Let Me Go (14 page)

“It’s a she, Adam, and I can’t bring her in.
I need you to do a house call.”

“She, eh? No wonder I hear the panic in your
voice. What? A girlfriend?”

“No, and I don’t have time to explain. She’s
got a one-oh-four temperature, and she’s unconscious. I don’t know
how long she’s been out, and I don’t know what’s wrong with her.
It’s not like I can just diagnose her anymore.”

“So what the hell are you waiting for? Get
her to the ER or come here or, damn, do something.”

“You don’t understand, Adam, I can’t take
her to the ER and I can’t take her to your practice. Please,
please, I really need you. You have to come here.”

Mason heard Adam mutter a few choice words
and then sigh heavily into the phone. “All right, be there in
thirty. Try to get her fever down until I get there.”

“Thank you, really, thanks. I’ll owe
you.”

“Yeah you will.” And then Adam hung up.

Mason looked over at Kat. “You’re going to
be fine,” he whispered to her, even though he knew he wouldn’t get
a response.

He ran to the bathroom, turned on the bath
and waited only a few seconds before lifting Kat gently and getting
in the tub, still holding her, clothes and all. He let the
luke-warm, mostly cold, water rise around them. It probably should
have been an ice-cold bath, but he was afraid of harming Kat. He
stroked her hair away from her face and used his free hand to pour
water over her body. She felt like fire, her skin burned against
his, and a tiny voice in the back of his head said that it was
metaphor for a lot more, but he didn’t have time to analyze his
thoughts. He was worried; he was scared; he was helpless.

“Please, Kat, please open your eyes.”

It wasn’t unheard of for people with high
fevers to black out, but it didn’t make him feel any better. She
was his responsibility; she was his prisoner; she was his. And
nothing like this should be happening to her under his watch.
Nothing like this should be happening to her period.

He wondered how the hell she got sick, and
if she had some underlying condition that he was unaware of. He
really hoped that Adam be able to help her. He didn’t want to think
about what would happen if she had to go to the ER. It was a
selfish thought and he knew the risks when he kidnapped her, but he
didn’t want to go back to prison. More importantly, he didn’t want
to lose her. She had become a stable part of his life, a constant
he didn’t really have before. She grounded him; she kept the
memories at bay; she kept the pain away.

“Open your eyes, Kat, so I know you can hear
me.”

He kept holding her up and brushing his
fingers against her skin, trying to absorb the heat and take it
away from her, but she was dead to the world.

He studied her, watched her. She looked like
she was asleep. Sopping wet but asleep.
God, she was
beautiful.
His heart clenched at the thought that there was
something seriously wrong with her, but he wouldn’t think that way.
He couldn’t. His sanity wouldn’t let him.

He stayed like this for what seemed like
hours, but soon, he heard knocking. He lifted Kat and wrapped her
in a towel before setting her on the bed. “Coming!” he called
out.

He was shaking when he opened the door and
found a very puzzled and angry Adam.

“You have to tell me what’s going on,” Adam
said as soon as he walked through the door.

“Please, Adam, look at her first, and then
I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

“I have a very bad feeling you are getting
me involved in something I don’t want to know about.”

“You are probably right, but please, I’m
begging you, help her,” Mason pleaded as he pointed toward her
room.

“You are lucky I like you,” Adam huffed.

Mason followed Adam into the room, while
Adam asked questions about her history. Mason answered as best as
he could, but really, he didn’t know anything of relevance.

Adam looked at Kat, and Mason saw him furrow
his eyebrows and then he inhaled sharply. “Mason, she looks awfully
familiar.” Adam spoke with a shaky edge.

“Just help her.” And Adam did. He checked
her vitals, took her blood, and examined her.

“I’m going to have to get her blood sample
to the lab, but my first guess is a virus. She’s dehydrated and
lacking nutrients. Her breathing is also very shallow. I’ll have to
bring you an IV and some meds. I trust you know what to do with
them. I’ll be back.”

“Adam, really, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet; I’ll be back in thirty
minutes. That gives you enough time to either figure out how you’re
going to tell me all about whatever the hell is going on here or
come up with a damn good lie. I think I’d rather get the lie, but
for what it’s worth, I know you care about her…a lot.”

He let Adam out and went back to Kat. He
knew that he cared about her. But admitting it to yourself and
hearing it from someone else were two different things. He didn’t
care about her a lot, not like Adam implied. He just cared about
her as a human being, as his responsibility, and as a maybe-sort-of
friend who understood him even when he didn’t want her to.
That
was it.
But damn if he wasn’t happy Adam came when he did. He
was starting to think all sorts of crazy thoughts. A virus.
Thank God!
He knew they weren’t in the clear yet, but at
least he could deal with a virus. He wasn’t about to lose Kat.

Chapter 21

Adam came back
with some medicine, an IV, and several other supplies.

“Geez Mason, I know it’s been a while, but
you really couldn’t diagnose this yourself?” Adam asked after Kat
was situated comfortably.

Mason stared back at Adam dumbfounded as he
processed his words.
Huh.
He should have been able to figure
this out himself, but instead he went straight into panic mode.
He’d barely checked her out before automatically assuming the
worst. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was acting like she
was family or something.

“Oh dear God.” Adam’s voice broke him from
his thoughts. “You love her, don’t you? I don’t know what the fuck
is going on, but the way you sounded on the phone, you’d think she
was dying, and you were some clueless nobody instead of a doctor
with a reputation that was spot-on.”

“I’m not a doctor anymore, and I don’t
fucking love her!” Mason screamed back.

“Yeah, sure, buddy. You couldn’t see it was
a virus and all she needed was meds and proper care? You are the
reason why doctors can’t treat someone they care about. How the
hell did you get into this mess? Wait, no, don’t tell me. Just
answer me this. How the hell did you fall in love with the woman
who accused you of rape and put you in jail?”

“Stop fucking saying that! Look, I seriously
appreciate everything you did here for me. And you are right, I did
go a little crazy with worry, but only because she’s my
responsibility. So yeah, maybe I am a little too close to the
patient to be able to see straight. But I don’t and can’t love her.
You got it right, she ruined my life. How could I love her?”

“What is she doing here?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Are you on drugs? Is she your supplier?”
Adam narrowed his eyes at Mason.

“Seriously?” Mason asked incredulously. “I’m
not on drugs and neither is she. She’s not like that anymore. She’s
actually completely different than what I expected.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, she’s got spark. She talks back, but
she’s also so damn nice it kind of kills me sometimes. And she’s
too understanding for her own good. Sometimes I feel like I should
be laying on a couch talking to her like a therapist. She’s
beautiful and considerate. She takes everything you throw at her
and does it with a damn cheery smile on her face like nothing can
bring her down. I admire that, you know.”

“Uh huh,” Adam answered with a knowing
look.

“This, what we have going on here, is
something you don’t want to know about. It’s all because I haven’t
forgotten what she did to me, okay? So get off my back.”

“Your head may not have forgotten, but your
heart clearly has,” Adam answered.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’ve seen you interacting, well, maybe
interacting is a bit of a stretch, but I’ve seen you handle her for
what? Like twenty minutes. And I heard you describe her, so I’m
basically a stranger to whatever situation you got going on,
right?” Mason nodded in agreement. “Even I can see what you
obviously don’t want to admit. Look, I know I said I wanted to know
what was going on here, but I seriously don’t want to know. I have
a feeling that the less I know, the better it is for me. So I am
going to take this at face value for the sake of my career, sanity,
and our friendship.”

“And what’s that?”

“That I was helping my friend and made a
house call when he overreacted because he loves the girl too much
to see straight.”

“Goddamn it, Adam.”

Adam cut him off. “Look, bullshit yourself
all you want. Bullshit her even, hell, I don’t care. But don’t
bullshit me. And do me a favor, next time you have a panic attack
over a paper cut or a broken nail, leave me out of it. I love you,
Mason, you know I do. I always believed you were innocent. And I
always believed you got screwed. I know we haven’t been as close as
we used to be, but you are still my friend and I’m there for you
whenever you need me. Which is why I’m telling you this, whatever
you have going on here is bad news, and not just because of the
legal ramifications, but because somewhere along the way, you fell
for her. So figure your shit out, and either get out of this mess
or tell her how you feel and pray that’s enough. But whatever you
decide, I don’t know anything about this, all right? God knows I’m
smart enough to have figured out a few things, but I’m pretty sure
I can pull off the ‘too good looking to be smart’ routine,” Adam
said through a forced laugh, clearly trying to lighten up his
words. “But seriously, figure it out, and stop denying
yourself.”

Mason opened his mouth to dispute Adam’s
words, but Adam put his hand up. “Don’t bother. I know you are
going to go into another tirade about how you don’t and can’t love
her. I’m sure you’ll figure it out yourself in time, but there is
nothing you can say to convince me otherwise. So, save your breath,
we’ll just agree to disagree.”

Mason just nodded. Even though Adam was
wrong about his feelings, he knew he was right about the argument.
He walked him out and Adam turned to him. “You know, regardless of
what I just said, if you need anything, you know I’m here for you.
Even if you have another freak out. And let’s get together more. I
miss you, man.”

Mason nodded in agreement and clapped Adam
on the back. “Thank you, seriously, for everything. You’re totally
wrong about me, but I love you anyway. You’re a good friend.
Thanks.”

Adam left and Mason pondered their
conversation while checking on Kat. Maybe he cared about Kat more
than he probably should.
But love? No way.
Adam was dead
wrong. Absolutely, positively, incomprehensibly wrong. And then a
tiny voice in his head told him he protested way too much for
something that was so false.

He shook his head, looked at Kat, and ran
his hand down her arm. She still didn’t stir. “I can’t love you,
Kat, but I’m so damn happy you are going to be just fine.”

Chapter 22

Kat’s eyes
fluttered open. She felt a little dazed and wasn’t sure where
exactly she was. The last thing she remembered was getting dressed
and ready to start her day. Now, she was in bed and there was a
superbly giant stuffed animal in bed with her.
Okay, this was a
dream, definitely a dream. Ow
. Everything hurt. She felt sore
and weak, and there was something attached to her hand.
Was that
an IV?
And then she heard faint breathing coming from the
stuffed animal beside her, and as she turned her head to examine
closer, she blinked in surprise. Mason was in her bed. She snorted
out loud at her insane thoughts.
Why the heck would she think he
was a stuffed animal?
He certainly wasn’t soft and pudgy. No,
he had nice, hard planes covering his entire body.
Very
delectable hard planes, in fact.
But seriously, what the
heck happened?
She wondered why she was in bed feeling like she
had been run over by a truck. And she wanted to know why on earth
Mason was in her bed.

She was getting a headache just thinking
about it. So she dropped her head back on the pillow and closed her
eyes. And then it all started coming back to her as if she were
watching a highlight reel.

She remembered feeling the darkness cloud
over her and feeling intense heat and shivering at the same time.
Shit!
She had been sick, and she was still sick. She
remembered feeling a little woozy when trying to get dressed and
feeling like her legs were going to give out and then everything
going black. She must have passed out. And Mason must have found
her and taken care of her. She tried to remember more, but
everything was a blur. She remembered the feeling of being carried,
of having arms wrap around her and tell her she was going to be
fine. She remembered feeling safe and trusting that calming voice.
She knew she was going to be fine because he had told her she
would.

She focused, willing herself to remember
more. She remembered someone stroking her face lovingly with shaky
fingers. She remembered how nice it felt to know someone cared
about her and her wellbeing. She heard voices talking about love,
about loving someone that shouldn’t be loved.
Boy, did she know
that feeling.
She heard someone talking about her. She knew,
somehow, that someone was describing her with such affection that
it made her want to open her eyes and learn more, but her body
didn’t respond to her mind.