Part 27 (1/2)

”Oh, nothing, honey--he wanted to see you. He had calmed down and you won't have nothing more to worry about, so you just rest and get well.”

”I'm afraid you ladies will have to go now,” said the nurse, as she came to the foot of the bed.

”I'll be up later and see if I can do anything,” said Evelyn, as she and Mickey rose to go.

”Come back as soon as they will let you,” said Pearl.

”All right, honey, we'll go and move your things now, and then we will be back later. Now, don't you worry, honey, you just rest--good-bye,” as they left the room.

”What did he have to say, Ev?” as they reached the street.

”Well, it ain't so much what he said, but it's the way he said it. I'm afraid he might kill her if he gets hold of her again. Of course, he is sorry and all that now, but the next time he gets mad at her, or catches her with somebody else, he will kill her as sure as there is a Heaven.

He said if he couldn't have her, no one else could, and you know him, Mickey, he means business.”

”You're right there, Ev, that guy means business. Well, he can't get at her there in the hospital.”

”I'm not afraid of him doing anything to her there--he wants to make up with her now--it's when he gets mad at her again that I'm afraid of, but I'm pretty sure she is off him now for good.”

”Yeah--and it's a shame. If she could only have cared for that guy, even a little bit, she would have been sitting pretty, but love is blind, so they claim, so she falls for Harry, and he also gets the h.e.l.l beat out of him. Well, it sure was some fight.”

A week pa.s.sed, rather uneventful--the Mexican trouble was settled and the border opened again. Evelyn spent as much time as possible with Pearl, accompanied by Mickey. Harry had already left the hospital, and Pearl would be out in a few days. The rest had done her good, and she gained weight in those few days.

”Has Harry been to see you today?” asked Evelyn.

”Sure, he was over to see me this morning. He looks as good as ever, and he is so sweet. The nurse told me I could leave here in the morning--ain't that good news?”

”I'm sure glad, but what are you going to do about Big Boy? You don't know it, but he has d.a.m.n near driven me crazy--he is wild to see you--he knows Harry has been up here whenever he wants to come, and he is wild with jealousy.”

”Well, it's up to me to stay out of his way. He knows where you live, and he can come up there any time he wants to, so I'll have to stay in a hotel so he can't come up. Won't you move in with me for a while, Ev?”

”Sure, kid, I'll move in with you for a while. I know how you feel and I'm kinda tired of that apartment, anyhow. Let's move to the McCoy, what do you say? I think you'll like it.”

”All right, Ev, you go pick out the room, so I will have some place to go to in the morning.”

”I'll go now, and do that before I go over on the other side of the river. Good-bye, honey, I'll see you in the morning,” as she rose to go.

Pearl left the hospital, and went to the hotel, where she found Evelyn in bed.

”I didn't expect you to be out so soon, or I would have been down to meet you,” said Evelyn, as she raised up in the bed.

”I didn't know myself, but it's grand to be out again and walk around--how is Juarez?”

”Just the same--I had a pretty good night last night. Mickey picked a live guy for me, and I got a hundred and ten bucks off him--that is, Mickey put her hand in his pocket and took it out and give it to me. She said I had earned the money by being with him. You know Mickey, and I just couldn't refuse--money is money.”

”See anything of Big Boy?”

”I was coming to that--I,--well, you will have to be awful careful, honey--that guy is on a drunk, and he is bad--he told me last night that the first time he sees you he is going to shoot you. I don't think he was kidding, either--he means business. Then again he might just be bragging, because he was so drunk--but just the same, don't you think it would be best to kinda keep out of sight for a few days?”

”Ah, gee, Ev, I wanted to go over tonight--couldn't we go some place that he wouldn't think to go, and that way we wouldn't be likely to run into him. You must know of some place over there we can go and drink and have a good time?”