“Understandable,” he said gently, “and let’s hope it wasn’t for naught.”
“That would be the worst, wouldn’t it?” she said and yawned just then.
He motioned at the coffee. “Will that keep you from sleeping?”
She shook her head and, with a wry grin, said, “No. Actually I feel like I still have some of the drugs coursing through me.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “Maybe we should take a blood sample.”
She stared at him in surprise. “What good would that do?”
“Can’t hurt,” he said, “just in case they gave you something abnormal.”
“I don’t want to go to the hospital,” she said. “I pretty much hate hospitals, after taking my mom to all her treatments and everything.”
“Sometimes you just have to suck it up and do the right thing.”
“I know,” she said, turning to look away. “But it—”
“Listen. If you’re still dealing with drugs in your system, even though you appear to be fine,” he said, “that doesn’t mean that you are.”
“I highly doubt there’s anything major though,” she said.
“I wouldn’t put it past them.”
“I don’t want to go to the hospital!” she cried out.
“What if it got you in to see your father?” At that, she stopped and glared at him. He shrugged. “I might make it happen, if you keep up your end of the bargain.”
She raised both hands in frustration. “That’s blackmail, you know?”
He smiled and said, “Whatever works.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “You get one vial of blood, and that’s it, but I get to see my mother.”
“What about your father?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, my father too.”
“So, even if your mother forgave him, you didn’t, huh?”
“He made my mother’s life miserable,” she said, “and betrayed the most basic of vows. So you’re right. I’m having a harder time forgiving him.”
“Good enough,” he said, then hopped to his feet and said, “Let’s go now.”
“I thought I wasn’t allowed.”
“This is a whole different deal now,” he said. “I don’t like the fact that you’re still feeling the effects of the drugs.”
“It’s probably nothing,” she said.
“Better to find out and be sure,” he said. “Drink up and let’s go. As soon as we return, we’ll get you showered and into bed.”
She groaned and tossed back the last of her coffee. “Fine. But I’d just as soon stay here.”
*
Baylor could have arranged to have blood drawn from her right here, but he was a little concerned because her pupils weren’t responding, and also she hadn’t noticed that her speech was slurred. He quickly bundled her up now that he had her cooperation and got her back into the vehicle. With Hudson driving, the three of them made it to the hospital in record time. As she reached the front door of the hospital, she was sagging as she walked. Just as she blacked out, he quickly picked her up in his arms, and scooted her into Emergency, barking orders.
With Hudson gaining everybody’s cooperation at a double-fast rate, they had her checked over, her blood pulled, and a doctor examining her in no time.
When she came to about twenty minutes later, she looked around, immediately terrified, trying to bolt from the bed. Baylor placed his hands on her arms to hold her down. “You’re okay,” he said. “Just stay where you are.”
She stared up at him, confused. “Baylor?” But her speech was still slurred.
He nodded, as he pulled his chair closer and said, “Yes, it’s me. What do you remember?”
She looked at him, blinked several times, and said, “You were interrogating me.”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, let’s not overdo that,” he said. “I was asking you questions about your ordeal.”
“It seemed like an interrogation,” she said with spirit.
He chuckled. “Yeah, you said that already. A couple times. I get it. I’m sure glad to see you’re feeling better.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “I wanted to get you checked over because you were showing signs of still being under the influence of the drugs, when they should have been well and truly worn off.”
“Yeah, I don’t feel so good,” she said, sitting upright. “I think I’ll be sick.” He immediately grabbed the garbage can off to the side and held it for her. She upchucked over the side of the bed and then again and again. By the time she finally collapsed on the mattress, she was pale and sweaty.
“Well, that,” he said, “is actually a good thing.”
“Doesn’t feel like it,” she whispered. He got her some fresh water to rinse out her mouth and then gave her some to drink. She sagged back against the pillows. “Did they give me something just before you rescued me?”
“It’s possible,” he said. “Again the timeline is a bit confused, and I don’t know who was with you.”
“One of them was, and he’d given me his bottle of water, but I don’t know what else might have been in it.”
“Did you drink it?”
She nodded. “Some of it. And I had it with me when we left in the car.”
“Ah,” he said, “that would explain it.” He looked over at Hudson, who nodded and quickly disappeared.
“You think it was drugged?”
“There’s a good chance of it,” he said, “but we won’t know until we analyze the contents.”
“I still don’t feel so good,” she said, her hand on her stomach, her face looking a little green.
“We’re not going anywhere right now either. We’ll just stay here and relax, until you’re doing better and until we get some answers.”
“So it’s the hospital after all, huh?”
“Seems like the place to be, until we get answers,” he said.
“I don’t really want to be left alone here,” she whispered.
“Nobody’s leaving you alone,” he said. She looked at him sideways, but he smiled
