Sanctuary in the stream, p.10
Sanctuary in the Stream, page 10
But if Lisa wanted the extra comfort of having MacKenzie around, who was she to argue? She didn’t have anything else going on that prevented her attendance, and even if she did, it was easy enough to beg off of any event with an excuse, especially if the excuse were that Amanda was sick. MacKenzie had used it as an excuse even when it wasn’t true. Although technically, even when Amanda was feeling well, she was still sick, so it wasn’t really a lie.
MacKenzie hung up the phone and put it down on the brass and glass side table. She scrubbed her eyes with her fists, and when she opened them again, Liam was standing in the front of her.
“What’s up?” he asked. “Everything okay?”
He hadn’t yet recovered anything more than his boxers and, for a minute, MacKenzie just let her eyes rove over the piece of eye candy, remembering the night before through a slight haze of alcohol. They had gone to the Cancer Society fundraiser, had made the rounds there and let themselves be seen, and then had returned to MacKenzie’s apartment for more drinks, some real food, and private entertainment.
“MacKenzie? What’s up?”
“Amanda. She’s in the hospital and Mother wants me to go over there and reassure her.” MacKenzie yawned.
Liam bent over to pick up the various items of clothing he had dropped the night before. “Is she okay?”
“I’m sure both Amanda and Mother will be just fine. But she sounded pretty worried, and she said that Amanda was listless, which isn’t like her. A really bad flu, maybe. I hope that’s all it is.”
“I was going to have a shower before heading out. Do you want it?”
MacKenzie weighed the options. Amanda was in the hospital, so she would be getting the best of care. Did it really matter whether MacKenzie had to wait an extra ten minutes for Liam to shower before she got herself ready?
“Or,” Liam suggested, a dimple appearing in his cheek, “we could shower together and be done twice as fast.”
“I have a feeling I wouldn’t be out of here very quickly if we did that,” MacKenzie laughed. They could easily be another hour, and Lisa would be on the phone again, ringing insistently, demanding to know where MacKenzie was and why she wasn’t at her sister’s side yet.
“Okay,” Liam agreed. “So, do you want it?”
“Yes. I guess so. I need to pull myself together even if I am just going to the hospital.” Lisa would not want her to show up looking bedraggled. She’d expect MacKenzie to be well turned-out even if it were the middle of the night, which it wasn’t.
Liam nodded agreeably. He pulled on his white shirt from the night before, but didn’t put on the pants or the rest of his outfit. “Shall I make you some breakfast while you’re in there so that you can get out more quickly?”
“Would you? Just a couple of pieces of toast and some juice,” MacKenzie requested, heading toward the bathroom. She looked back over her shoulder at him. “And coffee.”
He smiled. “I think I know by now that you don’t start any morning without coffee.”
“Well, I need to fortify myself with something this morning before facing my mother.”
——
She had a quick breakfast while Liam got into the shower, but he wasn’t out by the time she was finished. She poked her head into the bathroom.
“Will you be much longer?”
She could see his shadow through the shower curtain as he turned his head toward her. “Oh… I can just lock up when I leave. You can go ahead.”
MacKenzie shook her head. “I don’t like to leave people here when I’m not around. Sorry. Can you be quick?”
“Yeah, sure.” His tone was agreeable, but clipped. He obviously didn’t appreciate that she didn’t trust him enough to leave him alone in her apartment. But MacKenzie had been burned in the past by people who didn’t respect her privacy, and she wasn’t about to leave him there without supervision. She didn’t know him well enough. Just because she could go with him to an event, and maybe bring him home afterward, that didn’t mean she knew enough about his essential character to leave him there alone. She valued her privacy and there were a few things around the apartment that were quite valuable. Not that she thought Liam Jackson was going to steal them. She knew where to find him if he did. But it just wasn’t good policy. If she didn’t notice that something was missing right away, she might never be able to track it down again.
“I’ll just be two more minutes,” Liam promised.
“Thanks.”
She went back to the bedroom and, since she had the time and couldn’t leave until he was finished, she actually went ahead and pulled her bed into some semblance of order. It didn’t look as good as when the maid did it, but it was better than leaving it all rumpled. She would appreciate it when she got home later.
If Lisa could only see her now. Twenty-seven years old and actually making her own bed. On a roll, she went into the living room and picked up the newspaper, which she threw in the garbage, and her clothes, which she threw in the laundry. Liam was out of the shower but not yet out of the bathroom. She threw a random assortment of dishes into the dishwasher and had the place looking pretty tidy when Liam made an appearance, dressed, hair wet but neatly combed, and his face still stubbly, not having taken the time to shave. She stood on her tip-toes to give him a kiss. “Thanks. Sorry about having to rush you out of here. It’s my sister. Mother wants me there, so I have to make sure she’s okay.”
Liam nodded, looking down at her and letting his fingers linger on her jaw for a moment. “That, or you got one of your girlfriends to call to break up the party so that you could get rid of me.”
“Ugh. I wouldn’t do that when I was still in bed.”
He smiled. “Give me a call later, then. Let me know how it goes. And we’ll see each other again… soon.”
They didn’t have anything lined up, no dates, no fundraisers, nothing on the horizon. Liam was a nice guy, good looking, and MacKenzie might add him to her regular coterie of admirers, but she hadn’t made up her mind yet. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure that he was her type. Whatever that was.
After seeing him out the door, she put on her coat and winter gear and headed for the hospital.
——
When she managed to find her way to Amanda’s hospital room, not in the renal unit where she usually was, Amanda was asleep. Lisa sat next to the bed, watching her sleep. Not reading a book. Not looking at her schedule for the week. Just watching her sleep. MacKenzie would have gone crazy. She couldn’t stand to have people staring at her.
“Hi, Mom,” she said softly.
Lisa looked over at her, automatically making a motion for her to be quiet before she evaluated MacKenzie’s voice and the deepness of Amanda’s sleep and decided that she probably wasn’t being too loud after all.
“How is she doing?” MacKenzie looked over her kid sister. Amanda was twenty years old, but when she was asleep, she looked about ten. She was shorter than MacKenzie, and MacKenzie wasn’t exactly an Amazon herself. Amanda was small and elfin, and people often mistook her for a kid if they weren’t paying attention. She had a beautiful face, when she was feeling well. She wasn’t looking too bad. Her weight was good, her cheeks round rather than sunken like they had been when she’d been through her worst times. She had long, dark hair that got tangled if she didn’t take care of it, which was hard to do when she was in a hospital bed all day, but she didn’t like to cut it short so that it would be easier to take care of. She said she needed her strength, like Samson.
Amanda was pale, and that bothered MacKenzie. But if she had the flu and had been throwing up for hours, then of course she was going to be pale. It was just a virus. She would be feeling better soon.
“She’s sleeping,” Lisa stated the obvious. “She’s been so sick all night… I’m glad she was finally able to drift off. Maybe she’s on her way to feeling better.”
“Probably just a bug.”
“Yes. Hopefully.”
There was an IV hanging, but Lisa had said that Amanda needed it to stay hydrated. It didn’t necessarily mean that she was back on some treatment again.
MacKenzie pulled the other chair in the room closer to her mother’s and sat down. Amanda had been given a private room, of course. There was no way she was going to be left in some hallway or emergency room curtain. Lisa would see to that.
“Do you want to go get something to eat?” MacKenzie suggested.
“Well…” Lisa’s eyes flicked over to Amanda. “I don’t know. I don’t want to leave her alone.”
“I’m here. And you haven’t had anything to eat, have you? You’ve been with her since last night?”
“Yes, you’re right.”
“Well, you’re not going to be any good to her if you’re fainting from hunger or all angry and irritable from low blood sugar. So go. I’ll be with her if she wakes up. She’s not going to be alone.”
“Are you sure?”
“Why don’t you take advantage of the fact that I’m here, because I’m not going to be here all day. Go have something to eat.”
“Okay,” Lisa agreed, but she still made no movement to get up, watching Amanda with worried eyes.
“She’ll be fine for now. I’ll have them page you if something happens.”
“Would you?” Lisa brightened at that suggestion. She could go have something to eat and still be sure that Amanda hadn’t taken a turn for the worse. She clutched her purse on her lap, then nodded and got up. “Thank you so much, MacKenzie, I appreciate you coming and being here for your sister.”
“And for you,” MacKenzie reminded her. “Don’t you try saying that I never do anything for you.”
“I would never say that.”
MacKenzie raised her eyebrows as her mother left. She might say it and she might not. But she would certainly imply it the next time she wanted MacKenzie to do something for her and MacKenzie had something else going on or didn’t want to be there.
Lisa’s heels clicked sharply as she walked away. MacKenzie watched her go. She leaned back in her chair and looked over Amanda once more. The hospital chair was far from comfortable. She was going to have to get used to it if she were going to be there for a few hours.
“I should have brought a book,” she murmured to Amanda. She hadn’t thought to bring anything with her. She’d just gotten herself together and headed over. And she couldn’t go down to the gift shop to pick something up. Not after dismissing her mother and saying she’d stay with Amanda while Lisa was eating. MacKenzie sighed and resigned herself to just sitting there and napping while she waited either for Amanda to wake up, or for Lisa to return from lunch.
——
Unlawful Harvest is book #1 in the Kenzie Kirsch Medical Thriller series. Check it out at pdworkman.com or your favorite online retailer.
ALSO BY P.D. WORKMAN
FIND MORE BOOKS AT PDWORKMAN.COM
MYSTERY/SUSPENSE:
Parks Pat Mysteries
Police Procedural Set in Canada
Out with the Sunset
Long Climb to the Top
Dark Water Under the Bridge
Immersed in the View
Skimming Over the Lake
Hazard of the Hills
Knows the Hills
Spanning the Creek
Sanctuary in the Stream
Auntie Clem’s Bakery
Culinary & Pet Cozy Mysteries
Gluten-Free Murder
Dairy-Free Death
Allergen-Free Assignation
Witch-Free Halloween (Halloween Short)
Dog-Free Dinner (Christmas Short)
Stirring Up Murder
Brewing Death
Coup de Glace
Sour Cherry Turnover
Apple-achian Treasure
Vegan Baked Alaska
Muffins Masks Murder
Tai Chi and Chai Tea
Santa Shortbread
Cold as Ice Cream
Changing Fortune Cookies
Hot on the Trail Mix
Fateful Plateful
Cut Out Cookie
On the Slab Pie
Wedding Cake Crush (Coming Soon)
A Waffle Death (Coming Soon)
Recipes from Auntie Clem's Bakery
Reg Rawlins, Psychic Detective
Paranormal Mystery & Adventure
What the Cat Knew
A Psychic with Catitude
A Catastrophic Theft
Night of Nine Tails
Telepathy of Gardens
Delusions of the Past
Fairy Blade Unmade
Web of Nightmares
A Whisker's Breadth
Skunk Man Swamp
Magic Ain't A Game
Without Foresight
Careful of Thy Wishes
Time to Your Elf
Undiscovered Tomb
Missing Powers
Thrice Spared
Cloaked Campaign
Sleepwalker's Sanctuary (Coming Soon)
Cat Tales in the Swamp (Short Story, Coming Soon)
Zachary Goldman Mysteries
Private Investigator
She Wore Mourning
His Hands Were Quiet
She Was Dying Anyway
He Was Walking Alone
They Thought He was Safe
He Was Not There
Her Work Was Everything
She Told a Lie
He Never Forgot
She Was At Risk
He Drowned in Memory
Their Walls Were Empty
They Came for Him
They Sought Vengeance (Coming Soon)
She Was Their Target (Coming Soon)
His Fear Was Real (Coming Soon)
Kenzie Kirsch Medical Thrillers
Unlawful Harvest
Doctored Death
Dosed to Death
Gentle Angel
Rushin' Death
Posed for Death
Death of a Corpse
High-Tech Crime Solvers Series
Virtually Harmless
Cowritten with D. D. VanDyke
California Corwin P. I. Mystery Series
The Girl in the Morgue
Stand Alone Suspense Novels
Looking Over Your Shoulder
Lion Within
Pursued by the Past
In the Tick of Time
Loose the Dogs
YOUNG ADULT FICTION:
Medical Kidnap Files:
YA Suspense
Mito
EDS
Proxy
Toxo
Pain
Fail
Between the Cracks:
Gritty Contemporary YA Family Saga
Ruby
June and Justin
Michelle
Chloe
Ronnie
June, Into the Light
Tamara’s Teardrops:
Gritty Contemporary YA
Tattooed Teardrops
Two Teardrops
Tortured Teardrops
Vanishing Teardrops
Breaking the Pattern:
Gritty Contemporary YA
Henry
Sandy
Bobby
Stand Alone Young Adult:
Stand Alone
Don’t Forget Steven
Those Who Believe
Cynthia has a Secret
Questing for a Dream
Darkness before the Dream (prequel story)
Once Brothers
Intersexion
Making Her Mark
Endless Change
Gem, Himself, Alone
AND MORE AT PDWORKMAN.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
P.D. Workman is a USA Today Bestselling author, winner of several awards from Library Services for Youth in Custody and the InD’tale Magazine’s Crowned Heart award, and has published over 90 mystery/suspense/thriller and young adult books, including stand alones and these series: Auntie Clem's Bakery cozy mysteries, Reg Rawlins Psychic Investigator paranormal mysteries, Zachary Goldman Mysteries (PI), Kenzie Kirsch Medical Thrillers, Parks Pat Mysteries (police procedural), and YA series: Tamara's Teardrops, Between the Cracks, and Breaking the Pattern.
Workman loves writing about the underdog, who the reader may love or hate. She has been praised for her realistic details, deep characterization, and sensitive handling of the serious social issues that appear in all of her stories, from light cozy mysteries through to darker, grittier young adult and mystery/suspense books.
P. D. Workman, does not shy from probing the deep psychological scars of childhood trauma, mental illness, and addiction. Also characteristic of this author, these extremely sensitive issues are explored with extensive empathy, described with incredible clarity, and portrayed with profound insight.
—KIM, GOODREADS REVIEWER
Some of Workman's titles have been translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and Italian.
Workman began writing at an early age and is a prolific reader as well as writer. She is also passionate about teaching and learning, expresses her creativity through art and cooking, and loves exploring the Calgary parks and green spaces where the Parks Pat Mysteries are set. She was a legal assistant for many years and has done extensive charitable work.
Workman was born and raised in Alberta, Canada, and is married with one adult son.
Please visit P.D. Workman at pdworkman.com to see what else she is working on, to join her mailing list, and to link to her social networks.
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P.D. Workman, Sanctuary in the Stream
