It wasn't until he was already stretched out on the table that the orderlies suddenly jumped him, one of them holding him down while the other strapped his legs and arms securely to the metal surface.
"What the hell-" Mark shouted. Then a gag was placed over his mouth and he felt a needle slipping into a vein in his forearm.
"You're going to be fine," Ames assured him once more. "Believe me, Mark, you're going to feel better than you've ever felt before in your life."
Mark struggled against the heavy straps for a moment, but as he tried to pull himself free, a stab of pain lashed through his chest.
Even before the searing pain had faded away, Mark Tanner sank into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.
Chapter Fourteen
Linda Harris already had her book bag packed by the time the lunch bell rang. She'd been thinking about it all morning, but had finally made up her mind only fifteen minutes ago. She was going to skip lunch and go out to the hospital to visit Mark Tanner. She didn't have time, really, but her class after lunch was only a study hall, and she could always say she'd spent the time in the library. In fact, if she had to, she could get Tiffany Welch-who always spent that hour helping the librarian-to back her up. As the clanging of the bell faded away, Linda hurried out of the classroom and toward the wide staircase that led to the main floor. She was halfway down the stairs when she heard Tiffany calling to her from the mezzanine above.
"Linda? Wait up!"
Linda hesitated, half tempted to pretend she hadn't heard, men thought better of it. "Hi," she said as the other girl caught up with her. "Look, I need a big favor. If I miss my study hall, will you tell Mr. Anders I was in the library?"
Tiffany's oval face reflected confusion for a moment, men her bright blue eyes took on a conspiratorial quality. "Where are you going? Are you cutting the whole afternoon?"
The eagerness in her friend's voice told Linda that Tiffany was considering coming with her, to Tiffany, practically anything was more interesting than school.
"I'm just going to the hospital," Linda said.
Tiffany's face brightened. "To see Jeff? I'll go with you."
"Why would I want to see Jeff?" Linda demanded, her eyes flashing angrily. "After last night, I hope I never see him again!"
The eager look faded from Tiffany's eyes. "Then who?" At last, the light dawned. "You mean you're going to see Mark?" she asked, her voice traced with scorn.
"Well, why shouldn't I?" Linda snapped.
"He's just such a… well, he's kind of a wimp, isn't he?" Tiffany said.
Linda's features congealed coldly. "Just because he isn't a sports nut like everyone else around here doesn't mean he's a wimp. He happens to be a real nice guy. And he doesn't go around jumping guys who are a lot smaller than he is, either."
Tiffany couldn't resist the opening. "Therearen'tany smaller guys," she said, "unless you go over to the junior high." Seeing Linda's eyes glitter with tears, she relented. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "And I'll cover for you, too. Say hi to him for me, okay?"
Linda nodded, then turned away and hurried out of the school building.
Twenty minutes later she came to the small county hospital and pushed her way into the waiting room. Except for a Chicano woman-her face pale and her eyes sunken and tired-the room was deserted. Linda looked around uncertainly for a moment, then went to ring the bell on the counter separating the reception area from the office.
"She's in Ricardo's room," the fragile woman suddenly said. "She's giving my son a bath."
Linda turned to face the woman, realizing who she was but not knowing what to say to her. Before she could say anything at all, Susan Aldrich appeared. "All done, Mrs. Ramirez," she said, then recognized Linda. "Well, hello. What brings you out here?" She glanced instinctively at the clock.
"It's lunch hour," Linda explained. "I thought I'd come out and say hello to Mark."
"Mark?" the nurse replied blankly, then understood. "Oh, you mean Mark Tanner. He's not here."
Linda looked at the nurse in confusion. "But they brought him in last night."
Susan Aldrich nodded. "And he left this morning, so I guess he must not have been hurt very badly."
Linda could barely believe it. She remembered the glimpse she'd caught of Mark last night as they'd moved him out of the emergency room, his face bruised and swollen, his chest swathed with heavy tape. "But where'd he go?" she breathed.
"Home, I suppose," Susan replied. "I could check if you want. He was already discharged when I got here this morning."
Linda shook her head. If she hurried, she still had time to get to the Tanners', say hi, and be back at school in time for her fifth-period class.
Sharon Tanner was just coming out of the house when Linda arrived. "Hi!" she greeted her. "You just caught me in time. I was going over to the hospital." She held up some magazines and a book. "Mark must be getting bored with TV by now, don't you think?"
Linda gaped at Sharon. What was she talking about? "B-But isn't he here?" she asked. "I was just at the hospital and they told me he was discharged this morning!"
Now it was Sharon who stared dumbly, her mind reeling with confusion. There must be some mistake-when she'd left the hospital, Dr.MacCallum had made it clear that Mark wouldn't be out until tomorrow, or this evening, at the earliest. "But that's crazy!" she protested. "Of course he's there. Whom did you talk to?"
Linda repeated what had happened at the hospital. As Sharon listened, her eyes darkened with worry, but she still clung to the idea that it was some kind of mistake. "Come on," she said to Linda, and turned back to the house. "I'm going to call the hospital and get this straightened out. My God," she added, forcing a brittle laugh. "They can't have lost him, can they?"
Five minutes later, when she finally got Dr.MacCallum on the line, she was no longer laughing. "But why wasn't I told?" she demanded. "I've never even talked to Dr. Ames!" She listened impatiently asMacCallum explained what had happened. "But it's all ridiculous," she protested when he was finished. "You said yourself there's nothing seriously wrong with him. And why would he need a sports specialist? He was beaten up, not injured in a football game."
"I don't know,"MacCallum replied honestly. "All I can tell you is that your husband's signature was on the release. I even matched it against the forms he filled out here last night, just to be sure. It never occurred to me that he didn't tell you this morning, or I would have called you myself."
When at last Sharon hung up, her worry of a few minutes earlier had been replaced with a hot anger. For her husband to have had Mark transferred to another hospital without even telling her-it was outrageous!
She dropped Linda Harris off at the school, feeling no better for Linda's assurances that Ames had been working with Robb almost since the day they'd moved to Silverdale, and that Robb was crazy about the program Ames had put him on.
"But that's not the point," she'd tried to explain. "I'm sure there's nothing wrong with it at all. It just burns me up that no one told me what they were doing with Mark, that's all!"
Linda scrambled out of the car and slammed the door.
"Tell Mark I'll come and see him after school," she called, but it was too late. Sharon's anger in firm control of the accelerator, she sped away from the school, the tires of her car shrieking in protest.