Friday
River Crest Community Hospital Emergency Room
“Kevin, please get me out of here,” Molly pleaded from her hospital bed in the Emergency Department at the River Crest Community Hospital.
“Seriously, Molly? You’ve just had stitches in your head, and you probably have a concussion. Didn’t the doctor say he wanted to keep you overnight for observation?”
“Yes, but I need to get home. We have guests coming, and there’s a bullet hole in the Terrace Room wall.”
“Elise is at the house.” He patted her hand. “Besides, we can’t use that room until the police are finished with it. I’ll fix the hole so no one can tell it was ever there.”
Molly pulled her arm away. “But—”
“Elise can check in the guests and do the whole welcome thing.”
“Of course, she can, but I should be there.”
“I just talked to Elise, and she said the police are at the house digging the bullet out of the wall. They also collected pieces of the broken lamp as evidence.”
“I liked that lamp.” Molly laid back on the pillows in the semireclined hospital bed. “Kevin, please…”
The door opened, and Tony poked his head inside. He paused momentarily, staring at her while the noise of beeping machines and the moans of a nearby patient filled the room. Molly’s heart leaped to her throat when he stepped into the room and leaned against the closed door, his cool blue eyes assessing her. “How are you?”
Her fingers automatically went to the wound. “Stitches in my forehead and a mild concussion. Otherwise, okay.” She noticed that he’d changed out of his bloody white shirt into a sheriff’s office polo shirt.
“Thanks for taking care of my sister. Sounds like you got there in the nick of time.” Kevin stood to shake Tony’s hand.
“She’s lucky it was just a few stitches,” Tony said.
“Six stitches, and it’s going to leave a scar.”
“Adds character,” Tony said.
“Conversation starter,” Kevin added.
“I think I’ll grow out my bangs.” Molly fingered the ends of her hair over the bandage.
“She seems quite perky for what she’s been through,” Tony remarked to Kevin.
“I’m sure she’ll feel differently when the local anesthetic wears off.”
Molly sat up. “How’s Lauren?”
“In surgery for her badly displaced broken arm,” Tony said. “When she’s conscious, we’ll charge her with second-degree murder, breaking and entering, assault with a deadly weapon, and whatever else the county prosecutor throws at her.”
“And Sarah?” Molly asked.
“In the ER too,” Tony said. “She was understandably distraught, so the EMTs brought her in too. The doctor gave her something to calm her down. They’ll probably keep her overnight.”
“Does she know?” Molly asked, alluding to the statement she’d given Tony and the recording she’d emailed him.
“Know what?” Kevin asked.
Looking at Tony for direction, she said, “He’s going to find out anyway.” When Tony nodded, she added, “Aubrey is Sarah’s birth father. Lauren and Aubrey hooked up at a high school reunion twenty years ago. When Lauren came to see Aubrey after the party, he thought they’d get together again for old times’ sake. But Lauren told him about Sarah, and he said some terrible things to her. She snapped and hit him with the champagne bottle.”
“Wow,” Kevin said. “Did Mr. Driscoll know?”
“Not according to Lauren,” Molly said.
Tony moved closer and took her hand. “Look, I have some paperwork and need to obtain a couple of warrants, so I’ve got to go. I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said, gently squeezing her hand.
“Thank you for being there for me.”
“I’ll check back in on you later.” He released her hand and motioned for Kevin to follow him.
Molly watched through the small rectangular window in her room’s door while they talked on the other side. She could see the back of Kevin’s head but not Tony’s face as nurses and other white-coated health care workers rushed past her window.
“What was that all about?” Molly asked when her brother returned.
Kevin sat in the chair next to the bed and took her hand. “How hard did you hit your head?”
“Hard enough for six stitches. What’d he say?”
“Tony’s worried about you. He asked me to keep an eye on you because you told him that Elnora Harrington—her ghost, anyway—saved you.” Kevin looked troubled. “Is that true?”
“Well…yes. Lauren had a hold on my arm when she lost her balance. I tried to wrench it away, but she was pulling me over. All I know is…” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. In her mind’s eye, she watched herself falling forward and then being hurled backward. “Something pulled on the back of my shirt and flung me across the landing. I hit my head on the window seat.”
“Perhaps the adrenaline helped propel you that far, and the head injury played tricks with your vision.”
Molly shook her head. “Is that what happened to you when you were…what? Eight years old? You said she saved you.”
Kevin ran his hands over his face. “She did. She saved me from falling headfirst down those narrow attic stairs—probably saved my life.”
“I saw her,” Molly said. “She was in a flowing white dress. She was…”
“Beautiful,” Kevin said. “That’s exactly what I saw.”
Molly clasped his hands in hers. “At least our resident ghost is friendly.”
“Apparently, she likes us.”
A quick knock at the door, and the ER physician who had stitched her up poked his head inside. “Hello.” He was a tall, thin man with brown hair and tired eyes. He wore light-blue scrubs under a white lab coat with Dr. N. Marino in a dark-blue script over the left chest pocket.
“Dr. Marino, this is my brother, Kevin. He’s come to take me home.”
The doctor entered the room and closed the door. “Now, wait a minute. We discussed keeping you here overnight for observation. You’ve had a hard hit to the head.”
Molly sat up. “We own the Harrington House B and B, and I have two reservations coming in late this afternoon.”
“Don’t you have a backup plan for emergencies?”
“Yes, of course. Our chef is checking them in. But I really should be there.” Molly stared at Kevin, mentally pleading for his help.
“You can’t be alone, at least not the first night,” the doctor warned.
Finally taking the hint, Kevin said, “Elise and I can stay with her tonight. That’s not a problem.”
“You need rest for at least two to three days. When that local anesthetic wears off, you’ll probably have a whopping headache and possibly dizziness, so no driving. Be careful on the stairs. Isn’t that where you fell? On the stairs?”
“I promise I’ll take it easy. I’d rather sleep in my own bed. Kevin and Elise will be with me.”
“Still, I’m inclined to keep you here. You need vitals and concussion checks every couple of hours, and a physician should examine you in the morning.”
“Dr. Marino, please, I really need to be at home, especially with guests in the house.”
“I’m still not convinced,” he said, pushing aside his lab coat and placing his hands firmly on his hips. “You can sign out Against Medical Advice, as my recommendation is to stay in the hospital where the nurses can do neuro checks every couple of hours.”
Molly leaned forward. “How about I make a deal with you?”
He gave her a sidelong glance. “What kind of deal?”
“Are you married?” she asked. Dr. Marino nodded, still giving her a squinty-eyed look.
Kevin shook his head and stifled a smile.
“Got an anniversary, a birthday, or something special coming up?” she asked. “How about you come by the B and B tomorrow, check on me, and look around the place? I am sure we can work out a friends and family discount.”
Kevin chuckled. “Molly, are you trying to bribe your doctor?”
“No, I’m providing an alternative discharge plan.”
“Your head CT was clear.” Dr. Marino chuckled. “All right. You’ve worn me down. We have a toddler and a five-year-old, and I’ve been working a lot of shifts. Both my wife and I could do with a night off.”
“We can even arrange packages with the local day spa,” Molly added. “How about a couple’s massage in your room?”
He laughed. “We’ll see about that. First things first, I’ll discharge you if your brother promises someone will be with you throughout the night tonight and possibly tomorrow. You need to wake her up every two to three hours. If you have trouble rousing her, call the EMTs.”
“I promise,” Kevin said.
“The nurse will be in with your discharge instructions. Follow them closely and return to the Emergency Room if you have any alarming symptoms, such as fever, disorientation, or uncontrolled vomiting. I will see you in the morning at ten. I’ll come by the B and B before my shift.”
“Thank you, Dr. Marino.” Molly threw up her hands. “Thank you.”
Dr. Marino left the room, still shaking his head.
Once the door was fully closed, Kevin asked, “Why are you so bound and determined to go home? You know Elise and I can handle the guests.”
“Because I found them.”
“Found what?”
“The plans,” she whispered. “For the summer porch.”
His eyes widened. “What? Where?”
“In the library desk—secret drawer number five.”
“It was in a hidden compartment in the desk? Really?”
“Yes, the fifth one, the one we’ve never been able to find,” she said. “I was in the basement when Lauren arrived. That’s why I didn’t see who came in through the kitchen. I stashed the document in the butler’s pantry before I went upstairs. We need to get home before someone else finds it.”
“Holy crap,” Kevin said. “Where’s that nurse?”