.” She pointed to the police car parked in the loading zone.

  “I wouldn’t care if it was a garbage truck,” Toni said. She looked at her watch. “I want to get Mr. Rupert.”

  “I thought so,” Patty said as she helped Boggs maneuver into the front seat. “I thought we’d go there first and then your apartment. How about you, Boggs?”

  “Could you take me to Metro?” she asked. “I left my car there yesterday and I’d hate to be stuck somewhere without it.”

  “Done deal,” Patty said. “Toni, have you talked to your folks?”

  “No,” Toni said. “Why do you ask?”

  “Well,” Patty explained, “the news people have been swarming Metro and I got word before I got to the hospital that they’re camped out at your apartment complex. I figured you might want 236

  to talk to your parents before they saw it on the news.” She handed Toni her cell phone.

  “Crap,” Toni said. She stared at the phone. “I know what to say to my parents, but what about the press?”

  “Call your parents first,” Boggs offered. “Then call Dorothy at work. She’ll know.”

  Toni let out a sigh. “Good idea. Thanks.” She made a quick call to her parents, minimizing everything. After several protests that apparently did no good, she quit arguing and hung up. “They’re going to meet me at my apartment.” She rolled her eyes. Next she called Dorothy. Less than five minutes later she hung up.

  “Dorothy knows more about our injuries than we do,” she said.

  Boggs laughed. “Dorothy knows everything. What did she say?”

  “She told me that Elizabeth was taking over until Anne gets back to work,” Toni said. “Then I talked to Elizabeth. She told me that the chief judge had continued all my cases for a week and that I wasn’t to show my face in the office until Monday. She was really sweet about everything and even asked if she could do anything for me, like run errands or something.”

  “She is really nice,” Boggs said. “And she means what she says.” She motioned for the phone. “I want to check in with Sam.” Patty was just pulling up to the animal hospital. “Do you want me to go in with you?” she offered.

  “No, thanks,” Toni said. “I’ll be back in a minute.” At the front desk, she said, “I’m here for Mr. Rupert.” The woman behind the counter smiled. This was obviously the owner of the famous Mr. Rupert. “He’s doing great,” she said, warmly. “We had to shave a few spots on him, so he looks a little funny, but he’ll be fine. The doctor will fill you in.” She showed Toni into an exam room, mentioning that there had been more calls about this one cat that morning than all of the other animals combined. Little by little she’d gotten the full story of what happened the night before.

  The doctor arrived moments later. He told her about the 237

  stitches Mr. Rupert had required, where the cuts were located, and again informed her that several areas had to be shaved. He said that Toni had a remarkable cat. Toni grinned and asked a few questions. As soon as she began to speak, she heard the unmistakable meow from Mr. Rupert. It was almost a howl.

  “That’s him,” she cried. “Mr. Rupert!”

  One of the assistants came from the back room carrying a large cage. Mr. Rupert continued to howl for Toni. The assistant set the cage down on the floor and opened the door. He was pushing on the door before it was even unlatched. He came bursting out and ran for Toni as best he could.

  Toni was initially shocked at his appearance. His entire front left paw was covered with a bandage, as was three quarters of his tail. The end of his tail, however, was as fluffy as ever. There were also several rectangle patches on his body that had been shaved.

  He looked like a patchwork cat. He rubbed his head against Toni’s leg as she squatted down to pet her boy.

  “You can take the bandages off in a couple days,” the vet said.

  “Unless he decides to take them off earlier. Just try to keep them on as long as you can.”

  Toni nodded. She kept petting Mr. Rupert, not even looking up at the doctor when he talked.

  “I used dissolvable stitches, so he won’t have to come back for that,” he said.

  “Thank you very much, doctor,” Toni said as she shook his hand. The assistant helped her get Mr. Rupert into a temporary carrier.

  “My pleasure,” he answered. “You’ve got one heck of a cat there.”

  Toni went to the front desk and looked at the bill that the woman handed her. “What’s this?” she asked. There was no charge.

  The assistant said, “Apparently Mr. Rupert has quite a follow-ing. Several people have called asking to pay for his care. The doctor here had already decided not to charge anything when the police officer first brought him in and told us briefly what hap-238

  pened. His brother is a cop. Anyway, I told everyone who called that the bill had been taken care of, but all of them insisted on at least donating some money to the clinic for its generosity.” Toni thanked her again and returned to the car with Mr.

  Rupert. “He’s going to be fine,” she said. “Now I just have to figure out what to do with the reporters. Elizabeth said I should say ‘no comment’ until the office releases a statement. I wish I could just avoid it all together.”

  “I’ve got an idea,” Boggs said. “Why don’t we drop you and M
r.

  Rupert off on the back side of the complex. Then Patty could drive around to the front parking area. If we sit there a couple minutes I’m sure all the reporters will come over to the cop car.”

  “That would be great,” Toni said. “Do you think it’ll work?”

  “I think so,” Boggs said. “It should give you enough time to get across the courtyard to your door. The reporters should be on the other side waiting for me to say something. After a couple minutes I’ll give them the ‘no comment’ routine.” Patty agreed it might work and took the long way around the complex.

  Toni got out and thanked Patty. She looked at Boggs. “Thanks.

  Call me when you’re settled, okay?”

  Boggs grinned. “Absolutely.”

  The plan apparently worked because Toni and Mr. Rupert made it to their front door without encountering any reporters.

  Once inside she carefully took him out of the carrier. After sniffing the carpet he headed for his food.

  Toni looked around her apartment. There was no sign of blood.

  She wondered who had cleaned everything and was incredibly grateful for whomever it was. She was still standing there when the doorbell rang. She froze. Then she heard her mother’s voice and immediately opened the door. Both her parents rushed in and hugged her. Her dad was carrying two huge bags and her mom had a small suitcase. Once the goods were unloaded, the three sat on the couch. Mr. Rupert jumped up and crawled on her dad’s lap.

  Her mom gasped at the sight of him.

  “We’re both okay, Mom,” she said. “Really.” Slowly she relayed 239

  the story but left out most of the details. Her dad stopped her several times to ask questions, shaking his head upon hearing her answers. They insisted on seeing her arm and head even though her mom became a bit queasy. Satisfied she was now safe and out of danger, her mom offered to fix some lunch. She didn’t even wait for a reply but simply got up and went to the kitchen.