Chapter Twenty-seven: It Happened Like This

I regained consciousness quickly. I heard Aaron.

"Audra, I've waited for you. Why didn't you call me?" His voice was pleading, whining. Suddenly, his voice changed. "Damn it all, Audra, why couldn't you just do what I wanted? We were so good together. You should never have married that fucking lawyer. And then you moved away. I can't let you leave again. Ever. Can't." He had begun to yell.

I felt the blood pouring from my head. I kept my eyes closed while trying to sneak my cell phone from my purse.

"Imogene," Aaron crooned, turning to look at Mother, "you know I'm devoted to you, but Audra was always my first love. If it hadn't been for you, though, I would never have found her last summer on the campus. And that's a thank you I can't explain." His maniacal laughter erupted.

I pressed the button to call Blue Eyes while simultaneously pushing the mute button and hoped Blue Eyes would decipher.

"But the baby, Imogene," he continued while gesturing wildly at Mother's corpse. "I know it was hard for you to continue talking to me when you were with her in New Jersey, and I appreciate that you made the effort. Without you, I'd have never known there was a baby. And, although you wouldn't like it, the fact remains the child is mine."

I pushed the off button to my phone, hoping enough had been either heard or recorded.

"Audra," he recited in a psychotic sing-song, "the baby is mine. Rock-a-bye-baby, thy name is mine."

I prayed for the interference of Blue Eyes and Greg.

The assistants of the funeral home rattled the locked doors; Aaron perked up and listened.

"Rattle all you want, guys, but there's no entrance," Aaron opined. He leaned on the casket, stroked Mother's face with the back of his hand, and then looked down at me. I tried to remain stationary. He kicked my foot. "Audra, honey, where's my daughter? We need to go get her." He was suddenly serious and focused. "Bet she's at your house. Who's watching my baby, Audra?"

The men began banging on the door. Aaron looked up. The lock turned; Henry Mason threw the doors open. As soon as he saw me, he ran over. The assistants stood uneasily around the door. Aaron eased behind Henry and hurried out.

Henry yelled, "Call an ambulance! Quick!" The assistants scurried to the phone. He said, "Audra? Are you okay?"

"No. Yes." I put my hand to my forehead and felt the blood. Henry put his arm around my shoulders and helped me sit up. I turned on my cell phone and called Blue Eyes.

"Audra?" he answered. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the funeral home. Aaron was here."

"Fuck. Are you all right?" He sounded panicked.

"My head is bleeding. Henry's called an ambulance."

"Where is Aaron now?"

"Blue Eyes, he left. Listen, he knows I had a baby. He knows she's his daughter. He's crazy, Blue Eyes. He was talking to Mother like she was alive. He's gone to find Zelda – probably to my house."

"Okay, Tiger. Go to the hospital. I'll call the ER. Hopefully, Dr. Walters is on duty again. I'm going to have him admit you overnight."

"Wait. I don't need . . ."

"Shut up. I want you somewhere safe."

"We need to call the police," I said.

"No. Don't. I'll call them when I'm ready for them."

"What?"

"Tell the director to carry on with the funeral. I'll be at the hospital when I get finished here."

The tone of his voice made me nervous. He was unemotional but calculating. He had a plan. "Blue Eyes, don't do anything . . ."

"I'll see you at the hospital as soon as we take care of some things," he said, his voice trailing off as he focused on something, someone, other than me. He hung up.

I heard the siren as Henry took the phone from my hand. He was using his handkerchief to apply pressure to my head.

"Henry, please, have the boys take Mama to the cemetery. Daddy doesn't need a delay in her burial, and he sure doesn't need to worry about me."

I tried to stand, but he pushed me back down. The EMTs came in with a stretcher. I made a vain attempt to walk, but they wouldn't tolerate it. As they wheeled me to the ambulance, I heard Henry giving directions to get Mother into the hearse so they could hurry to the cemetery. One of the EMTs tried to start an IV; I finally had to yell at him and threaten to jump out of the moving ambulance so he'd leave my arm alone.

"Miss, if you don't lie down and be still . . ." he said menacingly.

I complied. Dr. Walters was, indeed, on duty and waiting for me. He examined my gash.

"You'll need stitches, Audra, but the cut is in your hairline. There should be little, if any, scarring. We'll sew you up down here and then send you upstairs." He smiled reassuringly and patted my arm. "I've talked to Dr. House. We're having a private room readied for you."

He got out his penlight and started flashing it in my eyes. I hated those damn things. "I don't think I have a concussion," I told him.

"Dr. House gave me some pretty specific instructions. I'm going to deaden your forehead now."

I closed my eyes; he sewed up my head. He gave me a fairly strong pain killer and had me shifted to my room. I became fuzzy with both an aching head and an aching ass, but I was mainly worried about Blue Eyes. I watched the clock and pictured him encountering Aaron. I envisioned a variety of scenarios, none of which ended well. Aaron was obviously actively psychotic, hallucinatory, and frighteningly dangerous. I feared Blue Eyes' would do something stupidly heroic.

I had dozed off, finally, when Greg's wheelchair's bumping into my bed woke me.

"Huh?" I cried, startled.

"Are you okay, Cissy?" he asked tenderly.

"Blue Eyes?" I asked. "Is he okay?"

Greg nodded. "Cissy, I have a long story to tell you, and you're going to have to listen. And just listen."

"But Aaron . . ." I began.

"Sweetie, Aaron is no longer able to hurt you. I promise."

"Where is Blue Eyes, though?"

"He's with the police. I came here because I wanted to talk to you alone. Cissy, I want you to understand clearly all that happened."

He was looking earnestly at me. "You are frightening me, Greg."

"Just listen, okay?"

I nodded apprehensively.

"When you called House, we were heading to the cemetery, so we turned around and went back to the house. Dinah had stayed there in case any lost mourners showed up, and to, generally, keep an eye on things. On the drive, House told me all about what Aaron did."

I covered my eyes with my hands. I didn't want Greg to know.

"Cissy," he said quietly. "It's okay. I had to know. And, yes, I was fighting mad. But House, he was calm. Eerily calm." He paused and took a deep breath. "As soon as we pulled into the driveway, Dinah came flying out the door. She told us a strange man, Michaels, had stopped by asking about your daughter. Well, you know Dinah; she's not about to give any information to any man she doesn't know and probably not to most she does know. And, apparently, he was acting a tad odd. She had a bad feeling. She told him he had the wrong house or some such thing. After muttering to himself and pacing for a bit, he finally left. House told her, very quickly, what was going on. I suggested we drive by his house, and Dinah ran inside, grabbed Dad's autographed Stan Musial bat, and hopped in the car with us."

"Not Daddy's bat," I cried.

"Yep. I started to suggest she should leave it behind, but she raised it up in an energetic motion that made me uncomfortable, so I decided she could have the damn bat. We went by Michaels's house, but there was no sign of life, so we drove to his office. His car was there."

"Oh, shit," I muttered.

"Yeah. Well. Dynamite Dinah and her weapon decided they'd go around back and see if they could get into his office. I went with House to the front; the doors weren't locked. Now, Cissy, I want you to understand, as mad as I was, House was in control. Totally."

"Wait," I interrupted. "Since when do you call him 'House'?"

Since this afternoon." Greg paused. "He opened the doors and called out for Michaels. And the damn fool answered. House just walked right on in, as calm as you please, talking familiarly. He told Michaels he heard he was looking for your baby. He said he could help him out and that he knew where she was. Well, Michaels came out into the waiting room then, a gun in his hand. He wanted to know who House was, and House said, 'I'm a friend of Audra's. I understand you have some interest in her daughter.' That crazy man started ranting about how you had stolen his child and were keeping her from him. He insisted Mother had promised him she'd tell him where the baby was, but she had let him down. Cissy, he was out of his mind. But House just kept talking to him. He told him, 'Imogene betrayed you, man. She knew the baby was yours the entire time. She just didn't want you near the baby.' Michaels stopped and paid attention to House then. He demanded to know where the baby was. Cool as a cucumber, House said, 'She died. Your daughter died. She's buried in New Jersey.'

"That sent Michaels into a frenzy. He was waving the gun around and saying you had killed her. House said, 'Audra never wanted that baby. She was glad she died. It was a blessing. And Imogene was relieved, too.' Michaels started cursing you, calling you every name he could think of. House just stood there, listening, never taking his eyes off the gun. When Michaels started saying he had to go find you and make you pay for killing his daughter, House spoke up again. He said, 'Audra's left. She didn't want to be around you. But it's okay. She's going to marry me anyway. She did tell you that, right?' Oh my god, Cissy, that stopped him cold. He started yelling about how he would see you dead before he'd see you married to someone else. Said he'd suffered through your marriage to Allen, and he wasn't going through that again. And House just stood there, watching. Waiting.

"Cissy, Michaels was crying. The motherfucker was crying. House started talking to him again. 'Women really can do you wrong,' he said. 'I know what it's like. They're no good. And she killed your daughter, too. I can't imagine how you have the strength to go on.' Cissy, that man listened to House. And he started agreeing. House said, 'Once a man has lost his child, there's not much left for him. I mean, Audra's out of reach and your baby's dead and buried. I don't see how you can carry on.' And you could see Michaels thinking. Taking it in. He was agreeing with everything House said, but he stopped ranting and raving. He grew quieter. And he started staring at the gun. The quieter Michaels got, the quieter House became. He was almost whispering to him. And I don't mind admitting I was sweating like a pig, I was so scared. But not House. He asked Michaels, 'What have you got left, man? You know what to do. I can tell by the way you look. Go on. It's what Imogene would want.'"

Greg stopped, the strain showing on his face. "He shot himself, Cissy. When the gun fired, it was the only time I saw House flinch."

I clenched my jaw, but I didn't cry. At least, not for Aaron. The tears that slid down my face were for Blue Eyes.

"Dinah had come up behind me. Her and her bat. We just sat there and stared. House went over to make sure he had no pulse, but it was obvious. Then he called 911. He told us to leave. He said he'd take care of the police. I dropped Dinah at Mary Dell's and came straight here. Shit, she got out of the car still gripping that damn bat.

"Cissy, I don't believe House had any intention of allowing that man to live. He knew he could manipulate Michaels, use his psychosis against him, and get him to do what he needed to do. We all knew he needed to be killed. But House, he was the one who was determined to make sure it happened. He wasn't going to give him a chance to ever hurt you or Zelda again. I firmly believe he'd have died himself before he'd have let Michaels walk out of there."

"I need to see him," I whispered amidst my tears.

"I know, Cissy. But you're going to have to give him time to be able to see you and appear unaffected. He doesn't want you to know how much he cares. That wouldn't be comfortable for him."

"Then tell me, Greg, how do I keep him from knowing how much I care?"

"You don't, Cissy. You don't."

I threw my legs off the bed and started to stand.

"Whoa! What are you doing?" Greg cried. "Get back in bed."

"No," I answered. "I'm going to find him."

"Cissy, you're wearing a hospital gown with rearview air conditioning. You can't go anywhere in that."

I stood still, holding onto the bed. "My clothes are in that drawer across the room. If you won't get them for me, I'll get them myself."

Greg parked himself in my way. "Get your silly ass back in that bed or I'll call a nurse."

"Call her," I said as I started taking shaky steps towards him.

He reached for the call button, but I shoved it out of his reach. I glared at him.

"You're being a stubborn bitch, Cissy. I guess you know that."

"If you'd just hand me my clothes, we'd have no quarrel, Greg." I maintained my tough façade, but my head was reeling.

Our battle was interrupted when the door opened and Blue Eyes walked in. He took one look at me and started fussing.

"Get your broken butt back in that bed now. Back up, Greg. I want to look at her head. See if anything important leaked out."

He was pale, his eyes a dark, cobalt blue, and his hands trembled slightly.

Greg rolled out of the room, smiling conspiratorially at me as he left. I sat back down promptly.

"All the way in the bed. Put your legs up," he said.

I did as he instructed, my eyes never leaving his face.

He pushed the hair back from my forehead and removed the bandage. "Not bad. Walters makes nice, neat stitches. You won't have a noticeable scar."

He sat beside me on the bed, folding his arms across his chest. He shifted his gaze to my wet cheeks. Reaching out his hand, he cocked his head and rubbed his index finger down my face from the edge of my eye to the tip of my chin. "Audra, everything's okay. No one's going to bother you again. I promise."

I nodded. I hadn't the capacity for speech.

"Oh, hell," he sighed. He leaned forward and gathered me in his arms, pulling my head against his shoulder. I wrapped my arms around his middle, holding tightly, and wept.

"I was so wor . . ." I started.

"Hush," he whispered into my hair.

"But," I tried again.

"Shhh. I know."