Just The Way You Like It - Under Construction

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Upon hearing of her upcoming move to Dr. Hansen's house, Alice couldn't help but become excited. It was exactly what she had wanted. Her goal to get out of St. Micheal's was going to be fulfilled faster than she had first expected. What Alice hadn't expected was to move in with Blake, but if they cared about each other the way she thought they did, Alice thought it would work out for the best. Neither Luke or Tess seemed particularly pleased with Dr. Hansen's plan, but Alice was.

Blake, Luke, and Tess continued talking, trying to come up with a list of people at St. Micheal's they trusted. They needed a few people to know about Alice's departure, mostly people who could come to her new abode to help with her rehabilitation. A short list was compiled without too much effort, Dr. Willub, Dr. Wallace, and Dr. Tunstall would have to be brought up to speed on the situation, but Dr. Hansen assured everyone in the room that they were all honest and decent people. “I've known Wallace and Dr. Willub for years.” He said. “And Dr. Tunstall is a great doctor, she'll be perfect for Alice's physical therapy.” Luke, Nurse Tess, and Dr. Hansen all agreed that this group of insiders would be acceptable, and then agreed to keep it secret until Alice was healthy enough to be moved.

Tess and Luke continued to question Dr. Hansen's reasoning. He defended his plan valiantly, making it plain to everyone in the room that he would not be swayed. Alice was frustrated by the idea that two out of the three of them did not seem to agree on the matter. She certainly was a proponent for the move and couldn't understand why Tess and Luke disagreed. Alice knew they all had her best interest at heart, but at the same time she wanted everyone to be just as enthusiastic as Dr. Hansen was. She kept silent throughout the entire argument, and wondered if any of them even remembered she was still there. Still not being able to see was making it difficult to join into this fast paced conversation, but since no one was asking for her opinion on the matter, Alice stayed quiet.

Finally, after what seemed like a good hour or so, Sheriff Luke excused himself. He had a lot of work to do and was already falling behind schedule. Alice had gathered through their talk that another doctor had been attacked just before she was discovered missing, and with the entire hospital under watch, Luke wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery as soon as possible. Nurse Tess and Dr. Hansen stayed in the room, going over the final steps for Alice's departure from St. Micheal's. Tess still didn't sound very happy about this whole idea, but eventually she gave up and started to aid Dr. Hansen in the planning process.

In a weeks time, assuming Alice was recovered enough from her attack, she was to be secretly moved to Dr. Hansen's house. The guise being, of course, that she had been transferred to another hospital. Nurse Tess was going to have to fill out the transfer paperwork, which was going to be a forgery. She made it very clear that if caught, Dr. Hansen was going to take the fall for it, not her. He happily agreed without any hesitation.

A knock on the door halted their conversation. Alice could hear her door open and Dr. Hansen greet Dr. Madany in. They all exchanged a few pleasantries before turning their talk back to Alice. “How are you feeling today, Alice?” Dr. Madany asked.

“Good!” Alice tried hard to sound excited and upbeat, hoping they would let her out of St. Micheal's if she said she was feeling better. In reality though, she felt horrible. Her body was stiff and sore from her new wounds, and sleeping on her side all night had not helped. Alice still couldn't see a thing, and was really beginning to wonder if her sight would ever come back. Dr. Madany began checking her over, making little tsking noises as he went along. After a few minutes he finished and gently patted Alice on the shoulder. “You'll live.” He said. She couldn't see his face, but it sounded like he was trying to be jovial about it.

“How long do you think she'll need to recover Dr. Madany?” Tess asked.

“A week, maybe two. She's got a few bruised ribs, those take the longest to heal. The bruising and scrapes should start to heal up nicely over the next few days.” Again he turned the conversation back towards Alice. “Alice, we've got to check those eyes of yours again, I'm beginning to worry. If we don't start to see improvement in your sight within the next day or so we're going to have to run some more extensive tests on you to find out just how bad your eyes have been damaged.” She nodded her understanding in his general direction. Again Dr. Madany checked Alice's eyes, and again she saw nothing as it happened. It felt strange, knowing that she should see a bright light, but didn't.

Dr. Madany continued on. “Well Alice, try not to worry about it just yet, we'll give you another day or so. Be patient.” Everyone was telling Alice to be have patience with her vision, and yet they all seemed more agitated by it than she. Alice was used to not seeing and thought that if her vision never came back she would be honestly okay without it. Dr. Madany said his goodbyes, promising his return within a few hours. Alice listened as Dr. Hansen walked over to the door just as Dr. Madany was exiting.

“Hey, Dr. Madany, look I'm sorry about last night. I wasn't thinking clearly. I shouldn't have said what I did.”

“It's fine, Dr. Hansen. I understand. Just uh, hey, next time you want to sleep with a patient, do it at home, okay?”

“What! I . . . well, yeah. Sorry, okay.” And with that, Alice heard her door shut and latch.

Again Alice heard Dr. Hansen speak up, this time apparently talking to Nurse Tess. “Hey, I've gotta go talk to the other doctors. Can you watch her while I'm gone?”

“Of course, Doctor.” Nurse Tess replied. Alice was glad to know someone was going to stay with her. She listened to Dr. Hansen's footsteps as they approached her bed. Leaning down, he whispered into her ear.

“Alice, I have to go, but listen. I'll be back as soon as I'm able, it shouldn't take me more than an hour. I have to go talk to the doctors that are going to help get you out of here. Okay?” Alice slowly nodded, feeling his warm breath on her neck. “I promise I'll be right back Alice, Tess is going to stay here with you while I'm gone, and there is still an officer outside your door.” Alice felt him pull away for a second before again his lips approached her ear. As if he had decided to say something that he originally had chosen not to. “Once we get to my house, Alice, you'll be safe, I promise. You'll be treated like a queen, anything you need. Okay? And Alice?” He paused and Alice wasn't entirely sure if he was going to continue or not. Alice slowly turned her head towards him, trying to get a better idea as to where exactly he was standing. She could hear Blake breathing right next to her, so she knew he was close. It was so frustrating, not being able to see his face. Finally, he spoke up again. They were face to face, inches away from each other. His voice sounded tender and soothing as he finished his sentence. “Alice, I love you.” It was less than a whisper, and Alice wasn't entirely sure she had heard him correctly. Alice decided that she had indeed heard him just fine when she felt his lips suddenly brush up against her own. Alice gasped, completely not expecting to be kissed, and Dr. Hansen quickly pulled away and headed for the door.

Almost in a sing-song voice he called out to Nurse Tess. “I'll be back Tess! Don't let her out of your sight!” It was the happiest Alice had ever heard him. She desperately wished she could see, not knowing if Tess had seen our quick exchange or not. She kept silent, and waited for Tess to say something. There were only a few seconds of silence before Tess erupted in a fit of boisterous laughter.