Vienna slipped her hand into her mother’s. “I love you, Mom. Thank you for coming to help me. I know it must have been difficult for you, and it means even more that you did.”
Mitzi broke into a smile, the one Vienna hadn’t seen in years. “I would always come to you, Vienna, if you were in trouble, no matter where you were. I’d find a way to get to you.”
Vienna leaned her head against her mother. “I’m sorry we fought and I let so much time go by without telling you I don’t care if I dropped out of the sky. You’re my mother. That’s enough for me, and it always will be. I have a full life with you in it. I want to be close to Ellen.”
“We’ll find a way to make that happen. She wants that too,” Mitzi reassured.
“He says he’s the owner of the hotel, Vienna, a Mr. Wallin,” Ellen called out. “Daniel Wallin. He’d like to come in for a minute and see for himself that you’re all right.”
“He just wants to make certain you aren’t going to sue him,” Mitzi cautioned. “They’re like that. Ellen, don’t let him in. Just tell him to go away.”
“Mom, this wasn’t his fault. If he wants to come and apologize on behalf of his hotel, I don’t mind. Maybe I’ll get free coffee for the rest of my life or something cool like that.” She pressed her palm over the lump, which seemed to be thumping in irritating time to her heartbeat.
“If you don’t mind, then, dear, I saw that lovely bathtub, and I’m going to run you a bath while you talk to him. Ellen can order dinner for all of us. Make it very short with this man. He shouldn’t take up your time when you need rest. I’ll get you a robe, because you certainly aren’t going to meet him in your skimpy pajamas.”
Mitzi hurried to the closet and pulled one of the hotel’s luxurious ankle-length robes from a hanger and covered Vienna’s offending pajamas with it.
Vienna burst out laughing. “Zale had to help get me dressed, Mom. He chose my pj’s.”
Mitzi was halfway to the master bath and she turned. “It’s like that, is it?”
“The police are with him,” Ellen reported. “They’d like to take your statement. They also want pictures of the damage.”
“Just lovely.” Mitzi rolled her eyes. “Ellen, would you mind staying with her while I run her a bath? I’ll take a phone in with me and order us dinner. Get them out of here as soon as possible. She needs to eat, get in the bath and then rest. And watch what she says, apparently she let Zale dress her earlier.”
“He had to undress me first,” Vienna teased.
Her mother made a shooing motion and indicated to Ellen to watch over her before she disappeared into the master bath.
Ellen nodded and helped Vienna to the main room, then allowed their visitors to enter. Vienna was happy the room was so spacious. They’d sent both a male and a female officer. Wallin’s personal physician accompanied them as well. Her heart sank when she was introduced to him. Dr. Miller looked kind enough, but he carried a large medical bag with him and seemed prepared to send her straight to the hospital if she blinked wrong.
Daniel Wallin was a man who looked to be in his sixties, although she knew from reading about him that he was older. He appeared to be of Scandinavian descent with his thick, wild shock of white hair falling into his faded blue eyes. He had one dimple on his left side that was barely noticeable because of the lines in his face. He was a handsome man, tall, dressed impeccably in a suit. He carried himself as if he were athletic, or had been at one time. Vienna didn’t know much about him, other than he had one son, and he’d made a fortune in cards.
Wallin was flanked by two personal protectors. Both men looked as if they meant business. They openly carried weapons and looked as if they knew how to use them. They didn’t smile, not even at the police officers, nor did they smile at her. They took up positions at either side of the door and just stood there, as if prepared to shoot everyone in the room if they dared to argue with Wallin.
“I’m appalled that this could happen to you in my hotel,” Daniel Wallin greeted her, taking both her hands and peering at her intently. His gaze moved over her face, dwelling on the dark bump on the side of her forehead. “I was looking forward to meeting you this evening, but certainly not under these circumstances. I’ve brought Dr. Miller to examine you . . .”
Vienna waved that away. “I’m a nurse, Mr. Wallin. That certainly isn’t necessary. I’m absolutely fine. I hit my head on the wall when I fell.”
“You should have been taken to the hospital,” Wallin said, turning his head slightly to give his security team a frown. “I viewed the footage several times. You hit your head hard.”
“Did you lose consciousness?” Dr. Miller’s tone was brisk, although his fingers were gentle as they moved over her scalp and temples.
The police officers had come close, poised to ask their questions. Vienna sighed, resigned to answer whatever was necessary to get them out of her suite so she could visit with her mother and Ellen. If she hadn’t been so exhausted, she might have protested more, but as it was, she was still suffering the terrible lethargy that overcame her when she used her gift at the card table.
The police officers took photographs of the bruising on her forehead, and after she told them Charles had used his shoulder to drive into her like a linebacker to send her to the floor, they insisted on looking at her stomach. Already, there was a dark bruise spreading across her stomach, under her breast and over her ribs. They took pictures of that as well. She was very glad when they finally left.
Dr. Miller continued to fuss over her, probing around the spreading bruise to see if she was damaged internally.
“You played your cards masterfully,” Wallin said. “Twice you stayed in when others would have folded, and you ended up winning. You didn’t have to show your hand because no one called you.”
She laughed softly. “Is there a question in there somewhere?”
Wallin laughed with her. “I guess not. Someday, I’d like to sit at a table with you. You’re difficult to read.”
“Only because I’m a newcomer,” Vienna pointed out.
The doctor was annoying her and she started to look at him, determined to tell him enough was enough, when Wallin took her hand again, distracting her. He turned her right arm over so her inner wrist was up. His thumb slid gently over her pulse. “I thought this was a tattoo, but it isn’t, is it?”
She had a small birthmark in the shape of a heart. It was even pink in color. Few people noticed it. She’d considered having a tattoo put over it, but she never had. The birthmark was slightly raised, and when she played poker, she’d had to train herself to resist running her finger back and forth over the mark. She still did it sometimes when she couldn’t quite “see” a card she needed to see.
“No, it’s a birthmark. Ow.” She’d been aware of the doctor wrapping her arm with a long tube and inserting a needle into her vein. She turned her head to discover the doctor taking a vial of her blood. “What are you doing?”
“Just making certain you didn’t get any bacteria when you hit your head, Vienna,” Dr. Miller said. “Didn’t you read all the papers you signed? You consented to a blood test. We have to cover all the bases.”
Vienna looked up at Ellen, trying not to laugh when their eyes met. Mitzi was right all along. Maybe she’d signed away her right to sue and didn’t even know it when she’d signed her statements for the police.
“I’m tired. If we’re finished here, I really need to lie down for a while.”
“Yes, of course.” Daniel Wallin stood, signaling for the doctor to finish up. “I hope to see you again, Vienna. Good luck in the tournament. I’m really sorry this happened to you in my hotel. If there’s anything at all you need, let me know.”
“I will,” Vienna assured.
Ellen walked them to the door. When they were gone, she turned her back to the door, leaned against it and regarded Vienna. “Anything you need as long as you don’t sue.”
They both burst out laughing.