Tales of the Ragoon, Kate's Movie Star (9 page)

“What are you talking about, Matthew?”
exclaimed Kate in alarm. “Dad is fine.”

“He’s not fine,” insisted Matt. “He’s been
acting weird. He gets drowsy at work. I thought he was going to
pass out today. He hasn’t been eating and lately he’s been
complaining about his neck hurting. I told him to go see a doctor,
but he said that he was okay, and that I should mind my own
business. I want you to talk to him.”

Kate nodded. “I hope you are just
exaggerating, Matt. All right, I’ll talk to him. You know how he
feels about hospitals and doctors though. If he is sick, he’ll have
to pass out before we can get him to see a doctor.” She got up and
left the room.

“She’s right,” said Matt wearily. He looked
at Runyon. “Our grandfather went to see a doctor when he was in his
forties. The doc hospitalized him the same day, and he died the
next day. Ever since then, our Dad has had a thing about hospitals
and doctors.”

“Latrophobia,” said Runyon. Matt stared at
him.

“I did a guest stint on a soap opera,”
explained Runyon.

“Well, anyway, he hasn’t had a physical in
forever,” said Matt.

“Matt! Runyon! Help me!” yelled Kate from her
father’s room.

“Dammit,” yelled Matt as he sprang up and
hurried toward the hall followed closely by Runyon.

They found Kate standing paralyzed by Carlos’
bed. The older man was gasping and sitting up in his bed, but he
was also irritated by the intrusion.

“I’m all right. I’m all right,” he insisted
as he lay back. “I just had a muscle spasm.”

“That was not a muscle spasm, Dad,” declared
Kate. “You were having chest pains.”

“What ever it was, it’s passed now,” muttered
Carlos. He was breathing easier now. He frowned at the younger
men.

“What the hell are you two doing in my room?”
he grumbled.

Matt ignored him. “What happened?” he asked
Kate.

“We were talking, and then he grabbed his
left side and made a weird sound. It scared the hell out of me,”
answered Kate while glaring at her father.

“Indigestion probably,” responded Carlos.

“Indigestion, my ass,” replied Kate angry
tears springing to her eyes. “You need to go to the emergency
room.”

“Watch your language,” Carlos ordered
sharply. “And leave me alone. I just need to rest.”

“Please, Dad!” begged Kate.

Carlos softened as he saw the fear in his
daughter’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, Katey, but I’m not going to the
hospital. Find me a doctor who makes house calls, and maybe I’ll
talk to him. Now, please. Let me rest.”

Kate, Matt and Runyon looked at one another,
and then they silently filed out of the room.

“See what I mean?” asked Matt.

“Yeah, I got it,” replied Kate feeling scared
and subdued.

Matt shook his head and departed to his
living area.

Runyon could see that Kate was shaken. He
took her by the arms and leaned her head against him. She gave out
an involuntary sob before he felt her collect herself.

“This is all I needed,” said Kate bitterly
into his shirt.

Runyon just wrapped her in his arm. Gradually
she began to relax against him. She slid her arms around him and
sighed.

“I should get a job,” she said sleepily.

“A job?” asked Runyon humoring her.

“Yeah. A job that has health care. Dad won’t
go to a doctor, but what about Pete and Juan? And Matt? I don’t
want to have to take them to a Ragoon clinic.”

Runyon knew, as everyone else on the planet
knew, what Kate meant. The Ragoon offered great health care, but it
was expensive, and unlike anyone else, the Ragoon had prisons for
people who could not afford to pay their debts to the Ragoon. Male
or female, a catastrophic illness without health care was a sure
way for an individual or even a family to become the property of
the Ragoon.

Later on, while lying on his bed, Runyon
thought about the situation. There was not a lot that he could do.
He was the last person that Carlos was likely to listen to. And he
didn’t know anyone who could help.

And then in a painful flash, it came to him.
He caught his breath as the unwanted, unbidden thought came to him.
He did know someone. No! He replied angrily to his thoughts. No
way!

He lay there in the dark trembling at the
unfairness of it, at the hurt that he knew he would experience.
Gradually his anger subsided. This was Kate, he remembered.

This was Kate. He had no idea why he would
subject himself to this pain for her sake, but he knew that he
would. This was Kate. He couldn’t allow her to be hurt. He
couldn’t.

“Lights,” he said in a voice that sounded
like that of an automaton, and he reached for his comcell.

When he had met with the District Supervisor
about the talent show, the Ragoon District Supervisor had
grudgingly agreed to activate his cell within a hundred mile
radius. He could call Sacramento. He had deleted the number from
his list, so he had to enter it manually. He hated that he still
knew the number by heart.

“It’s me,” he growled when the voice at the
other end answered. He hesitated, and then he forced himself to
say, “I need a favor.”

Briefly, he explained the situation and made
the arrangements. He hung up. He lay back down on his bed. After a
while, he felt moisture on his cheeks. Angrily he brushed it
away.

A few days later, when Kate arrived home from
school, there was an expensive black sports car parked by the curb.
A man stood nearby. His body language conveyed anxiety. Kate parked
behind him. As she got out of Runyon’s car, the man approached.

He was a handsome man, she noted. He was
several years older than her father. He had black hair with traces
of silver at the sides. He gave her a strained smile.

“Can I help you?” asked Kate politely.

“Hello. My name is Kurt Santini,” replied the
man. I’m here to see Runyon Silverstar. I was told that he
presently resides at this address.”

“May I ask what your business is with
Runyon?” asked Kate. The man seemed nice enough, but one could
never tell.

“Runyon asked me to stop by,” was his reply.
“I’m actually Dr. Santini. Runyon wanted me to talk to a Mister
Carlos Garcia.”

Shock ran though Kate like an electrical
current. Hope followed.

“Are you, like, a real doctor? I mean a
medical doctor?” asked Kate.

“Yes, I am, Miss…?”

“Garcia. I’m Kate Garcia,” said Kate as she
offered her hand. “Carlos is my father. He really needs to see a
doctor.”

Dr. Santini shook Kate’s hand.

“I’m pleased to meet you, Kate. No one
answered the door bell, so I take it that your father is not
home.”

“Not yet. But please wait for him. It will be
just a little while. He really needs to see a doctor.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he assured her.
“I’ll wait until he arrives. Is Runyon going to be here?”

“Runyon should be here in an hour or so. He’s
directing a talent show production at my high school. I used to
pick him up, but now he gets a ride from some people in the
cast.”

Dr. Santini followed Kate into the house.

“So Runyon called you?” asked Kate. “He told
you about my Dad? Are you a friend of Runyon?”

The man smiled at the nervous questions. The
girl was still afraid that he would leave before her father got
home. She did not know that it would take a bomb to get him out of
here now.

“Yes, Runyon called me. He told me that your
Dad needs to see a doctor, but that your Dad was reluctant to see
one. I...” He hesitated and then continued. “I was married to
Runyon’s mother for two and a half years when he was a child. He
was seven when she and I married. He was ten when she divorced
me.”

Kate stared at him. “You were Runyon’s
stepfather,” she asked.

“Yes.” Dr. Santini took a deep breath. “It
was not a pleasant divorce. Runyon was hurt by it. Kate, you should
know that Runyon and I became very attached to one another. But
after the divorce he became very angry at me. He’s angry at me
still. He didn’t want to call me about this. But he did anyway. I’m
not sure why.”

This was another shock for Kate to absorb.
But before she could ask more questions, Pete and Juan arrived
home. She hovered over her brothers for a while, introducing them
to the Doctor while avoiding mentioning their father and then
making sure that the starving twosome had sufficient snacks to hold
them over until supper.

Then, before she could ask any more
questions, Runyon walked in the front door. Kate wanted to run to
him, to thank him, to just hold him, but one look at the grim
expression on his face caused her to falter.

“So you came,” Runyon stated
emotionlessly.

“I said that I would,” replied Kurt.

“You’ve said other things that didn’t turn
out to be true,” answered Runyon. “So who knows?”

Kate was startled at the viciousness in
Runyon’s voice. She looked at Kurt uncertainly, but he did not
appear to react.

“It’s good to see you, Runyon,” was the
Doctors only reply.

Runyon turned to Kate. “I’ll be in my room,”
he said and walked away.

Kate turned to the doctor, frightened that he
might have been so insulted that he would leave without examining
her father.

“It’s okay, Kate,” Kurt reassured her. “That
was nothing more than I expected.”

Shortly after that, Carlos Garcia arrived
home.

He was already somewhat wary due to the
presence of the black sports car parked at his curb. The last time
that they had a visitor, he had discovered that his daughter had
been missing for five days. So he gave his daughter a guarded look
when he entered his home.

“This is Dr. Santini, Dad,” explained Kate.
“He’s here to examine you.”

“Katherine Garcia,” thundered her father.

“Daddy, you said that you would allow a
doctor to examine you if we could find one that would make a home
visit. So here he is. Please, Dad.”

“I’m not anxious to have someone poking and
prodding me, Katey,” snapped Carlos.

“I’m not particularly excited about poking
and prodding a big hairy sweaty guy,” Kurt injected. “So why don’t
you just tell me what you’re feeling, and I’ll tell you if you need
to increase your life insurance.”

The two men studied each other.

“All right,” conceded Carlos. “Since you took
the time to come here, I’ll talk to you.”

Kate quickly decided that her father would
probably talk more openly if his daughter was not listening. She
excused herself and went into the kitchen. She really wanted to go
down to Runyon’s room, but she suspected that she would not be
welcome at this moment. She had not taken the time to clean the
kitchen while waiting with Dr. Santini, so now the daily disaster
caused by her two hungry brothers had to be dealt with.

After a bit, she heard the front door shut.
She peeked into the living room. Her father was there looking at
the sports page, but there was no sign of Dr. Santini.

“Did he leave already?” she asked
cautiously.

“No, he’s gone to his car to get his bag,”
replied her father.

He seemed resigned to the examination. Kate
ducked back into the kitchen. When she emerged again, Dr. Santini
was drawing blood from her father.

“I’m fairly certain that the lab will confirm
my suspicions,” he was saying.

“What is it?” asked Kate anxiously. “Is it
his heart?”

“His heart sounds fine, Miss Gracia. I
believe that we are looking at a case of mononucleosis. Your father
should be back to normal in a week or so,” the doctor
explained.

Carlos looked up at his daughter. “See?” he
said. “I told you there was nothing to worry about.” His daughter
responded by throwing a dish towel at him.

“So what’s the damage, Doc?” asked
Carlos.

“He’s my kid, Garcia, whether he likes it or
not. There’s no way I’m taking money for this,” responded Kurt.

Carlos nodded. “Yeah. I get that. So then I
owe you a favor. Okay?”

“Fair enough,” replied Kurt. He turned to
Kate. “Do you think that he would be willing to talk to me?”

Kate sighed.

“Stay for dinner,” Carlos suggested. “Maybe
she can get him to come up.”

Kurt nodded hopefully.

Kate headed for the hallway. She stopped at
Runyon’s door and steeled herself, and then she knocked. She opened
it a crack.

“Can I come in?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m decent,” was his response.

Kate descended the stairs.

“Is he gone?” asked Runyon.

“No. He wouldn’t take any payment, so Dad
asked him to stay for dinner.”

“Humm.”

Runyon was on his bed lying on his back
wearing only a pair of shorts. Kate went over to the bed, climbed
on and, to his surprise, laid down on top of him. Her head was just
under his chin. He put his arms around her. One hand slid down to
her butt. He waited for her to complain, but she was silent.

They lay there for a several minutes. Kate
listened to his heart. Runyon slowly stroked her back.

Finally, Runyon spoke.

“He told me that I was his kid, and that I
would always be his kid. But in the end, he left me with her.”

Kate stayed silent. She did not think that
she had anything to say that would help.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have asked
how your dad is.”

“Dr. Santini said that he has mononucleosis,”
answered Kate.

Runyon groaned. “I hope the rest of us don’t
catch it.”

“Not unless you have kissed him lately,”
teased Kate.

“You get it from kissing, huh? So how are you
feeling? Not fatigued I hope.”

Kate laughed. “I feel just fine. You’re the
one that’s always laying around. ”

“All right, all right, I’ll get up. I guess I
might as well go up and face him.”

“Runyon?”

“Humm?”