It was a favor for a friend. Shelly didn't often work shifts in the county hospital in the neighboring town of Oxbow. She hadn't worked there since nursing school, but they were short-staffed at the moment and desperate for nurses. Her old supervisor, Brenda, had called that morning and begged her to come in -- she had cleared it with the Twin Mills Cottage Hospital and realized that it was an hour drive, but they needed the help and Shelly had been one of the best.
Brenda walked her through the wing, going over charts and introducing some of the patients.
"What's this?" Shelly asked as Brenda pulled out another chart and they reached the end of the hall.
"This is a John Doe," Brenda said. "We have no idea who he is or where he came from, and he's been way too sick to tell us. Two women found him ten miles before that dive bar -- the Frog something right before you cross the bridge to Twin Mills? Anyway, this guy had no I.D. -- nothing. He'd run his truck into a tree and it was easy to see why. It was lucky the women got there when they did -- he was having an attack of appendicitis. It brought on a full-blown heart attack after they got him here. Then he went into a diabetic coma. It's been one thing after another for this poor guy and it took a lot of work to get him stable. He was morbidly obese, but that's been changing fast. He's been here for several weeks now and we still have no idea who he is. I hope he wakes up soon."
"Brenda, let me see him. I think I can solve that one for you."
It played over and over in his mind. "You never forget being in that much pain," Fabian had said. He was right. He could still feel the stabbing pain, the twisting nausea. His vision had blurred and he heard a car horn -- he was in the wrong lane! He swerved out of the way, seeing the windshield now as if through a tunnel. He kept the wheel turned, intending to pull off the road. He heard a shattering bang, then everything went black.
He woke briefly in what looked like a hospital. His chest and his side were excruciatingly painful. He felt sick and dizzy. Someone was asking him questions; was shouting at him, but none of it made sense. The pain was all he understood. He could hardly breathe. He wanted to tell them who he was but couldn't make the words come. Everything went black again as though someone had flipped a switch.
He opened his eyes and was surprised to see a familiar face. He'd seen the nurse somewhere before. She smiled at him.
"Hi, Franco. How are you feeling?"
"Sore," he managed. "Tired. Do ... do I know you?"
"You might," she said. "Shelly Lange. I usually work in Twin Mills at the hospital there. You're in a hospital in Oxbow -- about an hour away from Twin Mills. "May I call your family? They've been worried sick about you. You've been missing for a long time."
"Yes, please. Can you give a message to my brother? I want to tell him I'm sorry. For everything." A tear rolled down Franco's much thinner cheek. He had lost a lot of weight. For the first time, Shelly could see the resemblance between Franco and his brother. "I tried to steal Lisa," Franco confessed. "I did steal four of her pies and some eggs so it would look like Fabian did it. Then I stole Fabian's truck. Because I wanted to be Fabian. Because his life looked so much better than mine."
"How about if I arrange it so that you can tell him yourself?" she asked, grabbing a tissue and daubing at Franco's face.
I feel sorry for Madame. If she'd let them search, Franco might have been found that much sooner!
"No, sweetheart. More like this." Fabian played the viola part on his violin and Lisa watched. Bruiser and Buster were romping in the grass in front of the vardo; Lisa and Fabian were practicing together on the small porch. "See what I did there?"
"Yes...." Just as Lisa lifted her viola to try it again they heard a shout from the path. Taryn was running towards them at full tilt.
"Fab!" she shouted. "They found Franco!"
Fabian put down his violin.
"You're kidding? Where?"
"He's in a hospital in Oxbow," Taryn stopped at the porch, winded and gasping. Lisa took the violin from Fabian and put it in its case. Then she put her own viola in its case, busying herself to give them the illusion of privacy. She took his violin into the vardo and poured a glass of water in the kitchen, which she took out to Taryn.
"Whew! Thanks, Lisa," Taryn gasped. She took the glass of water and started to drink. Lisa picked up her viola and whistled for Buster.
"And where do you think you're going, young lady?" Fabian wanted to know.
"Fab, this is none of my business...."
"Of course it is!" Taryn chimed in protest with Fabian. "You're an honorary member of the family."
Fabian wrapped an arm around Lisa, pulling her close to him.
"What she said," he smiled. "Now. In a hospital? Why weren't we notified?"
"Oh, this is where it gets really good." Taryn drank some more water -- she was hardly winded now. She rolled her eyes. "Mom managed to put it together, after a few phone calls. Franco stole your truck. Robbin picked up Marlene from the police station. Franco had an attack of appendicitis and that's why he wrecked the truck. Robbin and Marlene found Franco after he hit a tree. They put him in the back of Robbin's truck and drove him to the county hospital. After the paramedics got Franco inside, Robbin and Marlene left. They had no idea that Franco didn't have any I.D., and neither did Franco." Lisa was glad she'd stayed; Fabian was holding her like she was an anchor.
"Why didn't he call?" Fabian asked. "I know appendicitis is serious, but it's been weeks." Taryn looked at Fabian gravely.
"There's more," she said. "After he was in the hospital, he had a massive heart attack. And apparently he's had type 2 diabetes that's never been treated -- he's been in a diabetic coma. It's been quite a fight to get him stable. He's lost a LOT of weight. Over fifty pounds, at this point." Fabian gave a low whistle.
"Wait a minute," Lisa said. "Marlene was with Robbin?"
"Apparently there was a reason why Robbin did her balloon animals outside of the shooting gallery," Taryn told her. "I'm not sure how long it was going on, but ... Robbin apologized to Mom for lying to her and gave Mom the impression that Robbin and Marlene have been ... um ... together for several years. She had planned to run away with Marlene all along. There was no family emergency."
"That doesn't make sense," Fabian said. "Marlene was still trying to seduce me the day they left."
"I don't know what that was about," Taryn shrugged. "I'm telling you what Mom told me. Not to puncture your gargantuan ego or anything, but Marlene was probably just trying to cause trouble."
"No offense taken," Fabian said. "I feel sort of sorry for Robbin. I hope Marlene stays interested when they don't have to sneak around. Marlene only wants things until she has them."