Mike shrugged.
They arrived at the hospital. Mike parked, went around and picked up Diane when she got out.
“I can walk,” she said.
“And I can carry you. You really don’t look too good, Dr. Fallon.”
“I don’t imagine I do. Do you know anything about caves?”
“Caves? Yes. In fact, I’m an experienced caver.”
“So am I. I’ve got this idea for an exhibit.”
“You can tell me about it as soon as you’re fixed up.”
He carried her into the emergency room, where they immediately took her into the examining room. Diane asked if Dr. Linc Duncan was in the hospital. She had to explain that he was a visitor of Frank’s, but he was also a doctor and she wanted him.
After she changed into the dreaded bare-butt hospital gown, she lay back on the bed and drifted off to sleep. She was awakened by someone taking her hand. She jerked it back and tried to jump off the bed.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Linc. Thanks for coming down. How’s Frank?”
“Better than you at the moment. Are Henry and I going to have to move down here and watch the two of you?”
“Looks like we need some kind of keeper. Someone attacked me here in the hospital parking lot as I was getting in my car.”
“Last night? Where have you been? They told me your clothes were all wet.”
“In the lake behind the museum.”
“In the water all night? They threw you in the lake?”
“No, they didn’t throw me. I escaped from them and hid there.”
“Are you in pain?”
“Yes. My head hurts, so do my back and abdomen.”
“Did you get hit in the head?” He looked at the chart where the receiving nurse recorded her blood pressure and pulse.
“Yes.”
“Were you ever unconscious?”
“Briefly-I’m not sure. If I was, it couldn’t have been but for a few seconds.”
“Any nausea?”
“A little.”
“Vomiting?”
“No.”
“Let me know if this hurts.” Linc lifted her gown. Diane groaned and put her arm over her forehead. “Are you in pain?” he asked.
“Just embarrassed. I should have thought of that before I called you.”
“Is this the first time you’ve ever been examined by a doctor?”
“By one that I knew.”
“What? You change doctors after you see them once? That must get tiresome.”
“You know what I mean.”
He smiled. “Tell me if this hurts.” He palpated her abdomen. “Any tender spots?”
“No. Yes, there.”
“How about when I release pressure?”
“A little.”
“And your shoulders?”
“No. I’m sore, but no specific pain. Why?”
“Organ injuries sometimes cause referred pain in other areas of the body. OK. I’m going to ask them to order some tests. And I want you to listen to me very carefully, not like you did before, when you didn’t take my advice at all.”
“All right.”
“You could have an injury to your spleen, liver, or reinjured a kidney. The thing about organ injuries is that they can bleed slowly or stop-only to bleed again days or weeks later. This is serious. You are going to have to rest.”
“How’s Frank?”
“I answered that. Don’t avoid the subject.”
“I’m not. I was just thinking, maybe you shouldn’t tell him.”
“He’ll find out.”
They wheeled Diane for yet another series of X rays and scans, to the surprise of the X-ray technician, who was the same one she had before. He admonished her to be more careful. When she came out, Linc was waiting for her.
“Can I go home now?” she asked.
“No, you may not. You’re going to stay here at least for tonight.”
“I’m feeling much better, and I’ve got a lot to do.”
“Did you think that by asking for me I’d stick on a Band-Aid and send you home?”
“No. Not at all, I. .”
“Good. I’ve reserved you a room across from Frank. That way, Henry and I can keep an eye on the two of you. That’ll be much easier on the two of us.”
“I didn’t realize you’re so tough when I asked for you.”
“You’re pretty tough yourself.”
Diane’s first visitor was Frank, wearing a dark green-and-navy plaid robe and smelling of cologne. He came in under his own power, looking pale but better than he had in several days. Diane was so relieved to see him up, she almost cried.
He leaned over and kissed her mouth gently.
“Smells good. Is that for me?” she asked.
“Yeah. It’s hard in a place like this, but I’m trying to make a good impression.”
“You’ve already made a good impression.”
“I’m so sorry I got you into this.”
It pained Diane to see the worried look in his eyes.
“I’m not. This is no one’s fault but whoever’s doing this. We must be really close for them to take these kinds of chances.”
“What exactly did happen? Linc only knew you’d been attacked.” He pulled up a chair by her bed and sat down, making a pained face as he settled on the chair.
“I hate being in bed,” she said. “It makes me feel weak.” She found the controls for the bed and put herself into a sitting position.
“I know what you mean. I’m ready to go home.”
He took her hand as Diane told him her story, from the time she was dragged into the van at the hospital to Hector Torres’ surprise at finding a woman walking out of the pond. When she finished, Frank sat openmouthed.
“Diane. Damn. Diane, I had no idea. I thought it was something like the other evening-not that that was a piece of cake, but damn. You spent the night in the water? You must have been terrified.”
“It kept my heart rate up.”
Frank shook his head in amazement.
“I didn’t want them to kill me.”
He caressed the top of her hand with his thumb. “So the attack was about the bones.”
“Yes, definitely. Their entire focus was on getting them.”
“Have you talked to the police yet?”
Diane rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, Frank, but I’m so tired of hearing that they can’t do anything.”
