Elise sat in her condo and stared out at the woods. Coffee perked, a scent she normally liked but today, it made her queasy. Probably from lack of sleep. Hell. She couldn’t catch more than four hours at a time. Despite the smell, she got up and poured herself a cup and added some International Delight. She brought it to the sliding windows and took a sip, staring blindly at the outdoors again.
Oh, God! Oh, damn. Slamming the cup onto the counter, she bolted from the kitchen to the small bathroom off of the hallway and made it to the toilet just in time again. Where she retched her guts out. When she was done, she sank back onto the floor and leaned against the wall. She was too weak to move.
After some time, she heard the doorbell ring. It wasn’t even eight o’clock. She managed to get to her feet and go out to the door.
And found Finn standing on the other side. “Hi, I came…Are you all right? You look sick.”
“I’m, um, not feeling well.”
He stepped inside and slid his arm around her shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you seated.”
But as he escorted her to the couch, she slapped her hand over her mouth, broke away from him and rushed out of the room. He followed her and held back her hair while she vomited once again.
“Go ahead, sweetheart, it’s okay.”
When she finished, he poured her a glass of water, let her rinse her mouth, and helped her back to the couch. She fell onto it. He went to the kitchen, wet a dish cloth and brought it back to her. He sat next to where she stretched out and bathed her face. Her eyes closed. “That feels wonderful.”
He kept it up until the cloth turned warm.
“I feel better.” She studied him. “Why are you here? You weren’t very happy to see me when I came to your house last week.”
“I know. I’m sorry about all that.”
“Don’t be. It opened my eyes to the reality of our relationship. So, why’d you come?”
“Elise, early this morning, a bomb went off at the Harmony Healing.”
Her face blanched even more.
He rushed on to say, “No one was hurt and the police are on this. A full-scale investigation has been launched. But I didn’t want you to see it on the news.”
“The cops should have done that after you were attacked.”
“They chalked that up to robbery. But they’re taking this seriously. Somebody wanted to do the collective harm.”
“Who would want that?”
“Could be a fanatic who doesn’t believe in alternative medicine. A militia guy who sees our practices as blasphemy. More likely though, somebody has it out for one of us. I have to go to the police station to be interviewed right after I leave here.”
“I’m sorry, Finn.”
He cocked his head. “Did you catch a bug, Elise? Is that why you don’t feel well?”
“I could have. I filmed a scene where I had to jump into the canal.”
“Seriously? You didn’t have a stunt double?”
“I didn’t want one. Maybe it was unwise. I got caught in some pond weeds under that water. But I got out quickly enough. Still, I might have picked something up.”
“Do you have to go into work today?”
“This afternoon. They want the three o’clock light. I’ll check in with the movie doctor on set.”
“You should rest until then.”
“I will.”
“I’d offer to come back and check on you, but Fiona’s having a rough time and I said I’d spend the rest of the day with her.”
