“Yes, and then you go and do whatever you were going to do in the first place.”
Sounds from the hospital corridor came into the room as the door opened halfway I looked over to see Damon's eager face, and my heart did a little hop.
“Look who it is ”I wiped my eyes. “The man of the house has arrived.”
“They told us Jannie can't come in 'cause she's under twelve,” he said.
I sat up in bed. “Where is she?”
“I'm right here.” Jannie's indignant tone came through clearly from behind the door.
'Well, then get in here before anyone sees you. C'mon. Nobody's gonna arrest you.
Except me, if you stay outside for one minute longer.'
The two of them came in and rushed over to the bed, stopping short at the sight of my collection of bandages. I reached out with my free arm and took them both in at the same time.
“How long do you have to be here?” Jannie asked into my good side.
“Should be going home in a couple of days,” I told her.
“Looks worse than it is,” said Nana.
Damon stood up again and looked at the truss. “Did it hurt really bad?”
“Badly,” Nana muttered.
“I've had worse,” I said. They both looked at me with the same neutral, almost reproachful expression. 'Who was the parent here, anyway? Somehow they seemed older than the last time I'd seen them. I felt a little older myself. These two were going to grow and change, whether or not I was around to watch. Such an obvious thing, but the truth of it - the reality of it - suddenly inhabited me.
I finally gave in. “Yeah,” I said. “It did. It hurt a lot.”
And then, that terrible thought again - don't make them orphans, Alex - and I held my kids so tight, even as my shoulder ached, but I couldn't let them go, and I couldn't let them know what I was thinking, either.
Mary, Mary
Chapter 121
I STAYED AT THE FLETCHER ALLEN HOSPITAL in Vermont for nearly a week, which was my longest hospital stay to date, and maybe another warning to me. How many warnings did I get?
Around 6:00 in the evening on Friday, I received a call from Detective Jeanne Galletta out in L.A. “Alex, has anyone told you the news yet?” she asked. “I assume they have.”
“What news, Jeanne? That I'm being released from the hospital tomorrow?”
“I don't know anything about that. But yesterday, Mary Wagner confessed to the murders here in L.A.”
“She didn't commit those murders. Michael Bell did.”
'I know that. Even Maddux Fielding knows it. Nobody believed her, but she confessed.
Then, sometime last night, poor Mary Wagner hung herself in her cell. She's dead, Alex.“ I sighed and shook my head a couple of times. ”I'm really sorry to hear that. It's just another death Bell is responsible for. Another murder.'
The following morning, and much to my surprise, I was released from the hospital. I called home with the news, and I even managed to get on a flight to Boston. From Boston I caught the hourly shuttle to D.C. Never been so happy to get on a crowded commuter plane in my life.
It was easiest to get a cab at the airport, and as I rode into Southeast around 7:00 that night, I felt a soft, warm glow spreading inside my body There's no place like home, there's no place like home. I know that isn't true for everybody, but it is for me, and I also know how lucky it makes me.
The cab pulled up in front of the house on Fifth, and suddenly I was running across the small front lawn, then taking two long strides up the paint-faded front steps.
I grabbed Little Alex up in my arms, and I spun him up high in the air. It hurt, but it was worth it. I called back at the cabbie, who was leaning out his side window, a little befuddled, but even he was smiling some, in his slightly jaded D.C.-cabbie way “I'll be right there!“ I told him. ”Be right with you.”
“No problem. Take your time, buddy The meter's running anyway”
I looked at Nana Mama, who had come out on the porch with my young son.
“What?” I whispered. “Tell me what happened.”
“Ali is home,” she said in a quiet voice. “Christine brought him here, Alex. She changed her mind again. She's not staying in the east either. Ali is home for good. Can you believe it? Now how about you? Are you home?”
