The Doctor Witch (The Ward Witches) (5 page)

“
Let’s just say that in reward for my apple tart recipe, you’re going to give me a great deal.”

“
I do want that recipe.”

“
Precisely.  I’ll also be getting a lot of things, which should mean a bulk discount.”

“
Perhaps.”

“
I need a full set of pots and pans for starters. Not professional grade, but quite nice and non-stick. Then I need a set of eight place settings. The whole works, including silverware and glasses. And did I mention you were going to do all of this for less than 300 dollars?”

The owner gulped. “Only you would ask this, Skylar.”

“
It’ll mean my apple tart recipe,” she wheedled.

“
Throw in the chicken marsala recipe and you’ve got a deal.”

“
Done. Now let’s go choose my new stuff.”

Four hundred later, because Skylar had to get some new spices as well, she was out the door. The new bedroom set and dining room furniture would be delivered after six, and she had to make sure she was back by then. Everything else was in the car.

Then came the grocery store.  At this point, Skylar still had well over one thousand left. She bought an assortment of essential materials and enough food for three days’ worth of meals. Some storage bins went into the buggy too, for her lunches. She finished it off with cleaning supplies and a vacuum.

Finally, it was time to go to the place she would be calling home for the next six months.  Goodness, but that was a long time.  She checked her clock on the way back and giggled. Who would have thought that the frugal Skylar Kincaid could go through over three thousand dollars before three in the afternoon?

Invigorated, Skylar hummed though putting the groceries away. She hummed another song as she unpackaged all of her new things and put them in the dishwasher.

She stopped humming when she got upstairs to retrieve her cleaning supplies from her temporary bedroom.  Leo’s bedroom door was open, and she could see the incredible mess within. There were dirty clothes everywhere. Expensive suit jackets were draped over the single folding chair in the room or even thrown wadded up in a corner. She could hardly tell there was a bed in there. After ensuring that there were serviceable suits in the closet, she got all the dirty laundry out of the room.

41

CHAPTER THREE

Hours of cleaning, a trip to the dry cleaner, and a lot of laundry later, the knock on the door came. Wiping the grease off her hands, she arranged first the kitchen furniture, and when the other delivery man came, her bedroom furniture. Soon the art was on the wall, and Skylar was in the shower.

With even more humming, she was just pulling the roast out of the oven. The potatoes were almost ready to be mashed, and the green beans were done. She smiled, finally getting to be at peace with this place now that its kitchen was well appointed.

She heard someone squeak loudly in the foyer. Skylar ran out to meet Dymphna.

“
Have a good day at work?”

“
Skylar? I was just thinking that I was in the wrong house.”

43

THE DOCTOR WITCH

“
Not at all. Come on, you’re just in time for dinner.”

“
Is that what that smell is?”

“
You betcha.”

Dymphna’s green eyes got wide as saucers when she saw the kitchen.

“
Where did all of this come from?”

“
You said to use the other part of the money as I saw fit, right?” She was suddenly timid. What if Dymphna didn’t approve?

“
I meant on clothes or something. But goodness, Skylar, you’ve worked a miracle here.” Dymphna rushed forward to give Skylar a hug. She beamed.

“
I’m glad you like it.”

“
Were you still able to get a bedroom set?”

“
Yeah. It’s upstairs. But let’s eat first.”

“
If that tastes as good as it smells, I agree wholeheartedly.”

Dymphna couldn’t praise Skylar’s work any harder. “You’ve really brought some life to this old place. There’s artwork on the walls, for god’s sake. And you still have enough for food?”

“
When you make the food yourself, the money stretches a lot farther.  We’ll be eating better and healthier.  I’m glad you’re pleased.”

“
I’m beyond pleased.” She looked shy, which was out of character for the vivacious woman. “Could I somehow bribe you to do more of the house as long as you’re here?”

“
I’d love to!”

Dymphna was admiring the bedroom set as even better than her own when Leo came home. They knew it was him when he started yelling.

“
What the hell happened to my house?”

The women ran down the stairs as he continued cursing everything from interfering women to whatever devil made the vacuum cleaner.

“
You haven’t even seen the kitchen yet!” Dymphna exclaimed.

He just got angrier as he looked around at all the decorations, the new furniture, and the new dishes.

“
Calm down and eat up, Pants,” Dymphna urged.

He certainly shut up as he devoured the roast in front of him.

“
You haven’t eaten all day, have you?” His sister asked. “As a doctor, you should know that’s bad for your health.”

“
You’re not my mother.”

“
Someone has to be. Now thank Skylar for doing all this work for us.”

“
Thank you, Skylar,” he said grudgingly. “Now I’ve had a long day, so I’m going to go read for a while before bed. I’ll see you meddling women tomorrow.”

“
What time should I make your breakfast?”

He glared at her. “Don’t bother.”

As he stormed out, Skylar predicted “He’s going to come back down even angrier.”

“
I’m excited. What did you do?”

She blushed. “I took his clothes to the cleaner and did the rest of his laundry in the washer. He left his door open, and the room was a mess.”

Dymphna laughed gleefully. “You’re going to be good for us, girl. Very good for us.”

Indeed, moments later, Leo stormed back down the stairs, his eyes promising murder. “What happened to my clothes?”

“
They’re either in your drawers or at the cleaners.”

“
What gave you permission to go into my room?”

“
You left the door open. It was awful in there, so I cleaned it up. I didn’t go through your things, if that’s what you’re concerned about. Just the clothes.”

He closed his eyes as if trying to rein in his temper.

“
I appreciate the effort, but next time, can you restrain your enthusiasm?”

Chastised, Skylar just nodded.

He stormed back up the stairs without another word. Skylar had to admire his nice backside as he rushed away though.

“
Does he usually read in his room?”

“
Hardly ever. I’m sorry he’s being such a jerk to you.”

“
It’s alright.”

Leo was upstairs, fuming at the woman. He really wanted to grab onto her and hold her close. Maybe even kiss her for all her efforts. Hell, the kiss would be for him, because he wanted her so badly. He could envision her on his bed, especially because now the whole room smelled like her. He closed his eyes to calm his raging hormones.

He started to feel anxiety through his air magic telepathy.  That was strange, not because he didn’t channel emotions, but because it wasn’t anyone he knew. It was almost like a whole group of people were afraid of something. The feeling got stronger and stronger, and Leo had to struggle to breathe. He banged into his door in his desperation to get downstairs. Maybe Dymphna could help. He screamed.

He collapsed at the head of the stairs, and heard the women rushing to him. He was finally able to gulp down some air, even though the panic increased.

Then came the pain. Oh, the pain!

Dymphna and Skylar rushed to where they found Pantaleon collapsed at the top of the stairs.  He was rocking back and forth, clutching his head with his eyes closed. Skylar didn’t know whether to touch him to move him away from the top of the stairs or not.

Dymphna came to the rescue.  The other woman had her worry clear in her eyes for her brother, but she managed to stay calm enough to think clearly.

“
Stay next to him. Go ahead and hold him in your arms; it’ll help. I’m going to go call Justin to see if Seb is going through the same thing.”

Skylar just moved over to Leo while his sister went to retrieve her cell phone.  Trying to unfold him from the curled up position he had gone into, Skylar whispered to him. “Hey now, it’s going to be alright. I don’t know what’s going on, but you’ll get through it. You know your sister loves you, and despite your gruff exterior, I think you’re a pretty cool guy.  You saved my brother’s face, which I know will help him to recover psychologically.  I also believe that you would have done that even if you hadn’t been trying to make me be a witch. It’s evident in how much reconstructive work you do at the hospital. Yes, Dymphna told me all about that.” Skylar knew she was rambling about nothing really, but at the same time, she figured that any kind of soothing voice would be helpful. She did as Dymphna suggested and pulled him to where his head was in her lap and put her arms around him as best she could.  He stopped the rocking motion, and instead, he shivered as if trying to force it off.

“
You know, someday you’re going to have to tell me all about your family’s names. I still haven’t accessed the internet over here, so I haven’t researched the names at all. Besides, I’d rather hear it from you than from some internet article. I’m also sure that there’s some greater connection than I could see without some insight. Pantaleon, Eusebius, and Dymphna aren’t common names at all, and I assume that Justin fits in with that naming convention somehow. Come on now, you know I want to know your secrets, and you should know by now that I get what I want. I did move into your house to learn this magic stuff so that you would help my brother. I used the money Dymphna expected me to use on myself to make this house nicer.  She even wants me to do other parts of the house as long as I’m here.  What do you think I’d stop at to know what I want? Now be quiet and let go of whatever is hurting you.” She planted a kiss on his forehead and smiled at him.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, and she could see their bright emerald color. He brought them into focus and shook his head, trying to get the last of the cobwebs out of his mind.

“
Skylar?” he asked, trying to push himself up. “What happened?”

“
Hush. Don’t try to move yet.” She moved her hands over his shoulders, trying to comfort him. If Dymphna was right, and she could help him with her presence, she’d do it. “Now just try to reorient yourself until your sister gets back.” She called out to Dymphna, letting her know that Leo was awake.

Dymphna rushed back, still on her cell phone. “Hey Justin, Leo’s awake. How’s Seb?” She listened for a moment, then told the others “Seb’s still out. Leo, I know you’re not recovered yet, but we need to know what happened as soon as possible. Do you remember anything?”

“
There was, god, there was panic. It felt like multiple people were very afraid of something. I can’t guess at the number, but definitely more than two. I think, and this is not certain, that they were tortured, and then they were killed slowly. It hurt. It hurt so badly. I’ve felt people die before, and that hurts, but not like this. It was at a distance, too, which is all the more strange. I don’t know what happened really, but I think it was supernatural, whatever it was. I... I don’t know... I don’t know, D.”

“
It’s OK, Pants.”

At some point, Dymphna had turned on the speaker on her phone.

“
I heard all of that, man.” Justin’s voice came over the line. “You stick tight. I’m sending Dave over now for protection.”

“
Protection?” Dymphna cried out. “What does he need protection for?”

“
It’s just a precaution. He felt something that someone probably didn’t want him feeling. If indeed it is supernatural, they probably suspect you know something. I don’t know any more than you do, but I want to make sure you are safe. If I thought it was extremely dangerous, I’d send more men. This is my brother after all, in case you forgot. Leo, why isn’t Seb coming back yet?”

“
I don’t know.” He looked at Skylar. “I suspect I know why I came out of it, but it wouldn’t work for him.”

“
He’s stopped the shivering. Oh, looks like he’s coming back now! Dymphna, I’ll call you back in a minute. Expect Dave soon.” The phone clicked off.

Skylar stopped rubbing his arms, and she and Dymphna helped him onto his feet.

“
OK, Doctor Ward, you’re going straight to bed.” Skylar took control this time. “We don’t know what happened, obviously, but you’re too weak to be going around and doing things. I do know you’re a very good surgeon, so I’m not going to tell you to cancel all your appointments. Yet. I’m hoping that if you spend the rest of the night in bed, and there are no more issues, that you’ll be able to resume business as usual tomorrow. But for now, Dymphna and I are in charge.”

“
I agree, Pants, it’s time for bed.”

“
I’m too weak to argue with you ladies. Especially since I think I’ll need some help into bed.”

They got him just to his room when the doorbell rang. “You got this, Skylar? I’ll go get Dave.”

“
I’ve got this. Go.”

Suddenly, Skylar realized that Leo wasn’t wearing a shirt, and that his body even more muscled than she had thought. She licked her lips unconsciously. Apparently when he was distressed, she didn’t notice how steaming hot he was. She had noticed in the hospital, but it his her especially hard then.

Trying to dampen the effect he had on her just then, she took some of his weight and helped him move to the bed.

“
Feeling better there, doctor?”

“
Yeah. It’s been getting better slowly since I came out of whatever that was. Thank you so much for your help. I... well, let’s just say it was very comforting to wake up to you.”

“
I’m glad I could help. Now, are you hungry? Thirsty? I could make you a great cup of tea or a meal.” She tried to ignore her reaction to his last sentence.

“
Actually I am very hungry and thirsty. Think I can hit you up for a little of both?”

“
Absolutely. Now rest for a few minutes, I’ll be right back.”

Dymphna and Dave were at the bottom of the stairs, discussing security measures for while Leo was at the hospital. They stopped immediately when they saw Skylar coming toward them.

“
How is he?”

“
He’s doing better. I think, and this is probably not necessary, that one of us should stay with him through the night, even if he’s just sleeping. I’ll move a chair into his room once he’s out, and we can take turns.

“
Sounds great,” they said at the same time.

“
I’ll take first watch,” Dymphna suggested. “After all, I do need to spend some time in my own bed. I’ve got a big case tomorrow that’s finally going before the judge.”

“
It’s nine now, and I’ll relieve you at midnight,” Dave offered.

“
I’ll come in at three and stay until he leaves at seven thirty.”

“
Perfect,” his sister responded.

“
He’s hungry, so I’m about to whip up some food and a tall mug of herbal tea. I think it’s best if he’s awake until he eats so that he can keep his strength and make it through the night better.”

“
Sounds good. I’ll bring him a novel, and we’ll wait for you.”

She started immediately on the cup of chamomile tea, letting it steep before she would send it up with Dave. She sauteed some chicken with a little fresh garlic and onion. She wanted to make it pretty bland so it didn’t upset his stomach, with just enough flavor to make it interesting.  Since she was going more for speed than deliciousness, she microwaved some corn and added it to the plate. She would have loved to put some pasta or rice on the side, but he probably wouldn’t tolerate that too well.