Heroes (Hollywood Heartthrobs #1) (10 page)

          “I can grab
us both something from the cafeteria,” Dean offered.

          “Oh, you
don’t have to do that,” Jane protested.

          “No really,
it’s no trouble.” Dean said. “I need fuel, and I’m happy to bring you something
that hasn’t been sitting out. Come on, you can’t tell me you actually want to
eat that.”

          Jane looked
at him honestly. “Not particularly. But I hate to be in your debt.”

          Dean had no
answer for that, so he simply shrugged and retreated to the hospital cafeteria.
He returned with two BLTs, fruit salads, and a package of cookies, which Jane
gratefully proclaimed a feast. They had just opened up the cookies when a nurse
with a pinched face and a dour expression came in for Jane. It was someone Jane
had not yet met, and she did not introduce herself.

          “There you
are. We’ve been looking for the Jane Doe patient belonging to this room since
noon. Where have you been?”

          Jane looked
apologetic. Dr. Frobisher had not been in to see her since yesterday afternoon,
and other than the nurse who dropped off breakfast she hadn’t had any
interaction with the hospital staff all day. It hadn’t occurred to her that
anyone might be looking for her. “I’m so sorry, I took a book from the library outside
and was reading on the grass. Does Dr. Frobisher need to see me?”

          “Dr.
Frobisher is unfortunately unavailable. Apparently there was an emergency with
one of her other patients and she will not be making rounds in the hospital
today. Your care will be handled by other staff. Wait here.” The nurse left,
still without introducing herself, and without acknowledging Dean’s presence at
all. Jane realized the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up.

          Jane looked
over at Dean. “I think I’m in trouble.”

          “Jane, you
went to sit outside and get some fresh air,” he answered, instinctively trying
to allay her fears. “What are they going to do, send you to the principal’s
office? Have you tarred and feathered?”

          “You’re
right,” she said, taking comfort in his apparent unconcern. “But, maybe you
should go. They might need to take me for some other scan or procedure or
something. I guess I can’t just sit around reading and watching movies.
Tragic.”

          Dean didn’t
want to leave, well, ever if he could help it, but he recognized the truth in
her statement. “Yeah, I should clear out. Wouldn’t want them to think I’m a bad
influence on you. Might get banned or something.”

          “I for one
would be terribly disappointed if you couldn’t visit,” Jane answered.

          Dean gave her
a wink. “Don’t worry, I’d sneak in under some disguise. Maybe a long cloak.
Give my name as Harry Le Roy.”

          Another
comical sigh from Jane. “My hero.”

          He packed the
laptop back in the messenger bag and crunched the last of the cookies. “Same
time tomorrow?” he offered.

          Jane had
hoped he would say that, but hadn’t dared to ask. “That would be great, if I’m
not on Nurse Angry’s naughty list.”

The
relief and anticipation were obvious on her face, and it touched Dean deeply.
He leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry.” In his best
King Henry voice he continued, “We are the makers of manners.” She giggled at
the movie reference, and he kissed her quickly on the cheek.

He
left the room just in time, as he saw Nurse Angry come down the hall just as he
reached the elevator. He hoped he hadn’t gotten Jane into too much trouble, and
he thought tomorrow morning felt like eons away.

Jane
was still holding onto the memory of that quick kiss as he left: the softness
of his lips, the warmth of his breath on her cheek, the woodsy smell of him so
close to her. She was lost in a dreamy haze when the nurse abruptly entered the
room.  

“Come
with me,” she said without any sense of preliminary. Startled back to reality,
Jane obediently followed the nurse down the hallway. The nurse led the way down
to the first floor without a word, finally stopping outside what appeared to be
an office. There was an industrial closet, and the nurse retrieved a set of
gray scrubs.      

“There’s
a changing room down this hall. Go put these on, then wait here.” She said,
gesturing to a few plastic chairs outside the office door. “The doctor will
call you in when he’s ready.”

“What
should I do with the things I’m wearing?”

“They
are hospital property. Leave them on the rack in the changing room. Someone
will collect them.”

Jane
felt an urge to panic that she had not felt since the first night in the
hospital. The night Dean stayed to watch over her, she thought. She almost
wished she had asked if he could stay in her room. The thought that he would be
there when she was finished with whatever they needed her for would have been a
great comfort. On the other hand, she was determined not to impose on him.

She
took the scrubs and changed in the room at the end of the hall, leaving the
robe and pants on a rack. She struggled a bit to get her clothes on and off
over the cast, but she eventually managed. She kept the pink sling. She was
left waiting in the hall for some time before a man in a white coat finally
emerged from the office. He was elderly, thin, and balding, the sort of man
that shrinks with age. Jane felt a prickle of foreboding as soon as he looked at
her.

He
smiled a thin-lipped smile that closely resembled a sneer. “You must be our
Jane Doe. I am Dr. Lamb; I am temporarily overseeing Dr. Frobisher’s patients.
Come in.”

Jane
entered the office, which was comfortably furnished but did little to lessen
her sense of dread. Sitting down in one of the two chairs for visitors, she
gripped the armrest of the chair to help steel herself.

Dr.
Lamb appeared to be in no great hurry to begin. He sat down across the desk
from Jane and looked appraisingly at her for a long moment before speaking. She
noticed a file bearing the name Doe, Jane and her room number sitting open on
his desk. Finally, he broke the silence. “I had hoped to see you earlier in the
day but it appears you had other plans.”

Alarm
bells started going off in her head, but she was determined to show no fear,
only polite remorse. “I’m sorry about that. It was such a beautiful day I took
a book to sit outside and read for a bit. I didn’t know anyone was looking for
me.” She was determined to leave Dean out of the story if possible; the joke
that he might be banned from visiting was decidedly unamusing now.

“Perfectly
understandable. A healthy young woman like yourself does not want to be cooped
up in a hospital room.” The doctor did not seem angry at all, but that was cold
comfort to Jane.

“Thank
you for understanding,” she ventured, guardedly.

“And
your arm, no trouble there?”

“The
cast itches a bit, but I’m not in pain. Everyone says it’s healing well and it
should come off in about six weeks, no harm done.”

“Good.
All tests of your head show no damage, but you’re still experiencing memory
loss?”

Jane
paused for a minute, considering whether to tell him about the speech she had
miraculously remembered. Had it been Dr. Frobisher, Jane would have explained
everything, but something about Dr. Lamb made her uncomfortable, and she wanted
to say whatever would bring their interview to the swiftest conclusion.

“Yes,
but Dr. Frobisher said it was likely I’d get my memory back.”

“Well
then, I’m glad you’re feeling so well. We can talk about your long-term
treatment.”

Jane
took a deep breath; she needed to be calm now. “What treatment?” She asked,
doing her level best to appear completely composed.

“First,
we’ll be moving you.”

Jane
couldn’t entirely hold in her alarm. “Move me? Where?”

Dr.
Lamb smiled at her as though she had said something very foolish. “To a partner
facility that treats patients suffering from severe psychological problems.
Other than your memory loss, you are in good health. It would not make sense to
keep you in a hospital whose beds are needed for more acute patients. There is
no telling how long it may take you to recover your memories, and without
relations coming forward to whom we might release you for outpatient care, the
only option is to commit you to an inpatient psychiatric facility.”

Jane
felt her right hand starting to shake. With effort, she held it still. “Do you
mean I am going to be moved to a mental institution?”

Again
the condescending smile. “I don’t like to use such an outdated and
emotionally-charged descriptor, but the answer to your question is essentially
yes.”

Jane
could sense there was no point in resisting, and was determined to keep her
dignity. “I understand. When will I be going?”

Dr.
Lamb seemed glad to know she would go quietly. “Actually, there is a patient
transport scheduled in fifteen minutes. I’ll have a staff member escort you
there now.”

“Right
now?” she asked, unable to keep the alarm from her voice.

“Well,
I had hoped to inform you of the move earlier, but.” He gave a small shrug to
indicate this was all her fault. “The clothes you arrived in have been cleaned
and packed up, they will be sent to the new facility as well. When you leave,
you will be able to collect them. There should be no need to return to your
room now.”

“I
borrowed books from the volunteer library,” she said quickly. “I should return
them to the volunteers’ room. It will only take a minute.”

“That
will not be necessary,” Dr. Lamb answered in a harsh tone. “I am sure the staff
will be able to return them when they prepare the room for its next occupant.”

Jane
only nodded, unwilling to admit that what she had really wanted was one last
look at the flowers Dean had brought her.

A
burly orderly with a clipboard was summoned to escort her to the patient
transport. He led her to a loading bay tucked out of sight of the main hospital
entrance. She sat down on a bench, mostly in an attempt to be out of the way.
Several ambulances came and went while she waited, some with sirens, some
without. At one point a beige sedan drove up and an obviously panicky young man
leapt from the driver’s seat to shout that his wife was in labor. Two staff
members rushed over to the car with a wheelchair for the wife, then a third had
a short but heated argument with the husband about the necessity of his parking
the car somewhere else before he joined his wife inside. Even Jane had to smile
when the staff member succeeded in subduing the expectant father enough to get
him to move his car, only to roll his eyes comically the second the man looked
away.

Eventually,
a plain white van with the name MediTrans emblazoned on the side pulled up, and
a portly driver got out to exchange information with the orderly escorting
Jane. Papers were shuffled, and several clipboards were produced for both men
to sign. Jane was not asked to sign anything. I’m just the cargo, she thought
bitterly. When all clipboard-related responsibilities had been fulfilled, the
driver opened the back of the van. What appeared to be an ordinary van actually
only had three cramped seats in a row behind the driver. The rest of the space
was occupied by two large stretchers behind the seats. An elderly woman was
laid on one of the stretchers, apparently unconscious. The driver and the
orderly removed the stretcher and wheeled the woman inside. Jane had a fleeting
thought of making a dash for escape, but the more sober part of her mind knew
she had, at the moment, absolutely nowhere to go. Her instinct to escape was almost
cartoonish. A few seconds later the driver returned, but not the orderly. He
gave her a smile.

“Looks
like it’s just you and me on this run, miss.” He gestured to the van. Jane got
obediently in and buckled the seat belt. She noticed several other restraints
around the seat that were definitely not standard issue for a passenger van.
Fortunately, the driver seemed content and he returned to his seat.

They
pulled away from the hospital. Jane looked out the window at the hospital,
thinking sadly that it was the entire world she had known since her accident.
The driver hummed tunelessly as they jostled along in the city traffic. Jane
stared idly out the window, thinking of the appointment tomorrow morning she
would be unable to keep. She wondered dismally if she would ever see Dean
Everett again.

***

Dean
whistled along to the radio as he made the long drive back out to the suburbs.
His heart felt full, like the Grinch discovering the spirit of Christmas. He
was in deep and he knew it. He couldn’t have put Jane’s smiling face out of his
mind if he tried, and he had absolutely no intention of trying.

He
pulled up in front of the house just behind Samantha in her minivan. He hadn’t
even noticed he was still whistling.

Samantha
smiled indulgently at him. “You’re in a good mood today, Dean.”

He
decided it was past hiding at this point. “I am,” he said, grinning.

“How’s
your girl?”

Dean
looked squarely into his sister-in-law’s eyes. “She’s perfect.”

Samantha
laughed. “Damn if your brother can’t read you like a book. So this mystery girl
have a name?”

Dean
didn’t hesitate this time. They would have to hear everything eventually, but
not yet. For now, just the small things. “Jane. Her name is Jane.” He said it
like magical healing spell.

“Well,
Romeo, since you seem to be floating on air anyway, maybe you could float over
to the babysitter’s and pick up your nephews for me?” Samantha was retrieving
grocery bags from the back seat. “I stopped off at the store, wanted to drop
off the groceries before I got the boys. Maybe you can do the Mom run today.”

Dean
took the grocery bags off her hands. “Sure thing, Sam. I’d love to. Least I can
do around here.” Samantha smirked. Nate was right, Dean was already on his
knees whether he knew it or not, she thought.

          Ten minutes
later Dean was pulling up in front of a roomy house a few streets away where
Tucker, Alec, and three other children were playing on the lawn. They didn’t
recognize Dean’s rental car, and he watched them from across the street for a
minute before going up to the house. They were playing some sort of game
involving sticks whose rules were probably impenetrable to adults, but what
Dean could see was that Tucker kept reaching over to help Alec with his. They
were great kids, and today especially it struck him how much he did envy Nate.
Not for the comfy house in the suburbs, certainly not for the high-powered
corporate job, but for this. This family that Nathan and Samantha had built
together was something special. We should all be so lucky, he thought.

          Stepping out
of the car, he gave his signature two-fingered whistle, and the boys looked up
expectantly. Dean crossed the street and was immediately pounced upon. Tucker
and Alec each grabbed one of Dean’s arms, dragging him into the house-cum-home
daycare describing with enthusiasm the macaroni art they had made that
afternoon. Emerging from the door just as they came up to it was a slim blonde
woman in sweatpants and a ponytail.
“Miss-Kelly-Miss-Kelly-Miss-Kelly-this-is-our-uncle-Dean-he-came-from-California-that’s-where-movies-get-made!”
Tucker exclaimed as if it was one long word.

          Dean
maneuvered a hand away from the boys and held it out. “Hi. You must be Kelly.
I’m Dean Everett, Samantha said she would text to you to let you know I’d be
picking up Tucker and Alec today.”

          Kelly’s eyes
got wide and scarlet came to her cheeks. “Oh! Yes! Of course.” A gleam came to
her eyes and she was suddenly leaning on the doorframe, jutting out a hip.
“Samantha texted me to say Nathan’s brother Dean would pick the boys up today,
but I didn’t realize you were going to be
the
Dean Everett.”

          Oh no,
thought Dean. Come on, not now. He resisted the urge to sigh. “It’s nice to
meet you. Samantha always says it’s such a relief to have great childcare,” he
said politely. He turned to the boys. “You cowboys ready to hit the dusty
trail?”

          “Wait! Got to
get my art!” Alec said, rushing into the house after the priceless macaroni
masterpiece.

          “Alec, no
running!” Tucker shouted, tearing after him, heedless of his own warning.

          Dean and
Kelly were left alone on the doorstep. Kelly took a small step in, standing
awkwardly close to Dean. “So, I have to tell you, I’m a huge fan of the show. I
absolutely love
Once Bitten
, and you’re totally my favorite character!”