Just Me - M J Marlow (reading strategies book .txt) 📗

told her if you ever needed medical care I would take you on as a patient without fee.” “You’ve known all this time I was really Kerrigan Grady,” I frowned at him, “and you never said anything?” I closed my eyes a moment and felt Joseph squeeze my hand. I looked up at him to reassure him I was all right. “Why is this man so determined to get his hands on me?” “We’re looking into it, Maggie,” James replied. “You just concentrate on getting stronger.” He nodded at Joseph. “I’m certain your personal champion will do everything he can to make certain you stay safe.” I blushed and he smiled and shook his head. “You still have the prettiest blush I’ve ever seen in my life, girl.” He turned to his people. “We’ve got a man to find. Say goodbye, people, and let’s go after him.” “My phone,” I said suddenly and sat upright. “Did you find my phone?” James looked at me in confusion. “I’m not certain but I think I took a picture before I passed out.” They told me they hadn’t found a phone and I bit my lip. Then I smiled. “One of the men must have taken it but they can’t have known about the auto-send, can they?” “Auto-send?” James sat down again and I could see his eagerness. “I was tired of having to load the photos afterwards,” I nodded, “so I asked Brain…” I quieted a moment and prayed for my friend to recover. “Brain designed a program for my phone that would send the photos directly to my laptop once I took them. If you bring it to me I can find it for you.” They looked hesitant. “I’m the only one who can unlock the program,” I told them. “He designed it that way specifically so no one could get in and take my photos without my knowledge.” “That young man should be working for us,” Robert said as he came up and kissed me on the forehead. “I’m going to stick by him, Maggie. When he wakes up, I plan on recruiting him for the Bureau.” “Charles “Brain” Novak,” Joseph smiled with me; “Federal Agent!” “He’d like that,” I laughed. “Please find this man,” I said to them all. “I don’t think I can stand another encounter like this last one.” I looked over at Norman as James and his team took their leave. “So, Doctor Norman, can you correct this damage? I would rather not spend the rest of my life fainting like a possum every time I get excited or stressed.” “We’ll have to run a few tests,” Norman told me honestly. “I can’t promise anything until we see exactly what we’re talking about.” “I appreciate your honesty, Doctor,” I nodded. I sank back against the pillow with a sigh. “I’m so tired.” “You get some rest then,” Norman smiled at me gently. “I’ll be in to check on you in another couple hours.” He looked sad for a moment. “You look just like your mother, Maggie. I wish she were here for you now.” “When you have some time, Doctor,” I smiled back at him weakly, “I would love to hear about my parents, and the rest of my family.” “I’ll come share supper with you then,” Norman nodded. He looked at Joseph as the cell phone rang. “I think your deputy is looking for you, Sheriff.” Joseph nodded and pulled his cell out to go into the stair well away from the machinery. “That’s a good man you’ve got there, Maggie.” He nodded and left the room and I laid back and closed my eyes, lulled to sleep by the steady beeping of my own heart. My eyes came open a few hours later and I looked around. I was completely alone and that wasn’t right. I tried to get up and winced as the IV line pulled. I was hooked into so many things I couldn’t get up without help. I hit the button for the nurse and Daniels came to help me get up. When I came back out, she wasn’t there and I began to get worried. I decided to go see about Brain and I moved out into the hall. Daniels was at the desk with the other nurses in the intensive care ward. “What are you doing out of bed, Miss Grady?” she chided me as she got a wheelchair. “You’re supposed to rest.” “I need to see my friend, Nurse Daniels,” I said to her, my breathing coming out in a wheeze from the walking I’d done. “Please?” Daniels made a call to Norman and he gave his permission. So I was wheeled into Brain’s room where he was hooked up to more machines than I had ever seen. I was in tears as I sat there holding his hand. Daniels left me there talking to him and so I was not in my room when Maxine came back. She ran to the nurses in a panic and they nodded to the room where I was lying with my head on Brain’s hand sound asleep. “Maggie?” Maxine said as she shook me gently. I opened my eyes and looked up at her drowsily. “You need to be back in your own room, honey.” “I just wanted to see him, Maxie,” I said softly. “The nurses say his vital signs are good. He should wake up soon.” “We all hope that, dear,” Maxine nodded. “Where’s your personal guardian?” “He wasn’t around when I woke up,” I said and felt a twinge of worry at that. “Maybe he had to go to work? He does have more to do than worry about me.” “Wherever he is,” Maxine smiled as she patted my shoulder, “I’m sure he’s worrying about you. That one is as loyal as the day is long.” She nodded to Brain. “Say goodbye and I’ll take you back to your room.” “Can’t I move in here?” I asked her as she pulled me away. “Brain could use the company.” I saw her frowning at me. “He’s trapped in there somewhere, Maxie. He needs his friends to help him find his way back.” “That is as neat as explanation for what he’s going through as I’ve ever heard,” a man’s voice sounded from the doorway. We turned to see a doctor with graying hair standing there. “Hello, ladies. I’m Doctor Simpson. Mr. Novak is my patient. And you are?” “Professor Maxine Troughton,” Maxine made the introductions, “and Maggie Grady. Mr. Novak and Miss Grady have been friends since high school.” “Ah yes,” Simpson nodded. “Dr. Norman’s star patient.” He came in to check the readouts. “He’s actually doing quite well, Miss Grady. Your friend is a fighter.” He looked at me clinically. “You need to be back in your bed, Miss Grady. I think I saw Nurse Daniels headed that way with your medication.” “She knows I’m in here,” I frowned at the comment. “Why would she go to my room?” I looked at Maxine. “Maxie, do you have your cell?” She nodded. “Go call Joseph and tell him that someone was poking around in my room while I wasn’t in there.” Simpson went to the phone and Martin the Security Chief came running to Brain’s room a few moments later. I told him what I believed and he checked into it. He found Nurse Daniels in the supply closet, bound and gagged and missing her uniform. When he and his men went to my room, there was no one in it. He sent them hunting as quickly and unobtrusively as possible, then he called Norman. It was decided I would move into the room with Brain where I would be in sight of the nurses’ station. By the time the transfer was made I was exhausted. I dozed off several times during dinner with Norman and he finally got up to leave. “Rest is what you need, Maggie,” he said as he kissed me on the forehead. “I’ll pop in before I leave for the night but you should be sleeping.” I nodded and heard him leave. I had planned to pull up the photo for the agents but I was just too tired. I drifted off to sleep secure in the knowledge that the laptop was well hidden. Only I knew where I had put it, and only I could get the information off of it. I wondered briefly as I fell asleep if my room had been bugged. There was no other explanation for how someone could have known about it and come looking. “Kerrigan,” a familiar voice sounded in my ear. I felt his hand over my mouth and did not open my eyes. “When they let you out of here I will be waiting to take you home.” A hand stroked my hair gently and I tried not to shudder. “Don’t be afraid, precious. I’m not going to harm you. Not yet.” I heard him leave and I still would not open my eyes. If I didn’t see him then he wasn’t really here. It would have been a dream and I could forget his threat. But then my hand moved and I felt something. I looked and then I began to scream. A black rose was lying there with another note wound around it. This one read ‘Refuse me next time and someone you care about dies.’ I tried to get the phone to call Joseph and I fell out of the bed as another attack started. I came awake to hear Norman’s angry voice. “I am not going to let you use this girl as bait!” he was snarling into the phone. “Find another way to end this for her.” He fell silent a moment. “This last attack nearly killed her, Agent Kerrigan. She’s resting comfortably now but we’re going to have to keep her on mild sedation. Martin has put security on the room so no one I have not approved of beforehand will be allowed near her.” He turned and saw me watching him. “You can come talk to her but I can not promise she will be awake to speak to you.” He hung up and smiled at me gently. “How are you feeling, Maggie dear?” “Almost died?” I said weakly as he took my pulse and listened to my heart. “Afraid so, Maggie,” Norman said to me. “Abrams has scheduled the laparoscopy of your heart for tomorrow morning. We need to see what’s going on in there so we can decide what to do.” “Tired.” “I should expect so, Maggie,” Norman smiled weakly. “You were unconscious for nearly five hours after that last attack. We were afraid you were going to slip into a coma like your friend Mr. Novak.” “How is…” I tried to speak but it was too much of an effort to put the words together. I turned my head and looked over at Brain. But he wasn’t there. “Not…” “He woke up, dear,” Norman told me, smiling. “We moved him to a different ward. When he’s stronger, he’ll be up to see you, I’m certain.” He looked up as someone came in. “Here’s your young man to make you smile. I’ll be back in the morning to talk to you both about the procedure.” He nodded to Joseph. “Try not to keep her up. She needs to rest.” Joseph nodded and watched the man go. He shut the glass doors and came towards the bed and I saw how tired he was. He looked like he hadn’t slept since I’d seen him last. He sat down next to the bed and lifted my hand to his cheek. He didn’t speak but just sat there as if he had to memorize my face. I could tell he was worried about the procedure and I smiled at him. “Don’t worry.” “Easy for you to say, Sweetness,” Joseph choked. “You get to sleep through it. I’m the one