“Most everything you think you know about me is nothing more than memories.”
—Haruki Murakami, A Wild Sheep Chase
Daria fanned herself with a thousand-year-old People magazine from the urgent care waiting room. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help it. It has to be said.”
Quinn opened her eyes. She was in a faux-leather chair with a needle in her left arm, an IV bag hanging from a pole next to her. “What needs to be said?”
Daria looked around before saying, “Awful strychnine poisoning aside, that whole speech Aiden gave back at the vet clinic was hawt.” She deepened her voice to sound like him, “‘I’m not letting Quinn out of my sight until I know she’s safe. Nothing hurts her. Not on my watch. Until then, Caine crew, get used to having me around.’ He’s not even my type, and I was almost ready to throw my wimple in the recycling bin after that speech.”
“Cute.”
Daria smacked Quinn’s needle-free arm with the back of her hand. “Don’t you get it? He likes you. And before you say, ‘Oh sure, like a little sister’ or ‘No, Daria, just as a friend,’ trust me when I say that man likes you likes you.”
“See? This is the problem when your best friend joins a convent. Your finely honed man mind-reading skills have gone soft. Way soft. I’m almost embarrassed for you. If wanting to make sure I’m okay after potentially being poisoned is your notion of someone being into me, well then, you must think the guy who helps carry my groceries to my truck is gearing up for a proposal any day.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, Quinn. Don’t listen to me. Maybe I should ask Aunt Adele what she thinks of my little theory.”
Quinn coughed into her free hand. “You are evil, you know that? You’d think you’d be nicer to me after I was accidentally poisoned.”
“You can play that card for the next forty-eight hours. After that, time’s up.”
Even though they were separated from the others in the urgent care bay by a curtain, they heard someone say, “Knock-knock.”
“Come in.”
The curtain pulled back. It was Bash, still in his firefighter gear, soot smeared across his face.
“Well, no need to ask where you’ve been.”
Right behind him was one of the male nurses. “If he’s here with you, that means your friend needs to wait with the others in the lobby. Only one person back here at a time.”
Daria’s back straightened, chin up. “I’m here providing spiritual counseling after a trying ordeal. I’m with Guinefort House. Surely both myself and one of Fairfax County Fire’s finest can stay with her.”
The nurse grimaced before glancing over his shoulder. “All right, fine, but keep the curtain drawn and the talking on the quiet setting. Otherwise, I’m going to get chewed up and spit out by the doctor on call.”
Bash patted him on the back. “We’ve got you covered. Thanks, man.”
“No problem, but FYI,” he said, looking sternly at Daria, “the giggling from all your ‘spiritual counseling’ got loud.” And with that, the nurse pulled the curtain for privacy as Bash grabbed a chair, positioning himself next to Daria.
Bash’s expression was contrite. “Sorry I couldn’t get here until now.”
“Well, you were busy saving lives. That’s a very good excuse.” Quinn took in her brother’s gear. “Are you okay?”
“Please, for me it’s just a regular Tuesday. I’m actually off-duty now, but I wanted to see you before going back and getting into my civilian clothes.” He peeked on the other side of the curtain before pulling it back in place. “You and RBG are the ones everyone is freaking out about. I’ve never seen Aiden so worked up.”
Daria’s eyes blazed with mischief. “Oh really?”
Quinn glared at her cousin.
If Bash noticed, he didn’t let on. “Yeah, Aiden’s been on the phone, barking orders, having half the squad interview everyone on Church Street to see if anyone got eyes on who planted those dog biscuits. The urgent care staff made him go outside, he was so riled up.”
The curtain drew back. It was one of the doctors.
“Let’s see how our patient is doing.” She checked Quinn’s chart, making a mental note of the almost-empty IV bag. “Hello, I’m Doctor Coffy. How are you feeling?”
“I’m good. Really. Ready to go home.”
The doctor smiled. “Understood.” Then she caught sight of Bash and did a double take. “Oh, um, I didn’t know we’d have a visit from a bona fide firefighter.”
He gave a polite nod. “Just here to make sure my sister’s all right. She gave us a real scare today.”
The doctor jotted down some notes. “Well, everything looks good. We’ll get the results of your blood work in a few days. Until then, I’m going to need you to stay with a friend or family member. You need to be on the lookout for muscle spasms, especially in the neck and back, as well as seizures, abnormal pupil dilation, convulsions.” She pointed to her clipboard. “Don’t worry about remembering everything. I have all the instructions here for you.”
Quinn swallowed. Hearing everything that could go wrong made the reality of what had happened hit home even more.
Dr. Coffey paused. “Do you have any questions?”
She shook her head.
The doctor handed her a small stack of papers. “These are for you. If you experience any of these symptoms, I want you to go straight to the hospital. I have my phone number on here as well,” she said, sneaking a blushing glance over at Bash. “Feel free to call me if you think of something later.”
Great, I might’ve been poisoned, and Doctor McFlirty Pants wants my brother to text her for a date.
Daria stood up. “Thanks, Doc, we’ll take it from here.”
Once they got to the waiting room, Quinn expected to find her family. What she didn’t expect was to also find Sarah from the store, Amy Lyon from Maple Ave Restaurant nor Eun and Greg Hutton from Church Street Eats. Also there were the sisters from Guinefort House, the Clink-n-Drink ladies, along with Pastor Johnny. Maxie was there too, as well as Michael from Caffe Amour.
There were so many people, they were spilling out the doors and onto the sidewalk.
Quinn turned to her brother. “What’s going on?”
He draped his arm around her shoulder. “Everyone heard what happened. They stopped by to see how you’re doing.”
“Really?”
“Heck yeah,” Sister Daria said. “This town loves you.”
Her parents walked up. “Yes, that’s true, but we need to get you home.”
As she walked out, Quinn hugged and thanked everyone for coming over to check on her. It took awhile because there were so many of them. Just as they got to the car, she heard her name.
“Quinn!”
She turned around. Rachel Slingbaum was running in their direction.
“Quinn! Quinn! Wait up!”
She turned to her family. “Hold up. Rach is coming.”
Barely out of breath, she caught up. “I just got Bash’s message and came right over. Oh my God, are you okay?” She didn’t wait for a response, throwing her arms around her. Quinn smiled to herself because she had forgotten that about her: Rachel was a world-class Olympic hugger.
“I can’t believe someone would want to hurt Ruff Barker G.” She spoke into Quinn’s hair, swaying back and forth. “If something had happened to you …”
“I’m okay. Promise,” Quinn told her. “But I need to get home. It’s been a day.”
Rachel released her, still holding Quinn by her shoulders. “Of course. Sorry. Can I come by tomorrow, to check on you?”
Quinn smiled, placing one of her hands on top of one of Rachel’s. “You never have to ask permission to spend time with family.”
Rachel’s eyes teared up. “I’ve missed you,” she said to Quinn before locking eyes with Bash.
Please, please give him another chance. Open your heart just one more time.
“Yes, what Quinnie said. Come by anytime, Rachel.” Her father opened the car door, but Quinn spun her head around. “Wait, where’s Aiden?”
A shadow crossed Bash’s face. “He got a call a little while ago. They found the 2013 Nissan Altima at the Hauser property. The tires are an exact match to the markings left on Nutley Street. And by the way, I don’t know if you know him, but the car belongs to Lorenzo ‘Ren’ Diamond. They’ve brought him in for questioning.”