Free Nobody's Angel by Sarah Hegger Page B

in one huge leap of presumption. God, he could be such a sanctimonious ass sometimes. She’d almost forgotten that little treasure. “What, exactly, are you accusing me of, Richard?” She folded her arms over her chest defensively and then rethought the reaction and dropped them to the side.
    “Don’t play dumb,” he snapped. “I have a waiting room full of people and I don’t have time to play games with you.”
    “No games,” Lucy replied quietly; she didn’t fully trust her own voice. “I told you the other night, I am here to help my mother.”
    “By having your father committed?” he flung at her. “By waltzing in here after all this time, having no idea what is going on with your Dad or what has happened since you’ve been gone. Lucy arrives and suddenly Lynne gets the idea to lock her husband away.”
    Lucy stared at him, aghast. It took a while to get her tongue moving. “That is so unfair.” She got to her feet. “She doesn’t sleep at night because he keeps her up, ranting and raving. She’s a mess, a bundle of nerves. Yesterday morning, I found her sobbing at the kitchen table because she’d run out of milk for his tea.” She was somehow standing toe to toe with him. “He has always been a bully and you know that, but he’s worse now. I am worried for her. I am worried about what he is capable of. Don’t let your anger at me cloud your judgment, Richard.”
    She hit home with that one and he opened his mouth and shut it again.
    “I wanted you to hear what she has to say,” Lucy continued in a softer tone. “She always keeps everything bottled up inside and I wanted her to tell you what is really going on, because I think, as his doctor, this is stuff you need to know.”
    “She knows she can come to me.” He had his temper under control, but he still glared at her resentfully. “I have been watching the situation for a while now.”
    “But she won’t.” Lucy pressed forward. “It’s not her way.”
    He grunted as he absorbed her words. Then he gave a curt nod and strode to his desk. He picked up his phone.
    “Carmen,” he spoke into the phone, but his eyes were still locked on Lucy. “Would you send Lynne Flint back in?”
    He didn’t speak or even look at her. They heard Lynne’s step approach. Lucy carefully let her breath out as Richard opened the door. Lynne stuck her head around the jamb cautiously, looking ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.
    “Come in, Lynne.” Richard ushered her mother back into the room. “Lucy says Carl is getting worse?”
    Lucy felt weak with relief. He wasn’t happy about it, but he was going to listen.
    “What should I say?” Lynne opened her eyes huge and turned to Lucy.
    “Tell Richard about Dad.” Lucy gave her mother an encouraging smile. “Tell him what you have been telling me over the phone.” Lynne seemed to draw courage from her and Lucy caught her mother’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Tell the doctor how Dad has been getting confused about who is who and how he gets so frustrated and angry.”
    “I’ll tell Richard that, should I?”
    “Yes.” Lucy nodded and gave Lynne a smile of encouragement. “You tell . . . him . . . all the stuff you told me. I am sure he can help you.”
    It took Lynne a while, but she got it out in the end. Agonizing syllable by agonizing syllable she let the entire story unfold.
    Richard’s full attention focused on Lynne as he listened. He locked onto the person he listened to and seemed to absorb every last scrap of information. Her mother unfurled underneath the magic glow of his attention.
    Lynne kept nothing back. Lucy felt guilt turn the knife even deeper into her flesh. Her mother had been dealing with all of this on her own: the increasingly wild swings of emotion, the paranoia, the vicious bouts of temper. Lynne had been virtually locked in that house like her own private hell. When she fell silent at last, Lucy was more than ready to let Richard take over.
    “Lynne, I