Of Rumors And Bogeymen
Chapter 35
XXXV
At Roswell General Hospital, the doctors were preparing to release one now fairly-infamous patient, Judge Horace Lewis. His two-week-long stay in the hospital had kept him out of circulation while much of the world learned about the aliens… and found out what had happened to them… and who was responsible. With global news and satellite coverage what it is today, and thanks to Diane Casey's always excellent news coverage, the name of Judge Lewis had become well-known worldwide. It was generally considered slightly more derogatory and creepy than the name of your average ax murderer or Freddy Kruger. In fact, the name "Judge Lewis" seemed to have replaced the Bogeyman in some places… More than one person had been overheard telling children that if they misbehaved Judge Lewis would get them. No one could remember such a name association being used since the American Civil War, when many mothers in northern households kept their children in line… and indoors… with the threat that Stonewall Jackson, the famous and much-feared-in-the-north southern general second to General Lee, would get them if they misbehaved. Further away from home, in parts of Central America, "No seas malo o te lleva el chupacabras" was rapidly being replaced with "…te lleva el juez Luis." It seemed that the legendary chupacabras, a sort of vampirish creature that sucks the blood out of goats and is believed by many to exist, just as many believe bigfoot to exist, was no longer as scary to children… or their mothers… as el juez Luis."
On hand to protect Judge Lewis and escort him from the hospital to a waiting car was Sheriff Jim Valenti; and with him was his wife, Amy. The irony of this was not lost on Jim Valenti. Judge Lewis had sought to discredit Jim… He had got the sheriff fired, tried to banish him, and possibly even been complicit in the failed attempt on his life… and now he was depending on Valenti to protect his own sorry life.
Jim put his arm around Amy, and Amy smiled.
"Do you think he'll be glad to see us," Jim asked Amy coyly.
Amy laughed. "He'll be glad to see you, Jim. He needs you… to get him past that mob out there with what little's left of his hide still intact. I don't think he'll be glad to see me. I'm responsible for him losing what he's lost already. He won't want to lose any more."
"Well, maybe he's learned his lesson, Amy. People do change, you know."
Amy smiled. "Keep believing that, Jim. I love a husband who still believes in the Easter Bunny." She puckered her lips and squeezed Jim's cheek playfully. Jim smiled.
"Well, I didn't say I thought he HAD changed," Jim corrected. "I just meant that miracles do happen… sometimes." He looked at Amy, and she looked at him…
"Naw," both of them said together at the same time.
Jim took a quarter out of his pocket and flipped it into the fountain beside them.
"What was that for," Amy asked. "Did you make a wish?"
Jim shook his head. "No. I had been saving it to bribe the Easter Bunny for some extra candy."
Amy snorted then began to giggle, nodding her head as though she actually believed Jim's story… or at least that he might be capable of it.
While Jim and Amy waited in the hospital lobby, in a waiting room nearby, two unseen men were also waiting for Judge Lewis' release. They were dressed down in older clothes, though they did not appear to be comfortable in them or to be accustomed to them, and they were clearly making an effort to remain out of sight and inconspicuous.
One of the men peaked out the door then turned back to the other one… "I heard she beat him up pretty good."
The other man shrugged. "That's what I heard. He lost a lot of skin… and got some fractured ribs and stuff… and… uh… uh…"
"And what?"
"Well… it's just kind of a rumor, you know, that she, uh, tied it in a knot."
"It?"
"It."
"That's not possible. Somebody's putting you on. You're too gullible, Hawkins."
"I heard it from some pretty unimpeachable sources. I don't know. I wouldn't rule anything out where that woman's concerned, Hawthorn."
Hawthorn nodded. "Yeah, I know what she's capable of."
He paused to think about it then smiled. "No. Some things just can't be done, Hawkins… not even by her."
"Not even if it was a… a noodle?"
"Geez! Get real, Hawkins!"
Hawkins looked at the floor abashedly. "Sorry."
Hawthorn smiled, having apparently won this round, but he seemed to swallow a bit harder than usual. At that moment, the doctor walked out of Judge Lewis' room and headed for the lobby to speak with Sheriff Valenti. Hawkins and Hawthorn followed, staying out of sight.
"Ah, here's the Doc!" Jim said, walking toward the doctor, as the doctor walked into the lobby. "How's our favorite patient?"
"Alive," Doctor Maris said… "and ornery as ever. I'm glad to get rid of him, frankly, Jim. A few more days in here and he'd have this whole hospital turned into his offices… He seems to think we're all here just to run errands for him and do his bidding 24/7. I never saw an ego like that man's."
Jim shrugged. "That's too bad. I thought maybe after what Amy did to him he might have learned something."
Doctor Maris shook his head. "Well, I'll say one thing Jim. That wife of yours can tie a damned hard knot. That half hitch was the devil to get out. Nobody here could untie it. We wound up having to cut the whole thing off." Doctor Maris made a slicing motion in the air with his scalpel.
Amy smiled and blushed. Then, the emergency exit doors in the hallway opened suddenly, setting off an alarm. Doctor Maris ran to close the doors back and turn off the alarm.
"Some people never pay attention to signs, Jim. It clearly says, 'For Emergencies Only' right over the door… But do they read it? Huh? I ask you. Oh well… Whoever ran out these doors is gone now. I guess they were in too big a hurry to go through the lobby."
Jim nodded then turned to Amy. "I didn't know you knew how to tie a half-hitch, Amy. What did you tie a knot in?"
Amy smiled. "I pulled his feet up behind him and put 'em through his belt. Then I tied them there with his shoe laces."
"We like to never got his feet straightened back out, Jim," Doctor Maris added. "Nobody here could undo Amy's knots. We had to cut the laces and his belt off of him to get his feet out of his belt."
Jim looked at Amy.
"Hey," Amy shrugged. "I was mad. He was hurting Maria."
Jim nodded. "That wasn't my critical look, Amy… That was admiration."
Doctor Maris laughed, and a nurse walked into the lobby at that moment pushing Judge Lewis in a wheelchair.
"What? Somebody say something funny?" Judge Lewis barked angrily. "I'm suffering in here for two weeks after being almost killed and somebody thinks something's funny?"
Amy stepped out from behind Jim, and Judge Lewis sank into his chair, suddenly becoming quiet.
"Did I just see two men running out the emergency doors," the nurse asked. "They looked like they'd seen a ghost. They were falling all over each other trying to be the first one out."
Doctor Maris shrugged. "I don't know what their hurry was. I guess some people are just afraid of hospitals."
Jim nodded. "Well, let's get the Judge out to his car before any of his admirers outside realize he's been released."
Judge Lewis looked at Jim and narrowed his eyes. "Admirers? That was sarcasm, wasn't it, Jim?"
"How would you know that, Horace?" Jim asked. "You might have admirers… Don't you think?"
Judge Lewis didn't reply.
tbc
Coming up: The gang gathers in Gray Hawk's new house for a house-warming party, and ex-generals Hawkins and Hawthorn corner Judge Lewis.