Michelle smiled, standing in front of them. She bent over, opened her palm, and held out the diamond for them to see. “This is Abigail.”
Heather and Mike exchanged quick worried glances.
“I thought you gave the diamond back to Omar,” Heather said, trying to act natural. Maybe it was the drugs from Michelle’s IV that were making her nuts, talking about good vibrations, and naming an inanimate object Abigail. Or it might be too much stress, being abducted and forced into medical procedures. Or maybe, even worse, Omar had driven her friend crazy.
“I can hardly wait to see Rod,” Michelle said enthusiastically. She seemed to have so much energy she was pacing in the small hospital room as she spoke, holding Lucifer and petting him. “And yeah, I did give the diamond back to Omar. He told me Abigail had chosen me, and now I know why. See, she was a distant relative, and also had paranormal abilities. I’ll tell you all about it. But first, we can try an experiment. When I squeeze Abigail, I get an energy rush. Hold my hand.”
Heather reluctantly reached for the hand Michelle held out. She didn’t expect anything to happen. This was really sad. Michelle had gone bonkers.
She waited and nothing happened. Then, suddenly, it felt like a buzz of electricity shot through her hand and up her arm. It was almost painful, like when you accidently put your finger in a light socket and get a shock. But man, did she ever feel energized.
Heather’s eyes opened wide in shock. “Wow!” She stood up and walked around experimentally. Her legs felt powerful. “That’s amazing. I love it! I wonder if it ever runs out of juice. Better than a gallon of coffee.”
“Let’s try it on Mike,” Michelle said, smiling. “Abigail will probably like him with his dark eyes and hair, like her Indian friend, Nate.”
“Uh, I really like experiments,” Mike said. “But maybe I’ll just get my strength back naturally.”
“Maybe eventually, but look,” Heather said. She jumped up and down in place a few times. Then she skipped around the room. “It’s not a placebo. You know Omar took our strength away. Now we need our good witch to help you.”
Michelle laughed and held out her hand for Mike. “I’m not a witch. That’s just a silly title. The professor said I have some abilities that can’t be scientifically replicated, or put into categories. No double blind studies on this phenomena. So, since paranormal abilities are not recognized, everyone tucks their head in the sand, pretending they don’t exist.”
Mike took Michelle’s hand. Maybe because he was a scientist, a professor who didn’t believe, it took him a little longer. Then, “Whoa! That’s amazing.”
Heather and Michelle started laughing at his astonished expression.
“Now we have to get you out of here,” Heather said. “Any ideas about how we can get past the nurse? If we leave now they probably won’t know you’re gone ‘till tomorrow if we stuff pillows or something under the blankets. Omar won’t know either.”
Mike now had so much energy even his brain, which was unusually bright normally, seemed on overdrive. “In all the silly comedy movies I’ve seen, when people sneak a patient out of the hospital, they just pop them in a janitor’s cart, cover them with towels, and whisk them away.”
“It might work,” Michelle said. “There’s a supply closet down the hall.”
“I’ll go check,” Mike said.
“I’ll call Rod and Vincent and tell them we found you,” Heather said to Michelle. She reached into her purse, then frowned. “That’s odd. My cell is missing.”
Mike patted his side pocket. He shook his head. “When Omar zonked us, he must have come into the room while we were unconscious and stolen our phones.”
“Gross. The thought of him touching me...” Heather said.
“He probably saw me taking pictures of him across the hall.” Mike shook his head. “I’m really sorry. I thought I was being careful.”
“Not your fault,” Heather said. “Too bad though. I wanted to send those pictures to the police in Hawaii, to prove Omar broke bail and is in Mexico.”
“My phone is backed up on my computer. We still have the evidence,” Mike said.
He was looking out the window. “I see the supply closet. The nurse is doing stuff at her desk. Wish me luck.” He smiled and winked and was out the door fast.
“I should have told him to look for something for me to wear,” Michelle said. “Like those green pajama things, the scrubs interns wear, or the lab coats you two have on. This hospital gown is way too drafty.”
Heather laughed. “Not to mention open in the back.”
While they waited for Mike, Heather gave Michelle a fast version of how they tracked her to Mexico.
“I can’t believe the professor, Vincent Middleton, came with you,” Michelle said. “And Mike. He’s so cute, and he’s totally into you.”
Heather nodded seriously. “I’ll probably screw everything up. And I really like him.”
“You can’t do anything wrong now,” Michelle said. “He’s in the first stage of heavy-duty infatuation. You could fart loudly in his presence, or vomit right on him. It wouldn’t matter.”
“Gosh, how completely reassuring,” Heather said, smiling. “I’m a little worried about my potty mouth. I think he heard me swearing once, when we were surfing.”
“What did he do?” Michelle asked.
Heather shook her head. “Nothing. I just glanced at him and it looked like he heard me, and was trying hard not to laugh.”
“See? Anything you do now is cute and funny. His good sense won’t come back for a while,” Michelle said, smiling at Heather. She was taking several blankets off of the top shelf in the closet and rolling them up to put under the sheets so it would appear like a body was in the bed.
“Speaking of good sense. I thought
