The Second Heart (13 page)

“I was just on my way to come get you,” he
said with a friendly smile as he came to stand next to her.
Meredith’s hand was still holding the door open, and he looked at
her with some confusion. “Where are you going?”

“Um, I’m just taking a quick walk.”

“Sorry, but you don’t have time. They’re
ready for you now.”

Meredith didn’t move, trying to decide what
to do.

Her prolonged silence made the nurse
suspicious, and he narrowed his eyes slightly. “Where are you
really going?”

Meredith wanted to tell him everything. She
thought he seemed so nice, and he was young, like she was, so he
might understand. But the note had said,
Trust no one.
She
swallowed nervously, wondering what to say. She had to confess
something now, she’d been quiet for too long. Finally she said, “My
friend and I got in a fight. I have to make up with her before I go
under. What if something happens? That can’t be the last thing I
say to her.”

The nurse’s expression turned sympathetic,
and he glanced down the hallway, thinking. Then he conceded, “Well,
I think we could wait a few extra minutes. But you’d better
hurry.”

Meredith grinned and thanked him and ran down
the stairs before anyone else could stop her. At the bottom of the
stairs she slowed down, not wanting to attract any attention to
herself. She pushed on the heavy door and found herself in another
featureless hallway that seemed to have miles of gleaming white
linoleum stretching in either direction.

She and Vi had agreed to meet in the
restrooms that were across from the elevators in the hall next to
the lobby. However, the hallway that should have had the elevators
wasn’t accessible from where Meredith stood; it was a solid wall.
Frustration bubbled up inside her, and tears sprang unbidden to her
eyes. She knew that where she wanted to go was right on the other
side of that stupid wall, but she had no idea how to get to it.

Cursing, Meredith glanced left and then
right, trying to decide which way to go. She felt exposed in her
hospital gown, and she clutched at the back of it to hold it
closed. Someone rounded a corner at the very end of the hallway on
her right, so she decided to go left, hoping she wouldn’t run into
anyone. She walked as quickly as she could without arousing
suspicion, keeping a keen eye out for any passage or doorway that
could lead her to the elevators.

Meredith knew that if she could find the
lobby, she could go through the double doors there and get to the
restroom where Vi was waiting, but she balked at the idea. In only
her hospital gown, she was bound to attract a lot of attention.

Meredith’s cell phone was tucked in her
armpit under the hospital gown, and she pulled it out, hoping for
service. She glanced at the screen and frowned. Still nothing. She
reached the end of the hall and turned left again, seeing the
cafeteria on her right. A few people still lingered inside, though
it was pretty quiet this late at night. At last she saw a sign
pointing toward the lobby, which was another left down a long
hallway.

She passed a few orderlies pushing an empty
cot as well as some nurses and an official looking woman wearing a
sensible tweed suit. They looked at her curiously, but not
suspiciously. Meredith tried to smile, but she was completely
preoccupied. Her heart pounded nervously as small beads of sweat
broke out above her lips.

Meredith was nearing the end of the hallway,
and she saw rows of chairs in the lobby just beyond. She slowed
down and considered how to proceed. The double doors that led to
the elevators and the restrooms were on the other side of the
lobby, as she had feared. She moved closer to the wall and edged
her way toward the end so she might peek around the corner.

The reporters were all camped to one side of
the double doors, looking tired and bored. Some had dozed off while
others fiddled with their equipment or their cell phones. Briefly,
Meredith wondered how they had service while she didn’t.

Retreating back out of sight, Meredith walked
back down the hall to where a supply cart had been parked. She
found one of the thin white blankets and wrapped it around her body
like a skirt. It was far better than her short hospital gown alone,
but her ensemble certainly wouldn’t pass any level of scrutiny.

Stepping out into the lobby, Meredith kept
her stride calm and even, holding her head up confidently.
Just
act like you’re supposed to be here
, she coached herself. She
didn’t dare look over at the reporters, because she didn’t want to
betray her intense interest in whether they noticed her or not.

After what seemed like an eternity, she
reached the double doors and pulled. The door didn’t budge.
Panicked, she pulled again.

A voice behind her said, “You have to hit the
button on the wall.”

Meredith glanced over her shoulder. The man
who had spoken to her was one of the reporters. He had golden brown
eyes and dark blonde hair that fell in soft waves over his ears. He
looked like the kind of man that knew how attractive he was to
women, with a confident glint in his eye.

Meredith took an immediate dislike to him.
“Thanks,” she muttered. She reached over and punched the button on
the wall, watching him from the corner of her eye. He resumed
looking down at his cell phone, and she relaxed imperceptibly.

The double doors opened and the security
guard, upon seeing her hospital gown, waved her through. She went
directly into the restroom where Vi was waiting, relieved to at
least have made it this far.

“Jesus, Mere! Where have you been?” Vi
demanded, as soon as Meredith came through the door.

“This hospital is a maze! Just give me my
clothes.” As Meredith spoke, she stripped off the blanket and
yanked her hospital gown over her head. In a few moments she had
all her clothes back on, and she felt immensely better. Walking
around in the hospital gown had made her feel extremely
exposed.

“Okay, what next?” Vi asked. “Your parents
took the car, so we’re going to have to call a cab. I think we
should walk a ways first, and then call from a gas station.
Agreed?”

Meredith nodded. “But before we get that far,
I have to tell you that one of the reporters talked to me.”

A line appeared between Vi’s eyebrows as she
frowned slightly. “Okay, so if we go through the lobby, the
reporter might recognize you. But if we go the other way, we might
get stopped by one of the doctors.”

“That about sums it up, yes.” Meredith ran
her hands over her face, stressed. “I’m not cut out for this spy
crap!” she cried.

Vi laughed. “I’m impressed you’ve made it
this far, kid. Your poker face is lamentable.”

Meredith cracked a small smile. “Shut up.”
She took a deep breath and let it out in a
whoosh
. “Let’s go
through the lobby. The reporters probably want to exploit the hell
out of me, but at least they don’t want to cut me open.”

“Good thinking,” Vi agreed. “Besides, if we
act cool, the reporter might not even notice that you’re the same
person. You were in a flimsy hospital gown before--I’d bet anything
he wasn’t looking at your face.” She grinned salaciously while
Meredith stuck out her tongue and rolled her eyes.

They left the bathroom and made their way
back through the double doors and out to the lobby. Meredith turned
her face away from the reporters and made small talk with Vi to try
to keep the sandy-haired one from recognizing her again. Her palms
felt clammy and her heart raced as she attempted to put on an air
of indifference. At last they pushed their way through the glass
doors and out into the night, and it was all Meredith could do to
not breathe a sigh of relief.

* * *

Behind them, Nate Dowering leaned toward his
cameraman. “Did you see that, Lenny?”

Lenny looked up at his companion. “What?”

“The girl that just left was wearing a
hospital gown five minutes ago,” Nate said with a speculative gleam
in his eye.

Lenny sat up straighter. “You think that
might be our girl?”

“I don’t know, but it’s the most interesting
thing I’ve seen all night. Wanna find out where she’s headed?” He
stood up and looked down at his friend questioningly.

Lenny nodded with a hungry smile. “You bet
your ass I do.”

Outside, the
air was uncharacteristically cold for October. A stiff breeze
pulled at their clothing and chapped their cheeks. Meredith wished
she had put on a jacket over the shorts and tee shirt she’d worn to
bed the night before. Had it really only been a day?

The moon blazed down at them on the clear
night, but the halo of light rising up from the desert city
prevented them from seeing many stars. As Meredith’s eyes adjusted
to the relative dimness, she tried to decide where to go. The
parking lot was meagerly lit by the occasional streetlight, and she
could see a brightly lit gas station across a busy intersection to
the north, about a quarter of a mile away.

She nodded toward the station and looked at
Vi questioningly.

“Do you think they’re going to follow us?” Vi
asked, glancing back toward the double doors they had just come
through. “Because if they do come after us, that would seem a bit
obvious.”

“Okay, where do
you
think we should
go?” Meredith snapped. Vi looked at her defensively, and Meredith’s
expression softened contritely. “Sorry, I am beyond stressed out
with all of this.”

Vi nodded, accepting her apology. “I think we
should cross the freeway that way.” She gestured in the opposite
direction from the gas station. “There’s bound to be a fast food
place or something a little farther down.”

The air was growing chillier by the moment as
the breeze picked up. Goose bumps rose up on Meredith’s bare arms
and legs in response to the cold. “It’s freezing,” she said, “so we
need to make it fast. Can you keep up with me?” Meredith was
wearing her tennis shoes, while Vi wore her heavy black lace-up
boots. Meredith looked down at Vi’s footwear skeptically.

Vi scoffed. “Mere, you run almost every day.
No way can I keep up with you. But I’ll try, so let’s get out of
here.”

They set off at a brisk jog, which warmed
Meredith up considerably. As she ran, she could see her breath
coming out in little white puffs. Behind her, Vi sounded miserable
as she huffed along. Meredith reigned in her pace out of
consideration for her friend. They crossed the parking lot, being
careful to avoid the streetlights, and Meredith lamented the fact
that she was wearing a white tee shirt, which reflected the
moonlight and made her easier to see.

They made it out to the main street and
turned and ran toward the freeway. They crossed the street at the
freeway onramp against the signal, but traffic was light in this
direction. A wire fence came up on their right as they began to
cross the overpass, giving them a view of the speeding cars below.
About halfway across, Vi called Meredith’s name through wheezing
breaths.

Meredith stopped and turned to look at her
friend, who was stopped several feet behind her and looking through
the wire fence into the distance. “What?”

Vi gestured impatiently at the view. “Look,
Mere.”

Meredith followed her gaze and blanched. A
huge wall of dust was heading toward them at an alarming speed. The
dust storms in Phoenix could be dangerous and unpredictable,
reducing visibility to zero, downing trees and power lines, and
making the roads an extremely hazardous place to be. Though the
haboobs were common, Meredith had never before seen one look so
menacing or move so fast. “We need to get inside, and fast!”

“No shit!” Vi broke out into a flat-out run,
catching Meredith’s hand as she came by. The women ran together,
occasionally sparing a glance toward the oncoming storm.

A few minutes later, the dust storm hit them,
and swirls of stray palm tree fronds and sand whipped at their
bodies. They could only see a few feet in front of them as they
clung to each other. Meredith reached up and pulled her tee shirt
up and over her mouth and nose to try to keep from inhaling the
brown cloud while Vi covered her face with her sleeve.

They continued to run wildly as the
temperature dropped considerably, and their teeth clacked together
despite the physical exercise. Meredith’s hair twisted around her
face and covered her eyes, and she did her best to hold it out of
the way. Over the roar of the wind, they heard a loud squeal,
followed by a deafening crack, as a large mesquite tree tore from
the ground in a yard next to them.

Meredith’s arms shot up over her head
protectively as the tree came crashing toward them. She turned her
face away and squeezed her eyes shut, expecting the worst. In a
flurry of leaves and snapping bark, the tree landed a few feet to
their right, and Meredith opened her eyes, gaping at it dumbly.

Vi looked at the tree and then at Meredith,
astonished that they weren’t buried under hundreds of pounds of
tree trunk. “How did that tree not hit us?”

Meredith had no idea. After a moment of
shocked inactivity, Meredith called over the storm, “We have to get
out of this.”

“I can’t see past that damned tree!” Vi
replied. “Where can we go?”

The tree had fallen from the front yard of a
house on a residential side street, and Meredith pulled Vi toward
the structure. They ran across the front yard and hunkered down in
the corner between the wall of the house and the block fence that
enclosed the backyard. They were partially sheltered from the wind
as they huddled close to each other, with their faces close
together. Out of the corner of her eye, Meredith saw an SUV drive
past the house slowly, likely having trouble seeing through all the
dust.

“The storm can’t last that much longer,” Vi
said through chattering teeth.