Sweet Dreams Boxed Set

“Yeah, I’ll do it. Thanks, Sam, that’s one less thing I need to worry about.”


Sam wished him well, told him to get some sleep and hung up. As she did, she heard Taylor in the hall talking with Kris, their front desk attendant. She walked out of the office and nearly collided with Taylor in the hall.

Sam clucked at Taylor disapprovingly, a mother hen unhappy with one of her brood.

“T, you look absolutely awful. You didn’t go home last night?”

Taylor did, in fact, look awful. On cue, she sneezed and gave Sam a sheepish grin.

“Naw, I didn’t. Thought I’d clean up over here once we’re done. Do you have any sinus medicine? I’m out. I think my allergies are getting to me.”

“Your allergies, my ass. You have a sinus infection. Why do you always like to pretend you’re not sick when you are?” Sam headed back into her office and opened a cabinet by the door. She pulled out a box of Advil Cold & Sinus and gave it to Taylor. Like most good Nashvillians, she always had some on hand. It was a bizarre phenomenon that so many people in the city suffered from some kind of sinus problems throughout the year. The joke was if you didn’t have allergies before you moved to Nashville, you would within a year.

Taylor broke two pills out of their blister pack and offered the box back to Sam, who shook her head.

“Keep it, you’re going to need it worse than me. Do you have the radiographs?”

Taylor held up a large manila envelope and sneezed again. Sam shook her head, handed her a tissue and said, “Follow me.”





Forty-Eight



They went through the biovestibule and started the changing process that would turn them into medical butterflies.

“I talked to Lincoln a little bit ago. Looks like we have the body of his missing Magdalene woman.”

“You’re kidding,” Taylor replied, arms lost in a smock. “Where’d she turn up?”

“Couple of fishermen pulled a body out of Old Hickory this morning. Her ID card had the name Tammy Boxer on it, and Lincoln said that’s the name he was given on the report.”

Taylor shook her head. “Another murder. Sam, what’s happening to our city?”

“Let me cheer you up. I heard a great one the other day. This chick suspects her husband is cheating on her. One day she calls home and a strange woman answers. She asks who it is. The woman on the other end of the phone says, ‘This is the maid.’ The woman’s confused. ‘But we don’t have a maid,’ she says. The maid tells her the man of the house hired her that morning. ‘Well, I’m his wife,’ she says. ‘Is my husband there?’ The maid gets quiet for a minute. ‘He’s upstairs in the bedroom with a woman I assumed was his wife.’

“The wife is livid, gasping for air. She says to the maid, ‘Listen, would you like to make $50,000?’ The maid asks what she would have to do. The wife tells her to go to the top desk drawer, get out the gun and shoot him and the woman he’s with. The maid puts the phone down. The wife hears footsteps, gunshots, and then more footsteps. The maid picks the phone back up. ‘So what do I do with the bodies?’ The wife tells her to take them outside and dump them in the pool. ‘But ma’am, there’s no pool here.’ There’s a long pause. ‘Uhhh, is this 494-2873?’”

Taylor guffawed and Sam grinned, pleased with her cleverness.

“Jeez, Sam, that was awful. You’re awfully chipper this morning. You make up with Simon last night?”

“Taylor, how come any time I’m in a good mood, you automatically assume I got laid?”

“Because nine times out of ten, you did.”

“Fine. Yes, we had a very late dinner. And drinks. Then a few more drinks. Happy now?”

“No, I want to hear the details. I have to live vicariously through your sex life, remember? Really, Sam, are you ever going to marry that guy?”

Sam got a sly look on her face. “Yeah, I think I might.” She held out her hand.

“Whoa, lookie there. Now that’s a rock! Are you serious? You guys really got engaged?” Taylor was hopping up and down, pulling Sam in a hug up and down with her.

“Yep. Last night. He finally asked.”

Taylor couldn’t stop grinning. Maybe the planets were finally aligning. “Oh God, I am so excited. Ooooh, and we get to have a bachelorette party! When are you going to do it?”

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