As Time Flies.....Chapter 4
Last time: Lindsay got clocked. Nora got her soup and a little unknown revenge. (Go Nora! LOL!) Colin got scared.
Colin's House
Nora awoke with a start. Was that Lindsay's voice she was hearing? Could it be? Right now, nothing would surprise her. She tried to think. Why on earth would Lindsay be here? Nora suddenly remembered seeing Lindsay at the clinic. Wait, did she really see Lindsay? Had she been dreaming? Everything seemed like it was in a haze. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Something was definitely wrong here! She heard a door slam, and the next thing she knew Dr. MacIver was coming into her room.
"Scarlet! What are you trying to do? Your little escapade with that clock has scared some of the other patients here. I think I'm going to have to sedate you so you can rest. You really need your rest."
"I don't want to rest, I want to see my family! What's going on? Who was that I heard yelling? I think I know that voice!" Nora was becoming visibly agitated.
"I doubt that you do, Scarlet. You were probably dreaming. Time for you to go back to sleep and dream some more."
He switched her glucose IV for a morphine drip. As he was ready to hang the IV bag, one of the wires got caught on the bed. He leaned over to fix it. Nora was desperate. She knew this was going to be good night for quite a while if she didn't do something quick. She mustered all of her strength into one quick burst and reached into his coat pocket and grabbed his cell phone. She knew she didn't have much time before the morphine took effect, so she pretended to fall asleep right away. Colin fluffed her pillows and walked out of the room. It was easier to sedate her than to have to look at her. His conscience was really starting to bother him.
Nora opened her eyes the second the door closed. She dialed Bo's cell phone number and listened to it ring. Please Bo, pick up! The phone rang and rang and rang. Finally Nora heard a click. "Bo! You've got to help me!"
"The cellular customer you are trying to reach is either unavailable or out of the service area. Please try your call again later."
Oh no! Nora was getting really sleepy now. The morphine was starting to take effect. She dialed Bo's home number. It seemed to ring interminably. Finally, the machine picked up. Nora knew this would be her one chance. "Bo! It's Nora. I need help! Please! I don't know where I am, but I need your help. Please find me! The doctor told me I'm in a convalescent home, but I don't know where. Bo, I really need you. I want to come home and no one will tell me anything." Nora started crying. "Bo, please help me! I'm so scared and alone. I want to see Matthew and no one will help me. Bo, please! Please find me!" Nora dissolved into sobs just as the machine beeped its signal that her time was up. She stuffed the cell phone under the mattress just as she passed out.
Bo's Car Enroute to Cherryvale
Bo saw Lindsay's car speeding down the opposite side of the two-lane highway. He wondered why she went to Cherryvale when her sister was now in Llanview. He was on his way to Cherryvale to question the staff at the clinic about the disappearance of the Jane Doe patient. What a strange case! He thought about the poor woman's family, not even knowing she was alive after that terrible train wreck, and now she was missing. Maybe it was better they didn't know who she was.
He remembered that Lindsay had been in his office when the Cherryvale doctor had come to report the missing Jane Doe. He hoped he wasn't rude to her, but she had to know that police work came first. He was kind of scared by her behavior earlier that morning, and he was going to make it clear to her that the most they could ever be was just friends. He knew Lindsay was insecure and unstable, but he hadn't realized just how draining her behavior could be.
He was still furious about the Matthew thing, but he had shoved it to the back of his mind. While he was driving, thinking about Jane Doe, he thought about Matthew not knowing that he could be his real father. He didn't want to hurt Sam either, after Sam had lost so much, so recently. It occurred to Bo that if it weren't for Lindsay, Matthew would be his son, and there would be no question about it. Bo hated to think about all that he too had lost, namely Nora and maybe a son. He made himself a promise, that if he could find Jane Doe and reunite her with her family, then he would try to reunite his, whatever was left of it. He even thought of Asa, and how much he missed the old coot. All of this rage had to stop, and he was going to see that it did.
Bo pulled up to the Cherryvale clinic and parked his car. He went up to the nurses station and asked who had been treating Jane Doe. A nurse named Kathy said she had been helping Dr. MacIver treat Jane Doe, but of course, now Jane Doe was missing. Bo asked her for a description, and Kathy told him that Jane had red hair, but even burnt and scratched you could tell she was a beautiful woman. Kathy went on to say that Jane must be one hell of a strong woman if she could have even survived the train wreck in the first place. Bo asked if she had ever noticed anything odd or unusual, and Kathy mentioned that a short blonde woman had come to visit Dr. MacIver and they had gone into Jane's room.
"Kathy, doesn't Melanie MacIver work here as well?"
"Yes Commissioner, but it wasn't her. I've worked with her before and I'm sure it wasn't her. I've never seen that other lady before, though."
Bo finished up with his work at the clinic and drove back to Llanview. He had a feeling the blonde woman was Lindsay, but why on earth would she be visiting Colin? He could understand if she was visiting her sister, Melanie, but visiting her brother-in-law? Seemed strange to him. He remembered Ben telling him that he had also gone to Cherryvale looking for Nora, mostly to appease Sam and Viki, but hadn't found her. According to him, the Jane Doe wasn't Nora. He had an idea.
CrossRoads
Bo saw Ben's car outside and heaved a sigh of relief. He didn't know what kind of hours Ben kept at the bar, but he was glad he had found him.
"Bo! What brings you to CrossRoads in the middle of the day? Not that it isn't nice to see you, of course. Can I get you something?" Ben was tidying up behind the bar.
"Thanks Ben, but no. What I really need is some information. I just came from Cherryvale, and I wanted to ask you more about the Jane Doe that you saw."
"Sure, but what's up? I would have thought they'd know who she is by now."
"You'd think so, except for one thing... she's missing."
"Missing? How can she be missing?"
"We don't know, and I wanted to ask you some questions since you had actually seen her. First of all, can you describe her?" Bo took out his little notebook.
"Well, she had red hair, she looked like she was in her late 40's, maybe early 50's. That's all I could really see, since she was covered by blankets and she was sleeping."
"This may seem like a strange question, but would you have said she was beautiful? Even burnt and scratched?" Bo poised his pen, ready to take note of Ben's response.
"Actually Bo, she wasn't scratched or burnt, so I got a good look at her face. Um, I don't mean to be rude, but no, she wasn't beautiful, at least not to me. I'd say she was definitely average. Viki is about the only woman I think is beautiful. And, I thought Nora was beautiful…I'm sorry, Bo."
"No, that's okay Ben, really. I thought Nora was beautiful myself. One more question, and I'm done. Did you happen to see anyone else while you were there? Anyone at all?"
"Now that you mention it, Bo, Lindsay was there. She said she was visiting her brother-in-law, who happened to be Jane Doe's doctor. Lindsay didn't look too happy to see me, as I recall."
"Lindsay was there?" He knew it. Bo was starting to smell a rat, a very familiar rat. "Thanks Ben, you were very helpful. I've got to run."
Bo jumped back in his car and headed for Llanview, much faster than the police commissioner should be driving. His mind was going a mile a minute, but the same question kept swirling around in his brain. Why did everything in his life seem to involve Lindsay?
To Be Continued…
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