The Runaway Pastor's Wife (29 page)

“Maybe not, but I can’t have you passing out on
me. So I want you to drink some orange juice and—” he continued, looking
quickly around the kitchen. “Here, eat one of these muffins. Go on now. Don’t
argue with me. We don’t have time.” He pointed to her hands. “But give those a
good scrub first.”

She lathered her hands at the sink then rinsed
then in hot water. Taking a seat at the table, Annie took an oversized bite of
the muffin, trying to eat as fast as she could. She was surprised, watching the
swift moves of the elderly doctor as he put together a makeshift system to
transfer Annie’s blood directly into Michael. She finished her hasty snack and
washed it down with orange juice, just as Doc reached for her arm, thumping it
for a vein. Satisfied he found one suitable, he tied a rubber strap above her
elbow.

“Here we go.” He inserted a needle into her
vein. “You can relax your fist now.” He monitored the process with extreme
efficiency. Annie was relieved at his competency. “You may be a small town
doctor, but you work like someone who’s spent his entire career in a big city
hospital,” she said quietly. “I’m impressed.”

“It may be a small town, but trust me, I’ve seen
it all. When you’re the only physician around, you see a little bit of
everything. Births, automobile accidents, cancer, you name it. Not to mention lots
of skiing mishaps. You just never know what a day will bring along.”

Annie was starting to feel light-headed. “But
not too many shooting victims.”

“No. Not many. Though I remember a freak hunting
accident a few years back. Ol’ Jeb Townsend and his son Cooper were out turkey
shooting. Along the way they got separated and ended up on opposite sides of a
clearing. Ol’ Jeb spotted a great big tom out in the middle of that clearing
and fired off a shot, never realizing Cooper was directly in his range. Filled
Cooper up with 180 pieces of buckshot.”

Dr. Wilkins leaned over Michael, checking for a
response. He seemed satisfied for the moment.

“Did he die?”

“Who?”

“Hi son, Cooper. Did he die from the buckshot
wounds?”

“No, he pulled through. Quite a miracle. That
many pellets and not a single one hit any vital organs or arteries. We took out
as many of those pellets as we could. Left in what we had to. Fortunately,
Cooper’s stayed around here. Otherwise, he’d probably set off airport security
systems from here to eternity.”

“His father must have felt awful.”

“Oh my, yes. Ol’ Jeb was a basket case ’til he
knew for sure Cooper would be all right. I’ll tell you one thing for
sure—that’s one father and son who are mighty, mighty close now. Never saw
anything like it. Incredible.”

“That’s a nice ending to the story.”

“Annie? Are you getting queasy on me?”

“A little. I think I’ll rest my head for a
moment if that’s okay with you.”

“No problem,” he answered, looking over his
glasses at her. She put her head down on her other arm. After a couple of
moments, he asked quietly, “Annie?”

“Yes?”

“How did Michael get shot? Any idea?”

She turned her head sidewise, still resting it
on her forearm. Her eyes traveled slowly from Doc to Michael. Even as her gaze
took him in, she felt her heart skip a beat. So many memories, so many
feelings, and far too many emotions. It all came flooding back into her mind
and her heart. She shook off her thoughts to answer Doc.

“I don’t know. We haven’t talked in years. I
can’t even imagine.” She felt a drowsy smile pull at her mouth. “Michael always
lived life right on the edge. He could be quite the daredevil at times. But the
thing is, he got more breaks than any one human being should be allowed to
have. Maybe his luck just finally ran out.”

“Did he say anything to you?”

“He kept mumbling about someone trying to kill
him. He thought I was Christine. I guess he came here looking for a place to
hide . . . though I didn’t know that Michael and Christine
were . . .” Her thoughts drifted.

“Were what?”

She hesitated, ignoring his question.
“Obviously, he’s in some kind of trouble. It’s been such a long time since I’ve
seen Michael. After we—well, we haven’t spoken to each other since college.
Occasionally I’ve seen him on TV, of course. He used to play baseball. First
base for the Houston Astros.”

“Ah. That’s why he looks so familiar. I’m a Cubs
fan myself, but Michael Dean was quite a celebrity a few years back. He could
crack a bat like the best of them. I lost count of all those years he was MVP
for the National League. Great ball player.”

“Incredible ball player,” she added, her
thoughts traveling the gracious distance of time. “I used to love watching him
play back when we were together. Never missed a game.”

A few moments passed. “Annie?”

She snapped out of her thoughts. “Yes?”

“I’m still concerned about your safety. Whoever
shot your friend here could still be out there, you know.”

“I know.”

“Do you know anything else about him? Does he
have a family? Where’s he been living? That sort of thing.”

“No, only bits and pieces. I heard he was
married to the daughter of someone famous. Some actor or—I just can’t remember.
And to be honest, I’ve tried very hard
not
to keep track of him.”

“I see.” Doc finished the procedure. “All right,
that’s about all you can spare right now. You okay?” He looked up at her while
pressing a cotton ball to the tiny hole in her arm.

“Oh, I’m fine. Not even dizzy any more.”

“Well, keep your seat there for a few minutes.
You’ll be light-headed when you stand up again.”

He moved back to the kitchen sink to run more
hot water. “Once we get Mr. Dean all fixed up, I think we need to move his car
into the garage. Might be best to keep it out of sight.”

“I’ll take care of it,” she offered.

“You’ll do no such thing. I can do it myself.
You just keep an eye on your baseball player for me. He’s going to be with us
for a while,” he continued. “If the weather wasn’t so bad, I’d try to pack him
up and drive him over to the hospital in
Pueblo
, but
it’s too far and we can’t take that chance. We could lose him if we ran into
even the slightest problem along the road. So we’ll just have to do the best we
can.”

He dried his hands then began setting out the
instruments he would need from his bag. “Let’s get started.”

Three hours later, Doc helped Annie to her room,
insisting she get some rest. They had moved Michael to the guest room where he
seemed to be resting comfortably. Doc was able to remove the bullet that had
lodged in Michael’s shoulder fairly easy. But the abdominal wound was another
story. He found no bullet there and surmised that it had evidently grazed
Michael’s side, just passing through, but doing a substantial amount of damage
in the process. Fortunately no internal organs were damaged, but the infection
had spread. He estimated the wounds to be at least a day old.

“Are you sure he’s okay?” Annie asked, climbing
into bed.

“His pulse has steadied and his blood pressure
has stabilized. Right now we need to let the antibiotics do their work and help
his body begin to heal.” He tucked her in, turning off the bedside lamp.

“If Michael wakes up—”

“If Michael wakes up, he’ll see the face of an
old doctor who’s sitting by his side watching his every move. Now, you get some
rest.”

“Doc?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think there’s someone out there?”

Annie heard him exhale before answering. “I
don’t know. I’m going to pull Michael’s car into the garage and take a look
around. Then I’ll be in his room if you need me. Once the sun comes up, I’ll
have to make a quick run down to my clinic. I don’t have enough medication to
keep him adequately sedated for the duration of his recovery. I’ll pick up some
supplies and come right back.”

He walked over to the window. “Storm’s getting
worse.”

“Do you think you should go now? What if you
can’t get out in the morning?”

“I need to stay with Michael for the next couple
of hours or so. You go on and get some sleep.”

Annie yawned. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“No need. That’s what I’m here for.” With that,
he closed the door quietly behind him leaving her alone. For the first time
since this nightmare began, she heard the howling of the wind outside. Though
the cabin was warm and secure, she felt a chill pass from her head to her toes.

Who would want to you kill you, Michael?

As tiny pellets of ice and snow tapped against
the window pane, she fell into a restless slumber.

CHAPTER 19

Eagle’s Nest

“Annie?”

“Huh?”

“Are you awake?” A soft knock on the door
followed Doc’s question.

“Sure, come on in,” she answered, still half
asleep. The room was still dark. “What time is it?”

He walked over to the bedside chair and sat
down. “It’s coming up on
six o’clock
. Sun won’t come up for another
hour. Still snowing mighty hard out there.”

All at once she sat up, her mind suddenly clear.
“Is Michael okay?”

“Yes, he’s fine. He’s resting. Thrashed around a
bit, mumbled a lot, then dozed back off. Best thing he can do is sleep right
now.”

Annie leaned back against her pillows. “Do you
think he’s going to be okay? Can he make it if we don’t get him to a hospital?”

Doc stretched his arms over his head. “Oh, I
think he’ll pull through, if that’s what you mean. He’d recover a lot faster in
a hospital, but I’ll do my best to see he gets the care he needs. I need to
make that trip down to my office. Think I better bring a back-up generator up
here in case the power goes out. I know for a fact Christine never got one.
Never saw the need since she’s gone so much during the winter months.

“I’ll stock up on pain medication and supplies
for our patient in there. Not a lot we can do for him but we can at least keep
him comfortable. I put what medication I have left on the top of the dresser in
his room. There’s plenty for the time being. If for any reason I don’t get back
before he wakes, you can certainly administer it to him. I wrote out some
instructions in case that happens. Will you be all right?”

“I’m fine. I’ll go sit with him while you’re
gone.”

Doc made his way for the door. “I shouldn’t be
gone long.” He pointed toward the window. “The wind just started kicking up
again and it’s snowing pretty hard, so I’ll try to get back as quickly as I
can. You sure you’ll be okay?”

“Go. I’m fine.”

He stopped at the door, his back turned to her.
“Listen, Annie,” he paused looking over his shoulder. “I’m going to pay a visit
to Sheriff Patterson while I’m in town.”

“No! Dr. Wilkins, please don’t do that!” Annie
sat up, clutching the comforter around her.

He turned back around to face her, his hand held
up to stop her protests. “Now just listen to me. You or I neither one know what
Mr. Dean has gotten himself into. We don’t know if those are criminals who shot
him or if he’s running from the law.”

“But Doc—”

“It’s my responsibility as a physician to report
this kind of injury. I need to at least let Patterson know I’ve got a patient
with gunshot wounds up here.”

“Please don’t say anything! At least not until
Michael wakes up and can tell us what happened. He’s not going anywhere. If we
find out he’s done something wrong, we’ll do the right thing. I promise you.
But please don’t tell anyone else he’s here. I’m begging you.”

He stared at her long and hard. Finally, he
rubbed his hand over his face. “I suppose it won’t hurt to wait awhile before
going to the sheriff. If those gunmen had followed him, they would have barged
in here by now. I don’t know how Michael made it up these roads, let alone
anyone else. Besides, if they’re some kind of law enforcement officers, they’ll
go to Sheriff Patterson themselves.”

Annie relaxed, sighing again. “Thank you.”

“Just promise me you’ll keep the door locked and
won’t open it for anyone but me. Understood? I’m still concerned that whatever
trouble Mr. Dean has gotten himself into may eventually follow him up this
mountain.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”

“You better be. Good nurses are hard to find
around these parts, especially when they’re as pretty as you.” With a wink of
his eye, he was gone.