“Oh, no,” said Scarlett. “Don’t you die on me. Don’t you dare die on me!”
The woman produced a terrible cough, and more blood was pouring out of her chest.“This is the end… Scarlett. You killed me… with your incompetence…”
She stared down at the patient.“What did you just say?”
“If I die now, it’s all your fault, Scarlett. You’re a murderer. You murdered me.”
She narrowed her eyes, then peeled back a layer of clothes and saw a plastic little contraption pinned to the inner layer with a clothespin. She picked at it with her nails and saw that it was a tiny hose,‘blood’ spurting from it. With a disgusted sound, she gave it a good yank.
“Hey! You’re going to break the tube!” said Vesta Muffin, for that’s who the patient was. She’d taken off her glasses and was now glowering at Scarlett, who was glowering back.
“You miserable old woman!” Scarlett said.
“Who are you calling old? We’re the same age!”
Scarlett pulled at the plastic thingy and suddenly a baggie popped out from Vesta’s clothes, still half filled with a syrupy red liquid.
“Corn syrup and red food coloring,” said Vesta. “If it’s good enough for Hollywood, it’s good enough for me.”
“How dare you give me a scare like that!”
“I got you good, didn’t I?” said Vesta.
The door to the inner office opened and Tex walked out.“What’s with all the screaming?” When he caught sight of his mother-in-law on the floor, covered in blood, he did a double take. “Vesta? Oh, my God, are you hurt?”
“It’s fake!” Scarlett cried, holding up the bag and plastic tube. “She tricked me!”
“I didn’t trick you—I caught you!” said Vesta, now taking out her phone. “I got the whole thing on tape, missy.” She gestured with the phone. “This is going straight to the FBI. You’re going down for impersonating a doctor and practicing medicine without a license!”
“I wasn’t practicing medicine!” Scarlett screamed. “I was simply trying to help a dying woman!”
“Without a license! You’re going down! This is the end of you!”
“Vesta,” said Tex, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Can I see you in my office? Now!”
“Don’t bother,” said Scarlett, grabbing her purse and hiking it up her shoulder. “I’m out of here. Consider this my resignation, Dr. Tex. I’ve had it up to here with this nonsense.” She turned to Vesta. “You won. I hate being a receptionist. I hate the smell of death and decay. I hate the doddering old fools who can’t take their eyes off my chest. I hate the blood and the disease and this boring, GODAWFUL job! Goodbye, Dr. Tex. Have a great life, Vesta.”
And with these words she stalked off towards the door, then out into the world beyond, and immediately felt the rush of relief. It told her she’d done the right thing.
Chapter 38
“Vesta,” said Tex. “This is the final straw. This is…” He gestured to her blood-soaked dress, the blood-soaked floor, the blood-soaked everything. “This is madness.”
Vesta could see how her son-in-law might take a dim view of her actions. But sometimes when a viper enters your world you need to take executive action to drive it out.
“I had to do it, Tex,” she said now. “Scarlett Canyon is bad news. I had to get rid of her.”
“You jeopardized my career! You put in crank calls, sent a bunch of homeless people into the office, promising them free medical care, and now this.” He was clutching at his hair, a clear sign of distress.
“I’m sorry, Tex. But you replaced me with a younger model! How do you think that makes a girl feel?”
He was pinching the bridge of his nose again.“I did not replace you with a younger model. For one thing, you and Scarlett are the same age. And for another, you quit!”
“Because you refused to stand by me. Family always looks out for family, Tex.”
“You quit our family!”
“I told you before. I didn’t quit our family. I just saw an opportunity and I took it. If someone offered you a position onGeneral Hospital wouldn’t you take it, too?”
He was staring at her.“General Hospital is not a hospital. It’s a TV show.”
“Those doctors work hard to save the lives of their patients, Tex. Hard-working, devoted doctor like you would fit right in. And with that full head of hair you look the part, too. You could be the new Dr. Alan Quartermaine. I always like Dr. Quartermaine.”
“Didn’t he die?” asked Tex now. He would never admit it but Vesta knew that he enjoyed the occasional episode ofGeneral Hospital. He’d been taping the show for her for as long as she could remember and often sneaked in an episode when he couldn’t sleep.
“Oh, yes, he did, but they got some great surgeons in General Hospital. They just might be able to bring him back. Or replace him with a fine doctor such as yourself, Tex.”
“Why, thanks, Vesta,” he said, standing a little straighter. “I always dreamt of working in a big hospital, you know. I mean, it’s nice to be a small-town doctor, but it does get lonely sometimes. To be able to confer with a colleague. Tackle some of the more challenging cases. It would sure be a great opportunity.”
She patted him on the shoulder.“General Hospital would be happy if they could add you to the roster. Sure, it would be a big loss for Hampton Cove, but they’d live.”
He stared off for a moment, a slight smile on his lips, and she could see him envisioning a future as a hospital doctor—member of an elite staff of the country’s top physicians. Then he blinked and was himself again. “Look, Vesta. Why don’t you come and work for me again? This whole Scarlett business wasn’t working out for me anyhow, and I need a competent receptionist. So what do you say?”
“You mean kiss and make up?”
He grimaced, the kissing part clearly a bridge too far.
“I’m just messing with you, Tex. I don’t say this often but you’re a good man.”
In fact she never said it. You had to be careful with men. Their egos were such that you had to use compliments sparingly, or else you could end up with a blowhard for a son-in-law. Better keep them on a short leash so they didn’t end up being the boss of you.
She pinched him on the cheek.“Sure I’ll be your receptionist again, Tex.”
Tex brightened.“You will?”
“But first I have to clean up the mess this Scarlett woman made,” she said, staring down at the floor, hands on her hips. “What were you thinking when you hired her?”
Probably he wasn’t. That was another thing about men: they took one look at a set of big knockers and they were gone. She looked up just in time to see Tex walk up to her, arms wide.
Uh-oh.
And then he hugged her.
“Let’s leave the past behind us,” he said warmly.
She grimaced.“Uh-huh. Sure, Tex. Let’s.”
As soon as the hug was over, she returned to her desk and Tex returned to his office. And since she was an old lady and didn’t feel like cleaning up Scarlett’s mess, she called the cleaner and told her they’d had a medical emergency and to come round right away.
And as she settled in her chair and started a new game of Solitaire, she thought with a satisfied grunt that life was finally back to normal again. And not a moment too soon, either.
Chapter 39
As we walked along Main Street, admiring its myriad shops and the felines associated with their owners, I had the distinct impression that all was not well in the cat community. A red cat was hissing at a black cat, which was hissing right back, its tail distended to its furthest limit, a Russian Blue was trying to hit a Siamese across the ear, a Scottish Fold was cowering before a British Shorthair, who stood thrusting out its chest with a sneer on its lips, and a Sphynx cat was running circles around a Turkish Angora.
Gazing out at this battlefield from his perch on his owner’s checkout counter was Kingman, shaking his head at so much feline folly.