Shelley left the bed and pulled on the cords and the blinds opened and the room was flooded with light.
“They are mine,” said Jillian. “Not his. I want to keep them safe. I have to keep them safe.”
The sunlight was blinding and Jillian could only make out the vague edges of Shelley McLaren’s body. “Shelley,” Jillian asked, “who told you about my past?”
There was no answer.
Seconds later, the blinds swept back and the room fell into darkness again. Jillian raised her head again from the bed and saw Spencer at the window.
She could not be sure if Shelley McLaren had ever been there. She could still smell the Chanel Number Five. But she had no idea what that meant. Jillian smiled when she heard Denise’s voice. “You gave us a real scare, Jillian,” she said.
“How long have I been here?” Jillian’s voice was cracked and doped up.
“You have been unconscious for nearly two weeks,” Denise replied. She was staring at Jillian’s voluminous chart as she spoke. “Your bleeding was awful. You hemorrhaged quite severely. You lost a great deal of blood.”
Jillian tried to sit up. but Denise gently pushed her back down on the mattress. “You have to remain calm now, Jillian,” Denise said solemnly. “One of the miracles of pregnancy is that your body took care of the babies, even putting their welfare ahead of its own needs. All through this, they got plenty of blood and more than enough nutrition. But I am prescribing bed rest for the term of your pregnancy. Your husband has arranged for a home nurse when you get out. You’ll be having complete, around the clock care.”
Deftly, Denise inserted a hypodermic needle into one of the shunts in Jillian’s IV tube and shot a dose of sedative into it.
“Rest is the most important thing now,” said Denise. “You have to believe me…” Then there was Nan. She appeared… one morning? Evening? Jillian had no idea. But she was there, standing over her bed with tears in her eyes, looking at her as if Jillian was some kind of basket case. Nonetheless, Jillian was very glad to see her sister. She smiled though her cracked and dry lips and said her name.
“Nanny…” The word came out slurred, but there was no doubting the happiness behind it.
“Oh, Jilly…” Nan snatched one of her hands. “I didn’t want to fight you, Jilly… I didn’t want to.”
As Nan leaned down to hug her sister, Jillian whispered in her ear. “Something’s wrong, Nan. ”
Nan shook her head. “No, there’s nothing wrong. The doctors say you can go home any day now. Everything is going to be okay from now on. ”
Jillian’s heart sank. Nan was another one who wouldn’t listen, or who was determined not to understand. Maybe she didn’t want to understand. “There’s something horrible, Nan. With Spencer. And with the twins, too.”
“No, Jilly,” said Nan. “It’s nothing but this place. It will all look different when you’re out of here.”
But Jillian would not be dissuaded. She was determined that somebody understand what had happened to her. “He did something to me,” Jillian said. “Something horrible. I should have told you about it before.”
“No, no,” said Nan, shaking her head. “You’re just all messed up because you’ve been in the hospital for so long. That’s what makes you feel like this. I know you must hate it here. I know I would. We’re going to take you home soon. We’re all going to take care of you. We’ll take good care of you, Jilly-O.”
Jillian felt a familiar feeling fear. “All of you? Does that mean Spencer, too?”
Nan smiled. “Of course, Jilly.”
“And you, too?”
“Yes, Jilly,” said Nan. “All of us.”
“And Shelley McLaren? What about Shelley?” Jillian watched as a look of sadness sweep across Nan’s face. Nan shrugged and opened her mouth to say something, but did not answer Jillian’s question.
But Jillian understood. “She’s dead, isn’t she?
Nan would not look at her sister. “Now why would you say a thing like that”
Jillian shook her head, unhappy that her sister would not tell her the truth. “Something is wrong. ”
“Why would you say that?” Nan asked.
“Something is wrong… something is wrong with Spencer. Something is wrong with the twins. Something is wrong with the whole thing.”
Nan seemed a little overeager in her questions. “Okay, what’s wrong? Tell me, Jilly. what? What?”
“He’s hiding, Nan…he’s hiding inside.”
Jillian felt herself sinking slowly into unconsciousness. From far away she heard Nan’s voice. “What do you mean, Jilly, hiding inside? What does that mean…?”
But Jillian was gone… When she awoke the next time it was raining hard, the raindrops rattling against the windows like handfuls of gravel. It was a sad, dispiriting sound. Standing at the window, watching the rain, was Spencer. Jillian felt her heart sink when she saw him, but she had to speak to him.
“I saw Reese,” she croaked. “I saw you and Sherman Reese, you were together.”
Spencer’s laugh was obviously forced. “Sherman Reese? I saw him, too. He’s crazy, Jillian. Obsessed. You can’t let thoughts like that in your head. You have to be strong, Jillian. For the babies. For us. And most of all, for yourself…”
Jillian was not going to be put off by his continual platitudes. It was always them, me, us, you…“But Reese…” Jillian said. “Reese said that…”
Spencer marched from the window and leaned down close to her. “Jillian… If the doctors knew what you were thinking… those kinds of dark thoughts. What do you think they would do? They know about your past… They are concerned about you, about the babies, about your health, your well-being. If they thought you were going off the rails about Sherman Reese, tell me, Jillian…do you think you would ever get out of this hospital?”
As if to belie his threat, Spencer kissed her softy and slowly.
She hated his touch. In a walk-in closet in Jillian and Spencer’s apartment, Spencer studied every piece of paper that Sherman Reese had managed to cram into his already overstuffed briefcase. He was amazed at how the man had managed to take a few facts and spin them into a scenario that was dangerously close to the the whole truth.
Nan found Spencer entranced by the document and the tapes. She had no idea what he was looking at, it meant nothing to her. She was more interested in the welfare of her sister.
“Spencer, are you going to the hospital?” she asked. “I am. She’s got so much on her mind…some of it doesn’t make sense, but it’s pretty intense.”
Spencer continued to study the documents. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“She’s pretty pissed at you, for one thing,” said Nan. “She thinks you’re out to get her.”
“She’s wrong,” said Spencer. He still did not look up from the papers.
Nan peered over his shoulder. “What’s so interesting there? What are you reading?”
Spencer stood up and grabbed Nan by the wrist. Immediately she tried to pull away. “Let go of me,” she said.
But Spencer pulled her close. It was gentle. He did not have to threaten her with physical pain. “I said, let go of me.” With her free hand Nan raked her nails along his forearm, pulling away skin and drawing bright blood. He winced in pain but did not let go of her. Instead he drew Nan close, like a lover. Spencer bent at the waist and put his mouth to her ear, whispering something. Immediately, Nan began to scream in pain’ desperately trying to claw at her own ears to keep his voice from her hearing. But her hands were pinned. He would not let her go and continued to speak to her.