Picking up her tea, she blew into it to cool it a little and took a sip. Tom was right out there, and she suddenly wanted to see him, to talk to him. She went downstairs and
out the back door. He was reading, as usual, but stopped when he saw her coming toward the car.
“Can you come in? I’ll make you some tea.” He had confessed his love of coffee, but that he may become a tea drinker as well. “Would that be breaking the police rules?”
And then she saw him.
As she was bent over, looking into the car through the passenger-side window, she saw Bill. He was looking over at them from between the buildings on Eighty-first Street, right around the block from her building.
“Don’t look now, but guess who is standing right there on Eighty-first?” She stayed ducked down, as though there was nothing more natural than having a conversation with a cop in a back alley. Tom picked up his radio as inconspicuously as he could and radioed in for another car.
“Stay here and talk to me. What were you asking me? Did I want some tea? Tea would hit the spot.”
Tom’s radio beeped; the officer answered that they saw Bill and were going to question him. Bill was still standing between the buildings, watching Sandra talking to Tom. Just then, they heard the trill of a siren, and the car stopped right where Sandra could see it. Once again, she hoped she wasn’t overreacting.
Is pregnancy making me hyper paranoid? But why is he spying on me?
“Watch yourself. I’m going to go over there.” Sandra stepped out of the way so Tom could get out of the car. “Go in the house, okay?” He looked at her and, putting his hands on her shoulders again, turned her around and pushed her gently toward the door. “He might have a gun.
I’m not taking the chance that you’ll get hurt. Shut and lock the door behind you.”
She did as he said and went to the window with the chest of drawers barricading it. She could see the other officers talking to Bill and watched as Tom hopped over the six-foot-high fence as though he were a pole-vaulter. He spoke with Bill and then to the other officers. Tom frisked Bill and then, shockingly, produced a gun that he had strapped to his leg. One of the officers got his handcuffs off his belt and cuffed Bill with his hands behind his back. It would be illegal for him to carry a gun if he was on parole, Sandra surmised. She was off the hook.
The phone rang. The caller ID showed the name and phone number of Sandra’s obstetrician. Her heart jumped once again. She didn’t want to miss the show out her window, but this was too important. If she didn’t answer, she would be up all night wondering what was going on.
“Sandra, this is Dr. Martin. Am I getting you at a bad time?”
How could she know?
“No, this is fine. I was trying to make sense of the list of lab tests,” she answered.
“You should have never been sent the report. I have to call several patients who received them. I apologize. We have some new procedures in the office, and sometimes old ones slip by.” She paused for a moment and then continued. “The reason I am calling is because your ELISA screen was positive. It’s a test that screens for HIV antibodies. Having a positive ELISA doesn’t mean you are HIV positive. We need to run another test to be certain.”
Sandra had gone to her recliner to collapse.
HIV?
“Can you come into tomorrow morning and give us another tube of blood?” Dr. Martin knew she had given Sandra what would have amounted to a death sentence a few years ago. There were medications now that were safe and effective. HIV was still dangerous, still worrisome for the baby, unless the mother took medication.
“I’m still back at HIV,” Sandra responded. “Everything else went in one ear and out the other.”
“Come in tomorrow morning, and we will talk then. We aren’t sure you have HIV until we do a second test. Most likely, you are fine, so don’t worry. Okay?”
Sandra thought she might be in shock. Thank God she hadn’t slept with Tom on the first date. She had wanted to. “All right. I’ll come in tomorrow morning before I go to work.” They said good-bye, the doctor repeating the order not to worry. Sandra hung up.
How can I get rid of Tom tonight?
As though he were reading her mind, there was a knock at the back door. She struggled to get up out of the chair. She was not going to tell him this latest news. Opening the door for him, she saw him looking into her eyes.
Oh God, one of those intuitive men
.
“You are as white as a sheet. You don’t have to worry anymore. He has broken parole and will be shipped back to Rikers Island tonight.” He kept looking at her. “I have to go downtown now to process him, but you’ll be safe. If you feel nervous, I can ask Jim to come back.”
“No, I’m fine. It was really shocking to see him there and then see him be taken away,” she lied. He hadn’t tried to hug her again, which she was grateful for. She would have surely broken down crying if he had.
“I’ll call you later,” he said. He got into his car and, waving at her, drove off down the alley. As she locked the door behind him, a vision of Pam went through her brain.
E
arlier that day, when they got to Pam’s house in Babylon, Tom went up to the door with Sandra when Pam didn’t answer the phone. The door was unlocked, and they found Pam on the hallway floor. She was a mess. It was obvious she had been ill a while. Tom called 911 and identified himself as an officer with NYPD. Within minutes, the ambulance was there. Sandra was on the floor with her friend, holding her head, trying to rouse her. Sandra got Pam’s purse and keys on the table in the hallway, and she and Tom followed the ambulance in his car. She thought of Andy. Tom called the Babylon precinct and left a message for Andy to call him. Just as they pulled into the emergency room parking lot, Andy called back. Tom briefly told him the situation, and Andy said he would meet them in the waiting room. Sandra decided she better call Marie, too. Marie said she would leave right away and meet them in one to two hours.
Andy arrived at the hospital shortly after they did. Sandra told him what had happened and that she didn’t have any idea what could be wrong with Pam. Andy shook his head in understanding, but said nothing. Sandra couldn’t determine if he was in agreement with her or in shock.
Hadn’t they just seen each other?
She decided to do her sly investigation.
“How did she seem when you saw her on Saturday?” She looked right at him. There was no way he would be able to deny seeing her.
“Fine! I mean, she seemed okay. She was a little depressed, but that’s to be expected with what she has been through.” He didn’t add the unspoken
you know all about it
. He seemed totally ignorant of what Sandra’s relationship was with Pam. They stood together in a silent circle. “Why don’t I find out what’s going on?” He pulled out his badge; Tom smiled. It was sometimes beneficial to be a policeman. He left them and went to the nurses’ station.
Sandra watched him show his badge to the nurse, who gestured toward the room where Pam had been taken. He disappeared behind a curtained area.
“Let’s sit down,” Tom said, taking Sandra by the hand. “I wonder how long she would have been on the floor like that if you hadn’t offered to check up on her.” He shook his head.
“She wasn’t expecting anyone that I know of. Why was her door unlocked? Not that the area is dangerous, but since the Bill thing, she is careful about securing the house. One thing I am certain of, Pam is going to have a fit when she finds out Andy saw her looking so awful.” Sandra laughed cynically. “God forbid.”
Why the derision?
Sandra thought. Pam had never done anything to her, and now Sandra was feeling a bit smug that Pam was being exposed. She felt a little guilty.
Maybe I am jealous of her, after all
, she thought.
She glanced over at Tom. He was really handsome. His jaw was chiseled, and he had huge blue eyes and dark wavy hair; she could sense Jack’s jealousy from the grave.
Oh well, you’re dead, aren’t you?
“Look, Tom, if you need to get back to the city, I can take the train home,” Sandra told him. “You really don’t need to wait here with me.”
“I don’t mind waiting. You can leave when her sister gets here, correct? I can wait that long. I need to make a quick call, though. Will you be all right?”
She nodded yes. He got up and walked out to the parking lot. She guessed he was making a call to work. Then Andy came back to the waiting room. He was ghostly white.
“She is still unconscious. The doctor said they are going to move her up to the ICU, and then we can see her. They suspect she may have a virus of some type, so she will be placed in isolation until they know for certain. She’s dehydrated and has a high fever, and that could be why she passed out. They have IVs started now.” He sat down next to Sandra. “So you’re Sandra?” he said.
She smiled at him. “Yep, that’s me.”
They sat in silence for a while, and then Tom returned. Sandra was grateful for the distraction; he took over the conversation with questions to Andy about his job.
In record time, Marie got to the hospital. She parked her car in a no parking zone and busted through the automatic door, pushing aside an older couple who was talking in front of the door.
“Oh my God!” she screamed when she saw Sandra. “Where the hell is she?” Sandra got up and went right to Marie.
“Stay calm now, Marie. The doctors aren’t sure what the problem is yet.” Sandra talked in a low voice. She placed
a comforting hand on Marie’s arm and made eye contact.
It’s as though I am talking to an insane person
, she thought. “As soon as they know, they will tell you. Why not go up to that person,” she pointed to a nurse at the nurses’ station, “and tell her you are the family member. They will tell you more than they’ll tell us.” Marie did as Sandra suggested, running up to the desk and yelling, “Where’s my sister? Where’s Pam Smith?”
The nurse pointed to the room behind the curtain, and with a growl said, “Right in there.” She thought,
Let that doctor deal with her. I’m sick of the family already
. Marie went into the room without knocking on the door. Sandra could hear her screams.
Oh no
, she thought.
“What are you doing to her?” she yelled. “What’s wrong with her?” In the next moment, Marie was being led out to the waiting room by a very grim-looking nurse.
“Stay here. When we are done taking care of your sister, someone will come and get you. Don’t come back again, do you understand me? If you do, I will have the security guard escort you out.” Then she looked at Andy. “You know better. Keep her outta that room!” She turned and walked back to the door behind the curtain.
Marie broke down, her head in her hands, and started sobbing. “Oh my God!” she yelled again. “What is wrong with her? They had her legs spread apart and were putting tubes up into her! She had tubes in her nose! Oh my God!”
Sandra couldn’t help herself; she snickered loud enough that Tom heard. “Marie, for God’s sake, be quiet. They were putting a catheter into her. You should have knocked before you went in. Poor Pam! Have some respect for your sister.” Then Sandra decided that she had
had enough. “Come on Tom, let’s get back to the city,” she said, standing up. “Marie, please call me when you hear anything, okay?” She forced herself to bend over and embrace Marie, who put her arms around Sandra and sobbed louder than before.
“Good-bye, Andy,” Sandra said.
“I’m sorry! I’ll pull myself together!” Sandra handed her a tissue, and Marie took it from her and blew her nose. “Poor Pam!” she yelled and began wailing again.
Sandra looked over at Andy, and with her eyebrows up and finger pointed down at Marie’s head, she said simply, “Andy?” And then, “Come on, Tom, time to go.” She picked up her purse and walked out, hoping Tom was following her. She knew she couldn’t stay there another second. When they got to the automatic doors, she looked back and saw that Andy had moved next to Marie and had his arm around her while she cried.
Tom and Sandra walked to the car together, not saying anything. Sandra thought he was probably surprised at how harsh she had been with Marie.
That was too bad
. Andy would soon see that unless he was firm with Marie, she would work herself up into such a state they would have to sedate her. And then she thought back to the afternoon that Jack had died. Marie was calm then.
Why? Did she want to stay alert in case she missed something I said?
Sandra thought. She didn’t want to be left out of the gossip.
“Wow, that was intense,” Tom remarked. “Does she have mental problems?” Sandra looked at him surprised and then laughed out loud.
“You could say that.” They reached the car, and he held the door for her while she got in.
When he sat next to her, she said, “That family has been through a lot this year. She usually doesn’t get nuts like that, but on occasion, watch out!” Silently, she thought,
If anything happens to Pam, I don’t know what I will do. I’ll be the crazy one
.
Tom put the key in the ignition, but before he started the car, he leaned over, taking Sandra in his arms, and placed his hand on her chin. He turned her head toward him and kissed her.
The ride home went fast; there was so much to talk about, so much to share. But the day would end as it began—in total chaos.
B
y midnight on Tuesday, Pam woke up. At first, she didn’t know where she was. Once she figured it out, she realized Andy was standing over her. She saw Marie in a chair next to the bed, howling away.