6.
~ Norma still felt exhausted the next morning. She managed to shower and dress in a clean hospital gown without help, but almost collapsed onto her bed as soon as she was back in her room.
She still hadn't seen her doctor and had to wonder exactly what had happened to her. No one seemed willing to answer her questions and the nurses were avoiding her. In fact, none of them had been back to try and turn her TV on again. The female nurses seeming to only peep into her room with curiosity, and not venturing in.
Finally, a male nurse named Brian came in to change her IV bag that morning, checked on her and asked if she wanted breakfast. She asked when her doctor would visit and he said he wasn't sure.
"Doctor Nelson is space case." he told her. Norma didn't like the sound of that. In Arizona they din't have doctors who were 'Space Cases'.
"Can I see another doctor then?" she laughed as if this were all an elaborate joke.
Now it was Brian's turn to look at her as if she were joking.
"I'll get your breakfast, Miss Deeds." he said.
It didn't matter what Norma wanted to eat. What she got was cold cereal. The kind kids got sealed in a plastic bowl with a tiny picture of milk. She was thankful she had an appetite but wanted to leave this place. She felt uneasy here. As if something had changed. Like people here knew things about her she had kept hidden. That uneasy feeling she had from her lonely school days back in Florida.
She remembered those harsh popular girls gossiping behind her back and flitting their hateful eyes at her just so they could put her back in her place. Their eyes cutting her like glass when they slighted her from across the hall. Eyes that seemed made of glass. Weapons that loved to hurt her and make her bleed.
Norma had that feeling now. That sick, panicked feeling that she was being watched and observed for weakness by these nurses. These pretty and popular girls who had nice clothes and good homes and parents with a steady job. The girls who grew up to be women with a good education, who lived on their own and didn't live in fear.
She let her cold cereal go soggy at these old memories and feelings. Her appetite was suddenly gone. She pushed her tray away and pulled her bear closer to her body. She hadn't ever remembered receiving such a thoughtful gift in her life and it made her heart hurt with gratitude. No one had ever eve thought to bring her a get well present before.
Still, even with her bear pressed tightly to her chest, she couldn't stop these bad thoughts invading. This invasion laying siege and now festering in her mind like a cancer. She wished she had her diary. Wished she had her big book to write it all down and make herself feel better. Wished she could banish those thoughts away with words.
Words like 'glass eyes', 'cutting eyes', 'perfect girls', 'perfectly evil', 'wolves', 'packs', 'hunting'. She wanted to transform those girls from her memory into creatures that she could imagine hunting like animals. That they were nothing but predatory animals with a mindless pack mentality of follow their leader.
Somehow, she found it easier to think of them like that. The mean girls as wolves who couldn't operate as a single entity. Who weren't powerful as one person but were only cruel as a group. That made it easier. Still, she wanted to leave. She wanted Dylan, and she wanted to see the last of this place.
"Alex?" came a woman's voice from the hall and Norma looked up from her soggy, mess of cereal. She could see the nurses' station from her bed and see the two young nurses looking up eagerly at something that was out of Norma's line of sight.
She could hear a deeper voice and a higher voice, a flirty voice. The nurse's voice who had said his name.
She rolled her eyes. Alex Romero was here and the cute, well groomed nurses were flirting with him. And why not? He was handsome enough; the tall dark and exotic kind to. Norma had noticed that the first day they had met he was good looking. Too good looking not to have a girlfriend who was a nurse here.
Of course Alex had a girlfriend. She was probably thin and perfect and had a college degree and a good job. She no doubt had a cute little apartment and drove a new car. All to accessorize with her perfect life. All she needed now was a handsome cop boyfriend and wouldn't everything be camera ready then?
She expected him to be delayed by the nurse. To have her distract him with her layers of make up and large breasts. Norma had always had a small frame and she hadn't worn makeup since before Norman was born. Her face always seeming muted of color and washed away.
She knew it would be awhile before Alex was able to pull himself away to come and see her. So, it had surprised her when, just as she was thinking these dark thoughts, Alex appeared in her doorway with Dylan in tow.
Norma felt her sprits soar at seeing her son. He was sunburnt and missing his cast. A wide grin beaming on his face.
"Told you she was better." Alex said to Dylan who looked happy and relived.
"Mom!" Dylan shirked in glee.
If Norma had more strength, she would have jumped out of bed to greet him, but Dylan had jumped into her bed with her.
"Oh!" she sighed in happiness. It had been out of lack of anything else to say. Her son hadn't hugged her so fiercely in a long time. His body feeling warm perfect against hers again. He was real and reassuring. He was her son and he smelled of summer time and chlorine.
"You've been swimming?" she laughed.
"Oscar has a pool." Dylan nodded and lifted up his arm as soon as they detached. "His mom is a doctor and she wrapped my arm up in a trash bag so it wouldn't get wet. We really just float around on this big raft thing. He's not a good swimmer either. Then we play Xbox and his mom lets us sleep in the upstairs family room and its' like our own club house. No one bothers us there. He's got a TON of movies and we watched them. He's got legos to and he can skateboard pretty good and now that I have my cast off we can go swimming more. Oscar doesn't have a lot of friends because he's pretty overweight, but I told him he's not that fat and I've seen way fatter people in Arizona and that made him really happy."
Norma stared at her son with wide eyes. The flood of information he so eagerly gave her was very vivid and shocking. He'd told strangers they were from Arizona? What else did he tell these people? These people she didn't know.
"Well, that sounds… like you've been having fun." she said realizing she was short of breath.
"How do you feel?" Alex asked looking concerned.
"I'm… fine." Norma said feeling a little woozy. It was all becoming a little much. All this information coming at her so fast. She felt like she'd been hit by a train.
"Have you seen the doctor yet?" he asked sharply.
"No." she said. "I'm told he's a space case and I guess I'll see him when I see him."
"Doctor Nelson." Alex nodded. "I'll find out what's happening."
He was gone then, before Norma could look up, leaving her and Dylan alone.
"Hey." she whispered in her son's ear. "You haven't been telling anyone who you are; have you? Who I am?"
"No. I told them my name is John. That you're my mom and we're on vacation. Just like you told me." he whispered back.
"What about your dad?" she hissed worriedly.
"They didn't ask." he told her.
Norma thought that was strange.
"You know we have to stick to this story." she told him. "We're John and Vicki Deeds now."
"I know." he said. "I was sacred when you were sick, mom. I didn't know what to do."
"I know." she told him hugging him close to her chest. He still smelled of sunshine and pool water. That sweet childhood smell of a well spent summer.
"Deputy Romero came?" she asked nonchalantly. "When you called?"
"Yeah." he said. "He came to the cabin and had me unlock the back door to his SUV. I got to ride up front with him and he had the lights and sirens on and everything."
"He didn't call the ambulance?" she asked. Norma didn't remember anything from that night and had assumed an ambulance and paramedics were involved.
"No, he carried you out. Like they do in the movies." Dylan said.
Norma stiffened but was curious.
"What? What do you mean, like over his shoulder?" she asked. The idea intrigued her. Her weight made such an idea impossible to conceive and she still had a hard time thinking of herself as thin enough for someone to carry.
"No." Dylan said easily. "He carried you like in those old movies. Like Swamp Thing carried that lady out of the swamp."
Norma appreciated her son's artistic detail and knew exactly what he meant. He couldn't have to described the situation better.
"I see." Norma said feeling a smile twitch her lips and a deep blush heat her face.
"Doctor Nelson won't see you today." a dark voice interrupted them and the pair jumped when Alex entered the room. "Instead Doctor Jonas will see you and most likely discharge you tonight."
"So soon?" Norma asked. "I mean, I could barely take a shower on my own."
"Don't worry, I'm making arrangements." he told her. "The city is working with a liability lawyer named Larry Price to give you a settlement and your hospital bill is paid for. I think it's why they want you out of here as soon as possible."
He seemed disgusted by the whole situation.
"I have a lawyer?" she asked in shock.
"You were appointed one by state law." Alex said. "You were an injured party and he's making sure your interests are protected."
"You can come and stay with me and Oscar!" Dylan said happily.
"We're going to get a motel." Norma said feeling exhausted.
Alex shook his head.
"It's the busy summer season here in White Pine Bay." he told her. "Every motel and hotel in the county is booked up until September."
Norma wanted to argue but was too tired.
"But I know a place you can both stay." he said.
~ That evening, an unpleasant Doctor Jonas discharged her with a bag of medication and a stern warning to stay away from dirty water. As though Norma had intentionally made herself sick or had been unclean someway.
"I hate this place." she hissed to Alex who was pushing her out of the hospital. She was thankfully dressed, wearing her contacts and feeling much more like herself again. Her bear sitting protectively on her lap as if guarding her from attack. Alex had taken Dylan back to Oscar's for the night while they settled the emergency living arrangements.
Norma hadn't been wrong when she suspected the nurses were ogling Alex. They kept peering into her room, trying to catch glimpses of him with her. Trying to see what was so special about her that was pulling a man like him away from their charms.
Even now, Norma could feel their glass eyes cutting, always cutting, on the back of her neck as she left. Alex pushing her wheelchair down the hallway and there was a coldness that seemed to follow them. A crackle in the air that they would be talked about as soon as they left.
Why did women have to be so mean? So competitive? Why was it always a competition? She didn't want Alex. They could have him. They didn't have to be so damn mean about it? They didn't have to cut her like they did.
"Come on." she heard Alex say as soon as they were out the door. It felt safer, freer and better when they were out of the hospital and in the fresh, cool air.
"Those nurses don't like me." she confessed when Alex wheeled her chair to his SUV.
"It's not you. Those nurses don't like me." he told her soberly helping her to her feet. She still had issues with strength, or lack of it.
She didn't have the energy to laugh or argue.
"No, really. I went out on a date with this one nurse named Holly." he admitted looking back at the hospital. "One date and it didn't go that well, but she thought it did. I didn't call her and she's still mad at me."
"Well, I'd be mad to." Norma teased sitting in the passenger seat and liking how comfortable it was. Alex smiled. Accepting that she was just teasing him. He closed her door and walked around, climbing into the driver's side.
"I don't know why she got so mad; I'm not that charming." he said.
"You're really not." Norma agreed easily.
A smile flashed on Alex's face with a lot of teeth and Norma felt relived that it was okay to torment him. With Sam, it was never safe to gently wound his pride. Not even a little. But Alex seemed to like it. He seemed to enjoy a playful banter so long as claws didn't come out.
"I thought those nurses didn't like me because they had a crush on you." she admitted.
"Oh no." Alex shook his head and started the engine. "No, No one has a crush on me."
~ They rode in silence past town and Norma was sure they were going to the cabins until Alex pulled into a private drive. It was growing dark and she could barely make out a large iron work gate to an expansive property which opened automatically when Alex pushed a button.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"Home." he said simply. "At least temporarily. Till we can find something better."
"This is your… you live here?" Norma asked when they drove up to a massive brick house with lights highlighting an elegant front lawn and well tended topiary,
"Yeah." Alex said casually. "I hope you don't think less of me because I live in a giant mansion."
Norma's mind rejected the entire idea that Alex lived here. He was cop who wore scuffed boots and layers of flannel and worn T-shirts. He didn't live here.
A smile bloomed on his face.
"I'm the summer caretaker for the real owners." he explained. "They love to have a cop here living in their house. Illusion of protection I think. They want a cop looking after the place, cutting the grass and making sure no one breaks in. It's a good deal. I get to live in a really nice house, rent free, for the summer in exchange for light work and upkeep. Before this I was winter caretaker for another mansion. I guess I'm kinda homeless, but it's expensive to buy or even rent a place here nowadays. Single guy and all."
Norma looked up at the imposing mansion.
"So, you live here?" she laughed still not believing.
"You do to." he told her. "They have a very nice guest house out back next to the pool. It's small, but it's all you and John need."
Norma breathed a sigh of relief. She'd been worried, her stomach turning in knots about what to expect when Alex said he would take her someplace. It had felt like some horror movie. That part where you yell at the victim not to go down into the basement. She felt stupid for trusting him. That she shouldn't go with him. That he would take her back to his place in her weakened state and she would be trapped there. Nice guy routine over. He would show his true colors, just like Sam.
Sam had been a nice guy at first to.
"By the way," Alex said reaching behind him into the back seat. "Went to the cabin and found what you were looking for."
Norma felt her breathing stop when she saw her blue duffle bag and her large, leather diary appear. Alex's bicep straining under the weight of the cash and leather tomb that he hefted over to her.
"You… you found them." she said numbly. She knew right away that he'd read every word. His eyes raked over every thought she'd written down. Read every detail of her diary and knew everything about her. That he'd seen the money and that she'd be arrested soon.
"I found them." He shrugged. "It was a good thing to. They were about to demolish the place."
Norma didn't want to touch them. They felt contaminated from him.
"Oh." she said. Her diary and bag sitting on her lap as though alien to her.
"Thought you'd be happy." he said.
"I am."
"You don't look happy."
"They… they were private." she whispered.
"You think I went through your things?" he asked.
"Did you?" she asked.
He was quite.
"I saw that it's a lot of money." he admitted. "I'm guessing your ex is a… pretty bad man. The kind you need to get away from if he has that much cash at hand."
"He is." Norma said.
"As for your diary…" Alex nodded to the book. "No, I didn't read it. I know it's personal."
Norma wasn't sure if she believed him. She wanted to believe him. She wanted desperately to believe him.
She needed to at least give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, she was the one who had been lying to him and he'd been the one who'd protected her. He'd looked after her. Who had literally carried her to safety. Kept her son out of the clutches of the system and was looking after her still.
"Come on, I'll show you to the guest house." he said.
