Definitely Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #6)(14)
Author: Charlaine Harris

Then her kin could come to Crystal. But I knew before I spoke that Jason would find a reason to veto that, too. He had some kind of plan. "Okay. What can I do?"

"Didn’t you tell me that time when you got hurt, there was a special kind of doctor the vamps called to look at your back?"

I didn’t like to think about that night. My back still bore the scars of the attack. The poison on the maenad’s claws had nearly killed me. "Yes," I said slowly, "Dr. Ludwig." Doctor to all that was weird and strange, Dr. Ludwig was herself an oddity. She was extremely short – very, very short.

And her features were not exactly regular, either. It would come as an extreme surprise to me if Dr. Ludwig were at all human. I’d seen her a second time at the contest for pack-master. Both times, I’d been in Shreveport; so the chances were good that Dr. Ludwig actually lived there.

Since I didn’t want to overlook the obvious, I fished a Shreveport directory out of the drawer below the wall-mounted telephone. There was a listing for a Doctor Amy Ludwig. Amy? I bit back a burst of laughter.

I was very nervous about approaching Dr. Ludwig on my own, but when I saw how worried Jason was, I couldn’t protest over making one lousy phone call.

It rang four times. A machine picked up. A mechanical voice said, "You have reached the telephone of Dr. Amy Ludwig. Dr. Ludwig is not accepting new patients, insured or uninsured. Dr. Ludwig does not want pharmaceutical samples, and she does not need insurance of any kind. She is not interested in investing her money, or giving to charities she hasn’t personally selected." There was a long silence, during which time most callers presumably hung up. I didn’t. After a moment, I heard another click on the line.

"Hello?" asked a gruff little voice.

"Dr. Ludwig?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes? I don’t accept new patients, you know! Too busy!" She sounded both impatient and cautious.

"I’m Sookie Stackhouse. Is this the Dr. Ludwig who treated me in Eric’s office at Fangtasia?"

"You are the young woman poisoned by the maenad’s claws?"

"Yes. I saw you again a few weeks ago, remember?"

"And where was that?" She remembered quite well, but she wanted another proof of my identity.

"An empty building in an industrial park."

"And who was running the show there?"

"A big bald guy named Quinn."

"Oh, all right." She sighed. "What do you want? I’m rather busy."

"I have a patient for you. Please come to see her."

"Bring her to me."

"She’s too sick to travel."

I heard the doctor muttering to herself, but I couldn’t make out the words.

"Pooh," the doctor said. "Oh, very well, Miss Stackhouse. Tell me what the problem is."

I explained as best I could. Jason was moving around the kitchen, because he was too worried to sit still.

"Idiots. Fools," Dr. Ludwig said. "Tell me how to get to your house. Then you can take me where the girl is."

"I may have to leave for work before you can get here," I said, after glancing at the clock and calculating how long it would take the doctor to drive from Shreveport. "My brother will be here waiting."

"Is he the responsible party?"

I didn’t know if she was talking about the bill for her services, or the pregnancy. Either way, I told her that Jason definitely was the responsible party.

"She’s coming," I told my brother, after I’d given the doctor directions and hung up. "I don’t know how much she charges, but I told her you’d pay."

"Sure, sure. How will I know her?"

"You can’t mistake her for anyone you know. She said she’d have a driver. She wouldn’t be tall enough to see over the steering wheel, so I should have figured on that."

I did the dishes while Jason fidgeted. He called Crystal to check on her, seemed okay with what he’d heard. Finally, I asked him to go outside and knock old dirt-dauber nests off the tool shed. He couldn’t seem to settle down, so he might as well be useful.

I thought about the situation while I started a load of laundry and put on my barmaid outfit (black pants, white boat-neck tee with Merlotte’s embroidered over the left breast, black Adidas). I was not a happy camper. I was worried about Crystal – and I didn’t like her. I was sorry she’d lost the baby because I know that’s a sad experience, but I was happy because I really didn’t want Jason to marry the girl, and I was pretty sure he would have if the pregnancy had continued. I cast around for something to make me feel better. I opened the closet to look at my new outfit, the one I’d bought at Tara’s Togs to wear on my date. But I couldn’t even get any enjoyment out of it.

Finally, I did what I’d planned on doing before I’d heard Jason’s news: I got a book and settled in a chair on the front porch, reading a few sentences every now and then in between admiring the pear tree in the front yard, which was covered in white blossoms and humming with bees.

The sun was beaming, the daffodils were just past their prime, and I had a date for Friday. And I’d already done my good deed for the day, in calling Dr. Ludwig. The coil of worry in my stomach eased up a little.

From time to time, I could hear vague sounds traveling my way from the backyard; Jason had found something to keep him occupied after he’d dealt with the nests. Maybe he was pulling up weeds in the flower beds. I brightened. That would be nice, since I didn’t have my grandmother’s enthusiasm for gardening. I admired the results, but I didn’t enjoy the whole process as she had.

After checking my watch repeatedly, I was relieved to see a rather grand pearl Cadillac pull into the front parking area. There was a tiny shape in the front passenger seat. The driver’s door opened, and a Were named Amanda got out. She and I had had our differences, but we’d parted on fair terms. I was relieved to see someone I knew. Amanda, who looked exactly like a middle-class soccer mom, was in her thirties. Her red hair looked natural, quite unlike my friend Arlene’s.

"Sookie, hey," she said. "When the doctor told me where we were going, I was relieved, since I knew how to get here already."

"You’re not her usual driver? Hey, I like the haircut, by the way."

"Oh, thanks." Amanda’s hair was newly short, cut in a careless, almost boyish style that oddly suited her. I say oddly, because Amanda’s body was definitely womanly.

"Haven’t got used to it yet," she admitted, running her hand over her neck. "Actually, it’s usually my oldest boy that drives Dr. Ludwig, but he’s in school today, of course. Is it your sister-in-law that’s ailing?"