by Anthology
The scent of watermelon spice drifted to her nose as she drifted back into darkness safe in the knowledge that Royce was close by.
CHAPTER FIVE
The sound of a door stealthily opening snapped Melony awake. She was surprise at the level of alertness in her mind. Her sense didn’t gradually awake but snapped into place as her mind did. She hadn’t felt this alert in…well she didn’t know how long.
She still couldn’t move, but she could feel the softness of the sheets beneath her. She knew that they weren’t any regular institution sheets. They were way too soft.
She could open her eyes, but the room was once again dark. She couldn’t move her head to see who was entering her room. She decided to close her eyes and fake like she wasn’t awake, at least until she knew who it was. Maybe she could learn something.
Hopefully it wasn’t the same guy that came the last time she woke at night. For once she was grateful for the paralysis that had a hold of her body. The shivers of terror weren’t visible on the outside.
“Well…well…well. We meet again my lovely cash cow.” Night time wasn’t her lucky time. It was the nipple squeezing asshole from the last time.
Melony wasn’t going to make the same mistake and let him know that she could see and hear him. She heard a rustle of cloth and a sharp pain went through her nipple.
Why the fuck was that asshole squeezing her nipple again? She squeezed her eyes tightly shut to prevent the tears that his pinch induced from escaping. She wasn’t giving him any power to hurt her again.
“Well shit.” He complained. “How am I going to torture you if you’re not awake? I guess I am just going to have to continue using you as my cash cow which will pay for my entertainment elsewhere. I know our dates are usually spread out more, but I was offered a hefty bonus if I could get more of your blood quickly.”
He cackled loudly.
Melony’s sensitive ears picked up another sound. The sound the door opening. This sound was different from the one that led out into the hallway that the thief had entered from.
“What the fuck are you doing?” She would have breathed a sigh of relief if she could at the sound of Royce’s voice.
“Oh.” The thief gave a gasp of surprise. “Excuse me sir,” the thief’s voice changed to mimic that of a caregiver. “I am one of the night nurses and I was just checking the patient’s monitor.”
“I have never seen you before.” Royce’s voice was full of suspicion.
“I am from the nursing agency. I was called in because they were short staffed tonight.” The thief gave a reasonable explanation to her husband.
Thank God her husband was a paranoid bastard. She loved that about him. He never took anyone at their word.
A new beeping sounded in her room. She could her a distant echo coming from outside of the room.
“Shit.” The oath flew out of the thief’s mouth.
Royce grunted.
Melony’s eyes flew open at the sound. All she could see was someone’s arm swing and the grunt as a blow was delivered.
“Oh hell no,” Royce growled. A thump sounded.
“Ow, mutha fucker.” The thief cried out as Royce hit him.
“Who are you?” Royce demanded.
“I told you I am agency staff.”
“Bullshit. If you had a legit reason to be here, then you wouldn’t have attacked me when I turned on the call light.”
“You attacked me,” the thief declared.
“Bullshit.”
“That is what I am going to claim….” Ended in a grunt of pain.
The door burst opened.
“What in the world….” Melony heard Dr. Sinclair exclaimed as she flipped on the overhead fluorescent light. “Mr. Copenhagen…Security.”
“That’s right Doc, call security so we can find out who the hell this guy is.” The sound of another punch landing reached Melony’s ears.
She could hear the rushing feet long before they hit her door. One thing she had to say about security is that they were quick.
She was still too paralyzed to see anything other than the wall in front of her, but she could hear the sounds of the fighting duo being separated.
The thief decided to go on the defensive. “I came in here to check on the patient and this guy came rushing out of the bathroom and attacked me.”
“This guy was doing something weird to my wife. He had his hand under her gown fondling her breasts.” Royce countered.
“Mr. Copenhagen, this is Roderick Cunningham, he is one of the nurses from the staffing agency that sometimes fill in. I am sure you just misunderstood him doing his assessment on your wife in the darkened room.” Dr. Sinclair spoke to Royce in that depreciating tone of voice Melony hated.
Before she could continue to earn herself a punch in her nose, Melony heard more rustling at the door indicating a new arrival.
“What’s going on here,” she heard Jory Rogers demand. A loud gasp escaped her.
“Kenneth? What the hell are you doing here?” Loud footsteps sounded as someone stomped across the room followed by an equally loud slap.
“Ow, you fucking bitch.” Roderick Cunningham also known as Kenneth cried out in pain, “Damnit woman. Use your words.”
“You want me to use my words,” Jory snarled at him. “You are nothing but a cheating man-whore of a low-life thief that almost ruined my career. What the hell is your ass doing here? You were fired and there is a restraining order against you. You are not allowed within a thousand yards of Leisure Haven and your definitely not supposed to be anywhere near Mrs. Copenhagen.” Jory told all of Roderick-Kenneth business in one blistering breath. Melony decided she liked her, a lot.
“What are you talking about Jory, Mr. Cunningham has been a staffing nurse here for years.” Dr. Sinclair declared.
“How? There is a restraining order against him. He was fired for first degree assault against Mrs. Copenhagen. His picture is in the front of her chart with a bold lettering stating to contact security if he was seen on property.” With each statement Jory’s voice rose until she was shouting at the end of statements.
“I knew there was something shady about this guy,” Royce announced.
Melony’s eyes would have rolled in exasperation if she’d been able to move. Royce was so not helping. But she guessed his intentions were not to help at all.
“That is impossible. He has been coming here for several years and none of the staff has said anything.” Dr. Sinclair denied.
Melony heard footsteps stomp away only to return a few minutes later. “Here is Mrs. Copenhagen’s chart.” The sound of flipping papers reached Melony’s ears.
Jory let out a loud gasp, “What the hell is this shit?”
Yeah, what the hell is this shit? Melony definitely wanted to know what was going on. Damn paralysis. She was missing everything.
“This is not Kenneth’s picture.” Jory sputtered, “He must have changed it out during one of his shifts.”
“I have no idea what this woman is spouting,” Roderick-Kenneth denied.
“Call the police. Have his fingerprints checked.” Jory demanded.
“Yes, Dr. Sinclair.” Royce concurred, “call the police and let’s have his fingerprints checked.”
“No, I absolutely refuse.” Roderick-Kenneth said, “I have done nothing wrong and I refuse to get a police record because of some baseless accusation slung by a bitter woman and supported by some crazy guy.”
“Why not Roderick? What are you hiding?” Royce taunted him.
“Nothing.”
“Then let the police check your fingerprints.”
“No.”
“Um, Dr. Sinclair,” an authoritative voice broke in on the conversation.
“Yes Officer,” she absently answered. Her voice was kind of muffled. Melony wondered if she was one of those people who had the nasty habit of chewing on their nails when they were under pressure. She would really hate to see the state of her nailbeds.
“W
e can run his fingerprints from the security office,” he offered up the option.
“Even better,” Royce cheerfully agreed for Dr. Sinclair. He looked to one of the other nurses crowding the doorway. “Ahhh good. Nurse…Ann. Please sit with my wife until we get this matter resolved.” Melony heard the rustle of more clothes.
“Hey, let go of me. I know my constitutional rights. You just can’t force me to give up my fingerprints.” Roderick-Kenneth demanded.
“Sure we can,” the officer cheerfully informed him, “As of now you are a person of interest in an assault case. Until we verify your identity by any means possible, you are in our custody.”
“You rent-a-cops think you have any authority over me? Ha, you and your fake badge can’t do shit.” Roderick-Kenneth yelled as the marched him out of Melony’s room and towards the security office.
Melony could hear the Officer give Roderick-Kenneth an answer. “See that is where you are mistaken. We are not rent-a-cops.”
“What?” Roderick-Kenneth expressed his shock. “What are you if not rent-a-cops?”
“We are members of the local Police Department.” The answer was given with so much glee that Melony wished she could smile in return.
Melony turned her attention and hearing back to the people still in her room.
“Would you mind explaining to me why the hell this Roderick-Kenneth dude was fired and has restraining order against him on behalf of my wife?” Royce was demanding answers.
“My name is Jory Rogers now. At one point my name was Sandra Cunningham. When I divorced that asshat Kenneth Roderick Cunningham, I changed my name completely and started a new life away from him.”
Melony totally got it. She only had two encounters with the asshat and she didn’t like him. If she had been married to him she would have dropped everything associated with him including changing names to something completely different.
“What is this about a restraining order?” Royce was a like a dog with a bone. He wasn’t letting anything go.
“When we first transferred Mrs. Copenhagen here one of the night nurses caught him performing a therapeutic phlebotomy on her.” Jory explained to him. “He was fired on the spot, charged with assault and a restraining order was placed against him. All of this is in her chart.”
“Why wasn’t I made aware of it?”
“You were out of town on business when it occurred. It was Dr. Sinclair’s duty as the head of the medical staff to inform you. Why she didn’t I can only guess.”
There was a sound of clothing moving and then a sputter from Dr. Sinclair, “I wa..I would…um.” She cleared her throat before continued. “I thought that the police informed you Mr. Copenhagen. When you didn’t mention it I decided not to rock the boat and comment on it in your presence. I didn’t want to upset you further.”
“Well you thought wrong, Doc.” Royce informed her. “What is a therapeutic phlebotomy?”
“It is when blood is removed from the patient for a medical reason. There was no reason for him to be taking your wife’s blood.” Jory explained to him.
“There had to be a reason for him to do it because he came back to do it again.” Melony could hear Royce’s frustration. “How many times has he done this to her in the past six years? Hundreds? Thousands?” The sound of flesh hitting a hard object sounded loudly. “I want answers and I want them now.”
“We will get you answers, Mr. Copenhagen.” Dr. Sinclair’s tone was professional. She had lost the condescending tone. Melony guessed finding your ass has gone from the frying pan to the fire had a way of changing the way you spoke to people. The sound of the door closing reached her ears.
“I apologize for all of what is going on Mr. Copenhagen. It was my intention that your wife get the best care while she was her at Leisure Haven.”
Melony was going to have to look into getting something for Royce’s hair after tonight when she was able to move again. This whole encounter would have him bald in no time.
“Hey,” loudly came from him.
“What?”
“How long have Melony’s eyes been open?”
“What?” The sound of rushing footsteps approached her.
CHAPTER SIX
Royce and Jory moved into the small range of Melony’s sight. She drank in the vision of her husband. His face had a new level of maturity that he had just been achieving when she last saw him. He still had the same wavy brown hair with the blond streak. By the blond streak she knew it was summer and that he had been spending some time outside. The dark circles of exhaustion didn’t detract from his handsome features. His lips curved up in smile that was familiar and dear to her heart. His bright smile showing the teeth that his parents had spent a fortune on to straighten during their teenage years. The dimple in his cheek hinted as his mischievous side that even the additional wrinkles of stress couldn’t hide.
His warm brown eyes were filled with love and hope when they met hers. She couldn’t stop the tears that streaked down her face.
“Oh baby, my beautiful lady, can you hear me?”
Melony wanted to move. To let him know that she could hear him, but her body still wasn’t cooperating. She did the only thing that she could think of. She slowly blinked at him, letting him know the movement was deliberate.
“Oh, thank God, thank God,” Royce cried out with joy. Tears streaming down his face to match the ones that Melony was sure were running down hers.
“Mr. Copenhagen, Mr. Copenhagen…Royce,” Jory called out to him. “Please Royce I need to examine her.”
Royce moved out of her line of sight only for another person to enter. This was a tall, blonde slender lady. She had the biggest blue eyes that Melony could ever remember seeing.
“Mrs. Copenhagen, I am Nurse Practitioner Jory Rogers, I am going to do a quick exam of you if that is alright?” She didn’t touch her until Melony deliberately blinked.
Melony didn’t feel Jory’s touch, but she could hear Royce’s excited breathing. She knew he hadn’t moved far from her bed.
“Mrs. Copenhagen,” Jory was speaking to her again, “I am going to ask you some questions and we are going to do like in the movies. Blink once for yes and twice for no. Do you understand me?”
Blink.
Melony watched a huge grin cross Jory’s face.
“Are you in any pain?”
Blink. Blink.
“Can you move?”
Blink. Blink.
“Do you know this person?” Royce was dragged back into Melony’s line of sight.
Blink.
“Good. That is good. That indicates that some of her long-term memories are still intact.” Jory turned her body to address Royce.
“So this means the coma is over?” Melony’s heart broke at the hopeful yet scared tone in which Royce asked that question.
“It is a good indication. We still don’t know why she slipped into the coma in the first place, but the fact that she is awake and interacting with us is a good indication that she is on the road to recovery.”
There was a commotion at the door. It opened to reveal the two police officers moonlighting as security guards and the nurse. Standing behind them was Dr. Sinclair.
At a nod from Royce, Jory indicated that all four of them should enter the room.
“Mr. Copenhagen, Dr. Sinclair,” the officer started speaking, “we have been able to verify that this is Kenneth Roderick Cunningham. He is wanted for assault, battery, failure to appear, and smuggling. His presence here is a violation of the restraining order obtained on behalf of Mrs. Melony Copenhagen. We are going to take him down and get him booked in.” The officer started to swing a protesting Kenneth around.
“Stop,” Royce demanded.
“What?” the police office inquired.
“Why did he come back? Why was he in my wife’s room and doing what?”
“He was probably in here trying to collect some more of your wife’s blood,” Dr. Sinclair answered from the doorway.
&nbs
p; “Why would he do that?” Royce was confused. Melony could tell by his aggressive tone. He didn’t like being the only one not understanding the significance of something. The medical things always stumped him. He was a complete numbers guy.
Black and White.
“Your wife has a rare blood type. She is AB negative. That accounts for about point zero three percent of the African American population. This blood type can be used for everything.” Jory gave him an explanation. “But especially in trauma victims, cancer patients and burn victims.”
“But what good would it do this dude?” Royce indicated the guy still being held by security.
“There are unscrupulous companies that will pay large amounts of money for this blood to create new cancer medications and other products. He probably on the payroll of one of these companies.” She speculated.
“So this goes beyond simple assault?” One of the officer’s interjected.
“Depends on how long he has been doing it. We don’t know because he or someone he knows switched his picture in his chart and the staff that worked here when he did is all gone. The only ones left are myself and Dr. Sinclair.”
A loud ding sounded in the room. Melony watched Royce pull his cellphone out of his pocket. It was different from the one he used years ago before her accident. The room chatter continued as he read his messages.
Finally, he looked up at Jory.
“Are you familiar with this medication?” He held his phone up to show her what was in the text message.
Once again Melony was victim to her curiosity.
“No, I am not. Let me google it.” Jory pulled out her cellphone and started tapping at it.
“What medication?” Dr. Sinclair demanded. Royce turned his phone, so she could see the what they were talking about.
“This medication is no longer available in the United States. It was voluntary recalled back in twenty oh one.” She said.
“What is it?” Royce impatiently demanded of the doctor.
“Oh,” she stood up taller, “Rapacuronium, it is a form of Curare. A paralytic agent, kind of like the one we give your wife so that she doesn’t fight the ventilator.” Dr. Sinclair responded. “But like I said it is no longer available in the U.S.”
