“You’ve got to come into the hospital,” David said.
“I can’t,” Sandra said. “I’ve got so much to do. And my ten-year-old is home with the chicken pox.”
“You’ll just have to make arrangements,” David said. “There’s no way I’m going to let you walk around with this time bomb.”
David carefully explained the anatomy of the region to Sandra, emphasizing how close the infection was to her brain. “If the infection gets into your nervous system, we’re in deep trouble,” David said. “You need continuous antibiotics. This is no joke.”
“All right,” Sandra said. “You have me convinced.”
David called admitting to warn them Sandra would be coming. Then he gave her a written set of orders and sent her on her way.
Angela felt terrible. She was exhausted. Several cups of coffee had not been enough to revive her. It had been almost three o’clock before she’d fallen asleep, and once she had, she’d not slept soundly. She’d had nightmares again, featuring Hodges’ body, the ski-masked rapist, and the brick through the window.
When she finally did wake up she was surprised to discover that David had already left for work.
As Angela dressed, she regretted her promise to David to try to forget about Hodges. She didn’t see how she could “just let Hodges go” as David suggested.
Angela wondered again about Phil Calhoun. She still had not heard a word from him. She figured that the least he could do was check in. Even if he hadn’t discovered something significant, he could at least let her know what he’d accomplished to date.
Angela decided to give Phil Calhoun a call, but all she got was his answering machine. Deciding against leaving a message, she simply hung up.
Downstairs, Angela found Nikki in the family room busily reading from one of her schoolbooks.
“Okay,” Angela said. “Upstairs for postural drainage.”
“I already did it with Dad,” Nikki said.
“Really?” Angela said. “How about breakfast?”
“We had that too,” Nikki said.
“What time did you two get up?” Angela asked.
“Around four,” Nikki said.
Angela wasn’t happy about David’s getting up so early. Having trouble sleeping was often a sign of depression. She also didn’t like the idea of having Nikki up so early.
“How did Daddy seem this morning?” Angela asked as she joined Nikki in the family room.
“Fine,” Nikki said. “He called while you were in the shower. He said that Caroline was okay and that I can visit her this afternoon.”
“That’s wonderful news,” Angela said.
“He also asked me to remind you about a gun,” Nikki said. “He acted weird, like I wouldn’t know what a gun is.”
“He’s worried,” Angela said. “It’s no joke. Guns are bad business when it comes to kids. A lot of kids are killed each year because of family-owned guns. But more often than not those cases involve handguns.”
Angela walked out into the front hall and brought the shotgun back into the family room. She took the shell out of the chamber and showed Nikki how to tell there were no more inside.
Angela spent the next half hour going over the gun with Nikki, allowing Nikki to pump it, pull the trigger, and even load and unload it. When they were finished with the instruction, they went outside behind the barn and each fired a shell. Nikki said she didn’t like firing it because it hurt her shoulder.
Returning to the house, Angela told Nikki that she wasn’t to touch the gun. Nikki told her not to worry, she didn’t want to have anything to do with it.
Since the weather was warm and sunny, Nikki wanted to ride her bike to school. Angela watched as she started off toward town. Angela was pleased she was doing so well; at least Bartlet was good for Nikki.
Shortly after Nikki left, Angela did the same. After parking in the reserved area, Angela couldn’t resist the temptation to examine the spot where she’d been attacked. She retraced her steps into the stand of trees that separated the parking lots and found her own footprints in the muddy earth. With the help of the footprints she found the spot where she’d fallen. Then she discovered the deep cut left in the earth by the man’s club.