Chapter Three: "I am Here to Protect and Help"
Saturday, December 14, 2013, 2:05 am
As Abbie drove to the nearest hospital, she continued listening to Crane's labored breathing. His head remained propped against the cold window, and despite the heat blaring on him, he still shivered. "Crane?" she gently said as she touched his arm after shutting down the car outside the Emergency Entrance of the hospital. "Can you walk in, or do you want them to come to you?"
Crane eased himself upright into his seated position. His eyes grew larger as he looked around him, trying to comprehend what was happening.
"We're at the hospital. I need to get you checked out. You took a nasty beating."
He turned his head slowly toward Abbie and shook his head up and down in short upward and downward movements.
While Abbie could tell that he was uncertain by what was happening to him, she knew that he had come to trust her and her judgment. "I'll come around and help you," Abbie offered.
Crane shook his head in the affirmative again.
Moments later they entered the Emergency Room with Crane leaning heavily on her. Abbie caught the eyes of the woman working the front desk. "Need some help here!"
The woman made a quick call, and orderlies hurriedly came through the swinging doors with a gurney.
"My name is Lieutenant Abigail Mills, and I have found this homeless man who needs medical attention. I don't think he speaks English," she said, catching eyes with Crane and giving him a slight nod.
Crane blinked his eyes in acknowledgement.
As the orderlies began lifting Crane onto the gurney, he allowed a scream of pain to escape from his mouth.
"Must have broken ribs," one orderly said to the other. "Come on, mister, we need to get you all the way on here so we can get you to the doctor. You'll feel better soon."
Crane began looking around frantically for Abbie as the orderlies had moved her out of the way so they could attend to him.
"The Lieutenant doesn't think he speaks English, remember? So you're wasting your breath," the second orderly said.
"I'm coming with you," Abbie demanded.
"We can't allow that," the first orderly answered.
"Listen, I have direct orders from my captain to stay with this man because he is the only witness to a crime. If you have any problems with that, then I can give you my captain's name and number."
"Above my pay grade," the first orderly responded. They then wheeled Crane back with Abbie in tow.
"The Intake Nurse will be in to get his information. It's been a crazy time. We've been non-stop for over 24 hours. Something about the 13th being on a Friday seems to bring out the crazies."
"I know what you mean," Abbie said as she walked up to Crane lying on the gurney.
"There will be a little wait, but if the nurse thinks he's critical, we'll bump him up the list," the second orderly stated.
"No problem," Abbie answered.
Abbie saw Crane's eyes still wide open as he frantically looked around the room without moving his head. "Listen, I know this is all new to you, but trust me, you're in good hands. You're going to be alright."
"Thank…you…Miss Mills," Crane whispered as he reached down and took her hand.
She understood how very frightening all this had to have been for him, so she held onto his hand as tightly as she thought he could tolerate. She knew he was always too prideful to ask for clarifications, but she could always tell in his eyes when he was uncertain, confused, or frightened.
Moments later a nurse came through the door. She was way past retirement age, Abbie thought.
"Miss Mills," the nurse nodded.
Abbie nodded in response.
The nurse then began removing his bloodied shirt off his torso as gingerly as possible. Crane moaned in pain as she did.
Abbie was uncertain what was happening. She didn't think that Intake Nurses were supposed to treat patients. She started to say something, but her intuition brought about peace within her mind. The nurse handed Crane's shirt to Abbie and instructed her to wash it in the sink to remove the blood that had collected on it. "He will need his shirt," the Nurse said to Abbie as she smiled reassuringly at her. Abbie then turned toward the sink and squirted lots of soap onto the blood stains as she waited for the water to get hot.
"I know how much pain you must be enduring, and I can see that your temperature is below normal from the cold," she said as she started to caress Crane's ribs.
Abbie expected Crane to scream out in pain, but a look of tranquility was beginning to enter his facial expression. Crane's breathing became less fitful and more rhythmic the longer she rubbed the area on his stomach already dark with bruises. The nurse then took her fingers and made small circular motions over Crane's throat and around his neck. Abbie could see Crane beginning to relax as his eyes were half closed now. He looked as though at any moment he would drop off to sleep.
"What are you doing to him?" Abbie quietly questioned.
The nurse continued to massage his throat around the bruising left by Morales's hand print. She continued going back and forth between his ribs and throat. "Witness," she finally said, "You will be just fine. I am here to protect and care for you…for you both." She then turned her head to look at Abbie. "You both are doing a fine job helping one another, but it is my turn now."
Abbie was bewildered but knew in her heart to allow this woman to continue helping Crane. Whoever she was…and whatever she was doing…seemed to be working.
"We'll then get to that head wound, okay, sweetheart?" she said to Crane like a mother caring for her sick child. She reached up and stroked his bearded cheek reassuringly. Crane closed his eyes the rest of the way, pain from his ribs and throat having been significantly diminished. The nurse took several steps toward Crane's head and bent down to kiss his forehead. "The pain will cease soon," she said as she took her index and middle fingers to make circular motions over the place where she had kissed. "Sit up for me now."
Crane opened his eyes and began sitting up. She carefully moved his long hair to the side and took her outstretched hand and placed it over the wound on the back of his head. Pulling him forward so his head was positioned down against the top of her chest, she then closed her eyes and began to intone a string of words that sounded like a prayer but which Abbie could not understand.
Blood then began secreting from the wound and ran down her hand. She then placed her other hand on top of her bloody hand and kissed the top of his head. She kept her lips directly above his head for several moments as she continued to chant. Several minutes later she said, "You will be well soon."
Carefully putting Crane back down into a supine position, she turned to Abbie and said, "Miss Mills, he will need his boots and coat. Go now to the cabin to retrieve them while I am here with him."
Abbie felt torn. She didn't want to leave him even though she knew this woman would not do him any harm. After looking at Crane resting peacefully, she turned to look into the woman's face. "I need to be able to trust you."
"I am here to protect and help you both. You are my children," the old woman answered.
Abbie felt a sense of peace and turned to go to the cabin to get the items Crane needed to leave the hospital. "Please stay with him while I am gone."
The old woman nodded serenely at Abbie.
Less than 30 minutes later, Abbie returned with Crane's coat and boots. The woman was in the same place as when Abbie had left, continuing to caress his ribs and throat. Crane was still resting.
"You will need to give him a quarter cup of this every hour on the hour for the next 12 hours," the woman said as she handed Abbie a jar filled with a light brown concoction.
Abbie knew better than to ask her what it was. "Okay," she answered.
"It is bitter and will cause discontentment in his body, but after the 12 hours, he will no longer have pain. It is imperative that he do this in order to get completely well."
Abbie shook her head in agreement. "I understand."
"The doctors will be in here soon, but I think you should take Mr. Crane and leave. There is nothing now they can do for him."
Abbie looked down at Crane and smiled. He was a striking man yet quite thin. American cuisine might certainly resolve that for him, she mused to herself. "He looks like the pain is tolerable now…even though the bruising on his ribs and around his neck is still nasty," she said to the Nurse, who nodded in response. She paused as she approached the bed beside him and thought to herself, "How could Morales do such a thing?"
A few moments later, the Nurse said, "He was possessed, Miss Mills. He can't be held accountable. In order to break the spell, his blood cannot get on Mr. Crane during the 24 hour time of possession. When was the detective possessed?"
Abbie was stunned. Could the old woman actually hear her thoughts? She gathered herself and responded, "Maybe a little over eight hours ago."
"He will be hunting Mr. Crane, so it is most important that you keep the detective away from him. Once the 24 hour cycle is broken, then the spell will be broken and this pandemonium will stop…for now…at least."
"Okay. So a quarter cup every hour for the next 12 hours and keep Morales from finding Crane…or getting his blood on Crane. Got ya," Abbie said.
"Yes, Miss Mills. That's about the extent of it. Blood is the key. If the detective's blood were to get on Mr. Crane, then the spell continues."
"But I don't understand," Abbie admitted.
"He's in love with you and sees Mr. Crane as his rival." At that, the old woman turned around and began walking to the door. She then turned back around and gave Abbie a small smile then disappeared into the chaos of the Emergency Room.
Not quite understanding how she felt about the old woman's declaration that Luke was in love with her, Abbie decided to deal with that one later. She had been romantically involved with him, but love? That's not the emotion she believed she felt about him. As a matter of fact, she felt relieved to be able to end the relationship and blame her move to Quintico. But not actually leaving town—and staying to work with some nut job history professor—just added fuel to the already burning fire. Luke couldn't accept that, but she had believed that he would eventually move on. Guess this demon spell literally brought out the worst in him. All of this was certainly something that Abbie felt ill-prepared to deal with at that moment. So she turned around toward Crane. "Hey you. Do you wanna get out of here?"
Crane opened his eyes slightly and smiled up at her. "Yes, Miss Mills, that's a dandy idea." His voice had been fully restored.
Abbie wasn't sure what the safest place for Crane would be, so she settled on the motel just outside the town limits. "Tell me about Succorbenoth," she said as they drove away from the hospital.
"Well, Lieutenant, he's the demon of jealousy. Looks like he's put a spell on Sleepy Hollow. My bet is that we would see erstwhile cases in succession leading up to the gentleman yesterday then to Detective Morales."
"The old woman who healed you said that the spell is broken after 24 hours if Morales doesn't get you…or at least if his blood is not shed onto you."
"Woman who healed me?" Crane asked, his tone of voice disclosing his amazement.
Abbie turned to look at Crane. "You don't remember?"
"I recall us leaving the woods…and now. We're still in your motorized vehicle."
Abbie shook her head and turned back toward the road. "Let's just say that we have a…guardian. Not sure if she's an angel or what. But we definitely have someone out there looking out for us."
"Huh," Crane responded. He was aware of not being in so much pain, but he hadn't really thought about why. "Good to know."
As they made their way to the motel, Abbie's mind was focused entirely on how to keep Crane safe for the next 16 hours. She could tell that he was still not in top shape, and she herself was getting fatigued. "We're going to figure this out," Abbie reassured.
Crane wasn't worried, though. "I know, Lieutenant. I have full confidence in you." He smiled at her as she continued to drive down the dark streets of town.
TBC
