Eye of the Storm

  some nurse's aide. None of this would have happened

  if you wouldn't have driven Mrs. Bogart away

  behaving like some tart with that fortune hunter." I shook my head more vigorously as she pulled

  away the blanket. Then she squinted and squeezed her

  nose.

  "Ugh." she said.

  Just as she reached for me, the doorbell rang

  again. She froze. "Who could that be at this hour?"

  she asked.

  The doorbell was rung again and acgain.

  Whoever it was had decided to get results this time.

  A. continuous stream of ding dongs echoed below. "Damn," she cried, returned to the bathroom to

  shut off the tub faucet and then stomped out of my

  room, this time leaving the door wide open. I listened

  as hard as I could. I could hear the front door being

  opened.

  "What do you want?" she demanded. "I want to see. Rain," Austin demanded in a

  stern, strong voice.

  "You have some nerve coming back here, be

  on the phone in minutes."

  "She's not in her room. I looked in the window.

  She wasn't in there when I came here earlier either.

  Where is she? What's going on?"

  "It's none of your business."

  "Yes, it is. If you don't tell me, I'll go to the

  police." he said.

  "Austin," I called as loudly as I could muster.

  "I'm up here. Austin. Come get me. Austin." "Really? I think I'll call the police before you

  and have them up here to arrest you for trespassing,"

  she threatened him.

  "Austin!" I cried. Why couldn't he hear me? "What happened to the ramp? Why has it been

  removed from the front of the house?"

  "We don't need it anymore," Aunt Victoria told

  him.

  "Why not? She won't be able to get herself

  outside. I don't understand. What about taking her to

  the doctor when she needs to go? What about her

  wheeling out or being wheeled out for some fresh

  air?"

  "She's no longer here. She's gone back to

  England to live with her real father." Aunt Victoria

  said quickly.

  "What? How could that be?" he asked.

  astonished.

  "Arrangements were made by him. She agreed

  and she's left. I think she made a good decision. She's

  better off there. We're selling the house anyway and

  that's that, so you might as well give up your pursuit

  of her and her money. You won't see a penny of it

  now and if you persist in bothering me or this family

  any further. I will ask the police to arrest you. As it is.

  I'm calling my attorneys first thing in the morning and

  starting all the legal procedures I promised I would

  start."

  "No," I cried. "Austin, don't believe her." My

  throat ached with the effort and the strain. but I put all

  I had into another cry. "Austin!"

  "I don't understand," I heard him say. "Will you let me close this door or do I have to

  march back and phone the police?"

  "I just can't believe it," he said.

  "That's your problem," she told him.

  Desperate. I braced myself on my elbows and

  tried to call again, but I could see that my voice was

  practically gone. Just a little more than a whisper

  emerged. What was I going to do?

  I looked at the mannequin's head beside me and

  scooped it into my arms. Then, with all the strength

  left in my weakened body. I hurled it toward the door.

  It didn't reach, but it hit the floor hard a few feet short. "What was that?" Austin asked.

  "My stupid maid probably breaking something

  new," Aunt Victoria said. "Good night, young man

  and good riddance."

  I heard the door slam shut below.

  For me, it was like the lid being shut on my

  coffin.

  16

  Life Near Death

  .

  Aunt Victoria suddenly appeared in the

  doorway. She had come up the stairs like a ghost or else I was too weak and sick to hear any sound that came from beyond the room,

  "How easy that was," she remarked with a slow smile that lit up her dark eyes with a sinister glow. "Why didn't I think of all that before and save us both all this aggravation? Now that he believes you have left, he'll stop coming around and our problems are over.

  "For a while you'll just have to stay inside, stay away from people so no one can tell him otherwise. Don't worry. I'll make sure there is plenty here to amuse and occupy you. What would you do out there anyway? Tomorrow. I'll find us a new maid, a more dedicated one who can keep her mouth zipped shut.

  "Actually, what I should do is try to win back Mrs. Bogart." she continued. "Once she learns that he's gone for good this time, she might consider returning. I know what. I'll offer her more money, lots more money and she will return. How's that sound? Good? Good. I knew you'd agree with me."

  Who agreed? She heard only what she wanted to hear.

  "What's this?" she asked, seeing the smashed mannequin's head on the floor. "How did this get here? Oh, was that the noise we heard?"

  She shook her head.

  "You were trying to get his attention, weren't you? How foolish. What a foolish little girl you can be. Well, well clean this up later.

  "Now," she said. pausing, "what was I about to do before we were so rudely interrupted? What was it? Oh yes, get you cleaned up. Then, well dress you in a comfortable nighty and if I can reach Mrs. Bogart tomorrow,I'll have someone strong

  enough to get you back downstairs where you belong.

  "Doesn't that all sound wonderful? Don't bother to thank me. I know you're appreciative," she said and went into the bathroom to start filling the tub again.

  "My mother has so many nice bath salts. I'll pick one out for you," she shouted back to me. "Mother was crazy about her baths. She wouldn't go a day without taking one. whereas I prefer showers.

  "Megan, on the other hand, is more like my mother. She likes to soak and soak, especially in those special skin oils. She once took a bath in milk, you know, because she read that Cleopatra would do that. Can you imagine?"

  She came out of the bathroom and stood there looking toward me with a grin on her face.

  "Once. I snuck into the bathroom while she was having one of her wonderful so-called skin soaks. I tiptoed in and came up behind her and pushed her head under the water before she had a chance to resist. I held it there a few seconds and she came up sputtering and coughing and crying. She was so angry. I said it was just a joke. You like to laugh with your friends. Now you can tell them about it and laugh about it, I said. Tell them I thought you should soak your whole head. She was pretty angry at me and she didn't speak to me for days, but that didn't matter because we usually didn't have much to say to each other anyway.

  "You wouldn't get angry if I pushed your head under for a joke, now would you?" she asked, followed by a cold, thin laugh.

  I stared at her. I felt so helpless, as if my body had been poured out and was in a mold, forming but still loose-- unconnected, not yet installed with any energy.

  "Now how do we get you out of that bed and into the tub?" she asked, tilting her head as she considered the problem. "How did Mrs. Bogart do it so well? I won't ask you how that fortune hunter of a therapist did it. I hope he never did and if he did, don't tell me.

  "I guess I'm going to have to lift and drag you, is that it? I'm certainly not going downstairs to get that chair and carry it back up here. I'd still have to get you in and out of it anyway, which is extra work. You could cooperate and make it easier. Are you
going to cooperate?

  "Of course you are," she said with a smile. "We're friends now that I've solved all the problems like our business arrangement, your annoying therapist, all of it. When Megan and Grant do come here to visit, they'll find the two of us chatting pleasantly in the living room and they'll be very impressed. At least. I know Grant will, If I know Megan, she'll try to make it seem like nothing at all.

  "You've never really had a nice talk with her, have you? I know you haven't because there's so much about her and about me that you don't know, things you would know if she had ever bothered to really make you part of this family. She sent you down here to be a servant and then they sent you to England to be a servant. At least. I'm not making you a servant, am I? I'm making you a partner and I'm looking after you, protecting your interests.

  "Why is it that everyone likes her so much? You still like her, don't you?" she asked in a accusatory tone. "After all she's done to you, you still care for her. Why? She fails at everything important and still people love her. He loves her. What's her magic?

  "And don't tell me it's her good looks," she said quickly. "A pretty face is a dime a dozen, especially for a man like Grant who could have his pick of beauty contestants."

  She looked back at the bathtub. "All right," she said. "It's time." She went in and shut off the water.

  My heart began to pound as if it had a brain of its own. Don't let her put us in that tub it was chanting with every thump. "Don't, don't, don't," it thumped as she approached the bed.

  "Let's get these clothes off," she said and began to undress me. I wasn't cooperative, but she pulled me roughly and turned my arms at will. In moments I was naked.

  She stood back and gazed down at me.

  "You know, despite all your trouble, you're still a very attractive young woman. Maybe some day you will find a suitable man.

  "But don't depend on it," she instantly added. "There are so few suitable men out there today. No one knows how difficult it is for women with half a brain."

  She sighed as if she carried the burden of all the intelligent women in the world on her narrow, frail shoulders.

  "Let's get this done." she said. "I have to get back to work. There are deals, deals, deals to make and that requires much time and intelligent analysis, you know. You'd be surprised at how many scam artists are out there, just waiting to prey on women like us, women they think are weak.

  "Won't they be surprised every time they try? They sure will," she said laughing. "They sure will."

  She reached down for my wrists. I shook my head.

  "Please," I said. "Leave me alone. Call the doctor. Get me to a hospital."

  "After you're cleaned up, you'll feel better," she replied, but hesitated. "How does one move a crippled body like yours without doing any more damage?"

  She shrugged.

  "Oh well. I'll do the best I can."

  She turned me so she could slip her hands under my arms and then she tugged, dragging me off the bed. My legs fell like logs to the floor, nearly pulling her over, but she steadied herself and then straightened with surprising strength.

  I don't know where I found the strength. but I turned and twisted, trying to break out of her grip. She held on firmly and began slowly, but steadily to back up toward the bathroom, my feet bounced limply over the floor as she dragged me along.

  "No," I cried.

  "Now, now, now, you have to be cleaned up. What a mess you are? You don't want anyone seeing you like this, do you?"

  "Please, stop."

  My panic grew frenzied when we passed through the bathroom doorway. She had developed strong momentum now. In a desperate move to keep her from putting me in the tub of water. I reached out for the edge of the sink and gasped it firmly, far more firmly and rapidly than she had ever anticipated. Her rearward motion continued, but the abrupt stop broke her grip under my arms and I felt her fall backwards, away from me.

  My upper body, now unsupported, dropped to the floor hard and the back of my head slammed on the tile, nearly knocking me unconscious. I heard her short scream, which was more like a muffled curse and turned my head just in time to see her go over the edge of the tub, slap the side of her head sharply against the long, decorative brass faucet and then seemingly slide gracefully into the water with barely the sound of a small splash. From my angle on the floor. I couldn't tell what she was doing, but her legs lifted and then fell over the outside of the tub as the remainder of her body disappeared below the tub's edge.

  I groaned and turned on my stomach. My head spun, my eyes feeling as if they were falling back into my skull. I fought losing consciousness and reached up for the toilet bowl. I was running on pure determination. Every iota of energy had seeped from my broken, languid body with its bones barely holding it together. Yet. I managed to somehow pull myself up so that I could gaze over the side of the bathtub and look down at her.

  I saw her floating just under the water, her eyes closed, small bubbles evacuating her nostrils and her lips like sailors fleeing a sinking ship. There was a thin but steady flow of blood from her right temple and I saw blood on the faucet as well. Strands of hair rose toward the surface as if they wanted to pull the rest of her up. The blow had obviously knocked her unconscious.

  Suddenly, my arms collapsed and I fell back to the floor. My stomach tightened and the tightening climbed up to my chest, making it almost impossible for me to breathe. I reached out limply for her left ankle, grasped it and made a vain attempt to pull her up and out of the tub. I had barely enough energy to lift the ankle a few inches. My fingers slipped off her skin and my arm dropped to my side.

  The struggle to prevent her from dragging me in and the effort it had taken to lift myself to look at her in the tub had taken all my remaining energy. I groaned and then sucked in a deep breath just before all went black.

  It seemed like the floor beneath me was rattling the way it would if the house was caught in an earthquake. It continued for another moment until I was able to open my eyelids, which felt stuck together. My vision was cloudy, but slowly a silhouette took shape. I could hear a muffled distorted voice and then the silhouette cleared and became Austin and I heard him calling my name. He had been shaking my shoulders.

  "Rain, wake up. Rain, c'mon. sweetheart. Wake up. baby. Wake up."

  "Austin," I whispered.

  "What went on here? There's an ambulance on the way," he said before I could even try to respond. "and the police, too. I had to run all over this house to find a phone that works."

  As he spoke, he wrapped a blanket around me snugly and then he lifted me off the floor and held me in his arms. I dropped my head against his chest and closed my eyes. I must have passed out again because when I opened my eyes this time. I was in an ambulance. The attendant was hovering over me after just having inserted an IV.

  "Hey," he said. "How you doin'?"

  "What's happening to me?"

  "You're on the way to the hospital. Just relax and let us do all the work. That's why we let all those big wages," he said and someone behind him laughed.

  I closed my eyes again, lulled by the sense of movement and the comfort of the stretcher. For the moment I couldn't think; I didn't want to think. When we arrived at the hospital. I felt myself being moved and didn't open my eyes again until I was in an examination room.

  "She's completely dehydrated," I heard someone say.

  "Infection," someone else added.

  "Get her upstairs," the first voice said.

  My body felt like a sack being turned and moved, rolled along and lifted until I was snug in a hospital bed, the blanket up to my chin. I slept on and off, finally waking and holding my eyes open for an extended time. Sunlight basked the white walls and tile floor. I turned my head to the right and saw Austin asleep in a chair, his head down until his chin touched his collar bone.

  "Austin," I called. "Austin."

  Slowly, he raised his head and opened his eyes. When he realized I had called him and I was awake, he
literally leaped out of the seat and to my side.

  "Rain, how are you?"

  "I don't know," I said. "What happened? I can't remember much."

  "After your aunt turned me away. I realized I had spotted your wheelchair in the hallway, behind her. It didn't come to me immediately. At first I actually believed what she had told me. I mean, the ramp was gone. It seemed to make some sense. I imagined you wanted to just run away from all this and knowing you. I thought you wouldn't call me because you didn't want me to stop you. I was planning on contacting your father in London and flying over there.

  "Driving home, suddenly, the chair loomed in my mind and I thought how could you have been taken out and put on a plane without your wheelchair?

  "I turned around and went back to the house. This time I didn't go to the front door. I went to the window of your room, our window as I liked to think of it." he said smiling. "and I pushed it up and crawled in. I could see your things were all still there in the drawers and closets, confirming that you hadn't left. Why was she lying to me? I wondered, but most of all, where were you? What had she done?

  "I went through the bottom floor quietly. listening. At first I thought you might be locked in that office because I couldn't open the door. I tapped on it and listened and then decided I had better check the rest of the house first. It was puzzling that even she wasn't around downstairs,

  "I tiptoed up the stairs and listened. I thought I heard you groan and then I charged into that bedroom and found you on the bathroom floor and your aunt in the tub."

  "What happened to her?" I asked.

  "She drowned, The police will be coming to ask you questions, but no one in his or her right mind would think you had anything to do with it. From the way I found you. I imagined she was helping you into a bath and probably fell, hitting her head. Is that right?"

  "Yes. I didn't want a bath. I was afraid of her. Austin. She was so cruel to me and she was out of her mind half the time, talking to me as if I was my mother."

  "Is that why you have all those scrapes and bruises? She beat you or something?"

  "No. I tried to get away from the house, tried to get to the road so someone would take me to a phone. I was going to call you, but when I wheeled out. I discovered she had gotten the Grounds people to remove the ramp. I tried to get down to the road anyway and lost control of my chair. I crawled for hours and that's how I got all bruised. She found me and afterward when she was gone again. I climbed up the stairs to get to a phone there.