Danville Horror: A Pat Wyatt Novel (The Pat Wyatt Series Book 3) (6 page)

chapter

SEVEN

Sitting on the stupid plastic mattress that emergency rooms are known for, I waited for the doctor to come back with the results of the X-rays. After I had to explain, mostly lie, about all my other injuries, I had convinced the doctors and nurses that my hand was the only thing that needed any attention. Looking at the sterile, gray walls and blue curtain surrounding me had been bad enough, but then they insisted that they give me an IV with pretty weak pain meds and afterward told me that I was going to have to wait on the questionable sheet for an hour or more until the X-ray came back. It was absolute torture, especially when the medication wore off after fifteen minutes. “I hate hospitals,” I said, grimacing. This sitting and doing nothing sucked.

Pops got up off the chair and came over to rub my back. “I know, baby girl. I know.” He kissed my temple. “It’s gonna be all—”

“Where is she?” Tina yelled from the other side of the curtain, and a nurse said something about her not being allowed back to see me, so she flipped out. “Listen, I don’t care about your rules. You can shove them up your scrub wearin’—”

“Tina,” I called out to her, “I’m right here.”

She pushed back the curtain and put her hand over her heart while the nurse looked like she was going to cry. Tina could do that to a person, especially when she was angry. “Oh my God,” she screamed, her blonde hair falling into her brown eyes. She looked disheveled and very red in the face, as if she had run the whole way from New York.

I waved to the nurse with my good hand. “It’s okay, she’s my cousin,” I lied, and the nurse nodded, going back to her work, as far away from Tina as possible.

Pops laughed a little, but before he said anything, she went off. “Patty, thank God you’re okay. First, I went to your Dad’s house and then this weird guy answered the door, and he told me that you went to the hospital. Then we all get in my rental, Cindy and Andrew are here too, and Cindy showed me where to go. Finally, when we get here, I try to come back to see if you’re all right, and I get stopped by not one, but
two
nurses, telling me that I have to wait. What kinda bull—”

“Tina,” I interrupted her, “breathe.”

She had not inhaled since she walked into the room. In fact, her entire speech was said in one breath. At last, she took a deep breath and a little bit of the redness drained from her tanned face.

“Better?” I asked when she looked calmer.

She nodded. “Much,” she sighed and then noticed that my father was standing beside me. “Oh, hey there, Mr. Wyatt. How are you?”

“Good, Christina,” he answered with a smile, “and yourself?”

“A lot better if your daughter would keep herself outta trouble. I mean, really, Patty. You went outside
alone
with that vam—”

“Pops,” I said over Tina, and she blanched, realizing what she’d almost let loose, “could you go get me something to drink? I’m really thirsty.”

He smiled, giving me a wink. “Sure, baby girl. Would you like something, Christina?”

She nodded. “Water, please.”

“No problem.” And with that he left us to talk, shutting the curtain behind him.

“Are you outta your mind?” Tina hissed at me, her button noise scrunched up in anger.

“Are you out of yours?” I retorted in a harsh whisper. “You nearly said the ‘v’ word. Are you crazy?”

“I was worried sick about you. After what he did, you went outside with him! Come on, Patty! Do you have a death wish?”

“Who told you what happened?” I asked, trying to sidetrack her.

“Andrew,” she replied, glaring at me, “and don’t change the subject.”

“Then stop yelling at me,” I told her. “I know what I did was stupid, okay? So I do
not
need you screaming at me.”

“Sorry,” she sighed, her voice at a better tone. “I just get upset when you put yourself in danger like you’ve been doing lately.”

“I’m sorry I worry you, Tina.” It was my turn to sigh. “I don’t mean to.”

She patted my cheek with her hand. “I know.” She then paused and looked down at her sneakers. “Patty, Samuel told me about the baby. I’m so sorry, sweetie.”

“It’s okay,” I said, but I could feel the lump in my throat.

“It is
not
okay,” she huffed. “You know, it’s all right to be sad, Patty. You can’t just keep it all bottled up inside. It’s not healthy.”

“I know,” I breathed, “but for now I have to put on a smile and deal.”

Tina folded her arms and pursed her lips at me. “You gonna have a nervous breakdown, you know that, right?”

I nodded. “Later. Not now.”

She shook her head. “You always do that. Don’t you know it’s better to have it now? Because later, you might actually wind up in the psych ward.”

“Tina,” I snapped, taking a breath. Yelling made my wrist hurt.

She grimaced. “Sorry. I’m not making it better by yelling at you. I know that. But you gotta admit that you push things down.”

“I…” I paused, knowing she was right, “I know. But right now, I need to be happy-go-lucky. No one wants a depressed Matron of Horror.”

“Did you just say Matron of Horror?” Tina giggled.

I closed my eyes, realizing that I had. “I’m going to have to be more careful around Cindy.”

“Wait a minute,” she said as she sat down on the chair, “you’re the matron of honor? I thought that was gonna be Jessica’s thing?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I think it was Pops idea.”

She cocked a black brow at me. “What? She doesn’t have friends of her own?”

“Don’t be like that,” I huffed. “She’s very nice, Tina.”

Her eyes widened. “I thought you didn’t like her?”

“I didn’t, but I think she’s good for my father. Besides, she seems kind.”

“Okay. Who are you, and what have you done with Pat Wyatt?”

“Ha. Ha,” I laughed without humor. “Very funny.”

“Seriously, what happened?” she asked, placing her hand on my knee.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “She just seems different.”

“I noticed that too,” she agreed, taking her hand away, and then she looked down at her feet again. “Pat?”

I tried to catch her eye, but she avoided her gaze. “Yeah.”

“Speaking of different,” she continued, kicking the ground like a two-year-old, “what happened to Samuel?”

“Huh?” I asked, confused.

She finally looked up, and I could tell she was trying to say something without saying it. “When he came to visit me to try to change my memory… thanks for that, by the way.”

“I said I was sorry.”

She waved me off. “I know you are. But when he came by, he seemed sad. Not his usually cocky vampire self. Did something happen between you two? I mean, besides you being an idiot and being alone with him, and him trying to break your arm.”

“Wrist,” I corrected, and she glared at me.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yes,” I breathed, “I know.”

“So?” she prompted.

“I couldn’t tell you. He seemed like his normal jerky self when he had my wrist in a vice grip.”

She folded her arms, frowning. “Yeah, well, he seemed awfully depressed when he was talking to me. Maybe he has some mental issues or something.”

“You’re just figuring this out now?”

“That’s not what I mean, Patty,” she huffed. “And you know it.”

I looked down at my now bruised wrist, taking a breath. “What are you saying? That he’s bipolar or something?” I saw her nod in my periphery. “A bipolar vampire. That’s just great,” I muttered.

“Now, I don’t know if that’s his real problem or not,” she amended, “but he just seemed like a different vampire. I mean, he even told me that he was so grateful to you for saving his life. Now, does that sound like the bastard you married?”

I closed my eyes. I had totally forgotten that I killed Herb, and that I didn’t tell Tina that her fiancée was dead. Before I could explain to her what happened, the doctor walked in, and Tina moved her chair back to give him room. It was what I had feared most; the wrist was fractured. Meaning, I needed a temporary cast for a week and then I would have to come back to get the real thing put on for six weeks.

I thanked the doctor for telling me what I already kind of knew. Then he told me that he had to get the “cast master.” It was the worst joke ever, but I still laughed. Finally, he left Tina and me alone again.

It was time to tell her, whether I was ready or not. “Listen, Tina, I have something to tell you.”

“There’s no need,” she interrupted me. “Samuel also told me about Herb and what you did.”

I closed my eyes, feeling so guilty that I just couldn’t look her in the eye. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why?” she asked, and my eyes shot open. “Oh, come on. I know why you killed him, and it wasn’t for your blood sucking ex-husband. It was so he wouldn’t hurt me ever again. See what Mr. Satané doesn’t get is, you didn’t save his life, you saved mine. And,” her eyes welled with tears, “I am so grateful to you, Patty. Who knows what that monster would have done to me.”

She was right, as usual, and I held out my good hand so she could take it. “I couldn’t let him touch you. I wouldn’t let him…” my voice faded away, and I took a deep breath, keeping the tears at bay. “Anyway, it’s over now, and he’s not going to get you. That’s all that matters.”

She got up off the chair, hugging me so tight I couldn’t breathe. “You are the best friend a girl could ever have.”

“So are you.” And she was. Tina had gotten me through everything, and she was the one I could rely on no matter what.

“I know,” she replied, and we laughed. She backed away from me, letting go of my good hand in the process. “So when is Mike gonna get here? I can’t wait to give him a piece of my mind.” I grimaced. “What now?” she asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“We’re taking a break so I can figure stuff out.”

“Really?” she asked, confused. “Why?”

I took a deep breath, knowing that she was going to scream after I told her. “Well, he, sort of, tried to kill me.”

“What?” she yelled, and I hushed her. The last thing I needed was for her for be kicked out of the hospital for disturbing the other patients. “What happened?” she asked at a much better volume.

“He turned into a werewolf and tried to eat me,” I explained, and her mouth dropped open. “Yup. So that happened.”

She shook her head. “Jesus, Patty. You have such shitty taste in men.”

I laughed. “I do, don’t I?”

She giggled and nodded. “Yeah, you do. Speaking of men,” only Tina, “that Andrew guy is really hot.”

I cocked an eyebrow at her. “Tina.”

“What?” she said in an innocent baby voice. “He is. Now, I’m not sayin’ anything, but if you were to have an affair with him, I think it would do you some good.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Then it’s a good thing you’re not saying anything.”

“Oh come on, Patty,” she whined. “You’ve been through hell and back; you deserve some nice time off from all of this supernatural shit.”

“Well, Andrew wouldn’t be time off,” I explained. “Not only is he friends with Mike, but he’s also psychic.”

She smirked, just the edges of her mouth titled up; it was her scheming look. “Really? Psychic? Groovy.”

I glared at her. “Tina. Don’t. You. Dare.”

“What?” she asked, a smile still on her face.

“I know what you’re thinking,” I huffed.

“What am I thinking?”

“You’re thinking that since I can’t have a little fun with him that
you’re
going to.”

“Wow,” she breathed, “that was what I was thinking. Are you sure
you’re
not the psychic one?”

“You are just so funny,” I said sarcastically. “But I mean it, Tina. You don’t know what you’re getting into with this kind of stuff. It’s bad enough that you know about it, and God only knows what they’ll do to you if they find out that you know. But sleeping with the supernatural on purpose, you’re asking for trouble.”

“Who said anything about sleeping?” she winked, and I sighed. Tina was going to do what she was going to do. I knew that there was no way I could convince her otherwise. So I just dropped it.

Pops finally came back in with the waters and apologized for taking so long. “Had to go to three different machines,” he said, and I knew that it was just an excuse to leave Tina and me alone. Before I could thank him, the cast man came in with his tools and a smile. He explained that he needed room to work, so both Tina and Pops left me alone with him. He was very meticulous and didn’t talk much. As a result, I had plenty of time to just be. I adored those moments when I didn’t have to think. They were becoming fewer and far between, so I needed to cherish them when they came.

But, of course, it didn’t last very long. My mind started to wander to Tina. It always shocked me how quick she was back on the horse, no pun intended, after she was dumped or had a relationship end. However, I realized a long time ago that it
was how Tina dealt with grief. She always found something to distract her, and my guess was that Andrew was her next distraction.

After the cast was set and they explained what and what not to do, I was good to go. The doctor gave me a script for some pain meds and then told me that I needed to take them as prescribed, and that I was not allowed to drive. But other than that, it was perfectly fine for me to do my matron of honor duties. After they made an appointment for me to come back to get a regular cast, Pops helped me with my coat, and we were out of there three hours after we arrived.

I leaned my head against the passenger seat of my pops pickup, and he sighed. Something had been bothering him since we’d left the hospital, and he was awfully quiet as we drove. “What’s the matter, Pops?” I asked, looking over at him. He shrugged. “Don’t worry, Pops, you can tell me.”

He took a deep breath and gave me a quick sideways glance. “I’m so sorry, baby girl. For what I’ve done and for what I now realize that monster must’ve done to you. When I think of how I…” his voice faded.

I placed my good hand on his arm. “You didn’t know.”

“No,” he snapped, “I didn’t wanna know.”

“Pops—”

“No, Patricia,” he interrupted my trying to sooth him, “I blamed you for everything because I was jealous of the relationship you had with your mother. And I am ashamed of myself.”