Mad Max: Unintended Consequences Read Online Free PDF

married, wrapped up in each other and the kids.
    Whip stepped out of the room.
    “Any response?” I gazed around him at the mummy.
    “None.”
    The Colonel snorted awake and dry washed his face with his hands.
    “Can you take me home, Colonel?”
    Home? Home was New York City. Where the hell did that slip come from? Thank you very much, Dr. Freud!
    I whispered, “I love you,” kissed Merry's bandaged forehead, and promised to be back soon. I avoided the indignity of being “driven” to the hospital door in a wheelchair by going up to see Merry. Arm in arm with the Colonel, I marched out the same way I entered—on my feet and on my own terms.
    The sun had come out, but its brightness did nothing to lighten my mood. I chatted with the Colonel for a few minutes, but my mind whirled with everything I'd have to do to change my life, even for a few weeks.
    While my gut knew Merry's recovery would be lengthy, if at all, I could only see myself helping until Whip got his head around raising the kids. I pulled my BlackBerry out and scanned my upcoming meetings, marking those I could move, those I could do by conference call, and those I'd have to go back to New York to attend.
    The Colonel and I completed the drive to the suburbs in silence. I stared at the winter-shrouded yards when we turned into Riverbend, long one of the most desirable suburbs near Richmond. Bare limbed specimen trees accented each front yard, as precise as Buckingham Palace guards. Bushes displayed end-of-season haircuts; some were wrapped in burlap to prevent frostbite. This region got frost and snow. Why grow plants not rated for your hardiness zone?
    I looked at Merry's street through a different lens. Up until that moment, I'd seen the street for what it was—an upscale suburban enclave on the outskirts of a medium-sized Virginia city. Now I looked at it as a place where I might live for a few weeks. The focus shifted. The view made me uncomfortable.
    Whip and Merry lived at the end of a cul-de-sac, the only whitewashed brick in a cluster of redbrick colonials. At least the white showed a modicum of originality. The black shutters and red door were the approved decorating treatment for every two-story house in the neighborhood, no matter the outside color.
    Dear God, Merry's raising Alex and Emilie in a Hallmark Hall of Fame suburb. I bet everyone baked the same cookies on the same day. I shuddered. I left this lifestyle behind so long ago. Can I really return to it, even for a short period of time? I'd be happier taking the kids to New York. My apartment had more than enough room.
    Bette met us at the door. She appeared worried about the Colonel. Truth be told, so was I. He looked ready to collapse. His heart must be worse than Whip knew. Then she saw my face.
    “The Colonel told me you fell. Are you all right?”
    “Looks worse than it is. Besides, Alex is going to love teasing me about my black eye.” I looked around the entryway. “Are the kids home yet?”
    It was early afternoon.
    “Not until four.”
    Bette led us into the kitchen and ground coffee for a fresh pot. I inhaled with a sigh of gratitude and turned half an ear toward the Colonel's latest recap. Merry's house was a stark contrast to my formal apartment. I looked around and recoiled from the fake country motif. Everything had a rooster or chicken on it.
    Wasn't this cows and sheep at Christmas? When did she switch to chickens? Too much junk on the countertops made them unuseable.
    “Maxine? Earth to Maxine. Cups?”
    “Sorry.” I searched for and found cups, sugar and cream, and spoons. Bette put some cookies on a plate, and we sat at the round pine table.
    “We've talked about taking the kids home with us, but we live too far away to get them to and from school every day.” Bette stirred sugar into her coffee and picked up an Oreo. “It would be different if it were summer vacation.”
    “Well, it isn't. It's out of the question. You'd spend all day shuttling the kids