Page 11 of Bastain

“First, she just knocked me around with her fists. Then, when I wouldn’t give her the money, the check that I didn’t have, she pulled a bat from her car and started to beat me. It was over so fast because one of the neighbors asked her what she was doing. She pulled my hair too and nearly had me dropped in the middle of the road.” CarolAnn told her to quiet down, that she was there for her. “She really wants that money from those checks. I don’t know what to do about her.”

“The police are handling it. They had the camera view from your house that they looked at and came to the conclusion that she was going to kill you. Had it not been for someone distracting her from you, she might well have finished the job. Bastain is going to court for you tomorrow so that he can have her placed in prison until her trial.” The pain meds were beginning to take effect, and she felt her body relax. “When you wake up again, try not to move. You’ll feel better if you don’t.”

“Thank you.” Nodding at her, Trin tried to fight being taken under when she was feeling better. CarolAnn was still talking to her, but for the life of her, she didn’t understand what she was saying. Finally, when the drugs won over her, she felt herself fall into a deep, dark hole and stay there.

Waking this time, Trin remembered talking to CarolAnn. She also remembered what had happened to her at her home. Trying not to move so that she would not hurt again, she looked around the room with her eyes and noticed that Bastain was sitting in the chair that his mother had been in earlier.

“You’ve been out for a few hours.” He stood up, frightening her just enough that she cringed back from him. “I’m sorry. I should have thought about how that would affect you. I’m going to bring the chair closer and talk to you. All right?”

“Yes, that’s fine.” She didn’t sit up on her own but used the bed’s controls to sit her up enough that she could see him. There was still pain, but not enough to hurt her right now. She asked him why he was here. “I mean, you must have other things to do other than to babysit someone who has been beaten up.”

“I get to work during the day when you’re sleeping. Mom is usually here or one of my brothers.” His voice was soft, almost like a whisper. She found herself talking to him in the same way. “I have my laptop, and when you’re out while I’m here, I get some work done. I have to tell you what’s happened with your case.”

“I have a case?” He smiled, and she thought that it was too charming for the man that she’d come to know. “You mean about what Aunt Tilly did to me? She really did a number on me this time. She brought a bat with her. It was new. I remember seeing the tags on it when she pulled it out of her back seat.”

“She did buy it just for you.” That was the truth, and she knew it, but to hear it from someone else was harsh. She asked him why she’d do that to her. “You had something that she wanted. And so you know, while it’s been all over the newspapers about the checks and that she wanted to cash them, the Social Security office is looking into why you didn’t get any help. You’ll need to allow me access to the things you have in your safety deposit box at the bank so they can verify names and times.”

“All right. What are they going to do about the checks?” He said that they wanted them back now and are going to give her a receipt for every one of them. “Good. I hadn’t thought of that, but that’s a good idea. I made copies of them as well. Just in case someone asked for them and took them, but they wouldn’t have any record. I don’t have a lot of trust for that institution right now.”

“No one is blaming you for that.” He sat up higher in the chair, and she heard his back pop. “These chairs aren’t made for long-term sitting. I might have to go and see someone before this is all over. Anyway, they’re looking into why your mother’s checks were never stopped, and with you taking notes on everyone that you spoke to, it’ll make it easier on you. Also, your aunt claimed that you were just hoarding them, and it wasn’t fair since it was her sister who died. I had no idea the relationship between the two of them, so I’ve not commented on that.”

“They didn’t have a good one. Relationship, I mean.” Moving her arm, she felt the pain of the hit all the way to her head. “I’m really sore. Not unbarably so, not yet, but I do hurt. How long am I going to be in the hospital this time?”

“They’re talking about three more weeks. You have a lot of wounds all over your body that need to heal. And if she finds you again, not that I think she will, she might well kill you. She’s pissed but holding anything back about how you weren’t cashing the checks when she wanted the money. I guess her business isn’t doing so well right now, and she needed the money for rent.” She asked about her uncle. “He’s helping me as much as he can. He’s already filed for divorce from her. He said that things had gotten really bad before she put all her focus on you.”

“I wish I’d never said anything about getting mom’s checks to her. It might have saved me from being hurt again. Or even the first time.” She turned her head gently when the door opened. It was CarolAnn again, and she was happy to see her. “You don’t have to come in here and sit with me. I can do all right on my own. I appreciate it more than you know, but you have to have better things to do other than to sit with me.”

“I do, but you’re so sweet that I’ve decided to spend what time I can with you until you’re better.” Tears flowed down her cheeks, and she couldn’t even wipe them away. “Don’t go doing that, or you’ll have me crying too. You just get better, and we’ll see about getting you out of here and into someplace safe. You want that, don’t you?”

“I want to be safe, yes.” After moving her foot, just wiggling her toes, she decided that she’d let the pain go long enough and asked for something for pain. “If they could only give me something to take the edge off, I’d be all right with that.”

“The doctor said for you to take the medications when you need them and for you not to let the pain get to be too much.” She’d heard that too when her mom had been so sick. “You go ahead and take it, and I’ll be here with Bastain. He’s been working on your case for a while now.”

“Thank you.” As soon as the medication was put into her IV, she began to feel better. She didn’t want to get hooked on the drugs, but right now she thought it was the only thing keeping her from screaming out in pain or simply passing out. She knew that when she woke up again, someone would be there for her, and that made her feel much better. Closing her eyes, she was asleep before the drugs fully kicked in.

It was dark in the room when she woke up again. Not moving again, she took inventory of her body and knew that on some level, she was lucky to be alive. As she got to her left leg, the pain was nearly unbearable, so she didn’t move any muscles around it. The fact that she’d had broken ribs before and more than likely did again, she cried softly when she realized that she was going to be in pain for a long time. Looking over slowly when someone said her name, she was surprised to see Zavier there.

“They put you on IV pain medication. It’ll feed it to you when the time is ready for you to get more.” Nodding, she asked him what time it was. “Nearly four in the morning. I think I might have woken you up when I moved the chair over closer to the other one so that I could stretch out. These chairs aren’t made for sleeping in.”

“Your brother said about the same thing. He said he was going to have to see someone before this was all over.” He laughed, and she smiled. Laughing seemed to be too dangerous right now. “Are you guys taking turns sitting with me? It seems sort of silly to me when I’m sure you have a bed at home that you could be sleeping in.”

“This is a nice break. There are a lot of pretty nurses just wanting to come in here and check on you.” She laughed a little too hard and paid for it with pain. “I’m sorry. I’ll try hard not to make you laugh. You look all pinched when you do that, and I don’t want to cause you any more pain than you have already.”

She nodded and felt the medication kicking in. He warned her that a little red light went off when she was being given medication, so he knew when she was getting it. She told him that she could feel it taking effect and was happy for it.

“While you’re still awake, what can I tell you? I do have some information for you. Bastain got a court order for someone to let him into your house. He said that everything was organized, so he had no trouble finding the key to your safety deposit box. As you might not know, he’s very organized too. Like everything has to be in its place.” She asked him about her plants. “He watered them, I guess. He said that he was glad that you didn’t have any pets, or they might well have eaten him when he got there. No one thought to ask you about them.”

“I don’t have any pets. Not even a fish. I guess I could have one, but I don’t want to have to mess with it. I have enough things going on in my life as it is.” He smiled at her. “What’s been happening with my aunt?”

“She’s been sent to a larger prison so that she can be evaluated there. They’re running all kinds of mental capacity tests on her to see if she has anything wrong with her mind.” She thought she was crazy and said as much. “I think anyone who has had to deal with her has figured that out. She fully admits to knocking you around for the checks. She keeps saying that since it was her sister and their mistake, she should be entitled to them. I don’t know what sort of logic that is, but that’s what she’s saying.”

“How’s Uncle Mark taking this?” He told her that he’d taken an extended leave from his firm to get away for a while. “I would guess that he’s in their house in the Smoky Mountains. They used to invite us there when I was little. He loved it there.”

“I’ve never been to the Smokies. I would love to go someday, but I’ve been busy with working with my brother.” She said that she understood that. “I bet you would. Oh, your boss has called one of us all week. He’s worried about you and said for you not to worry about your job. It’s there when you’re better.”

“Good to know.” She didn’t hurt as much with the pain medication kicking in, but still didn’t move all that much. She was afraid to, if she was honest with herself. “I don’t know what else to ask you about. Do you have any information that I might need to know?”

“The judge has made a ruling on the checks. You won’t be in trouble with them when they figure it out. Your mail box is being emptied daily by another court order, so that’s good. You haven’t had time to get another check yet, but I think they’ll be more careful about listening to people when they have the same issues. As you can imagine, it’s been hard on them, admitting that they made a mistake about the checks.”