Sacrifices of the Siren [Sirens and Sailors 6] (Siren Publishing Allure) (9 page)

The young nurse returned about an hour later with cups of coffee for the three sailors. “I sent a message to let Dr. Ernaut know you’re here, he’ll be back up shortly,” she explained as she handed them their drinks.

“It must have been important. Was it serious?” Dr. Jay enquired politely as he sipped his coffee.

The nurse nodded. “Yes, I believe it was. A young girl was brought in. She’d had some kind of nervous breakdown, apparently, and had been badly beaten. She was found in the street screaming.”

Blandon felt himself go very hot and he slowly put down his cup. “Who is she?” His heart was hammering as he spoke and he felt his throat begin to close.

The nurse shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Dr. Jay was on his feet. “Nurse, would it be possible to see this girl? We might know her.” His voice was calm but his jaw was tight.

“I’m not sure. I’ll take you to the department if you like. Dr. Ernaut’s still down there.”

They followed as quickly as they could. Blandon clutched the little bag in his hand as he shook with fear. Dr. Ernaut met them in the corridor just outside a little side-room. The nurse explained to him that the men might know the patient and he frowned.

“She’s been sedated,” he said quietly.

“Please.” Blandon felt like he would burst. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted her to be Melantho or not, but he had to know.

The elderly doctor looked over at Dr. Jay and then nodded. “Be very quiet, though.”

He slowly opened the door to the little room and they peered into the darkness. Blandon gasped as his eyes fixed on her long mousy-brown hair which was splayed across the crisp white pillow. Her face looked peaceful as she slept, but her eyes looked puffy and her cheeks were bright red. He felt his stomach lurch and his heart ached.

“It’s Melantho,” Dr. Jay whispered to Dr. Ernaut. “We came to talk to you about her.”

Blandon sniffed as he felt a hot tear roll down his cheek. He wiped it away angrily, and felt a large hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s go talk,” Dr. Jay said as he rubbed the young man’s back. “She needs to sleep.”

Dr. Ernaut gathered up her notes and led them back to his office. The young nurse arrived with a drink for the elderly doctor and a plate of biscuits. They sat in silence for a few minutes while they digested the events.

“We came to ask for your help.” Dr. Jay explained the situation.

“She’ll be OK,” Dr. Ernaut assured them. “She just needs some time to recover.”

“Have the police been involved?” Farris asked.

“They were called to the scene. A couple of old ladies said she tried to attack them. They claimed she’d gone mad. Neighbors heard yelling and shouting, and a passerby saw her come flying out of the house where she collapsed, screaming hysterically in the road. He called an ambulance. She was brought in just over an hour ago. We made an assessment of her wounds, she’s got quite a few bruises and her back’s got a couple of severe marks—looks like she’s been hit with a stick of some kind.” Dr. Ernaut was studying the notes as he spoke.

“Those old witches were beating
her
, not the other way around,” Blandon said through gritted teeth. Bile rose in his throat and he clenched his fists.

“The police will have a copy of her medical report,” Dr. Ernaut said calmly.

“It’s so unfair. She’s done nothing wrong.” Blandon choked back a sob as he shook uncontrollably with anger and horror.

Farris patted him on the back. “It’s all right, bro. Everyone knows those old crones are just lying. The cops’ll get the truth. Then she can come home.”

“I think she’ll need to stay with us for a while,” Dr. Ernaut said with a frown. “We need to assess her mental state.”

“She’ll be fine once she’s home.” Blandon insisted.

“Dr. Jasun, can I have a private word with you? As her doctor, I mean.” The elderly doctor had been perusing the medical notes in his hand, and didn’t look happy.

“We’ll wait outside,” Farris said, nodding to Blandon.

Blandon reluctantly followed the large dark-haired sailor into the corridor, where they both paced up and down until the door opened again. It was only about fifteen minutes, but it felt like hours to Blandon, whose head was swimming with possibilities about what was in those notes.

He followed Farris back into the office and took his seat, all the time staring at Dr. Jay. The young doctor ran a hand through his blond wavy hair and sighed.

“I think we may have found out what Mel’s been keeping from us, and why she’s the way she is,” Dr. Jay began.

Blandon felt his mouth go dry and his heart hammered as he waited, with bated breath, for the outcome.

“They did an assessment of her wounds when she was brought in and they’ve noted some scarring. It looks like Melantho may have had a caesarean section.” Dr. Jay was very calm and quiet as he explained the situation.

Blandon felt his own jaw drop and he stared at the young doctor in disbelief.

“Have you any idea when?” Farris’s voice was low and placid.

Dr. Ernaut frowned. “Fairly recent, I’d say, maybe a couple of years or so.”

“But how? I mean, where’s the baby?” Blandon’s mind was in a whirl as he spluttered.

“That’s what we need to find out,” the elderly doctor explained gently. “I’ve got someone checking through the medical records, but she doesn’t seem to have anything documented at this hospital. My staff are going through general computer records and ringing around to see if they can find out anything. So far we’ve got nothing, but if the child was born in hospital—which it must have been as she had surgery—there will be a record somewhere.”

“Even if…?” Farris was obviously unable to say the word.

“There would be a death record,” Dr. Jay clarified.

The room was silent for a few minutes while the news sank in.

“We’ll know more when she wakes up,” Dr. Ernaut said at last.

“And there would be a paper trail if it was adopted, right?” Farris inquired.

Dr. Ernaut nodded. “Oh yes, most definitely.”

Blandon suddenly felt relieved. This was the best he could hope for. The baby could be alive and well and living with a new family somewhere.

“She’s quite a melancholy little thing,” Dr. Jay said. “This might explain why. They’re going to organize some counselling for her when she’s had a good rest.”

“Can I stay with her?” Blandon asked hopefully.

“I’m sorry, son. She needs complete rest and when she wakes up she might not want to speak to anyone for a while. It depends what’s happened recently and in the past. We need to get to the bottom of it so we know how to deal with it. The main thing is that she needs time and space. We have to respect that.” Dr. Ernaut looked sad as he spoke.

“She’ll get the best help there is,” Dr. Jay said, standing up. “The best thing we can do is be around if and when she needs us. Until then we do this on her terms.”

“So we just leave her here?” Blandon was horrified.

“She wouldn’t want to come where we’re going, bro,” Farris said grimly as he stood up.

Blandon didn’t want to stand up and leave, but thought he’d better follow suit. “Where are we going?” He frowned, puzzled.

Farris snorted. “To find some answers.”

Blandon left the hospital with hope in his heart. Doing something practical was uplifting, even though it meant facing Hermandine again. He was certain this was the “hold” the old crone had over his beautiful girl.
What has she gone through? Why can’t she talk about it? Who is the father?
His mind whirled with questions and he was sure as hell the old woman had the answers.

The three sailors marched down the drizzly street to the little house in Harbor Grove. The curtains were still drawn and a dim light shone through.

Farris’s large fist hammered angrily on the gray door. Silence. He thumped the door again. A twitch of the curtain told them that the old crones were aware of their presence.

“If you don’t open this door now I’ll knock it right off its hinges,” he bellowed through the wood.

There was no one in the dark street now, so the men were confident they wouldn’t be interrupted this time.

“Go away or I’ll call the police,” a croaky voice threatened through the door.

“Well, that should save us a job, ma’am,” Dr. Jay called back calmly.

“What do you want?” Solon’s shrill voice permeated the wood this time.

“Just to talk to you,” Dr. Jay replied firmly.

“We’ve got nothing to say to you, young man.” Hermandine’s voice sounded like a rusty old hinge.

“Well, that’s a real shame ’cause we’ve got plenty to say to you,” Farris snarled.

Dr. Jay rolled his eyes at his friend, shaking his head. “It shouldn’t take long,” the doctor called through the door, calmly.

Farris huffed in obvious annoyance and Blandon bit his lip nervously.

“We don’t wish to speak to you.” Solon’s piercing shriek conveyed her agitation.

“OK, ladies. In that case you can explain yourselves to the cops. Good night.” Dr. Jay turned to go and the other two men followed, horrified. They had only taken a few steps down the street when they heard the door open.

“Just a minute.” Hermandine’s distinctive croak stopped them in their tracks, and Blandon detected a slight smirk on Dr. Jay’s lips as he turned around to face her.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“What did you want?” Her voice was a little shaky as she stared at him with beady eyes.

Blandon and Farris followed Dr. Jay back to the front door.

“Well, firstly, we thought you might be interested to know how Melantho is, and secondly we thought you might be able to help her by answering a few questions for us.” His calm demeanor was a credit to him.

“Go on, then,” Solon snapped from behind the older lady.

“You want to do this inside or out here in the street?” Dr. Jay raised a quizzical eyebrow to the ladies, who slowly stood backward and allowed the three sailors to enter their pokey little house.

Blandon hadn’t noticed earlier how awful the room smelled. It was clean and tidy, but there was an ingrained stench of sweat which churned his stomach. He knew Melantho must have hated it. She was always scrupulous with her cleanliness and smelled of the sweet Refrainian flowers with which she made her soap.

The three men filed into the small room, where they had to stand as there was nowhere for them to sit. The two old women took to their shabby, comfy-looking chairs, glaring up at the men.

“Aren’t you gonna ask how she’s doing?” Farris snapped coolly.

“Well?” Hermandine enquired.

“Melantho is in a pretty bad way. She appears to have had some sort of mental breakdown. Would you be able to fill us in on that?” Dr. Jay asked, frowning thoughtfully at the old ladies.

Hermandine and Solon exchanged a look.

“That might explain why she attacked us,” Hermandine replied slowly.

“She attacked you?” Farris asked doubtfully.

“Yes. And she threatened to kill us,” Solon added indignantly.

“Is that why you beat her?” Farris enquired through gritted teeth.

“It was self-defense. She went mad. Called us ‘old hags’ if you please.” Hermandine was losing her cool already.

“And why was that? What had you called her?” Farris wanted to know.

“Now look here. If you’re going to start making assumptions about us you can all leave right now!” Solon was clearly furious.

Dr. Jay sighed. “Now, why don’t you just calm down a minute, ma’am. There is another important issue we need you to help us with.”

“And why would we wish to help you?” Solon quipped.

“Because it might be the only way of any of us helping Melantho.” The doctor spoke firmly.

The women looked at each other for a moment before Hermandine spoke. “What is it that you think we can help with?”

“The doctor at the hospital recognized one of Melantho’s scars as a caesarean section. They need to know when she had her baby and what happened to it,” Dr. Jay said calmly, as the men watched the women’s reactions closely.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Solon shouted, outraged, and started to stand.

“Then perhaps Hermandine would tell us. That girl’s life might depend on this.” Dr. Jay narrowed his eyes at the older woman and waited patiently.

“How would I know?” Hermandine’s thin lips almost disappeared as she clenched her mouth together so tightly.

“Because she was in your charge when it happened. You
were
the overall leader of the Elders on Refrainia a couple of years ago, I understand?” Dr. Jay asked pointedly.

“You know full well I was.” Hermandine sounded irritated.

“So what was the procedure when one of the girls got pregnant?” Farris’s voice was low and sounded ominous even to Blandon’s ears.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen. The Sirens aren’t like the women on the mainland. They’re built differently.” Hermandine tried to be dismissive but the men weren’t buying any of it.