He nodded, dismissing the nurse, and she left the room.
“May I ask you a question?” the doctor said, startling Cindy out of her reverie.
“Yes.”
“What’s the story with Mr. Fox? You seem to know him better than most. He’s a good-looking guy. Smart too, from what I can see. Why does he have to make his living getting banged up like a boxer in a two bit smoker?”
“I think he likes it,” Cindy murmured, more to herself than to him.
“Beg pardon?” Dr. Markel said.
“He likes the danger, the excitement. Not knowing what’s going to happen from day to day.”
The doctor shook his head. “I don’t understand that.”
“Neither do I. But that’s what makes him different from you and me.”
“From most people, I would guess,” Dr. Markel said practically. He folded his arms and surveyed her critically. “Now our usual discharge hours are in the morning, but if you’ll sign yourself out, I’ll let you go as soon as you can pack your things. You’ll need a ride home.”
“I’ll call Paula,” Cindy said, reaching for the bedside phone.
The doctor headed for the door. On his way out he paused and said, “Miss Warren? Good luck with your adventurous friend.”
Cindy nodded and picked up the phone.
* * * *
Cindy had almost managed to convince herself that there was some mistake, until she called the hospital the following day and was told that Fox still would not see her.
Paula entered the room as she was replacing the receiver.
“No change?” Paula asked.
Cindy shook her head.
Paula sighed. “Well, I was hoping things would improve, but since they haven’t I might as well give you this now.” She went to the coat closet and returned with a large gift box. “This came for you while you were still in the hospital. It’s from him.”
Cindy stared at the package. “How do you know?”
“I saw the receipt when it came. His name was on it, he ordered it by phone.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know,” Paula said, annoyed. “I didn’t open it.”
Cindy took the box and undid the cord, pushing aside the layers of tissue paper after she removed the lid. It contained a cornflower blue dress, just right color for her dark hair and light eyes, in her exact size. There was a card enclosed. She slit the envelope with her fingernail. Inside, on a plain white background, was the drawing of a tiny fox face.
She showed it to Paula. “Why would he be sending me a dress?”
Paula shrugged. “I guess to replace the clothes you were wearing when you were attacked. Fox’s blood got all over them. Didn’t you realize that you were discharged in the things I had brought you?”
Cindy had been so disturbed by Fox’s refusal to see her that she hadn’t noticed what she was wearing.
“He must have had the delivery man stop by the hospital so he could insert the card,” Paula mused.
The more Cindy thought about the gift the angrier she got. “Paula, do you know what this is?” she asked, her mouth a tight line.
“A dress?” Paula said, stating the obvious.
“No. This is goodbye, the kiss off, the statement of farewell. He has decided for some reason or other that he doesn’t want to see me again, and this little item is supposed to do the trick.”
“Well,” Paula began hesitantly, “maybe it would be best, in view of what’s happened, just to let it go....”
Cindy threw the box across the room.
“I guess not,” Paula amended quickly.
“The coward!” Cindy spat. “Well, they have to discharge him sooner or later. He can’t avoid me forever.”
Paula picked up the dress box and set it on a chair.
“If he wants to say goodbye he’ll have to do it to my face,” Cindy said furiously. “When he gets out of the hospital I’ll track him down and strangle him with that bloody dress!”
Paula waited until Cindy had stalked down the hall and into her bedroom. Then she sank onto the sofa and closed her eyes.
Who would have thought that shy, bookish Lucinda had it in her?
* * * *
Fox was discharged from the hospital the next morning. As soon as Cindy got word of his release from the information desk, she took Paula’s car keys and left her a note. Paula had worked the night before and was still sleeping.
Cindy drove to Fox’s condominium with a lot on her mind, the least of which was Dr. Markel’s warning about driving. She didn’t seem to be experiencing the dizziness or blurring of vision that he had discussed, so she forged ahead, more concerned about her showdown with her lover than the state of her health.
Next to her on the passenger seat was the box containing the blue dress. She eyed it as if it were a toad. He was going to be very sorry he ever came up with the idea of sending it.
She walked through the rarefied air of the lobby in Fox’s building as if she belonged there. Luckily the security guard remembered her from her previous visits and waved her on. Cindy was working herself into fine mettle as she ascended to the fourth floor, and she rang the bell with the dress box under her arm like a crossbow.
A middle-aged woman answered the door. Startled, Cindy stammered that she wanted to see Mr. Fox.
“I’m the cleaning lady,” the woman answered. “Mrs. Hallam, just hired last week. Mr. Fox ordered up a whole houseful of new furniture and then discovered that it has to be dusted.” She chuckled at her own joke.
Cindy smiled wanly. “Yes, I know. Could you tell him that I’m here and would like to see him? My name is Cindy Warren.”
“Oh, he’s not at home,” Mrs. Hallam said, shaking out her dust rag. “I’ll be happy to leave a message.”
“Not at home?” Cindy said. “He was just discharged from the hospital this morning.”
“Huh,” Mrs. Hallam said disgustedly. “You didn’t think that would nail his feet to the floor, did you? He no sooner marched in here than he marched out again, still wearing a sling on that bad arm.”
“Do you know where he went?”
Mrs. Hallam looked her over suspiciously. “I don’t know if I should say.”
“Please, Mrs. Hallam. It’s very important. I really have to see him today.”
“Are you the little lady who picked out all this stuff?” Mrs. Hallam asked, gesturing expansively at the apartment behind her. “Mr. Fox talked about that.”
“Yes, I am.”
Mrs. Hallam nodded. “He told me he was going out to that property his uncle owns at some lake. Do you know where it is?”
“Thank you, yes, I do. I really appreciate the information. It was nice meeting you. Goodbye.” Cindy was off down the hall again instantly, leaving Mrs. Hallam to stare after her, shaking her head.
The drive to the lake seemed to take much longer than it had when she was with Fox, and she got lost once when she took a wrong turn. She hadn’t been paying much attention to the route on her previous trip. But she recognized the scenery on the road to Eli’s house, and as she passed it she remembered his invitation to come and see him. It looked like she never would.
She continued down the road, and it wasn’t long before she saw Fox’s pickup in the distance. She pulled up behind it and got out of the car, lifting the dress box into her arms again. She was really tired of carrying it around with her like a cardboard albatross, but it appeared that she would be relieved of her burden soon. She heard a series of reports, sounding very loud in the wooded stillness. They continued, getting louder as she picked her way through the trees toward the shore of the lake. When she broke through the ground cover and into the clearing, she saw Fox about two hundred feet ahead of her, firing a gun.
He was taking target practice. He had set up a makeshift fence along the water, and was methodically shooting beer bottles off it into the dirt. His stance didn’t waver and he didn’t look at her. He never missed. Cindy watched him undetected for a while, and then when he paused to set up new targets she called out to him. He spun around and stared at her, waiting silently as she walked across the grassy shore to his side. He didn’t say a word.