A Child's Wish

Which was fine by him.

Right now he just wanted to be. He was sitting in a hospital emergency room, waiting while his daughter’s stomach was pumped and hoping that her blood levels and vital signs would return to normal, and felt peaceful in a way he never had before.

MEREDITH CALLED for a substitute teacher on Wednesday morning before taking her mother to airport and heading over to the hospital to sit with Kelsey. When they’d admitted the little girl, semiconscious and disoriented, Mark had insisted on staying with her. Now Meredith was going to relieve him so he could go home and shower.

He was standing in the hallway, his trousers and long-sleeved white shirt wrinkled. He’d removed his jacket and tie sometime since she’d last seen him.

“They’re in with her,” he said, coming to meet her. “She might get to come home this morning. They found iodine, pseudo—which comes from cold medicine—phosphorus, lantern fuel and lye in her stomach.” His eyes, when he looked at her, brimmed with a pain she could only begin to understand.

“The makings of meth.”

“Apparently in the final stages, the mixture is placed in a two-liter pop bottle. Barbie told Kelsey to help herself to what was in the fridge. She’d said she made lemonade, but Kelsey couldn’t find anything yellow except in the bottle. She thought her mom had stored the lemonade there because she’s poor and didn’t have a proper pitcher. Thank God the stuff tasted so bad she didn’t drink more of it.”

“How’s she been?”

“Quiet. Answering questions, but that’s all. She slept all night and has been in and out this morning. She’s alert right now.”

“And they don’t foresee any residual damage?”

He shook his head, sighed, looking exhausted beyond endurance. “Like you said, she’s going to need counseling, a lot of love and time, but physically they expect a complete recovery almost immediately.”

An orderly passed with a gurney. Meredith leaned back against the wall out of the way, watching the door to Kelsey’s room. “So why was the place cleaned out when we got there except for Kelsey unconscious on the floor?” Meredith shivered, feeling it all again.

“I talked to Detective Armes this morning. He thinks that when Barbie realized what had happened, she got scared and split.”

“And left her daughter there to die?”

“Armes thinks Barbie thought there was no way to save Kelsey. So she saved herself.” The bitterness in his voice was to be expected. Meredith figured he had a long road of emotional healing ahead of him, too.

&n

bsp; “Do they have any leads on her?”

He shook his head. “They found an old car that matches the description of the one she was driving in a junkyard fifty miles out of town. The license plate was gone, but they’re sure it was hers. She’s probably across the state line, possibly on her way to Mexico. They figure they’re going west.”

“But they’ll keep looking.”

“For a time, at least. It was a small-time operation. The big dealers in this part of the country use what’s been termed the Nazi method of producing meth since pseudo is so closely regulated. This guy used cold medicine, which is usually just seen out west.”

“Which is why they think they’re heading that way?”

Mark shrugged. “Apparently. They think he’s from there, or at least has close ties in the area.”

Adjusting the denim bag on her shoulder, Meredith crossed her arms. She’d worn her beaded jeans this morning because they were Kelsey’s favorite. She wished now she’d also worn a sweater.

“What about his rig out back?”

“He was in the process of buying it. Got behind on his payments and owed more on it than it’s worth. Ames thinks he’s hoping the bank will repossess the truck and cut their losses.”

“Charming folks.” And Kelsey had been over there, with them, every Friday for the past four months. She should have known, done more sooner.

“Kenny’s father, James, is nowhere to be found. The boy’s with his mother, who was devastated to learn that Kenny’s father had been seeing him again. They’re both being scheduled for counseling. Ames believes Kenny was as much a pawn in all this as Kelsey was.”

“It’s a shame it doesn’t take some kind of certification to become a parent,” Meredith said. “To their kids they’re God.”

“Kelsey’s going to be fine, and that’s the most important thing,” Mark said, almost as if he could read her mind. His chin was stiff and she knew it was taking all he had to maintain control.

Bending forward, closer to his ear, she said, “Beat your pillow to a pulp when you go home to shower.”