by Jerry Moore
I took my cell phone out of my pocket and saw the call was from a local number, so I answered it. “Hello.”
A pleasant sounding female voice answered. “Is this Lisa Wilson?”
“Yes, who is this?”
“My name is Monica. I am a nurse at University Medical Center. I am calling about Brenda Robison. Are you a relative of hers?”
“No, but Brenda is my friend. Is she in the hospital?”
“I really can’t say. Do you know how to get in touch with any of her relatives?”
I knew that I wouldn’t be having this conversation with a nurse unless something was wrong. “No, but I am on my way to the hospital.”
“Oh, there is no need…”
I hung up before the nurse could finish telling me not to come to the hospital.
Jeff had heard enough of the conversation to get the jest of what had been said. All I had to tell him was which hospital. He left a hundred dollars on the table as we hurried out of the restaurant. Jeff drove his pick-up like a madman back across town toward the hospital.
We pulled into the Emergency Room parking lot at the hospital and Jeff reached for my hand. “Wait, I think you need to think about this situation before you go into the hospital.”
I didn’t understand. “What are you talking about?”
“Look, the nurse wouldn’t tell you if Brenda was here, right?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“That probably means one of two things. Either Brenda has been assaulted or she’s dead. You need to be ready for either one. The fact that Brenda didn’t or couldn’t call you herself makes me think it might be bad.”
“Why do you have to be so negative?” I made no attempt to disguise my irritation with his pessimistic attitude.
“I’m just telling you what you’re likely to find inside. That is if they let us see her at all.”
“Then you’re coming with me?”
“Of course I am.”
We walked into the emergency room and instantly saw that it was packed. There were three women dressed in blue scrubs sitting behind a counter on the other side of the waiting room. Next to them was a desk. A man in a blue security guard uniform was sitting there.
The guard was young and looked slender. He had short blonde hair and droopy looking eyes. I walked toward the guard who I saw had an ID badge with the name “Ted” on it.
I could see him undressing me with his eyes as I approached. I didn’t mind, I wanted him to like me. Maybe he would even feel like bending some of the rules for me.
“Hi, Ted. Listen, I am looking for a friend of mine. Her name is Brenda Robison. I got a call saying that she was here.”
Ted checked something on the computer screen on his desk. “No, I don’t have any record for a patient by that name.”
“Really? I got a call from a nurse named Monica saying that Brenda was here.” Monica didn’t actually say that Brenda was at the hospital but Ted didn’t need to know that.
Ted got a confused look on his face. “I don’t know why she would have called you. I mean I already told you that your friend isn’t in our computer system.”
I felt Jeff move up beside me. He had been standing behind me. He must have been giving me a chance to flirt my way past Ted before he got involved. Jeff looked down at the guard. “Listen, we need to speak with the charge nurse or whoever can let us back to see our friend. And please, spare me the denial. You and I both know that she is here.”
Ted’s body went rigid. “And who are you?”
“The guy that is about to make your night a lot worse. Now, we are going to go sit down while you go tell someone with some actual authority we want to speak with them.”
With that Jeff took me by the hand and led me to couple of empty chairs in the far corner of the waiting room. I was a little miffed that Jeff had been so forceful and had totally taken over the situation with Ted. But I was pleased that he was holding my hand. We sat in the lobby for several minutes without either of us speaking. We were both lost in our own thoughts.
Finally, Jeff leaned in and spoke in an almost whispering voice. “Hey, do you have your cell phone?”
“Sure, why?”
“I was thinking you might want to call your Aunt Jenny or whatever it is that you call her.”
I ignored his little jab at my cover story. “That’s a good idea.”
We made our way outside and I found a quiet spot to call Jenny. I noticed that Jeff had also found a spot and was making a call of his own on his cell phone. I couldn’t help but wonder who he was calling. I realized that I really didn’t know that much about Jeff.
I finished my call with Jenny. She had decided to come to the hospital. This night was headed south in a hurry. In a span of two hours Jeff and I had gone from having a private, intimate dinner to sitting together in a crowded waiting room, hoping to see a patient the hospital claimed wasn’t even here. To make matters worse, it wouldn’t be long until we had a federal marshal watching us like a hawk.
I felt like I was a misbehaving child whose mother had to watch her every second of the day. My time alone with Jeff was limited and seemed to be coming to end in a hurry. I laid my head on Jeff’s shoulder. “So, tell me something about yourself.”
“I already told you. I was in the Army. I got out so that I could go to school.”
“What about your family?”
“I don’t have any family. My parents have both been gone for a while now.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up any unpleasant memories that might upset you. You’re not upset with me are you?”
“No, it’s fine. It almost seems like that happened thousands of years ago. It doesn’t bother me at all to talk about it.”
“You know, you are a mysterious guy.”
“Well, look who’s talking.”
I made a face at him and stuck out my tongue.
Just when I thought my night couldn’t get any worse, it did. The last person I wanted to see while I was on a date with Jeff was Allison. But there Allison was walking into the waiting room in all her prissy little cheerleader glory. Did I mention that I hate cheerleaders?
I elbowed Jeff in the ribs. “Well, now I guess I know who your call was to.”
Jeff looked Allison’s direction. “It’s not what you think. I didn’t call Allison. I called Dr. Greene.”
As if on cue, Dr. Greene walked into the waiting room and motioned for Allison to follow him. It didn’t take much to put two and two together. Dr. Greene was probably sleeping with Allison. So naturally, the professor had brought his lover along with him. My god, they were shameless. I should have been disgusted by both of them. Unfortunately, I knew I had done worse than either of them was doing.
Dr. Greene and Allison made their way back to where we were sitting. The History professor motioned for Jeff to follow him and they walked outside. I started to get up and follow them. Allison apparently had other ideas.
She sat down in the seat that Jeff had just vacated. “So, Lisa we really haven’t had much of a chance to chat so far this semester.”
I knew that she was trying to be polite and the ladylike thing to do would have been to try and get along. I wasn’t feeling very lady like, so I gave her my best catty smile. “Oh, I heard that you have been doing plenty of talking. Of course, that was behind my back.”
She gave me a catty smile of her own. “It looks like someone has her claws out.”
“That’s not a denial.”
“No, it’s not. Maybe I have been a little over zealous about trying to give people the impression that Jeff and I are an item.”
“Why would you even do that? What are you, some sort of psycho stalker or something?”
“No, I just wanted it to get back to you that we were an item.”
“Why? So you can have him for yourself?”
“No, I just don’t want you to hurt him. I care about him.”
“I am not going to hurt him. We have had one sort of
date. Jeff hasn’t even had a chance to give me a first kiss. You make it sound like I’m already sleeping with him.”
“He really likes you. But if you hurt him, I will totally beat the crap out of you.”
“Oh, I am so scared. What is your problem with me anyway?”
I heard a male voice. “Am I interrupting something, Ladies?”
I looked up at a Hispanic policeman. The name tag on his uniform said Cpl. Ramos. I jumped to my feet. “Uh, no sir. We’re fine.”
“I understand you were asking about Brenda Robison. Is that right?”
I tried to sound confident. “That’s right. Are you someone that can let us see our friend?”
He looked at both of us. “At the moment, I am someone who has some questions that would be best asked in private. Will you follow me please?”
Allison stood up and inserted herself into the conversation. “Hey, lead the way.”
Allison and I followed the policeman past the counter where the nurses were still sitting, past the desk where Ted was still sitting, and through the doors that led to the actual patient rooms. The three of us walked down a long hallway. The policeman stopped and opened the door to one of the rooms. The sign on the door read “Family Room”.
The officer motioned for us to walk inside. “Please have a seat and make yourselves comfortable.”
Allison and I both sat down on one of the couches. The room had been converted from a patient room. The hospital bed and all the medical supplies had been removed. Now, it had a coffee table, two couches, two recliners, a rocking chair, and a couple of end tables with lamps in the room.
The policeman sat in a recliner on the other side of the coffee table. “First of all my name is Corporal Romos. I am with the Lubbock Police Department. Now you are both friends with Mrs. Robison, is that correct?”
Allison hopped up with her arms crossed. “If you are going to interrogate us, shouldn’t you read us our rights first? We’ll never betray each other. Not even when you start slapping us around.”
Corporal Romos just looked at her for a moment. He probably thought she was an idiot. “Miss, I am not interrogating you. No one is going to get slapped around. I just want some background information.”
Corporal Romos took down our names and addresses. While he was writing that information in his little notebook, I wondered where Jeff and Dr. Greene were and why Allison was all of a sudden acting like we were friends. I mean, it was clear from our exchange in the waiting room that she didn’t even like me.
He finally got to it. “So what sort of relationship does each of you have with Mrs. Robison? Are both of you friends or classmates of hers?”
I didn’t give Allison a chance to answer. “What is this about? Is Brenda here in the hospital? First, you people swear up and down that she isn’t here and now you want answers. Well, I want some answers too. Where is my friend?”
Corporal Romos gave me an icy stare. “I’m the one asking the questions.”
“If you want any answers, you’ll let me see my friend. Then and only then will I answer your questions.”
Romos pointed his finger right at me. “You know, you can be charged with obstructing an investigation.”
I had a pretty good idea that I could afford to be brave. I was a federal witness in a major mob trial. I was ninety percent sure that threats to arrest me were pretty empty. “Fine, arrest me. Otherwise, I’m going back to the waiting room. I’m tired of this hospital’s stupid games.”
Romos let out a deep sigh. “Fine, I’ll take you to her. You should know that it’s not good. She’s been badly beaten and may not regain consciousness.”
We followed Corporal Romos to another hallway. It was a much busier hallway with nurses, doctors, and few other types of medical personnel that I didn’t recognize rushing in and out of rooms.
Romos pointed to a room marked ‘Trauma 3’. “Please be brief and stay out of the staff’s way as much as possible. They are trying to save your friend’s life.”
Allison and I walked into the room and the heat of the room hit me in the face. “Why is it so hot in here?”
Allison leaned closer to me and whispered. “I think I read somewhere that they sometimes keep trauma rooms over eighty degrees for burn patients. I guess they have to be ready for all sorts of traumas to come in. You know, this is the county hospital.”
I barely heard her. I finally saw Brenda. She was lying in bed with a variety of tubes running into her arm and mouth. Her face was bad bruised. Her husband must have done this. Just for a second, I wanted to kill him or at least hurt him really bad.
I heard Allison gasp. I turned around and saw that she was pale and backing up. She looked at me. “I’m sorry, I’ll wait outside. I can’t deal with this.”
It seemed like cheerleaders weren’t as tough as they used to be. I walked over and stood next to Brenda’s bed. I took her hand but she stayed motionless. I took my other hand and gently brushed some hair out of her face.
I felt a tear running down my cheek. “Oh Brenda, why did you let him do this to you?” I didn’t know if she could hear me or even feel my presence. Someone needed to pay for what they had done to my friend. I didn’t have many friends and someone had hurt one of them.
I don’t know how long I was standing there before the nurses came in and walked me back to the hallway. It was all sort of a blur. Allison was waiting for me with Corporal Romos. The three of us returned to the family room in silence.
After we all found our seats again, Corporal Romos seemed to study our faces. “Okay, let me ask the question again. What is the nature of your relationships with the victim?”
I went first. “I met Brenda at school. We have a couple of classes together. We struck up a friendship right off, that ‘s why my number was in her cell phone.”
Allison piped in. “Well, we are partners in History class. We are writing a paper on how the noble Indians have been mistreated by the truly evil white man.”
Allison was such an airhead sometimes. Jeff was right about that. Unfortunately, he had also been holding out on me. Clearly he, Allison, and Dr. Greene were connected somehow. I could feel the vibe between them. That made me wonder if my theory of Allison and Dr. Greene sleeping together might be a little bit off the mark.
Corporal Romos broke my chain of thought. “Have either of you noticed anything strange or out of the ordinary going on with Mrs. Robison?”
My eyes locked with his. “You mean besides the fact that her husband sent her to school with a black eye? I guess tonight wasn’t the first time he’s beaten the crap out of her.”
He wrote something down. “Okay, I’ll get that information to the detectives. They can follow up on that.”
A nurse escorted us back to the waiting room. As we walked back into the waiting room, I glanced at my watch. It was almost ten thirty at night. Boy, it had gotten late in a hurry. Allison nudged me and pointed to where we had been sitting earlier. Jeff and Dr. Greene were sitting there. As soon as they saw us, they got up and headed our direction. We met each other half way.
Jeff walked straight toward me and opened his arms to give me a hug. “Hey, are you okay? I heard Brenda is in pretty bad shape.”
I didn’t get a chance to answer. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Aunt Jenny walk into the waiting room. I couldn’t even get a hug from what I hoped was about to be my boyfriend without her somehow interfering.
I quickly made some introductions. Dr. Greene suggested that we all head outside to compare notes. Of course Jenny wanted to head straight home but I managed to stall her for a few minutes. Dr. Greene told me and Allison that he did speak to the charge nurse. Brenda was critical and they would be moving her to Intensive Care within the hour. We would not be able to see her until the next morning.
I finally gave in to Jenny’s desire to leave. My only condition was that Jeff be allowed to walk me to the car. She even stayed and talked to Dr. Greene for a moment before following us. At least she stayed at
a discreet distance behind us.
We arrived at the car too soon for my taste. “Listen, I don’t think I am going to school tomorrow. I was thinking of coming up to the hospital and checking on Brenda.”
Jeff gave me a crooked smile. “Want some company? I think I might skip school tomorrow. We could both be wanton law breakers tomorrow.”
“I would like that. Can you come pick me up in the morning?”
“Sure. Besides, I think you’re marshal friend still wants to talk.”
Chapter Six
I spent a restless night trying to sleep. My brain refused to shut down. When I closed my eyes, I saw the image of Brenda’s beaten body. Even when I was able to ignore the image of Brenda, I started worrying about Jeff. He was coming over to talk to Jenny and pick me up. I didn’t care who or what Jeff had been before I met him.
I was much more concerned about what he would do once he started finding out about my past. I had no illusions about the conversation Jeff and Jenny were going to have. Jenny wanted to know exactly who Jeff was and whether he was really who he said he was. Jeff might tell her some of what she wanted to know. However, I was sure it would come at a price. There was no doubt that at least some of my past would come out.
By the time my alarm went off at seven a.m., I was already up and dressed in my jeans and a gray t-shirt. Jenny and I had a quiet breakfast without either of us really talking to the other one over our bowls of cereal. A little after eight o’clock, I heard the sound that I had been both dreading and living for. The doorbell rang.
I knew that it was Jeff who was ringing the doorbell. I knew it was time to pay the piper. I took a deep breath and answered the door. As I opened the door, I saw Jeff standing there, dressed in jeans and a red t-shirt. He was also holding a dozen red roses.
I couldn’t help but smile. “For me?”
“Well, I guess they are. I bought these flowers and told them to take me to the prettiest girl in the state of Texas. They led me to you.”
I laughed. “Do other girls actually fall for that line?”
