In Hugs of Dream

“What’s wrong with him?” he roared.

Doctor staggered back from his abruptness, her light blue eyes being covered behind the glassed slightly rounded. She quickly took herself in hand and answered:

“Don’t scream at me, Mr. We are doing everything possible but I can’t tell you exactly what the problem is without the results of analyses. Now he is sleeping.”

“What do you mean he is sleeping? He is in the blackout. I couldn’t wake him up no matter how hard I was shaking him and yelling.”

“It’s true,” the doctor confirmed calmly, “but all his vital activities are in norm. Do you know how much did he drink?”

“He’s the hollow leg, no matters how much you pour into him he will be fresher that any of us. He couldn’t be dead on feet like this only because of alcohol. How long should those damn analyses be waited for?” Max blew up. “I’m stuck here for the full hour. I can’t stand these dead-houses.”

Doctor gave him another strange look and said:

“They will be ready tomorrow morning. And now excuse me, I need to visit my other patients.”

“Wait Doc, and what’s wrong with the girl? And who is she?”

“The girl had a fever. And it is impossible to ask her any questions about the other symptoms because she is still unconscious. The only thing I can tell is that her temperature was subdued and her vital activities were in norm. Tomorrow after getting all the analyses I’ll be ready to answer all your questions. You don’t have to stay here till morning, anyway, nothing new will happen. Come tomorrow morning. Excuse me.”

She walked around him and went back to her study. Something clicked in Max’s head; something on the subconscious level but he couldn’t understand what it exactly was. A strange feeling that he had already met that woman somewhere. Though, who knew in his being of the young fast liver he had women in his life more than there was hair on his head. He spun for a while and decided that it was really nothing here for him to do. He needed to go home, had a bit of sleep, if possible and came back here in the morning.

Doctor Jordanna Ann Pierce approached to her study with fast steps, opened the door with a tug and bang it down behind her with force. Leaning to it she shut her eyes tightly and felt the tears of powerlessness and fury running over her face. The folder with hospital cards of her patients fell down from her shaking hands and she slowly slumped on the floor. Maximillian Westwood. The person she hated with fierce hatred. The person who deprived her the possibility to live normal human life. The person who put her into the wheel chair for long six years. The person who in his cool BMW buzzed into her parents’ car on the cross roads being in absolutely crazy insane. All that scary evening with its horrible details swept in front of her eyes. She was coming back home with her parents from the school evening where she had acted in the play. It was late and the strong rain was falling down. Suddenly there was a strong crash and everything got darken. Opened her eyes, she saw strange people who said something but she didn’t understand them. There was a noise in her ears. The rain poured with all its strength. She felt somebody’s hands carrying her somewhere. The darkness fell again. A little light penetrated through the closed eyelids; she opened them. There were people in white everywhere and something covered her face. She turned her head a bit and met the look of a young man lying beside her. He was looking at her but his gaze didn’t focus on anything. Like two dark, yawning holes stared at her. She closed and opened her eyes again understanding that she was sitting on the floor in her study and there were her folders throwing around everywhere. These nightmares followed her time to time but only in her dreams. Now she had a feeling that she survived this all one more time. She needed to calm down; she was at work in the hospital and her patients were waiting for her help. She didn’t expect in any way to meet him right here and right now. It was all so sudden. She planned their meeting to be different it was the thing that knocked her off. She had to make great efforts to answer his questions calmly. Though everything inside her was burning and roaring. She would have gladly stuck her pen into his black heart and no surprise if his blood had appeared to be of the same black color as his eyes. She violently shook her head, got up and came to the mirror. A pale face surrounded with dark red curls and big full of horror grey-blue eyes ware reflected in it. Obviously he didn’t recognize her. It was not surprisingly at all; ten years had passed since that tragic evening for her. Moreover, as she learnt later he had been in such toxic fever that he couldn’t even remember his name, not saying about the girl who he had crippled and sentenced to the six-year hell. She opened the tap with cold water and washed her face. She had to cool her nerves and just forget about it. For some time. Until she wasn’t ready.

Angie slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times. She was lying in a room. And it wasn’t Alex’s office. Despite the weak illumination, she saw the white walls, a small wardrobe, a small locker near the bed and a door. Where was she? What happened? She raised up on her elbows and looked around. The room wasn’t big and reminded the hospital ward. She shifted her eyes to her hand and saw a needle in it, which the colorless liquid was running into through the tube. Oh God, she was really in the hospital. And the kaleidoscope on yesterday events spun through her head. Alex’s fall, his office, breath-taking kisses on the coach, substitution of the report, the door, frozen in astonishment man and… darkness. She groaned and leaned back to the pillow. And how did she manage to get into such trouble? It was all the damn flu and the pills. And champagne. Right, she poured in two glasses of it for the courage at the party. And her whole perfect plan was down the drain. And now? She got stuck up to her ears in her own intrigue and she had no idea how to set herself free. The door handle ran low. Angie took her breath. What if it was the police? She pressed into the pillow. But a doctor in the white gown came to the ward and took a look at her patient with attentive silver-blue eyes.

“How do you feel?” she asked warmly. Angie glanced at her silently and point her hands to her ears and lips then made a helpless gesture.

“Are you deaf and mute?” the doctor asked. Angie nodded. “Can you read the lips?”

Angie nodded again. Pretending to be deaf and mute was the best way to avoid answering the inconvenient questions; she had learnt it from her aunt on her father’s side. Aunty Daisy always acted like deaf and mute when some annoying sellers of nobody needed goods or tax officers knocked her door.

“How do you feel?” the doctor repeated slowly articulating the words. Angie showed a thumb finger and smiled.

“You had a fever. We need to wait for your analyses to make a diagnosis and assign а therapy for you. I guess you’d like to know how your friend feels.”

Angie quizzically winked. What friend? But the doctor continued:

“He is fine; he is sleeping well in the next ward. His vital activities are in norm like yours. We’re waiting for the analyses but there is a little suspicion that he overdrunk a bit or… a lot.” she smiled. “Well for now, you will stay under our care. I’ll call our anesthesiologist, he has got a deaf and mute sister so he knows this language. He will ask you questions about the symptoms of your disease, your name and insurance.”

The doctor smiled cheerily one more time and left the ward. Angie closed her eyes. Really! Her friend. Alexander Dimond. Jesus Christ, so they got to the hospital together. Worse sequence of events she even couldn’t imagine. Only if he called the police force to arrest her for the stealing of the documents and the attempt of murder. It was good of course, that she was fine now but on the other hand, she needed to escape from the hospital and faster. She pulled out the needle from her hand and ran to the small wardrobe near the door. Opened it, she desperately moaned as there was her evening dress and her bag. She turned to the window. All she saw was the white sheet of snow which was falling down with big flakes from the sky. If she came outside in that dress, she would be taken to completely another hospital; where nobody would ask her any questions but would simply put on the straight jacket on her and… hello, everybody. Though, in that case she could probably play on insanity. Oh, how much she stuck in such trouble! What should she do now? She sat on the edge of the bed and thought of. So, here surely had to be the nurse room for changing. She determinately stood up, took her bag from the wardrobe, opened the door and peeled out the hall. There was nobody there. Yes, rather! The night was outside. It was very good that she regained consciousness now, not in the morning. She carefully slid to the hall.

Max had been hanging out in the hall since morning. He came to the nurse at the registration several times and asked, when the doctor was going to come. He simply charmed that severe madam with the body built from Rembrandt pictures, bright-red and definitely died hair and the vampire mouth. He really did his best in wringing as a water snake in front of that basket; smiled, blandished. Finally, she gave up and called for the doctor. After that he didn’t take another risk of coming to here again; it could happen that she would hurl him over her shoulder and carry to her hole. He shuddered, when he imagined such a picture. At that moment the lift door opened and yesterday doctor came out towards him. She was coming with a confident gait; her natural, dark red hair was fluttering while walking. Her medical gown emphasized the slim figure of the woman. She went directly to him but she stayed in a couple of steps distance.

“It’s good you are here. The analyses are ready,” she said in a husky voice.

Max couldn’t take his eyes off her for a moment. There was something about her that he couldn’t remember what exactly it was. Her beautiful, slightly slanting eyes of melted silver with blue shimmer were covered with glasses in a cat’s form with thin rim and diamond bits on the ends. Most of all his attention was attracted with her beautiful form mouth. The upper lip was a bit plumper than the lower one, what makes it catchy sexual. He shook his head. What was he thinking about in the hospital where possibly his best friend was dying?

“What’s wrong with him?” he asked.

“He is fine. As I have already told you he is just sleeping. However, his analyses showed Nitrazepam in his blood,” the doctor answered nonchalantly.

“What’s this?”

“Sedative medications.”

“Seductive?” Max exclaimed. “Are you out of your mind doctor? Alex doesn’t even take pills from a headache. What the seductive! You should check the analyses one more time, possibly your brilliant glasses obstruct you to differentiate one analyses from another one. It’s just can’t be Alex’s analyses.”

“Get out of here now!” Jordanna pronounced quietly, slowly articulating words.

“What?” Max was startled of such rudeness from the mouth of the woman in white doctor’s gown. He glanced at her and swallowed his words. So much hatred was burning in her eyes that it seemed to penetrate deeply inside of him. Her lips were fasten, red blushes appeared on her ideal cheek-bones.

“I repeat; get out of here until I call the security and you will be kicked out of here in your fivethousanddollar suit to the sidewalk.”

“Wait, Doc. I just want to be sure that you put the right diagnoses. Everybody makes mistakes without any exceptions, especially doctors. OK, OK. I understand. The seductive.” he put his hands up placatingly, seeing her eyes looking daggers into him. He couldn’t understand at all, why his simple harmless remark caused such a stormy reaction from a very calm, tranquil doctor.

“I’m not going to stay here and hear out so dirty comments about my competence. I’m saving lives here but not drinking tea. Respect the profession of the doctor. Is it clear to you?”

She abruptly turned her back to him, came to Alex’s ward and threw it open. She was still shaking from fury; she was ready to kill that snobbish jerk. As much as she worked to get that diploma, despite all that he had done to her and that hincty Mr. Fancy pats just spoke her ill before the stuff and the patients eyes.

Alex slowly opened his eyes and immediately closed them because of the bright day light. He was woken up with a loud voice, he listened to; it seemed like Max’s. He winked several times and sat on the bed. He didn’t understand anything. Why was he in some unknown place looking like the hospital ward? He froze for a second. Hospital ward! What was he doing there, God damn? He forcefully dropped off his blanket and got up from the bed. Coming to the middle of the room he understood that he was wearing the hospital gown. Who put off all his clothes and where took it?

The door of his ward opened and a woman in a white gown came in, she was very angry according to her very tightly pressed lips. She gave him a look and asked:

“Why are you out of the bed?”

“Who are you?” Alex grumbled.

“I’m Doctor Jordanna Pierce. I’m asking you to get back to the bed until you are in the hospital I’m responsible for you.”

“Why am I here? “Alex lowered his voice.

“You were taken here by an ambulance yesterday. We were waiting for your blood analyses to define, why you were in a condition of such a strong sleep that you couldn’t be woken up. Despite the fact that all your indications were well. Now the analyses are ready and everything is clear.”

“Clear? It’s not clear for me. Explain doctor.”

“Nitrazepam was found in your blood, it’s the seductive medication.”

“What the seductive medication do you mean?”

“Nitrazepam, it is the soporific drug from benzodiazepine group. It is prescribed according to the recipe and used in a cases of insomnia, anxiety sleep and also to reduce the emotional stress, to lease off alert, fear, annoyance. Did you take any sleeping pills?”

“What?” his eyes rounded in astonishment and the voice lowered to the whisper. “The only seductive I use is whisky.”

“Alcohol is also found in your blood. It was exactly its combination with the seductive that drown you into such a deep sleep.”

“You were filled up with the drug for abusers, my friend,” Max who seemed to be really amused with that information stood leaning to the jamb of the door. “The bombshell obviously decided that the expectation in the queue to the access to your chic body could be elongated to the next Advent, so she decided simply to drink you up and take a lark.”

Come into the ward, he dropped on a small sofa with a smile of Cheshire cat. He frankly made fun to his heart enjoying almost the panic expression on his usually imperturbable friend’s face.

“The drug that is really used for women abuse is called rohypnol and it is forbidden for spreading in the USA,” the doctor couldn’t stop to put a hair spin. It was such a pleasure to put Max into his wrongness with its nose.

“Ah, no matter,” the last one unabashedly responded. “I hope, the lady took care about the safety or it can happen that you’ll be in a role of Daddy in nine months term.”

“You’re an idiot, Max! What crap are you talking about? Drugs for abusers? As if it’s not enough that I’m standing here in some sucky hospital ward in a vest and with a bare ass, you wanna to finish me off.”

Alex’s roar was heard around the whole hospital. Jordanna screwed up a little; the last thing she needed was to get a trauma of her eardrums from his screams. Without turning to Max, she addressed to Alex.

“In spite of the fact that, there is no danger for your life existing, I would strongly recommend you to stay in the hospital till tomorrow morning.”

“Leave your recommendations, doctor, for the feeble old bones who has no other trouble in their lives as lying on the bed and let to stick in them all possible tubes,” he cut off.

Jordanna blushed, she was insulted for the second time in the last five minutes. And not controlling herself, she burned off:

“Mr. Dimond, in a case if you forget, I remind you I am a doctor. And I am here to do my job to save people, but not for serving as a punching bag for two self-centered egoists. That’s why if you make up your mind to get to this hospital one more time I advise you to check my schedule before that and try not to get in my shift here. Because the next time, I’ll prescribe for you and your overconfident friend a very good two-liter clyster. For each of you.”

And throwing back the bunch of gorgeous dark red hair, she went to the door. While holding the handle, she turned and added:

“With soup and glycerin. For better and faster cleaning up. I can’t wait for our new meeting gentlemen.”

And she was out with the banging door. Alex was standing with his mouth light open in a dismay. Such brainblow he didn’t get for years, especially from the woman. Some strange sounds like sobbing or grunting were heard aside. He turned and saw his ever best friend in the world and partner cracking up with a mute laughing holding his belly. That was the real support. He glared at his friend putting his hand on his hips. Max squeezed out from laughing.

“You won’t… believe. This toughy… lady – the doctor prescribed me… the same pill… in the corridor. Apparently it… will be necessary to check her schedule… as I’m not ready for the sacrificial sitting on the toilet.”

And laughed his head off. Alex just shook his head.

“Instead of neighing, you’d better help me to find the pants and at least some clothes. It’s time to get out of this dead-house.”

He messed his hair up in irritation. His memory didn’t want to recover in any way. He hardly could remember what had happened yesterday. He remembered that he was drinking with a model then a posh blonde appeared, who spilled the champagne on him, then his memory shifted him to the lift and that was it… the blackout.

“Max,” he hailed his friend, who was already out of the door, “that girt who I left the party with; do you know her?”

“Actually she is in the next wart to yours,” Max declared with a smirk, seeing his friend’s face losing its imperturbability for second time in a few minutes.

“How can she be in the next ward? What’s wrong with her?”

“Have no idea. She fell on my hands when I came to your office. It’s a sin to think like this but I got an idea that I was the next victim for the greedy madam, but the doctor said that she had a fever.”

Alex plucked up his head and fell down to the bed. Several seconds he was lying still then he got up and directed to the door with broad steps. He was holding the divergent sides of the gown on his fifth bare point with one hand and going to the next room. “The scene for the cover of the magazine”, Max thought with a smile and followed his friend foretasting another turning of the scandal. What else the real lawyer needed.

Coming into the next ward, they saw a bewildered nurse who was holding a dropper in her hand and a man – a doctor.

“Where is the girl from this room?” Alex asked.

They turned to him.

“We don’t know. We’ve just come here,” the man said, “doctor Pierce sent me here because the patient was mute and deaf and I had to talk to her with a help of the signs. But she had disappeared somewhere.”

“Mute and deaf?” Alex turned to Max questionably raising his eyebrow. “It’s very interesting.”

“Do you happen to know her name?”

“Carrie Meeber,” Alex answered automatically. He was surprised to remember her name actually.

Doctor’s eyes widen. He obviously read Theodore Dreiser too. And that meant the only one thing that the girl with a fake name hardly had an insurance.

“I need to report about it to doctor Pirece,” the man said to the nurse, “the girl’s name is a real fake and who is going to pay for her being here.”

“Max, ask the hospital to send the bill for the girl to our company’s address. What happened to her? Was the seductive medication found in her blood too?”

“No, there was found the medication from flu. Strong enough. And a little of alcohol. All together it caused fainting.”

Alex nodded and mutually left the ward. Sitting in the car, he was watching to the window and trying to recover the events of yesterday evening. His memory didn’t want to come back, no matter how hard he tried.

“What the hell is going on Max? I can’t remember anything, except the moment I came to the lift with the girl who’s face is a real mystery to me. And I don’t remember what happened in the office. How long was I absent?”

“Half an hour approximately, plus minus five minutes.”

“I need to know who she was and find her. Maybe it was she, who gave me those sleepy pills.”

“It could be anybody at the party as you didn’t watch at your glass all the time.”

“Why? It’s the main question Max. I want to check the office immediately. Is everything on its place there? Maybe she is just a thief and decided to steal something from there. Though, there is nothing valuable there and, moreover, there’s no money.”

“Possibly you were the only precious thing for her in the office and apparently she didn’t have strength to take you out on her back. Or maybe it was somebody else and the girl just wasn’t lucky enough. Though, it is unknown when you had a blackout after or before.

“Not funny. Don’t even dare to hint about the rape in the sleep. I’ll choke you.”

“Gotta,” Max chuckled. “Be sure, I forgot.”

Alex turned and looked into the laughing eyes of his best friend and clearly sensed that he didn’t simply forget but he would remind about it in every convenient and inconvenient moment. He sighed, nodded his head and turn to the window. He would remember. One day he would certainly remember. And he would know who gave him the seductive and the most important thing why?!

CHAPTER 5

Five months later

Angie went to the doorstep of the small cottage in her parents’ camp. Now in the end of May there weren’t too many people there, so she enjoyed with all her soul with the warm weather and calmness. In a month all those houses would be full and find a place where she could sit alone would be almost impossible. She sat into the twisted chair and put the cup of coffee on the little glass table with twisted legs and frame which she had bought last summer at the fair in the nearest town and loved it a lot. It created the coziness on her terrace. In the morning she met sunrise, in the evening enjoyed the sunset and she was always astonished with the beauty of the nature in that paradise place. She was unbelievably happy that she had been able to defend that place even in the way of such a risky adventure which she had dared to at Christmas. She still shuddered with horror remembering her escape from the hospital in somebody’s clothes, taxi to the hotel and then the plane here to Monte-South. She had to stay in the hospital several days because the flu caused the complication in a form of bronchitis, and the doctor strongly recommended her to be inpatient. She felt so bad that she agreed without thinking. At once after the discharge from the hospital, she lost herself in her work trying to raze from her memory so dishonorable act she had to commit. She didn’t know what ate her away more: roguish change of the report with a help of the seductive or passionate embraces with Alex on his couch. She didn’t remember when her body had reacted so willingness to the pettings as if it wasn’t her but some another strange, crazy from frenetic passion in her blood woman. He woke up something in her that had been dreaming all twenty-sixth years, a mad desire. The desire that still came to her in her dreams with Alex. That man was a real obsession if you tried him once you would be lost forever. Her body remembered his tender touches, soft lips, insatiable tongue which found the most sensitive parts and made her languishing in the lust. She shook her head getting memories about Alex away, deeply into her conscience. The only thing that made her completely happy was the abolish of the factory building. She was personally informed about it by the Mayor’s wife, Unity Douson.

A stout lady in her mid-fifties she proudly wore things that were likely more suitable for the young girls. She died her hair platinum blond and always put the long chignon in a form of a horse tail. She reminded aunty-fairy from the cartoon “Sleeping beauty”, so much brisk, nimble and sharp-tongued. God save to be her enemy. She destroyed her enemies slowly but clearly. That’s why there were no wishers in the town; the old ones she had already driven out and the queue of new ones nobody strived to replenish. Unity was a real intrigante, she took part in every event of their small town. It seemed that not a marriage, a baby birth, birthday or a divorce could happen without her personal participation. She adored gossips, secrets; the more awful the better. She gladly supported Angie in her crazy decision to stop the factory building near their town despite the fact that she knew Alex Dimond personally because she had been Alex’s mother friend. Her intention to help Angie was based on the simple points: A) Alex was rich enough to build at least ten such factories in any other places and he wouldn’t suffer a lot without that land. B) Angie was like a daughter for her she had known her from the birth and understood well how hard it had been for the girl to live here without her father, how she was happy when he bought that camp and how much it meant for her and her family. That’s why her decision to Angie’s side was natural and the only true one. Two months after her trip to New York she called personally and informed with her thin, squeaky voice: