Sweet Fortune

CHAPTER ONE

    I can't see .”
    “It's all right, Mrs. Valentine. Your eyes are fine.” Jessie Benedict leaned anxiously over the frail figure on the hospital bed and patted the hand that clenched the sheet. “You took a nasty fall and you've got a few cracked ribs and a concussion, but there was no harm done to your eyes. Open them and look at me.”
    Irene Valentine's faded blue eyes snapped open. “You don't understand, Jessie. I can't see .”
    “But you're looking right at me. You can see it's me standing here, can't you?” Jessie was alarmed now. She raised her hand. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
    “Two.” Mrs. Valentine's gray head moved restlessly on the pillow. “For heaven's sake, Jessie, that's not the kind of seeing I'm talking about. Don't you understand? I can't see .”
    Understanding dawned and Jessie's own eyes widened in shock. “Oh, no. Mrs. Valentine, are you sure? How can you tell?”
    The elderly woman sighed and closed her eyes again. “I can't explain it.” The words sounded thick and slurred now. “I just know it's gone. It's like losing your sense of smell or touch. Dear God, Jessie, it's like being blind . All my life it's been there, and now it's just gone.”
    “It's the blow on the head. It must be. As soon as you've recovered from the concussion, everything will be fine.” Jessie looked down at her and thought how small and fragile Mrs. Valentine appeared when she was not wearing one of her colorful turbans or the flowing skirts and jangling necklaces she favored.
    Mrs. Valentine said nothing for a minute. She lay motionless on the hospital bed, her hand still clenched around the sheet. Jessie wasn't sure if she had fallen asleep.
    “Mrs. Valentine?” Jessie whispered. “Are you okay?”
    “Didn't fall,” Mrs. Valentine muttered heavily.
    “What did you say?”
    “Didn't fall down those stairs. I was pushed.”
    “ Pushed .” Jessie was horrified anew. “Are you sure? Did you tell anyone?”
    “Tried to tell 'em. Wouldn't listen. They said I was all alone in the house. Jessie, what am I going to do? The office. Who's going to keep the office open?”
    Jessie squared her shoulders. This was her big chance and she was not going to blow it. “I'll take care of everything, Mrs. Valentine. Don't worry about a thing. I'm your assistant, remember? Holding things together while the boss is out of the office is what assistants are for.”
    Irene Valentine opened her eyes again briefly and gazed at Jessie with a dubious expression. “Maybe it would be better if you just closed the office for a couple of weeks, dear. We don't have all that many clients, heaven knows.”
    “Nonsense,” Jessie said briskly. “I'll manage just fine.”
    “Jessie, I'm not sure about this. You've been with me only a month. There's so much you don't know about the way I run the business.”
    A nurse bustled through the door at that moment and smiled pointedly at Jessie. “I think that's enough visiting for now, don't you? Mrs. Valentine needs her rest.”
    “I understand.” Jessie patted the frail hand that clutched the sheet one last time. “I'll be back tomorrow, Mrs. V. Take care and try not to worry about the office. Everything's going to be just fine.”
    “Oh, dear.” Mrs. Valentine sighed and closed her eyes again.
    With one last concerned glance at the pale woman in the hospital bed, Jessie turned and walked out into the corridor. She cornered the first official-looking person she saw.
    “Mrs. Valentine believes she was pushed down the stairs of her home,” Jessie informed him bluntly. “Have the police been notified?”
    The resident, an earnest-looking young man, smiled sympathetically. “Yes, as a matter of fact, they were. First thing this morning after she was found. I was told there was no sign of any intruder. It looks like she simply lost her balance on the top step and tumbled to the bottom. It happens, you know. A lot. Especially to older people. You can check with the cops, if you like. They'll have filed a report.”
    “But she seems to think there was someone in the house. Someone who deliberately pushed her.”
    “In cases such as this, where there's been a severe blow to the head, the patient often loses any memory of what really happened during the few minutes just before the accident.”
    “Is it a permanent memory loss?”
    The doctor nodded. “Frequently. So even if there had been an intruder, she probably would have no real recollection