Mike held up the stolen egg package. “We need to find some dry ice, even regular ice, and put this in a freezer, pronto.”
Heather glanced at her purse, realizing she actually missed little Lucifer poking his head up to look up at her. She hoped he was somewhere safe.
They gloomily trudged to the end of the block, turned and walked another long block and turned again, toward the main hospital entrance. They could see a red sign further along the road to another entrance, La Entrada Emergencia, and went that way.
They spotted Sammy, sitting in the rental car, waiting across the street from the emergency entrance.
As soon as they got in the car Mike took out his laptop. He was typing frantically.
“What are you looking up?” Heather asked.
“Party supplies,” Mike said.
“What! I sure don’t feel like partying,” Heather said.
“Here’s one. Partido Tierra...Party Land. Not too far away and open all night. They’ll have ice; maybe even dry ice. Otherwise we can try some liquor stores.”
“Good idea. But I think we should split up now,” Rod said. “The professor and I will try to find the dry ice. We can store Michelle’s eggs in the freezer compartment in one of our hotel rooms. Maybe you,” he pointed at Mike, “and Heather can go into the main hospital and see what’s on that floor with the bridge to the clinic. See if it would be possible to sneak Michelle out that way tomorrow.”
Heather laughed. “I’ll call you on my cell if we get caught and sent to jail.”
Mike rolled his eyes, “Oh man, a Mexican prison. Those policemen in the clinic lobby sure were interested in us. I’ve seen movies. It’s like hell on earth.”
“You two can appear like a lost couple, totally innocent, just wandering around, curious,” Rod said.
“Okay. We can do that.” Mike hopped out of the car and held out his hand for Heather.
“Meet us back at the Tapatio Hotel and Resort near the airport,” Rod said to Heather as she got out of the car. He handed her something as she got out. “We’ll keep in touch.”
Heather looked at the roll of bills in her palm. “We can pay for a taxi,” she protested.
Rod shook his head, smiled at her, and told Sammy to take off.
Chapter 20
Michelle was smiling when she came back. The last thing she remembered, her last thought, was being on the stairs in almost total darkness, and the wonderful sight of her lover, Rod, her best friend, Heather, and oddly, Professor Vincent Middleton, whom she knew was in California. Even an imaginary vision of her favorite people brought happiness.
Then she opened her eyes...and saw Omar staring deeply into them.
It was startling enough to start her heart racing. She was attached to some kind of monitor, and could hear the beats speed up rapidly.
Abruptly, she remembered Heather telling her once that Omar had creepy eyes. And they were, she thought as she looked at him. They were large and dark, slightly slanted, and fixated on her with an avaricious, predatory clarity.
Michelle recalled thinking she saw snakes, worms, and insects reflected and squirming in those almost-black eyes. At the time, several months ago, she had decided to have sex with him, hoping to end the panic attacks she’d had every time she was alone with a man. That image, seeing nasty disgusting bugs and worms wiggling in his visage, had totally disabused her of any sexual thoughts. She’d aborted the attempt to cure herself with a sensual encounter with Omar.
Once, on the island of Kauai, she actually saw his eyes change from their usual dark color to glowing yellow, when Omar was performing a spell, trying to mesmerize her.
Those visions of Omar’s eyes might have been imaginary, simply a warning from her subconscious that he was evil. The other idea, that she was seeing the real thing, scared her shitless. It was like viewing the living devil himself, here on earth. She shuddered and felt cold shivers run down her back.
Unlocking from Omar’s gaze took profound energy, and effort, but finally she was able to pull away from the eye-lock.
Reality settled in when she gazed around herself with profound disappointment. The escape was a total disaster. Michelle couldn’t fathom how she had been removed from the stairwell and plunked back in her hospital room. Another damned hole in her memory, she thought, unhappily.
What was real, for sure, was that she had held Lucifer, heard his happy meows, and felt him pat her face. She wondered if he was still here, hiding someplace, as she peered around the hospital room.
Everything appeared totally normal, if this situation could ever be deemed normal. However, the lights were back on and all was as stark, sterile white in the room as before; walls, ceiling, the nurse’s uniform on Dondi.
Since she was just waking up, Omar was speaking to her convincingly, knowing that upon awakening the mind is more pliable to suggestion. He was trying to persuade her that what he had done, abducting her and stealing vital parts of her body, was reasonable and justified, that she would be happy in her new life. He was whispering right in her ear so the nurse, Dondi, couldn’t hear what he was saying, as Michelle felt the prick of a needle in her forearm, and was again attached to an IV, dripping who-knew-what medication into her arm.
The slight pain of the needle didn’t bother her, what she hated was feeling Omar so close, his hot breath puffing on her skin, as he spoke.
The medication seeping into her body was fast-acting, causing immediate, profound sleepiness and lethargy. She tried to fight the drugs as Omar continued:
“I will give you everything you ever wanted.”
Didn’t he know she already had everything in her life right now that was good, Michelle thought sleepily? She had a wonderful life with friends and a job she loved; a wonderful man whom she
