“I hadn’t thought of that,” Zing said. “You know how much money I could make? I could be rich.”
Bertha scowled. “Don’t make me come down there.”
Zing giggled. There, now she could leave knowing that Bertha was still Bertha.
“Let them eat cake!” Annabelle said, cutting the first piece and handing it to Zing.
Chapter Sixteen
“Why is she holding a rake?” Carol said as she walked into the hospital room.
“I don’t know. I went to get a cup of coffee and when I returned she was holding it,” Nell said.
“Is this a joke?” Carol asked. She peered down at Zing who looked peaceful holding the rake.
Zing sat up with a jolt and the rake handle smacked Carol right in the nose. “Damn it all, Zing,” Carol yelled, clutching her nose as blood poured out of it. Nell quickly punched a button, summoning the nurse.
Zing dropped the rake on the floor beside the bed. This was not the homecoming she had envisioned. She’d planned to wake up and gaze over at Nell who would look upon her arrival with cries of delight. She hadn’t thought about the rake. She didn’t leave it behind because that would’ve hurt Ito’s feelings.
Nell stood looking at Zing as if she were an apparition. Then she leapt at her, taking her in her arms. She squeezed Zing hard.
“Ouch!” Zing’s ribs hurt. So did her cheek and the hand that was bandaged. Pain was highly unpleasant. And this was so much bigger than a stubbed toe. Why hadn’t she been warned that pain was so… painful?
“Sorry,” Nell said. She planted little popcorn kisses all over Zing’s face, saying, “I just knew you’d come back. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.”
The nurse arrived and handed Carol a towel to press against her bleeding nose. “Sit down. I’ll go get the doctor.”
“It’s not that bad,” Carol said, pulling the towel away and looking at it. She touched her nose and winced. “Or maybe it is.”
“I’m not getting the doctor for you,” the nurse said. She pointed at Zing. “The doctor’s for her. She came out of a coma; you just have a nosebleed.”
“One helluva of nosebleed, I might add,” Carol groused.
The nurse left.
“Where’d you go? Back to HQ? What’s it like in a coma? How did you get back?” Nell asked.
“It’s kind of a long story,” Zing said. She gazed lovingly at Nell.
“I don’t care how you got back. Just that you did,” Nell said. Suddenly, her eyes widened. “This isn’t another furlough is it? You don’t have to go back in thirty days?”
“No, this is the real thing,” Zing said. She kissed Nell.
“Get a room,” Carol said.
Zing stopped the kiss and looked at Carol. “Sorry about your nose.”
Carol shrugged. “Aw, it’s all right. I’m just glad you’re back. I may have missed you, but I won’t know for certain until you’ve been back a couple of days. Then I can decide.”
“Carol!” Nell scolded.
“I was kidding,” Carol said. “I really missed you—everyone did.” She pointed at all the flowers around the room and two balloons that bobbed up and down against the ceiling.
“Can I see the balloons?” Zing asked.
“Sure,” Carol said. She pulled them down from the ceiling and handed the strings to Zing. Both balloons both read “Get Well Soon.”
“That’s so sweet,” Zing said, untying the closure on one of them. She sucked in the helium.
At that moment, Dr. Randall entered. “Look who woke up. How are you feeling?” she asked.
“I feel great,” Zing said in a falsetto helium voice.
Dr. Randall looked alarmed. “My God! Your voice has shrunk.”
Zing laughed like a chipmunk and showed the doctor the balloon. “It’s the helium.”
Dr. Randall chuckled.
“I always wanted to try that,” Zing said. She took another hit of helium.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” Dr. Randall said.
Carol snatched the balloons away.
“Party pooper,” Zing squeaked.
“The doctor’s right, Zing,” Nell said. She grabbed a balloon from Carol. She took a hit of helium and squeaked, “I love you.”
Zing giggled.
“I need to check you over,” Dr. Randall said. “Coming out of a coma is serious stuff.” She walked toward Zing while unwinding the stethoscope from around her neck. She took one step and—Whammo!—the rake catapulted itself upward. Its pointy tines were only an inch from the doctor’s face when Zing grabbed it and stopped the rake from puncturing the doctor between the eyes.