The Fallen and the Elect
Page 62
Chapter 34
Alder returned to the emergency room waiting area. Many of those waiting for the medical staff were still gathered around television sets or focused on their smart phones. They tried to glean information from news reports on the mysterious singing across the globe that by then subsided. A nurse repeatedly called the name of a patient waiting to be seen, and everyone was oblivious to any other activity in the area. Alder himself wasn’t sure how to comprehend the situation or even if it could be considered in the same category as one of the bizarre angelic events witnessed through the years. He hadn’t seen an angel, but his friend and coworker, who was now blind, said he did.
Alder found his wife still sitting in the same spot on one of the bright red plastic chairs. Matthew lay sleeping in her arms with his head supported on her shoulder. Michelle was resting her head in her mother’s lap, sitting in the next chair; her fair complexion pale. Maria saw her husband return and greeted him with furled eyebrows and a grimace.
“Where were you?” she whispered angrily.
“I came across Stephen and his sister down the hallway,” Alder responded, hoping this would mitigate some of her anger, especially as she’d made a concerted effort during the last couple of weeks to make sure he kept up contact with his handicapped friend.
“So you think your friend is more important than your daughter?” Maria queried.
Alder miscalculated. “Of course not. How many times do I have to tell you? You know that you and the kids are the most important things in my life.”
Maria was unaffected by her husband’s attempt to placate her and relieved when the attending nurse called their name for Michelle to be seen by the ER doctor.
After several hours of questioning, examining, and testing, the doctor was convinced he couldn’t find anything wrong with Michelle. Ordering a couple of additional tests just to rule out other possibilities for the cause of her symptoms, he was confident he would discharge her after reviewing the results.
“So how is Stephen?” Maria asked, sitting on the opposite side of the ER bed from her husband. Alder was thankful that she usually didn’t stay quiet and angry for long.
“Fine. Just sorting through some weird stuff going on.”
The doctor walked into the curtained area reading the papers on his clipboard. “Mr. and Mrs. Dennison, we can’t seem to find anything wrong with your daughter. I think we should be safe in discharging her.”
“But doctor, she was throwing up blood,” Alder pointed out.
“Well, she seems to be doing much better now, and you mentioned the vomitus contained blood. It might have been something as simple as viral gastroenteritis.” The puzzled look on both Alder’s and Maria’s faces made him realize he would need to clarify. “Stomach flu, she’ll be fine.”
“Stomach flu?” both parents asked in unison, both with disbelief.
“Yes, we’ll go ahead and work on the discharge paperwork.”