Judy Christenberry - The Doctor Delivers

Always imaginative, Liza had built up a fantasy that Meredith and Joe were her parents. Her time away from them was like boarding school. But she always came back to them.

From the moment Emily had been adopted by Meredith and Joe, Liza acted like her big sister, watching after her, making her feel more secure. Since she’d always longed for a sister, Liza took Emily to her heart. They’d become sisters by love if not by blood.

Nine years ago, while Liza was at her parents’ house, her beloved Aunt Meredith had taken Emily in the car to see her biological grandmother. There’d been a wreck…and Aunt Meredith had never been the same.

Her interest in any of her children had disappeared at once. The garden she tended so enthusiastically was neglected. The strong bond she shared with her husband seemed to have disappeared, and Uncle Joe began staying away from home more than he ever had. And he seldom spent time with his wife, where before they’d been devoted to each other.

The next time Liza had come back to their home, she’d discovered Emily pale and frightened. Only to Liza did she tell her secret. She’d seen two Merediths the day of the accident: a good Meredith and bad Meredith.

Liza at first rejected Emily’s story. But the longer she spent time around Aunt Meredith, the more she agreed that something horrible had happened. The woman she considered to be her mother seemed to have changed overnight. Both Emily and Liza had felt abandoned.

Though they’d kept in touch, she and Emily hadn’t spent as much time together after the accident, because Cynthia launched Liza’s singing career in earnest.

Then, a few days ago, Emily disappeared.

She’d called Liza the morning after her disappearance. Her tale of what had happened had scared Liza. Emily had promised to call again as soon as she could. Liza had been waiting for her call, afraid she might be trailed by the man Emily claimed had tried to do away with her earlier.

And she believed Emily’s story. She believed Aunt Meredith had hired someone to kill Emily, in spite of the kidnapper’s ransom note her uncle had received the next morning.

The door opened and she looked up, expecting either a nurse or Dr. Hathaway.

Instead, a strange man entered, dressed in jeans and a dirty blue shirt, a menacing look on his face and a long, sharp knife in his hand.

Nick had gotten a prescription of antibiotics filled and was coming back to Liza’s room when he noticed a man standing in the doorway.

“Excuse me,” he said, smiling briefly. “Are you visiting Miss Colton?”

The man jerked in surprise and backed out of the door, tucking one hand behind his back, then turned and ran down the hall.

Nick’s first concern was Liza. He stepped in the room to discover his patient pale and shaking. “Liza, what’s wrong?”

“That—that man!” she exclaimed, her breathing shallow.

“You want me to stop him?”

She nodded urgently, but her eyes were fearful.

Nick shoved the medicine in his pocket, turned and ran for the elevators. At the nurse’s desk, he said, “Call Security. Have them stop the man who just left this floor. He was wearing jeans and a blue shirt.”

“He took the stairs,” one nurse said even as she dialed the phone.

Nick did the same, racing down the stairs. He burst through the door into the main lobby, but despite a thorough search of the area, especially the front doors, he didn’t see the man. Nick grabbed a security guard, but no one had seen the stranger.

“You want me to call the police, Dr. Hathaway?” the guard asked, eager to please.

“No, thanks, Pete. I’ll talk to my patient. I think she’s leaving the hospital today anyway.”

“You just let us know, Doc. We’ll do whatever you want.”

“I know. I appreciate it, thanks.” Nick took the elevator back to the second floor and returned to Liza’s room.

“Who was that?” he asked as he entered.

“I—I don’t know,” she whispered, but she didn’t look at him.

“I think you do. I want to know if the police should be involved.”

He kept his gaze on her, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she gnawed her bottom lip, fear in her eyes. He figured he had a right to intervene if for no other reason than her health. Whatever was bothering her had caused her not to eat or sleep.

It sounded pretty serious to him.

“Did he threaten you?”

She nodded her head.

“What did he say?”

“’Where’s Emily?’” she repeated, obviously quoting the man. Then she burst into tears.

Without even thinking about his actions, Nick strode across the room and pulled Liza against him, stroking her back in a soothing motion. When she began to calm down, he asked, “Did he say anything else?”

She shook her head.

“I hate to tell you this, but ‘Where’s Emily?’ isn’t much of a threat.”

She sniffed and burrowed deeper against him. “He had a knife.”

Nick asked enough to realize the knife was a serious weapon. “Okay, so who’s Emily?”

At once, Liza stiffened and tried to draw away.

“Whoa, where do you think you’re going?”

She avoided his gaze even as she put some distance between them. “I have to go.”

“Where?”

“Back to the hotel.”

“I’m not sure that’s safe. What if the man finds you there?”

Her green eyes were huge as she thought about his words. “I—I don’t think he’ll come back,” she whispered.

“Because you’re going to call the police?”

She covered her face with her hands. “I don’t know what to do,” she wailed, her words coming out muffled.

“You’ve got to stay calm, Liza, if you’re going to get better. You have to concentrate on eating and sleeping. That’s what’s important.”

She shook her head. “Emily is— I mean, other things— I have to go to the hotel.”

Nick sat back and sighed. She might be weak. She might not have shown good judgment in skipping meals and sleep. But she was as stubborn as any woman he’d ever seen. “Okay, I’ll take you to the hotel, if you’ll let me come with you. And if you’ll call the police.”

“Maybe I should,” she finally said with a sigh. Then she looked at him again, drilling him with her green eyes. “Do you promise to keep everything you overhear between me and the police a secret?”

“I promise,” he said solemnly.

Once Dr. Hathaway got her to her room in the hotel, he told her to go shower and change clothes while he contacted the police.

“Ask for non-uniforms, please,” she asked in a wobbly voice. “I don’t want anyone in the hotel to wonder about the cops.”

He nodded.

So far he’d done exactly as she’d asked in everything, so she decided to trust him. Besides, a shower and clean clothes were necessary before she could face anyone.

But she felt she had to report the man to the police because she suspected he had something to do with Emily’s disappearance. Uncle Joe had told her not to speak to anyone, but she thought he would agree to her telling the Saratoga Springs police. They could contact the police in Prosperino, California, where her uncle’s huge estate was located.

Fifteen minutes later, she was exhausted but clean, dressed in black slacks and a green sweater, her hair still wet. She moussed and quickly styled it. Then she headed for the living room of her suite.

Dr. Hathaway stood as she entered and for the first time she noticed two other gentlemen in the room who also got to their feet. At least the police here were prompt.

“Liza Colton,” the doctor said smoothly as he came forward and took her arm, “these gentlemen are John Ramsey and Bill Wilson, detectives with the Saratoga Springs Police Department.”