Close Your Eyes (33 page)

‘Apparently, Burt’s wife visited last night at the hospital. It seems that she knew all about her husband’s wrongdoing and was outraged for having him taken by the police. She was furious and threatened to hurt
Ry
if they didn’t release him. Nobody expected her to show up or even less to wave a knife and act totally insane.’

‘
Is
he all right? Really all right?’
Meg
watched her mom
’s eyes for clues
. ‘
You
can tell me the truth, you know. I can handle it,
M
om.’

‘He is absolutely fine, darling. The nurse who was responsible for him overnight came in just in time. Seems like a brave young woman, at least according to Rosemary.’
Meg
could tell her mom enjoyed being able to refer to
Rupert
Harper
’s fiancée
so informally
. T
he name roll
ed
off her tongue with satisfaction that would
have made
her smile in any other circumstances.
But not now
.

‘Alice? You mean Alice Cooper?’
Meg recalled
the girl
’s
pleasant face and enthusiastic eyes.

‘
Yes
, that’s the one. She walked in and confronted the crazed woman, fighting her until she
was
subdued and taken away. She got away with minor
injuries
, I am told. Still, if it wasn’t for her
,
who knows how it would
have ended
.’

‘Thank G
od she was there
.
’
Meg
pulled on a pair of jeans and a pink shirt, oblivious to anything but the urge to see Ry
an
right away. Two brushes with death in one day were two too many
. She angrily brushed her hair,
pulling through the tangled strands with vigor that
made
her eyes water.

‘
You
should eat something, dear
.’
With worried eyes, h
er mother watched her as she emerged from her bathroom. ‘
He
’
s fine now
,
believe me
. Just
have some
toast and a cup of coffee, if nothing
else
.’

‘Mom, later
.
’
Megan
kissed her
mother
on the cheek
while she picked
up her bag. She couldn’t sit around eating when Ry
an
was
in the hospital
, probably
more
shaken up than he
would
let anyone see. It was
just the way he was. Ryan
Harper
was
never one to admit his weakness
,
and
he
would
play it cool, no
m
att
er the circumstances.

But I don’t
have to be that way
.
Megan
ran down the staircase, her hand already reaching for the doorknob. She could fret and worry
because
her concern for his
wellbeing
was
too paramount to b
e sidetracked by false pride. Maybe one day if she
became
a
Harper
,
some of their attitude would rub off
on her.
B
ut f
or now, she couldn’t even think straight
.
When
she reached her little red Morris
,
she threw
her
bag in the backseat
and
started the engine.

She drove
quickly
,
but safely,
with
her eyes p
eeled
and watching
the road
.
T
he effort of controlling the wheel and ceasing the shaking of her fingers
made her knuckles white
.
H
er mind wa
ndered to Ry
an
and his family over and over again. She felt bad for his grandfather
. T
he double shock
had
certainly shak
en
up the old man, even if he would rather die than show it to the outside world. He loved his grandson very much, she
knew
,
and
Ry
an
reciprocated the affection
. He admired
the old man and
spent more time with him
the older he got. The barrier of awkwardness and childish hesitance
around
formidable
G
randdad crumbled away as he
matured
,
and
their relationship
was
growing and deepening into something truly beautiful.

And then there was
Matt
, of course.
Still too embarrassed to even let his name cross her mind without blushing, s
he didn’t want to think of him right now. It wasn’t his fault that he featured in her dreams, she reminded herself
sternly
; it was unfair and childish to blame
him for her own brain’s trick.
That knowledge still
didn’t change the fact
that he had played a prominent role in her dreams that
night,
the true nature of which she dared
to let
herself
dwell upon
. She could only hope that by the time they actually met at Ry
an
’s bedside, she would be able to overcome this absurd shame and talk to him
as if
nothing
had
happened.

Because nothing
had
happened, really.
Nothing in the real world anyway
.
S
he reminded herself
that
her dreamland
was
an entirely different are
n
a. There, the boundaries between the possible and
unacceptable
blurred
and
her desires and wishes
intertwined
into something strange and alien
that
pull
ed
her deeper
towards
the realm of insanity. She
was
crazy
to even attempt to make sense of the impossible things that
had woven
their way into her dreams last night. The best way to handle it was to blame her stress
for the dreams
and
to
focus on the future
.

As Megan
parked her car in one of the few free spots, her eyes
wandered
to the large
hospital
entrance.
A
colorful
,
loud
crowd of reporters
shove
d
their way towards someone hidden from her view by their cameras and bodies.
That someone
turned
out
to be
one of the doctors
,
and though
his calm voice
soothed
the riot of questions
, he
seemed to be
barely holding them at bay
.

She walked closer, not quite sure how to make her way through the dense group without being noticed. Yesterday
,
some of the nosy reporters
had
put two and two together and
attempted to pull
her into their interviews, her relationship with Ry
an
becoming one of the main attractions. She
hadn’t
really
said
anything,
neither
confirming
nor
denying
their inquiries as
she smiled politely and ignored their aggressive questions. She worried
that
saying something wrong would
aggravate
Henry
Harper
or Ry
an
.
She hoped against all hope that today would be better.

It wasn’t.
If
anything, it was worse
. T
he first vultures
spotted
her meek attempt to sneak by and jump
ed
on their chance to snap a photo of her walking in.
She
tried to smile
and kept
her steps brisk and measured.

Don’t make an eye contact or answer anything
.
With her eyes on the door, s
he reached the
far edge
of the crowd
.
There, behind the thick glass
,
l
ay
freedom and privacy
. She sadly realized that she was
only beginning to imagine how it must have felt for Elisa to live in the constant spotlight. Even being an actress couldn’t have prepared her for this insane onslaught of interest in her private life.
Megan
felt bad
ly
for her and
Rupert
, who seemed to be especially awkward around strangers.
Finally
,
the door opened
. A
uniformed policeman stopp
ed
her as soon as she tried to turn the corner to the elevator.