* * *
Vi didn’t take her eyes off the two large, muscular orderlies that flanked Dr. Wells. In her mind Vi nicknamed them Frick and Frack, they looked so alike.
Meredith and Miguel ran for the door as Dr. Wells cried for the orderlies to detain them. Before Frick and Frack had a chance to react, Vi wrapped an arm around each of them as tightly as she could. “Hello, boys,” she said. “Have we met?” Vi knew she couldn’t hold the orderlies there for long, but hoped she would slow them down enough to give Meredith and Miguel a chance to escape.
Frick wrenched from her grasp first and made for the door. He hadn’t gotten two steps before Josh jammed a crutch out in front of him, tripping the bulky man and sending him down hard. In the kerfuffle, Josh went off balance and toppled onto Frick, his landing cushioned by the orderly’s thick backside.
Vi wrapped her other arm around Frack and laced her fingers together, setting in her heels as he struggled to break free. Frack turned his body and wedged his elbow under Vi’s ribcage, causing her to gasp for air and loosen her grip. He slipped out from between her arms and made for the door, while Frick recovered and followed right on his heels.
Josh sat on the floor and watched them go through the lobby doors before turning to Vi and saying jovially, “Never a dull moment around you, is there?”
To her left, Dr. Wells seethed, crossing her arms and balancing her weight between both feet. “Real cute. An assault and battery charge is going to be a nice feather in your cap, I’m sure.”
“What on earth is going on?” Mrs. Alvarez demanded. Mr. Alvarez had risen to his feet, and he was now resting a hand on each of his wife’s shoulders, trying to keep her calm.
Ignoring Miguel’s mother, Dr. Wells hissed to Vi, “You’d better hope that your friends didn’t leave.”
Vi stepped away from the doctor, keeping her eyes on the door. A few moments later, the two orderlies came back into the lobby alone. Vi swallowed hard, meeting Josh’s gaze.
Josh nodded his head toward the exit at the other end of the lobby, widening his eyes slightly as he did so. His lips silently formed the word, “Go.”
Vi gave him an apologetic look, but his crutches wouldn’t get him very far, and she knew she would have to leave him behind.
“Just go!” he said urgently.
“Call the police,” Dr. Wells commanded to one of the orderlies.
Vi spun on her heel and didn’t look back. From behind her she heard Mrs. Alvarez shriek again, “What is going on?” Vi pressed through the doors that led deeper into the hospital with a loud clang. Unsure where to go, she ran through the maze of hallways aimlessly. She clamored up a flight of stairs, figuring that her pursuers wouldn’t expect her to go up. Her primary goal was to not be easy to follow; once that was accomplished, she could think about a plan.
All the hallways looked the same. The walls were painted a subtle shade of teal that wasn’t quite right for the fluorescent lights overhead, and the floors were endless stretches of gleaming white linoleum. Vi turned down hallways at random, getting herself thoroughly lost.
Vi slowed her pace and began to look around for signs that might help her find another way out of the hospital. There had to be another staircase somewhere. Up ahead, she could see a nurses’ station with several green-clad nurses standing around gossiping. Not wanting to be seen, Vi ducked into an empty room where she could stop and think. The room had no windows and was dark, allowing only a small shaft of light to come in through the window in the door to the hallway. Vi stood behind the door, leaving it slightly ajar, which was the way she found it.
From inside the room, Vi could hear the conversation at the nurses’ station. There were three distinct voices, two female and one male. The male said, “I am telling you, I have never seen anyone lose their cool that badly before.”
One of the females responded, “I know, right? I don’t get why she was so pissed off. Why does she care whether the guy has the surgery or not?”
The second female voice chimed in. “It was definitely weird. But we don’t really know Dr. Wells that well. Maybe she is just like that.”
Vi’s ears pricked up at Dr. Wells’s name, realizing they must be talking about Miguel. She moved closer to the crack in the door to be able to hear better. The hair on her arms prickled as all her senses were at attention. Why did Dr. Wells get so upset about Miguel? Vi thought about what Eleanor had said about not trusting anyone who worked at the hospital. Could it be that Dr. Wells was working for the protégé, or even Aleric himself, and now doesn’t want to have to explain letting not one, but two, emerged magicians get away?
The male voice was speaking again. “I don’t see how anyone with a temper like that could get very far in any field, let alone medicine, when so much is out of your control.” He laughed and continued, “I seriously thought she was going to murder someone!”
Vi heard footsteps approaching, and the second female said, “Shh!”
“If you all have time for gossip, then you have time to go check on your patients, too.” The new voice was familiar to Vi, and she tried to place it. It wasn’t Dr. Wells, that much she knew.
Vi eased her face around the door to peek at the nurses’ station. The person who had broken up the gossip was facing away, working on some paperwork at the counter. Vi recognized the short blonde hair that belonged to Dr. Sparling, and wondered why she was away from the other hospital. Had Dr. Sparling come to help with Miguel’s surgery, too?
Vi stepped back into the darkness of the empty room, sitting on the edge of the neatly made up bed. She resolved to spend only a moment collecting herself before trying to find her way out of the hospital, ideally without being noticed by anyone who might recognize her.
After taking a few slow, deep breaths, Vi went back to the doorway and peeked out at the nurses’ station. Dr. Sparling was still doing paperwork with her back turned. Vi couldn’t look the other way without sticking her head out into the hall, so she listened intently for footsteps. She couldn’t hear anything, so she eased out into the hall and walked back the way she came, away from the nurses’ station.
Vi quickened her pace the farther she got from the nurses’ station. The hallway ended with a ninety-degree turn to the right, and Vi paused at the corner and furtively poked her head around. Her eyes landed on two pairs of feet, one in green scrubs and one in navy blue slacks. Her eyes traveled upward and met Dr. Wells’s icy stare.
Dr. Wells stopped abruptly, causing the police officer who accompanied her to bump into her. “Ah,” the doctor said with a note of perverse pleasure. “Just the young woman we were looking for.”
Well, shit. Vi took a step back, considering whether she should run or just accept that she was caught.
Reading the intentions on Vi’s face, the police officer said, “If you run, we’ll add resisting arrest to your charges. You really don’t want to do that.”
Vi glanced down the hallway toward the nurses’ station, still undecided. Dr. Sparling had finished her paperwork and was walking toward them. Vi was good and caught. She sighed and raised her hands with a conciliatory expression on her face. “Okay, I’m not going to run.”
“Good.” The police officer stepped around Dr. Wells and unhooked the handcuffs that dangled from his belt. He was middle aged, with rich dark skin and tightly coiled gray hair. He was trim and agile looking, despite his age, and Vi surmised that he probably spent a fair amount of his off time at the gym. His nametag read M. Pierson.
“Do you really have to cuff me? I’m not going to do anything,” Vi assured him.
“Yes, I really do have to cuff you,” Pierson replied with a sigh. The handcuffs made a clicking sound as they closed around her wrists. The officer held onto Vi’s arm with a gentle but firm grip.
Vi glared at Dr. Wells through narrowed eyes. “Why do you care whether Miguel has the surgery or not?” she demanded.
“When my patient is taking bad medical advice from his uneducated, unqualified gir
lfriend instead of his doctor, I care,” she snapped. To the police officer she asked, “Do you need me to sign anything or give you a statement or something?”
Ignoring Pierson’s response, Vi pressed, “Is that all?” She watched Dr. Wells’s face suspiciously, looking for any indication that the doctor had ulterior motives.
Dr. Wells gave her a withering stare. “What on Earth makes you think that I owe you an explanation?”
“Time to go,” the police officer said, gesturing toward the elevators.
“Wait!” By now, Dr. Sparling had reached them and taken in the situation. “You’re Meredith Carpenter’s friend, aren’t you? Vi?”
“We need to go,” Pierson repeated.
“I’ll walk with you,” Dr. Sparling offered, with a glance toward Dr. Wells that said, We’ll talk later. Vi got the impression that Dr. Sparling wasn’t particularly happy with the other doctor, which briefly caused a smug smile to tug at the corners of Vi’s mouth. At least not everyone at the hospital was a jerk.
“Fine. Come on then.” Pierson pulled gently on Vi’s arm and guided her down the hall. He punched the button on the wall to call the elevator, and while they waited, Dr. Sparling spoke.
“So I take it you and Meredith are friends with Miguel, too, huh?” she asked conversationally.
“Dr. Wells mentioned that there was a patient here with Meredith’s same condition, so we came to find him here.”
“Why did you do that?” Dr. Sparling’s eyebrows knit together in confusion.
“Do you want something in particular, Dr. Sparling?” Vi asked irritably. She felt pretty humiliated to be in police custody, and didn’t really feel like having to make small talk with the doctor. She’d rather she didn’t have an audience.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. They all shuffled into the car and were silent as the doors closed.
Dr. Sparling spoke again. “I don’t really care that Meredith didn’t have the surgery; that’s her choice. I only want to know that she’s okay. I’m her advocate, remember?”
Vi’s feelings toward the friendly doctor softened, and she felt guilty for treating her so rudely. “Oh. Meredith said that she’s feeling better now. She seems to be just fine, actually.”
The elevator doors opened again and they walked out to the lobby, where Josh was standing in handcuffs with another police officer--presumably Pierson’s partner. Vi looked at Josh contritely. “Still having fun?” she asked weakly.
“It beats sitting home watching MacGyver reruns.” Josh grinned. “Besides, check out this guy’s name tag. ‘F. King.’ I’m sure he doesn’t get an ounce of flak for that.”
The police officer whose name was in question rolled his eyes. “You really think you’re the first smart ass to make a comment about my name?”
Josh shrugged and smiled again at Vi, making her wonder how much of his bravado was for her benefit.
Dr. Sparling had followed them to the lobby. “Vi,” she said seriously. “Please keep an eye on your friend Meredith. If she shows any signs of fever or light-headedness, promise me you’ll bring her back to the hospital.”
Vi nodded.
“Promise me,” Dr. Sparling repeated.
“I promise,” Vi said meekly.
Mr. and Mrs. Alvarez came over to their small group quietly. Mr. Alvarez gripped Eleanor’s green coat in his hands, and Mrs. Alvarez clung to her husband’s elbow as if she might collapse without the support.
Mrs. Alvarez’s voice broke when she spoke. “Please, do you know where Miguel has gone?”
Vi shook her head. “I don’t.” She took in Mrs. Alvarez’s worry-lined face and desperate grip on her husband’s arm. “I’m really sorry, Mrs. Alvarez,” she added sincerely. She hoped that Miguel and Meredith would find a way to get in touch with Miguel’s folks and set their minds at ease.
Mr. Alvarez thrust the coat toward Vi robotically, and it seemed as if his eyes didn’t really see her. His mind was with his son, and Vi didn’t blame him one bit. “Here, don’t forget your coat,” he said. “I know from experience that those holding cells are like meat lockers.” His eyes never met hers, his gaze resting at some unknown spot in the distance.
Pierson took the coat from Mr. Alvarez, since Vi’s hands were bound. “We’ll make sure she stays nice and toasty warm, sir.” Vi couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. “Let’s go.”
Dr. Sparling laid a hand on Vi’s arm and looked her in the eye. “Take care.”
Vi felt like Dr. Sparling was the wise older sister she’d never had, and she fought the strong urge to hug the spritely doctor. “Thanks,” she mumbled, not sure how to respond to the wave of longing that overcame her. Vi wished that her parents were here. She wished she could go over to their house and curl up in her mother’s arms, like Meredith could.
The police officers ushered them outside to their police car, which was parked illegally at the curb. Vi and Josh sat together in the back, each consumed by their own thoughts. Vi was amazed that she was being arrested; she never would have imagined it even a day earlier. She looked over at Josh, who seemed largely unaffected by their current situation.
“Is this your first time being arrested?” Vi asked him curiously.
Josh gave her a mockingly scandalized look and joked, “Now is that a question to ask a lady on the first date, Vi?” He fluttered his eyelashes demurely.
Vi laughed out loud at his absurdity. “This is not a date.”
“You’re right, it’s not. But I’d say, all things considered, you now owe me a date.” He raised his eyebrows at her expectantly.
“We’ll see,” she said, still chuckling. “Though I don’t really get your attraction to hardened criminals.”
“It’s the outfits.”
Pierson gave them a hard look from the front seat. “That’s enough talking.”
They smiled at each other briefly and then were silent the rest of the way to the police station.