C.J. Carmichael - A Little Secret between Friends

Not Neil. Relief was quickly replaced by a different kind of alarm. What was Colin Foster doing here? The island blocked him from her view and it worked vice versa, as well. If she kept quiet, maybe he would leave. She certainly didn’t want him to see her this way.

On the hand, she could use some help.

In the end, the decision wasn’t Sally’s to make. Colin entered the kitchen. He must have seen the blue flame on the stove, because he came rushing around the island and almost tripped over her.

“Oh my God, Sally! What happened to you?”

He crouched beside her, as Neil had done, only this time she felt no fear. Armani seemed to sense his presence was benign, as well. He stopped whining and lay down at Sally’s side.

“My head,” she said, barely finding the strength to speak. “My hand.” She lifted it slightly.

“You burned yourself.” Colin reached to the stove and switched off the burner. “Badly. And you’ve hit your head. It’s still bleeding.”

He opened drawers until he found the clean tea towels. Taking several, he made a compress and applied it to her wound. He tied one of the towels completely around her head to hold the others in place.

Then he found a bowl, filled it with cold water and immersed her burned hand. The relief from pain was instantaneous.

“Talk to me, Sally. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. My name is Sally Elizabeth Stowe and it’s Friday the twenty-third.”

He looked taken aback at first, and then he smiled. “Well, your mind is working all right. But then it always has.”

This, coming from a man who had spent the past decade and a half debating almost everything she said, was a compliment, Sally knew.

“What a lot of blood.”

His face was awfully white, Sally noticed. He’d aged since Beth’s death, but not unattractively. A little gray sprinkled in with the chestnut-brown. A few more lines spreading out from the corners of his alert, probing eyes.

“Head injuries always bleed profusely, Colin.” She remembered Lara, when she was two, splitting her head open on the stone hearth of their first rental home, and the amazing amount of blood she’d lost in a relatively short time. Sally had hit the panic button then, but at Emergency Lara had received three stitches and been pronounced fine.

On the drive home, Neil had bitterly castigated Sally for her carelessness, conveniently forgetting that she had asked him to keep an eye on Lara while she folded the laundry.

That had been the last in a series of arguments that had convinced her she could not spend a lifetime with the man she’d married so rashly. She’d moved out the next week. Drawn up a separation agreement that Neil had never signed…

“Must have been a hell of a fall, Sally. Did you burn your hand, then lose your balance?”

She closed her eyes, remembering the vile sneer on Neil’s face just before he’d given her that second shove. The ice-man smile.

She doubted if any of Neil’s colleagues would believe that the polished, urbane man who was one of the city’s most accomplished criminal lawyers had this darker side.

Besides, even if Colin did believe her, she wasn’t sure she wanted him to know.

“That must be what happened. It’s all kind of blurry right now.”

Blurry was the right word. Her vision still wasn’t quite right. And her understanding of the situation was equally out of focus. Neil had lost his temper hundreds of times before, but he’d never laid a hand on her before. What was so different this time? Did he resent her possible judicial appointment that much?

“You look like you’re in a lot of pain.”

“I’m actually starting to feel a little better.”

“You’ll need stitches for that cut, I’m guessing.”

He was probably right.

“Should I call an ambulance?”

“I’m not that badly off. But maybe you could drop me at the Rockyview Emergency? Unless you have plans?”

Colin’s laugh was bitter. “I never have plans these days. Not that it would matter if I did. Come on, sweetheart, we’ve got to get you up off that floor.”

He started to put his arms under her then paused.

“You smell good,” she murmured.

“What?”

She couldn’t believe she’d said that. It was just the contrast from Neil, she supposed. “Don’t mind me. I’m delirious.”

“Before I move you I’d better make sure you don’t have any other injuries. Back? Neck?”

“Fine. Nothing hurts but my head and my hand.” And those were enough. “You know, a few painkillers would go down real nice about now.”

“Let’s get you up, first. Here goes.” Colin put his arms under her back, helping her to a sitting position. “Okay?”

“A little dizzy,” she admitted.

“Think you can make it to the car?”

“But all this blood will stain your seats.” There was a pool of the stuff in the kitchen. It was on her shirt and Colin’s socks. He must have removed his shoes at the door.

“I’ll take care of it,” Colin promised. “What about the dog?”

“Could you put him in the laundry room, please?”

Colin pulled off his socks so he wouldn’t track blood all over her house, then settled the dog. Next he grabbed a throw blanket from the family room and wrapped it around her shoulders. As gently as possible, he helped her up. Slowly they crossed to the back door where he slipped his shoes back onto his feet, then swung her up into his arms and carried her out to his car.

The round trip to the emergency room took under four hours, which wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Colin stuck with her the whole time, except when she was in the examining room.

“How many stitches?” he asked on the drive home.

She fingered the raw spot on the side of her head. “Four. You know, I’ve never had stitches before. If you don’t count childbirth.”

“Why would you…?” Colin began to ask. Then, “Oh…” as he figured the answer out on his own. “That must really hurt.”

“It’s not the worst part,” she assured him, then smiled at his grimace.

It was peaceful riding in the car with Colin, which was strange. She wasn’t used to being in his vicinity without a good argument brewing between them. Usually legal in nature, but sometimes political or economic. In truth, their world views weren’t that different, but from the first time they’d butted heads in law school, they’d seemed to take pleasure in picking fights with each other.

Back at her house, Colin surprised her by producing a key to her front door, then helping her inside. When she looked at him questioningly, he said, “It’s Beth’s.” He started to work it off the chain, but she stopped him.

“Keep it. If I ever lock myself out, I’ll be glad you have the spare.”

Trailing her hand along the hallway wall, to keep herself steady, Sally headed for the laundry room. As soon as she opened the door, Armani tumbled out, barking excitedly.

“I’ll take care of him. You should get some rest.” Colin crouched beside the puppy. “I’ll bet you need to go outside, don’t you, fella?”

“Thank you, Colin.” Sally couldn’t wait to get off her feet. It was almost midnight now and all she wanted was sleep. In the hospital Colin had told her he would stay the night to keep an eye on her. Otherwise, the doctor would have insisted on admitting her.

Sally tossed her bloodied clothing into the hamper and put on flannel pajamas. She managed to brush her teeth then, with relief, crawled under the covers.

Within a minute, she heard Armani and Colin return to the house. There were some noises in the laundry room. She presumed Colin was making sure the puppy had food and water for the night.

Then Colin came to her room. She’d left the door open, but he stood out in the hall.