Not on my Watch

Chapter 5

                              Good magic is all about hiding in plain sight. Coast to Coast am

                                                             End of January 2012

                                                                Layton, Utah

          Vin shook his head groggily.  He'd just awoken from a sound sleep.  He wondered for a moment what had woken him up...then the phone rang shrilly by the side of his bed.   Light filtered through the window of his hotel room.  It must be midday already.  He looked at the time on his phone as he picked it up.  10:30 am.  Damn, he'd slept for twelve hours.  He'd been exhausted from the ordeal at the theater and the shock of finding out his best friend had died. He pushed the green talk button on the phone and spoke sleepily into the receiver.  "Hello."

          "It's me, Kat."

          "Oh, Kat.  'Morning.  Sorry I slept so late.  You must be anxious to get out of here."

          "Actually....I'm really sick.   I'm not sure what's wrong.   I've been having this off and on for days, but today it's really hit hard. I've been throwing up all morning."

          "Days?  Seriously?  When did it start?"

          "The day we left for Park City."

          "That was three days ago.  I don't think it could still be food poisoning."

          "Probably not, although sometimes it feels like it."

          "We should get you to a doctor."

          "Absolutely not.   I'll be fine.   It's stress.  I know it.   It started after I had my premonition..." Her voice caught in her throat as she began to sob again, "About Mike."

          "Look, Kat, as your CO, it's my job to make sure everyone in my unit is fit for duty.  You're going to see a doctor before we go back to base.  That's an order."

          "Please, sir, no."

          "There's no negotiating your way out of this.  You're going.  That's final."

          "I don't like doctors.  Fine."  She sighed heavily.  A few seconds later, she groaned, "Sorry.  I gotta go.  I'm gonna go get sick again."

          The call disconnected.  Vin lay there in bed for a few seconds, staring at the phone.   He began to worry.  Rowan was never sick.   He had to do something.  This could be serious.   He was worried.  He got out of bed and dressed in a hurry.  He'd booked two rooms at a nice hotel in Layton the evening before, knowing they both needed rest.  He opened the door and crossed the hallway to the room Rowan had slept in.  He knocked on the hard oak door and waited.   No answer.   He stared down the hall at the elevator, hoping everything was ok.  He knocked again, louder.  Still no answer.   Just as he was about to call the front desk to have them check on her, the door slowly opened, and she stood there, looking pale, with beads of sweat on her face.

           He put his hand to her forehead.   "You don't have a fever, but you sure look like you've been through the wringer."

          "I feel terrible.  I guess I'm about as well as can be expected, though, under the circumstances.   I feel sicker than I've ever felt in my life, and I just found out my husband's dead. Hell yeah, life's great."   She attempted a wry grin.