Nora was silent. She had wanted revenge, and now she had her chance. Wouldn't her life, the children's lives be better without Jeff? J. J. could go to college without having to worry. Jill could have her three years at Duke Law paid for, and not have to take time from her studies by working. And I would have my house, Nora thought.

"Listen to him, Red," Kyle said softly. "You don't have to sacrifice yourself any more, baby. We can be together. He doesn't deserve to live."

"If I agreed," Nora said slowly, "how would it happen? He's a bastard, I know, but I don't want him to suffer."

"And we don't want him to run up too large a legal bill," Mr. Nicholas said with a sly smile. "I think on his second night in jail your husband will suffer an acute coronary. He'll die in his sleep, my dear, dreaming of you as you and Kyle make passionate love."

"He'll know it's me?" Nora asked. She liked that idea very much.

"Yes, he will, because you want him to know," Mr. Nicholas responded.

"Yes, I do!" Nora exclaimed. "I do!"

"Then it shall be as you wish, my dear, and you will not feel guilty at all, I promise you. Your husband is only getting his just deserts," Mr. Nicholas assured her.

It was so simple, Nora considered. And no one would ever know. Then she said, "But I'm in Shorecrest. They won't let me out when I wake up. They'll want to keep me a few days, I'm sure."

Mr. Nicholas thought a long moment. "When you awaken you will be fine. It will be as if you had just been asleep. There will be no weakness or atrophy in your limbs. Everything will be normal. Your pulse. Respiration. Everything. You will insist upon going home. They will insist on keeping you. You will compromise by remaining one night. Then your lawyer will see you are checked out, and you will go home. It is quite simple, my dear."

"Do it!" Nora told him. What was the point in her suffering any longer? She owed herself and her children this opportunity, and she was going to take it.

"You do remember that you owe me a favor, my dear, don't you?"

Nora nodded. "And now I will owe you a bigger one," she said. What could he ask of her? That she be one of The Channel's sex slaves for a time? So be it! She'd do it gladly if Mr. Nicholas could solve her problems. She was so tired of struggling against Jeff Buckley. She just wanted to be free of him.

Mr. Nicholas smiled at her. "I don't want you to worry, my dear, because everything will be taken care of for you. I am happy to see you have not forgotten your obligation to me. Now run along and prepare yourself for your return to your own reality, Nora. The next few days will be busy for you. Be patient. It has been a pleasure having you as a longtime guest here in The Channel."

She and Kyle returned to the penthouse. Nora looked about. Was the sky beginning to lighten beyond her windows, or was it her imagination? "You promised me a massage," she said to Kyle, smiling up at him seductively.

"We haven't got time," he told her, taking her into his arms. "I'll miss you."

"I'll only be gone a little while," she promised him. "And after that, we will be together every night."

"For eternity," he said.

"Yes, for eternity," Nora agreed. "Hold me tight, Kyle!" She was beginning to feel herself slipping away from him. Her head was spinning faster, and faster, and faster. She was suddenly unconscious, and then her eyes flew open. She was lying in a hospital bed in a room with pink walls and a floral border. She didn't move for several minutes, and then she turned her head to her right. She could see the dawn staining the eastern sky, and a winter garden beyond the window. There was red-twigged dogwood, bright among small patches of melting snow.

Nora sat up gingerly. Slowly she swung her feet over the edge of the bed. She wasn't dizzy. In fact she felt damned good. As if she had had a wonderful long rest. She was past questioning what had happened, or if The Channel was real. She had a part to play now, and she had to remember that she was supposed to have absolutely no idea of what had happened to her. A call bell. There must be a call bell. She looked about. There it was. Reaching for it, she pressed it and waited. And while she waited she put her feet on the ground and began to walk around. She wasn't in the least fuzzy in her head, or unsure on her feet. She drew the IV on wheels along with her.

The door to the room opened, and a woman in a uniform stepped through. "Mrs. Buckley!" she exclaimed. She hurried over to Nora and attempted to put an arm about her waist. "You shouldn't be up like this!"

Nora pulled away from the woman. "I am fine," she said, "but you will understand I am somewhat confused. Where am I?"

"Please sit down, Mrs. Buckley," the woman in the uniform said. "You're at Shorecrest."

"The nursing home? What in heaven's name am I doing here?" Nora demanded.

"What do you last remember, Mrs. Buckley?" her companion asked.

Being in the arms of the sexiest man you could ever imagine, Nora silently thought, but then she said, "Ordering a cable movie, and sitting down to watch it," she told the woman.

"You obviously had some sort of seizure, or brain incident," the uniform began.

"How long have I been here?" Nora said.

"You were at the hospital for ten days, and then moved here six weeks ago. What is the last date you remember?"

"It was New Year's Day," Nora said. "What is today's date, please?"

"It's March first, Mrs. Buckley." She took up Nora's wrist in her hand to check her pulse. "I'm Elda James, the night nurse on this wing. Well, your pulse is quite normal. Would you mind sitting back on the bed. I want to check your blood pressure, and the cuff is over there. I'll also unhook you from your IV."

Nora got up and walked across to the bed to sit down. The nurse fastened the blood pressure device about her right arm and quickly pumped it up. When she had her answer, she unfastened it and put it back in the holder. Then she undid the IV.

"What is it?" Nora asked her quietly.

"One fifteen over seventy-five," the nurse said. "Very normal. Normal on the low side." She made a notation on the chart at the foot of Nora's bed. "This is amazing, Mrs. Buckley. You seem to be absolutely fine. When Dr. Seligmann comes in he is going to be very surprised, and delighted. Would you like me to call your husband?"

"No. I'm not certain where he is," Nora answered the nurse. "Let's wait for Dr. Sam, and let him do it."

"Please get back into bed now, Mrs. Buckley. I know you feel fine, but just as a precaution. Are you hungry? The kitchen is just getting going for the day, but I could get you some tea and pound cake from the nurses' room."

"That would be lovely," Nora agreed. A mirror. She needed a mirror. She wanted to see what she looked like now. She watched the nurse bustle out, and then slipped from the bed and went into the bathroom. She stared at her face in the glass. She looked fine. Younger if anything. But her hair had faded. She'd have to have it colored this week. She found a brush in the medicine cabinet, and brushed the hair out. Then she braided it into a single plait. Yes. Her face definitely looked younger. And it was stress free after how many years? She left the bathroom, and climbed back into bed just as Nurse James came back into the room with her tea and a plate with a slice of pound cake on it.

"I didn't want to give you too much," she said. "We've been feeding you with the IV twice a day." She set the plate and mug down on the side table. "I'll have to leave you. I have patients waking up, and rounds to make before the seven a.m. shift comes in. I hope you won't mind."

"What time is it?" Nora asked.

"Almost seven now. I'm kind of behind with you, but oh, Mrs. Buckley, this is really a miracle!" And with a smile she hurried out.

A miracle. Nora wondered if such a word would really apply to what had happened to her. To them all. The kids! She had to call the kids.

She missed Kyle. She missed her apartment. She missed the endless and delicious sensuality she experienced when she was in The Channel. It had become a part of her, and she was irritable now not being a part of it. Can something like The Channel be addictive? But she already knew the answer. The Channel was like a narcotic, which was why once you were introduced you kept going back. And I have lived for weeks in The Channel, Nora considered. I'm suffering withdrawal. But it won't be forever. I just have to get through today and tomorrow.

Chapter Ten


Dr. Sam Seligmann stepped into Nora's room.

"Sam!" Nora threw back the coverlet and came from the bed.

"Elda stayed to tell me you were awake," he said, "but sweetheart, you've been out like a light for eight weeks. Take it easy. Sit down before you give me a coronary." He almost pushed her into the chair, his fingers reaching for her wrist.