Natural Reaction (5 page)

“Okay, well, everything’s fine,” she said. “You can all leave now.”

“Are you sure you don’t need…” Ian began.

“Very sure, thanks,” Mary interrupted, walking backwards to the bathroom.

“I could help…” Bradley offered.

“Oh, no,” she interrupted again. “I’m good.”

They still stood there, not moving, concern on their faces.
This calls for drastic action
, she thought.

“Do I smell eggs and toast burning?” she asked, sniffing the air.

“Oh, the toast,” Ian said, rushing from the room.

“I thought I turned those eggs off,” Bradley yelled as he hurried down the stairs.

Mike grinned at her. “Good job,” he said, and then his grin disappeared and his face grew thoughtful. “I am sorry. You know I would never do anything to upset you.”

She nodded. “Yes, I do,” she acknowledged with a smile. “Now get out of my bedroom and stay the hell out of my bathroom, please.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he chuckled, and then faded away.

“So, how is she really doing?” Ian asked Bradley, as they waited for Mary to finish her shower.

Bradley shook his head. “Well, physically she’s fine, a little weak, but good. However, Dr. Thorne wants us to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t sleep for too long.”

“And the not-physically part?”
Ian asked.

Sighing, Bradley sat down in a chair next to the kitchen table and put his head in his hands. “She’s suffering a kind of Post-Traumatic Stress from Jeannine’s memories and from her own kidnapping.”

“
Ahhh
, well that explains the episode near the door,” Ian said, leaning over the kitchen counter. “So, what can we do to help her?”

Bradley looked up at Ian and shook his head. “It’s got to come from her,” he said. “We can be patient and supportive, but she has to decide when and if she’ll go and get help.”

“Psychiatric help you mean,” Ian said.

Nodding, Bradley sat back in the chair. “Yes,” he replied. “But she doesn’t know how she can explain what happened to her, to a psychiatrist.”

“Aye, I can see that’d be a problem.”

“She was hoping that you could hypnotize her again and remove some of Jeannine’s memories.”

“The rub there is that hypnosis is based in suggestion and trust,” Ian explained. “She’d have to trust me enough to allow me to bring her under again. I don’t know if she’d be ready for that just now.”

“We’ll just have to help her be ready,” Bradley stated. “I just…”

“You just wish you could fix everything for her and protect her while you were doing it,” he said.

Bradley nodded. “Yeah, how did you know?”

“Well, that’s exactly what my dear Gillian says we men try to do all the time,” he said with a chuckle. “And damn if she’s not always right.”

Their conversation ended when they heard the door to Mary’s room open and heard her walking down the hall.

“Should we help her down the stairs?” Ian asked.

Bradley shook his head. “No, but being close in case she needs help isn’t a bad idea”, he decided. “We should make it look like we’re not waiting to help her though.”

They both moved to the bottom of the staircase. Ian looked around quickly and then nodded his head. “Aye, I can see that spot above the cabinets,” he said loudly. “You’re right; it could be a water leak.
Though it could also just be a shadow.”

Bradley sent Ian a grateful smile. “Yes, that’s what I thought too. The only way to check it is to pull out the ladder and get up there.”

Mary paused, looked down at the two men and grinned. The ceiling above the cabinets was pristine and white; there were no shadows or marks. She knew they were there to be sure she didn’t need any help, and she appreciated it. She continued her slow descent, stopping on the step above the kitchen floor to join in on their conversation.

“Do you think it will be costly to repair?” she asked.

“Oh, Mary, you’re here,” Ian said, as he offered her his hand and helped her down the last step. “How are you feeling, love?”

She smiled.
“Better, much better, thank you.”

Bradley pulled a chair away from the kitchen table and helped her sit down. “Right after you eat, we’ll get you situated on the couch,” he said. “Ian already has a fire started in the fireplace.”

“That would be lovely, thank you,” she smiled up at Bradley and pressed a kiss on his cheek.

“Well, if you’re passing out kisses…,” Ian bent down and offered his cheek.

Laughing, Mary pressed a soft kiss on his cheek too. “Thank you, Ian.”

Bradley placed a plate filled with scrambled eggs and toast in front of her. The eggs were piled several inches high and the toast was thickly slathered with butter and jam.

“Um, how many eggs did you scramble?” she asked.

“I think it was four, no maybe six,” he said, with an apologetic shrug. “Ian and I were talking and I got a little distracted.”

“Why don’t you and Ian sit down and help me eat some of this,” she suggested. “I generally don’t eat
a half
dozen eggs and six pieces of toast for breakfast.”

“Are you sure?” Ian asked, pulling a couple of plates from the cabinet.

She nodded. “Oh, yes, I’m completely sure.”

The meal was accomplished without incident with the two men doing their best to make Mary laugh. They had both just settled Mary into the recliner, complete with a pillow for her back, fleece blanket for her feet and a cup of tea at her side, when the doorbell rang. Before anyone could answer, Stanley let himself in, followed closely by a disapproving
Rosie.

“Stanley, you just don’t walk into someone’s home,” Rosie said, turning to Stanley and not acknowledging anyone else in the room.

“It
ain’t
just anyone’s home, it’s Mary’s,” he argued.

“But, it’s not polite,” she replied.

“I rang the bell first,” he said. “So
iffen
she was doing something she didn’t want us to see, she had a chance to stop.”

Mary chuckled. “Please come in, I insist.”

Stanley nodded his head smugly. “See, she insists.”

Rosie sniffed. “Well, of course she did, she’s polite.”

Both of the sassy senior citizens had become Mary’s best friends during the few years she had lived in Freeport. Stanley was the fifth generation owner of Wagner’s Office Products and Rosie was a successful Real Estate broker in Freeport. They had not only become an essential part of Mary’s life and her private investigation team, they had also fallen in love with each other.

The two slipped off their coats and laid them on the back of a chair before crossing the room to where Mary reclined on the couch. Rosie sat on the chair adjacent to her and Stanley perched on the chair’s arm.

“How are you doing?” Rosie asked, leaning forward and placing her hand on Mary’s arm.

Mary covered Rosie’s hand with her own. “I’m good,” she said. “And I have two of the best nursemaids in Freeport looking out for me.”

“He
ain’t
trying to make you eat any foreign food, is he?” Stanley asked, sending a distrustful glance at Ian.

“Oh, aye, I’ve been trying to force haggis and blood pudding down her throat,” Ian said. “But this big brute of a policeman won’t let me.”

“Humph, he
ain’t
much better,” Stanley grumbled looking over at Bradley. “But at least he’s got some common sense and can speak English.”

“Thank you, Stanley,” Bradley said. “Coming from you, I feel extremely complimented.”

Stanley made his way over to Mary and crouched down next to the recliner. “It’s about time you decided to stop loafing around at the hospital and get back to the real world,” he said. “Some of us have important things to talk to you about.”

“Oh, and what would that be?” Mary asked, lifting her eyebrows.

Stanley blushed and shrugged his shoulders. “You tell her, Rosie,” he mumbled. “This here’s womanly talk anyhow.”

Rosie leaned over and kissed Stanley on the cheek. “Isn’t he the sweetest thing?” she asked Mary.

“Dang it woman, you can’t do that kind of stuff in public,” he stammered, getting up and walking across the room.

“But Stanley, this isn’t public, this is Mary’s house,” Rosie replied with a smile.

She turned back to Mary. “Mary, Stanley and I are engaged!”

Mary’s jaw dropped with surprise. Her dearest friends, who constantly bickered at each other, finally realized how much they were in love. She felt tears well up in her eyes. “I am so happy for you,” she sniffed, “This is just so wonderful.”

“Yeah, if it’s so wonderful, why are you bawling your eyes out?” Stanley asked.

“Come here, you old curmudgeon and give me a hug,” she demanded.

Stanley, his face slightly pink and his grin stretched from ear to
ear,
walked over and gave Mary a soft hug. “Congratulations,” she whispered in his ear. “She’s a lucky lady.”

He shook his head. “
Naw
, I’m the lucky one.”

Stanley moved back and Rosie scooted forward. “I know you’re still recovering, but I have to know,” Rosie exclaimed. “Mary, would you be my maid-of-honor?”

“Oh, I would be delighted,” she said.

“Well, good,” Stanley grumbled. “Cause I ‘
spect
there
ain’t
many women in this town who’d be able to work with my best man.”

He nodded over in Bradley’s direction. “I asked him at the hospital the other day.”

Mary turned to Bradley. “You knew and you didn’t tell me?”

He shrugged, “I guess my mind was on other things.”

“When’s the wedding?” Mary asked.

“Saint Patrick’s Day,” Rosie said. “Stanley insisted because his memory is so bad he knew he’d forget our anniversary if we didn’t have it on a holiday.”

“Well, Valentine’s Day is only a couple of weeks away,” Mary teased.

“Aw, everyone gets married on Valentines,” Stanley said. “We wanted ours to be unique.”

“No matter what, I’m sure your wedding is going to be unique,” Ian said. “It’s not often a beauty marries a beast.”

Stanley chuckled. “You’ve got that right,” he said. “That’s why I picked St. Pat’s because I knew I was the luckiest man on earth.”

“Oh, Stanley,” Rosie cooed, “that was so romantic.”

Stanley blushed, “Well, it’s just the truth, that’s all.”

Rosie walked over to Stanley and put her arms around his neck. “I think we are going to have to leave now because I want to kiss you and I know you don’t want all of these people to see it.”

“Just don’t want them to be jealous, that’s all,” he mumbled. “‘Sides, Mary is recovering, so we ought to let her get her rest.”

“Oh, aye, that’s one of the best excuses I’ve ever heard,” Ian said with a grin. “And I almost believe it.
How about you Bradley?”

“If I get a report that you two are parked somewhere steaming up the windows, I’m not going to be too happy about it.”

Rosie giggled. “We’ll make sure to wipe the windows clear every so often.”

Bradley laughed. “Good enough,” he said. “Now get out of here before you make us all tired.”

“I’m tired,” Mary said, shifting in the recliner. “You two wouldn’t mind if I went upstairs to bed, would you?”

Bradley and Ian looked up from the movie on the television in amazement. “But Mary, they haven’t solved the murder yet,” Ian said.

She shrugged. “I have. Do you want to know who did it?”

Ian clapped his hands over his ears. “No, don’t tell me.”

Bradley chuckled and rose to his feet. “Come on, Sherlock, I’ll walk you upstairs. Ian why don’t you make us some popcorn and we less than brilliant viewers can finish the rest of the movie.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t brilliant,” Mary protested. “I just solved the mystery. I worked on a case like this in Chicago. You
see,
the spouse…”

Ian pressed his hands tighter over his ears. “La, la, la, la, la,” he sang. “I can’t hear you.”

“What the hell is he doing?
A Scottish mating dance?”
Mike asked, appearing in the middle of the room.

“Yeah, don’t get too close,” Bradley said.

“Oh, very funny, Bradley,” Ian said, getting up from his chair. “Go put Mary to bed; Mike can keep me company until you return.”

“Oh, cool, I love this movie,” Mike said, “
especially
the end when we find out the butler did it.”

“AHHHHHHHHH!”
Ian screamed, running into the kitchen.

Mike looked at Ian and then turned to Mary and Bradley. “What? What just happened here?”

Mary and Bradley turned to each other and started to laugh.

“What?” Mike asked.

Mary collapsed against Bradley, tears running down her cheeks. “I can’t breathe,” she gasped as she laughed. “My sides ache.”