Part 52 (1/2)

Muldoon's truck pulled up, and Joan DaCosta came flying out. Her T-s.h.i.+rt was on inside out. Funny, that was usually Sam's MO when getting dressed in a hurry.

”Where is he?”

”In the closet.” He followed her inside. ”Are your grandparents hard of hearing, because they're not picking up.” Of course, it was tricking late.

”They're already on their way,” Joan told him before disappearing into the closet.

Muldoon was right behind her. ”Thanks for calling me,” he told Sam.

”No problem. Thanks for getting here so quickly.”

Outside the house, the ambulance pulled up. And then, yes, there were six adults in Denny's walk-in closet.

Sam stayed out in the bedroom.

The conversation going on in there was like something from a science fiction movie, with Donny wailing about the aliens in his stomach and Joan trying to reason with him.

”Well, Don, if there were aliens in my stomach, I'd want to be taken to the hospital as soon as possible.”

”No!” he cried. ”No!”

Joan came out then, with the two EMTs trailing behind. Together, they discussed the pros and cons of sedating Donny. Mary Lou came out, too, and joined in the fray. She was on Joan's sidea”she thought the shock of waking up in the hospital would be terribly hard for Donny to deal with. They shoulda”and could, as long as his life wasn't immediately in dangera”try to talk him into leaving willingly.

Mary Lou said she knew that would be very hard to do. But wasn't it worth spending just a little more time? For Donny's sake... ?

She was in her pajamasa”flannel boxers and a tank top with nothing underneatha”and one of the EMTs was actually flirting with her. A breast man, apparently. She was giving them all quite an eyeful.

But that wasn't all it was that made those men look, Sam realized. She had color in her cheeks and life m her eyes and foe in her voice as she defended Donny with real pa.s.sion.

Holy f.u.c.k, was it possible Mary Lou... ? And Donny the Nutjob... ?

No f.u.c.king way.

But G.o.d knows Mary Lou hadn't been getting any from Sam lately. And she looked...

Happy?

Or at least happier.

And Don was rumored to be some kind of stock market genius worth millions. He had hundreds of thousands in his chump change savings account. Maybe Mary Lou had discovered that the key to her happiness lay not in living with a Navy SEAL, but with a lunatic millionaire. Sam sure as h.e.l.l wouldn't put it past her.

But Jesus. That meant Mary Lou could well be moving out of their house into this one. Haley, too. How weird would that be?

Sam flat-out didn't like the idea of Haley being raised with a freak for a stepfather. But on the other hand, she would be right next door...

Before he could speculate any further, Muldoon came to the door of the closet.

With Donny.

The Nutjob was bent over, clutching his gut, but he was on his feet.

”I'm going to ride with Don in the ambulance,” Muldoon said as if he weren't aware he'd performed a major miracle. ”We'd like to go to the hospital now, if that's all right.”

Everyone stood there, staring with their mouths open for about two seconds. And then everyone moved at once.

Sam just stepped back and let 'em run.

”I'm going to the hospital, too,” Mary Lou told him. ”Will you stay with Haley?”

Sam nodded. ”Better put some real clothes on.”

”I will.”

They were the last ones in the room, and he had to ask. ”Are you actually s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g Donny DaCosta?”

She laugheda”a loud whoop of surprisea”as she turned back to him. But then incredulousness replaced the amus.e.m.e.nt on her face. ”You're serious.”

If it was an act, she deserved an Oscar. Especially when she shot him a look of pure disgust and headed out the door. ”f.u.c.k you, Sam. Would you even care if I was?”

No. Sam didn't say it aloud, but she glanced back at him again, and he knew she saw it written clearly on his face.

Vince watched Mike Muldoon as Mike watched Joanie pace.

The hospital waiting room was crowded, as was the actual ER.

Don had been given a bed right away in a ward with four other patients. Charlie was with him, along with that nice little neighbor gal, Mary Lou.

Donny seemed to like holding her hand. And aside from her obvious physical attributes, Vince could relate. She had a sweetness to her, a childlike, almost angelic quality that contrasted sharply with that stripper's body.

The doctors were doing some kind of tests on Den to see if it was in fact his appendix that was giving him so much pain. Apparently they could tell enough from a relatively simple blood count to keep them from immediately diving in with exploratory surgery, although that was always an option.

As Vince watched, Joanie paced her way back to Muldoon and stopped right in front of him. She was not, as Charlie would've said, a happy camper.

”How could you promise him something like that?” she said loudly enough so that Vince could overhear without straining. Which meant she was talking pretty loudly. ”Something you couldn't possibly deliver?”

Mike made room for her on the bench. She didn't sit He sighed. ”First of all, I didn't promise anything I couldn't deliver.”

”So what are you going to do?” she asked. ”You're really going to stay here all night?”

”Yes,” he said. ”If your father doesn't showa”

She rolled her eyes. ”Not if. When. Tony's official t.i.tle in life is No Show.”

”Actuallya””Vince leaned over to interject.”a”your father's on his way. I spoke to him just a few minutes ago.”

”Oh, my G.o.d.” Joan pretended to push her hair back from her forehead. It was obvious that her real intention was to hold on to her head so that it didn't explode from the shock. She sank down onto the bench, next to Mike. ”Donny's right. Aliens are invading people's bodies. That's the only reason I can think of for why he'd comea”because he's not really Tony anymore.”

”Very funny,” Vince said. ”Give the kid a break. He's trying, okay?”