Page 11 of One Night Years Ago

“No doctor, no. I just need … I just need to rest.”

But later that afternoon, her heart rate was still up as was her blood pressure.

“Jesse, stay with Mom, make sure you’re close by in case she needs anything. I’m going to go find the doctor.”

The closer he got to town, the more his hands shook on the wheel. He gripped the steering wheel tighter until he thought the cheap plastic might crack. He wondered if this was what the rest of his life was going to feel like. He now had the illusion of freedom, but really he was just as trapped as he’d been in prison.

Hunter made the turn towards the hospital. The small building brought back memories of happier childhood incidents, of broken arms and twisted ankles. His father hadn’t died here. His cancer had been treated in the city, and he’d never made it back. Hunter shook his head to clear it.

It was after visiting hours, so the visitor parking lot was almost empty. He parked the old pickup truck and walked inside, keeping his head down. For the first time in forever nobody looked at him. Everybody in this building seemed to have something to do. He stopped at the desk. The receptionist looked up and smiled. He waited a moment for her to recognize him, but she never did.

“Hi, may I help you?”

“I’m looking for Dr. Leroy.”

“She may have gone home for the day.” The young woman typed something on her computer. “Ah, no, there she is, first floor. You should be able to catch her. The elevator is right behind that door.”

Hunter thanked her and took the stairs up to the first floor. He wasn’t getting into any steel cages if he could help it. At the first floor, the hospital changed into a turquoise and fuchsia fairy woodland.

A bald boy walked by quickly, pulling his IV pole along. Hunter swallowed hard.

He was about to head back to the staircase, thinking he’d made a mistake, when he saw her. Dr. Barbara Leroy stood in the corridor, talking to a young couple. She excused herself and walked quickly towards him when she saw him.

Dr. Leroy was tall for a woman, standing almost at eye-level with him in her heels. She was also pretty, and Hunter couldn’t help but think she would have been even prettier if she didn’t always look so exhausted.

“Hunter? I heard you were out. What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you. But you’re …” He waved his hand around.

“A pediatrician, yes. You worried?” she said, winking at him.

They’d met nine years earlier at the prison hospital, where she volunteered every other week. He was lucky she’d been the one on call that night, after he was attacked in the shower. Hunter knew Barbara Leroy was the only reason he was still on this Earth.

The second time they’d met she’d stitched him up after he’d taken a severe beating. He didn’t answer any of her questions, but she’d somehow found out from one of the guards that Hunter had taken the beating for a new kid.

He’d seen the way that changed her perception of him, but it made him sick, this world where the fact that he’d protect a seventeen-year-old from a beating would surprise someone. Still, they’d gotten to know each other a bit afterwards. Barbara was perhaps the only person who knew how rough things had been for him for a while.

He wasn’t above using their relationship now if it got him help for his mother.

“A pediatrician?” he repeated, his voice slow.

“A kid’s doctor, you know? I work with little people.” She smiled, and the smile illuminated her face, turning her from pretty to downright beautiful. “You’re looking at me like you just found out I’m a vet or something.”

“No, it’s just a surprise. You go from treating kids to treating … people like me.”

“People like you …” The doctor laughed. “I think we’ve had this conversation before, Hunter. Tell me, why are you here?”

He placed his hand gently on her arm. “I don’t think I ever said thank you, Doctor. For everything. But I came to ask a favor. My mother isn’t feeling well. I was hoping … I was hoping you’d come to the farm with me to see her.”

She was silent for a moment. He understood. It was one thing to speak with the guards around and with his hands shackled to his front, but something completely different to get in a car with him now.

The words bled into his brain. Rapist. Monster.

“I’ll pay you,” he added unnecessarily.

Before Dr. Leroy had a chance to answer, another woman spoke up behind them.

“What the hell are you doing. Mr. Fowler? Take your hands off her.”