Chapter 14

Sunday Morning…

Doreen woke the next morning, her heart heavy. She rolled over, picked up her phone, and called the hospital.

When she got the same nurse on the other end, she repeated, "Doreen, he's fine. He's made it through the night okay."

She sagged back into her bed. "Thank heavens for that."

"You need to get some sleep. Otherwise you'll end up here in the hospital yourself," the nurse scolded.

Doreen smiled. "Just because I called a time or two doesn't mean I didn't sleep," she muttered.

"A time or two? I swear, every time you rolled over in bed, you woke yourself up and called."

Doreen grimaced. She did have some fitful dozing, waking, calling the hospital, rolling over, worrying in the dark, then starting the cycle again. All night long. The nurse was probably frustrated and fed up with Doreen's calls, but she had tolerated them with patience and forbearance, something that Doreen really appreciated. "It just breaks my heart to know that Mr. Woo laid there longer than he should have. If I would have unpacked that Chinese food, I would have found him sooner."

"You can't know that," the nurse argued. "I haven't heard all of what's going on, but I do know that you can't be responsible for what happens to everybody else."

"No, but it would sure be nice if I could help in some way."

"You did. You got to him and saved him. Why don't we go with that for now?"

Doreen smiled. "Somebody saved him, not sure it was me though." She yawned.

The nurse ordered her, "Okay now, get some sleep. Don't you be calling me again."

Doreen chuckled. "You'll be off shift anyway."

The nurse laughed out loud. "You're right. I will be soon. Now go back to sleep. Mr. Woo made it through the night. He's not conscious yet, but his progress looks decent."

And, with that positive note, Doreen rolled over and went back to sleep. When she woke the next time, the animals all stared at her.

"Oh goodness," she murmured. "Is it that late?" Mugs looked at her and woofed. She nodded. "I'll take that as a yes." He just woofed at her a second time. "Got it. Okay then, I'm getting up, honest." But she didn't move. She found it hard to, considering she was weighed down with a very heavy Goliath parked on her chest. She looked at him and sighed. "If you want me to get up, you'll have to move." He just mewed at her, reached out a big paw, then tapped her gently on the cheek. She felt the tears coming to her eyes. "Guys, I know. It's been a pretty tough day already, hasn't it?… Heck, it's been a pretty tough week or month really. I'll just flat-out call it a year at this point." She gently cuddled Goliath.

"Still, I need to get up, have a cup of coffee, and clear my brain." At that, Mugs barked again, reminding her that he needed to go outside, then to get them some food.

"I know. I know. You're right. I need to get up." She slowly sat up, perched on her elbows, then collapsed back with a groan. "Maybe not," she muttered. "If I were wealthy, I would call for a maid and have coffee delivered. But since there is no such maid in my employ at the moment, I guess that's out." She pushed herself back up, and this time her big Maine coon cat rolled off, then got up himself.

Finally upright, she made her way to the bathroom and turned on the hot shower. By the time she stepped into the water, she was a little bit more aware and awake. She stood under the hot steam for a long minute, then started to scrub down. It had been a bad night.

By the time she stepped out of the shower, she felt a little bit better—and a little bit meant a very little bit, but, hey, she would take whatever she could get. She got dressed, her body moving sluggishly, as if aware that, with so much going on, her body shouldn't have to move at all.

But, of course, that wasn't in the cards for her. Soon enough she had put the coffee on to drip and set about to feed everybody.

With them all chowing down into their bowls, she opened up the back door to the deck, then stepped outside, yawning. She reached up, twisted her hair into a quick braid, and sat down on the deck steps, her legs felt so heavy and not happy to be mobile.

Almost immediately a head popped over on Richard's side of the fence. He looked at her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." All her animals appeared at once, interested in who she was talking to.

"How's Mr. Woo?" he asked, his tone worried.

"He made it through the night," she shared. "I got off the phone with the hospital not long ago."

He nodded. "That's good news."

"Is it?" she muttered. "Sometimes I wonder whether we're into the good news or just went straight into bad." He stared at her. She shrugged. "Don't worry about me. Life is a bit bleak at the moment."

"You'll get through it," Richard stated. "Your kind always does."

She stared at him. "I have a kind now?"

"Sure you do," he replied. "Always happy, always seeing the sunshine, always there for people. You have one of those gifts that I haven't seen in very many people before, but somehow you can always find the sunshine and roses. Just look at those animals of yours and how you enjoy them." He frowned at the cat, investigating the roses.

"Maybe," she conceded, "yet, at the moment, the sunshine and roses have up and left."

"Not for long, I'm sure of it. You'll get through this rough patch and be fine, all before you know it."

"Maybe." She yawned again. Mugs nudged her with his nose, getting an ear scratch in return.

"You probably didn't get any sleep, did you?"

"Nope, not much. Not after finding Mr. Woo like that."

He frowned at her. "Why am I not surprised that you're the one who found him?"

She winced. "I know. It's not ideal, but I'm certainly glad we found him in time."

"And you found your ex, not that his being dead was any great loss there," Richard declared, with a sniff. "That man was a menace. You do realize I reported him to the cops time and time again?"

She raised her eyebrows at that. "I appreciate that, Richard."

He shrugged. "I'm sure you don't think I do anything," he muttered. "However, I'm not about to let somebody beat up a woman, particularly my neighbor."

"Thank you," she murmured. "Every once in a while, Mathew would lose control, and things could get pretty ugly."

"Oh, I got that message all right," Richard noted, with feeling. "I didn't see any police at your place though."

"No, I'm sure they had other things to deal with."

"They shouldn't have," he snapped. "You should get as much support as everybody else."

She was quite surprised at his indignant tone. She smiled at him. "I just want Mr. Woo to wake up and to be okay."

"You and me both," Richard agreed morosely. "Best darn Chinese food in town."

She chuckled. "That's my take on it too, but I haven't tried many others."

Richard waved a hand in the air, dismissing the very idea. "He's the best. He's also the cheapest, and he serves really nice portions."

"Isn't that the truth," she agreed, "although he probably won't be doing too much cooking anytime soon."

He glared at her. "He better be. I don't like the other Chinese food," Richard said, returning to his typical cranky tone. "He needs to get better and to get back to work." When Thaddeus peered out of Doreen's hair and squawked, Richard jumped in surprise.

She just nodded, as Richard's head disappeared over the top of the fence. She wasn't even sure how to tell him that Mr. Woo might not even survive. The better question was, how did Richard even find out about this so fast? She brought up her phone and saw that the local news was all over it. Sure enough, they had reported the break-in. "Home invasion, one injured at his place of business."

She sighed, thinking it would sure be nice if they left details like addresses out of these reports.

But, since it was a business and a popular one, it made sense because it certainly helped to identify who was attacked and where. Though it didn't make her happy to know that now people on both sides of the law would be trampling all over the Chinese food place, seeking evidence or clues. She was pretty sure Mack hadn't gotten any sleep last night either and sent him a text, asking just that.

When she got a short reply confirming her suspicion, she realized that he was probably still dealing with the issues at hand. You still can't go home and get some rest?

He phoned her this time. "No, I sure can't. Not yet anyway."

"Sorry. You must be exhausted," she said. "Anything new to report?"

"Nothing."

She yawned just then.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," she murmured. "Just tired. I only slept in fits and starts, tossing and turning. I must have phoned the hospital at least a half-dozen times."

"Yeah, you and me both," he admitted. "At least we care."

"We do."

"It sure would be nice if we heard that he'll pull through," Mack noted.

"I know. For now, I just want to hear that he's awake," she replied, with a heavy sigh.

"Me too."

"Have you eaten at least?" she asked. "I guess I'm having cold Chinese for breakfast."

"If you don't want the food to go to waste, absolutely," he said. "I don't know if you even noticed, but I sent somebody to your house to collect the Chinese food container with the message in it."

"Oh, I guess that means no chicken omelet or whatever that was for me," she added, with a note of humor.

"Nope. You'll have to wait until Mr. Woo's back on his feet for that."

"I can do that.… I don't think I'll want Chinese for a while anyway." With that, winding up their conversation, she told him, "I hope you have a better day. Try to take care of yourself." Then she ended the call.

She headed inside and grabbed her first coffee of the day. Undoubtedly the first of many. It would be a long day, even if nothing else even happened. Her animals followed behind her, keeping close to her. Frankly just getting out of bed seemed to be quite an accomplishment, so she would take that as a win.