Heather felt a hand stroking her face, then patting her cheek more forcefully.
“Heather...Heather, wake up,” was the soft whisper in her ear. “Open your eyes, Heather. Please...”
Heather obeyed, but forcing her lids open took supreme effort. She recognized Mike’s voice and knew he was there, insisting she wake up.
She had been asleep, she thought, confused and dazed. Good grief, did we sleep together? Have sex? Damn, why can’t I remember? The bed was awfully hard, in fact it was rigid and uncomfortable, but when she tried to move, her limbs were numb and felt like they weighed a thousand pounds each.
“We were zapped, or something,” Mike whispered.
Then it came back. Omar! His snarling smile. His eyes turning bright yellow, like yellow headlights in the night.
“Sucked me dry,” Heather agreed, shuddering. She was able to move her head and turned it sideways to look at Mike. He was on his back, lying near her, stroking her cheek with one hand.
“We were lucky,” Mike said, turning on his stomach experimentally to see if he could actually get up on his hands and knees. Maybe he could crawl.
“Why? He found us.”
“You saw what he did to that stair rail. He could have killed us.”
Breathing was a chore, but Heather took some deep ones, hoping to gather a little strength. “Too messy to dispose of our bodies.” She watched Mike crawl slowly toward the door, reach up and grab the doorknob, pulling himself to a wobbly standing position.
“I feel like a gladiator,” Mike said.
“Strong? Like fighting?”
“No, like I’m wearing a hundred pounds of heavy metal armor...and just fell off the horse. But I think the spell he slugged us with is wearing off.”
“Maybe for you...” Heather said. Trying to sit up required stomach muscles she couldn’t find. “Check out the window. See if Omar’s still around.”
Mike held one hand on the wall for balance and taking tiny careful steps like an old decrepit person, made it to the viewing window, cautiously peeping out sideways before moving directly in front of it. “Nope. Seems like he’s really left, but I can’t see all the way down the hallway. Not enough angle. Michelle’s still in her room and it looks like she’s awake.”
“She’s moving? Eyes open?”
“Yes and yes,” Mike said, leaning down to grab Heather’s hand to help her stand.
Heather smiled as Mike pulled her up. “That’s what I love about men. You all have these wonderful muscles.”
“Mine aren’t obeying correctly right at the moment,” Mike said.
“Well, mine are like soggy undercooked noodles. I feel like I’ve aged about a hundred years. Old and rickety.”
They stood in silence in front of the window, watching as Michelle removed the IV needle from her arm. Her eyes were wide open and she looked totally awake. She was moving fast.
“Something about her is different,” Heather said. “I can tell.”
“She’s been through a lot,” Mike remarked. “We have to get over there. She’ll probably try to escape.”
They just had to get across the hallway, but timing it was difficult with a vigilant nurse who would notice any strange movement in the hallway, and running was out of the question. They both were overcoming mind-numbing lethargy, as though all the vital oomph was sucked from their bodies.
“Actually, we can just stand in the doorway. When she comes out she’ll see us,” Heather said. She tried to take a step toward the door, but her knees buckled.
Mike grabbed hold of her before she fell, but lost his balance and they both went down.
Heather started laughing. “You okay, Mike?” He was on the bottom.
“Take it easy, Grandma. No fast moves for a while.”
“Yeah, Gramps, I’m all tuckered out,” Heather said, trying to sound shrill and croaky, like an old lady.
They froze when they heard an irritated voice from behind them, “Hey! What’s going on? Why are you two in my room? I’m trying to sleep.”
She speaks English, Heather thought, as she looked at the woman lying on the bed. She was young and pretty and appeared extremely irritated to wake with intruders in her room.
“Ah, we’re just checking things. Go on back to sleep. We’ll be leaving now,” Mike said. He looked at Heather and whispered. “If we don’t go right away she’ll call the nurse. Can you make it?”
Heather nodded.
Mike opened the door and glanced down the hall. The nurse appeared to be talking on her cell phone. “It’s safe. I’ll help you.”
He put his arm around Heather’s waist and they staggered across the hall into Michelle’s room, where they both collapsed just inside the doorway, on the floor for a second time.
Heather looked up and saw Michelle break into an enormous smile as she threw off covers and swiveled her legs off the side of the bed.
“The good vibrations were right!” Michelle said as she ran over to them. She grabbed hold of Heather and pulled her up off the floor with ease. Then she gave her a big hug, so forceful Heather thought her ribs would break.
“I’m so, so lucky. Friends like you.” Michelle was shaking her head, tears in her eyes. “How’d you find me? And Rod’s with you? And Mike. Thank you so much for coming! I was so scared.”
“It’s a long story,” Heather said. “But first, we have to get you out of here. Omar found Mike and me and zapped us with some kind of energy drain. We can hardly move.”
Heather and Mike tottered to the bed and sat down on it, exhausted.
“I might have an antidote,” Michelle said. “It sure worked for me. Maybe it can work through me, and zap your energy back on.”
“I was wondering about that,” Mike said. “We were here not long ago and we couldn’t get you to wake up. Heather kept talking to you and shaking your shoulder, but you didn’t even twitch. Then we hid across the hall when Omar came to the room, searching for something. You didn’t wake up then, either.”
Michelle smiled, standing in front of them. She bent over, opened her palm, and held out the diamond for them to see. “This is Abigail.”
Heather and Mike exchanged quick worried glances.
“I thought you gave the diamond back to Omar,” Heather said, trying to act natural. Maybe it was the drugs from Michelle’s IV that were making her nuts, talking about good vibrations, and naming an inanimate object Abigail. Or it might be too much stress, being abducted and forced into medical procedures. Or maybe, even worse, Omar had driven her friend crazy.
“I can hardly wait to see Rod,” Michelle said enthusiastically. She seemed to have so much energy she was pacing in the small hospital room as she spoke, holding Lucifer and petting him. “And yeah, I did give the diamond back to Omar. He told me Abigail had chosen me, and now I know why. See, she was a distant relative, and also had paranormal abilities. I’ll tell you all about it. But first, we can try an experiment. When I squeeze Abigail, I get an energy rush. Hold my hand.”
Heather reluctantly reached for the hand Michelle held out. She didn’t expect anything to happen. This was really sad. Michelle had gone bonkers.
She waited and nothing happened. Then, suddenly, it felt like a buzz of electricity shot through her hand and up her arm. It was almost painful, like when you accidently put your finger in a light socket and get a shock. But man, did she ever feel energized.
Heather’s eyes opened wide in shock. “Wow!” She stood up and walked around experimentally. Her legs felt powerful. “That’s amazing. I love it! I wonder if it ever runs out of juice. Better than a gallon of coffee.”
“Let’s try it on Mike,” Michelle said, smiling. “Abigail will probably like him with his dark eyes and hair, like her Indian friend, Nate.”
“Uh, I really like experiments,” Mike said. “But maybe I’ll just get my strength back naturally.”
“Maybe eventually, but look,” Heather said. She jumped up and down in place a few times. Then she skipped around the room. “It’s not a placebo. You know Omar took our strength away. Now we need our good witch to help you.”
Michelle laughed and held out her hand for Mike. “I’m not a witch. That’s just a silly title. The professor said I have some abilities that can’t be scientifically replicated, or put into categories. No double blind studies on this phenomena. So, since paranormal abilities are not recognized, everyone tucks their head in the sand, pretending they don’t exist.”
Mike took Michelle’s hand. Maybe because he was a scientist, a professor who didn’t believe, it took him a little longer. Then, “Whoa! That’s amazing.”
Heather and Michelle started laughing at his astonished expression.
“Now we have to get you out of here,” Heather said. “Any ideas about how we can get past the nurse? If we leave now they probably won’t know you’re gone ‘till tomorrow if we stuff pillows or something under the blankets. Omar won’t know either.”
Mike now had so much energy even his brain, which was unusually bright normally, seemed on overdrive. “In all the silly comedy movies I’ve seen, when people sneak a patient out of the hospital, they just pop them in a janitor’s cart, cover them with towels, and whisk them away.”
“It might work,” Michelle said. “There’s a supply closet down the hall.”
“I’ll go check,” Mike said.
“I’ll call Rod and Vincent and tell them we found you,” Heather said to Michelle. She reached into her purse, then frowned. “That’s odd. My cell is missing.”
Mike patted his side pocket. He shook his head. “When Omar zonked us, he must have come into the room while we were unconscious and stolen our phones.”
“Gross. The thought of him touching me...” Heather said.
“He probably saw me taking pictures of him across the hall.” Mike shook his head. “I’m really sorry. I thought I was being careful.”
“Not your fault,” Heather said. “Too bad though. I wanted to send those pictures to the police in Hawaii, to prove Omar broke bail and is in Mexico.”
“My phone is backed up on my computer. We still have the evidence,” Mike said.
He was looking out the window. “I see the supply closet. The nurse is doing stuff at her desk. Wish me luck.” He smiled and winked and was out the door fast.
“I should have told him to look for something for me to wear,” Michelle said. “Like those green pajama things, the scrubs interns wear, or the lab coats you two have on. This hospital gown is way too drafty.”
Heather laughed. “Not to mention open in the back.”
While they waited for Mike, Heather gave Michelle a fast version of how they tracked her to Mexico.
“I can’t believe the professor, Vincent Middleton, came with you,” Michelle said. “And Mike. He’s so cute, and he’s totally into you.”
Heather nodded seriously. “I’ll probably screw everything up. And I really like him.”
“You can’t do anything wrong now,” Michelle said. “He’s in the first stage of heavy-duty infatuation. You could fart loudly in his presence, or vomit right on him. It wouldn’t matter.”
“Gosh, how completely reassuring,” Heather said, smiling. “I’m a little worried about my potty mouth. I think he heard me swearing once, when we were surfing.”
“What did he do?” Michelle asked.
Heather shook her head. “Nothing. I just glanced at him and it looked like he heard me, and was trying hard not to laugh.”
“See? Anything you do now is cute and funny. His good sense won’t come back for a while,” Michelle said, smiling at Heather. She was taking several blankets off of the top shelf in the closet and rolling them up to put under the sheets so it would appear like a body was in the bed.
“Speaking of good sense. I thought you’d gone a little peculiar,” Heather said. “Talking about good vibrations, and naming the diamond Abigail.”
Michelle told Heather about how she’d tried to escape and thought she saw phantoms Omar produced to make her come out of hiding. But then she felt footsteps vibrating upward through the steel stairs and wondered if her friends actually had traced her all the way to Mexico.
There was a grinding noise in the hallway and Heather ran to the window. Mike was pushing a low slung trolley. On top of it was an enormous garbage can.
“You’re escaping with the trash,” Heather said, giggling and shaking her head. She opened the door and Mike pushed the trolley with the enormous can inside.
“The nurse watching down the hall thinks I’m a janitor,” Mike said. He looked at Michelle. She was not a small person. Hiding inside the big tin can would mean practically bending her body into a pretzel. “Do you think you can fit in here?”
He was pulling sheets and towels out of the can that he’d taken from the supply closet.
Michelle nodded. “Yes. Can you manage to push it if Heather’s inside too?”
“Don’t forget Lucifer,” Heather said laughing.
“I’m still buzzed from the blast you gave me, Michelle. So yes. I feel strong enough to push you both with ease, if you two can manage to squeeze inside.”
It wasn’t easy. Just climbing inside was a problem for Michelle. She had to hoist herself up with her arms to get her waist on the edge of the can, then get a leg over and inside. But she finally made it. There wasn’t enough room for her to sit down but she rested her back against the wall and squatted. Heather handed Michelle her purse and the cat.
No way Heather could get inside the same way Michelle did because she was so tiny, so Mike stood on the bed, picked her up by the waist, and lowered her into the can.
There was hardly any room inside and Heather was forced to sit on Michelle’s bended knees. “Sharp knees,” Heather commented as Mike covered their heads with sheets and towels.
“Can you two breathe?” Mike asked.
“Barely,” came the muffled reply.
“Here we go. Make sure Lucifer stays quiet,” Mike said. “I’m taking a detour into the restroom on this floor so the nurse will think I’m picking up trash.”
Heather felt the cart vibrate over the tile floors, heard the doors to the bathroom swing open. After a minute inside, Mike started pushing them down the hallway. Heather smiled as she heard him humming, like he was just doing a boring everyday job.
There was a swishing noise and Heather felt the upward movement of the elevator, going up to the top floor, where the lab and bridge to the main hospital was located.
It was obvious when Mike pushed them across the bridge because the cement under them made a grinding sound, the vibration teeth-chattering in the metal enclosure.
A while later Mike whisked the sheets and towels off. Both women stood up. They were in the main hospital laboratory.
“Yay,” Heather said, looking around the darkened office space. “We made it!”
After Mike helped them both out of the garbage can, Michelle picked up a sheet and shook it out. “I’m not walking around in this nightgown. Too noticeable, and way too bare.” She managed to fold it a few times and wrap it around her. She used a twisted towel for a belt
Heather took another sheet and draped it over Michelle’s head and down her back. Then she stood back to survey their handiwork. “You could pass for some kind of nun.”
“It’s a good disguise,” Mike said.
It covered Michelle’s long black hair. No one would guess she was a hospital patient fleeing a manipulative madman.