4.
~ Norma woke up with a pounding headache and feeling thirsty. She finished the rest of the lemonade from the fridge. Her thirst seeming so unquenchable that she drained the entire plastic jug in one long gulp.
The cabin was quite and still and Norma felt unusually hot. She took a shower, changed her clothes and fell right back to sleep again. Her body becoming weak and worn out from too much work.
~ Dylan wasn't at all used to seeing his mother sick. She was sweating and gasping in her bed. Her breathing coming quick and labored in a way that frightened him.
"Mom?" he questioned tentatively stepping inside her room. She was wrapped in covers but her face was red and covered in sweat. Should he uncover her so she could be cool? Should he call an ambulance? He wasn't even sure of the address and there was a sign at the lobby saying they were closed for the day. The phone here in the cabin worked but he wasn't sure if he should call 911.
He was taught in school only call 911 in an emergency and he wasn't sure if his mom was dying or just sleeping.
She'd been asleep for hours now. During the day and she never slept during the day. Her body was very hot and she didn't want to wake up easily.
She'd been asleep all through his television shows and hadn't said a word about dinner which was strange for her. She was good about making sure he ate. Good about getting up and getting dressed to. What was happening?
Dylan paced around the cabin nervously. He spied the business card on the fridge and recognized Deputy Romero's name and saw there was a cell phone number scribbled on it in short efficient script.
'I can ask him. He can tell me if I should call 911.' Dylan thought rationally. 'It's probably nothing.'
Deputy Romero picked up on the third ring. He sounded like he had a head cold or something when he said:
"Romero."
"Hello." Dylan said in a small voice not sure of what to say next.
"This is Romero." the cop said. "Who is this?"
"Umm… this is… you know that kid who's staying at the cabins with his mom?" Dylan said thinking the very busy man with an important job might not remember him. Even though he was by the cabins only yesterday.
"John?" Romero questioned and Dylan heard some background voices and the sounds of Romero moving away. "John, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"I'm okay." Dylan said easily and almost asked how Romero was in his nervousness. "My um, my mom is… I'm worried. I'm not sure what to do."
"What's happened?" Romero asked darkly. "Where is she?"
"She's here in her bed, but I think she's sick. She's really hot and I'm not sure if this is something you call 911 about." Dylan confessed helplessly. He felt stupid and useless. The kind of person Sam would say he would be when he grew up.
"Okay, I'm coming over now. You did the right thing by calling me." Romero told him. "Just sit tight."
Dylan was about to ask how long it would be when he heard Romero click off. He was scared to have his mother breathing so hard in the back bedroom. Night was coming in and she sounded like a zombie in all those horror movies Dylan had watched when he wasn't supposed to.
"It's okay, mom." Dylan whimpered.
~ Romero saw John and Vicki's cabin was the only one with lights on and the child was waiting for him outside on the porch. He looked scared, but glad to see him.
"Hi." John said wen Alex charged up steps and into the cabin without being invited in. Let Vicki get upset with him if it wasn't an emergency.
Right away, there was something in the air that told him things weren't right. The woman in the bed, her breathing was strained and her face was red with splotches. Her skin was warm and her clothes and sheets were wet from sweating.
"Vicki?" Alex whispered to her, touching her forehead and feeling how hot she was. Her skin was soaked with sweat and she whimpered that she was thirsty and needed to lie down.
"I just… just have to lie down, Sam." she said before her eyes rolled back in her head and she seemed to fall asleep again.
Alex pulled the keys to his SUV out and handed them to John.
"I need you to unlock the back door and hold it open for me." he instructed the young man carefully.
"Are we going to the hospital?" John asked with big frightened eyes.
"We sure are; and your mom's coming with us." Alex said pulling off the blankets with a snap. Sweat had matted Vicki's thin night gown to her body and Alex wrapped her in a clean, dry sheet to prevent her from being too exposed.
She was small in stature and it was nothing at all to lift her up in his arms. He'd pulled heavy, drunken Marines up to their feet before as an MP; compared to that, this was nothing.
Vicki's head bobbed up at the sudden altitude change when he started to carry her in his arms.
"Norman?" she questioned with a raspy voice. "Norman's at daycare."
"It's alright." Alex said gently walking her out of the cabin where everything had felt stifling hot and smelled of sickly, sweating things.
John had done as he was told and was waiting for them in the cool night air by the SUV. The open door ready for his mother to go into.
"Stop hitting my son." she moaned sadly and Alex could feel how hot her body was even through the sheet. How easily people could die of a fever when their bodies burned so hot. A fever could burn you alive.
"You ride in the front seat." Alex ordered John and the child ran to the other side eagerly. Glad to have someone in charge.
Romero gently placed Vicki in the back seat where she slumped over at once. It would do no good to call an ambulance. It would take a long time to get here and find the right cabin. Alex was here now and he could flash his lights and get to the hospital just as quick.
He pulled and clicked a seatbelt over her hip to keep her from falling off the seat and quickly jumped in beside John.
"Hurry." the child said close to tears.
Alex didn't need to be told twice. Partly to impress the kid and to reassure him that he was doing all he could, the overhead lights went on and the sirens blared up rich and violent in the still night air.
"This is Romero." Alex called out over the radio while he backed out of the parking lot. "I'm bringing a woman into the ER with an extremely high fever. She's not responsive. There was no time to wait for an ambulance. I'm bringing her in myself."
He didn't wait for the call back before the siren blared again and they were off. The SUV moving at a frantic pace down the road. Lesser cars and trucks scurrying out of their way in fear of the law.
~ They made it to the ER in less than five minutes. A new personal best. The crew was waiting for them and had a stretcher for her.
"Did she take anything? Any drugs?" the ER doctor asked waving a pen light into Vick's eye which were brown but Alex was sure at one time they were blue.
"I don't think so." he said. "I didn't see any-" he looked at John who was listening to every word they were saying about his mother.
"She didn't strike me as a user." Alex said coolly.
"Ma'am? What did you take?" the doctor demanded and she groaned in pain.
"My mom doesn't use drugs." John said.
"What's her name?" the nurse asked Dylan while she started a line of fluid.
John looked worried.
"Her name?" the nurse asked again.
"Vicki." Alex answered. "Vicki Deeds or something like that." For the life of him he couldn't remember her last name.
"We need you to fill out some paperwork, Deputy." the nurse said.
"I-" Alex started to argue. He wasn't next of kin and a ten year old boy was the only family member that was here. Why was he being thrown into this?
"Will my mom be okay?" John demanded.
"We're doing all we can." the nurse said calmly and pushed them both out into the lobby.
~ "I don't know my mom's blood type." Dylan said while the Deputy tried his best to help him fill out the papers the nurse gave him. He wasn't sure how to spell his new last name either. Was it with two 'Es' or one? Was it Deeds or Deets? He wasn't sure.
"What's your mom's middle name?" Romero asked and looked at Dylan expectantly.
Dylan wasn't sure how to answer.
"It's okay, I didn't know my mom's middle name when I was your age either." he sighed. "You know her maiden name?"
Dylan shook his head.
"We need to call your dad. Do you have his number?" Romero asked. The cop uniform had become frighting all of the sudden. Maybe he should runaway. Maybe it had been a mistake to call for help.
"I… I don't." Dylan said and looked away.
"What's your dad's name?" Romero asked.
Dylan didn't answer.
"Your mom said there were a lot of John's in the family. Is your dad's name John?"
Dylan didn't answer.
"What's your dad's name? I can call him. Tell him what happened. He can come and pick you up. Take you back home." Romero said gently.
"No!" Dylan shouted and Romero leaned away. Mom had promised Sam was gone. That they would never see him again. He never wanted to see Sam again. Never wanted to be back to Arizona.
Romero moved away from him as if Dylan might bust into flames.
"Okay." he said. "Who else can we call? We have to have someone look after you."
~ Norma woke up feeling entirely spent and used up. Like her body had no more energy to spare and she could barely move.
But she had to move. The TV was on and it was an annoying game show that disturbed the peacefulness of her room.
Nor realizing right away that it was in a hospital room or that the TV was bolted to the wall with the remote fashioned to the bed, Norma angrily snapped off the horrible game show.
Feeling like she slayed a dragon, she fell back into bed and saw a garish pink teddy bear sitting on the tray table next to her bed.
'Norman must have forgotten his bear.' she thought feeling too exhausted to really care. She looked at the bear and realized it couldn't have been Norman's. This bear was most defiantly for a girl with its' candy pink fur and, and cute outfit. It had a blue poodle skirt and saddle shoes. It was girl bear with a black hair bow.
Norma moved up in her bed and looked around the alien world. She was in a hospital. When had she arrived in a hospital? What had happened? She was alone in the room which meant the bear, the bed and the horrible TV with the game show, was hers.
Her body ached as if she'd been beaten up. Was that what had happened? Had she been attacked? She didn't see any bruises on her body but she felt sore all over.
"Oh, you're awake again." came a bossy, fussy voice. "Oh and your TV is off."
Norma watched as a nurse with a long ponytail came in and reached up to snap on the TV again. The loud game show was gone and replaced by commercials.
Norma punched the remote to turn the TV off. She didn't want to be pacified by the TV like some infant. She wanted to know what had happened. Had she been in an accident?
"What happened? What's going on?"
"You know I can't tell you that, Miss Deeds." the nurse smiled brightly. "You don't want your TV on?" she looked at Norma as if she was crazy.
"Miss Deeds? No, I don't want my TV on. Where am I? What do you mean you can't tell me what's going on?" Norma demanded.
The nurse nodded.
"Your doctor will be in shortly to do rounds and will explain everything." she said.
Norma shook her head.
"Where's my son?" she demanded.
The nurse shook her head.
"You know I can't answer that, Miss Deeds." she said.
~ Alex Romero arrived just in time to see a nurse with a long ponytail come crying out of Vicki's room saying that the crazy woman was awake now and Doctor Roberts better get here soon to release her.
He politely knocked on the door to see Vicki looking annoyed, but much better than the last time he'd seen her. She was in her hospital gown and peering through her closet.
"If you're looking for your clothes, I think they are in laundry. You only had a nightgown on when they brought you in." Alex said carefully setting down the 'Get Well' card her son had made her. He had that feeling again of being in the presence of a dangerous animal. A beautiful, but deadly creature he needed to be cautious with.
Vicki looked up and her face was different from the last time he'd seen it. The color was off. Probably from the fever she'd suffered.
"I… remember you." she said calmly pulling her IV stand with her. She was still receiving fluids to keep her hydrated.
"Romero." he said calmly.
"My son…" she said.
"John is fine he's staying with some friends of mine. They have a son name Oscar who's his age. They've been having a nice time. I didn't want to alert child services. John gave me the impression there was… violence in the home." Alex said gently.
Vicki looked distrustful.
"My ex broke his arm." she snapped at him.
"I figured as much."
"What happened? Why… why am I here?"
"John called me two days ago. You were burning up with fever. Staff infection from drinking the water at the cabins we think. John is fine they gave him a round of antibiotics to be safe. You could have died, Vicki." Romero said.
"Vicki."
"Sorry, Miss Deeds."
He watched her collapse back in bed. A weakness seeming to shake her body.
"You shouldn't be up and about. You've been feverish for the past day or so. Saying all kinds of crazy things." Romero said guiding her to lay back into bed.
She seemed unusually compliant and willing to lay back down again. Exhaustion winning the day.
"What kind of things?" she whispered. "What was I saying?"
"Oh that Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker's father. Crazy stuff." Alex teased and tried to smile.
"No." she shook her head. "No, really. What was I saying?"
Alex didn't want to say. He didn't like to think about her crying in her fevered state about someone named Sam and to stop hitting her and to stop hitting the boys.
"You kept telling someone named Sam to stop hurting you and your son." he said honestly.
Vicki nodded.
"Sam… Sam Deeds was my… ummm my ex." she explained.
"Well, you need to get better because John is waiting for you." Alex said pulling the covers over her. The hospital gown had a very low thread count and even though she was still recovering, she was beautiful.
"John." she said without feeling.
"Yeah, he's staying with my friends like I said. They have a big house. The doctor has scheduled to have his cast taken off tomorrow and I'll bring him by to see you." he promised.
Vicki's eyes lit up.
"Oh. Yes. Yes." she smiled and her face changed. She was like a young girl again. "Thank you."
"You'll have to thank him for the bear. He picked it out. He said you like old fashioned things."
She picked up the pink teddy bear in the sock hop outfit and smiled warmly at it. Alex had been beyond embarrassed to buy it at the local gift shop. The girl at the counter thinking he had a girlfriend and the rumor mill in town was in full swing about it now.
"Thank you, Alex." she sighed and looked at her bear closely. She spied the Get Well card her son had made her last night and looked sad.
"You know when I got sick I didn't get all these presents." Romero said breaking the ice.
Vicki smiled but it was a faint thing. It was gone as soon as it started.
"Can I bring you anything? Food? Hospital food is awful." he said.
"I am hungry." she said.
"Great. I don't think you've eaten in a while. There's a nice little sandwich shop nearby." he said.
"Alex?" she asked when he stood up. She was still holding her pink bear. "I have to get my things from the cabin.
"No need. John and I go them yesterday." he assured her. She looked upset.
"No, I have, my things I need to get them." she said.
"Vicki, the cabins have all been condemned by the city. No one is allowed inside. The city is using what happened to you to close them up for good. They think it was the drinking water that made you so sick." he tried to explain.
"I have to go back there and get my things!" she said in a near panic.
