California Girl Read Online Free PDF Page A

of steel, she noted. “How did she take off her monitors
without everyone in the hospital running into her room?”
    He didn’t touch her again, although she might have liked it
if he had. Despite her annoyance with the man’s behavior, he awakened
sensations she’d thought long dead. Self-discovery included exploring
sensations, didn’t it? It was a pity she and the good doc appeared to be at
odds regarding Mame’s health. Obviously, he thought his aunt hadn’t the brains
to take care of herself.
    Maybe it was time she learned to accept being at odds with
medical authorities. They certainly had proved they weren’t infallible gods.
Perhaps Elliot was part of the learning process the Universe had in mind for
her.
    “My father and my grandfather were doctors, and Mame worked
in their offices,” Elliot replied. “She knows as much about medical equipment
as I do. It’s urgent that I find her.”
    “Is she going to be okay?” She didn’t want to ask, but cold
tentacles of fear wrapped around her heart. Mame epitomized the vibrancy of
life that Alys wanted to return to, and she would do anything for her.
    Remembering the gleam in Mame’s eye, Alys had the sudden
suspicion Mame was counting on that. Which meant— She studied Mame’s nephew
speculatively as he spoke.
    “The few tests they took indicate congestion and
arrhythmia.” Elliot’s mouth tightened. “Without further testing, I can’t
predict the result, but she’s already passed out once. It could easily happen
again. She might not get treatment quickly enough next time.”
    Alys swallowed hard and stared into the canopy of colorful
maple leaves over Doc Nice’s shoulder. “She’s had these spells before, hasn’t
she? And lived to tell about them?” She countered his fear with her hope,
understanding better than he that neither of them had a choice in Mame’s
decision.
    “The more often she has these attacks, the more her heart
tissue is damaged. We have to adjust her medication, and she has to rest. We
may need to put her in an assisted care facility.”
    She could almost hear her friend’s belligerent response to
that: It’s my life and I’ll die if I want
to.
    She didn’t want Mame to die, but she didn’t want her to
spend the rest of her life in a nursing home either.
    Torn, she glanced over at the pink Cadillac, half expecting
Mame to step out and demand that she be allowed to live her life her way. “I
can’t believe she’d leave without me,” she murmured, more to herself than to
Elliot. “She never drives farther than the grocery store or school. I was
amazed when she drove over here.”
    “Mame is capable of anything when she puts her mind to it,”
Elliot said with conviction. “I have to find her before she does something
foolish.”
    As the policemen emerged, dustier but empty-handed, Alys had
a thought. “Her suitcases? Were they still in the house? Did you look?”
    “What suitcases?” And then his eyes widened. “She always
packs and leaves them by the door. There weren’t any.”
    “We were planning on leaving first thing in the morning. I
told her I’d carry them for her. Maybe they’re still in her room?”
    He shook his head in certainty. “I had an electric lift
installed on the stairway so she didn’t have to walk up and down. She refuses
to move to a smaller place, but she hates the lift. She sends things up and
down in the chair and she walks. She would have sent the suitcases down just to
prove she could.”
    She remembered Mame’s disdain for the lift.
    Hope faded. Alys bit the tip of a finger and tried to think
where else Mame could have gone, but she knew there was only one conclusion.
Mame had her suitcases and her nephew’s car. She had a copy of the itinerary
and an old boyfriend waiting at the end of her journey. Alys didn’t think
Elliot would appreciate the significance of that.
    “She’s driving to New Mexico,” Alys said with a sigh. Mame
had left without her.
    “New Mexico?”