“Your father’s right. You’re a trouper, Mary.” Dr. Weaver gathered his leftover sutures, flesh-toned curlicues, and shiny little scissors with the flat edge. “The nurse will be in with release papers for you to sign and directions for care of the wound.”
“How was the X-ray on my right hand?” Mary asked. No need to tell the world she had slugged Justin Saracone. She had grandfathered the injury into the car trunk thing, like some insurance scam.
“Fine, it’s not broken, just a soft tissue injury. I’ll see you back in my office in two weeks. My address is on the form.”
“SHE GONNA BE OKAY, DOC?” her father asked, and her mother paused in prayer, keeping God himself waiting.
“She’ll be fine,” Dr. Weaver answered, turning. “Her MRIs were fine. She needs to rest tonight and follow the directions for wound care, and she’ll be good as new.”
“NO PROBLEM! SHE’S COMIN’ HOME WITH HER MOTHER AND ME! WE’LL TAKE GOOD CARE OF HER!”
The very thought evaporated Mary’s cloud of Percocet, setting her thinking. She had to get to work, but if she went home, her parents wouldn’t let her out of their sight. The whole block of Mercer Street would spy backup. Not to mention the reporters outside the hospital, many of whom she’d called on the way back from Justin’s. The rest had picked up the sensational car chase down the expressway on their police scanners.
“Okay, champ,” Dr. Weaver said, with a sympathetic smile, now that she was an Official Crime Victim. Even the detectives seemed to have found a new respect for her, standing stolid and waiting their turn to interrogate her. The doctor patted her arm. “It’s all over now. Take care of yourself. Nurse’ll be back in a minute, then you can go.”
“Thanks again, doctor,” Mary said, just as her mother sniffled loudly. “By the way, you got any Percocet for my parents?”
The doctor laughed and turned to shake her father’s hand. “Mr. DiNunzio, it was a pleasure -”
“SEVENTY-FIVE!” her father yelled, inexplicably, throwing his burly arms open, and in the next second the startled doctor was group-hugged by her weepy parents. Mary should have warned him. She had never seen her father shake anyone’s hand. Even with complete strangers, he had two speeds – hug and bear-hug. “THANK YOU SO MUCH, DOC! LIKE I SAID, YOU’RE WELCOME IN OUR HOUSE ANYTIME! COME FOR DINNER! YOU AND YOUR WIFE!”
“Thanks, Mr. DiNunzio, but I’m not married.”
“YOU HEAR THAT, MARE? HE’S NOT MARRIED!” Her father poked his head around Dr. Weaver, who laughed.
“Gotcha, Pop!” Mary fought a smile. She’d explain to him about the rainbow flag when he was ready, in about twenty years. And right after that, she’d tell him how she’d really met up with Mr. Lexus. When she was first brought into the emergency room, she’d been in no state to tell her parents or anyone else the full story, and Detectives Gomez and Wahlberg were waiting for her medical treatment to end so they could interview her.
“See you all later,” Dr. Weaver said, with a wave, and on the way out almost bumped into Judy, who was barging through the curtain in gray sweats.
“Mary!” she shouted, her voice a crack of pain. She rushed to the bed and threw her arms around Mary, smelling of linseed oil. “Are you okay? They wouldn’t let me through out front, I had to tell them I was your sister.”
“Mrymph,” Mary said, feeling an unexpected warmth in her friend’s arms, realizing what had happened to her on more than an intellectual level. I almost died. I almost lost my life. And Judy is closer than a sister. Closer than mine, anyway. “I’m fine, really, I am.”
“My God, I can’t believe this!” Judy released her, her face a mask of concern. “This is unreal! There’s like three hundred reporters out front! I didn’t see the TV, I was working. What happened?”
Detective Gomez stepped forward and introduced himself. “Judy, you remember me from the other night, after Keisha was attacked? My partner and I would like to question Mary as part of our investigation. Your questions will have to wait.”
“Go straight to hell!” Judy turned on him, fierce as a girl who climbs mountains for fun. “Your investigation? Mary’s the one doing all the work! She’s the one putting her life on the line! She had to file a lawsuit to bring that guy to justice! Did you ever even go to the Saracones, like she begged you to?”
“Not yet -”
“What were you waiting for? This? They tried to kill her! If you’d gone over, she wouldn’t be in a hospital tonight! She wouldn’t almost have been killed!”
“THE SARACONES? WAS IT THAT SARACONE GUY, MARE? WE THOUGHT IT WAS A GUY OFFA THE STREET!” Her father stepped toward the bed, even angrier than Judy, and her mother prayed harder. “YO, DETECTIVE! IS IT TRUE WHAT JUDY’S SAYIN’?”
Mary put up a hand. “I have an idea. Judy, you stay here while I talk to Detective Gomez. Mom, Pop, I love you both, but you need to go outside, have a cup of coffee, and wait for me. This is going to take some time, and I have to talk to the police.”
“MARE, WAS IT THAT SARACONE? I’LL KILL HIM WITH MY BARE HANDS!”
“It’s okay, Pop,” she answered, touched. “Please, you can help me the most by waiting for me in the waiting room. You don’t want to put Mom through this, do you?” Mary shot her eyes toward her praying mother, caught in the middle of the third round of Hail Marys, and her father understood. Good thing he spoke Meaningful Eye Contact.
“AWRIGHT, AWRIGHT! I’LL TAKE YOUR MOTHER IN THE WAITING ROOM.” He looped a heavy arm around her mother, who blew Mary a weepy kiss behind her Kleenexes as she was led toward the door. “LET’S GO SIT, VEET! WE CAN WAIT FOR MARY OUTSIDE. MAYBE WE CAN HAVE A NICE CUPPA COFFEE AND SOME CAKE!”
“Thanks, Pop.” Mary watched with a little tug as they left the room. She had no choice but to deceive them. She’d have to make them understand later. She turned to Gomez. “Now Detective, let me tell you what happened. But first off, have you heard anything about Keisha?”
“No, she’s still out.” Gomez was already flipping open his notebook. Mary began the story about the blind date, then the lawsuit, then how she hit Justin, but she didn’t expect anything from Gomez anymore. The cops had dropped the ball and it had almost cost her her life. There was nothing more they could do anyway. She knew that Justin had sent the Lexus driver, maybe even before she went over and slugged him, but he was too smart to leave an evidentiary link. It was up to her now.
Mary finished with, “So I think what happened was that Justin Saracone hired Mr. Lexus, who followed me into the restaurant and took a seat at the bar. He may have been following me for a while, for all I know. I got stalled looking around for my blind date, by this bald guy who asked me out, and then I spotted Mr. Lexus and made a mistake. It was a mix-up.”
“I see.” Gomez closed his book when she finished and slipped it into his back pocket. “Well, that was quite an ordeal. You must be exhausted.”
“I’m okay,” Mary said. Judy was the one who looked like she needed a rest. Her pale skin had gone even paler and her blue eyes glistened. Mary had never seen Judy cry and looked away, at the detective. “What do you know about this guy?”
“We ran his prints and plate through VICAP. His name’s Al Denser, with a couple of aliases, from outta Baltimore. He’s wanted for murder in two states. We’ve been lookin’ for him for a while.”
Mary shuddered. “He seemed so charming. Smart. Good-looking. I can’t believe I was fooled.”
“He’s a Ted Bundy type, but a hired gun.”
“Definitely. Chico’s replacement. Do you have any idea where that bad boy is? I didn’t see him or his car, when I served Saracone with the papers.”