The half hour drive to the farm was a painful ride, every minute it felt like someone was stabbing me with a hot poker. I didn’t dare say anything to Doc for fear he’d turn the car around and take me back to the hospital. What kept me going was my horses and wanting to see them before they left the farm. I had no idea what was going to get me through the ride back to the city.

“You okay, hon?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Bullshit. You’re in pain.”

“I’m always in pain, Doc.”

“You are in a lot of pain. More than when we left the hospital.”

Damnit! How does he always know when I’m in pain or more pain? “It’s okay, Doc.”

“No, it is not ‘okay’, Meredith. I have half a mind to turn around and take you back to the hospital. The only reason I’m not doing that is because I think it would be harder on you emotionally to not be there than it is physically getting there.”

We finally got to the farm. I undid my seatbelt and opened my door. “Hold on, Meredith. You stay right there until I get the wheelchair out of the trunk.” Doc had insisted on bringing one with us. He helped me get into it and I asked him to get my crutches out of the back seat.

“You don’t need them. You aren’t getting out of that chair.”

“Aw, Doc…”

“Don’t ‘Aw, Doc’ me”, he said as he pushed me toward the barn. “I gave you the day pass, I make the rules. And rule number 1 is you stay in that chair. No, wait… that’s rule number 2. Rule number 1 is you do as I say.”

I sighed. His tone of voice told me there was no use arguing. I can tell when he means business and I know when not to push it with him. Conversely, he knows when not to push it with me.

Karen and Kevin were in the barn. Jessie was with them. It was so good to see them and my dog again. After chatting for a few minutes, I had Doc take me down the aisle of the barn, so I could say goodbye to each of the horses. I tried to get out of the chair at the first stall, but a firm hand pushed me right back down. “Remember what I said? You stay in the chair.”

“Doc, I can’t pet them from down here, I need to stand up.”

“Here, Mer”, Karen said, coming over to us. “We’ll do this”. She opened the stall door and fastened the rope tie so the horse couldn’t step out. Doc pushed me closer and I spent a few minutes with the horse before we moved on to the next stall. We did this with all 10 horses in the barn.

Jim arrived and backed up to the barn door shortly after I had spent time with each horse. He wasn’t taking any, just pretending to, but there wasn’t a lot of time planned between him leaving and the new fosters arriving. Karen introduced her friend to Doc and I after he opened the door to the trailer to make it look like it was being loaded.

“Thank you so much, Jim”, I said to him. “I really appreciate you helping out like this.”

“My pleasure”, he replied. “I love messing with people like Jane.”

“I was thinking about this, and if you see someone obviously following you, please call 911 and tell them where you are and the car and plate number. That is, if you are comfortable doing that.”

“Oh, I’m comfortable doing that all right. Do you know what she drives?”

“Apparently, she was seen driving a car other than her own. The detective doesn’t know if she borrowed one or has it registered in a fake name.”

“I’ll call him and get a description for you”, Doc offered as he took his phone out of his pocket. He talked to Scott Fletcher for a minute, then passed the phone to Jim. “He’ll give you the description of both cars.”

“I better get going”, Jim said after talking to the detective. He opened a couple of the windows on his trailer to make it obvious there were horses inside.

“Let us know if you have any trouble. I really, really appreciate this.”

“Happy to do it, Meredith. If you need anything else, just get Karen to give me a call.”

As scheduled, about a half hour later, the new fosters began arriving to pick up their horses. I said goodbye to each one again as they were being led out of their stalls. This was even harder than I’d expected - and I’d expected it to be hard. But I knew it was for their own protection.

After the last of the fosters had left, Kevin hooked my 4 horse trailer (I also have a 2 horse one) up to his truck and got ready to load Buddy, Nell and Jack. I spent a few extra minutes with them. I had him load Buddy last because he was extra special to me and I wanted even more time with him. Doc stood behind my wheelchair as Buddy was loaded on the trailer and he leaned down and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. We watched Kevin drive away. After he’d turned onto the road heading for the highway, he (Doc) came around to the front and knelt down on the ground and gave me a big hug. “I know it’s hard to see them off, hon”, he said as he dried my tears with his handkerchief (Doc use disposable tissues? Not a chance in you-know-where!) “But you know they will be safe. And you will get them back when the danger has passed.”

“Yes, Doc. I know that and I’m so thankful to Joanna for taking them in.”

“We’d better get ready to head back to the hospital. I’m hoping to get back before dark but I’m not sure if we will. I wanted to get some clothes from the house and I know you want to take an outfit to wear home when you are discharged. Do you want me to get something for you rather than try to get up the stairs on crutches?”

I hesitated. In a bit of a quavering voice, I said “Doc, I don’t think I can go back tonight.”

“Meredith, are you going to give me a hard time about going back? If I’d known you were, I’d have thought twice about bringing you here.”

“No, Doc, I don’t want to give you a hard time. But I’m in so much pain. The drive out here was murder, I don’t think I can take a second drive in one day. Especially with it being such a long trip.”

“Hon, I understand, but you need your medication and we don’t have any here at home. If it weren’t for that, I’d say okay to staying here until tomorrow.”

“Will missing a dose be that bad?”

“It will be two doses, since you will miss your morning meds as well. I especially don‘t want you to miss doses of the antibiotic. I should have thought to bring some meds in case something happened that we didn‘t get back tonight.”

“Ok, Doc, I’ll go.” I didn’t want to worry him any more than he was over the potential infection. “Can you get some clothes for me? I don’t want to try the stairs right now.”

“Thank you, hon. I can call an ambulance for you if you like. That way, you can lie down.”

“Have you ever ridden in one of those, Doc?”

“Yes, I have.”

“As a patient on the stretcher?”

“No.”

“It’s not a very comfortable ride.”

“Okay, hon. I’ll try to avoid as many bumps and potholes as I can.”

Doc wheeled me into the barn and I chatted with Karen while I waited for him. She was starting to clean the stalls out. “You don’t have to do that today”, I told her.

“I don’t know when we will be back, so I want to get it done. Kevin is going to help when he gets back from dropping the horses off at Joanna’s. He’s bringing the trailer back to give an illusion that the horses are gone permanently, in case Jane will be looking around here. *If* she comes looking for the horses. I have a feeling she was bluffing.”

“I wouldn’t put anything past her, Karen.” Boy, was I going to find out how right I was, though not in the way I’d thought at the time!

Doc came out and put our things in the car, then helped me get in. “I’ll see you soon, Karen. Thanks again for everything.”

“You get better and ready to come home when the coast is clear, Mer.”

Doc pulled out and onto the road, then the highway. The farm is the first one off the highway, though not on the corner. That belonged to the farmer who lived around the corner and down a bit. The corner part was pasture for his beef herd. I love sitting on my porch and watching them in the spring and summer, especially when the calves are romping and playing.

We weren’t on the road five minutes when I knew I was going to be sick. “Doc, please pull over”, I said to him. “I’m going to throw up.”

He looked over at me and saw that I was serious. He pulled onto the shoulder and got out and came around to my door and opened it. I tried to get out, but he stopped me. “Just lean over, hon.”

“I don’t want to get anything on your door.”

“Don’t worry about that, I can get it cleaned.” The Beamer was Doc’s pride and joy. I couldn’t believe he was so blasé about me potentially puking on it. I did manage to avoid it, fortunately.

When I was done, I took some tissues out of my purse and wiped my mouth, then took a swig from my water bottle and rinsed my mouth out. I pulled my feet back into the car and leaned back against the head rest and closed my eyes, bracing for when we got going again. Doc did my seat belt back up.

He got in and put the car in gear, then did a U turn in the road - something else out of character for him - and headed back the way we came. “I’m taking you back home, Meredith. You’ll never make it to the city like this.” Thank God! “I’ll get you settled in the house, then I’ll go to the city to pick up meds for you.”

Back at the farm, I went up the steps, walking with the crutches. Inside, I sat down on the living room sofa. Karen came in with us. She had heard the car pull in and came out to see what was up.

“Meredith, I think we should sleep in the downstairs bedroom so that you don’t have to go up and down the stairs.”

“Julian, I think you should sleep upstairs”, Karen said. That way, if Jane gets onto the property without the cops seeing her, you will be harder for her to get at if she gets in the house. Kevin and I will sleep downstairs so we can intercept her. We’ll lock the back door as well as the front, so if she tries to get in, she will make a noise. We have Jessie here, too - she will raise a ruckus if anyone comes near here in the night.”

“That is true, Karen. She’s a great watch dog.”

Kevin arrived back at the farm and Karen updated him on what was going on. He agreed with her that they should sleep downstairs.

“I better get going”, Doc said. “I have my prescription pad, so I’ll write you one for your antibiotic and heart medication. Do you need some Gravol before I go?”

“I can take it myself”, I replied. “Though I think I’m low on it.”

“I’ll check.” He headed for the cupboard in the pantry where we kept medications well out of reach of Jessie. I used to keep it in the bathroom cabinet, but Doc had moved it.

“There’s just enough for one dose”, he said when he came back out to the living room. “Lie down on the sofa and I’ll give it to you.” He began to draw the liquid into the syringe. “I’ll pick up some more in the city.”

“What about my pain medication, Doc?” I asked as I lay down. Karen and Kevin left the room to give me privacy.

“I have it with me”, Doc answered as he swabbed my hip and gave me the shot. “I brought it in case your pain level was so high that you had to have it before we got back.”

Doc called out to Karen and Kevin that they could come back in the room.

“Julian, could you pick up some Chinese Food on your way back?” Kevin asked, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. “Karen doesn’t feel like cooking and I’m sure you won’t when you get back out here. I know Meredith likes it, I hope you do, too.”

“I do”, Doc said. “And I’m happy to bring some back. Put your wallet back, though. This is on me.”

“It was my idea so I should pay.”

“You and Karen are doing Meredith and I a huge favour. No arguing.”

We figured out what we wanted and Doc set off for town. He had asked that either Karen or Kevin stay in the house with me, so Kevin went to the barn to work on cleaning the stalls out. I lay down on the bed downstairs and Karen and I chatted and caught up while we waited for Doc. Despite the pain, I was getting tired and found myself falling asleep. Karen left the bedroom and told me to rest until Doc was back.

When I woke up, he was sitting on the loveseat, reading. I hadn’t heard him come in or turn on the lamp beside him.

“How long have you been back?” I asked him.

“Not long. How are you feeling?” he set his medical journal down and put his reading glasses in their case and then put it in his shirt pocket. He had learned the hard way to not leave them laying around with Jessie in the house. When he went to get a new prescription, his optometrist told him that dogs are attracted to the oils from our skin that they smell on the frames and arms.

“I’m really sore, Doc, but the Gravol helped the nausea a lot.”

“Do you want to come out to the dining room to eat or have your supper in here?”

“I’ll come out.”

“No ‘I’m not hungry’ tonight, hon?” he asked, feigning innocence.

“Not when it’s Chinese food”, I replied. He laughed.

We talked about the situation over dinner. It was just the four of us - our neighbours’ kids were at Joanna’s. Karen and Kevin were in contact with the cops watching the place. They had been given secure phones to call them on. “They are both on high alert tonight”, Kevin told us. They know that Jane threatened that if Meredith and Julian were still together tonight, she’d go after the horses. If she were to come in via the road, they’d see her. She knows that, she’s not stupid. The question is whether she knows the area enough to come in the back way, through the woods. If she does, there’s no telling what she will do when she finds an empty barn.”

“I would really have preferred she also find an empty house”, Doc said. “But there’s no way Meredith could make the trip back to the hospital tonight. That was very evident shortly after we left when we tried to go back. But you and Karen don’t need to stay.”

“We are staying”, Karen spoke up. “Don’t worry about us, we are well prepared for her.”

“That is correct”, Kevin said. “We have our weapons with us. Detective Fletcher got us permission to have them at our side if we felt there was a credible threat and tonight there is a credible threat.” Normally, guns have to be kept locked up. I can have my shotgun out of a locked storage container IF there’s a predator around or I suspect there is, but it has to be unloaded and the ammunition kept separately. Stupid gun control laws. If I see a predator, it could do serious damage to one of my horses by the time I get the ammunition and load the gun. But I have to obey the law, no matter how stupid I think it is. It would do my animals no good for me to lose my right to keep a shotgun for their defence.

Karen continued “We’ll lock both front and back doors tonight, as well as the back porch door. All windows will be closed. If she tries to get in, we’ll hear her and one of us will call the officers that are on watch tonight. If she’s stupid enough to try getting in here, she won’t have a chance to do anything.”

After supper, Doc and I went upstairs. Our friends had insisted on doing clean-up. I made my way up the stairs on my crutches. Not easy, but I had to do it. It beat a half hour drive back to the city. I wanted a shower, so Doc got some cling wrap, tape and a plastic bag from the kitchen. As he taped cling wrap over the gauze over my incision, he said “I want to look at that before we go to sleep.”

He wanted a shower, too, because he had been in the barn. I was surprised he had got in his car with barn cooties on him. When he reads this, I’m sure to get a spanking for that. Seriously, though, I get why he is like that. I just wish I could somehow get him to feel more at ease about not being so incredibly rigid about cleanliness. It upsets me that it’s such an issue for him. It must be really hard for him.

We showered together. I sat on my shower seat and he bathed me. I could have done it myself, my hand was getting better, but Doc enjoys doing it, so I didn’t argue.

Back in the bedroom, I put a nightgown on and got into bed. Doc put his pyjamas on and got his bag and some gauze and medical tape from a cabinet and sat down beside me. He put gloves on and asked me to lift my nightgown up. He removed the tape, cling wrap and gauze as gently as he could and looked at my incision. “Hon, I’m going to feel around a bit, let me know if it increases your pain.”

“Gee, thanks, Doc”, I said sarcastically.

He felt around, but he didn‘t press down hard, like he does when he‘s palpating. Still, it hurt. That area was very tender. “I don’t like causing you more pain, hon. But the redness is increasing, and it’s feeling warm. I don’t like this at all.” He had given me my antibiotic and heart medication at supper. I tried to not let it show in my face that it hurt so much. “Meredith, don’t shield me from your pain. Tell me if this is hurting more, I need to know to be able to give you proper medical care.”

“Ok, Doc. Yes, it hurts more.”

“I think I better take your temperature. I know you can’t lie on your left side, so I’ll do it with you on your right.”

“Doc! You aren’t going to take it rectally with other people in the house, are you?”

“What’s the problem, hon? They are downstairs.”

“What if they come up and come in here?”

“They would knock first and I’ll just pull the covers over you.”

“Can’t you just take it orally?”

“You know that rectal is most accurate, Meredith. Now, on your side, please.”

Reluctantly, I lay on my side and pulled my nightgown up to above my butt. Doc parted my cheeks with his left hand and gently inserted the lubed thermometer into me. No lubing me up first? I had suspected that that was not necessary and that he did it just because he liked to. Now I was sure.

“It’s 37C”, he said 3 minutes later, after removing and reading the thermometer. “You say you normally run about 36, so it’s a little up.”

“That 36 is orally, Doc.”

“That would be about 36.5 rectally. Still, it’s higher than your norm. Other than pain, do you feel sick?”

“No, Doc.”

He set the thermometer wrapped in tissue on the nightstand, and wiped my butt. “When we get back tomorrow, I think I will change your antibiotic. If your pain gets worse in the night or if you feel feverish or sick, wake me up.” I’m going to go wash the thermometer and my hands, then I’ll put a fresh dressing on that incision.”

After he’d dressed my incision, Doc gave me a shot of pain meds. Then he reached into his bag and brought out another vial and drew the liquid up into a syringe.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“It’s a sedative, the same one you had the other day. I know you are on edge and I want you to get a good sleep. Now I have to ask you to turn onto your left side for a moment. I can’t give you a second injection in the same hip.”

When he was done and had put everything away, Doc crawled into bed beside me and I snuggled up to him and put my head on his chest. “Doc, you aren’t going to discharge me tomorrow, are you?”

“No, Meredith.”

I sighed. “I didn’t think so. If you were going to, you’d not make me go back in the morning.”

“You aren’t ready to be discharged yet. Also, I’m going to put you on an IV antibiotic, you have to be in hospital for that. And your bladder isn‘t working.”

“When can I try again on that, Doc?”

“Tomorrow, but if you still can’t then, the catheter will have to stay in for another week.”

“Doc, I’m not staying in hospital for another week.”

“You won’t have to, hon. Unless your other issues require it.”

“I thought you told me I couldn’t go home until I can pee on my own.”

“That’s just a scare tactic to make patients try as hard as they can instead of giving up after just a minute or two on the toilet. And to get them to drink a lot of water.”

I lifted my head from his chest. “If my hand wasn’t still a bit sore, I’d give you a spanking for that.”

He chuckled. “We have all kinds of tricks to get patients to comply.”

“Such as…..”

“You think I’m going to give all my secrets away?”

“I was hoping…”

Doc laughed again. “Time to go to sleep, sweetie. He gently pushed my head down with his free hand.

“I am getting sleepy.”

“Good. Close your eyes.”

“All these years I’ve been terrified of Dr Watters harming my horses, but I sure wasn’t expecting to have anyone else threaten them.” Doc didn’t say anything. I lifted my head and looked up at him again. He had a strange look on his face. “What’s that look for, Doc?”

“You should be sleeping, hon”, he replied.

“You are avoiding the question.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Why, Doc?”

He sighed. “I didn’t want to tell you with everything else that is going on.”

“Tell me what?”

He sighed again. “That I called the physician licensing body and told them what you told me about him.”

“What?” I sat up. “Doc, why?? I asked you not to say a word to anyone.” I felt betrayed by the man I loved.

“Lie down, Meredith. I’m sorry, but I had to file a report. Not only would it have been unethical to not say anything and let him get away with it, but had I not and later on it came out that I knew, I could lose my licence to practice medicine. Hon, I know how upset you are, but I just couldn’t risk my career as a doctor.”

Instantly, I felt bad for the way I had reacted. “Doc, I understand. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have reacted so harshly.”

“That wasn’t harsh, hon. I’m sorry that I had to do it. I know how scared you are of him. But you know what? If you don’t fight back, he’ll do it to other women. We need to do our part to stop him.”

“What if they don’t do anything about it?”

“Then we will at least know we tried.”

“I suppose they want to talk to me?”

“They do, but I told them that you can’t give a statement until you are out of hospital and feeling better. I also told them there is another issue going on that needs to get resolved. Now, lie back down. Please.”

I sighed, but lay down. The shot that Doc gave me was working, I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer.

I was woken in the night by Jessie bounding off the bed barking ferociously. I heard her run down the stairs. Hoping against hope that it was just a squirrel on the front porch - how DARE they come up to HER house! - I threw the covers off and sat up. “You stay here, Meredith.” Doc was already up and heading out of the bedroom. “I’ll go see what’s up.”

I reached for my crutches by the bedside stand. “Doc, I’m not staying up here if something is happening.”

“If something is happening, what are you going to do? You are on crutches and in a lot of pain. Let us handle it.” Us, meaning him and Kevin and Karen.

I sighed but I knew he was right. I was in no shape to be confronting an intruder. It was hard waiting upstairs, though. If I could walk, I’d have paced. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Doc came back upstairs. He sat down on the bed beside me. “It looks like someone may have been here, hon. Jessie ran right for the back door. Karen and Kevin went outside, but they wouldn’t let her out for her own safety. They heard something running toward the woods and they said it didn’t sound like an animal. They ran after whoever it was but he or she had got too much of a head start. They checked the barn and one of the doors was open, Kevin said he was sure he’d closed it before he came in earlier tonight.

“The undercover cops watching the place heard the ruckus and took a walk around way out back, but didn’t see anything. One of them is hanging around back there for a while in case the person comes back, but he or she probably won’t.”

“Oh, god, Doc, Jane tried to follow through on her threat. I’m so glad the horses aren’t here.”

“Me, too, hon. Now, let’s get back to bed. How is your pain?”

“It’s somewhat better. The shot really helped.”

“Good. Back in bed with you.”

The rest of the night was quiet and we were sleeping so soundly, it was after 9 am when we woke up. “I should have set the alarm. We should be on our way back to the hospital instead of just getting up.”

“What’s the rush, Doc?”

“I know you are in no hurry to get back, but I want to get you on a stronger antibiotic as soon as I can.” He kissed me and reached around me and playfully slapped my butt. “Time to get moving, hon. But let me take your temp first.” It was 37.3 - up a little bit from last night. “This reinforces my decision to change the medication.”

Two hours later, we were heading out the door. Karen handed Doc a bag. “Here’s some of the leftovers from last night. I made up two plates for you and Meredith for dinner tonight if you want.”

“I hope you kept some for you guys”, I said.

“We did. There was a lot of leftovers.”

Doc had given me a couple pain pills a half hour before we left. The drive was not fun, but was not as bad as it had been the day before. We were finally back at the hospital and Doc took me up to my room in the wheelchair, with the bags containing our clothes on the handles and the one with our supper in my lap. He got me undressed and into a gown, then hooked me back up to the cardiac monitor. My sats were better so I was off the oxygen. He left the IV unhooked.

“I’m going to go put our supper in the fridge, hon. Do you want coffee?”

“Yes, that would be great.”

“I’ll go down to the café.”

He was back in a bit with two coffees. “Scott Fletcher called. He had heard about what happened at the farm last night. He’s on his way here to give us an update on things.”

I was about halfway through my coffee when the detective arrived. “There definitely was a person prowling around your place”, he told us. “My officers found a handgun with a silencer on it in your back yard, near the garden. Someone is going out to get it now and we’ll be checking it for fingerprints. The officer gave us the serial number. It was purchased a little over a year ago by a woman we suspect is Jane. Silencers are illegal so we have no idea where she got that. The firearms licence has Jane’s picture on it, but it’s a different name and address.”

“She probably used fake ID”, I said.

“Yes, that is what we think. The Vancouver police force is sending an officer to the address to check it out.

“Looks like she was very serious about her threats to my horses.”

“Meredith, have you been checking your email? Have there been any more from her?”

“I haven’t checked since yesterday morning. I forgot all about it with everything that was going on.”

“She was also in a lot of pain - and I mean a lot”, Doc said. “We tried coming back to the city, but didn’t get very far before she was throwing up. She does that when the pain is extremely bad.”

“Can you check it now?” Scott asked me.

Doc handed me my phone and I logged into the email app. “There’s one from her”, I said as I tapped to open it.

“Meredith,

Very clever, getting your horses out of there. But also a very stupid thing to do. Because my next move will be deadly. Is Julian really worth your life? He isn’t a very good boyfriend or lover, as I’m sure you know. Or maybe you aren’t experienced enough to know any different.

Good luck figuring out what my next move will be.

Signed,

Guess Who?”

Doc later told me that I turned as white as a sheet. I handed the phone to Scott and he read the email. “Can I see it?” Doc asked.

“Don’t let him see it”, I said to Scott, but it was too late. Doc had taken the phone from him. “Doc, don’t read it!”

“Meredith, of course I’m going to read it. Now hush while I do.” I saw the hurt look on his face as he read what Jane had wrote and my heart broke for him. Then the look of pain turned to one of anger. He handed the phone back to Scott. “Scott, you guys *have* to find her.”

“We are trying our best, Julian. It is imperative that you two go to a safe house when Meredith is released.”

“I agree”, Doc said.

“Do you know when that will be? I had thought you were looking at today to discharge her.”

“I was, but there are a couple complications.” I cringed, hoping Doc wouldn’t tell the detective that I couldn’t pee. That would be very humiliating. “One of them is that she has an infection at the surgical site on her abdomen. I have her on antibiotics, but it’s getting worse so I think I am going to start her on a strong IV one today.”

“I take it she has to stay here while she’s on it?”

“Yes, for 3 days, maybe 5 depending on how she does.”

“So, she could be out Wednesday after she gets the last dose?”

“Possibly.”

“I will make arrangements for Wednesday, then. If it’s delayed longer, we can work with that. Oh, I also wanted to tell you that the woman using Jane‘s credit cards has been caught - in Ontario.”

“Good!” Doc and I said in unison.

“I don’t have much information yet. An off duty officer saw her paying for gas and recognized her from the BOLO we had sent out. He was able to get her plate number and saw the direction she went when she left. Officers in a squad car spotted her and pulled her over. She’ll be sent back out here, probably tomorrow.”

“I hope you get some information from her”, Doc said.

“I’ll keep you updated. I need to take your phone with me, Meredith, so that our tech people can trace the email. I'll get it back to you as soon as I can.”

After the detective left, Doc looked at my incision. “Hon, I am definitely going to start you on the IV antibiotic. Hold on while I go order it.” He came back a couple minutes later with a bag and hung it on the IV pole. “This is just fluids, hon - your antibiotic will be up from the pharmacy in a bit.” He flushed my IV line with saline, then hooked it up.

“Doc, I’m so fed up with all this”, I said, my voice trembling.

“With the IV?”

“With everything - the fight, being here for so long, having to have my horses sent away, the threats and this last email is really unnerving - and cruel.”

“I know, hon”. He sat on the bed and gave me a hug. I clung to him for dear life. “I’m fed up, too. And very angry that she is putting you through so much. I hate what she‘s doing to you.”

“I hate what she’s done and is doing to you, Doc. That was extremely cruel, what she said in the email. And not true!”

“You mean what she said about me?”

“Yes. It’s not true at all and I hope you don’t believe her.”

“I have to admit it cut like a knife, hon.”

“She’s just trying to get me to leave you, Doc. I can say for sure what she said is not true. You are a sweet, kind and gentle man. You are a great significant other - or should I say husband?” I was referring to Scott calling me Doc’s wife. “And I do have some experience and let me say, you are not lacking in the love making department at all.”

“I certainly hope I’m not.”

“You aren’t. Look at it this way - why would Jane want you back so bad if she really thought those things of you?”

“That is a good point, Meredith.” He hugged me tighter.

After a few minutes, I said “Can you take the catheter out so I can try to go?”

“Later, hon. I want you to sleep for a while. I’ll get your pain medication and that should help you sleep.”

I slept for 3 hours. Doc gave me the IV antibiotic while I was asleep. I didn’t even wake up when he hooked it up.

We hadn’t had lunch because we’d had a late breakfast. It was getting close to supper time, but I wanted to try peeing first, so Doc took the catheter out. I went to the bathroom and tried, but no luck. Doc came in and turned the tap on, figuring the sound of running water would help. Unfortunately, it didn’t. I finally gave up and went back to bed. Doc got our supper and heated it up in the microwave. Leftover Chinese sure beat whatever was on the hospital tray. Karen had put a lot on our plates, and delicious though it was, I could not eat it all. Doc put the rest back in the fridge for the next day.

He went to the café to get coffee - decaf, of course. Doc is rigid on no caffeine after about 4pm, even though I’d never had problems sleeping from drinking regular coffee in the evening. I pick my battles with Doc wisely. This isn’t one worth arguing over. He usually gets his way in matters of health. Usually. Sometimes he doesn’t, like when I refused surgery for my cyst.

After I finished my coffee, I tried again to pee. I thought I’d got just a wee bit out, but when I gave up on anything more and got up, I saw blood in the toilet. I told Doc about it and he said “Your urethra is probably inflamed from the in and out with the catheter. I’m putting it back in and this time it will be in for a week.”

“Another week?”

“It can take up to a couple weeks or so for the bladder to ’wake up’ after surgery. You were under a long time for the first one, then you had another operation just two days later. I’m not very surprised that you have not been able to go.”

“Doc, I don’t want to be here another whole week!”

“You won’t be. We’re going to the safe house in a couple days. I’ll bring supplies with us.”

“I want to go home, not the safe house.”

“Hon, we can’t go home. It’s too risky.” I sighed. “Look at it this way, Meredith. At least we will be together. I don’t care where I am, as long as you are with me.”

I smiled. “You are so right, honey. I’ll go to the safe house with you.” I reached out my hand and he took it - gently, because it had the IV in it.

After a moment, he said “I’ll get that catheter in and then I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for bed.”

“I slept this afternoon, but I’m still tired. An early bedtime sounds good to me.”

We both slept very well, not waking up until morning. We were having our coffee after breakfast when a woman with a cleaning cart came into the room. She had the hospital’s cleaner’s uniform on and wore hospital ID around her neck. She said she’d clean the bathroom first and then do the room.

Five minutes later, she came out and said she wasn’t feeling well so she was going to see if someone else could finish cleaning my room and bathroom as she was going to go home. “I hope you feel better soon”, I said to her.

“Thank you”, she replied as she went out the door.

I finished my coffee. Typically, it woke my bowels up and I had to go to the bathroom. Doc handed me my crutches and I hobbled across the room. The bathroom door was closed. This is strange, I thought. It’s always open when not in use. Cleaning staff always leave it open. I chalked it up to the lady being unwell and maybe not thinking straight.

I opened the door, took a step in and froze in place. Staring at me from over by the toilet was a snake. It had it’s head up and I could see the hood. It hissed at me. I had watched enough nature shows to recognize it as being a King Cobra, a very aggressive snake with a deadly venom.