The Second Heart

  Chapter 20

  After Vi and Josh gave all of their identifying information to the police and had been stripped of most of their personal possessions, the police put them in two adjacent holding cells, one for men and one for women. Each cell held a long bench along the back wall, where Josh and Vi sat a few feet from each other, with the cold metal cell bars between them. Josh put his broken ankle up onto the seat beside him, and Vi thought that all the exertion was probably painful for him, even though he hadn’t complained. Josh leaned his head against the wall and let out a long sigh, closing his eyes.

  After a moment, Vi turned her attention to their surroundings. They were alone in the holding cells, but a police officer sat at a desk in front of the cells, ostensibly doing paperwork. Vi was pretty sure the officer was listening to every word they were saying. As if to confirm Vi’s theory, the officer looked up and met her gaze. Vi glanced back at Josh. His eyes were still closed, and his glasses had slidden down his nose a little bit.

  Waiting in the cell gave Vi the chance to think over what she had seen and overheard at the hospital. She couldn’t shake her conviction that Dr. Wells was the danger. It would explain why she was present at both hospitals, and why she had gotten so irrationally angry when Miguel left. Even the nurses thought it was weird. That overreaction combined with Dr. Wells’s cold demeanor and harsh attitude all seemed to point to her being a genuinely evil person. Vi hoped that she would be able to leave soon; she needed to find Meredith and tell her what she had learned.

  “So when are you going to tell me why we’re here?” Josh’s voice startled Vi out of her reverie.

  “I thought you were asleep!” she exclaimed.

  “Well, I’m not.” His eyes were still closed, but he leaned closer to Vi, repeating, “So, why are we here?”

  “You want to talk about this now?”

  “What else are we going to do?” He opened his eyes and looked at her expectantly.

  "Mere and I wouldn't even tell you when we were alone. What makes you think I'll tell you now that we have an audience?" Vi didn't meet his eyes while she spoke, instead keeping her gaze fixed on the floor a few feet in front of her.

  "Well, that was before I'd gotten arrested for it. Now I think it's only fair that you clue me in." Josh raised his eyebrows at her to emphasize his point.

  “I never promised to be fair.” Vi looked over at him and smiled. She knew that she owed Josh some sort of explanation, but this certainly wasn’t the place to do it. “I’ll fill you in when you take me on that date,” she conceded, hoping to distract him with another line of conversation.

  Josh said, “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  “The date or the explanation?”

  “Both.”

  They were both quiet for a minute. Then Vi warned, “The date had better not suck.”

  “What would constitute a sucky date?” Josh asked, making conversation.

  Vi thought for a moment. “Well, I would expect you to put some effort into impressing me--think outside the box. Dinner and a movie, for example, would be a sucky date.”

  “Are you kidding? That’s a classic!”

  Vi gaped at him. “Do I really strike you as a dinner-and-a-movie sort of girl?”

  Josh shrugged. “I didn’t realize you were so high maintenance. Maybe I don’t want to go on a date with you after all.”

  “Then I guess getting that explanation isn’t so important to you.” Vi gave him a devious smile and feigned nonchalance as she once again put her eyes forward. The phone on the officer’s desk rang and she answered it, speaking in a low voice. A moment later, the officer hung up the handset, stood, and walked down the hall. Vi wondered where she was going.

  “So how about go-kart racing?” Josh asked, still thinking about their date.

  Vi nodded appreciatively. “That’s better.”

  “I don’t know though, that’s kind of pricey. I haven’t decided if you’re worth it yet,” Josh teased.

  Vi shrugged. “You could always just drive me up to the lookout point on top of South Mountain. Great view, and it’s free,” she suggested.

  “You want to go parking on our first date?” Josh asked incredulously.

  “Frugality and romance. What’s not to like?”

  They fell silent again, and Vi’s thoughts returned to her suspicions about Dr. Wells. Being a surgeon was actually perfect, because Dr. Wells could absorb the magician’s power as she removed their Second Heart. Then their subsequent death could be chalked up to complications with the procedure. Those poor families would never even know that their loved ones were murdered in cold blood. Overcome with disgust, Vi scoffed.

  Josh looked at her and was about to ask, but the police officer returned and stood in front of the holding cells with Josh’s crutches in hand.

  In an authoritative voice the police officer said, “Violet McClure and Joshua Harden, you’re out of here.”

  “We are?” Vi asked, surprised. She wondered if Rob’s lawyer friend had come through.

  “Would you rather stay here?” The police officer rolled her eyes and cocked her hip to one side impatiently.

  “No, definitely not.” Vi watched with pity as Josh hopped on one foot to the front of the cell to wait while the officer let them out. He winced a little at the jostling, but still didn’t whine. Vi was impressed, and looked forward to their date.

  Once they were walking down the hall toward the front lobby, Josh asked, “So who sprung us?”

  “Your charges have been dropped,” the officer responded disinterestedly.

  “Awesome!” Vi exclaimed.

  They collected their personal belongings and went out into the lobby. To their surprise, Dr. Sparling was waiting for them. The doctor looked them over quickly to ensure that they were, at least physically, all right. “Neither of you made any new friends in there, I hope,” she said dryly.

  They shook their heads, and Vi said tentatively, “Not that we’re ungrateful or anything, but why are you here?”

  “Come on,” Dr. Sparling said as she turned and walked toward the exit. “I’ll tell you in the car.”

  “In the car?” Josh asked dumbly.

  Dr. Sparling looked back at them with a smile. “Did you plan to walk home?”

  “Oh right, because we came here in a police car,” Vi said, understanding.

  “So are you coming?” Dr. Sparling resumed her pace out toward the parking lot. Vi was impressed at how quickly the small doctor could move.

  They followed close on her heels, tossing relieved smiles at each other as they went through the parking lot. Josh looked like an orangutan as he swung along on his crutches to keep up. Dr. Sparling clicked a button on her keychain, and a small sporty Porsche beeped at them in response. “Gotta enjoy some of the perks of the job,” Dr. Sparling said with a smug smile.

  Without discussion, Vi wedged herself into the miniscule backseat to let Josh have the extra room in the front for his cast and crutches. After a few minutes they were all squeezed like pretzels into the tiny sports car and on their way. The tops of the crutches stuck out of Josh’s open window, and the breeze swirled through the car as Dr. Sparling zipped through the parking lot.

  Without prompting, Dr. Sparling explained her presence at the police station. “I spoke with our chief about Dr. Wells wanting to press charges against you for assault and battery. After speaking with Miguel’s parents to find out what happened, the chief came to the conclusion that pressing charges wouldn’t be in the hospital’s best interests, considering that Dr. Wells was trying to detain Miguel illegally. Believe it or not, we actually aren’t allowed to force surgery onto our patients.” Dr. Sparling grinned and careened around a corner, going well over the speed limit. “Where am I taking you two?”

  “My car’s still at Phoenix Mercy, so can you take us back there?” Josh said.

  “You bet.”

  Vi wondered what Dr. Sparling thought of Dr. Wells; maybe Dr. Sparling got an evil vi
be off of the other doctor, too. She worded her question carefully. “Do you work much with Dr. Wells? Is this… normal for her?”

  Dr. Sparling chuckled. “I have no idea. I met her for the first time a few days ago. On your friend Meredith’s case, actually.”

  “Oh,” Vi said lamely, put out. She had hoped that she would get more insight into Dr. Wells, and see if Dr. Wells was as irritable with other cases that didn’t involve the removal of a Second Heart. Then again, maybe Dr. Wells only showed up because there was a Second Heart involved, in which case the two doctors not knowing each other would make perfect sense. Anxious to learn if she was right, Vi asked, “How come you don’t know each other? Is she new?”

  “Well, she is a specialist, and she has admit privileges at hospitals all over the valley. Our paths just haven’t crossed before.”

  “How come you were at Phoenix Mercy, if you work at the E.R. at the other hospital?” Josh asked. Vi chided herself that the question hadn’t occurred to her earlier.

  “Dr. Wells invited me to help on Miguel’s case.” Dr. Sparling explained, meeting Vi’s eyes in the rear-view mirror. “I am only a resident, and am still learning. Dr. Wells is an expert, and I was really looking forward to the opportunity to see her work.”

  Vi frowned, feeling a little guilty. Dr. Sparling was just trying to be good at her job. “Sorry we screwed that up for you,” she apologized lamely.

  Dr. Sparling smiled. “There will be other cases. There always are.” She returned her attention to the road for a few minutes. After a while she asked, “So what is the deal anyway? Why so dead-set against the surgery?”

  “I thought you said you didn’t care,” Vi said, remembering their earlier conversation while Vi was being arrested.

  “Well, that’s true; if Miguel and Meredith do all right without the surgery, I don’t care. If the patient gets better without surgery, that’s always the best possible outcome. That doesn’t mean I’m not curious.” Dr. Sparling smiled sheepishly.

  “I guess I’d be curious, too,” Vi conceded. In fact, she would be extremely curious. Their behavior was pretty weird, after all. From Dr. Sparling’s perspective, they probably all seemed like nut jobs.

  “So?”

  “Meredith told me she felt better and didn’t think she needed the surgery after all,” Vi said casually. “Plus, Miguel’s her boyfriend, so she thought that maybe he would get better, too. For all we know, Miguel caught something from her while they were swapping spit.”

  “Ah, such a lovely turn of phrase,” Josh commented with a grin.

  “Miguel’s her boyfriend?” Dr. Sparling’s voice was surprised. Then almost to herself she said, “That’s an interesting coincidence. Perhaps you’re right.”

  They pulled into the parking lot at Phoenix Mercy and Josh directed Dr. Sparling to where his car was parked. They thanked her for the ride and then Josh spent several moments awkwardly getting out of the Porsche while balancing on his crutches. Once he was clear, Vi pressed her foot on the button to move the seat forward and then climbed out. As she returned the seat to its normal position, Vi leaned in and asked Dr. Sparling one last question. “Have there been any other patients with Meredith and Miguel’s condition?”

  “If there were, do you think I’d be here?” Dr. Sparling smiled to soften what she said next. “Generally, I like to save my energy for the patients who want to be helped.”

  Vi closed the door and waved, and Dr. Sparling and her Porsche darted away. Josh had already gotten into his car and started the engine, so Vi quickly slid into the passenger seat while saying, “Let me call Mere’s folks and let them know that we’re out.” She pulled out the paper with Amelia’s number on it and used Josh’s cell phone to dial the number, putting it on speakerphone.

  “Hello?” Amelia’s voice sounded exhausted, but it didn’t have the strained note that Vi had noticed earlier.

  “Hey, Mrs. C.” Vi said.

  “Hold on a moment, Vi.” There was the sound of the phone being shuffled around as it passed hands.

  “Hello?” Meredith’s voice came on the line, and Vi grinned.

  “And here I thought we were going to have to look under every bridge in Maricopa County to find you!” Vi exclaimed happily.

  “Hey Vi! We’re all at Eleanor’s house right now, and my parents are recovering from the shock of hearing the whole story.”

  “You told them, huh? I’m sitting in the car with Josh, ‘cause the charges against us have been dropped! The law can’t keep us down.”

  “Hey, Meredith,” Josh said, smiling at Vi’s exuberance.

  “Hey, Josh,” Meredith returned. “Hey, maybe you guys can help us--Eleanor’s kicking us out, and we still can’t go home. Any ideas?”

  “We could go to my parents’ house,” Josh said, surprising them. “They’re on a cruise right now, so we’d have the place to ourselves.”

  “Oh my God, that’s perfect!” Meredith’s voice sounded relieved and grateful. “Josh, you seriously rock.”

  Josh gave them the address and garage code, and Vi wondered what his parents would think about his trusting attitude. She shrugged it off, grateful that he was helping them. Once all the pertinent information was conveyed, Vi said, “We’ll see you there in a while, Mere. I am seriously starving, and I need to pick up some things at the store.”

  “Make yourselves at home,” Josh added, and then they hung up the phone.

  Vi laid a hand on Josh’s arm. “Are you sure your parents aren’t going to kill you for this?”

  “They aren’t due back for another week. That’s plenty of time to cover our tracks.”

  “Thank you,” Vi said emphatically, laying a kiss squarely on Josh’s mouth.

  Josh grinned, and a small flush crept into his cheeks. “Okay, so, errands?”

  “Yeah, but dinner first. I’m going to eat my own arm in a minute here.” Vi jokingly gnawed on her arm to punctuate her point.

  Josh laughed and put the car into gear, navigating out of the parking space. “So if we’re going to dinner, does this count as our first date?”

  “Definitely not,” Vi said decisively.

  “Why not?”

  “Because, one, I already told you that dinner and a movie is not my kind of date, and two,” she smiled impishly at him, “I don’t go home with a guy on the first date.” Vi settled back in her seat, feeling carefree and relieved. Meredith and Miguel were safe, she wasn’t in any trouble with the law, and she was looking forward to her non-date with Josh. Things were going to be okay.

  * * *

  A cold, calculating pair of eyes watched as Josh and Vi drove away. Keeping track of the oblivious couple would be easy, and chances were good that they would lead straight to Meredith and Miguel. Licking her lips in eager anticipation, she shifted her car into gear and followed not far behind.