The Family Man

Chapter 23

The familiar beeping sound surprised me. My eyes didn't want to open into the light, but I knew where I was. My side was tight like the skin had been shrunk two sizes too small. A dull ache traveled in slowly around the tightness. It was a foggy pain, one muted by a strong painkiller.

"Welcome back, girlfriend," Susan said with a humorous tone. "You trying to take up permanent residence? The rent ain't cheap, you know." I mumbled a question, then cleared my throat and tried again.

"Where's Maria?"

"In the shift room. She spent the night in here and we found her falling asleep in the chair. I put her in one of the beds when she was too groggy to complain."

"She's okay then?"

"Physically, yes," Susan said. "There's a detective and a couple of blues waiting for you to wake up. They want to know what happened to her neck, and to you, of course." The thought of talking to the police curdled my stomach.

"I'm not ready to talk with them right now," I said.

"Doc Hanson had to sew you up. You're not protecting that ex of yours, are you?"

"No. Is Jake okay?"

"Yeah, we're keeping him awake. He has a grade 3 concussion and slurring his speech. The CAT scan came back negative for swelling, so he should be okay in a day or two."

"Thank God," I said, letting out a deep breath.

"Was it Mr. Hunky? Someone stuck you and cut into your daughter's neck. We're way past pretending nothing happened."

"No, Eric didn't do it either." I sighed and fully opened my eyes. "I need to speak to Eric."

"He was here until he was told you were out of danger," Susan said. "That detective spent a good long time talking with him. They got into a spat about going to the station, and he left. I'm not sure he's good for you, Natalie." There was a deep concern in her eyes. Two nights and two trips to the emergency room. I could see why.

"Can I get out of here without being seen?"

"You can't go anywhere with those stitches. You're immobile for a few days, two at best and probably more. Who did this to you?"

"You wouldn't understand," I replied. It was the understatement of the century. Eric and I needed to get our stories straight, especially if Quentin is letting his vengeance go when it comes to Maria. I didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize my deal with him. A frightening thought occurred. What if surviving meant the deal was off? "I need a phone. Is mine here somewhere?"

"Should be in your personals," Susan said as she dug into a drawer. I lifted up a little to help and found the pain to be more than dull. I laid back down and decided using my stomach muscles was a bad idea. "Here it is." She handed me the phone, and I took it with my good right hand. The left arm was stuck with an IV. "I'll go see if anyone has a charger that will fit." Susan judiciously moved off to allow me some privacy.

"Hi," I said when Eric answered.

"I thought I killed you," Eric said with a passionate guilt.

"I thought I killed myself," I said. "What happened to Quentin? Is he still after Maria?"

"He tells me he's done. Completely done," Eric answered hurriedly. "Are you really okay? They told me you were. I tried to wait, but the police showed up and were asking too many questions."

"My stomach hurts like hell, but nothing I won't survive. Do you believe him? Is he really done?"

"He's never said anything like it before. It was always the crazy vengeance talk before." Eric paused a moment. "He sounded sane enough, but I don't trust him. I created a cruel monster when I raided that village. It may just be another tactic to increase my punishment, or for me to let my guard down and identify more of my relatives."