And they played rough, too. No matter how far ahead the Wolverines might be on the Scoreboard, they never eased up, never stopped pressing their opposition, never waited out the clock at the end of the game.
She shivered in the darkness of the hospital room as she thought about it.
Big, strong, healthy boys.
And, apparently, dangerous boys as well.
For ifTarrenTech truly believed mat what had happened to Ricardo Ramirez was an accident, why were they so willing to pay any price in order to avoid a lawsuit against the school, or possibly even against theLaConners themselves?
Was it because a lawsuit, in the end, would turn onTarrenTech itself?
Suddenly Sharon Tanner was more frightened than she had ever been in her life.
ChuckLaConner tried not to let his expression reveal his emotions as he listened to Marty Ames talking to him on the telephone. In the chair facing him from the opposite side of the fireplace, Charlotte was sitting straight up, her face ashen even in the orange glow of the fire burning on the hearth. When he at last hung up, she immediately spoke.
"What is it?" she demanded. "That was about Jeff, wasn't it? Is he in jail?"
At Ames's suggestion, Chuck had been careful not to reveal to whom he was speaking, and now he shook his head, at the same time rising to his feet. "He's not in jail," he told her. "He's had some kind of breakdown. Apparently he lost his temper completely this time, and they've taken him to the doctor." He moved out to the hall closet, with Charlotte following right behind.
"I'm going with you," she said. But to her unbelieving dismay, Chuck shook his head.
"Not now," he said. "They specifically asked me to come out alone. I guess-" he began, then stopped, unwilling to repeat to Charlotte what Ames had told him. "I guess it's pretty bad," he said at last. "They… well, they said Jeff might have to be in the hospital for a while."
Charlotte sagged against the wall. "And I can't even see him?" she whispered hoarsely. "But he's my son!"
"It's just for tonight," Chuck promised her. "They just want to get him calmed down a little, that's all." He reached out and touched Charlotte's chin, notungently, tipping her head up so she couldn't avoid looking into his face.
"It's going to be all right, sweetheart," he promised her. "We're going to get this thing straightened out. But you've just got to trust me. Okay?"
Her mind too numb to think clearly, Charlotte automatically nodded. It wasn't until she heard Chuck's car starting up a minute later that she slowly began to come back to life.
She and Chuck had been sitting by the fireplace for hours, ever since DickKennally had called, asking if Jeff were at home. Chuck had left for a while, then come back to assure her that Mark Tanner was all right, that his injuries weren't serious. She'd wanted to leave then, to go to the hospital herself, if only to apologize to Sharon Tanner for what had happened, but Chuck had refused to allow it. He'd gone to the hospital alone, while she waited anxiously, worrying about her son and the boy he had injured.
But she couldn't wait any longer. Now it wasn't just Mark Tanner who was in the hospital; it was Jeff, too. Only five minutes after Chuck left, she hurried out into the night.
She pulled into the parking lot of County Hospital ten minutes later, not even pausing to glance around for her husband's car before hurrying through the doors into the waiting room. From behind the glass partition Karen Akers looked up curiously, then, recognizing Charlotte, stood up and came out of the little office.
"Why can't I see him?" Charlotte asked without preamble, her voice trembling. "What's wrong with him that they won't let me see him?"
Karen stared at Charlotte in bewilderment. What on earth could the woman be talking about? "Wh-Who?"
"Jeff," Charlotte said. "Chuck said they took him to the doctor…" Her voice trailed off as she realized that the waiting room was empty and the building itself was totally silent. "Isn't my husband here?" she asked, but knew the answer even before Karen Akers spoke.
"There's no one here, Charlotte, except Mrs. Tanner. She's sitting with Mark."
Tiredly, her mind reeling helplessly, Charlotte sank down into one of theNaugahyde -covered chairs that lined a wall of the waiting room. She was silent for a moment, gathering her wits about her. "But he said-" she began, her voice taking on a note of desperation. And then she knew. They hadn't brought Jeff here at all-they'd taken him out to the sports center, to Dr. Ames, just like the last time, when Jeff had slammed her against the wall then stormed out into the night.
Somehow, the knowledge made her feel better. After all, Jeff had come home the very next day-not even come home, actually, but gone straight to school. And he'd been fine. Maybe Chuck was right.
She looked up at Karen Akers, feeling foolish. "I don't know what's wrong with me," she said, then saw the look of concern in the nurse's eyes, as if Karen thought she were losing her grip. Charlotte forced a lame smile. "I mean, I'm sure Chuck must have told me where they were taking Jeff. It-Well, I guess it hasn't been an easy night for any of us."
Karen Akers's expression cleared a little.
"How is he?" Charlotte asked then. "Mark Tanner, I mean?"
Karen hesitated, uncertain what to say. But as she saw the genuine worry in Charlotte's eyes, she nodded toward the corridor. "He's sleeping now. But if you want to peek in, I don't suppose Mrs. Tanner would mind."
Charlotte got to her feet and started down the hall, pausing next to the door to Ricardo Ramirez's room. Taking a deep breath, she crossed the hall and gently opened the door to Mark's room. It was almost dark inside; only a single, small night-light cast a soft glow from the corner next to the bathroom door. Mark lay motionless on the bed, and on the chair next to the bed, Sharon Tanner was nodding fitfully. Charlotte hesitated, and was about to back out of the room when Sharon's head came up and her eyes opened.
"H-Hello?" she asked tentatively.
"It's me," Charlotte whispered. "CharlotteLaConner."
Charlotte could see Sharon stiffen, and suddenly she wished she hadn't come into the room. But then Sharon stood up and came toward her. "I just wanted to see how he was," Charlotte said. "And to tell you how sorry I am…"
Charlotte's words trailed off, and to Sharon's surprise, she found herself feeling a pang of sympathy for the woman. She eased Charlotte out into the hallway, then pulled the door closed. "He's going to be all right," she said. Keeping her voice as neutral as possible, she asked, "Have they found Jeff yet?"
Charlotte swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "They took him out to Dr. Ames," she said. "He… I don't know what happened to him, Mrs. Tanner."
"Sharon," the other woman replied.
"Sharon," Charlotte repeated, pronouncing the name carefully, almost experimentally. "He-Well, I guess it was like the night he hit me," she said. "It's his temper. He just can't seem to control it anymore. Something sets him off, and he just blows up." She frowned, as if a distant memory were coming back to her. "Like Randy Stevens," she went on, speaking slowly now. "That's what he's like. Like Randy, before they took him away…"
Sharon stared at Charlotte. Randy Stevens? Who was he? She'd never heard the name before in her life.
ChuckLaConner stared dully at Dr. Martin Ames. They'd been sitting in Ames's office at the sports center for thirty minutes, while Ames had gone through the speech he'd rehearsed so many times, a speech carefully designed to accomplish both his own aims and those of Ted Thornton.
"Of course, I won't be able to release him," Ames had concluded, spreading his hands helplessly on the desktop. "We'll do the best we can to correct the chemical imbalance in his brain, but I'm not at all certain that anything will be effective."