Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
At the hospital, I filled out forms for Tessa, who was being prepped for surgery.
She had a compound fracture in her leg, and it appeared that she also had a concussion.
The nurse asked me if she'd taken anything, as she couldn't speak clearly.
I said I thought she might have been drinking, but I didn't know what she had consumed.
After being sent to the waiting room, I texted Morgan, who was as shocked and scared as I was, although all we really knew at this point was that Tessa had fallen down the stairs.
I had never seen her get wasted to a point where she couldn't walk or talk, but it she'd apparently done a lot of drinking with Finn.
Thinking about Finn made me angry. Why had he let her get out of his car in the condition she was in? And how had she gotten into that condition?
After an hour of worrying and being told by the nurse that it would probably be another hour or longer before Tessa was out of surgery, I called the bar and asked for Finn. He came on the line a moment later.
"Finn Kelly."
"This is Cassidy, Tessa's friend."
"Sure. How can I help you?"
There was no trace of concern in his voice, and that annoyed me more. "You can tell me how Tessa got so drunk."
"What?" he asked, surprise and confusion in his voice. "Why don't you ask her?"
"Because she's in surgery. After you dropped her off, she fell down the stairs at the inn, her breath reeking of alcohol. She was completely incoherent. Did she take anything else? Or was she just drinking?"
"She's in surgery?" he echoed.
"Yes. She broke her leg. They said something about a compound fracture."
"Is she going to be all right?"
"I hope so. But I don't know. She hit her head, too. What did you do all day? I know Tessa. She drinks, but she doesn't get that drunk. And you were only supposed to go to lunch."
"We ran into a friend, and he offered to take us out on his boat.
Tessa jumped at the invite, and I didn't have anything going on, so we went.
It was a fun day. Look, I'm really sorry to hear Tessa is hurt, but I didn't think she was that drunk.
She had drinks, but it was over a long period of time. "
"You didn't notice she was slurring her words right before you dropped her off?"
"Actually, she slept for most of the ride back. She was a little sleepy when I woke her up, but she seemed okay. She said she'd talk to me soon and waved goodbye."
"She slept in the car? That doesn't sound like her. She's usually wired."
"I'm just telling you what happened. We had a lot of sun and some drinks, and I think she was tired. Where are you?"
"Seabrook Medical Center."
"That's a good facility." He paused. "She just fell down the stairs?"
"As far as I know. She couldn't tell me what happened as she was completely out of it. But I heard her scream, and found her at the bottom of the stairs."
"That's terrible. I'm sorry. I honestly didn't think she was incapable of making it up the stairs. If I had, I would have walked her up. But she said she was fine. She just needed some fresh air to wake up, that it had been a long day."
I didn't know if I believed him or not. He seemed sincere, but everything about their date felt off: the sudden boat trip, the delay in getting back. He could say honestly all he wanted, but until I spoke Tessa, I wasn't going to trust a word he was saying.
"Will you text me when she gets out of surgery?" Finn asked. "Let me know if she's okay. I'm about to head home. I'll give you my personal phone number."
"I guess I could do that," I said grudgingly, putting his number into my phone and then saying goodbye.
The next hour and a half seemed to take forever. I made a trip to the cafeteria to get a salad and some coffee. I didn't really feel like eating, but I had to pass the time.
It was almost eleven when the doctor finally made his way into the waiting room. He was an older man with gray hair and wise eyes, and I immediately felt more reassured.
"She’s out of surgery," he said. "The fracture was severe, but we cleaned the wound thoroughly and stabilized the bone. Everything went the way we wanted it to."
"Thank God! When can I see her?"
"She's in recovery and will be asleep for several more hours.
In addition to the leg, she has a mild concussion, which we are monitoring, but don't expect that to be a long-term problem.
You're welcome to stay, but it might be better to come back in the morning, when she'll be awake and able to speak to you. "
"I hate to have her wake up alone."
"We have a great care team here. They'll take excellent care of her."
"How long will she need to stay in the hospital?"
"At least two to three days. With this kind of fracture, we need to watch closely for swelling and infection. She’ll be on IV antibiotics for the first couple of days, and we need to make sure her pain is controlled.
It isn’t anything unusual," he assured me, "just the safest way to make sure her leg is healing correctly.
She has some rehab ahead of her, but her long-term prognosis is excellent. "
I was relieved to hear that. "Thank you."
After he left, I debated whether I wanted to wait or not.
But if she was just going to be asleep, it seemed wiser to go to the inn and then come back in the morning with some of her things.
I sent Morgan a quick text to reassure her that Tessa would be okay.
I sent an even shorter one to Finn, just because I'd promised, and then walked out to my car.
The drive back was dark, lonely, and a little eerie, with the fog and headlights occasionally blinding me.
Pulling into the parking lot of the inn didn't feel any more welcoming.
I didn't know if someone had pushed Tessa down the stairs, or if she'd simply slipped.
I hoped it was the latter, but I couldn't be sure.
Maybe someone had seen an opportunity to get rid of at least one of us.
I couldn't let myself be the next casualty.
When I entered the inn around midnight, I was surprised to see Ellen sitting on a stool at the desk, looking at her computer. She took off her reading glasses and gave me a look of concern as she said, "How is Tessa?"
"She had surgery on her leg, and she has a mild concussion. The doctor said she'll have to stay at the medical center for a few days. I'm going back in the morning to see her."
"Did you have a chance to ask her what happened?"
Ellen's tone felt deliberately neutral, but I suspected this was why she'd stayed up to see me. "I didn't talk to her. She was in too much pain, and they took her away for tests and surgery."
"I'm so sorry she got hurt. I checked the stairs to see if there was anything there, any wet spot, or something she might have tripped on, but I didn't see anything." Ellen paused. "She did appear to be intoxicated. Was that confirmed at the hospital?"
"I don't know." I felt like Ellen was creating a defense for any potential lawsuit. "I'll talk to her tomorrow."
"Will you be staying here then? Or perhaps you'd prefer to stay closer to the hospital while she's recovering."
As much as I wanted to check out in the morning, I couldn't leave without talking to Tessa first. "I'm not sure of my plans. I'll let you know tomorrow."
"Of course. You must be exhausted. Can I get you anything? Tea or water, a snack?"
I was surprised she was being so nice all of a sudden. Cynically, I wondered if it wasn't because she was worried about getting sued. "I'm fine. I just want to go to bed."
"I'll see you in the morning."
I headed up the stairs, my gaze sweeping the landing where Tessa had started her tumble, but as Ellen had said, there was absolutely nothing there that could have tripped her up.
On the third floor, all was quiet. Anna was gone.
Tessa was gone. And I had no idea who was in the other room on this floor, but I felt very alone as I entered my room.
Everything was as I'd left it, but there were clean towels on my bed, so clearly someone had come inside while I'd been gone. I had put my notes away when I'd gone downstairs for happy hour, but if someone had gone through the drawers, they could have seen them.
At this point, I wasn't sure that mattered. Our reason for being in Stonecross would come out soon. That thought reminded me of the podcast that Tessa had scheduled to post tonight at eight o'clock. If I'd remembered earlier, I would have rescheduled it, but it was past that time now.
I pulled out my computer and opened the podcast, reading the comments below it. There were so many responses, three times what we'd seen previously. There were a ton of questions, showing that the listeners were really invested in what we were doing.
I didn't have the energy to answer any comments tonight. Checking my email next, I saw two emails from potential sponsors. They were very excited to see where the investigation was going to go.
How could I tell them it was probably going nowhere now that Tessa was incapacitated?
I couldn't. I had to do at least one more show on my own, so I could tell them what happened to Tessa, but that would have to wait until I knew what had happened. There was too much uncertainty to make decisions tonight. Tomorrow, hopefully, things would become clear.
I got to the hospital by nine o'clock on Tuesday morning.
Tessa was awake with an untouched breakfast tray in front of her.
Her face was pale, and there was a small bandage on her forehead.
Her leg was propped up on pillows, wrapped from ankle to mid-thigh in thick white bandages.
A hard, slightly curved shell hugged the back of her calf, held in place with elastic wraps.
Only her toes showed at the end, swollen and a little bruised.
"Hey," I said, moving next to the bed with a smile. "You gave me a scare. How are you feeling?"