"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."
Harriet was asleep before he'd finished his warning.
The doctor was serious about Harriet getting rest, and although she used every argument she could come up with to change his mind, he prevailed. He cut her visitation time to ten minutes per hour every other hour for the duration of her stay. Aunt Beth and Aiden both grumbled about being excepted from those limits, but the doctor was adamant.
Just as he'd said, Harriet was there for another full day, and had to admit she did feel more rested as a result of his strict policy. Nurse Heather told her she would have probably been there another two days otherwise.