Crystal Dreams

Excerpt

San Francisco
December 4, 2012
7:00 a.m.
Third dimension of time

“Will she live, Doctor?”

Ellery Bristow looked down into the pale face of his patient and frowned ruefully. “I think so, Hannah. She’s been through a lot tonight, but I think she’ll pull through.” He’d just resuscitated the beautiful woman lying on the gurney for the second time since she’d been brought in. Her breathing was shallow and her frail form lay still. The paramedics had told him that she was a Jane Doe, found lying half naked without any form of identification on the bricks at the base of one of the famous statues in Sydney G. Walton Park. It was the “Big Heart on the Rock,” his favorite.

He brushed back a stray lock of her coppery amber hair where it grazed her soft cheek and sighed. “Her heart rate is beginning to stabilize, so she might have a chance if she’s strong. Call upstairs and have them ready a bed for her.”

“ What do you suppose happened to her, Dr. Bristow?” Hannah asked.

“ I don’t know. Her body shows no signs of trauma. Maybe the lab results will tell us if she has anything wrong inside. Until then, we’ll just have to wait.” Ellery watched as one tiny, silent tear seeped slowly from the corner of Jane Doe’s eye. He wiped it away with his finger as it glistened against her skin. “She certainly is beautiful, isn’t she, Hannah?”

Hannah’s brows furrowed as she watched him. Doc Bristow was a real hard ass when it came to his patients and she’d never seen him work so hard and show so much compassion since she’d been a nurse here. The beautiful thing, as he called her, was probably one of the streetwalkers from town by the looks of the nightie she was wearing. She’d be willing to bet her entire monthly salary that they’d find signs of overdose in her blood work. Even still, she could admit that she was pretty. “Yes she is, Doctor; too bad she’s so ill. I’ll call for a bed.”

Ellery ignored the vibration of his pager clipped to the front pocket of his surgical scrubs. He’d been called down to the emergency room when Jane Doe was brought in, but he still had a gunshot wound to repair upstairs and he needed to get going. Now that she was stabilized, he could leave without worry. But there was something about her he couldn’t place, almost as if he knew her. He couldn’t shake the feeling that they’d met before.

The pager raged against his chest and he knew he had to go. He’d check on her later. If she were awake, he might be able to learn her name and what she’d been doing in the park all alone at six in the morning. Before leaving, he wrote orders on her chart for toxicology and a brain scan. He prayed there wasn’t a head injury undetectable to the eye, but he’d seen it before, and couldn’t rule it out. And there’d been no track marks on her arms or anywhere else that he could find, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t found another way to take drugs; the toxicology report would let him know that as well.

As he hung her chart on the end of the gurney, he studied her quiet form one more time. “I’ll find out what’s happening in that beautiful head of yours, Jane, even if I have to stay here until you wake up.”

* * * *

Jillian struggled against bright lights that were trying to force her eyes open. And yet another strange voice, from somewhere around the bed where she lay, insisted on calling her Jane. If she could just get her lips to move, she’s set them straight. But like her eyes, her lips wouldn’t budge and she seemed destined to drift in this cloud of oblivion until they did.

Her entire body ached, yet she couldn’t remember feeling sick before going to bed last night. She was obviously in a place for the ill; the loud intercom next to her bed had told her that. But why? The last thing she remembered, she’d gone to bed to meditate after stealing Ellery’s picture from the metaphysics fair at the academy. Had she done something strange again, like had another out-of-body escapade? If so, it would be the first time she’d become ill while doing it.

Her arm was raised up again and she could feel the pressure of the cuff as it was pumped up. This hospital must still be in the stone ages; blood pressure cuffs had been rendered obsolete years ago. And the smell of the place reminded her of death.

The fingers of the hand holding her arm seemed gentle yet strong; the nurse must be a man, she mused. She tried turning her head to look, but it felt as if the tendons were locked in place. Struggling, she managed to turn just a quarter of an inch, but it was enough to tell them that she was anxious to wake up.

“ Doctor, she moved,” the nurse said.

Ellery had already seen the small movement; it was the sign he’d been looking for ever since Jane had been brought in. He hadn’t left her side since finishing with his gunshot wound case and was beginning to think he might need to call in a neurologist to access her brain scan. But now, thank god, she was waking up. “Turn the lights down; it’ll help if she tries to open her eyes.”

Jillian heard the vaguely familiar whisper of the man sitting next to her. He had a heart after all. Now if she could manage just one peek without those damned lights glaring down at her, she could see who he was. And understand why his voice seemed to send her blood to a boil. Concentrating, she managed to crack one eye slightly open, and then the next. When her brain had adjusted to the onslaught of light and images before her, she opened her eyes all the way.

Although his image was a blur, she recognized the man sitting next to her almost immediately. Her heart drummed painfully against her breasts; was she ever to be free of him? Calmly she looked at him and said, “Ellery? It is you, isn’t it? How could I have been so unlucky?” Her dry voice cracked as she spoke.

Ellery ignored the smirk on the nurse’s face at the head of the bed. He knew he’d met Jane before today, but where that was, he didn’t know and couldn’t recall. He’d been racking his brain all day over it. Now he’d just ask her and relieve himself of his curiosity. “Yes, my name is Ellery Bristow. I’m a doctor here at St. Joe’s. We’ve been working hard to figure out what happened to you, Jane. How about you tell me and Nurse Crenshaw here what happened to you last night.”

Jillian frowned. “Why do you keep calling me Jane, Ellery? You know my name is Jillian. But then, how could you ever forget? It was Morgan Enterprise finances that brought you crawling to my father’s feet, wasn’t it? Maybe you’re the one who should be lying in this bed if you can’t remember even that small detail of our marriage,” she scoffed.

It was his way of trying to make her look like an idiot in front of the nurse. She despised him, and all he stood for. If it weren’t for the promise she’d made her father, she’d never have committed herself to the bastard. And now this game; what was he up to? “Where’s my father, Ellery, why haven’t you called him?” She tried to sit up but quickly fell back when the room swam around her.

Nurse Crenshaw looked at Ellery from where she stood at the opposite end of the bed. “Do you want me to get Doctor Henning down here for a psych consult, Dr. Bristow?” she asked.

“ No, but you can bring me those test results again. I might have missed something on the x-ray. Toxicology was negative, so I know she’d not loaded. Maybe her scan can give us some answers.”

Jillian tried to sit up again and this time the movement almost made her vomit. Sliding back against her pillows, she clenched her fists and glared at Ellery. “What happened to me, why am I here? I want my father, Ellery. I refuse to talk to you any further unless he’s here.”

Ellery took her hand and tried to settle her down but she yanked it quickly away. “Jillian? Right? If I knew your father’s name I’d call him for you, but since I don’t, you’ll just have to tell me so that I can. And, we don’t know what happened to you last night. We were hoping you could shed some light on that for us. You nearly died; we had to resuscitate you twice after you stopped breathing.”

Although she didn’t want to believe him, she had no choice. Physically, her body said Ellery was telling her the truth. He’d saved her from death when it would have been more beneficial to him had he let her die. Frowning, she turned her head in an effort to remove him from her view. “You bastard, you don’t even work at this hospital. Or had you forgotten that you’d given up your career as a doctor a long time ago? How did you get them to allow you to take care of me anyway? Hasn’t your license expired by now?” Jillian fought the sting of tears threatening to spill from the corners of her eyes. “I’ll never be free of you, will I? And now after this I suppose you’ll have my family name plastered all over the newspapers again, won’t you? I can see the headlines now.”

A wide eyed nurse Crenshaw handed Ellery Jillian’s report and he read it over from beginning to end once again in the hopes of finding something he might have missed. Everything was normal, in fact better than normal. Her blood work was perfect and, except for her having a noticeably well-developed hypothalamus, her brain scan was too. But she was saying things that could only be interpreted as something more, maybe even mental illness.

“ Jillian, I’ve always worked at this hospital. Maybe you saw me filling in someplace else, which could explain why you seem so familiar to me as well. Tell you what, just give me your father’s phone number and I’ll call him, or better yet, I’ll bring him here if that will make you feel any better.”

Jillian closed her eyes in an effort to drown out his deep voice and his unbearably handsome face. “You know how to reach my father, or have you forgotten how much you like using him against me? Do what you do best, Ellery, find my father and fill him with your lies. I’m sure I’ll hear all about it later.” It hurt like hell, but she managed to roll over on her side and turn away from him. She contemplated telling him she knew about his past, but decided this wasn’t the place or time. She wanted to savor his reaction when her mind was clear and she could use the news to her advantage. “Can you leave me alone now? I want to get some rest before I go home. I don’t want your hands on me or those of any of your doctor friends, either.”

Ellery handed the reports back to the nurse and tried to ignore the concerned look on her face. As he stood up to leave he asked, “What is your father’s name, Jillian? Can’t you at least tell me that?” He waited for her answer but none came. “Since you don’t want to tell me, I’ll try and find him in the local listing. Morgan Enterprise shouldn’t be an easy name to miss.” He stood, hesitated before leaving; her dismissal angered him, making him irritated with himself. She was still very sick, obviously much more than he’d realized. He should understand this and get on with facilitating her recovery if he could, but she wasn’t helping.

“ You’re so smart, I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon enough,” Jillian grumbled over her shoulder. She knew she was being childish, but he always brought out the worst in her.

Ellery bit his tongue and left her room. At the nurse’s desk he sat down next to the phone and leafed through the phone book. He had to help her, and prove to himself that she really wasn’t insane, just confused. He still didn’t know why she’d been in the park so early in the morning dressed the way she was, and what had happened to her. Examination showed no sign of abuse or trauma. Physically, she was perfect. He’d try to find her family first; maybe her father would be able to answer a few of these questions.

After going through the white pages, and then the yellow pages, he still couldn’t find one listing for a Jillian Morgan. Nor could he find any such business called Morgan Enterprise. Picking up the phone, he called information and after being told no such business existed, he sat and rubbed the stubble of his beard. Getting up, he went back to her room.

“ Well, Jillian, you’re just going to have to tell me the truth. There’s no such business as Morgan Enterprise and no listing for a Jillian Morgan here in San Francisco. So let’s stop playing games, okay? I know you aren’t insane. I don’t know how I know that, but I do. So please just tell me the truth, what happened to you last night? I have to start somewhere if I’m going to help you get well.”

Jillian rolled back over and studied him. He was such an enchanter, a tall handsome devil that could easily tempt any unsuspecting female with his charms. And although she hadn’t been able to read his thoughts since waking up, she was certain he was up to something. Until last night he’d always had the upper hand, but not anymore. Just wait until she told him what she’d learned. “I don’t know what happened to me last night, Ellery. You say I was in a park, but the last thing I remember was going to bed after I got home from...” she hesitated, she couldn’t tell him, not yet, “…shopping. I needed a new coat,” she finally managed. Scowling at him, she continued. “The only thing I can surmise is that you must have drugged me and put me there for your own personal gain.”

Ellery ignored her childishly immature accusation. “Your toxicology was clear, Jillian, not one sign of overdose,” he replied.

She pushed away when he sat down on the edge of her bed. “Why can’t you just leave me and my father alone? I know it’s not me you want, so why do you stick around? You know I don’t love you.” She didn’t blink once as she said the words. It didn’t hurt her to say them, but she had hoped she could hurt him. The expression on his stone face didn’t change one bit. Why had she hoped for more? It was useless. Life was useless when it came to Ellery.

“ Considering the fact that we’ve never formally met before today, I would hope not, Jillian. But since you insist that we have, I can only say that if given the chance, I might be inclined to fall for someone like you; you are very attractive, after all.” He tried not to laugh when her jaws flexed and she ground her teeth. “All right, I’m sorry. But you really did ask for that with all this foolish talk.” He patted her knee underneath the blanket. “Now can you stop this ridiculous game of yours and let me know how to get hold of your father? I really would like to help you, Jillian.”

She pushed his hand off her knee and scooted closer to the opposite edge of the bed. “What did you give me anyway? I can’t seem to read your thoughts now.” She managed to sit up then, and with her long hair cascading over her shoulders she jabbed her index finger into his chest. “That’s it, isn’t it? You found a way to keep me from reading your mind? Now you can do anything you want to my father without me ever knowing about it.” She fell back against her pillows and wiped another tear from her eye. “Why don’t you just grant me a divorce and go away.”

“ Do you know how crazy you sound, Jillian?” Ellery replied. He felt compassion for her, yet he now knew that he would have to give in and force her to undergo a psychiatric evaluation with Dr. Henning. He would not pursue his questioning because as far as he knew, her mental illness could be much more serious than he originally thought. No matter how beautiful she was, he wouldn’t let his attraction to her get in the way of her care.

“ All right, I give up.” Standing up, he strode from the room, stopping at the doorway as he looked at her troubled face once more. “If Dr. Henning signs off on your stability, I’ll release you in a few days. Until then you’ll be kept here until I feel confident that you won’t do harm to yourself, or anybody else, for that matter.”

Jillian watched him leave. If she’d had something within reach she would have thrown it at him. But she knew it would have no effect; he was a mean, heartless bastard that felt nothing for anybody but himself. Nevertheless, she still needed to contact her father to let him know where she was and that she was all right. She’d send him a note, and wait for him to take her home. Just then, her nurse came in with a fresh pitcher of ice water. “Nurse, I’d like to send for my father. Would you bring me some paper and a pen please?”

“ Sorry, honey, Doc Bristow gave orders that we weren’t to let you have anything that you could use to cause harm to yourself. A pen is out of the question,” the nurse replied and then poured Jillian a cup of water.

Jillian nearly laughed out loud. “You really are joking with me, aren’t you? Ellery wouldn’t dare suggest such a thing; he knows my father would—”

“ Doc Bristow said no, so no it is. Now take your pill before I turn your lights down for the night.”

Jillian knew she was fighting a losing battle. Ellery had everyone buffaloed, but she would not take the pill. Or at least she wouldn’t swallow it. Primly, she opened her mouth and let the nurse place it on her tongue, then pretended to swallow it with water.

After the nurse was gone and the room was shrouded in darkness, she took the pill from her mouth and slipped it underneath the mattress. She would wait a little while, and then make her move. So she closed her eyes and laid her head back against her pillow and thought back on the events leading up to this mess.