Package Deal (71 page)

“I take it you want to know his condition.”

She nodded.

The surgeon sat down next to her.
“
The knife hit a rib and missed
his lung,
but
went into
the liver. We’ve taken care of that and he should be fine, though he’s going to have an interesting scar
,
and he lost quite a lot of blood
.”

“When can we see him?”

“He’s in recovery and will be there for a few hours
,
until he wakes up
. I doubt he’ll be ready for visitors until tomorrow. Why don’t you take
your daughter
and go home?
I’ll leave word at the nurse’s sta
tion.
You can
see him
t
omorrow
.”

Amanda woke Cecelia and took her home. She peeled out of her b
l
ou
se and put it into the sink to soak. After settling Cecelia in bed,
she
climbed into the shower and
she
wept
her fears for Marcus, and her anger at Carlton
—too long repressed, she now realized—
for what he had
tried to do
to Cecelia and what he had now done to Marcus
.
She couldn’t seem to stop crying.

Had she waited too long to have Marcus to dinner? Why hadn’t she done that sooner? The water had long since gone cold before her tears finally abated, and she climbed out of the shower.
When she
huddled under the covers desperate to get warm
, she
continued to tremble
as her mind
,
like
a broken reel,
repeatedly replayed
what had
occurr
ed
that day
.
Late into the night
, she
finally
fell into a
troubled
sle
ep
.

Long b
efore dawn,
Cecelia
woke to
sounds of
weeping
. She crept out of bed
.

“Stay
here, Skipper,” she
whispered,
and went into her mother’s room.

“Mom, are you ok
ay
?”

Cecelia climbed in next to her and listened as
her mother
cried out
in the night
and occasionally spoke words
she could understand
.
She
put
her arm over
her mother
’s shoulder
, as if to shelter her before
she pulled up the covers.

“It’s ok
ay
, Mom. I’m here.”
She
fell asleep
pressed against her mother
’s body
.

When
her mother
woke
the next morning
, Cecelia stirred
. “A
re you
feeling
better
now?”

“Yes, Cece. Why do you ask?”
Her mother
r
oll
ed over and stroked
her
face.

“
Last night
you
woke
me
up
,
crying and
talking in your sleep—about
Sam and me and
Marcus
, I think. Those were the only words I could understand
. Did
Marcus
die?
I hope he didn’t die.
”

“No, honey
, he didn’t die
. In fact, we can see him today. The doctor said
so
. Do you want to come with me?”

Cecelia
’s lips formed a thin line as she
gazed into her mother’s face
for a
long
moment.
“Did he save you?”

“Yes, he did.”

“
I’m glad.
If he saved you,
then
he i
s a hero.”

Her mother
looked at the clock. “
That
he is.
And, i
f we’re going to be there
be
for
e
anyone else
, we need to get dressed quickly
.”

Cecelia slipped out of bed and
head
ed
to the bathroom
.
Her mother
went downstairs and put together a quick breakfast. The two of them ate, dressed, and
prepared to leave
for the hospital.

“Wait for me, Mom.
”
Cecelia
hesitated as her mother walked onto the porch.
“
I have to
get
my jacket.”
She
held the front together with one hand
, not bothering to zip it up
as she walked to the car
.
Only Marcus, it seemed, could do that.

When they arrived
at the hospital
,
Amanda
entered
Marcus’
s
room
and kissed
his
forehead.

H
e
opened his
eyes
and
star
ed
grogg
ily
at her. “I feel better—seeing you.”

Amanda graspe
d his hand and kissed it. “I’
ll never forget what you did.”

He
winc
ed
at the pain in his side.
“You were smart to set the phone down. I was
trying
to call you when I heard Carl’s voice. What was he
after
—coming back here?”

“I
’m not sure
.
He was
mostly
talking—about his things. He mentioned some
papers
. When he
sta
rted playing with Cece’s pencil,
the one from the street fair
, I got really shaky.
I
haven’t talked to
Ian
.
He stayed with you when I went down to see about the girls.
The campus police said
the
city cops
took
Carl
in
to custody—
he was gone when I went back to the office
. I was
so
worried about you
.
”

He nodded.

“
The statue of Shakespeare is
toast
—I think one of you ran into him when you
crashed into the wall
.”
Amanda’s
eyes filled. “
Ian
gave me his shirt to try to stop the b
l
ee
d
ing
, and then he went with you to the hospital
.”

“I’ll have to thank him for that.” He grimaced again.
“
Did Cecelia see
Carlton
?
Is she ok
ay
?”

“She seems to be.
I need to call Sam’s mother to see how she
is
—the girls were together when they came to the office.
I
should
let
Joan
know how you’
re doing.
”

“Can I talk to
Cece
?
Is she here
?”

Amanda waved to
Cecelia
, who
had been waiting
near the door
. “Marcus
wants
to talk to you, honey.”

Cecelia
approached
the
bed
slow
ly.

“How are you
?”
he
croaked.

“I’m ok
ay
. Mom says you’
re a hero.”
She
edged
closer
.

He smiled. “Mostly just someone who tripped
and fell down
.
But
your mom says
we broke
the statue
of
old
Will
.
Beatrice
isn’
t going to be happy about that.
”

Cecelia nodded. “I hope she isn’t mad.
I’ll
tell her it wasn’t you.
That
it was
the other man
—that
bad man—w
ho did
it
.
”

He
gaz
ed at her. “
The main thing is y
ou’re safe a
nd your mother is safe. That’s all t
hat matters.”

“Marcus, w
ill
you have to stay here
for a
long
time
?”
Her eyes were wide as she looked at him.

“I hope not.
But
I’ll have to ask the doctor
.”
He tried to move in the bed
and stopped at the pain that made him
groan involuntarily
. “I’m still pretty sore.”

“Because that
bad
man hit you?”

He
nodded
.
“
A
nd
because the doctors had to cut me
open
and then sew me back up again. That’s where it hurts the most.”

“I brought you some
one
—to make you feel better.”
She
pulled
Eeyore
out
from under
her jacket
and
placed the stuffed animal
in Marcus’ hand.

He grinned. “Thank you,
Cece,
”
and
brought it
up
to
his chin. “I feel better already.”

She
smiled
at him
. “We need to go now
so you can sleep. Mom sa
ys you need your rest
when you’
re hurting.”

“She’
s right.”
He
looked over at Amanda,
whose face radiated love
as she wiped her eyes
with the backs of her hands
.

Cecelia moved
away
to stand next to
Amanda
and they
walk
ed toward the door.
“Go to sleep, Marcus. We’ll come back later.” She blew him a kiss.

Cecelia
pulled
on
Amanda’s arm then
whispered something
when she leaned down to her. The child
approached
his
bed again.
She reached out
and tentatively touched his
wrist
before
curling her small hand around
two of
his
finger
s
. He
tried to squeeze
her hand
.

“Marcus?”

He was silent
as he
looked
back
at her.

“I have a new book,
”
she said quietly.

He was having trouble concentrating
. Probably the drugs they were pumping into him
.
“By
Marguerite Henry?”

She nodded.

“What’s the title?”

“
King of the Wind
.”

“One of my favorites,
”
his voice barely above a whisper.