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

who’s going to be wearing a hole in the floor…” “Don’t worry,” I repeated firmly. “Please.” “All right, Maggie,” he smiled and kissed me gently. I put my hand behind his head and pushed him in closer. “Oh, baby! I love you so much! You do know that, don’t you?” “Going to be fine,” I forced out and then closed my eyes. “So tired.” I complained as the sedative entered my vein. “Don’t like being so tired.” Joseph kissed me gently and I felt him getting on the bed next to me. His arms went around me and I leaned back against him with a sigh. When the nurse came to check on me, we were both asleep. She didn’t have the heart to wake either of us up. Joseph’s cell phone did that for him early the next morning. He got up with a frown, kissed me once more, and went outside to take the call. It was Agent Kerrigan. “She’s going into the procedure in an hour, sir,” Joseph told him. “Maggie is not going to be in any condition to talk to anyone for several hours afterwards.” He listened and nodded. “I can appreciate that, sir; but it doesn’t matter right now. This procedure could kill her. I’ve got to go.” Norman and Abrams came in to discuss the procedure with us and I dozed off in the middle of it, leaving Joseph alone to ask questions and voice his concerns. I woke up briefly as the nurse came with the sedative. I saw Joseph as my vision began to blur and I smiled at him. His smile was there for me and I took it with me into the darkness. I was asleep as Abrams sent the camera into my heart and took the pictures they needed to use to decide what to do to help me. I was unaware of the heart attack I had while I was undergoing the procedure. We had been warned this could happen but Joseph nearly had an attack of his own as he was informed. “Calm down, Joseph,” Ruth said as he began to pace again. “Maggie needs you healthy.” He nodded and tried to sit still but it was too much. He was out in the hall glaring at the doors into the surgery unit when Norman came out. He had assisted Abrams so he was the one who brought the news. “Maggie is stable now,” he said in relief. “She’ll be in Recovery for a while and then we’ll move her back to ICU.” He looked over at Joseph. “You can go in to her now, Sheriff.” He watched Joseph hurry in and shook his head. “He’s really hooked, isn’t he?” “Did you find out what’s going on with her?” Ruth asked him bluntly. “We found some scarring obstructing one of her heart valves,” Norman told her, “but thankfully, it will be easy to repair. Once we have done so, and she has recovered, Maggie should live a long and happy life.” “But?” Maxine asked as she saw his look. “It needs to be done soon,” Norman told her. “If she has any more attacks, it could kill her. It will be at least a month before she is strong enough to undergo surgery. She is going to have to be kept quiet and placed on a monitor. That means,” he looked at Cheryl and Maxine then, “no more FBI investigations. If she does work, it will be only an hour or two at a time.” He shook his head. “She’s her mother’s daughter; that won’t be easy to manage.” “I will sit on her if I have to,” Maxine nodded. “You don’t need to worry, Doctor. I have always looked on that girl as one of my own. I won’t do anything, or let her do anything, to jeopardize her health.” “See that you don’t, Professor Troughton,” Norman nodded. “She will need to stay in the hospital for a couple of days until she is strong enough to go home.” I woke up and saw Joseph sitting next to me, dozing. I smiled and squeezed his hand and he smiled. I took it with me as I drifted off again. When I woke up again, I was back in the room. Joseph was standing at the window looking out at the town beyond. He heard me sigh and turned, smiling in relief. He gripped my hand as he sat down by me on the bed. “Maggie,” he sighed as he pressed my hand to his cheek. “How are you feeling, baby?” “Like somebody hit me in the chest with a hammer,” I said weakly. I saw I was still hooked up to the monitors and I frowned. “When can I go home?” “Doctor Norman says you need to stay here for at least two days,” Joseph told me. “Just to make sure you don’t have another heart attack.” “Another?” I repeated the word and bit my lip. “I had a heart attack?” Joseph nodded. “But I’m all right now?” He looked away and I drew his eyes back to mine. “Tell me.” “It was hard on you, baby,” Joseph smiled weakly and pushed a curl that had fallen over my eye back behind my ear. “The good news is that the damage to your heart can be repaired,” he told me as a way to change the subject. He was still reeling from nearly losing me; “but they can’t operate for a month, Maggie. So when you go home you are going to have to stay quiet and on a monitor.” “For a whole month?” “Think of it as an extended vacation,” Joseph smiled at me encouragingly. “Maxie and I will be moving in with you so you won’t be alone. When you’re feeling stronger we’ll ask Ruth to send the twins over with their favorite Disney movies and you and I can curl up on the couch together.” “That might be more excitement than I can take, Joseph,” I smiled at him. “I’ve spent time with your nephews.” Ruth’s twin boys, Douglas and Edward, were eight and they did not know the meaning of the words slow, gentle, or cautious. They reminded me of Joseph when he had been younger and were my dearest friends. I could always count on them to bring me something they had found on their searches through the yards and the forest. They considered me ‘their’ girl. “We’ll make a game out of it,” Joseph said. “They’re old enough now they can understand why they need to treat you gently.” I wasn’t convinced, but I was too tired to argue. I drifted off again and spent the next two days sleeping more than waking. I woke up the third morning to hear Norman telling Joseph that I could go home and I managed to stay awake as the nurse came to help me into my clothing. Norman had me fit with a cardiac monitor and had a technician explain to Joseph and I how it worked. Then Joseph saw me home. Everyone I knew was at the mansion to welcome me home but I was asleep after the first glass of punch and Joseph carried me upstairs. It was another two days before I managed to stay awake longer than an hour or two at a time. Joseph had indeed moved in with me. He and Maxie were with me every minute of the day and I was growing quite annoyed with their constant presence as the days passed. I got back to the work I had on my desk after a few days but I was only allowed to spend an hour or two on it at any one time. “You’re treating me like an invalid,” I complained to Maxine as she sent me out to the front porch with a glass of lemonade and made me sit down on the porch swing. “I’m fine, Maxie. Honest.” “You’re not fine, Maggie,” Maxine replied. “The only reason you were allowed to come home was because we promised Doctor Abrams we would keep you quiet. Working yourself into another attack is not quiet.” She saw a car coming up the drive. “Who is this?” Her eyes narrowed as the silver BMW convertible pulled to a stop in front of the mansion. Layton got out and smiled as he removed his sunglasses and saw us. He had a bouquet of violets and snowdrops in his hand. He came towards us and, as always, I had the impression of a predator under that man’s handsome face. “Mr. Layton,” I nodded as he came up the stairs. “This is unexpected.” I saw the frown in Maxine’s eyes. “Have you met Professor Maxine Troughton?” “I know Mr. Layton, Maggie,” Maxine said tightly. “His mother and I work for some of the same charities.” She was not at all welcoming. “Why are you here, Nathaniel?” “I came to see how Maggie was feeling,” Layton replied. “We met at the Country Club a few nights ago and I heard she was in the hospital.” He ignored Maxine then and came over to hand me the flowers. “For you, pretty lady.” “They’re beautiful,” I smiled as I drew in the scent. “Maxie…” “I’ll find a vase,” Maxine finished the request and took the flowers. “Don’t keep her long, Nathaniel. Maggie is supposed to be resting.” “I shall be the perfect visitor,” Layton nodded, but kept his eyes on me. When the front door closed, he smiled at me impishly. “I have a feeling you would much rather be doing anything but sitting here on your swing, Maggie.” He nodded towards his car. “How about a drive in the country? I promise I won’t let you exert yourself.” I didn’t know this man, but the lure of being away from the house after the past week was more than I could resist. I nodded and he picked me up in his arms and carried me to the car. He saw me settled and moved around the driver’s side. He saw Maxine coming out the door as he turned on the engine and the look on her face was priceless. He pulled away from the house with a pleased smile on his face. “Why doesn’t Maxine like you, Mr. Layton?” I asked the question that was uppermost in my mind. “You don’t waste any time, Maggie,” Layton replied. He thought about it and decided truth was best with me. “She believes that I don’t think about the ethics of my business decisions.” “Money before morals?” I quipped. He nodded and I had to admit I appreciated his honesty. “Why are you here to see me? I have a feeling that I am not anything like the woman you usually spend time with.” “And that is why I am with you,” Layton replied and smiled at me warmly. He saw me blush and he was enchanted. “You are as beautiful as they are, but you have an intelligence and an innocence I find quite intriguing.” “There’s more to it than that, Mr. Layton,” I said as a strange thought entered my mind. He was after me for some reason he was not stating and I suddenly realized I had been wrong to come with him so trustingly. “Take me home.” Layton shook his head and kept on driving. He did not listen to my demands for him to turn around and so I quieted. He did not engage me in further conversation until he pulled into an overlook along the river. I ran for the roadside phone and began rummaging through my pockets for some change. “I am not going to hurt you, Maggie,” Layton said as he caught up with me and hung up the phone. His hand gripped my wrist and he looked at me seriously. “I needed to talk to you somewhere we would not be disturbed.” I went to lean against the railing and looked out over