She was going to get the same reaction, no matter what. And it was incredibly irritating that everyone jumped to assumptions so quickly.
“Why is it so easy for everyone just to accept what should be the same sad story but may not be? I know Stuart. He didn’t slip into drugs. There’s something very wrong with what seems to be the obvious explanation. I’ve been told you’re a respected detective. I thought you’d be interested in the truth.”
She saw his fingers tighten on the papers he held, his only visible reaction. “You’re in the academy. You know the size and scope of the county, and what goes on every day. I’m homicide. And right now, I have a full plate in front of me. I’m sorry, but even if I wanted to, there wouldn’t be any difference I could make. There are already people working the investigation. If you’ll excuse me, I’m working, too. On a truly brutal murder.”
Dismissed again, she stood. “Yes, of course. I’ve been told how very important you are. Thanks for your time.”
So much for assistance from the great and esteemed Jake Dilessio, she thought.
A few minutes later, she had her purse and keys and was on her way to see how Stuart was doing.
Stuart was at the county hospital, a place where the emergency room could be a zoo, where you could wait endless hours for assistance, but where the quality of care was top-notch. Ashley knew that if she were ever seriously wounded, it was where she would want to go.
A volunteer sent her up to the intensive care waiting room.
There were several people there. A young man about her own age with his face behind a newspaper, an Hispanic couple, holding hands and whispering softly to one another, a handsome, thirty-something black woman with a toddler in her arms, walking back and forth. There was another young woman who stared straight ahead at whatever was on the television, and a man who might have been about thirty, working on a notebook computer. Stuart’s parents were seated together, staring into space, looking like a pair of lost children. In their mid-fifties, they were a handsome couple. Lucy Fresia had always been considered one of the most attractive mothers among their group, but now her delicate features looked pinched, and her appearance was that of a far older woman. Nathan Fresia was a tall man, nearly six-three, appearing even taller because he was slender, as well. Like Lucy, his appearance was worn and broken, and it seemed as if thirty years had gone by since she had seen him, rather than the two or three that it had really been.
“Mr. and Mrs. Fresia?” she called softly. Lucy’s head jerked up, as if she was terrified that a doctor was coming in to give her bad news. She stared blankly at Ashley for a long moment, then jumped to her feet, recognizing her.
“Ashley Montague,” she said, and a hesitant smile lit her features. Then she burst into tears, stretching her arms out. “Oh, Ashley!”
Ashley hurried forward, embracing the tiny woman. She felt Lucy’s body shaking with the force of her tears. But then Lucy drew away, trying to wipe her eyes. “Nathan, look who’s here. It’s Ashley.”
“Young lady, it’s good to see you.” Nathan bent to offer her a warm, endearing hug, as well. He didn’t sob as his wife did, but his cheeks were wet.
“Stuart is…hanging in there, right?”
“Oh, yes,” Lucy said. She glanced at her husband. “The doctors say he’s incredible. He must have a tremendous will to survive. The nurses are in there with him now. That’s why we’re both out here. We never leave him alone, not for a minute. They say that we should talk to him, so of course we do. I even brought his old copy of Green Eggs and Ham and read it to him. He loved that book as a kid. He always said he’d read it to his own kids one day, the way we always read it to him.” Her eyes filled with tears again.
“Lucy, he may still be reading that book to his kids,” Ashley said softly.
“Ashley, you know that Stuart is in a coma, right?” Nathan said worriedly. “Only his mother and I are allowed in—”
“We could tell them that Ashley is family,” Lucy said.
“It’s okay. If he gets a little bit better, we can think of a way for me to get in to see him,” Ashley said.
“But you’ve come all this way,” Lucy said.
“Actually, it’s not far for me at all, and I really came to see the two of you. My uncle called the hospital for me today, so I knew I couldn’t get in to see Stuart.”
Lucy wiped her cheeks, smiling slowly. “You came to see the two of us? That’s so sweet, Ashley.”
Ashley smiled. “Do you know how many times you had me to dinner? How many snacks you made me, and how many times you took me trick-or-treating?”
“This is still so kind of you. It’s bad enough that he’s lying there, not moving, so injured,” Lucy said. “But what they’re saying! It’s impossible, it’s horrible…and it can’t be true. Oh, you should see the way people look at us. As if we’re silly parents, completely blinded. Almost as if we’re stupid. And we’re not. But—”