Angels & Their Demons

Chapter Two - The First Meeting

After Katie hung the phone up, she paced the floor of her cozy apartment, mulling over her conversation with Dr. McNamara.  The more she focused on it, the more she felt the old grudges welling up in her mind.  How dare that woman ask for her help after everything she put her through, Katie thought.  She made a glass of warm milk and turned the television on to distract herself.  An hour or so later, Katie fell asleep on the sofa watching an old black and white western.

The next morning Katie woke with a dull nagging headache.  She sensed by instinct and experience the doctor was going to bombard her with repetitious questions about her childhood. Questions such as, ‘What was your upbringing like?’  ‘What did your mother do that was so horrible?’  ‘What did your father do to make you hate him so much?’  The afternoon proved Katie right.

Nathan settled back in his chair and studied Katie.  “Why do you harbor this lack of concern for your mother, Miss Pryor,” Dr. McNamara asked.

“It's Putter, and if you had been through what I have with Leda, you might understand, doctor.  I am not obligated to discuss my life story with you.  I see we are wasting our time here.  Now if you don’t mind, I have a class to attend.”  Katie replied.

“Listen, Miss, we here at St. Thomas does not play games,” Nathan snapped at an impassive Katie.

Did she not realize he had no interest in frittering away time?  Why was she so emotionless to a woman who appeared so alone and desperate?  Katie was nothing more than an attractive, but spoiled 25-year-old in his eyes.  He was not some young intern who earned by the hour – he was a surgeon, for pity sake.

“I don’t get what we are trying to achieve here, but I'm not going to help your patient.  I don’t care what she has on file as far as her personal information goes.  She’s no longer any parent of mine,” Katie stated, rising from her seat.

“Listen, Miss Pryor, er, Putter, the long and short of it is your mother cannot stay here much longer, and we have nowhere to send her but home.  In my opinion you must do something as her sole relative contact.”  Nathan was sure he had her there.

“I am not willing, in any form, to care for that woman.  In my opinion, I am not obligated to do anything, Dr. McNamara.  Please, have a good day.”

Katie turned to leave, but Katie had Nathan's interest stirred by this specific conversation and he wanted closure on this case.  Above all else, Nathan needed Leda out of his way.  Nathan wanted to see this case to the end, and Katie was a mystery he wanted to solve.  This young woman had his attention despite her hostile attitude.  She was attractive and educated, and Nathan felt compelled to find out more about her and her past.  Nathan found himself captivated by Katie in a way he didn’t understand.

“Wait, please,” Nathan said.  “There is no one else to call for your mother, and no one who will take her in to care for her.  Can we not come to a friendly agreement?”

Katie wasn’t backing down from anyone, let alone a doctor who knew nothing about her.  “I can’t tell you what to do with your patient, but I would personally not wrack my brain over her.  She’s not a decent person and hasn’t made or kept many friends through the years.  She and I never saw eye to eye, and there is no love loss there, I assure you.  You will be unlikely to find someone willing to care for Leda Pryor.”

Katie floored Nathan when she spoke so bluntly. She was too closed off to expose her feelings in the frank manner she just had.  If he could get Katie to tell him more about her relations with her mother, he may be able to understand the family dynamics.  “Do you not think Leda deserves at least a little care?  She’s now an invalid.  I don’t know where to go with this case but her family, Miss Putter.  I need your help here”

“As I said, I don’t if there is anywhere you can turn with her, but I will tell you it's not with me.  I washed my hands of that woman more than a dozen years ago.  Try her sisters or a distant cousin.”

“Mrs. Pryor asked for you in specific.  How about this, Miss Putter, if you agree to oversee her at-home care, we can send her home with 24-hour nursing care.  There will be minimal cost through government plans.  You won’t need to be at her home most of the time.  However, they will expect you to sign papers for the day and night shifts as they come and go.  If you agree to sign those papers, it means you will need to meet with her staff three times a day at her home.  Is this acceptable to you and your husband?”

Katie sighed, expressing her annoyance.  “There is no husband to debate with.  It's my decision alone.  Isn’t it your place to find a solution?  What happens if I refuse?”

“Your mother will have no choice but to remain into a homeless shelter.  There, they can offer skeletal care, such as meals.  No more.  Her bathing, dressing, and bandages will be her responsibility, which she cannot do on her own.  She has a leg brace to keep the ruptured bone in place and cannot walk.  We are looking at another two months before she is even partially mobile.”

Katie was fighting her inner demons.  She was a woman of good faith and love, but dare she expose herself to that woman again?  Could Katie subject herself to someone who all but destroyed her and still preserve her sanity?  Would Katie resist the urge she had harbored for years to rid herself of the woman who almost broke her spirit?  “Listen, doctor…”

“Please, call me Nathan.”

“Listen, doctor, don’t get me wrong, I will help most anyone, but there are reasons you could never understand that come into play here.  Leda Pryor is poison, and I will have nothing to do with her.  Have a wonderful day, and good luck.”

Katie stepped into the outer office, but Nathan wanted his answers, and followed.  Nathan pulled on Katie's sleeve, turning her to him.  “Please, can we discuss this somewhere besides my stuffy office?  I earnestly want to understand your view.  I realize sometimes matters are not as they appear.  I want to know if I am making a misjudgment and mean no disrespect to you.  I am a man of reason, Miss Putter.”

Katie watched Nathan and listened to him make his plea and wondered if he could be one of them - the good people.  “Fine.  Meet me at Gracie’s Café on Main Street tomorrow at 4pm.  I will be off work then and we can talk, but don’t expect miracles.  Realize this right now; I do not swallow bullshit, and I do not tolerate fools ever.  Cliché?  Call it what you will, but that’s me, whether you like it or not.”

“I’ll take it.  See you then, Miss Putter.”

By noon the next day, Nathan was miserable with anticipation.  He never felt the same anxiety any time in his life.  He wanted to see Katie more than he wanted answers about Leda.  Katie had an aura about her he admired, despite her cool, almost arrogant manner.  The main desk paged just after 2 pm, and hearing the overhead call, Nathan responded at once.

“Hello, Dr. McNamara speaking.”

“Doctor, this is Katie Putter.  I'm sorry, but I cannot make our appointment today.  I'm afraid I am working until six this evening.  Can we meet tomorrow at the same time?”

Nathan’s spirits sank.  “Can I meet you somewhere near your work?  I will drive wherever need be to meet with you.  You must understand, I need to close this case, Leda’s leaves here tomorrow.”

Katie had a long day and felt exhausted.  “As you wish, meet me at the Cafe at six.”

Nathan’s heart leaped in his chest.  “I’ve been to the place before, so I will meet you at six then,” Nathan said, grinning.  The afternoon went by at a snail’s pace for Nathan.