"Any I.D. on her?" a doctor asked.
"Purse is in the rig," the EMT answered.
"Amy Rainey," Mort said without thinking. "Her name's Amy."
The doctor stayed behind. "You know her, sir?"
Mort nodded. "Mort Rainey," he said, figuring that he should. "She's my ex-wife."
"The police will probably want to talk to you."
"Is it serious?"
"Once I know more, I'll be able to tell you. I believe she'll be fine though."
Mort rubbed his temple with his free hand. "O.K. I'm in room 302 with my wife." He turned and continued on his journey to the waiting room. Once there, he asked if Karen and Steven would mind taking Julia, which they gladly did, then explained what he knew of the latest drama. He gave the unconscious Julia a kiss, then returned to Alex's room.
He was far more than grateful to find Alex asleep – the last thing he wanted was to have to tell her about Amy. Unfortunately, that relief was very short-lived. Within five minutes, a short – and rather pudgy – officer entered the room.
"Mr. Rainey?" the officer said quietly, taking note of Alex. Mort got up and left the room. The officer began to speak again when he was just outside the door. "I'm Officer Higgins, I'm here because…"
"She has a fiancé," Mort blurted. "He should probably be here."
"Mr. Rainey, I've been told that the woman is your ex-wife. Is this correct?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Rainey…"
"Mort, please," Mort asked, tired of hearing his last name.
The officer nodded. "Do you have any reason to believe that Amy would wish to take her life?"
Mort slumped against the wall. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "The very pregnant woman in that room is my wife. Amy came here looking for me, not knowing about any of it. She said that she had another miscarriage…" His voice trailed. "Look, I don't know what her life's been like over the past couple of years. You need to get Ted down here."
"Ted?"
Mort sighed. "Ted Milner, her fiancé."
"You wouldn't happen to have a number, would you?"
He has to be kidding me. "Her cell's probably in her purse, I'm sure his number's in there." He peered in the door and saw that Alex's eyes were open. "I need to get back to my wife."
"Of course." Officer Higgins left and Mort went back into the room.
Alex looked away, but Mort saw the look in her eyes. "Baby, I…"
Alex shook her head. "Can we just not talk about it right now, please?"
Mort sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you feeling all right?"
"Call him, Mort. Get Ted down here, so I can stop thinking about…everything."
Mort felt like a child. "You want me to call Ted?"
"The police are known for goofing things up and…please, Mort. It would make me feel a hell of a lot better."
Knowing that Alex would, indeed, be more at ease, he kissed her forehead, then said, "Anything to ease your mind." He brushed her hair away from her face and took a deep breath. "I'll be right back." Mort went to one of the payphones and dialed information. (His cell phone was left at home amid the rush to get to the hospital.) After a few minutes, he was connected to Ted's line. It was almost two A.M.
"Hello?" Ted's voice was drenched in sleep.
Mort's voice was soft as he answered. "Uh, Ted, it's Mort."
"Mort?" Ted asked, unsure of who he was talking to at first.
How many Morts do you know? "Mort Rainey?" he said, his voice already annoyed.
"Mort? What the hell…Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"
"Why is…" He controlled his flaring temper and decided that he needed to be cordial. "Amy…Amy came to see me today, Ted."
"She what?" Ted instantly sounded more awake. "Why the hell would she do that?"
"That was my worry earlier, however…Ted, there's been an accident. Amy's in the hospital."
Ted jumped to conclusions, his temper rising. "What the hell did you to do her?"
"Whoa, I didn't do a thing, Ted."
"Bullshit! Why the hell…"
"Ted, shut up and listen to me. They think it was an attempted suicide and…"
"Suicide? What are you talking about?"
"Look, you need to get here, all right?" Mort began to spout off the address of the hospital before Ted could say another word. He quickly hung up, knowing that Ted was looking toward either a long car ride or an expensive, short notice plane trip.
Mort returned to Alex's room once again, this time she was wide awake. "Did you talk to him?"
He nodded. "He pretty much blamed me for as much as he could before I hung up, but yeah, I talked to him."
"Sorry, honey, I just…"
Mort took his place on the bed again. "Shh," he said, putting his finger to her lips. "Believe me, I want him here too. I'd really like to know what's going on. However, I want you to go to sleep, O.K."
"I…"
He smiled at her. "I made a call, you can go to sleep." He leaned down and kissed her, expecting to pull away quickly, but found that he couldn't. The kiss turned into a passionate one and Alex sunk into it, quite happily.
"Mort," Alex said, pulling away. "Stay here?"
He smiled and pulled his body fully onto the bed. It was a tight squeeze, but once he had his arms around his wife, both were comfortable. He knew that the next morning was going to hold things that he didn't want to deal with, but, for the time being, all of his world was sound asleep next to him.