Sin Worth the Penance Read online

  “Hmm.” He studied me. “Well, we were about to cordon off the area then head back to the hospital to see if she was awake. Ya’ll have to leave.”

  I ran a hand along my chin, with its morning stubble. “Aye. I’m leaving.” I made it to the car, then discreetly bent and emptied my stomach on the grass. I glanced in their direction. They were watching me. I didn’t give a shite.

  I went to pick up Paddy. He was waiting and had already put a closed to business sign on the door. Deir’ was right; he was about out of his mind with worry, grief, and anger. The last bit came out on the ride to the hospital as he kept up a litany of what he was going to do with the guy when he saw him, graphically detailing what parts he was going to lop off and how he was going to do it. We Irish curse quite a lot on a regular day, but on a day like today? Needless to say, I’d never heard as many uses and conjugations of the f-word.

  He cleaned it up by the time we got to Deirdre. And if I thought she was losing it before I got Paddy, that was positively stoic compared to what happened when he arrived. I couldn’t even understand a word she was saying. I went to the nurses’ station to check on things. Still in surgery. Nothing new to learn.

  So, to the rhythm of Paddy’s cooing of “there now,” I took up my pacing again. Deir’ fell asleep in Paddy’s lap. We got a bite to eat. The nurses gave us scrubs, so we didn’t have to scare the living bejaysus out of any more of their customers. Paddy quietly dropped a few more f-bombs. Around ten-fifteen the young doctor strode toward us. We mobbed him, and he dragged us into some tiny broom-closet of a room to fill us in.

  “She’s stable. Our biggest concern at first was the punctured lung, which was perforated by a broken rib. She had three of those. We repaired that damage then needed to take care of several small bleeders. The good news is, no vital organs were damaged—besides the lung—unbelievably. The bad news is, she has a broken jaw. But we fixed that by inserting a plate.”

  Deirdre furrowed her brow. “I thought they wired broken jaws shut most of the time.”

  “You’re right. They do. To try to avoid surgery. But since she was already under anesthetics, we took care of that. We called a maxillofacial surgeon in. One side benefit of using this method is it has a much shorter recovery time.” He glanced at the notes he was holding. “She has forty-eight stitches in the large gash on her cheek, and three more required some stitches, a few we used butterfly sterile strips on. Her left arm is broken in two places, and the left hand,” he exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck, “that’s going to need several surgeries. Most of the bones were shattered.” He peered at us. “That one’s going to be problematical. I mean—” he blew air out through his teeth and shook his head, gesturing vaguely, “it’s a real mess.” He scanned his notes. “The injuries were mainly to the torso—oh, and she wasn’t sexually assaulted, by the way—”

  Deirdre looked to heaven. “Well, thank ya Lawd for something.”

  He flipped through pages. “So not much damage to her legs or pelvis. She has a fractured cheek bone, but that and the burns we will let heal by themselves. We’ll need to—”

  “Wait. I’m sorry. Did you say…burns?” Gorge rose in my throat again.

  “Aye.” He glanced from one of us to the other. “To put it bluntly, your friend was used as an ashtray. There were thirteen—” he checked the page “no, fifteen—burn marks on her consistent with the size and shape of a cigarette—and there were ashes—on her chest. And a half dozen more appear to have been made by a cigar.”

  “Sweet Jaysus!” Paddy murmured, putting a hand over his mouth. Deirdre simply stared at the man as if he were a sandwich short of a picnic.

  “Umm….” He flipped more pages. I stared at his shoes. They were covered by those blue baggie things. “She lost a lot of blood, about forty percent of her volume, but we gave her more and—between the lung repair and that—her vitals and color are much, much better.”

  He sighed. “Other dental work will need to be done. And of course, we’re going to watch her closely to make sure we didn’t miss anything, or that there are no complications. Oh, and the cheek bone. Did I mention the cheek bone?” We nodded. “All right. Good. So, yeah, we stitched up the cut, but we’re letting the fracture heal on its own.” He sighed. “Oh, and we are concerned about the…left ear,” again, he searched the notes, “no, excuse me—right ear. There may be some hearing loss there, but we’ll have to check that and the eyes later. When the jaw was broken, it slipped and caused damage in the ear canal. Everything is very close in there. Doesn’t seem to be any damage to the optic nerve, though.” He tapped the top of the chart. “I’m certain you folks have a lot of questions, and I’ll answer them all, after I get some sleep.” He did appear spent. He stood. “We’re going to let her sleep, oh…for a good four hours, maybe more if all looks good. She won’t be able to talk much when she comes around because of the jaw. We’ll give her some paper to communicate with if necessary. She’s right-handed, correct?”

  We all glanced at each other. Deirdre spoke up. “I’m fairly certain she is, aye.”

  “Good. Cause she won’t be doing anything else with that left for a while. So, if you all will excuse me, I’ll send a nurse in a few minutes to show ya to a different waiting room near recovery. But, like I said, she’s going to be sleeping, so this may be a good time to go home and get some rest yourselves.”

  Deirdre grabbed his arm as he passed. “Thank you, Doctor.”

  “Aye, thank you,” Paddy and I said belatedly.

  After he left, we all sat staring at the ground.

  “My Gawd,” Paddy said. In some situations, even cursing can’t suffice. “There ain’t a hell evil enough.”

  Chapter 11

  Killian

  The guards returned to the hospital waiting room but set up on the other side. I felt them watching us, but I was beyond caring. When they came out and said those glorious words, “she’s awake,” the two men stepped in our path on our way to her room.

  “We’d like to go in with you. I asked the doctor, and he said it would be all right.”

  “Come, go, I don’t care. Just get out of our way,” I said. Even though we knew she was out of the woods, I wanted to see her for myself. Paddy and Deirdre simply stepped around them.

  The doctor waited at the door. “Only a few minutes. She needs her rest.”

  We nodded and pushed into the room.

  “There she is,” Deirdre said brightly.

  Paddy had a hard time holding back his thoughts. “Holy shit!” It was the first time he’d seen her and the bruises, swelling, cuts…she actually looked worse than before. She wore a bandage on her cheek, and near her temple on her left side. Her left arm was in a cast from above the elbow to almost her fingertips. It was hard to tell if her eyes were open or closed with all the swelling. A blue nylony thingie wrapped under her chin and completely around her head, making her look like Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol.

  The doctor entered behind us. “She could be a tad loopy. We asked her not to talk much because of the jaw. That facial wrap is holding an ice pack to her face, to help with the swelling.”

  “Hi, darlin’.” Deirdre was the brave one, going to her bedside. She lightly touched the uncast hand, but probably hesitated because of the bruising there. “Poor thing. Ya must be in a lot of pain. But the doctors here are going to take good care of ya. And Paddy and I and Killian will be right here with ya whenever ya need us.” She waved Paddy over, and he migrated to her side.

  “Hey, there, Bridey.” He didn’t seem to know what to say after that.

  I hung back, not sure where I stood. I’d been at Murphey’s for less than a month. They had known Bridey all her life.

  “Her lung is doing nicely. Oxygen levels are close to normal, so we removed her breathing tube,” the doctor told me. “Her throat will hurt for a bit, but, all-in-all, it went very well.”

  Bridey tried to speak, but it was hard to understand her. Between the loss of mobility with h
er jaw and the possible damage to her throat, along with being doped up, her voice was both mumbled and raspy. Apparently, Deirdre got it, though.

  “Thank us for what? We wouldn’t want to be anywhere but by your side. You know that, don’t ya?”

  She nodded slightly, and a lone tear slid down her cheek. Watching our bright, energetic Bridey laid so low was difficult. She’d lost all of the piss and vinegar that made her who she was. She mumbled again.

  “Killian?” Deirdre asked to make sure she was hearing right.

  I perked up at the sound of my name.

  “Oh, he’s right here.”

  I went to the side of the bed her broken arm was on, as it was the only space left. I gently ran my hand along her hair, steering clear of the bandage. I struggled to speak over the lump in my throat. “Hey, beautiful.”

  She laughed, then moaned. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts too much. I know I’m not beautiful right now.”

  I feathered a kiss on her brow, her forehead being one of the lesser bruised spots. “I tell ya what, ya look damn good to me.” I kissed her again and kept my face near hers, closing my eyes. “Ya scared the hell out of us.”

  “Not me,” Deirdre said boldly. “I knew ya had it in you to get through this.”

  “Mmm,” she murmured in response.

  One of the guards cleared their throats.

  The doctor spoke up. “Now, I’m sure ya’d love to talk to your friend more, but she needs to get some rest, and I promised the officers here I would let them ask her a few questions.”

  They stepped forward, and Paddy and Deirdre moved reluctantly back.

  “Hallo, Mrs. Flatery. I’m Officer Duncan, and this is Officer Yeats.”

  “How do?” the other one said, proving he wasn’t mute after all.

  “Mrs. Flatery, do you remember anything about the incident leading to your injuries?”

  She nodded. I wished I could see in her eyes and be able to tell if she wanted to talk about it or not. Although I wasn’t sure if we could deny them. I’d damned well give it a go, if I needed to.

  Duncan smiled. “Good. We’ll just ask you a few questions, then.” He peered at me. “We’d prefer it if we could speak to her alone.”

  “Well, I’m not leaving,” the doctor jumped in. “And if I see this is stressful for my patient, your interview is finished.” He crossed his arms. Good. He wasn’t letting them walk all over him.

  I glanced at Paddy and Deir’.

  “Doctor,” Deirdre said, “don’t you think it might be good for Bridey to have at least one of her people here to support her?”

  He bobbed his head energetically. “Aye. Aye, I do.”

  Officer Duncan didn’t look like he liked it. “Fine, then.”

  Paddy and I left. We knew we couldn’t fight Deirdre.

  A couple of questions my ass.

  It seemed like forever before the door opened and Aunt Deirdre stepped out. She immediately turned and put a hand against the wall, the other curled around her stomach. Paddy was up like a shot. I hurried behind.

  “Deirdre?”

  She gaped at him, blinking, with a dazed expression.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Th-they….” She took a deep breath and began again. “Those sorry bastards—”

  Paddy’s eyes went round. It wasn’t that Deirdre had a rule against cursing, she just rarely did it. And if she did, it’d be in jest. She never said a cross word to anyone. Except maybe Paddy. A visit to the confessional was definitely in her future.

  She looked down and shook her head. “They…” She swallowed, struggling to get the words out. “They made it into a bloody game.”

  Paddy and I peered at each other, confused.

  “They made sport out of beating our Bridey. They said…they’d each take a turn at—” She walked about in a tight circle, pressing her lips together. Waiting to hear what would come out of her mouth was hell. “Did ya know they took a lead pipe to her? They beat her with a lead pipe. Four men took turns—” She bent in half, steadying herself with the wall again. I thought she was either going to throw up or faint. “I can’t say it.” She started crying.

  The doctor and the two guards came out of the room, all looking a tad greenish.

  Paddy put an arm around her. “There, there, Deir’. It’s all over now. No one’s going to—” He paused, taking a breath. “No one’s going to hurt our Bridey ever again.” He scanned the vicinity. “Come here.” He led us to the room where the doctor’d counseled us, knocked on it, and when no one answered, we went in. Paddy helped her into a chair. “Ya need some water?”

  She shook her head.

  “Ya don’t have to tell us if ya don’t want to.”

  My jaw tightened. I needed to know.

  “No. I have to get it out of my mind.” She inhaled slowly and exhaled. “The game was, they each got a turn to…hurt Bridey in a new way. Whoever’s was most painful and most freaking creative won.”

  I closed my eyes.

  “One of them took the pipe and held it like a knife, and while the other three restrained her, fighting her hand onto the table, he hammered the end of the pipe onto it. That’s how they shattered her bones.”

  I wiped at my brow. “My Gawd. The pain… It’s a wonder she didn’t pass out.”

  “Oh, she did. For a while. Until they woke her snuffing their cigarettes out on her chest. She thinks they were drinking, because when she came to, a couple of naggins were on the table and they seemed fluthered.” She put a hand to her throat. “So, when they tired of this, they made up another twisted, little game. By this time, she was in bad shape, because she was too weak to stand. They said if she could crawl from the middle of the room to the bed before they counted to ten, the beating would stop and they would leave. She didn’t believe them, but they gave her no choice. They said they’d do the same to her other hand if she didn’t at least try. They coaxed her the whole way—telling her she could do it and some shite like that—then when she got close, they counted really fast to ten, and laid into her again.”

  Paddy looked about ready to grind the teeth out of his mouth. “Filthy animals. If I ever get ahold of ’em—”

  Deirdre waved him off. “Aye. Ya’ll dismember them in very clever ways. But I had my fill of violence today, thank ya, Paddraig.” She put her head between her knees.

  “I would though,” he muttered, taking a seat himself.

  Deirdre chuckled. I thought she’d gone mad. “Our Bridey got ’em back, though. Some. She head-butted one of ’em. Thinks she might have broken his damn nose. Then, at one point, she snatched the pipe from them and clubbed one of the hooligans right over the noggin. The others were so surprised, she actually made it out the door and halfway to the street before they caught her and dragged her inside, screaming at the top of her lungs, she said.” She sobered. “We’re near as three blocks from there. We shoulda heard her.”

  “Oh, now. Ya can’t do that to yourself.” Paddy rubbed her shoulders. “We’d’ve been there in an instant had we known.”

  We all sat and thought about what she went through, all by herself, with those four sick bastards. A few minutes later, Paddy startled us by pounding on the table. “Damn pigs! Blackguards, every one of ’em!” Then he put his elbow on his knee and laid his forehead in his palm, and the poor man shook with sobs. Deirdre comforted him, laying her cheek next to his and saying to him some of the same things he said to her when trying to console her.

  “I’m going to take a walk,” I told them. She peered up at me, worry tightening her face, but nodded.

  The hospital doors slid open as I approached. I stuck my hands in my pockets and leaned against the brick wall of the building, my legs out straight. It was one thing to watch Jo fade away. Horrible, without a doubt. But sickening to hear what one human being could do to another. And someone ya loved. The unfathomable evil of it.

  I watched the guards come out. They eyed me, a tad chagrined, I think, and Duncan cleared
his throat. “Mr. Murphey.”

  I nodded, and they left. I don’t know how long I’d been out there when Deirdre found me.

  She gave me a tentative smile. “Are ya all right?”

  “Aye. Paddy?”

  “Oh, he’s calmed some.” She gazed out over the parking lot. “Say. We were talking….” She surveyed me. “We can’t take this sitting around and ruminating about…what happened. So we were thinking of going back to the pub. Paddy could open for the evening rush, and I’d make some phone calls. See about hiring someone to clean Bridey’s house when the police release the crime scene.”

  “Is there anything ya’d like for me ta do?”

  “Could ya stay here with her? Just for a bit.”

  “I’ll stay as long as ya need me to.”

  “Good, good.” She stood with her hands behind her, swiping some dirt off the sidewalk and into the landscaping. “The doctor told me he has no idea how she made it from her place to your bedroom with the amount of blood she’d lost. But he doesn’t know our Bridey.” She peered at me and smiled. “He said she’d be out for a while, but I don’t want her to be…you know…alone when she wakes.”

  “Nor do I,” I reassured her. “Don’t think I’d be much use to ya at the bar either.”

  She looked me in the eye. “Ya done good, Killian. That girl wouldn’t’ve made it without you.” Her voice wavered.

  I pulled her into an embrace, resting my cheek on top of her head. “I couldn’t’ve done it without you.” I leaned away to observe her. “You’re one tough cookie, Auntie.”

  She tweaked my chin. “Aye. And don’t ya forget it, either.”

  “Not a chance.” She seemed tired. “Why don’tcha catch a few winks on the ride home.”

  “I could use ’em,” she admitted. She turned to walk away.

  “Deirdre?”

  She spun around.

  “Did she ever say…. Why did they do it?”

  She clucked her tongue, shaking her finger. “I shoulda known it. It was that son-of-a-buck Tommy Flatery. He gambled away sixty-some-thousand of their dollars. She didn’t have ’em, so they took it out on her. All that man ever brought her was misery.” She walked off.