Touched by Death (22 page)

She sidled over to Tasha and Meg. Tasha still wasn't
talking.

Jade crouched beside Meg, and asked, "What do
you think?"

"She needs help. Serious help." Meg studied
the large belly, her hand pressed gently, lower down. "How far
along is she?"

"I think seven…almost eight months. I can double
check with the father if you need to know exactly."

"She needs emergency medical care, and fast."
Meg stood and motioned toward John. "Is this man the father?"

"Yes, come on." She led Meg to the men.
"John, this is Meg," she said with a bright smile. "She's
another member of the team."

John's face scrunched. He attempted to step away in
the small room but backed against a wall in the overly crowded space.
"Hi. Thanks for coming by to help Emile."

Meg, her voice as gentle as a summer breeze, said,
"I didn't come for Emile. I came to see your wife."

John's eyes widened. "Tasha? Why? What's wrong
with my wife?"

Meg raised an eyebrow as she glanced behind him to
Dane. Dane stepped around so he could face his brother. "John.
You know there's something wrong."

"You called this woman in?" John's voice
sounded like he didn't know if he should be outraged or thankful.

"Theoretically, yes. I did, at Jade's request."

"Jade?" John frowned as if he couldn't place
who she was.

Jade grimaced and gave a small wave. "That's
me, remember? Your wife and your child need help, John. Now."

Fear visibly shivered over his body and his eyes panicked.
"Is she having the baby now?"

Meg reached out a gentle hand. "She isn't having
the baby right now, although..." Meg looked back over at the woman
rocking silently in the chair. "Well, she needs emergency medical
attention."

"That's good then. She'll be much better once
she has the baby. Everything will be back to normal then." He made
a wide sweep with his arm, taking in Emile and Tasha. Eagerness lit
his face and Jade's heart broke. She didn't think it would be that easy
to fix this.

"We need to call an ambulance or whatever service
is available here. If it can't get here fast, we need to take her to
the closest hospital." Meg spoke to John in a calm voice.

His eyes widened in skepticism. "No. No, she'd
never allow that. You don't understand. She,
they
, don't trust in doctors – not like we do." He spun
to his brother. "Dane you know that. I explained that."

"No. You tried to explain, but I didn't understand.
I
don't
understand. I see that they want their own spiritual leaders and that's
fine. Call them. See if there's anything they can do. We're telling
you that you need to get medical help for Tasha and Emile – and now!"

Meg added, "You don't want to hurt the baby.
And Tasha needs help."

Before their eyes, they saw John crumble. "I
don't know what to do," he cried out.

Bruce walked over. "How long to get an ambulance
here?"

Dane shrugged, "Ten, twenty minutes? I don't
really know. Depends on how busy they are."

Bruce's face pinched. "Call them please."
He cast a scathing look at John. "You're no longer making the decisions
here. Your brother-in-law is going to hospital." He stopped and
studied Tasha for a long moment. "Meg? One patient, or two?"

"Two, actually three. The baby is in trouble,
too."

Both looked to Dane. He nodded and opened his cell
phone to make the call. Bruce stood beside him giving the medical details
to the EMT service.

Jade wrapped her arm around John and moved him over
to the closest chair. "John, sit here for a bit."

"What?" Dazed and confused, John blinked
several times.

Jade frowned and glanced around. Dane was just closing
his phone. She walked over, calling to him softly. "Dane?"

He met her gaze, then followed the tilt of her head,
his eyes lighting on his brother's features. Dane's face turned grim.
"What's the matter now?"

"Your brother. Is it possible he'd have drugs
or something in his system?"

"Not drugs. At least I don't think so."
He bent down and studied his brother. "Hey John. Stay with me here.
You don't look so good."

"I'm fine. A little shaken that's all."
He tried to smile but failed miserably. "I'm okay." This time
his assertion was stronger. Not quite strong enough to be believable
but he was pulling himself up. "And I don't do drugs." He
glared at Jade as if she were the cause of all his problems. "Neither
does Tasha."

"Glad to hear it. Stay alert please or you're
going to be the next patient."

"I'm fine." His temper shone through, strong
and defiant.

Jade was satisfied with that reaction. Better fire
than ice. She left the brothers to work things out while she checked
with Bruce on Emile. Emile's color had slid from white to dead white.
"Shit. He does not look good."

"No. Not at all. Where the hell is that ambulance?"
Bruce stood watch, a careful eye on Emile.

"It's only been ten minutes."

Bruce placed a hand on Emile's wrist again, checking
the pulse, his frown deepening. "They'd better get here soon or
they won't have to rush on their way back."

Jade winced. "That close, huh?"

He gave her a sharp nod. Jade hastened over to Meg
who was attempting to wash Tasha's face. "How's she doing?"

"No change. She's almost catatonic."

"Will that affect the baby?"

Meg frowned and gently cleaned Tasha's cheek. Tasha
didn't respond at all. "The baby is very calm. Too calm."

"Any idea what could cause this?"

Meg sighed and gave her a sad smile. "Unfortunately
a lot of things. I don't know if there is something physical going on
here, but even emotionally… Her father is missing, her brother injured..."
Meg shrugged. "Some people just snap, others give up and then there
are those that go inside where they can't feel the pain. It's way too
early to make any kind of deduction."

Meg went to the kitchen sink and rinsed her cloth.
She came back and finished cleaning Tasha's face then did her hands.
She turned Tasha's hands over and studied the chewed nails. In one spot
they'd been gnawed so low she had dried blood in the corners.

Meg and Jade exchanged grim looks. Jade noticed a
change in the room. Something was different. Too quiet. Emile's harsh,
raspy breathing had silenced. "He's stopped breathing."

"Shit!"

Bruce raced back to Emile's side just as loud sirens
filled the air. Meg's eyes opened wide. Jade raced to the kitchen door.
"It's the ambulance." She ran outside. Doors slammed. "Thank
God. They must have been close when they got the call."

The ambulance parked beside the SUV. Two men hopped
out, one carried a large bag. "Hurry please. He's stopped breathing."

Two men raced into the house.

Jade stayed outside, gulping in the clean, fresh night
air. The house smelled terrible to her – of stale sweat, and
fear and something strongly herbal. Maybe it was from the doll making
materials?

While they worked on Emile, Jade walked around outside,
praying and hoping for Emile's recovery. She didn't know what had happened
to Tasha. She hoped she'd be okay; her baby needed her. But was the
baby okay?

The moon hid behind the clouds above, dimming her
view of the property. The darkness provided an appropriate background
to the horrible events of the night.

"How are you doing?" Dane strode toward
her, his arms open. "I'm in the way in there."

She ran into his embrace. "I'm fine. Wish things
were different though."

He leaned back slightly so he could see her face.
"Yeah, same here." He sounded so sorrowful, so despondent,
she squeezed him tightly. He held her close, dropping his chin down
to rest on her head and they just stayed like that, in the darkness,
for a long moment.

"I'm glad you're here," he whispered.

Just then the kitchen door opened and one of the men
ran back to the ambulance. He pulled out a stretcher, dropped the legs,
locked them in place and raced to the house.

"I always feel like I should do something in
situations like this but I never quite know what."

"Me, too." They stared at the house and
the sounds coming from within. "How sad that John has to take care
of both of them."

"I know. He's almost a patient himself."

"I'm glad you can see that too." She shifted
back. "What about his missing father-in-law?"

Dane ran his fingers through his hair. "Who knows?
I'll try and talk to John when this calms down a little bit."

Jade watched in silence as the two patients were transferred
to the ambulance in two separate trips. After Tasha was brought out,
Meg walked over to Jade, weary sadness on her face. Jade met her gaze
with the burning question in her eyes. Meg shook her head once.

Jade gasped. She bit her lip and wrapped her arms
tightly around her stomach.

Dane reached out to stroke her shoulder. Leaning down,
he whispered, "What?"

She shook her head violently. "Not now,"
she whispered. John walked beside Bruce but either he didn't understand
Meg's motion or couldn't take much more.

Dane dropped his arm from Jade's shoulder and walked
over to his brother.

"John, do you want me to take you to the hospital?"

"I'm going in the ambulance." John gave
Dane a tight smile. "Would you mind following?"

"I'm right behind you." Dane fished the
keys out of his pocket and watched with the rest of the group as the
ambulance flicked on its lights and sirens and took off into the night.

Dane turned to Meg and Bruce. "Thank you."

Bruce shook his head. "Sorry the prognosis isn't
better."

"I didn't hear… Is Emile that bad?"

Bruce sighed. "He might pull through if they
can stop the bleeding fast enough. He's young and strong."

Dane winced. "I guess that was quite the blow
to the head."

"Not at all. Even a light fall can cause this
kind of trauma." He rotated his neck. "I'm thinking Emile
will recover. Tasha now... I don't know."

Dane's eyes widened. "What? I don't understand."

Meg sighed. "I don't know how she's doing mentally.
As for her baby well...we couldn't find a heartbeat."

Peppe ducked below the old dead mango tree close to
Tasha's house. Wide enough to hide him, close enough to see the flashing
lights and the crowd of strangers moving in and out of his daughter's
house. Darkness had long descended. He'd forgotten how long before.
He crouched lower. His stomach growled. He couldn't remember when he'd
eaten last. Surely his kids would bring him a meal soon.

Not Emile. Something was wrong with Emile. He squeezed
his eyes shut. What happened? Yelling, fighting, ropes. Running. He
opened his eyes again, moisture collecting in the corners. Why couldn't
he remember anything?

As he asked the questions visions of Emile's anger
and more yelling swept through his mind. They'd both been so angry.
He thought his son had done something wrong. Again. But he was a good
kid, just always getting into scrapes. Fighting over nothing.

He didn't know what the fight had been about this
time. But Emile didn't deserve whatever had happened to him. As Peppe
watched the activity at Tasha's house, the moisture in his eyes dripping
down his cheek, the stretcher was loaded into to the ambulance.

Emile didn't deserve this. He was a good boy.

The stretcher came back out and went into the house.
He straightened – fear sending icicles down his back. He hated
doctors. All of them. They'd taken his money and let his beloved wife
die. They'd smiled and said they'd help… Instead, he'd gone broke
trying to keep her alive. In the end, she'd still died and the bills
had continued to come.

He huddled deeper in the darkness. The flashing lights
hurt his eyes. Made his head ache. Made him confused.

It was hard to keep watching the house. Small groups
of people clustered around. He glanced around the property. It was still
his place. But he didn't know who everyone was. What were they doing
here?

They didn't belong here.

Neither did all the vehicles.

He squinted. The stretcher came back out.

Tasha. He perked up. The baby was coming. He was going
to be a grandpa.

His enthusiasm fell. His wife hadn't gone to any hospital
then. She'd delivered their two children just fine at home.

So why was Tasha on the stretcher?

That bastard who'd married his daughter stood beside
the ambulance. John. He was to blame for all of this. Things had been
good before he'd come. Now look at this mess. Even worse had been John's
brother...and all those strangers digging their noses in where they
didn't belong.

Shivers wracked his thin frame.

Maybe they were all to blame.

J
ade could feel the sun shining on her face and tried
to open her eyes. Grit and dried tears had mingled to damn near seal
them shut. She yawned and burrowed deeper into the blankets. Thank God
it was Saturday. She didn't want to go anywhere.

Her body felt like wax that had poured itself into
bed then hardened overnight.

Memories slammed into her heart as she opened her
eyes and stared across the empty room. Last night…

Emile. Tasha and the baby.

Her eyes burned. There were no tears left. She'd cried
herself to sleep asking herself and God why it had happened this way.
Why the baby?
She could deal with Emile and his sister and their father, if the news
turned out to be bad. But the baby? The unborn baby. Just like hers.
Only worse because Tasha had been seven or eight months along. To lose
a baby at that stage...well.

Had Tasha known?
Would that, along with her father's disappearance
and then Emile's injury, have ensured her mental slide down? Even a
healthy mind would break under far less.