An Abnormal Christmas

7: No Ideas

Did the fawns survive the fire?

That was the first question Carly asked once they had arrived at the hospital. Meghan couldn't even imagine what those poor babies could have gone through. She hoped it was quick and painless.

Their family had a threat; one that was serious in the notes it left if they did not give it something. But what did it want? What had they taken that it desired to have in its grasp again?

Meghan leaned forward in the chair beside the hospital bed. Seeing her child at the hospital and in need of medical help hurt her. She hated imagining her children being hospitalized, and now there she was, in that exact situation. Gordon was on the other side of the hospital bed in a love seat with Carly sitting in silence beside him.

She was traumatized by the experience. They could have all been in that house when it happened. But it was Ryder. Only Ryder.

Her son lay unmoving on the bed in front of her, his chest rising and falling in rhythm of the breaths he took through the CPAP breather strapped around his mouth and nose. The cord attached led to a machine with a screen. It resembled a computer om wheels.

Having had six years of medical school for the four years she was a nurse, Meghan knew that CPAP means Continuous Positive Airway Pressure and that with the smoke he inhaled, Ryder was in need of it at the moment. Though she was grateful that he was okay, she wished it had never happened. They were just getting ready to leave for a hotel. The result was them ending up at the hospital - the one place no one fully enjoyed being at.

The burns Ryder received had been treated nicely. The one thing that caused a slight problem was the injury he had received on his shoulder. The most likely cause was that a piece of debris had landed on his shoulder when the house was beginning to collapse. The doctors had fished out pieces of glass and Gordon had said he had found Ryder unconscious next to the mirror he and Carly had in their room. It was smashed, pieces - big and small - littering the floor and Ryder's clothing.

It got stitched up and provided no serious threat when they were done. He received more needed blood but would be fine soon from what the doctors said. It had been a day since the fire and Ryder had finally woken up in a state of shock, only to fall back into a peaceful sleep. Meghan took his bandaged hand in hers.

"What are we going to do now?" Carly ased softly, her eyes drooping from lack of sleep. All three of them were up most of the night waiting for Ryder to awaken.

"I don't know," Meghan told her. "Once Ryder is released, we will get a hotel until Gordon says his apartment is ready. We can't go back to our house anyway."

"Will all of this stop?" she asked. "Will that person following us stop because they won't know where we are?"

"I hope so," Meghan sighed. "I really hope so."

Gordon said nothing but Meghan could see the doubt swirling in his eyes as their gazes locked. Whoever was stalking them had better stop. All Meghan could feel at the thought of them was pure anger and hatred. They tried to kill them! They could have succeeded in killing her son! She was not one to take that lightly. If they dared show their face again in any circumstance, they had better plead for their life.

"I hope the fawns are okay," Carly sniffed, bleary-eyed at the thought of what could have happened. "You think they got out?"

That was the second time she had asked the question. Meghan couldn't answer the first time and she didn't want to answer now.

"No one knows," Gordon finally spoke. "They could have gotten out. I didn't see them when I went back in to get Ryder."

Meghan inwardly sighed. Maybe that was because they got buried in debris.