Page 39 of Is Anyone Listening?
After he left, I debated whether I wanted to wait or not. But if she was just going to be asleep, it seemed wiser to go to the inn and then come back in the morning with some of her things. I sent Morgan a quick text to reassure her that Tessa would be okay. I sent an even shorter one to Finn, just because I'd promised, and then walked out to my car.
The drive back was dark, lonely, and a little eerie, with the fog and headlights occasionally blinding me. Pulling into the parking lot of the inn didn't feel any more welcoming. I didn't know if someone had pushed Tessa down the stairs, or if she'd simply slipped. I hoped it was the latter, but I couldn't be sure. Maybe someone had seen an opportunity to get rid of at least one of us. I couldn't let myself be the next casualty.
When I entered the inn around midnight, I was surprised to see Ellen sitting on a stool at the desk, looking at her computer. She took off her reading glasses and gave me a look of concern as she said, "How is Tessa?"
"She had surgery on her leg, and she has a mild concussion. The doctor said she'll have to stay at the medical center for a few days. I'm going back in the morning to see her."
"Did you have a chance to ask her what happened?"
Ellen's tone felt deliberately neutral, but I suspected this was why she'd stayed up to see me. "I didn't talk to her. She was in too much pain, and they took her away for tests and surgery."
"I'm so sorry she got hurt. I checked the stairs to see if there was anything there, any wet spot, or something she might have tripped on, but I didn't see anything." Ellen paused. "She did appear to be intoxicated. Was that confirmed at the hospital?"
"I don't know." I felt like Ellen was creating a defense for any potential lawsuit. "I'll talk to her tomorrow."
"Will you be staying here then? Or perhaps you'd prefer to stay closer to the hospital while she's recovering."
As much as I wanted to check out in the morning, I couldn't leave without talking to Tessa first. "I'm not sure of my plans. I'll let you know tomorrow."
"Of course. You must be exhausted. Can I get you anything? Tea or water, a snack?"
I was surprised she was being so nice all of a sudden. Cynically, I wondered if it wasn't because she was worried about getting sued. "I'm fine. I just want to go to bed."
"I'll see you in the morning."
I headed up the stairs, my gaze sweeping the landing where Tessa had started her tumble, but as Ellen had said, there was absolutely nothing there that could have tripped her up. On the third floor, all was quiet. Anna was gone. Tessa was gone. And I had no idea who was in the other room on this floor, but I felt very alone as I entered my room.
Everything was as I'd left it, but there were clean towels on my bed, so clearly someone had come inside while I'd been gone. I had put my notes away when I'd gone downstairs for happy hour, but if someone had gone through the drawers, they could have seen them.
At this point, I wasn't sure that mattered. Our reason for being in Stonecross would come out soon. That thought reminded me of the podcast that Tessa had scheduled to post tonight at eight o'clock. If I'd remembered earlier, I would have rescheduled it, but it was past that time now.
I pulled out my computer and opened the podcast, reading the comments below it. There were so many responses, three times what we'd seen previously. There were a ton of questions, showing that the listeners were really invested in what we were doing.
I didn't have the energy to answer any comments tonight. Checking my email next, I saw two emails from potential sponsors. They were very excited to see where the investigation was going to go.
How could I tell them it was probably going nowhere now that Tessa was incapacitated?
I couldn't. I had to do at least one more show on my own, so I could tell them what happened to Tessa, but that would have to wait until I knew what had happened. There was too much uncertainty to make decisions tonight. Tomorrow, hopefully, things would become clear.
I got to the hospital by nine o'clock on Tuesday morning. Tessa was awake with an untouched breakfast tray in front of her. Her face was pale, and there was a small bandage on her forehead. Her leg was propped up on pillows, wrapped from ankle to mid-thigh in thick white bandages. A hard, slightly curved shell hugged the back of her calf, held in place with elastic wraps. Only her toes showed at the end, swollen and a little bruised.
"Hey," I said, moving next to the bed with a smile. "You gave me a scare. How are you feeling?"
"Like I fell down the stairs, broke my leg and hit my head. That's what the nurse said happened."
"You don't remember?"
"It's fuzzy," Tessa admitted, tucking her tangled blonde hair behind her ears as she gave me a sheepish look. "I think I had too much to drink yesterday."
"Your last text to me was practically incoherent. That's not like you, Tessa. What happened on your date? Why did you stay out so long?"
"I'm not completely sure. I'm having trouble remembering. Maybe because of my concussion." She gave me an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Cassidy. I messed up." Regret filled her eyes. "I don't know how I'm going to help you now."
"I'm just sorry you got hurt. The most important thing is you're going to be okay. It just might take a while."
"That's what the doctor said. I can't go home for a few days. Something about wanting to make sure I don't get an infection."
"Which is good. And you'll get better pain meds in here."
