GOODNIGHT, SWEET PARTRIDGE
CHAPTER 18
The phone rang in Reuben, Chris and Danny's room at 10:38 p.m. Reuben knew the exact time, because he had to push his sleep mask out of his eyes to see the clock. His first thought was that something was wrong with Keith and he flipped on the light between the two beds. He saw the boys in the other bed sit up, equally disturbed. He grabbed the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Kincaid, this is Jim Stratton, Carly's dad."
Running his fingers through his messy hair, Reuben breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, yeah…what can I do for you, Mr. Stratton?"
"Sorry for bothering you at such a late hour, but I need your advice. Ever since this whole mess with Keith getting hurt, and Carly's attempted suicides, we've had these darned reporters following us around…they won't let us alone. They've got Carly and her mom so upset, they're afraid to leave the hotel room. Being as you're the group's manager, and have no doubt dealt with these people before, I thought maybe you could tell me what to do."
Reuben sighed. Boy, did he know, but it wasn't fit for man nor boy to hear. "Tell you what, Mr. Stratton, I will call another press conference in your behalf, how's that? You and your wife can attend, if you'd like, but I would leave Carly out of this. I learned the hard way that it's no place for kids."
"Oh, that'd be great, thank you. We leave tomorrow night at seven, so any time before then."
"We can hold it while Carly's at the hospital saying goodbye to Keith, how's that? That would take the pressure off the kids and would make a great decoy besides. Wouldn't want their parting words on the front pages, would we?"
"Perfect. Thanks again, Mr. Kincaid. What do you suggest I tell them in the meantime? There's a couple fellows down in the hotel lobby right now, doing their best to get up here."
"Just tell them you have no comment at the moment, but that there will be a press conference at five o'clock in the hotel meeting room. I'll make all the arrangements."
Mr. Stratton sounded relieved. "Thank you, Mr. Kincaid. I appreciate it. See you tomorrow, then."
"Good night, Mr. Stratton."
Reuben hung up, reaching over to turn off the light. He saw Chris and Danny peering at him curiously.
"What?"
"How come you wear that mask? Isn't it dark enough in here?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, Mr. Kincaid. You're only supposed to wear that in the daytime, aren't you?"
"Go to sleep," Reuben said, sounding annoyed.
"I can't, now. I know, let's get a pizza and go see how Keith's doing!" Danny looked eager.
"Keith can't eat pizza, besides, visiting hours are over…" Reuben murmured sleepily. In a few moments, he was snoring, and Chris and Danny looked at each other.
"Well, maybe Keith can't have pizza, but we can," Danny crawled out of the bed, getting the phone. He punched a couple of numbers as Chris watched hungrily. "Hello, room service?"
The morning brought good news for Keith. His temperature was getting closer to normal; it was 100 degrees, down from 103, which meant that the ampicillin was doing its job. He was still fairly drained, but the doctor said his energy would return once his temperature settled to normal.
The nurse had come in to change his bandage and he watched as she carefully did so. Her hands were cool and when she touched his bare skin he almost shivered.
Seeing him react, she pulled back. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"
"No, it felt good, actually." He smiled at her, keeping his eyes off of the wound as she gently removed the bandage. There was one thing he refused to do, and that was to look at the hole there in his side. He knew it would make him nauseous and he'd already shown her how well he could throw up; she didn't need him to do an encore.
She replaced the bandage, her hands still cool on his belly and as she pressed down on the tape, he felt a sharp pain. Groaning, he grabbed her hand, pulling a face.
She froze. "Sorry. I know it's tender. I'll try and be more careful." She blushed, and he let go, letting her finish the job.
She tried not to look at him as she gathered up the old bandage, but she could feel him watching her.
"What's your name, anyway?" he asked, out of the blue.
"Pam," she answered, glancing at him. If there was one thing she didn't need, it was a flirting contest with a patient. But this was Keith Partridge, and he was so cute!
He smiled. He was feeling better by the minute. "Pam. Short and sweet."
Flustered, she gathered up everything she needed and headed for the door. As she did so, she dropped a bandage roll and it headed under his bed, unrolling as it did so.
She caught his eye; he was grinning, now and it made her even more flustered. "Don't you dare laugh," she warned him.
"I can't laugh; it'll hurt." He did a terrible job of trying to be serious.
She shook her head, throwing her armload down on his bed and getting on her hands and knees to retrieve the prodigal bandage.
The door opened, and Shirley entered. Seeing the nurse on the floor reaching under the bed, she looked curiously at her son. "Hi, Mom, this is Pam," Keith waved a tired hand in Pam's direction.
Having finally snatched the bandage, Pam climbed back to her feet, even more embarrassed than when she was down on the floor. "Hello, Mrs. Partridge. Just…picking something up that I dropped."
Shirley nodded, smiling, as the nurse gave Keith a wicked look and left the room.
"Keith, what did you do to that poor girl?"
"Nothing, Mom, honest. She changed my bandage and dropped the roll. I would have helped her, but I'm a little incapacitated right now." He said innocently.
Shirley sighed. She knew the effects her son had on girls of every age. She also knew that HE knew, and she had to monitor him every once in a while.
"How are you feeling today, dear?" She pulled a chair up to the bedside.
"Pretty good. Still tired. How's everybody doing? Do they miss me?"
"Ferociously," she said, wrinkling her nose at him as she took his hand.
"Yeah, I'll bet."
"Would I lie to you?" She asked. "Honey, there's something I need you to do for me."
"What? If it's fixing the bus or something, you'll have to ask Reuben." He smiled innocuously.
"No, it's fixing Danny."
He looked a bit taken aback. "Danny's broken?"
"He's upset with Carly. He won't forgive her for what she did to you, Keith. He told Laurie he wanted her to get the electric chair."
Keith winced at that one. "Woah, he IS mad!"
"Can you talk to him?"
"Well, I can try, but I'm not guaranteeing anything. You know how he is."
"I just don't want him saying something to her that will hurt her, you know? She's so fragile right now."
"That's for sure. Okay, Mom, I'll give it a whirl." He nodded wearily.
"Good. He's right outside. I didn't want him confronting Carly in the lobby or something." She stood up, going to the door.
Keith nodded, thoughtfully rubbing the bandage around his midriff. He saw Danny come in almost timidly and he flashed a smile.
"Hey, bud."
Danny stopped, staring at Keith. He looked so weak, so tired! This was not his brother.
"Why don't you have a shirt on? Why's that bandage so big?" Danny blurted. 'What did she do to you?' he wanted to add, but held his tongue.
"It's easier for them to check the wound, Danny. It's okay. You can come closer. I'm not contagious or anything."
Danny swallowed, slowly moving to the chair and flopping down into it.
"You look tired."
"I am. It'll be a while before I'm up and around, I'm afraid."
"Mom says you got an infection."
"Yeah, but the drugs are working on it." Keith wriggled the I.V. tube.
Danny nodded, looking around the room in apparent awe. Keith watched him keenly.
"Carly came to see me yesterday."
Danny looked at him, fire in his eyes. "I hate her."
"Don't say that; you do not." Keith said calmly.
"Yes, I do! You wouldn't be here if she hadn't come into our lives!" Danny spat.
"Neither would she."
That took Danny by surprise. "What…what do you mean?"
"Danny, Carly is sick. She's tried to take her own life. A well person just does not do that. What happened at the zoo was not her fault. She was hysterical, slashing at herself with that knife. I had to do something. It was stupid of me not to realize the danger I was in, but I couldn't let her kill herself. I wasn't thinking, and I'm sure she wasn't either, but it was an accident. I know you would have done the same thing, had you been there. You wouldn't have let her kill herself, either. Right?"
Danny looked down at his feet. Keith knew he had him, then. "Right?" He prodded.
"I guess not."
Keith smiled. "Of course not."
"She DID try and save your life, too. She told me to get help."
"Yes, she did. She could have just run away and left me there, but she didn't. I really owe her my life, Danny."
Danny nodded. "I guess I was wrong. I'm sorry."
"Don't tell me, tell Carly. She needs to hear that."
"I will."
"Good."
Pam came in, smiling at them. "Time to get your body out of that bed and up on your feet. We are going for a walk," she said brightly to Keith.
"You're kidding," Keith said.
She shook her head. "Doctor's orders."
Danny grinned at his brother's hesitation. "Yeah, Keith, come on. Show us that old hospital shuffle."
"You be quiet," he told Danny. To Pam, he indicated the I.V. "I'm still hooked up to this thing."
"We'll bring it along. Come on, on your feet!" She yanked back the covers. Checking out his pajama bottoms, she smiled. "I'll get your robe. Wouldn't want you running into a fan dressed like that."
Danny snickered as she got the robe from the foot of the bed. "Here, you hold this while I get your brother to as close an upright position as I can," she said, handing the robe to the red-head.
She adjusted the bed to a full sit, pulling down the side rails. "Okay, cutie…ease your legs down, but try not to hurt your incision. If it hurts, stop for a second."
Keith did as he was told, clutching her arm as she helped pull him up. His feet finally touched the floor and Danny facetiously applauded. Keith glared at him, looking up at Pam.
"I'm really too tired for this…I don't think I have the energy to stand up."
"You can do it. I'll help you. If you don't get those muscles working, they'll atrophy on you and you'll be a lot worse off. Put your arm around my shoulders."
"Yeah, like he hasn't heard THAT one before," Danny ignored Keith's icy look.
"Danny, come over here so he can use you for leverage," the nurse ordered.
"Yeah, then later, I'll use you for boxing practice," Keith muttered.
"Careful…that pajama string is just begging to be pulled," Danny warned him, grinning bigger. He went to his brother.
"Don't even think about it," Keith warned, placing one hand on Danny's shoulder, gripping his shirt.
"Okay, ready? On the count of three. One, two, three," Pam pulled on him.
He stood up, wincing and gripping both Danny and Pam. "Oh, god…that hurts!" He said through his teeth. He wanted to just go back down, but they wouldn't let him.
Pam looked at him. "Okay, bend over a bit if you have to. Don't get it hurting too much."
He leaned forward just a little and she waited until he was steady and still leaning on Danny before putting his robe on him and retrieving the I.V. stand.
"You know, Keith, you remind me of someone…wait, I know! Grandpa!" Danny grinned, oblivious to Keith's look.
"We'll just go out into the hall for a few feet, then we'll turn around and come back. You'll need to do this four times a day, Keith, remember. It'll get easier as time goes on."
Danny felt Keith's fingers digging into his shoulder, and he was beginning to think he was doing it on purpose.
"I hope Chris is around for the next one…I think I'm gonna be bruised!" Danny flinched.
Keith smiled down at him. "Sorry." He eased off on the pinching, much to Danny's relief.
They began a slow and painful walk down the hall.
continued...
CHAPTER 18
The phone rang in Reuben, Chris and Danny's room at 10:38 p.m. Reuben knew the exact time, because he had to push his sleep mask out of his eyes to see the clock. His first thought was that something was wrong with Keith and he flipped on the light between the two beds. He saw the boys in the other bed sit up, equally disturbed. He grabbed the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Kincaid, this is Jim Stratton, Carly's dad."
Running his fingers through his messy hair, Reuben breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, yeah…what can I do for you, Mr. Stratton?"
"Sorry for bothering you at such a late hour, but I need your advice. Ever since this whole mess with Keith getting hurt, and Carly's attempted suicides, we've had these darned reporters following us around…they won't let us alone. They've got Carly and her mom so upset, they're afraid to leave the hotel room. Being as you're the group's manager, and have no doubt dealt with these people before, I thought maybe you could tell me what to do."
Reuben sighed. Boy, did he know, but it wasn't fit for man nor boy to hear. "Tell you what, Mr. Stratton, I will call another press conference in your behalf, how's that? You and your wife can attend, if you'd like, but I would leave Carly out of this. I learned the hard way that it's no place for kids."
"Oh, that'd be great, thank you. We leave tomorrow night at seven, so any time before then."
"We can hold it while Carly's at the hospital saying goodbye to Keith, how's that? That would take the pressure off the kids and would make a great decoy besides. Wouldn't want their parting words on the front pages, would we?"
"Perfect. Thanks again, Mr. Kincaid. What do you suggest I tell them in the meantime? There's a couple fellows down in the hotel lobby right now, doing their best to get up here."
"Just tell them you have no comment at the moment, but that there will be a press conference at five o'clock in the hotel meeting room. I'll make all the arrangements."
Mr. Stratton sounded relieved. "Thank you, Mr. Kincaid. I appreciate it. See you tomorrow, then."
"Good night, Mr. Stratton."
Reuben hung up, reaching over to turn off the light. He saw Chris and Danny peering at him curiously.
"What?"
"How come you wear that mask? Isn't it dark enough in here?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, Mr. Kincaid. You're only supposed to wear that in the daytime, aren't you?"
"Go to sleep," Reuben said, sounding annoyed.
"I can't, now. I know, let's get a pizza and go see how Keith's doing!" Danny looked eager.
"Keith can't eat pizza, besides, visiting hours are over…" Reuben murmured sleepily. In a few moments, he was snoring, and Chris and Danny looked at each other.
"Well, maybe Keith can't have pizza, but we can," Danny crawled out of the bed, getting the phone. He punched a couple of numbers as Chris watched hungrily. "Hello, room service?"
The morning brought good news for Keith. His temperature was getting closer to normal; it was 100 degrees, down from 103, which meant that the ampicillin was doing its job. He was still fairly drained, but the doctor said his energy would return once his temperature settled to normal.
The nurse had come in to change his bandage and he watched as she carefully did so. Her hands were cool and when she touched his bare skin he almost shivered.
Seeing him react, she pulled back. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"
"No, it felt good, actually." He smiled at her, keeping his eyes off of the wound as she gently removed the bandage. There was one thing he refused to do, and that was to look at the hole there in his side. He knew it would make him nauseous and he'd already shown her how well he could throw up; she didn't need him to do an encore.
She replaced the bandage, her hands still cool on his belly and as she pressed down on the tape, he felt a sharp pain. Groaning, he grabbed her hand, pulling a face.
She froze. "Sorry. I know it's tender. I'll try and be more careful." She blushed, and he let go, letting her finish the job.
She tried not to look at him as she gathered up the old bandage, but she could feel him watching her.
"What's your name, anyway?" he asked, out of the blue.
"Pam," she answered, glancing at him. If there was one thing she didn't need, it was a flirting contest with a patient. But this was Keith Partridge, and he was so cute!
He smiled. He was feeling better by the minute. "Pam. Short and sweet."
Flustered, she gathered up everything she needed and headed for the door. As she did so, she dropped a bandage roll and it headed under his bed, unrolling as it did so.
She caught his eye; he was grinning, now and it made her even more flustered. "Don't you dare laugh," she warned him.
"I can't laugh; it'll hurt." He did a terrible job of trying to be serious.
She shook her head, throwing her armload down on his bed and getting on her hands and knees to retrieve the prodigal bandage.
The door opened, and Shirley entered. Seeing the nurse on the floor reaching under the bed, she looked curiously at her son. "Hi, Mom, this is Pam," Keith waved a tired hand in Pam's direction.
Having finally snatched the bandage, Pam climbed back to her feet, even more embarrassed than when she was down on the floor. "Hello, Mrs. Partridge. Just…picking something up that I dropped."
Shirley nodded, smiling, as the nurse gave Keith a wicked look and left the room.
"Keith, what did you do to that poor girl?"
"Nothing, Mom, honest. She changed my bandage and dropped the roll. I would have helped her, but I'm a little incapacitated right now." He said innocently.
Shirley sighed. She knew the effects her son had on girls of every age. She also knew that HE knew, and she had to monitor him every once in a while.
"How are you feeling today, dear?" She pulled a chair up to the bedside.
"Pretty good. Still tired. How's everybody doing? Do they miss me?"
"Ferociously," she said, wrinkling her nose at him as she took his hand.
"Yeah, I'll bet."
"Would I lie to you?" She asked. "Honey, there's something I need you to do for me."
"What? If it's fixing the bus or something, you'll have to ask Reuben." He smiled innocuously.
"No, it's fixing Danny."
He looked a bit taken aback. "Danny's broken?"
"He's upset with Carly. He won't forgive her for what she did to you, Keith. He told Laurie he wanted her to get the electric chair."
Keith winced at that one. "Woah, he IS mad!"
"Can you talk to him?"
"Well, I can try, but I'm not guaranteeing anything. You know how he is."
"I just don't want him saying something to her that will hurt her, you know? She's so fragile right now."
"That's for sure. Okay, Mom, I'll give it a whirl." He nodded wearily.
"Good. He's right outside. I didn't want him confronting Carly in the lobby or something." She stood up, going to the door.
Keith nodded, thoughtfully rubbing the bandage around his midriff. He saw Danny come in almost timidly and he flashed a smile.
"Hey, bud."
Danny stopped, staring at Keith. He looked so weak, so tired! This was not his brother.
"Why don't you have a shirt on? Why's that bandage so big?" Danny blurted. 'What did she do to you?' he wanted to add, but held his tongue.
"It's easier for them to check the wound, Danny. It's okay. You can come closer. I'm not contagious or anything."
Danny swallowed, slowly moving to the chair and flopping down into it.
"You look tired."
"I am. It'll be a while before I'm up and around, I'm afraid."
"Mom says you got an infection."
"Yeah, but the drugs are working on it." Keith wriggled the I.V. tube.
Danny nodded, looking around the room in apparent awe. Keith watched him keenly.
"Carly came to see me yesterday."
Danny looked at him, fire in his eyes. "I hate her."
"Don't say that; you do not." Keith said calmly.
"Yes, I do! You wouldn't be here if she hadn't come into our lives!" Danny spat.
"Neither would she."
That took Danny by surprise. "What…what do you mean?"
"Danny, Carly is sick. She's tried to take her own life. A well person just does not do that. What happened at the zoo was not her fault. She was hysterical, slashing at herself with that knife. I had to do something. It was stupid of me not to realize the danger I was in, but I couldn't let her kill herself. I wasn't thinking, and I'm sure she wasn't either, but it was an accident. I know you would have done the same thing, had you been there. You wouldn't have let her kill herself, either. Right?"
Danny looked down at his feet. Keith knew he had him, then. "Right?" He prodded.
"I guess not."
Keith smiled. "Of course not."
"She DID try and save your life, too. She told me to get help."
"Yes, she did. She could have just run away and left me there, but she didn't. I really owe her my life, Danny."
Danny nodded. "I guess I was wrong. I'm sorry."
"Don't tell me, tell Carly. She needs to hear that."
"I will."
"Good."
Pam came in, smiling at them. "Time to get your body out of that bed and up on your feet. We are going for a walk," she said brightly to Keith.
"You're kidding," Keith said.
She shook her head. "Doctor's orders."
Danny grinned at his brother's hesitation. "Yeah, Keith, come on. Show us that old hospital shuffle."
"You be quiet," he told Danny. To Pam, he indicated the I.V. "I'm still hooked up to this thing."
"We'll bring it along. Come on, on your feet!" She yanked back the covers. Checking out his pajama bottoms, she smiled. "I'll get your robe. Wouldn't want you running into a fan dressed like that."
Danny snickered as she got the robe from the foot of the bed. "Here, you hold this while I get your brother to as close an upright position as I can," she said, handing the robe to the red-head.
She adjusted the bed to a full sit, pulling down the side rails. "Okay, cutie…ease your legs down, but try not to hurt your incision. If it hurts, stop for a second."
Keith did as he was told, clutching her arm as she helped pull him up. His feet finally touched the floor and Danny facetiously applauded. Keith glared at him, looking up at Pam.
"I'm really too tired for this…I don't think I have the energy to stand up."
"You can do it. I'll help you. If you don't get those muscles working, they'll atrophy on you and you'll be a lot worse off. Put your arm around my shoulders."
"Yeah, like he hasn't heard THAT one before," Danny ignored Keith's icy look.
"Danny, come over here so he can use you for leverage," the nurse ordered.
"Yeah, then later, I'll use you for boxing practice," Keith muttered.
"Careful…that pajama string is just begging to be pulled," Danny warned him, grinning bigger. He went to his brother.
"Don't even think about it," Keith warned, placing one hand on Danny's shoulder, gripping his shirt.
"Okay, ready? On the count of three. One, two, three," Pam pulled on him.
He stood up, wincing and gripping both Danny and Pam. "Oh, god…that hurts!" He said through his teeth. He wanted to just go back down, but they wouldn't let him.
Pam looked at him. "Okay, bend over a bit if you have to. Don't get it hurting too much."
He leaned forward just a little and she waited until he was steady and still leaning on Danny before putting his robe on him and retrieving the I.V. stand.
"You know, Keith, you remind me of someone…wait, I know! Grandpa!" Danny grinned, oblivious to Keith's look.
"We'll just go out into the hall for a few feet, then we'll turn around and come back. You'll need to do this four times a day, Keith, remember. It'll get easier as time goes on."
Danny felt Keith's fingers digging into his shoulder, and he was beginning to think he was doing it on purpose.
"I hope Chris is around for the next one…I think I'm gonna be bruised!" Danny flinched.
Keith smiled down at him. "Sorry." He eased off on the pinching, much to Danny's relief.
They began a slow and painful walk down the hall.
continued...