Angels & Their Demons

Chapter One - March 1989

"Hello?”  Katie said, annoyed at having her sleep interrupted after her long shift at the restaurant.  Who could be calling at this late hour, she wondered, looking at her bedside clock.

"This is Dr. McNamara, from St. Thomas hospital.  I am sorry to call so late, but it is important I speak with you.  This is Miss Katie Pryor, correct?"

Katie sat up, wiping the sleep from her eyes and stretching.  "How can I help you, doctor?"

“I have a woman here in my care who claims she is your mother.  Her name is Leda Pryor.  She has asked me to contact you and tell you she has suffered a major injury and needs your help.  You are a difficult woman to track down,” Nathan chuckled.

One of her aunts must have given him the number, Katie guessed.  “That was the plan.  How can I help you, doctor?”  Katie repeated.

“Well, she had a bad fall on her icy driveway two weeks ago.  I replaced Mrs. Pryor’s hip and repaired a break in her calf.  However, I'm afraid before she can go home she will need someone there to care for her every day.  That’s why I'm calling you at this late hour.  She will be ready to leave the hospital within a couple days and I have no other choice but to send her home.  There’s no alternative.”

“Then tell her to hire someone, or send her to a home.  She's not my responsibility,” Katie said, desperate to end the conversation.

“I am afraid a home is not an alternative right now, and she claims she can’t afford to hire a nurse, Miss Pryor.  Can you come to my office tomorrow, so we can discuss alternatives?  I'm stuck with a lack of choices here, and I need your help.  Mrs. Pryor tells me you would be willing to come to her home to care for her.  You were the main contact on her medical record, but she did not list your phone number.”

“Leda is wrong; I will not go to her home to care for her.  I don’t care what she tells you.”

Katie took Nathan off guard with her blunt attitude. “Miss Pryor, you are her daughter, aren’t you?  Look, as I told you, I am at a dead end here.  Please, can we discuss this?”

“All right, all right.  I am not sure what I can do to help you, and the name is Putter, not Pryor.  Listen, I have a small window of time after three, if that works for you,” Katie replied, exasperated

Nathan gave Katie the directions to his office at the hospital and contact phone number.  “Thank you, Miss Putter.  I will see you then.”

Nathan tossed his pen on the desk and decided to chat with Leda Pryor before heading home.  If he was going to get through to Katie Putter, he needed some background information on this young woman.  Maybe Leda would enlighten him.  Leda Pryor appeared decent and easy to relate to.  The circumstance confused Nathan because he was led to believe Katie was an honorable woman.  He had to figure out what was holding Katie back from helping her mother.

“Mrs. Pryor, how are you doing?  I just wanted to check in on you before I went home and make sure you were comfortable.”

Leda adjusted herself in the bed, wincing with the effort.  “What a respectful young man you are.  I’m still in agonizing pain.  Did you contact my dear daughter yet, doctor?”

“Yes, I contacted Katie.  You didn’t tell me she has changed her name to Putter.  Has she married?”  Nathan asked.

“I frankly have no clue what she does anymore.  I haven’t seen her for a few years,” Leda chuckled.  She neglected to tell the good doctor her daughter ran away over ten years ago.  “Katie hasn’t spoken to me for a long time, although I can't see why, to be honest.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.  I am however meeting with Katie tomorrow afternoon here at the hospital.”

“She’s coming here?  Will I see her?”

“Yes, she's coming to St. Thomas.  Is there anything you can tell me about her past that may help me understand where her thoughts are?  Maybe something about her childhood or relations with family perhaps?  She seems a mite distant.”

“Oh, doctor, she was always the most special light in my life.  She was a spirited blessing from the heavens above, yes she was.  I loved her and nurtured her from the day she I gave birth to her.  I never had any other children but her to love.  But you know, the moment her dear father passed, she became a young tyrant.  She always hated me after he died, but I have never understood why.”

Intrigued, Nathan asked, “How did her father die, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“He fell from a building he was working on out west.  Katie always blamed herself.  Before he passed away, she was angry with her father for some reason, and told him she wished he were dead.  For several years, she blamed herself for his death.  She was a baby though when he died.  Katie was just thirteen when the accident happened, and was close to my heart.  I adored her, I did.  Still do.  She was always a beautiful child.  All the best of the photographers wanted her as their first choice model,” Leda boasted.

“Sounds as though you loved and still do love Katie, Mrs. Pryor.  If I may ask, how old was Katie when she ran away?”

“She was thirteen.  I’ve been distraught all the years since then, because no one could find my baby girl.  Not the police, or private investigators could find any clues to her whereabouts.  I don’t know how you found her, but I will always be in your debt for finding my little girl.”

Nathan mulled the information over for a minute.  “It was simple once I called your sister.  Rose has connections at the hospital, so she was easier to find.  Rose has been in touch with Katie for eight years or more, she tells me.”

Nathan watched Leda for a reaction to his answer.  Her one mistake was lying about her husband’s death and her daughter’s reaction to it.  How would Leda be aware Katie blamed herself for her father’s passing for years if she ran away soon after he died?

“I think Rose is a little off on her numbers,” Leda chuckled.  “Rose always was a trifle flighty.”

“I understand your other sister, Grace says she has been in touch with Katie for as long as Rose has.  But no matter, we will see what happens tomorrow.  You have a good sleep.  If you need something through the night, be sure to tell the nurse on duty tonight,” Nathan said.  He noticed a picture of an adorable young girl at Leda's bedside.  The girl in the photo wore an evening gown.  Nathan pointed to the photograph.  “Is this your daughter?”

“Yes, that’s my Katie.  That’s a modeling photo, taken when she was in the auditions for the Raymore catalog.  She always looked older than she was.  Wait until you meet her, then you will see how gorgeous she is.”  Leda tried to move herself further up on her pillows and moaned.  “Doctor, can you please help me and push my pillows under me a little?”  Leda pleaded.

Nathan did as Leda asked.  “I will see you tomorrow after I speak to your daughter.”

“Oh, thank you, doctor, you are too kind.  Good man you are, just like my Clark was, God rest his soul.”

Something about Leda's manner did not sit right with Nathan.  She was trying too hard to impress him.  What was she hiding?  Nathan lay awake for hours trying to decipher the family history.  Leda was hiding something, and Katie was avoiding something different.  What occurred to Nathan was both of them had some dark secrets they didn’t want him to find out.  Why did he care, he wondered.  Nathan read in Leda's medical records she had a history of prescription narcotic abuse and drank to excess.  How far back, he wasn’t sure.

Rose had mentioned something about Katie not having her father around for several years before he died.  She spoke a little of Katie being resentful of her mother’s neglect as well.  Rose seemed a bit reluctant to comment too much on the family history and told Nathan he needed to get the information he sought from Katie.  This circumstance with Leda was not like any he’d dealt with in his career.  No other patient ever kept him from blessed slumber, but this one had him troubled.  Somewhere in the small hours of the morning, Nathan fell into a fitful sleep.  The photograph of Katie invaded his every thought and his dreams.

~~~~~~~