Mayne Attraction: In The Spotlight (45 page)

“When did it start?”

“Yesterday, I guess. I don’t know. I wasn’t
paying attention.”

I was still weepy. That was good. It
camouflaged my weak acting skills with some realism.

“I didn’t think you were drinking enough.
Damn. Well, I’d walk you out today but it’s a little later than I’d
like, and you’ll be moving even slower than normal. The boys could
take turns carrying you…”

“No!”

That was way too desperate sounding.

“No. Can we just go first thing in the
morning?” I suggested.

I knew both men were listening intently to
our conversation.

“Did you bring any aspirin?” I asked as
pathetically as possible in a tone that was low but not too
low.

“Yeah, but you need Advil. It’ll help with
the inflammation. Do you have your water bottle in here?”

I could hear movement outside the tent now.
That would be Gray getting my water bottle out of my daypack that
I’d dropped at the edge of camp.

“No,” I said, very weakly.

“I’ll be right back,” she said reassuringly
as she patted my hand before she turned to exit the tent.

She stepped outside to get my water and to
inform my loved ones of her diagnosis and the recommended
procedures.

“What’s wrong?” demanded Phil, who sounded
far more alarmed than he probably should have.

“She’s got a U.T.I.,” Elsie informed, and
because someone’s face must not have registered understanding, she
elaborated, “Urinary Tract Infection. She probably hasn’t been
drinking enough water or she took one too many hot baths.”

That was genius! I hadn’t thought of that.
Now Gray might actually think it was true instead of me just faking
my way back to civilization because he’d hurt my feelings.

“What does that mean?” pressed Phil, who
wasn’t finished being overly concerned yet.

“Usually it means you feel like crap. It
burns when you pee. You get muscle spasms in your bladder that hurt
like the devil. Walking is uncomfortable. Fever is uncomfortable.
It’s serious. It can go into kidney failure if you don’t catch it
quickly enough. I have to get her to a doctor. She’ll need to start
antibiotics right away, and probably pain medication.”

Elsie was doing a great job sounding just
like a doctor…or someone who had experienced a U.T.I. And she was
making it sound far more serious and urgent than it really was,
especially considering it was a hoax.

Chapter 35
–
Emergency Room

Events were in unchangeable motion now. I
thought I had overnight and most of the next day to make peace with
my decision, to spend time with Elsie and say goodbye in a
circuitous way to the two best things that had ever happened to me.
What I had not anticipated was Gray’s solution.

The Medevac Helicopter arrived about an hour
and a half later and landed on the fire road in an open section
about a quarter mile away from camp. They were all packed and ready
to leave by that time, though now I felt truly ill, after watching
them tear everything down with determined, business-like intensity,
stealing deeply concerned glances my way, each in their turn.

I hoped there were no truly sick or hurt
people having to wait their turn for aid while I ran from my
problems using public emergency response equipment and resources.
The intense guilt I felt over this aspect of the situation played
just as realistically as true pain from a U.T.I. would have. What I
hated most was the upset for everyone involved.

Elsie had turned into my mom, holding me
like a sick child, patting my hair, massaging my back and speaking
reassuringly to me. I knew that the other two wanted to be doing
that, but had been overruled by the feminine nature of the
tragedy.

We lifted off and were standing on the
ground in Banff less than ten minutes later. I however, was
immediately transferred to a gurney. A voice in my head kept
reminding me that I’d done it to myself. Though the way things were
playing out now definitely had Gregory written all over it.

All three of my companions stayed with me as
I was transferred by ambulance to the medical center in town. I
wondered whether the helicopter crew or the ambulance personnel
knew they were transporting a U.T.I. victim, though it was likely
that Gray’s version had been something more like hiking induced
kidney failure.

At my request, only Elsie accompanied me
when the nurse saw me in my own little curtained off area of the
ER. I had to give a urine sample, which was convincingly dark due
to the fact that I hadn’t peed since about seven that morning and
it was close to four now. Color notwithstanding, I knew it would
prove me a faitour (imposter) in fairly short order, though pain of
that nature could be symptomatic of other problems…

The nurse was very sweet to me, making me
feel all the more guilty to take up her time when she should be
seeing to real patients.

“If there’s anything you or your daughter
needs, just push this button right here,” she said to my ‘mom’.

Elsie gave me a look that was
priceless—equal parts offense and gratification.

When the nurse stepped away I said, “Oh,
don’t worry about it Elsie. You can’t really blame her because I
look like I’m twelve and you look like you’re thirty. It’s
plausible. Besides you’d be the coolest most awesome mom ever.”

That seemed to mollify her creditably.

I noticed that there was a post-it note pad
and pen next to the phone. I pointed to it and said, “Do you think
I could have your e-mail and phone number so I can contact you some
time? You’re my new hero and I’d like to keep track of you…if you
don’t mind.”

She wordlessly began writing the requested
data and handed it to me. Though she didn’t ask for it, I did the
same for her. Then I scanned her information.

Pamela Elsinore?

“So ‘Elsie’ is short for Elsinore…like the
beer?” I asked, a little incredulously.

It was a made up beer that featured heavily
in a cult classic movie from the eighties.

“Now how do you know about that? Weren’t you
born in the nineties?”

She was amused.

“I love Strange Brew. It’s a classic. It’s
one of my guilty pleasure movies. Sorry about your name, though.
That had to be pretty inconvenient.”

“Why would having the same name as a rich
beer heiress be inconvenient?” she shot back, her eyebrows arched
at full capacity.

“So at some point in the early eighties you
switched from Pam to Elsie?” I surmised.

“You got it.”

She seemed satisfied that I’d made the
connection.

“Beauty,” I pronounced.

It was a line from the movie. It expressed
enthusiasm or satisfaction with a circumstance or statement.

I cradled her contact information between my
palms and smiled big.

“What would you say to guiding a girl’s trip
sometime?”

Her return smile was enormous.

“Those are the very best kind. You’re on,
little girl. Just name the day and time!”

After close to an hour, the doctor came in
with the lab results. He spoke to Elsie.

“She has a few more white blood cells in her
urine than normal, but nothing too serious. It looks like we caught
this on the upswing. I’m going to prescribe some Cipro and lots of
water. She can even mix in some cranberry juice, if she’d like,” he
suggested. Pausing to look at the chart a moment he continued,
“Give her some Ibuprofen for the pain, but that should clear up
after her second or third dose of antibiotics. I’d keep her off the
trail for a couple days, though.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” said Elsie, every bit
as relieved as my own mother would have been.

It was nice, and it made me a little
emotional.

Once the physician was gone she was back to
rubbing my back and speaking reassuringly.

“Did you hear that? It’s not too bad at
all.”

“Yeah, I heard that. They just airlifted me
because I had a few extra white blood cells in my urine. I’m so
embarrassed I might actually die anyway.”

“Well that would be counter-productive to
our intentions here, wouldn’t it?” She laughed softly and
continued, “Look, don’t worry about it. You’re not the one who
asked for the helicopter, and you’re not the one paying for
it.”

I knew she was dead right about that.

When we finally walked out into the waiting
room, about two hours after arriving, the site that greeted me
caused another massive wave of guilt.

Ash was sitting in a chair listening to
messages on his cell phone. Gray was standing in the corner with
his dad! That meant that another helicopter had probably been
commandeered to lift him off of whatever backcountry trail he’d
been walking not two hours ago. It was beyond ridiculous.

When they saw me, they all rushed around us
to hear Elsie’s report. You’d think I was the lucky survivor of a
bear attack instead of the victim of a slight imbalance of the
naturally occurring bacteria in my urinary tract. They’d probably
used the time in the waiting room to get themselves typed for organ
donation, just in case those kidneys hadn’t made it after all
because the helicopter ride hadn’t been quick enough.

The sweet and sincere and anxious concern
that was obvious on both Dan and Gray’s faces, and really this
whole situation, was a very clear reflection of what life would
probably always be like for me as a Gregory. If that’s the path I
chose, I’d be one of the best loved and kept, most lavishly cared
for princesses in the history of spoiled people.

I looked at Ash. He seemed to be drawing
those same conclusions as he gazed at the Gregorys before he felt
my look and returned it.

Dan and Gray were listening to Elsie as she
related the anecdotal details of another health crisis she’d
averted with a previous unfortunate soul the month before.

With my back to the group, I stepped out of
their circle toward the pretend Kiwi.

“That was quite a scare, Miss. But you’ll be
feeling better in a hurry, yes?” he asked.

I loved ‘Phil’s’ Auckland accent.

“Are you going back to New Zealand now or
will you be staying in Canada for a while?”

My voice was a little shaky as I asked
this.

“I don’t head back for a few weeks. I’m just
playing it by ear.”

There was a sad smile to go along with that
last part as his eyes plumbed the depths of my soul. I wondered
what he was making of all this.

“Well, it’s been a pleasure. I’m sorry for
messing things up for you.”

He would never know how true those words
were. And then I reached up to give him a hug. I quickly whispered
“I’ll catch up with you later. I love you.”

And that was the best I could give him, for
now. He nodded at me, his expression completely empty and
unreadable. Then he turned and walked away. I didn’t know if I’d
ever see him again, but I knew I was going to break his heart in a
few short hours and it was killing me.

Elsie pointed to my hand with the post-it
note and said, “All right little girl. So you know what to do with
that then?”

“I’m going to use it.”

I was perfectly sincere.

“Okay honey. You take care. Call me and let
me know how you’re doing. Phil and I have to go figure out what
we’re going to do about our cars.”

She hugged me and then she too turned and
walked away. Another person I probably wouldn’t be seeing for a
very long time, if ever again.

Gray stepped over into the spot where Ash
had been standing. Then he put his arm around me, holding me
securely at the waist, just like before.

“Let’s get you back to the hotel so you can
get some rest.”

He loaded me into the back of a large
Mercedes sedan which was waiting by the door, going around to the
other side to get into the back seat with me, while his dad got in
the driver’s seat and chauffeured us back to the hotel. I scooted
closer to Gray and leaned against his chest. As his arm gently
wound around me, I settled deeper into his side, and he kissed the
top of my head. I felt loved and warm and secure. It was absolutely
wonderful. I closed my eyes and wished this time out from my escape
plan would never end.

Chapter 36
–
Peaceful

I wanted my last moments with Gray to be
peaceful and pleasant. So I pretended like there had never been any
course altering upset between us. It was easy to play sick. I felt
that way. Tears were poised to break out any second, lending
credibility to the pain I was supposed to be having.

He was so sweet and solicitous that I nearly
aborted my plan. It was unbelievably pleasant to have someone so
smart and handsome and amazing waiting on me hand and foot like a
slave—a very enamored slave. I was an easy mistress. I only
required that he keep my water glass full and cold and that he rub
my feet. The later assignment was more for his benefit than my own,
but I made the best of it. Besides, it gave him something useful to
do.

Depending on the answer to my question for
the lady at the front desk, I’d be leaving in a few minutes or
tomorrow sometime. I sent Gray on an errand down the hall to see if
there was any cranberry juice in the vending machine. Once he was
gone I made the call.

“Hi. If I needed to ship a box home when
would that go out?”

“The mail is picked up at noon. UPS picks up
at ten and Fed-Ex at nine. You can bring your package to the
business center located just off the lobby, or request a bellman to
pick it up.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Gray was incredibly fast. He was walking
back in the door just as I’d put down the receiver. He had a bottle
of cranberry juice for me, which I now had to drink, even though I
hated that stuff. I scheduled two bathroom breaks around the rapid
bursts of consumption (by the toilet) of what I considered to be
the bitterest of widely available red colored fruit juices—though I
would have consumed it gladly if my illness were real.