A Plain Malice: An Appleseed Creek Mystery (Appleseed Creek Mystery Series Book 4) (30 page)

I wanted him to leave.
I wanted to hear what Timothy and Chief Rose had to say. “I didn’t plan to come back.”

“Most don’t.” He
chuckled.

“Timothy, please tell me what you and Chief Rose meant before the doctor arrived
,” I said.

Timothy pursed his lips as if considering his words. Chief Rose, who was never as subtle, cut to the chase. “Someone tried to poison you.”

“Poison me,” I murmured.

She nodded.

“The chief’s right. You were in bad shape there for a bit,” the good doctor added. “We won’t know for sure until we get the lab results back, but I think someone fed you narcissus.”

“Narcissus,” I whispered. “
Isn’t that a character in Greek mythology who fell in love with his reflection and died?”

Dr. Bryant
picked up an iPad from a rolling medical cart in one corner of the room and consulted it. “It’s also a flower. More commonly called a daffodil.”

“A daffodil,” I whispered.
Somehow knowing it was my favorite flower that nearly killed me made it worse. My eyes found Timothy’s. His expression was apologetic as if he was somehow responsible for this. He knew what my favorite flower was.

“I see
a case like this a couple of times every spring. There was a little boy in here last week who ate a whole plant.”

I tried to lift my head. The room swerved. That was a mistake. “Was the little boy okay?”

“He was after we pumped his stomach and a two-day hospital stay.” He scrolled down his iPad again. “Even though he ate the plant, it was lucky he didn’t get any of the bulb. That’s where a majority of alkaloid poison is. Because of the severity of your illness, I suspect you ingested a bit of a narcissus bulb, it’s not toxic enough to kill you but will definitely enough to make you wish you were dead.”

“Do you think I ate it today? Right before I got sick?” I willed myself not to think about the Italian sausage. If I threw up again, Dr. Bryant would never let me out of the hospital.

“Narcissus doesn’t work that fast. You could have been given it any time in the last few days. It just depends how much you were given and how susceptible you are to know the time of reaction. I suspect it was in the last thirty-six to forty-eight hours because of your small size. In a large man it would take much longer for a reaction.”

Chief Rose rocked back on her heels. “I sent Nottingham over to
the Dutch Inn to collect a sample of your lunch you left behind in the garden.”

Ugh. Could the floor open up and swallow me now?

“Don’t worry. He may look like a kid, but he’s an old hand where puke is concerned. Who do you think collects all those drunk Harshberger students on Thursday nights and carts them back to campus?”

Seriously
, floor open up already. I am ready to go.

Dr
. Bryant closed the cover over his iPad. “You are going to be fine, but I would like to keep you here overnight for observation.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to spend the night in the hospital. I feel fine now. A little weak, but that’s to be expected after being that sick. I’ll feel a little better after I
eat.” Even the mention of food made my stomach roll. I tried my best not to make a face as I felt like I rode Tilt-a-whirl on the deck of a sailboat.

He pursed his lips. “
You’re vitals and coloring are back to normal. You aren’t in any danger, so I’ll let you go.”

“Maybe you should stay to be sure,” Timothy said. “One night in the hospital won’t
be so bad.”

“
I will be fine.”

“Okay, I’ll start the paperwork,” the good doctor said. “A nurse will be
back within the hour with your discharge papers.” He pointed the corner of his iPad in my direction. “Don’t make me regret my decision, Chloe, and I don’t want to see you around here again.”

“I don’t want to see you either,” I said with a smile.

He winked at me and left the room.

“Okay
, Humphrey, start at the beginning. I want to know everything you did the last two days, so we can figure out when you might have been fed daffodil and by whom.”

I started talking and shared everything I could remember from
last couple of days.

“I need to know what you ate too.”

“There was the fish jerky.”

Her pen froze in midair. “Say what?”

“Gertie gave me some fish jerky she brought from Mississippi.”

The chief touched her pen to the paper. “And you ate
it. You do have a death wish.”

“Gertie wouldn’t have poisoned me,” I said.
At least I don’t think she would.

“I’ll have to check it out.”

“There’s a piece in my purse.”

Timothy plucked my purse off a chair in the corner of the room and removed the sandwich bag. He gave it to the chief. She held it in front her like she was
examining a bug. “You ate that.”

“Just a tiny bite to be polite.”

“Polite could have gotten you killed.” She placed the bag on the corner of the bed. “What else did you eat?”

I pulled the sheet up closer to my chin.
“An Italian sausage.”

She just shook her head and reco
rded what I said. A few minutes later, she snapped her notebook closed. “That will do for now. There is someone else here to see you.”

“Who?”
I heard myself ask even though I knew.

“Curt.”

I hated it when I was right.

“He’s waiting out in the hall and as much as I try to chase him away, he won’t leave until he sees you. He won’t take my word that you’re all right.” Her eyes slid to Timothy, who had been silent throughout the chief’s i
nterrogation. “And we both know he won’t believe anything Troyer says.”

I could use that cup of water again wherever it was. “I’ll talk to him.”

The chief nodded, and when I thought she was about to leave the room, she hesitated. “I’m glad you are okay, Humphrey. I like having you around.”

Were Chief Rose and I friends? I couldn’t really see us braiding each other
’s hair or having sleepovers, but there are other types of friendship among women. A mutual respect.

The door’s latch clicked shut after
her.

Timothy’s blue eyes were wide. There was fear there. Fear over the possibility of losing me.
“I can stay with you while you talk to Fanning.”

“No,” I whispered.
If Timothy heard what Curt had to say to me, it would only make the situation worse. Then again, Timothy wasn’t a fool, and he may have known about Curt’s feelings for me a lot longer than I had. “I’ll be fine. Please send him in.”

He took my hand and kissed it.
“All right.” Timothy opened my room door and poked his head out. “You can come in now,” he said in a gruff voice.

Timothy stepped to the side as Curt shuffled into the room.

“I’ll be just on the other side of the door.” Timothy’s voice was heavy with a threat.

The latch to the door clicked shut after him.

Curt stood at the foot of the bed and clenched his hands in front of him. “You threw up on my shoe.”

“
Sorry about that. I’m sorry you had to witness that whole episode. I’m mortified.”

“Don’t be.”
He folded his hands in front of himself. “I’m glad I was there for you. I want to always be the one there to help you, Red.”

I squinted as if in pain. “Curt—”

“I shouldn’t have approached you like that. When you said you didn’t feel well, I should have paid attention and helped you to the hospital before I told you how I felt.”

“Curt—”

“Pastor Chris said I need to work on thinking before I act. I need to put others before myself. I’m still learning. Slowly. And after the life I led, it’s a struggle every day, but I’m getting better at it. Today is not the best example,” he pressed on. I suspected he knew exactly what I was going to say.

“Curt—”

“But even if that was the wrong time to say it,” he said in rush. “Everything I said was true. I do love you. You are the only woman for me. I know that in my heart.”

“Curt—”

He opened his mouth as if he was going to speak again. This time, I was faster. “No, you said your piece. Now, it’s my turn. I’m flattered,” I said, realizing I was. After all Curt and I had been through, most of which was turbulent at best, it amazed me he could care for me. “But I’m in love with Timothy. Nothing will change that. We’re going to get married.”

“You are? I don’t see a ring.” I stared at my left hand.

The fingers of my left hand involuntarily curled inward. “Even without a ring, I know we are.”

His face flushed. “How do you know? H
ave you talked about it?”

“That’s none of your business,” I said more harshly than I intended.

“If you are not engaged, you are single, which means I still have chance.”

“You don’t.” I swallowed and felt like
I was going in for the kill, but it had to be said. “Even if Timothy and I weren’t together, I wouldn’t be with you. I don’t love you, not like that.”

He dropped his head as if a great weight,
like a barbell had been dropped on the base of his neck.

“I,” my voice cracked. “I don’t want this to have an impact
on how far you’ve come. I do care about you. I’m so proud, and I still think Faith Beyond Bars is a wonderful idea. I’ll help you any way I can.” I took a breath. “I must tell you a secret.”

He looked up, but the anguish I saw there was almost more than I could be
ar. It was the face of rejection. The same look I saw on Aaron’s face when Becky turned him away, the same look I saw in the mirror when my father turned me away.

I took a shuddered breath.
“You’re brave. You walked away from a life you were used to and started a new one. You’ve changed, Curt. I see it, Chief Rose sees it, and everyone sees it. That kind of change takes bravery. I don’t know if I could have done it. I doubt I could have done it.”

“You would have,” he whispered.

I shook my head.

“I did
it because of you.”

I closed my eyes, and the weight of his words settled onto my che
st. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not?
It’s the truth.”

I gripped the edge of my blanket in my hand.
“Honesty is good. Do you accept my honesty back?”

“Yes
, but I don’t have to like it. Would you like some more water?”

I nodded and accepted
the cup from his hand.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Dizziness swirled in my head as Timothy pushed my wheelchair through the hospital. As he turned the chair around to back out of the hospital sliding glass doors, I was grateful for the chair. Another wave of nausea swept over me. Timothy helped me into his blue Ford pickup truck waiting at the curb.

Mabel whimpered as I settled into the seat and sniffed th
e back of my head.

I held up my hand so she could smell it. “I’m fine, Mabel. Don’t worry.”

She whimpered again.

Through the windshield, I watched as Timothy returned the wheelchair. H
e moved stiffly, and I sensed the stirring of pent up emotion bubbled just below his skin. I bit my lip.

Quickly, I scanned the parking lot for Curt’s green truck.
It wasn’t there. At least one complication was out of the picture.

Timothy climbed into the truck and slammed the door.

Okay, he was upset. Timothy was not the door slamming sort.

“Timothy, I—”

“I almost lost you. Again.” His voice was filled with anguish.

“Dr. Bryant said daffodil
poisoning isn’t fatal.”

Timothy slapped the steering wheel
so hard it should have split in two. “I don’t care what the doctor said.”

I shrank back into the passenger side door. I
‘d never seen Timothy so angry, so angry at me, before. Through the windshield, I saw a hospital worker sitting on stone bench outside of the hospital doors. He watched us intently as if considering some type of action to save the damsel in distress.
It’s not what you think.

Timothy stared straight ahead. “
You can’t keep doing this to me. It’s going to kill me. I want you to stop.”

“I can’t.” I swallowed. “You need to take me back to the inn.”

His neck snapped in my direction.

“Pearl is there by herself. She could be in danger.
I need to take care of her.”

“We can go collect her and she can stay at your house until she leaves, but you are not staying at the inn. I forbid it.”
He started the truck and pulled away from the curb. I felt the hospital workers eyes on my back as the pickup joined the traffic on Coshocton Avenue.