the room, so I could see that she pursed her lips as she frowned and watched my vitals spike on the display. It was apparent that she was weighing the options. After a few heartbeats she turned to Ben.
“How do you take your coffee?” she asked.
“Black, why?”
“I’m going to go get you some,” she replied. “I’m not going to be gone very long, and when I come back you need to be finished with the talking.”
“Yeah, okay,” Ben said with a nod. “Just don’t hurry.”
“I’m serious,” she replied as she started out.
“Yeah, I got it,” he called after her. “Me too.”
Once she had vacated the small room, Ben turned back to face me. “Whaddaya remember from the morgue, Row?”
“I don’t know…” I muttered. “We got there, met with Doctor Kingston. I had a minor meltdown…”
“Yeah, anything else?” he asked.
“She brought in the body and Felicity tried to make a connection.”
“That it?”
I sighed and concentrated on the event, searching for the next part of the story, but came up blank. Finally, I said, “Yeah, I guess.”
My friend gave me a slight nod and said, “Well, you’re all good up to there, but you’re missin’ a big ass piece.” He paused and took in a deep breath before continuing. “It all started out just like ya’ said. Usual Witch stuff like you’ve done before. You’n Firehair were standin’ there doin’ the Twilight Zone thing. Doc Kingston and I were watchin’. It was quiet, nothin’ goin’ on. Hell, I was startin’ ta’ think maybe it wasn’t workin’.”
“You mean it did?” I asked.
“Well, somethin’ sure as fuck happened,” he said. “One minute everything was calm, the next minute Felicity was screamin’ bloody murder. Any of that ring a bell?”
“No…” I replied.
“Yeah… Prob’ly a good thing, I guess,” he grunted.
“Why?”
“‘Cause it went downhill from there… Fast… When she started screamin’, she went berserk. You had hold of ‘er, tryin’ ta’ calm ‘er down…” He stopped and puffed out a long breath. The pained look on his face was a good indicator that he was reliving the story even as he told it. After a short pause, he started speaking once again, outlining the events in short, fragmented sentences. “Looked like you had it under control… She was startin’ ta’ settle. It got all quiet again… You were across the room…” He paused again, staring off for a second. “Dammit… If you just hadn’t been all the way across the fuckin’ room…”
“What happened?” I pressed.
He sighed again. “You let go of ‘er and pulled out one of those salt packets…and that was it. Like it was some kinda trigger or somethin’…” He shook his head. “Next thing I knew she had an autopsy knife off’a one of the trays in ‘er hand…one of the big ones… Jeezus… You were all the way across the room… And the stiff was between us… I just couldn’t get to you in time, Row… She managed ta’ stab ya’ twice before I could tackle ‘er.”
A flash of memory rolled through my grey matter.
“You will know. But if it will help, I will wear something… or someone… special.”
I swallowed hard. “That wasn’t Felicity, Ben. She didn’t do this. Miranda did. Somehow she managed to get in…”
“I know that…” he said. “I know… I could tell just by the look on ‘er face that it wasn’t Firehair… And don’t worry. I already talked ta’ Doc Kingston about it. She’s freaked, but I don’t think she’ll be a problem. I got ‘er ta’ erase the tape that was runnin’, so Felicity ain’t gonna get charged with anything. Not if I can help it.”
“Thanks…”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Where’s the necklace?” I asked.
“Right here,” he said, pulling the small bottle out of his pocket and holding it up where I could see it. “Ya’ made me take it right before ya’ passed out.”
I sighed. “Okay…good.”
“Ya’ want it back?”
“No. Not yet. Hang on to it for me, okay?” I could tell he wasn’t excited by the prospect.
“Yeah… Okay,” He nodded and then glanced warily at the vial before shoving it back into his pocket. With a sigh he added, “Feel like I’m carryin’ the goddamn nuclear football.”
Silence fell between us as the sound of his voice trailed off. I closed my eyes and lay there, trying to find even an inkling of remembrance that connected with what I’d just been told. But there was nothing there. My mind had apparently shifted into self-preservation mode and was blocking out the trauma.
Finally I asked, “What about Felicity? How did she end up in a coma?”
“I dunno,” he said. “It just happened outta the blue. I pulled her off ya’ and managed ta’ get ‘er cuffed before she could stab ya’ any more. She kept screamin’ and kickin’… The doc was with you… Jeezus… There was blood everywhere, and you were just layin’ there… But ya’ kept tryin’ ta’ tell me somethin’.”
“You needed to give her salt.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Ya’ still had it in your hand, and ya’ kept tryin’ ta’ hold it out to me. So I pulled out one of the ones you gave me, held Firehair down and poured it into ‘er mouth. She kept fightin’ right at first, but it didn’t take long, and all of a sudden she just went limp. A few minutes after that it was like she was unconscious or somethin’.”
“She’s not unconscious, Ben,” I said with a soft lament. “She’s gone.”
“Whaddaya mean gone?”
“Miranda pushed her out,” I said. “And then you pushed Miranda out. Now she’s holding my wife hostage.”
“How?”
“That’s what I have to find out,” I said, starting to lever myself up. “I need to see her.”
“Whoa, Kemosabe, I get what you’re sayin’, but you ain’t in any condition ta’ do anything right now.”
“I don’t care,” I growled between clenched teeth as a fresh wave of pain ripped through me.
He put a large hand on my shoulder and carefully pushed me back. It didn’t take much because I didn’t have enough strength to fight.
“Row,” he said. “You were in surgery for almost six friggin’ hours. Hell, I thought ya’ were gonna bleed ta’ death before we even got ya’ here.”
The door pushed open and the nurse walked back in. “Okay, time’s up,” she said, placing a Styrofoam cup onto the rolling tray at the end of the bed as she passed it by. “There’s your coffee, Detective.”
She continued up to the head of the bed and fiddled with my IV for a moment. “I just spoke with the doctor and he ordered something for you as well, Mister Gant,” she announced and then withdrew a hypodermic from her pocket, uncapped it, and slid it into a port on the tubing.
I didn’t give what she had said much thought. Instead, I continued pressing my friend. “Ben, I need to see her.”
“You will, Row,” he told me. “But right now ya’ need ta’ rest.”
“The detective is right,” the nurse echoed as she recapped the needle on the now empty syringe. “Just relax. This should take effect in just a minute or two.”
“Was that a sedative?” I asked.
“Uhm-hmmm.”
“No…” I objected. “I have to see Felicity.”
“That will have to wait,” she said.
“You bitch!” I spat with everything I could muster.
“I’ll pretend you didn’t say that, Mister Gant,” she replied. “Now like I said, just relax. I’ll be back in to check on you in a bit.”
It wasn’t long before the darkness came to take me again.
