Flu
Chapter 3
Rick regards the figure rapidly taking on the illusion of solidity. "Johanna, is there anything you can do for her?"
"Rick, you know the rules by now. I can only encourage her to help herself, put all her energy into healing."
"Well, that's something," Rick acknowledges. "She'll listen to you when she won't listen to anyone else. Are you going to stay near her?"
"I'll be here as long as The Father allows, but I won't stay visible unless she wakes up or you call me."
"All right," Rick accepts – not that he has a choice in the matter. Limited divine intervention is better than none; at least he hopes so.
"You should be writing!" streams across the screen of Rick's laptop as he looks up from his post at Kate's bedside. Jim Beckett walks softly into the room, but freezes for a moment, blinking. "I thought I saw – no, wishful thinking. It couldn't have been. How's Katie doing, Rick?"
Rick stares at his father-in-law for a moment. Johanna's never been visible to anyone but him and Kate. Could her widower have sensed her? Maybe in restless sleep, Kate can sense Johanna too. "They gave Kate intravenous fluids, which made her feel better for a while. The oxygen also helps, but when she's been awake, she's been pretty out of it."
"I can sit with her if you want to take a break," Jim proposes. "As I understand it, I'm old enough to be less vulnerable to this than either Katie or you; one of the few advantages of gray hair."
"Yeah, the doctor said something like that – not that you're that old," Rick hurriedly adds. "I don't want to go very far from Kate, but I could use a walk to clear my head. You'll text me if she wakes up?"
"Of course," Jim promises.
Suddenly feeling the pressure of sterile walls, Rick finds his feet leading him outside. Parking lots occupy most of the area around the hospital, but there is a small patch of green space with a few picnic tables and some play equipment. A place where children worried and stressed out by the illness of family members can work off a little anxiety isn't a bad idea. But it's a school day, and there aren't any kids around. Rick sinks into one of the swings. For a moment, he rests his head in his hands. He and Kate have always found it easy to talk to each other on swings. Maybe, when she gets better, he can bring her out here to breathe what passes for fresh air in the city and get a little sun. Lifting his eyes, he gazes at the empty swing beside him. He can almost conjure up an image of her there. Soon, he hopes, that vision will become a reality. He draws in a few deep breaths untainted by the odor of disinfectants, before heading back to Kate.
Dino Scarpella makes sure he's sitting behind his desk with his chair seat cranked up as high as it will go before Jimmy Spinelli comes into his office. Fully aware that Jimmy is a good 6 inches taller than he is, Dino wants to make sure they're eye to eye. He waves Jimmy to a seat he knows will accomplish that purpose. "You have a proposal for me?"
"I do," Jimmy confirms. "The cops have been hit hard by this swine flu thing. It's funny, right? Cops brought down by a disease from pigs."
"It might be funny if my niece hadn't caught it," Dino retorts, "but what's your point, Spinelli?"
"My point is that the families have come together before when it was mutually advantageous," Spinelli explains. "The last time was when that crazy asshole with a cape and sword was going around trying to carve up anyone he called an evildoer. We were both working on the problem, until Benny Salano, rest his soul, emptied the whole magazine of an AR-15 into the nutcase. We even kept the law from nailing Benny. Not that protecting him from cops mattered in the end."
Dino chuckles. "I remember. Maria Salano found out he'd been cheating on her with that pole dancer and did some carving of her own. She cut the thing up and fed it to the dog while Benny bled out. For months after that, my soldiers were real careful about keeping their zippers up."
"So were mine," Spinelli recalls. "But I think we can do a lot better than taking out one enemy. Our operations have been struggling ever since the city advocate started pushing on the commissioner to cut off some of our family's most remunerative revenue streams. We expanded into 50 new establishments last year until the cops started putting a kink in our enforcement efforts."
"Our organization is going through a similar experience," Dino confides.
"But I figure," Jimmy continues, 'that with fewer cops on the street, they won't have the personnel to keep crapping on our business. We can divide the territory and help each other out with whatever enforcement actions are needed. And when this bug moves on, we'll both be in stronger positions."
"How about the other families?" Dino queries. "The Cardanos will be useless, but if we bring in the rest, we can devote all of our efforts to building our businesses without defending against each other."
Jimmy nods vigorously. "You read my mind, Dino. So, do we have an agreement?"
Dino pulls a pearl-handled knife out of his desk drawer and uses the point of the blade to make a cut across his palm. "Omertà?"
"Omertà," Jimmy agrees.
Kate's thick eyelashes rise slowly at the sound of Rick returning to her room. "Hey, Babe! And Dad, you're here too."
Jim Becket takes his daughter's hand. "How are you feeling, Katie-girl?"
"I was dreaming. We were up at the cabin, you and me and Mom, but somehow Rick was there too. It was Christmas, and we cut down a tree the way we used to and then decorated it with the ornaments we brought from the city. I had the one Nonna gave me, remember the winking angel? And we drank warm cider and sang Christmas carols."
"I can't sing," Jim reminds her.
"You couldn't in my dream either, but we were having a good time anyway. Then suddenly we were back in the city, the tree was gone, and it felt like it was 100 degrees. Then Mom told me to wake up. I'm glad I did and didn't miss you, Dad."
"I wasn't leaving," Jim assures her. "But, I think I'll go search out some coffee."
"According to one of the nurses, you should stick with the cart in the lobby," Rick advises. "The stuff in the machines can be toxic."
Jim starts toward the door. "I'll keep that in mind."
Kate watches her father leave before turning to Rick. "Babe, was my mother here?"
"She was, but I haven't seen her since before your father arrived."
"But if she was here, that means I'm in trouble," Kate worries.
"She said she didn't know what was going to happen, so maybe the threat passed," Rick suggests. "Maybe it was one of those 'can go either way,' things and it went the right way. But when your father first came in, I was sure that he sensed something. Perhaps it was your mom. I don't know why she can't be visible to him the way she is too me."
"I asked her once," Kate confides. "She said it's because he finally made some kind of peace with her death, and seeing her again would cause him too much pain when she had to leave. She wouldn't have come to me either if she couldn't have made things better for me. It wasn't just about saving me – and you – from killers, it was about guiding me toward you. That was more important than any loss I'd feel when she was called back. I think she was right."
Rick curls his fingers around Kate's. "Good to know you feel that way."