The Bare Truth part 2

Chapter 5

There were no dreams this time, but there were several moments where she woke up, if only for a few seconds.

The first time was in the ambulance. The siren was blaring. It made her head hurt. She saw Molly's worried face floating over her own. Molly was holding her hand.

"She's waking up," a voice said.

Her eyelids felt so very heavy. She let them slide shut again.

The next time she woke to bright lights in her eyes. She was being wheeled down a hospital corridor. Masked faces loomed over her, exchanging urgent quips in medical jargon her sleepy brain couldn't make sense of. She squinted against the lights for a few moments, then allowed her eyes to close again.

The next time she was looking up at the ceiling of a hospital room. It was quite. Dark. There was moonlight shining through her window. It must have been hours later.

Joe was standing at the foot of her bed next to a doctor. The doctor was counting a rather large stack of cash. Sierra tried to talk, but only managed a small moan. Joe smiled at her.

"Go back to sleep beautiful," Joe told her. "Everything will be fine."

She obliged.

She woke again later to the sounds of Joe and Molly talking. It was morning now. Bright beams of sunlight passed through the window, illuminating the dust particles in the air.

"Well I'm gonna call my lawyer," Molly was insisting. "This is medical malpractice."

"She's fine, Molly."

"She is not fine," Molly hissed. "Why does everyone keep insisting she's fine? She had a 105-degree fever and her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest. They can't just call it a fluke and release her."

"I'm being released?" Sierra asked sleepily.

Joe rushed over to her.

"I'm going to take you back to the mansion just as soon as you feel like getting up."

Sierra sat up in bed.

"Could you give us a minute?" Joe asked Molly.

"Fine," Molly said. "I'm gonna go call my lawyer. This whole place should be condemned."

Molly exited the room, still muttering darkly about inept doctors.

"You need to get dressed and we need to go before Molly seeks a second opinion. I already had to pay off one doctor, three EMT's, and two nurses. Not to mention the paparazzi who snapped your picture on the way in. I'll have to release a statement to the press now. And I'm not getting a dog just because your roommate is nosey," Joe said in a rush.

"She's not nosey. She's concerned and lacks boundaries. And you are so getting a dog because I didn't have a better explanation for the bear fur all over my broken bed. What is going on with me? Why didn't you tell me this could happen?"

"I'm sorry. Look, we have to leave, okay? You can't ever go to the hospital. You won't need it anyway. Your body is very good at healing itself. But your heart rate is faster than a human's now and your temperature runs hotter and...I don't really know what else is different, but I do not want them to cut you open and figure it out."

There was that note of fear again, and Sierra didn't need to be able to read his mind to notice it this time. Anger fading, Sierra got up out of bed.

"Okay. Let's go."

She hurriedly pulled off the hospital gown and took the bag of clothes Joe was offering. In the bag was new pair of jeans, black leather flats, a beautiful lace bra and panty set, and a blue silk top from Bloomingdale's, all exactly her size. Joe's personal secretary really was amazing sometimes. Sierra made a mental note to bring her coffee the next time she came over. And perhaps ask how on earth she figured out what size panties she wears.

"What are we going to do about Molly?" Joe asked her.

"I really don't know," Sierra responded as she slipped on the shoes.

"I don't suppose we could duct tape her mouth and throw her in a closet?"

"Tempting, but no."

Joe held the door for her as they stepped out into the hallway.