"And,” Aunt Beth said as she got up and went to the small closet, “we brought your purse in with us, and your cell phone's there on the bedstand.” She brought the purse to the bed.
"We also took the liberty of bringing your stitching bag in,” Mavis added.
"After we gathered up the materials for an appliquéd dog block and put them inside,” Beth finished.
"Let's start with the cell phone,” Harriet said. She winced as she leaned toward it. Aunt Beth moved it within her reach. She dialed the number, but the phone sent her directly to Jasmine's voice mail. She left a brief message asking for a call back.
"Well, that's a dead end,” she said.
"She might call back,” Aunt Beth said. “In the meantime, you can rest."
Harriet started to protest but was interrupted by the arrival of a large spray of yellow flowers that obscured the person carrying it. Phyllis carried the cut-glass vase filled with yellow lilies, roses and sunflowers into the room, staggering a little from the weight, and set it on the windowsill. The fragrance from the lilies immediately filled the space.
"I hope it's okay that I barged right in without knocking,” she said. “That vase is heavier than it looks, with the water and all."
"Come in,” Mavis said. “Here, sit down and take a load off.” She got up and offered the easy chair she'd been sitting in to her larger friend. “And of course you're welcome."
"Thank you,” Harriet said. “I appreciate the flowers. You shouldn't have, but I'm grateful that you did."
Aunt Beth beamed her approval of Harriet's courtesy.
"How are you feeling?” Phyllis asked. “I came over as soon as I heard."
"Mavis and I have been remiss, as you can see-yours are the first flowers,” Aunt Beth said.
"Just out of curiosity, how did you find out I was here? I mean, I checked in during the middle of the night."
"If Joseph's across-the-street neighbor hadn't been worried about him and called, I wouldn't have known,” she said, the smile leaving her lips. “That, and the fact Joseph was a no-show again today. I don't mind sharing that I'm really starting to get worried about the boy. His neighbor was afraid something had happened to him, and knew he worked at Little Lamb. Her concerns, coupled with my own, caused me to call the police when I'd hung up.
"I'm sorry you were hurt, Harriet, but I have to say I was relieved the dead man they took from that house wasn't Joseph."
"Did you know the dead man?” Harriet asked.
"I'd never even heard of him,” Phyllis said. “And I hope the same is true of Joseph."
Harriet knew it wasn't but decided there was no point in worrying Phyllis any more than she already was. Besides, the flowers were beautiful.
"Can I get anyone some coffee or tea?” Aunt Beth asked. “I'm going to the cafeteria."
Phyllis and Mavis put in their orders, and Aunt Beth left to get them.
"How are you ladies coming with your quilts for the auction?” Phyllis asked.
"The usual,” Mavis said. “We're behind where we'd like to be, but we'll pull it together by auction time."
"I don't know how the Stitches are doing,” Phyllis admitted. “I missed our last meeting because of Joseph.” She looked at her hands in her lap. “He's left me in a real pickle, that boy."
"It'd be a lot easier on all of us if this year's organizing committee hadn't decided on this dog theme nonsense. We'd get a lot more money for the quilts if we'd done it like we always have, with any design being acceptable,” Mavis complained, not for the first time.
"The last block design the Stitches were looking at was pretty ridiculous, if you ask me,” Phyllis looked up when she said this but went back to studying the gold signet ring on her right pinkie finger. “A bunch of dog bones,” she added.
Harriet exchanged a glance with Mavis, but she didn't let on that the dog-bone design meant anything to her.
Chapter 31
"You didn't let on?” Aunt Beth asked, even though Mavis had indicated they hadn't, when they recounted the discussion they'd had after Phyllis had gone back to work. “I talked to Lauren yesterday,” she continued, “after we got home from pizza and before all this. She said she was hidden behind a desk, fixing a loose wire, when Glynnis and Frieda came into the office. It was just as we suspected-they looked around and made sure no one was looking, or so they thought, and then they went through Sarah's bag."
"We knew they had to be doing that,” Mavis said. “But somehow, I'm still shocked."
"Is it shock or outrage?” Harriet said. “I hate that we have to spend so much, or even any, time on all this subterfuge."
"Who are you, and what did you do with my niece?” Aunt Beth asked. “You middle name is Intrigue-or am I mistaken?"
"I may like a good puzzle as much as the next guy, but not where our quilts are concerned,” Harriet protested.
"Be that as it may,” Aunt Beth said, “it's where we find ourselves, so we need to do our parts to make sure the Threads retain their dominance in the event."
"Can I be dominant tomorrow?” Harriet asked. She yawned. “I think I need a nap."
As if on cue, Nurse Heather came into the room.
"Time for our patient to get some rest,” she said in a cheery voice.
"Is this place bugged?” Mavis asked.
Nurse Heather raised her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly to the side.
"Of course it is.” Mavis answered her own question.
"We prefer to think of it as patient monitoring,” Heather said.
"Come on, Mavis,” Aunt Beth said. “We need to make sure everyone who needs to has a decoy dog-bone block on display. Besides, we need to catch the rest of the Threads up on last night's doin's"
"We'll be back in a couple of hours, honey.” Mavis gathered her bags and followed Beth out of the room.
Harriet fell into a dreamless sleep that ended when a doctor she'd never met came in an hour and a half later to check her progress.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Eisner."
Harriet noted his blond hair, brown eyes and stocky build and the irrational thought he was the polar opposite of Aiden came unbidden to her mind. It has to be the drugs, she thought. That and the fact he looked as young as Aiden, if not younger, if that was possible given the man had to have at least eight years of college and medical school and all that other stuff doctors had to do.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better, I think.” She gasped when he touched her lower back.
"That's what I thought, still pretty tender."
"Only when I breathe,” she said with a weak smile.
"Well, you're smiling, that's a good sign. I've looked at all your scans, and you have a nasty bruise on your kidney, but it doesn't appear to be lacerated. I'm keeping you one more day to stabilize your fluids and control the load on your kidneys. And I'd like to see the blood in your urine gone before we let you go.
"Your ankle looks like a straightforward sprain, but since your reputation precedes you, we're going to put you in a non-walking cast for a week that will insure you stay off it, and at the same time give your kidney time to heal. I'm serious-you have to rest."
The smile froze on Harriet's face, and she didn't say anything for a minute.
"That's good news,” Dr. Eisner said. “If you'd been hit any harder, we'd be in recovery right now, talking about how you were going to live with one kidney."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to seem ungrateful. I've just got a lot of work to do, and this isn't going to help.” And I need to find out who did this to me.
"I'll be back to see you tomorrow. Get some rest. The nurses can give you pain medication if you need it. Just use your buzzer."
"Thanks,” she said and yawned, sleepiness once again taking control of her body.
"If you follow our advice, stay off your foot, control your liquids, and get plenty of rest, in a few weeks, you'll be as good as new."