I was dreaming that Jane had escaped custody and had Doc and I tied up. She was telling me that she was going to torture him and then kill him and make me watch it all when I fell off the bed and landed on the floor with a thud. Doc was on me in a flash. “What happened, hon? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Doc”, I replied as I tried to get up.

“Hold it right there. You lie down until I make sure nothing’s broken.” I sighed, but lay down and let him run his hands over my body, starting with my head, looking for injuries. This is what happens when you fall in love with a doctor, I thought, a bit impatiently. I just wanted to get up and back into bed. “Did you hit your head, hon?”

“No.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Any blurriness or other vision problems, such as seeing stars?”

“No, Doc.”

“Headache?”

“No, Doc.”

“Dizziness?”

“No, Doc.”

“Nausea?”

“NO!” I almost shouted. This was getting annoying.

“Sorry, hon. Just making sure there’s no head injury.”

“Doc, I’m sorry. I just want to go back to sleep.”

“I know, sweetie.”

After checking for injuries, he picked me up and put me back on the bed, then got in on his side. “What happened, Meredith? You were kicking and tossing around. It’s not like you.”

“Just a bad dream, Doc.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

I sighed. “Because you will freak out.”

“Meredith, I’ve told you before - I never ‘freak out’. Was it about Jane?” I was silent. “It was, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, Doc. Please don’t ask me for the details.” I looked at him pleadingly.

“Come here, hon.” He wrapped his arms around me. “I’m sorry, sweetie.” He kissed the top of my head.

“It’s okay, Doc. It’s probably just because of court starting next week.”

“Has it been bothering you?”

“I’m not consumed by it, but when I think about it, yeah, it bothers me.”

“I think you should tell Alex tomorrow.”

“No way. He’ll want me back on Ativan and that’s not happening.”

“Remember your deal? That you’d go back on it if *I* said you should.”

“What do you think about it?”

“I don’t think you need to at this time. One dream doesn’t make a pattern.” I gave a sigh of relief. “Tell Alex, hon. Maybe talking to him will prevent a repeat of tonight.”

“All right, Doc.”

“Good. Now, let’s get back to sleep.” He kissed me and I turned onto my side. He turned the lamp off, then cozied up to me and put his arm around me. “We’ll get through it, hon”, he said as he nestled his face in my neck. “Both of us, together.” I put my hand over his and squeezed it.

The next day, Saturday, I took the ATV to the barn to see my horses. Chey was there, doing chores as she did every Saturday morning.

“Hi Meredith”, she greeted me. “Mom says Jack needs a run.”

“Yes, he does. Can you take him for one sometime this weekend? Julian will pay you.” Chey was back to running the ex racehorse for me since Doc put his foot down and said I couldn’t because of my injured feet. He was again insisting on being the one to pay her to do it.

“Sure can, Meredith. Not today, but tomorrow for sure. Mom is coming over later to do the supper feeding for me.”

“Thanks, Chey.”

I visited with each horse before the teen put them out in the pasture. “I’m going back inside, but come on in for coffee if you want.”

“Thanks, Meredith. Maybe in a bit.”

“Okay. We have cupcakes.”

“Oooooh, I’ll be there.” I laughed. Chey LOVES cupcakes.

Back in the house, Doc was cutting up veggies for the roast. “You’re doing that early, honey.”

“I want to have them ready to put in later. I know you want the kitchen for a while.” I was going to do some baking. “By the time you have a shower, I’ll be done.”

“I’ll shower later.”

“You were in the barn, Meredith.”

I thought of protesting but then decided against it. Doc was probably never going to change about this. “Okay, Doc.”

“Do it in the bathroom down here, hon, so you don’t have to walk up the stairs.”

“All right, Doc.” He bent down and gave me a kiss.

By the time I was finished showering, Chey had come in for coffee. We sat down at the table for a while, then she had to go finish her chores as she had plans for the afternoon. Doc and I sat at the table, talking about this and that for a while, then we had lunch. After we’d eaten and he had done the dishes, I said that I needed to start with my baking.

“You sit down on the stool, Meredith”, Doc said. “Tell me what you need and I will get it for you.” I was making a triple layer chocolate cake for dessert tonight.

I got my cake in and Doc said he would take my stitches out. It was exactly two weeks since they’d been put in. I lay down on the sofa in the living room and put my foot up on the arm rest, which elevated it, making it easier for him. After washing his hands, he put a pair of gloves on and took the bandaging off my foot.

“It looks good, hon”, he said as he began to take the stitches out. “The doctor in that Podunk town did a good job - though I’m not happy he missed the hairline fracture.” Doc calls any place smaller than a metropolis “Podunk”.

“Oh, honey, please stop worrying about it. Dr Beckett said it’s easy to miss.”

“HE caught it.”

“He’s an orthopedic surgeon, Julian. He specializes in fractures.”

“Well, maybe….” Just then his phone rang. When he was finished with the call, he said “That was the hospital. The ob/gyn on call this weekend is sick. They asked me to come in. I‘ll finish your foot, then I have to go.”

“Doc, couldn’t you have said no? We have Alex and Deanna coming!”

“Alex is coming to see *you*, hon. Apparently, they can’t get hold of some of the other doctors that call is shared with and the ones they did reach aren‘t available to come in. There‘s an emergency needing my attention. I have to go in, sweetie. Supper will be fine. The roast is in the pan, put it in the oven at 3:00 for 2 hours. After an hour, put the vegetables in. Get Alex to get it out for you, please stay off your feet as much as possible. If your cake wasn‘t in, I‘d put the roast in the oven now and you‘d just have to turn it on.”

A few minutes later, he was out the door. I waved him goodbye, then made my way to the kitchen to get things out for the icing. Doc hadn’t had time to do it before he left. I sat down at the table, waiting for the cake to finish. I was bored stiff.

After a few minutes of drumming my fingers on the counter top, I thought I heard a knock at the door. I looked at the clock. It was too early for Alex and Deanna to be here. I must be hearing things. Then I heard it again and knew for sure it was a knock. I got up and went to the front door on my crutches. Jessie was outside in the fenced in back yard. She was barking up a storm. Alex and Deanna must have brought their dog and come early, I thought.

I opened the door and said “Hi …” but that’s all I got out. A strange man grabbed me and tried to put a burlap bag over my head. What the … ? I started struggling and swinging my crutches.

“Come with me nicely and you won’t get hurt”, a gruff voice said.

“You’re nuts if you think I’m going ‘nicely’ with you!” I felt a hard punch in my abdomen and dropped the crutches. He tried to grab me around my waist. I reached out, found his crotch and squeezed as hard as I could.

“FUCKING BITCH!!” he yelled.

“I’ve been called worse by better people than you”, I said as I tightened my grip and twisted. He let go of me. With my free hand, I grabbed one of my crutches and pushed the bottom of it into his groin, then let go with my other hand.

“Get out! Now!” I commanded as I pushed as hard as I could on the crutch. He backed out the screen door. I shut the inside door and locked it but I didn’t think to slide the dead bolt into place. Walking as fast as I could without my crutches, I headed to the back door and let Jessie in, then got my shotgun from the porch. I put my dog in the bedroom and shut the door. I didn’t want her getting harmed if that guy broke in. I had locked both the back door and the porch door.

I went to the kitchen and got the locked box my ammunition was in out of an upper cupboard, then went to the computer room to get the key from a desk drawer. Damn gun laws, I thought. I could hear something at the front door, so I loaded the gun and went out to the living room. The door opened, he had picked the lock with something. There was another man behind him. If he had an accomplice, where was the other one when he tried to get me the first time? I wondered.

Lifting the gun to my shoulder, I said “You gentlemen best be on your way.”

“Put the gun down, bitch.”

“Not until you two are off my property.”

“We aren’t leaving without you.” He took a step toward me. I took aim and squeezed the trigger. The bullet went sailing past them, through the screen door.

“That was a deliberate miss. Next one won’t be.” They both turned tail and ran out the door and down the steps, where they turned around. I shot at the ground just beside the one who‘d tried to kidnap me. They turned around again, this time they didn’t stop. I shut the door, locked it, put the dead bolt on and watched them through the window. They got in their car and backed out of the laneway real fast.

I turned around and sank to the floor with my back against the door, trying to process what had just happened. Who were these guys? Why did they want to kidnap me? Then it dawned on me. Oh.my.god. Were they friends of Jane? Her preliminary hearing was to start in four days. Were they trying to get rid of the Crown’s main witness? I started to shake.

I got up, went to the stairs without my crutches and made my way up to the second floor. I was ignoring the pain in my foot and ankle. I heard Jessie bark to be let out of the downstairs bedroom, but I kept going. At the top, I turned right into the master bedroom and stood there for a minute. Where could I hide in case they came back and broke the door down? I thought and thought. An idea came to me. I got a small flashlight out of my nightstand and went to the walk in closet. I opened the door and took a look around. Then I closed the door and crawled behind the clothes on Doc’s side. I pulled down a couple pairs of his pants and folded them up to use as a pillow, then made sure there were no gaps in the row of clothes. I lay down and curled up into a ball, still trembling. I can’t take any more of this, I thought. Jane wins. I am not testifying, even if it means going to jail.

After a while, I heard my name being called. The voice didn’t sound like Doc. Oh God, they are back, I have to be very quiet. I didn’t respond. The voice got closer, then farther away again. Good, I thought, they didn’t find me. Then it got closer again. I could tell he was in the master bedroom. Finally, I recognized the voice. It was Alex. How did he get in here?

I heard a hand on the closet doorknob and it opened. “Meredith?” I held my breath. The door closed. I breathed out with relief. I did not want to talk to him. Just in case he came back, I sat up and found the corner. I curled up in it, confident that I was far enough behind the clothes that I would not be seen if he came back.

Time seemed to stand still. I don’t know how long it had been when I heard voices in the bedroom. I couldn’t make out what they were saying. One voice appeared to be male, the other female. I heard a scratching at the bottom of the door and my heart seemed to stop. The door opened. I heard something sniffing on the floor, then Jessie bounded through Doc’s clothes, walked around me to the other side and licked my face. Doc is gonna be pissed about dog hair on his pants, I thought.

The clothes parted and Alex spoke. “Meredith, what are you doing in here?” he asked.

“Go away”, I said. My back was to him.

“I’m not going away, Meredith. What happened? The house is all locked up and Jessie was shut in the bedroom downstairs.”

“Did you find her?” a female voice asked. Deanna.

“Yes. Something is wrong. Can you please call Julian to let him know we found her?

Deanna left the closet and Alex turned his attention to me again. “Meredith, something obviously happened here. We found your shotgun on the floor by the door and here you are curled up in your closet behind some clothes. What went on?” I didn’t answer. “Can you turn around so your back isn’t to me?”

“No.”

“Why not, Meredith?” Alex reached out and touched my shoulder. Jessie growled at him. “It’s just me, Jessie”, he said to her. “You know me.” She growled at him again.

“Jessie, stop”, I said in a quavering voice. My dog stopped growling. Yes, she knew Alex, but she sensed something was wrong with me and in her mind, she didn’t know that he didn’t cause it.

Deanna came into the closet. “Julian is on his way home”, she told her husband. “He said it was a hoax, the on-call doctor is fine and they don’t need him. He’s going to call you when he gets to his car.” She pushed Doc’s clothes further apart and I felt exposed. I tried to curl up tighter.

“Meredith, what are you afraid of?” Alex asked me. I kept quiet. “Like I said, we found your gun on the floor downstairs. Did you shoot it?” I nodded. “Did you hit anyone?” I shook my head. His phone rang and he took it out of his pocket. “It’s Julian”, he said, looking at the display. He answered “Hi, Julian”. Of course, I could only hear his side of the conversation.

“She’s curled up in the corner of the closet, behind your pants. Just like she was in the shower in the hospital.” He paused. “I can’t get anything out of her. We found her shotgun on the floor in the living room. I asked her if she shot it and she nodded but shook her head when I asked if she hit anyone.” Another pause. “Do you have any Ativan left? I don’t have any with me.” A pause again. “Ok, we’ll see you soon.” He put his phone away.

“Meredith, Julian will be here soon, okay? Then we’ll get you out of this closet.”

“NO!” I shouted.

“You don’t want to leave the closet?” I shook my head.

“Why not?”

“Just go. Please.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Meredith. At least not until Julian gets home.”

We sat in silence for a while. Alex was sitting on the floor a few feet from me. I didn’t know where Deanna had gone. His phone rang again. “Hi”, he said as he answered it. He listened for a minute. “I understand. We’ll see you when you get here.”

“Meredith, Julian has been delayed by an accident along the highway. He’s stopped to help. He’ll be here as soon as he can.”

Deanna came into the closet and asked us if we wanted anything. “Water, please”, I replied. Alex said he didn’t want anything. “You can have anything you want”, I told him and Deanna. “Make coffee if you want one.”

“Deanna, could you make coffee, please?” Alex asked her. “Julian might want some when he gets home.”

“Sure thing”, Deanna said. “Meredith, your cake is burnt, I took it out and turned the oven off. What do you want me to do with the roast that’s on the counter?” I had forgotten all about that. It was a good thing Jessie was up here with us or that roast would have been on the floor and then in her belly with nobody down there to stop her.

“Put it in the oven, please.”

Doc got home a while after that. He came into the closet. “Hi, hon”, he said as he squatted down in front of me. “What’s wrong?” I didn’t say anything.

“She still won’t say much”, Alex told him. “But she did respond when Deanna asked her if she wanted anything and she told us to have whatever we wanted and asked her to put the roast in the oven. It got forgotten about.”

Doc sat down beside me and leaned into my back, putting his arm around me and pulling me back to him. I turned around and buried my face into his chest. He held me tight until I stopped crying. Then he asked again. “What happened, sweetie?”

“They tried to take me!” I exclaimed.

“Who is ‘they’?”

“I don’t know. Two men.”

“You didn’t recognize them?”

“No.”

“Tell me what happened.” My right hand was resting on his chest and I grabbed the material of his shirt with my fingers. I clung to it like it was a lifeline. All of a sudden, something occurred to me.

“Doc, how did you get in?”

“The back door, hon. You have the deadbolt on on the front door. Alex had called me when they got here because you weren’t answering and both doors were locked. I told him where to find the hidden keys.”

“So that’s how he and Deanna got in. Did you lock the back doors?”

“No, why would I? You never lock them.”

“They might come back! You have to go lock them!”

“I’ll go lock them, Meredith”, Deanna offered. She had come back upstairs after putting a pot of coffee on and the roast in the oven.

“Thank you.”

“Meredith, you said two men tried to kidnap you. Did you see their car?” I nodded. “What did it look like, hon?”

“It was silver, 4 door.”

“Most cars have 4 doors these days.” I ignored the sarcasm. “Anything else?”

“It was clean, like it had just been washed.” I thought a moment and remembered something that I’d seen as the car was backing out of the laneway. “It didn’t have B.C. plates. I think the front plate was Alberta, but I can’t be sure.”

Doc was silent for a brief moment. Then he spoke again. “Meredith, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. They won’t be back.”

“How do you know, Doc?”

“The accident I stopped at was a silver car with Alberta plates. It collided head on with a transport truck. There were two younger men in it and neither survived.”

“Doc, would I be wrong for being glad of that?”

“It would certainly be understandable, hon. Alex, can you call Scott Fletcher and tell him what has happened?” He took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to our friend. “He’s in my contacts.”

Alex made the call and when he was done, he said that Scott would be here as soon as he could, even though it was the weekend and his day off.

“Meredith, hon, let’s get off this floor and out to the bedroom”, Doc said to me. He was still holding me. “It’s okay, I’m sure those guys in that accident are the ones who were here.” He let go of me and got up. “Come on out here so I can pick you up. How did you get up here? Where are your crutches?”

“I forgot them.” I shimmied over to him on my butt and he picked me up.

“How are your feet?”

“Sore, I think.”

“You think?”

“I haven’t really been paying attention.”

“I believe that, hon. You are too stressed.” He set me down on the bed and I lay down. Doc lay beside me and stroked my hair. Alex pulled up a chair we kept in the bedroom. Jessie jumped up on the bed and lay down in front of me. I subconsciously started petting her.

“Ready to tell us what happened, Meredith?” he (Alex) asked.

“I have to go to the bathroom.” Doc had taken the catheter out after Dr Beckett had said I could go to the bathroom on my own.

“Okay, then will you tell us?” I nodded.

Doc got up and carried me into the ensuite. “How are your feet, hon? Were you walking on them?”

“Yes, Doc.” I must have had a sheepish look on my face.

“It’s okay, Meredith. I’m not going to chew you out. I don’t know what happened, but it had to have been bad for you to get your gun and fire it. Do you have your phone on you?” I shook my head. “I’ll stand just outside the door. Call me when you’re done.”

I tried to stand up when I was finished on the toilet, but the pain in my feet was too much. Now that I was no longer running on adrenaline, I was feeling it from walking on them downstairs. I sat back down and leaned over the vanity to wash my hands and splash water on my face, thankful for the fact that the toilet was right beside it instead of across from it. Then I called out to Doc. He came right in.

“I tried to stand to pull my pants up, but it hurts too much”, I apologized.

“Hon, do not worry about it. I will help you, but let me look at your feet first.” He knelt on the floor in front of me and took the sock off my right foot. He left the wrap on my left one. That ankle was swelling up again, despite the wrapping on it, and there was even some swelling in my right foot. Doc felt all around both, which hurt like the dickens. “I don’t think there’s any more damage, Meredith. You just aggravated both injuries. I’ll keep an eye on both feet and if they don’t improve, I’ll take you in for X-rays. I think I will re-wrap your ankle. I need to keep an eye on that so that it doesn‘t cut off your circulation from the swelling.” He put my sock back on.

Doc got up and washed his hands, then knelt in front of me again. He brushed some hair out of my face. “Now, while it’s just the two of us here, can you tell me what happened?” he said as he looked into my eyes.

“They tried to take me, Doc!”

“Yes, you told me that. Walk me through what happened, step by step.”

I told Doc what happened, starting with the knock at the door and ending with me crawling in behind his clothes in the walk in closet.

“Oh, Meredith, honey, I’m so sorry.” He gave me a big hug, as best as he could with me on the john. “Do you think it had anything to do with Jane?”

“I thought about that, Doc. I think maybe it might have. Her preliminary hearing starts on Wednesday. If I don’t testify, that really hurts the Crown’s case.”

“Meredith, I think we might have to go away until it starts. These guys are dead - if I’m right about that being the same car, but who knows how many other people she can get to try again?”

“I can’t believe how many people she has helping her, Doc.”

“Me either.”

“Where would we go?”

“To a safe house.” I sighed. “I know, hon - but we’d be out of danger.”

“When is it going to end, Doc?”

“Soon, I hope.”

“I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

“She’s not going to win, Meredith. I won’t let her. Now, let’s get back out there before they send a search party.” He helped me get my pants up, then picked me up and took me out to the bedroom.

“About time”, Alex said. “We were worried that you both fell in.”

“Very funny, Alex”, Doc replied. He set me down on the bed and I sat up against the headboard. “Meredith, I’m going to get some ice for that ankle. I’ll be right back.”

A couple minutes later, he was back with the ice. He got an extra pillow and put it under my ankle, then put the ice pack on it. Then he got in on my side and sat beside me. Alex was sitting on a chair.

“Where’s Deanna?” I asked.

“She took Jessie outside to play with Heidi.” Heidi was their chocolate lab. “Can you tell me what happened, Meredith?” I sighed.

“Do you want me to tell him, hon?” Doc asked me.

“Would you, please, Julian?”

“Sure, sweetie. Alex, she told me what happened when I was in the bathroom with her.” Doc went on to tell Alex what I’d told him. Just listening to it was enough to make me curl up in a ball again. Doc picked up the ice pack that had fallen off and re-applied it.

“Meredith, Julian said he thinks those men perished in that accident he ran across. They are no danger to you any more.”

“No, but more could come.”

“Who?”

“Whoever Jane sends.”

“What makes you think Jane sent them?”

“Why else would they want to kidnap me? Her preliminary starts in four days.”

“Alex, if Meredith is out of the picture, there goes their main witness”, Doc said to him.

“You two do have a point.”

Just then, there was a knock at the front door. “That must be Scott.” Doc got off the bed and went to answer it.

“Alex”, I said “I’m not going to testify.”

“You have to, Meredith. They subpoenaed you.”

“They can’t force me.”

“If you refuse, they can put you in jail.”

“Then so be it.”

“What’s this I hear about jail?” Scott said as he and Doc entered the bedroom. There was another man with him.

“I can’t testify, Scott”, I told him.

“Meredith, why not?”

“I give up. Jane wins.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Let me tell you what happened that has her spooked”, Doc said to him.

“Were you here, Julian?”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Then Meredith has to tell me herself. Anything from you is hearsay.” He introduced the other man to us. “This is Will Dawson, he’s with the RCMP, they have jurisdiction here.” RCMP is Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “Meredith, can you tell us what happened? And do I have your permission to record this on my phone for transcription later?”

I went through what happened with Scott and Will after giving permission to be recorded. When I finished recounting the events, Scott asked “You think Jane had something to do with it?”

“Who else, Scott? Her preliminary starts on Wednesday and if they kidnap me, I can’t testify. I’m not taking a chance on her trying again, I’m not testifying and you can slap my ass in jail if you must.”

“Now, Meredith, I’m sure it won’t come to that. We’ll work on getting you more comfortable with it again, okay?”

“Good luck with that, Scott”, I said sarcastically.

“Scott, could we go to a safe house again? Just until she’s testified?”

“I think it’s a bit premature for that, Julian. Let’s find out where these guys came from and why. If we can find a link to Jane, we’ll revisit the safe house idea.”

“I think they are from Alberta.” Doc told the two detectives about the hoax call he got to go to the hospital and the accident he came across on his way home.

“It does sound like it could be them”, Scott agreed. “Let us look into that. We also need to do some forensics here. Will will arrange for a team to come out to do things like check the bullet hole in the screen door, look at the lock etc. He’ll also need to make sure your gun is legal, Meredith.

“It is, Scott. I keep it to defend my horses from predators.”

“Where do you keep it?” Will asked.

“On my back porch.”

“What about the ammunition?”

“It’s in a locked box in an upper kitchen cupboard.”

“Where is the key?”

“In a desk drawer in my computer room. And by the way, the gun laws are bullshit. If they had been any faster picking that lock, I might not be here right now because I had to get the gun, then get the ammunition from the kitchen cupboard, then get the key from my computer room, unlock the box, get the ammo out and load the gun. I had just gone to the living room when they came through the door.”

“Sorry, Meredith”, Scott said. “We cops don’t make the laws. You’ll have to speak to your Member of Parliament about that.”

“I will, you can bet on it!”

“Meredith, I’m going to have to see your firearms licence and the registration for the gun”, Will said to me.

“Sure. It’s in my safe in the computer room.”

“Meredith, you can’t go down there. You can’t walk.”

“You want me to go to jail, Doc?”

“I’ll go get it for him.” I had given Doc the combination to the lock when we made it official that he was living here. He had some documents he had wanted to put in it.

Will and Scott followed Doc downstairs to check out my paperwork for the gun. “Are you feeling better?” Alex asked me.

“A little.”

“You know you *have* to testify, right? You don’t want to go to jail, Meredith. It’s a pretty rotten place to be. Besides, what do you think that would do to Julian?”

I sighed. “Yes, I know I have to. If I can. I don’t know if I can.”

“Do you want to go back on Ativan for awhile?”

“No!”

“Think about it, Meredith. It might help.”

Doc came into the bedroom. “I’m going to be sick”, I said.

“Let me get the basin, hon.” He went to the bathroom and came out with a basin which he put on the bed beside me. When I was done he gave me a glass of water and washcloth, then took the basin back to the bathroom.

“I’m sorry”, I apologized to Alex.

“No need to apologize, Meredith. Are you okay?”

“Yes.” I lay back down and curled up again.

“You are in your ball. That means you are not okay.”

“My feet hurt.”

“That bad?” I nodded. “Is that all?”

“No.”

“The hearing?”

“Yes.”

“Please think about the Ativan. It really will help.”

“It makes me too lethargic and like a zombie, Alex. I have a wedding to plan.”

“It would be a low dose, Meredith. Not enough to make you like that.”

Doc came back into the bedroom. “Low dose of what, Alex?”

“Ativan. I think Meredith should go back on it. Until the court cases are over.”

“I don’t know, Alex. Good luck talking her into it.”

“It would help if you would back me up, Julian.”

“I’m not sure she needs to be on it at this point.”

“Julian, look at her.”

“I know, Alex, but she has reason to be upset. Someone tried to kidnap her this afternoon. Let‘s just give her some time to recover from that.”

“Doc, can I have something for the pain?”

“Your feet, hon?”

“Yes.”

“Let me go get your meds.” He was back in a moment and gave me two pills. I sat up to take them. “Forensics are here”, he told me. “They are looking at the door and the yard, getting evidence to back you up, hon. Then they will be out of our hair and we can have dinner. I put the vegetables in.”

“I don’t know if I could eat.”

“You need to have something, Meredith. Just a bit if that’s all you can handle.”

“I’ll try, Doc.”

“Deanna and I will get out of your hair soon”, Alex said.

“Alex, could you two stay the night? Please. Not in a professional capacity, I know you can‘t do that. But as a friend who happens to be a therapist.”

“I’ll have to ask Deanna, but I don’t see why not. Any particular reason?”

“I’m just afraid Meredith will have a bad night. She’s been through a lot with Jane but Jane has never tried to kidnap her or have her kidnapped.”

“Watters did, Doc.”

“I know, hon and look what happened - you left the hospital and hid for two days.”

“Okay, Doc, point made.”

“I’ll go find Deanna and see what she says. In the meantime, Meredith, I want you to think about taking a sedative at bedtime. Okay?”

“I doubt we have any, Alex”, Doc piped up.

“That can be rectified. I‘ll be right back.”

Doc got on the bed beside me. I was still in my ball. “Come here, hon. Turn over. The pain pills should start working soon. I’ll give you a shot at bedtime, okay?” I nodded. “Come on, sweetie.” I turned over and looked at him. He kissed me, then wrapped his arms around me. “Hon, you have to testify. I know it’s going to be hard, but you have to do it.”

“I’m going to, Doc.”

“You are?”

“Yes.”

“What changed your mind?”

“I don’t want to go to jail and be away from you.”

“Like I said last night, we’ll get through it, hon.” I nestled my face in his chest and clung to him for dear life. We lay like that until Alex came back upstairs.

“Deanna has gone home to get an overnight bag for us. I also called in a script to Meredith’s pharmacy for a sedative for bedtime, as well as some Ativan in case she decides she wants it and she’ll pick that up for us.” I turned over and looked at him. “You don’t *have* to take it, Meredith. It’s just so it will be here if you do want it.”

Scott poked his head in the doorway. “Is it okay to come in?”

“Of course”, Doc said.

Both he and Will came in. Will addressed us. “We are finished here. We’re taking your gun but will have it back as soon as possible. I know you have it in case of predators attacking your horses.

“I made some calls and officers are going to check out the men who perished in that accident. They are going to get a warrant to search their homes and have the police in their city do that and see if there is a connection to Jane. In the meantime, we are putting two undercover officers outside tonight. Just to be on the safe side. We‘ll stay until they get here.”

“That makes me feel a lot better!” I said to him.

“Me, too”, Doc said.

“Is it just the two of you here?” Will asked.

“Normally, but our friends are staying tonight. Deanna has gone home to get an overnight bag but she’ll be back.”

“We’ll let the officers know she’s coming.”

The detectives went back downstairs. “Doc, I need to pee again.”

“Okay, hon. Let me take you.”

“I think I can do it, Doc. Those pills are helping a lot.”

“If it’s too much, you let me know. Where are your crutches?”

“Downstairs.”

“You wait until I bring them up.”

“Doc, I want to go downstairs anyway, so I’ll just go to the bathroom down there.”

“You need to get down the stairs.”

“I think I can do it.”

“Let me help you, hon. You can hold onto me with your free hand.”

“I expected a hassle from you, Doc.”

“You’d have gotten one if it weren’t for what you went through today. I‘m giving you some leeway.”

“Now, Julian, I don’t think she needs to be confined to the upstairs”, Alex said.

“Alex, the problem is her getting up and down the stairs. Both of her feet are injured.”

“Doc, we should think about putting an elevator in.”

“In here?”

“Yes. I’m so accident prone and it seems I have to be off my feet or off one foot a lot. I don’t like sleeping downstairs for any length of time. An elevator is the perfect solution. Besides, with your advancing age, it won’t be long until the stairs are too much for you.” I winked at him. I tease him a lot about being older than me.

“I’d tackle you if you weren’t injured, Meredith.” I stuck my tongue out at him. Alex laughed. “Where would we put it?”

“On the living room wall bordering my Christmas storage room. I’d have to give up some space in it, but I’d be able to store some of the things up here in a spare room. I can more than afford the cost of installation and upkeep.”

“*We* can afford it, hon.”

“Doc, it’s for me. It’s only right that I pay for it.”

“It will give me peace of mind, knowing you won’t be walking up the stairs when you aren’t supposed to.”

Alex had been quiet during our exchange, but now he spoke up. “Meredith, why is it so important to you to pay for it yourself?” he asked me.

“Because it’s for me, Alex.”

“You two are a couple, about to married in a few months. Shouldn’t you be sharing costs?”

“He’s right, Meredith”, Doc said. “You keep telling me it’s my house, too. Yet you pay for everything to do with the house. All I pay for is food and household items. Please let me help with an elevator, if we decide to have one installed. It would mean a lot to me.”

“Okay, Doc”, I replied.

“Well, that was easy. Alex, I think I’ll hire you full time.” Everyone laughed.

“I think I’ll pee up here after all”, I said. “I have to go even more.”

“Meredith, would you consider letting me put a catheter in so that you wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of being on your feet in the bathroom?”

“I think that’s a good idea, Meredith.”

“I agree, Alex. Okay, Doc. You can do it.”

“Another easy one. Alex, how do you do it? She gives me a hard time about everything!”

“I like giving you a hard time, Julian.” Doc blushed.

“All right, Meredith, let’s get your pants off. Alex, could you get the catheter supplies out of the third drawer in that dresser over there?” he asked, gesturing toward a dresser by the closest window, which we use for storage of medical supplies. I swear Doc could open up a clinic here at home with the supplies he has. He says he wants to be prepared, so that he doesn’t have to run to the city every time we need something and also in case we are snowed in and need medical supplies.

Alex helped Doc by getting the catheter equipment out of it’s packaging. “Can I watch, Meredith?” he asked me. “I haven’t put a catheter in since med school. I’d like to see if techniques have changed.”

“Sure, Alex.” I was a little embarrassed at him seeing me nude below the waist, but he is an MD, I told myself. Still, it was a bit weird to have an old friend who’d also become my therapist watch the procedure.

Doc taped the bag to my leg and helped me get my pants and panties back on. Alex gathered up the packaging and the absorbent pad I’d been lying on and put them in the garbage. Then Doc helped me down the stairs.

Will and Scott were just getting ready to leave. Two officers had arrived to watch the house for the night. One would be at the front, the other at the back. Will said he’d call when he had some news. Scott said he would keep in touch with Will and stay abreast of any developments.

Deanna was back and had been busy in the kitchen. She’d set the dining room table and had even found Doc’s good cloth napkins. Thank goodness she hadn’t used paper ones …. Doc would have stroked out. She’d also taken the roast out of the oven and made gravy.

“Oh, Deanna, you didn’t have to do all that”, I said to her.

“Nonsense, Meredith. It was no trouble at all. Let’s go sit down.”

“Let me make a salad, then we can eat”, Doc said as he opened the fridge to get out salad fixings.

“Don’t worry about a salad”, Alex told him. There’s plenty to eat without one. It’s been a rough day, just sit down and relax.”

“It’s Meredith who’s had the rough day, Alex.”

“You have, too, Julian. You got a hoax call to the hospital, then on your way home you came across an accident and stopped to help, but found the victims of the crash dead. Then you came home to Meredith being extremely upset because of what had happened to her. I know how much it affects you when something happens to her. Now, take your therapist’s advice and go sit down. Deanna and I will serve the meal.”

“Alex….”

“I said go sit! How can you expect Meredith to take my advice if you won’t?”

“All right, Alex.” Oh good, we’re not going to have World War 3, I thought. Doc says I’m stubborn, but he can be, too.

Despite the day we’d had, we had a pleasant meal. Unfortunately, there was no dessert, as there wasn’t time to make another cake. Doc had cut up a lot of veggies to go with the roast, so none of us went to bed hungry that night.

After we ate, we had decaf in the living room. “How are you feeling now, Meredith?” Alex asked me.

“Tired!” I said as I lay my head on Doc’s shoulder. We were on the sofa, Alex and Deanna were sitting in chairs at opposite ends of the sofa.

“You seem calmer.”

“I am. I think.”

“Everything will be okay, hon”, Doc said. “We have two police officers watching the house tonight.”

“Doc, I just thought of something! What about my horses? What if someone tries to get in the barn?”

“The officer out front would see them come in, hon.”

“What if they come in via the back fields, like Jane did?”

“There’s an officer at the back, Meredith.”

“But would he think to keep an eye on the barn? I’m going to go tell him. Actually, I should go out to the barn and lock it up.” I started to get up. Doc pushed me down.

“I’ll go tell him. You stay put.”

“Doc, I need to lock the barn.”

“I’ll go lock it, hon.” After we had got home from our ordeal in the winter/spring, I’d put locks on the barn doors. Jane had gone there looking for my horses when she couldn’t get to me. Fortunately, they had been taken away to safety.

“Please tell the officer to let Nasser in tomorrow morning. I’m going to call him and tell him to come to the house to get keys for the locks.” Doc went out the back door and I called the teen that came out on Sundays to do chores. I gave him the Coles Notes version of what had happened that day and told him I’d understand if he didn’t want to come out even though there were cops here watching the place.

“It’s okay, Meredith. I will come.”

“Maybe you should ask your Mom first, Nasser.” He put the phone down and it was picked up by his mother a moment later. I told her what I’d told her son. She asked me what the chances were of anything happening.

“Very low”, I told her. “There are two officers here watching the place. The guys that were here earlier very likely died in a crash. But I can‘t guarantee that someone else won’t come.”

“Then I will leave it up to him”, she said. Nasser didn’t waver from his decision to come.

I went to the front door and told the officer there about him coming in the morning, so he would not worry when he saw him drive in. I had told Nasser he might have to show ID to the police. I didn’t know if he’d come to the front door or back. He usually came to the back when he came to get his pay after doing chores or the occasional time he’d come in for a drink.

When Doc got back from the barn, he suggested we go up to bed. Alex and Deanna had put the dishes in the dishwasher earlier, Doc or I would run it in the morning and he’d wash up the pots.

We made our way upstairs and Doc showed our guests the guest rooms and told them they could sleep in whichever one they wanted. They made their selection and we said good night. In our bedroom, Doc helped me get undressed and into my nightgown, then he got into his pjs. He got my pain medication and the prescription sedative that Alex had called in. “I’ll give you your shots now, hon.”

“Do I need the sedative? The pain shot usually puts me to sleep.”

“Alex said you should have it. It will help you get a better sleep, hopefully with no bad dreams.”

“Okay, Doc.”

I was on my right side and he came around the bed behind me. He lifted my gown to just above my hip and swabbed it with an alcohol wipe before injecting the medication. “This is your pain shot. Now, please turn over so I can give you the sedative.” He repeated the process on my right hip. After he was done, he put the needles in the sharps container on top of the dresser that we used for medical storage and disposed of the used wipes. Finally, he got into bed beside me and turned off the lamp on his bedside table. I had turned over to face him in the moonlight.

“It’s been quite a day, hon”, he said as he began to stroke my hair.

“One I hope to never see again.”

“My sentiments exactly. Are you okay, Meredith? I’m worried about how this will affect you.”

I sighed. “I think so, Doc. Alex said he wants to talk to me tomorrow before he and Deanna go home to make sure I’m okay. He also said something about coming out on Monday to see us, he said they aren’t doing anything special for Labour Day.”

“We should have him and Deanna come out for the barbecue”, he said. Karen and her family were coming over to spend the afternoon here and have a barbecue dinner.

“Sure, Doc. We can handle two more people. You always make a ton of food.”

“Now it’s time to get some sleep, hon.”

“Mmmmmm, yes”, I replied. I was feeling the effect of both the pain medication and sedative. I kissed my love good night and turned over so he could snuggle up to my back and wrap his arm around me.

“Good night, Meredith.”

“Night, Doc.”

I was almost asleep, but I’m sure I heard him say “This is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”