CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Jenny’s labor was difficult, and she was in a great deal of pain. David was torn between trying to do something to ease her trauma while keeping things in check with the baby. Linda’s whispered threat lingered in his ear. He had three lives hanging in the balance.
Turning the baby had been his first priority; otherwise, he would have to attempt a Caesarean. Without proper tools and monitoring that was his absolute last resort. He forced himself to focus on the work at hand, and tune out the stares from the silent watchers.
Randall and Linda sat in chairs three feet from the bed, observing the scene as if sitting and watching a play unfold. David knew they whispered to one other several times, but he didn’t avert his attention from his patients. It was too critical.
It all happened fast once he managed to turn the baby. Jenny was fully dilated within moments, it seemed, and it only took a few pushes for her son to enter the world with a lusty cry. When he placed the baby in Jenny’s arms, she squeezed his hand for just a moment.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Then her full attention was on the baby in her arms. Her expression was one David had seen many times. It was the look a mother has only for her child; the one of instantaneous unconditional love. They both had forgotten about their observers.
David felt a cold hand on his arm, and he found himself looking into Linda’s eyes.
“Excellent work, Doctor,” she praised him.
David couldn’t have cared less what she thought; he only had one concern now. “I want to see Ellie,” he demanded.
“All in good time,” she said. She cocked her head toward Jenny. “We have some business to attend to first.”
“You have no business with this woman and her baby other than ensuring their safety,” David protested. “My business with you is done. As soon as I find Ellie, we are all leaving you two alone to your sick fantasies.”
“You have held up your end of the bargain, Doctor, in more ways than one.” Linda chuckled. “But the business at hand isn’t with you in any case.” She motioned toward Randall, who stepped closer to the other side of the bed, staring down at Jenny and her baby.
David tried to read the expression on Randall’s face. All of the color had drained out of the man’s face, and he looked ill. Then David saw Joe Klein emerge from the bathroom glaring at Randall.
“MINE!” Joe screamed as he rushed at Randall.
The scene unfolded in seconds, but David didn’t believe his eyes. Randall turned and his face changed as Joe reached him. Then Randall’s jaws got wider and he latched onto Joe’s shoulder. Joe’s wild screams turned into painful hollers. Then his face went slack and Randall let him slip to the floor.
Randall turned with glowing eyes to Linda and his face returned to normal, except for the bright red blood that covered his mouth and chin. “That was sloppy, dearest.” His voice was heavy with sarcasm. “Very sloppy.”
Linda shrugged. “I forgot about him. No harm done. As if he was ever a threat anyway.”
“He knew too much,” Randall spat.
“Are you going to yell at me all day or are you going to heal yourself?” Linda asked in a bored tone.
Randall looked like he was going to say more, but then he looked at the bed. Jenny started to whimper and held her baby closer as Randall approached.
“You have to excuse Randall for his haste,” Linda said to David. “It draws so much more from him than me. I’ve never understood why.”
David shook his head. “What are you talking about? Are you both crazy?”
“Energy, Doctor. I’m talking about sustenance,” Linda said. She made it sound like she was talking to a child. “Everything needs to be fed in order to survive. Me, Randall, this lovely house. Everyone and everything.”
“I don’t know what your angle is, lady, but I’m taking Ellie, Jenny, and her baby out of here. Keep your twisted sickness to yourself,” David said as he moved toward the bed. Then he was flung against the far wall.
His head smacked hard against it, and lolled forward as he fell to the floor. He had missed the bureau by less than a foot.
As his vision cleared, he found Linda was right in front of his face. “Exactly who do you think you are talking to, Doctor?” Her voice got louder. “You of all people don’t have a choice in what happens here. You’d do well to remember that.”
Linda turned her head away and took a breath. Then she put her hand against David’s cheek. David felt strange, as though his jumbled thoughts were turned inside out. Linda smiled at him, and he smiled back.
“I’m sorry, David. I didn’t mean to be harsh. We have so much to show you. You and Ellie both. You will understand everything soon, I promise,” she said, brushing his hair out of his eye.
David nodded. He didn’t know why he had been so judgmental. He could see now that explanations were coming in due time. Linda was right.
Her face beamed and she looked radiant. “Good. I’m so glad we’ve reached an understanding. Now, David, Randall and I have to do something else before we can go see Ellie. Will you sit over there like a good boy and wait for us?”
“Of course,” he said.
Linda’s hand stayed on his chest as he pushed himself up the wall. Over Linda’s shoulder he could see Jenny staring at him. He couldn’t remember why she would look so frightened. Randall was on the bed and had pulled her into his lap. She had been gagged, but he didn’t see anything wrong with that. Randall cooed softly to the baby in her arms and stroked Jenny’s hair.
For some reason, this didn’t bother him either. He thought that perhaps it should, but it didn’t. Linda pushed against his chest and guided him to a chair that was propped in the corner facing the bed. Another gentle nudge and he was sitting down.
Linda leaned down, and David could smell the perfume at her neck. It smelled like lilacs, and David closed his eyes, drinking it in deeply.
“You may want to turn your chair around, sweet boy. These matters aren’t for you,” she whispered in his ear. “At least, not yet.”
Then she licked his ear and David felt a bolt of delicious electricity shoot through his body. Then she grabbed the sides of his chair and in one strong shove swung it around.
The energy coursing through his body left him dazed for a period of time and he couldn’t form a coherent thought, much less move. When he finally felt like himself again, and gained awareness of his surroundings, he broke out in a cold sweat. He didn’t dare make a move to brush the drops on his forehead away. He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he’d been so afraid. He didn’t know what was happening behind him, but the obscene noises were enough to ensure that he would never be the same again. Where was Ellie?