Cedar Hollow (8 page)

Cassidy finished her lunch and then rose from the bed, realizing belatedly that she’d fallen asleep wearing only a t-shirt and panties. She was glad that she’d had the sense not to try to get out from under the covers while Ben had been in the room. She went to her closet and scrutinized her clothing selection. She basically had two options, business casual or farmhand.

She decided she needed to plan a trip to the nearest metropolitan area with a shopping mall
in the very near future. If she was going to be staying here another month she definitely needed to expand her wardrobe.

Cassidy considered several combinations of her clothing options, skirt with a t
-shirt, blouse with work jeans. Nothing really worked and it was driving her crazy. Cassidy really wanted to look cute tonight when she came down for dinner. Not “I’m headed off to a business meeting” and definitely not “let’s go plow the fields”, she wanted something eye catching. She thought of the casual summer dress that she’d worn the other day. Ben had definitely stopped to take notice as he’d passed through the kitchen that day. She turned from the closet to find the dress and the room spun.

She gripped the edge of the door to hold herself upright, waiting for the dizziness to pass. Was this some sort of delayed reaction to her fall earlier? The dizziness didn’t pass, it worsened. The room swam around her and she began to feel nauseous, then she was racked with crippling pain shooting through her abdomen. She cried out and released the door as she doubled over grabbing her stomach. The bathroom floor sped toward her as she crumpled in agony and then everything went black.

Cassidy woke in a hospital bed. The room was empty and silent aside from the beeping and whirring of the machines she was attached to. Her stomach ached and her throat felt raw. She
had no idea how much time had passed. She attempted to sit up in bed but she was attached to too many tubes and wires. She lifted her head looking around the sterile room, she saw a call button resting on the edge of the bed, she reached out and pressed it allowing her head to fall back down against the flat pillow. The small effort it had taken to raise her head had exhausted her, her eyes began to drift closed again.

“Look who’s awake.” A voice roused her from her
haze, she opened her eyes to see a young nurse standing over her bed.

“What happened?” Cassidy rasped
, her throat was on fire.

“Well that is the question isn’t it?” The nurse smiled kindly, but her response didn’t make any sense.

“Where’s Ben?” Cassidy asked, the nurse’s eyes widened marginally but she quickly schooled her expression and continued to examine the printouts from the hospital equipment.

“Already on a first name basis?”
She asked with mild surprise. “You better keep your eye on that one.” She warned. She smiled but something curled in the pit of Cassidy’s stomach. The warning from the nurse mirrored the one she’d received at the hardware store.
Don’t trust Ben Riley.
Why did people keep warning her against him, what did they know that she didn’t? Before she could ask the doctor entered the room.

“Well
, Miss St. Claire, it seems you’ve had quite an episode.” The doctor said examining her chart.

“What happened?” Cassidy asked again.

“To be honest we’re not entirely sure. You were brought in here by Mr. Riley, unconscious. He stated that he’d found you that way. Your vital signs were weak, but there were no visible injuries. Your stomach was pumped as a precaution although your tox screen came back clean. All of your other tests have been normal as well. We were hoping once you woke you could possibly enlighten us and tell us what happened?” The doctor questioned and Cassidy tried to absorb everything he’d said.

“I don’t know.” She responded. “I was looking for something to wear and then I just got really dizzy. That’s all I remember.”

“You didn’t take anything?”

“No.”

“You’re sure, not even for a headache?” The doctor pressed.

“I didn’t take anything.” Cassidy insisted, realizing that she was being treated as an overdose. “Even you said my tox screen was clean.” She reminded him.

“Yes well some things don’t show up on tox screens, especially homeopathic remedies. Sometimes it’s easy to accidentally take more than directed.” The doctor looked at Cassidy earnestly, as if encouraging her to confess.

“I didn’t take anything.” She insisted again.

“Well regardless, Miss St. Claire, your vitals are stable now. We are going to hold you one more night for observation, but you should be able to go home in the morning.”

Cassidy nodded her understanding and she was once again left alone.
Thoughts swirled in her head like an angry swarm of bees.
Sometimes it’s easy to accidentally take more than directed.
The doctor’s words rang in her head
followed by Ben’s warning from the other day;
a pinch can cure a headache, a dash can kill you.
Had he given her something? Why would he do that?
Some things don’t show up on tox screens, especially homeopathic remedies.
There was no way to know for sure. But she knew she hadn’t taken anything, and she’d been fine before lunch.

Ben had brought her lunch. He’d also been the only one outside with her when she’d fallen on the hill.
The rope’s been cut
. He was also the one who had sent her into the work shed. At the time it had just seemed like a careless accident, but now she wasn’t so sure. She wasn’t sure about anything. Was Ben trying to run her off? Was he trying to hurt her? Why?

“How are you feeling?” Ben’s voice startled her.

“I’ll live.” She answered watching him guardedly as he crossed the room to her bed.

“What did the doctor say?” He asked exuding concerned innocence.

“Ben, did you give me something?” She’d learned that people tended to be more honest when caught off guard.

“What do mean ‘something’?”
He evaded.

“Like some herbs or something, the kind you were showing me in the kitchen?” On the outside she was hard as steel, not showing any weakness. On the inside she was trembling like a scared child.

“They think you were poisoned?” He asked, all the color draining from his face.

“Actually they think I accidentally overdosed, but since I didn’t take anything willingly that leads back to my original question. Did you give me something?” She demanded.

“Of course not! Why would I do that?” He asked obviously offended, but she wasn’t sure if she could trust his reaction, he’d had too long to process the question.

“You’ve been trying to run me off since I got here.” She pointed out calmly.

“So now you think I’m trying to kill you? Do you seriously think I’m capable of that?” He seemed genuinely hurt at the accusation, and it pained her to continue, but she had to get to the bottom of this.

“What were you doing at the bottom of the hill?” Again she tried to throw him off balance, watching closely for his reaction. Confusion flitted across his face before she saw the comprehension.

“I didn’t cut that damn rope.” He said angrily.

“But you think someone did?” She pressed, remembering his
protectiveness after she’d fallen.

“Have you ever stopped to wonder why you are the only surviving member of your family?” He surprised her by asking.
“Because I have. Every member of your natural family has died of unnatural causes, and it hasn’t escaped my notice that you’ve been rather accident prone since you got here. But to answer your questions, I did not try to poison you, I did not cut the rope on the mountain, and just in case you were wondering I didn’t push those boxes on you in the shed.” He stood over the bed and glared down at her, radiating anger. “For the record there are a lot of things I am capable of, Cassidy.” His green eyes flashed with dangerous promise. “But murder isn’t one of them.” With that he stalked out of the room.

Cassidy held it together for approximately three seconds after he’d left the room before she began to hyperventilate. She believed him
, and not just because she wanted to. Ben wasn’t trying to hurt her. But somebody was.

Ben didn’t come back the rest of that night, or the next morning. By mid-afternoon Cassidy was feeling back to normal and anxious to leave the hospital. She hated hospitals. Finally the nurse came in with the discharge papers.

“Here are your clothes.” She said handing Cassidy a plastic bag.

Cassidy looked into the bag and realized it only contained her t-shirt. She flushed with embarrassment realizing that she’d only been wearing that t-shirt and panties when Ben had brought her to the hospital. But she pushed aside her mortification to deal with the issues at hand. She had no clothes to wear home, and she wasn’t exactly sure how far from home she was, or how she was going to get there for that matter. But the most pressing issue was definitely her lack of clothes.

“
Um, is there a gift shop or anything in the hospital where I could possible get some sweat pants to wear home. I seem to have arrived without any pants.” Cassidy’s face burned with embarrassment, the nurse looked amused.

“I’ll see what I can find for you.” She smirked.

“And, um, is there a cab company around here by any chance?”

“There is.” The nurse answered obviously confused. “But they don’t usually run all the way out to Cedar Hollow.
Isn’t Ben coming back for you?”

Cassidy ignored the nurse’s question and asked her own. “Where is ‘here’ exactly?
If we aren’t in Cedar Hollow.”

“
Montgomery Hospital, about forty miles from Cedar Hollow.”

“Oh.” Cassidy could see the curiosity burning in the nurse’s eyes, but she didn’t feel the need to explain herself to this virtual stranger.

“If you could just get me some pants and a number for the cab company I’d really appreciate it.” Cassidy requested. Then she realized she didn’t even have her purse to pay for the damn pants. She felt completely helpless.

“I’ll see what I can do.” The nurse replied in a professional tone and left Cassidy alone in the room. Cassidy sat on the edge of the bed staring despondently out the window
wondering what she was going to do. She should go home. She should pack up her bags and go back home to Chicago leaving this creepy little town with all its dark little secrets behind.

Maybe she could convin
ce Mrs. Owens to come work for one of the hotels that her company owned like Becca had suggested. And Ben, well Ben was a grown man he could take care of himself. She didn’t need answers about her biological family. As soon as she had the thought she knew it was a lie, but she tried to believe it. She should leave. That was the sane thing to do.

“I brought you some clothes.” Ben’s voice startled Cassidy out of her wallowing. Ben stood awkwardly in the doorway holding a small tote bag. Cassidy stoo
d from the bed smiling broadly.

“Thank you!”
She said emphatically, and he smiled nervously back. He entered the room encouraged by her response and poured the tote bag onto the hospital bed.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d need.” He shrugged, again looking more anxious than Cassidy had ever seen him.  

She looked down at the selection. He’d grabbed several t
-shirts, a skirt, a blouse, a pair of jeans, a couple pairs of panties, a bra, and the sundress that Cassidy had been thinking about just before she became sick. Cassidy tried to hide her smile, how many clothes did he think she needed? Then she blushed realizing he’d gone through her panty drawer to retrieve some of this stuff. He’d obviously tried to provide her with a selection ranging from practical cotton to sexy lace. It was humiliating to imagine him rummaging through that drawer. However the bottom line was this was the sweetest thing he’d done for her since she’d come here. Cassidy reached down and grabbed the sundress, the bra and a pair of practical cotton panties. She smiled at Ben shyly before taking the clothes into the bathroom to change.

She glanced in the mirror as she passed by and what she saw in the reflection was even more embarrassing than realizing she didn’t have any pants
, or that Ben had gone through her panty drawer. Her hair was ratted and falling out of a lopsided ponytail, she had no make-up and despite the sun she’d been getting since she’d arrived she looked unnaturally pale. She quickly dressed in the clean clothes, and tried to run her fingers through her hair to pull out that tangles. She splashed water on her face and pinched her cheeks. Eventually she emerged looking better than before.

“Ready?” Ben asked as she walked back into the room.

She nodded. “Thank you again for the clothes, and, well for coming back.” Cassidy said earnestly.

“I wouldn’t have just left you here.” Ben said sounding offended again. Cassidy had meant to make peace, but obviously that’s not how he was taking it. She was about to apologize when the door opened and the nurse walked back in.

“I found some old O.R. scrubs…” The nurse stopped when she saw Ben in the room, she still held the scrubs in her half-extended arms. She seemed shocked.