Free Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins Page B

forehead. I had to get to Lauren, protect her. I had to get out of this hospital.
    "Who?"
    "The man. Him. He's c-called three times, threatening. And now he's threatening my daughter. "
    Her eyes rounded. "What is he saying?"
    I hit the off button on the phone, pressed talk. "I have to call my husband." The words were whispered half to myself, my finger stumbling over the numbers as I dialed home. After three rings the message machine clicked on, my own voice answering. With a small cry I ended the call and dialed Brock's cell phone. The nurse stood at my bedside, nonplused.
    "Hello." My husband's voice spilled into my ear.
    "Brock, he—" All words seized up.
    "What?"
    "He called again, here in the room. And he said I do have Lyme, and you're wr-wrong. And you have to relook at your . . . studies and change your opinion. Or he'll make Lauren sick!"
    "Jannie, don't even say such a thing."
    "That's what he said. " My eyes filled with tears. I couldn't bear to see Lauren in the condition I was in, barely able to walk, to think. The pain was too much for a child. "A nurse is here, she'll tell you." I thrust the phone into the woman's hand, only to remember she'd heard nothing.
    She gave me a questioning look, then placed the receiver to her ear. "This is Nurse Evans."
    Brock's commanding voice barked from the receiver. I could hear his every word as he asked what she'd heard.
    "I didn't hear anything. I walked in and she was just holding the receiver."
    "She wasn't talking to anyone?"
    "No."
    "You sure?"
    "Yes. She was just holding it. That's all."
    Silence hung in the room. I glowered at the nurse. She shook her head, as if to say I'm sorry and handed the phone back to me. "Can I get anything for you?" She studied my face, as if I weren't quite all there.
    "We could ask the . . . switchboard. Somebody had to put him through."
    "Jannie!" My husband's voice barked through the phone.
    She shrugged. "They get so many calls. I'm not sure anyone would remember."
    "Jannie!"
    I waved the nurse away. Thanks a lot. Pressed the phone to my ear. "Brock, I have to come home." I fought to sound steady, but my voice wavered and pitched. "We have to watch Lauren every minute. Somehow he'll get to her. I don't w-want her like this. I don't want this to happen to her!"
    "Nothing's going to happen to her."
    "But he said—"
    "You need to calm down. Take a deep breath."
    "I am breathing. You need to listen to me."
    "Fine. I'm listening. Tell me everything he said."
    "He said the Lyme test is no good. It's a f-false negative. And he'll hurt others if you don't start listening to me. And then he let me know he was talking about Lauren. We n-need to tell the police, Brock. They have to know!"
    "All right. I'll tell them."
    I hesitated. His voice didn't sound right. "You will?"
    "Yes."
    "Can they watch Lauren closer at school? And Maria should know. She can't let the . . . girls go anywhere this weekend."
    "I'll talk to her, too. Now listen to me. I want you to get some rest."
    How could I rest? I could barely move, but my mind swooped and plummeted.
    "We'll talk more about this tomorrow, Jannie. For tonight Lauren's safe at Katie's."
    The receiver felt slick in my fingers. My left elbow throbbed. A new wave of tiredness washed through me, as if my body suddenly realized it had spent what energy it possessed. My head sank deeper into the pillows. "You're not going to call Maria, are you."
    My husband breathed over the line, a weary, beleaguered sound. "How do you suppose this man found you in the hospital, Jannie?"
    "Don't know. Maybe he f-followed you here and figured it out."
    "I teach at the med school. I'm at the hospital on a regular basis."
    "Maybe he doesn't know that."
    "I thought he knew all about me. How important my opinion is to the medical world."
    There was that tone again. Almost accusing. "What are you saying?"
    "It's just odd, that's all. He calls on your cell phone, then our home line, and neither call has a traceable ID. You