Chapter Forty-five
~
Alex looked as though Hale had taken one of his charcoal sticks to the human’s eyes and cheeks, tip of his nose, and rims of his ears. Plied a bit of gray everywhere else. The soft hum of the little instruments encouragin’ circulation in his hands was the only sound competin’ with the odd come-and-go hiss of the patient’s breathin’.
If I didn’t know better, I’d swear the human was exaggeratin’ the shallow gasps to make me feel guilty. The least he could do was open his eyes now and then to appear he might survive. The jerk. I’d been sittin’ here waitin’ for a decent conversation for six hours. What he needed, was to eat ten or twelve pounds of well-seared beef. Always made an ogre perk up. Yep. Easy to forget how delicate humans are.
I sighed a bit as the door to the room slowly pushed inward, lettin’ the yellowed light of the hallway penetrate. Be another nurse to check Alex’s vitals. But this was no ogre nurse. A human. Woman. Not in a nurse smock.
Her eyes studied the crumpled contour of Alex’s bed first, before she even took more than a step into the room. Seemed a bit curved at the shoulders. Tiny, skinny thin’. Considered askin’ if I could help her before it dawned on me. Didn’t know I could be so slow. I rushed to stand.
“Ya Alex’s mama?” I asked.
She finally slunk all the way into the room, extended her hand to me timidly, though her eyes remained pointed at Alex. “Melody.”
I introduced myself. Then rushed to apologize for imperilin’ her son the way I had. She cocked her head funny. Uh oh. She had no idea. Uncle Ike said he called the family. He isn’t one to exclude an onerous amount of detail, usually.
“Took me forever to get here,” she said softly, voice seemin’ to break a bit. “Considering the current political situation, not a lot of flights here to the Range. A Mr. Ike arranged to have—” She paused. “He said a company jet, pick me up.”
There was a long pause. Her eyes hadn’t really left her son’s face. “How is he?” Think she truly searched out my face for the first time then, as her head tilted back, and back some more, sorta in slow motion. Don’t think she expected me to be so tall. She jerked a tad. “Oh, my. You’re a tall one.” Nope. Clearly Alex hadn’t told her he was down here visitin’ an ogre-troll hen.
The woman shivered a bit. Did she edge away from me? Prolly my imagination. “You said, imperiled?”
Oh, if Uncle had told her. Be a lot easier. I considered tellin’ her it was a long story. To give me a moment, I dragged the single armchair toward her and motioned an invitation. She offered a hint of a smile, but walked to the edge of Alex’s bed, reached out and lay her hand on his arm.
“Oh, Allie, you’re so cold.”
A new name for the bull, uh, man. “They’ve got an electric blanket on him, but don’t want to warm him up too fast. Shock his system.” Sounded even stupid to me. He’d been in this room for hours.
She turned my way. The stricken expression dropped a bit. Maybe stood a bit taller even. “So what did the fool do? Never even told me he was heading down here.”
Oh. Alex. Ya’re gonna be so busted. I motioned toward the chair again. She snorted. Commented she already had to look up too far to meet my face. She did smile about that. So I plopped down, asked if that was better. She actually laughed. Maybe a little color came to her face.
“Why are you here?” she asked. “How do you know my little boy?”
The little boy thin’ almost made me snort. She smiled sharply. Admitted he hated her to call him her little boy. She sighed hard. “We’re poor folk,” she said. “Have no idea where he got the money to fly down here. If it wasn’t for scholarships and endowments, he’d live in the gutter, to afford his art materials.”
She let out a soft wail. “Have no idea how we’re gonna pay for this hospital stay. I’m a server in a cheap, rundown cafeteria. His dad was a worthless bum and hasn’t given two bits to help raise his child.” Her face turned a bit tortured. “Oh, my. I’m sharing a lot more than ya wanted to hear, I’m sure. And I must sound horrible, worrying about money when my boy looks half dead.”
What was shoutin’ at me, was what the heck drove Alex to follow me home. That wasn’t a passin’ little thin’. Oh, my goodness. He was more than just a tiny bit enamored with me. Really? Is that what it was? No. Had to be Hale. The boy was goofy over Hale’s art.
“Are you okay?” Melody asked.
“I’m sorry, sorry. So sorry. Ya’re all concerned about Alex and all this, and I’m goin’ off in my own head.”
She gave me a confused look.
“First of all, don’t worry a thin’ about the hospital bill. It’ll be taken care of. He’s gonna need several weeks of rehab. And he has a place to stay while he goes through that, I promise.”
She cocked her head. “Sweetie. What are you? Fifteen? You’re a big-size girl, but these bills—”
I’d been insulted plenty of times in my life, but don’t think my face had ever burned like this. I looked for a way to change the thread of the conversation—without makin’ me sound even more arrogant. I certainly wasn’t gonna start shootin’ my mouth off about my papa ownin’ the biggest software company in the world—with my Uncle Ike.
“All this stress takin’ ya away from yar son,” I finally said, at almost a whisper. “Ya sit here for a while with Alex. I’ll be down the hall in the waitin’ room. Ya come when ya’re done. I’ll take ya home. Ya look like ya could use some rest.”
“Be sweet of you, but I can’t afford no hotel, especially up here in these mountains.”
“I’m takin’ ya to my home,” I said. “Got plenty of room. Gonna be no problem at all. Promise. Ya can rest up, come back when Alex is prolly awake, first thin’ in the mornin’.”
~
Hale
~
Four hours ago sweet sweet Beky was near death, now we’re sittin’ in the hospital lounge, her in her hospital gown, and she’s talkin’ my mind into five dimensions. Don’t mean that thought in a negative way. Supremely ecstatic she’s recovered the way she has. And the fact she has the energy to chat me into near-oblivion, ain’t half bad. Beats me from havin’ to come up with thoughts.
Her papa is mighty calm now, havin’ arrived fifteen minutes ago, had panicked a bit not findin’ Beky in her room. Now mostly smiles at the hundreds of threads rollin’ off her mind, merely leanin’ over from time to time to adjust the blanket she continues to disregard, lettin’ it slip off her lap.
He’s mentioned a couple times how late it is. Beky doesn’t seem to get the hint. I’m horrible at pickin’ up on obvious nudges, but she isn’t in the mood to listen. Maybe she’s revved up over survivin’ natty odds. To go along with her rather normal energetic personality.
“Bek.” She continued another five or six words in her current thread before turnin’ to her papa. “Yeah, Papi?”
“You should rest. I’m exhausted. Going to grab a cab. Hale’s papa gave me keys to a cabin in the Hamlet. You. Go to your room. Cover up. Try to sleep.”
“You’re such a bully.” She didn’t smile but he did.
I was thinkin’ that surely Papa’s old place was in use this time of the season. Had to be Uncle Ike’s old place. The bull should have renovated that dump a hundred years ago. Maybe I should drag him home, where he could get a good breakfast first thin’ before he headed back out to be with Beky. I opened my mouth to suggest it, but my attention gobbed onto a form enterin’ the room.
“Hey, ya guys,” Bele said. “Didn’t expect to see all yall in here.”
“You left poor Alder all to himself?” Beky teased.
“Probably with his mama,” Naid said. “Hope she didn’t have as much trouble finding him as I did you.”
“Trouble?” Bele mumbled.
“We came out here,” Beky squeaked. “I could tell Hale was getting’ claustrophobic in that little room.”
“Ya said ya wanted to stretch yar legs,” I said softly.
“Good lesson. Never trust a hen.” Beky’s smile beamed. Hard to believe she was half dead a dozen hours ago. To Bele she said, “What are you looking so worried about? Alder didn’t take a turn for the worse?”
Despite a bunch of discordant thoughts peelin’ from my siblin’s head, along with the remainder of guilt she hadn’t shed, there were images surroundin’ the hen that must be Alder’s mama. We held eye contact for a few seconds, before I lost my stamina.
Beky was glarin’ at me now. “What? What mind reading thing just went on between the two of you.”
“Shut up about mind readin’,” Bele hissed.
Naid chortled. “Mind reading?”
“Oh yeah. Forgot to tell you. They’re witches.”
Bein’ a good, gentle ogre-troll, I didn’t club her in the head. But felt like it.
“Witches?” Naid said softly. “Very cool. And everyone assumed all the old majic returned to the other side with the dragons and gnomes.”
Beky sighed hard. “You don’t have to play along so realistically.”
The goblin peered hard at me, one brow raisin’ just a tad. I’d have to ask Bele later what that was about. Don’t know why folk have to hold in their words so much and hide meaning on their face.
Bele plopped down on the ugly, hard couch that faced us. She held me in her sights. Could feel the reticles square in the middle of my forehead, but I sensed I didn’t want to let her grab my eyes. There was gonna be some hen drama comin’.
~
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