Chapter Six
"Dammit!" she shouted, slamming her hands down on the desk. She had been searching for month now, looking for an article, a full story, a report, anything about someone named Griffin Madarza showing up with a mysterious gunshot wound. Pippa was beginning to lose hope. "Griffin, where are you?" she cried out to the empty room.
"Pippa..."
She spun around in her chair, eyes wide. "Griffin?"
"Pippa!"
His voice died away, but it was all she needed to refresh her search. This time, she didn't search his name at all, and widened her search to include the entire United States. She had always assumed that he would have to be at least fairly close by to project himself here, but realized that that may not necessarily be true. After all, who really knew what the rules about such things were? Who said there even were rules? Trying to find out about his special abilities hadn’t explained anything; rather, it had created more questions and the pair had decided to just learn from experience.
A week later, and she finally found a lead.
Mental Patient In Coma After Mystery Gunshot Wound
Two days ago, an unnamed patient from the Virginia State Mental Health Organization collapsed in his room, bleeding from an unexplained chest wound. The man was taken to an emergency room, where an x-ray showed a bullet lodged in the chest cavity. It is unclear how long the patient was in this state before he was found, but reports from an inside source state that he had suffered from heavy blood lost. This patient is a resident on a secure upper floor, and there has been no explanation as to how he could possibly have been shot. Doctors have him in a drug induced coma to allow healing, but say the man is expected to make a full recovery. We will print updates as they become available.
"Bingo!" she shouted, leaping up from her chair. She quickly ran a search on the town that the newspaper was located in and found that there were only two hospitals there. She knew it would be easy to find him; all she had to do was look for the news vans.
Pippa packed a bag and was on the road in 20 minutes, heading to Eastern Falls, Virginia.
She reached the hospital with the news vultures 31 hours and a short nap later, and walked straight inside.
The person behind the desk, a large Spanish man with a deep voice, asked if he could help her. "Yes, I'm here to see," she lowered her voice and leaned forward, "Griffin Madarza."
"Yeah? You and the rest of the world, lady. You've all heard they let him wake up, and now everyone and their dog thinks they need to see him. Sorry, not going to happen." He gave her a look of disgust and turned away.
She frowned. "Sir?" he turned back to her, rolling his eyes. "Is there any way you could call up to his room and ask him if he'd like to see Pippa?"
His eyes went wide. "Let me see some ID." She pulled out her license and handed it to him. "Wow, it is you! Come on, I'll walk you up there myself!" He called to his co-worker to watch the desk and came out, even offering her his arm. "Man, Mr. Madarza woke up three days ago, and the first thing he said was 'Pippa'. Since then he's been saying your name in his sleep. He's gonna be happy to see you! He's kind of a celebrity around here, you know."
"Why's that?" Pippa asked, barely containing her excitement.
The man grinned at her. "Well, first he shows up with a random bullet in his chest, and no one knows how that's even possible. Then, we looked into his medical records. This man has been locked away for most of his life, and had prescriptions for heavy-duty, mind-numbing drugs, yet there was nothing in his system! Since he woke up, he's spoken to a psychiatrist for the hospital, who says there's nothing wrong with him. He can't remember what happened, but he told us how he had hidden his pills away all this time. The doc says he can't understand why he was ever put in there in the first place, not after reviewing his files. The things the family had him put away for was something that could have been taken care of with simple therapy."
Pippa smiled, "Yeah, I don't really think even that would have necessary!"
He looked at her. "I'd like to ask how you know him, but I know it's none of my business."
"Sorry, there's just really not enough time for that now," she hedged.
Torrence nodded. "I shouldn't have even said anything, ma'am, I'm just a nosey kind of guy."
"Aw, don't worry about it! I'd be curious, too."
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Torrence stepped out and led her down the hall. A uniformed officer was sitting guard outside of a room. Pippa had heard that on the radio when she reached the area that he was being guarded both because of the gunshot wound and the people who kept trying to sneak into his room for photos.
The officer stood as they approached.
"Larry, you're never gonna guess who I have here!" Torrence said to the man, shaking his hand.
Officer Larry shook his head. "Oh, I bet I do! You'll never believe it, but Mr. Madarza told me over an hour ago that Pippa would be coming soon. I can only assume this is her?"
Torrence just nodded, slack-jawed.
Both men waved her in and began talking rapidly.
Pippa stopped short when she entered the room. She had almost expected him to look different somehow, but the only difference was that he was in a hospital gown rather than his jeans and boots. Or toga and golden sandals, as the case may be. He appeared to be asleep, and she didn't want to wake him, but couldn't keep herself from touching him. A nurse came in and checked some monitors, telling Pippa that he had been given a sleeping pill about half an hour before, and would be asleep for a while, but that she was welcome to stay.
Pippa didn't need any urging. As soon as the nurse had left, pulling the door almost closed behind her, she crawled onto the side of the bed that wasn't covered in wires and tubes, and wrapped her arm around Griffin. She was almost surprised when it didn’t go through to rest on the sheets. Happily, she kissed his face all over, squeezed his hand, and listened to his heartbeat, careful to stay away from the wound. It was almost healed now, but she still didn't want to hurt him. As relief washed over her, she snuggled in and fell asleep, finally able to feel his warmth beside her as she did so.
Torrence and Officer Larry peeked in and grinned at each other.
An hour later, Pippa awoke to the feel of a hand on her face. Rather than being afraid, as should have been her natural inclination, she was happy. "Hey, Griffy Boy," she whispered, not bothering to open her eyes.
"It's about time you found me," he whispered back before kissing her. Without the time limit, this kiss lasted longer and was deeper than the ones prior to it. It was sweet and loving.
When they broke apart, Pippa threw her arms around his neck. "You ever act like a damn fool and decide to be heroic and brave and perfect again and I'm gonna hunt you down and shoot you myself, do you hear me?" she said with tears in her eyes.
Griffin smiled and kissed her again. "Yes, ma'am."
After some tears of joy and simply savoring the fact that they could hold each other, Pippa had to ask, "So, if you're almost healed, why are they still giving you sleeping pills and why are you even still here?"
"Well, the head of the psychiatric wing examined me and is fighting to have me released. He was searching for my records to find my family, but the facility wasn't willing to give them up without a court order. Apparently they knew that keeping me like that wasn't okay, and were trying to cover their asses. He's been finding excuses to keep me here instead of letting them take me back, and one of the reasons is so that he can monitor my 'treatment', which are just the sleeping pills. I needed them, though. I haven't been sleeping; I've been trying to project and get to you. The most I could do was see you through a haze. I called to you, though."
Pippa kissed his cheek. "I heard you. I was beginning to think you were gone forever and I heard you whisper my name. How did you know I was coming?"
His arms tightened around her. "I don't really know. I focused on you and coul
d tell you were driving, and just knew you were coming to me." He shrugged.
Embracing one another, Pippa knew it was because they were connected in a way that most people only dreamed of.
"Pippa, the doctor found my sister."
She sat upright. "What?"
Griffin nodded. "The reason we couldn't find anything was because my parents changed their last name. The facility had it all in the file, but no one ever told me. He called her the day before yesterday, and she should be here tomorrow. He said that if she's willing to sign the papers, then that along with his signature should be more than enough for a judge to order my release! I can find a house in Wheatwick and see you whenever I want!"
"Griffin, that's wonderful! But, why are you going to find a place?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm gonna need a place to live..."
She bumped her forehead against his. "You know my house is plenty big enough, right? There's even a spare bedroom if you want it. You could always...I mean, if you wanted..." she trailed off, turning red.
"Pips, are you sure? I mean, I don't want to rush you."
She took a breath and looked him in the eye. "Griffin, we've basically been living together since I bought the house. The only difference will be that you can eat with me, there will be a little more laundry to do, and I'll be able to touch you for more than a few seconds a day. If you have your own house that far away, we won't see each other as much as we used to. The past month has been hell for me, not being able to see you or hear your voice."
Griffin grinned, "I promise to do the laundry, if you show me how. I've never done it before, you know!"
They laughed and hugged each other, and the nurse brought in his dinner, along with an extra tray for his guest.
The hospital was abuzz with news that the mysterious Pippa had shown up, and how adorable the couple was together.
The next morning, a petite red-headed woman walked in. Pippa knew immediately it had to be Griffin's sister, as they looked almost identical despite the height difference.
"Um, are you Griffin? My name is Melanie."
"Mellie?" he said in awe, standing up.
A tear fell from her eye. "Yeah, Griffy, it's me. Oh, my God, they told me you had died!" She rushed forward and threw her arms around his neck. "My whole life, I've thought my big brother was gone, but here you are!"
Pippa slipped out of the room silently, giving the siblings some privacy for their long awaited reunion.
Melanie caught Griffin up on her life, and told him she had read over his files and records with her husband, who was a doctor of psychiatry himself. She had become a lawyer, and together they couldn't understand how it had been allowed for him to remain where he had for all these years. She agreed that she was going to sign the papers, and take them to the local judge herself right away.
When they were finished, Pippa returned. Griffin told Melanie that he was going to be moving in with her, and she, too, questioned how they could possibly have met when he was locked away all this time. Rather than making something up and trying to cover it up, Griffin just told her the truth. Pippa was quick to back up his story, but Melanie didn't seem to be bothered by it.
"Griffy, I remember when you went away. I was only seven, and no one would talk to me about anything. Well, when I got a little older, I talked to Gramps. He had stopped talking to mom and dad when they sent you to that horrible place, and I snuck out to see him one night after I got my learner’s permit. He told me that you weren't crazy, that he could do what you claimed to do. I never thought to question it, because I've always known that you were special. Turns out, it’s a family gift. The oldest of every generation has had it, as far back as he could remember. Mom refused to believe it, because she thought of herself as the oldest of her siblings. Her older sister had died at birth, though. It’s not exactly normal, but this is our family, I guess!” she laughed. “Don't worry, nothing about this will ever be mentioned. But I want to hear about everything once you're officially free!
Everyone was relieved, and Pippa invited her to come stay at her house so that she could get to know her brother again. Plans were made, and Melanie was going to take a vacation and bring her family to visit in the summer.
The judged signed off on the release that afternoon, after hearing from both of the psychiatrists, the lawyer sister, and several of the hospital staff. As soon as the doctor gave the go ahead, Griffin was released and he and Pippa went home.