by Marian Stack
While on her cell phone, Megan noticed a commotion from out in the hallway and then to a certain degree noticed a few of the team caring for her fiancée quickly exiting the examination room, forcing her to become somewhat interested in the goings-on. Annoyed with the interruption regarding her call she decided to investigate and upon entering, and to her horror she set her eyes on the body of her fiancée and then she too began to scream bloody murder.
As the screaming sounds hit the nurses’ station the head nurse quickly set her tray of medication down on the counter and ran towards the examination room that she knew cradled the recent VIP arrival from the wilderness rescue, “What is going on here? This remains a hospital and screaming like this will get everyone else in an uproar. Now what is the emergency here?”
It was Megan who voiced her concerns first, “Just look at my fiancées tortured body, she looks awful. Can’t you do anything that will make her better quicker? We are getting married in just a few weeks. She can’t look like this on my special day! Good God Almighty… do something!” Her commands were demanding but her mannerisms’ seemed oddly nonchalant.
Shocked by the outburst, every single movement and sound in the room stopped as Megan stood just past the threshold with her cell phone in her hand with her open purse hanging from her arm and a stunned head nurse standing directly ahead of her. Then with everyone in frozen silence, as the preposterous words evaporated from the room, Megan’s cell phone rang and without skipping a beat she turned her back to the group and promptly exited the room placing her active cell phone to her ear.
Then without skipping a beat the medical staff directly returned to their required duties ignoring the past several minutes, as they all understood how emotions can get out of hand, however as Blair’s frayed nerves began to settle, ignoring the past few anxiety filled moments was not easily released. For the first time Blair noticed her own bad behaviour crystalize right before her eyes as she watched and listened to her fiancée’s zany and outrageous rant.
As she settled back down enabling the medical staff to continue, she began to marinate on her fiancée antics, knowing that ten days ago this outburst would not have fazed Blair in the slightest, more to the point she would have encouraged or expected that exact response from her, but today even her own outburst changed her complexion sadden face to an embarrassed burning crimson blush.
“Excuse me Miss Foster, here’s the cell phone you requested.” A very nice looking young nurse with purple hair startled Blair out of her thoughts and as her body jerked with outside awareness her arm flung into the air knocking the phone out of the nurses’ hand causing the cell phone to fall to the examination floor.
The entire room gasped in horror from the sounds of the bouncing phone hitting the hard floor, which included hearing pieces of the phone skip across the medical debris filled floor. And then with equal horror all waited for another outburst.
Ceasing the moment Blair masterfully gathered each person’s attention using eye contact alone and apologised. “Please forgive my past outburst and please forgive my fiancée as well. While waiting for my safe return, my brother and fiancée had to endure nine days of uneasiness regarding my whereabouts, and even though it’s not right to take their fear out on you, you seem to be bearing the brunt, and for that I sincerely apologize. And yes just because my family name is on this beautiful building does not give us the right to treat any of you with disrespect.” And then as she reverted her eyes back the youngest nurse, “As for you my dear, first of all I love the bold colour purple in your hair, it suites you, and again when you have an extra spare moment could you please locate another phone for me. The one that remains on the floor can be trashed.”
During her passionate speech two extra bodies entered the room, her brother Joe who stood next to the head nurse and the other was Megan, who stood just to the right of the entrance, and the furthest distance from her boss without notice, with her cell phone pressed up again her ear and her mouth opened in disbelief.
Joe nonchalantly walked over to his sister and leaned in for a hello kiss and offered his words of approval, “Well said sis.”
Megan on the other hand turned and walked out the door, mistakenly ramming into another arriving nurse, pushing her backwards to the point of a near fatal full knock down. And as Megan adjusted her hand bag back up her arm she offered no apologies but instead remarked, “Get out of my way!” And with the indignant insult lingering in the air, Megan walked down the corridor clearly expressing she had more important things to accomplish.
As she proceeded to exit the building she could be heard talking to another on the phone, “I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with her, maybe she hit her head or something. And my God! You should she how horrible she looks. Dinner at ‘Stephan’s is fine. I’m getting into the limo now.”
As Blair watched the doctor and her brother stand off to the side talking, her assumption was dead on they were talking about her and not a board of executive conversation, “Excuse me, I’m not a little girl any more brother, in case you haven’t noticed I’m a grown woman so please stop this whispering and include me in this conversation.” Her voice was strong sounding but void with her normal arrogance, a point that was not missed by her brother.
“Yes my dear, you are absolutely correct, my apologies.” Joe defended his brotherly love.
“Well to begin again, and after looking over all the results from the tests given, you seem to be in remarkably good condition especially after being lost in the…”
“We weren’t lost.” Blair immediately defended Turtle’s expertise.
Surprised by the interruption, “Pardon me?” the doctor questioned.
“We weren’t lost. Turtle knew where she was the entire time we were out there. That mountain was her home, sorry is her home, so in conclusion…we were never lost.” She completed her statement of fact and then continued to wait for the somewhat surprised doctor to continue his assessment of her health conditions.
“Okay, well, while you were gone…”
“Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt again but it’s very clear by your tone that you don’t have a clue what Miss Dove did for me. And what we were able to accomplish together. She always was able to find or make us shelter, and she always provided food and warmth. That mountain threw everything it had at us and because of Miss Dove we not only survived but we rather enjoyed parts of the adventure. So if you are going to imply that I’m in very good condition it’s all because of her. She should have received a hero’s welcome and brought here for medical treatment...”
“Ok sis.” Joe stepped in as he felt the momentum of his sister’s anger begin to build as she continued to defend her guide. “Dr. Glen thank-you for your time and assessment of my sister’s health status, however I think we can all agree that sleep is what seems to be the top priority for my sister now.”
“Yes I agree with your assessment. Again my apologies, but you are a very lucky woman to have survived such an adventure, to use your words. I will look in on you in the morning.” Dr. Glen offered a respectful handshake to Joe and then exited the room.
“Brother can I use your cell phone? I really want to call and talk with someone about Miss Dove’s condition.” Blair had presented an outstretched her hand, palm up with fingers wiggling back and forth indicating impatience and hurry.
“Honey I think you need to rest before you do anything else. You have been through quiet an ordeal…”
“Joe don’t you start, I’m fully aware of my boo boo’s but I have no clue what is wrong with Turtle…I mean Miss Dove.”
“Joe...”her voice lowered and it was clear to her brother that feelings were entering this conversation. “I need to talk to her. I need to know how she is doing. You saw the back woods areas that she lives in. What if she needs better medical attention than they can provide? Joe please, I promise once I hear her voice, or at the very lease know that she is well cared for than I will sleep.” Blair pleaded with her hand rem
aining in the same demanding action position.
Never able to refuse his sister anything he relented and offered her one of his many cell phones, “You are relentless, here is my non work related phone.”
“Oh goodie. Is this the one with all your girlfriends’ numbers on it?” Blair jokingly stated as she quickly grabbed the phone from his hand.
“Yes that correct. I’m giving you my black book phone. As if…” He completed the silly banter the two have enjoyed all their lives.
“You know that if we ever got into a contest about your lady friends verses mine… I would win.” She couldn’t resist that final dig.
Watching the last medical personnel leave her spacious private room, Blair was finally able to place the call that she so desperately wanted to complete. After dialling the numbers and waiting for someone to answer at the receiving end she was extremely disappointed that all she received as answer machine message. She wasn’t too alarmed about not talking to a human but what threw her for a loop was the message, “Sorry no one is here to take your call, I’ve either left for the day or attending to one of my two or four legged patients. Please leave a message, however if this is an emergency than call Dan’s Dinner, where you will get in touch with just about anybody. Stay safe my friends.”
Completely taken aback Blair stuttered out a simple message, “Ahhh yes, my name is Miss Blair Foster and I’m trying to get in touch with Miss Turtle Dove, please could someone call me back as soon as possible, at this number, regarding her health status, please and thank-you.”
Stunned by the message Blair set her mind in panic mode. “Now who the hell do I call?”
After gathering her thoughts and doing a little mental problem solving she makes another phone call, “Hello Brother, you are probably sleeping, what am I saying…? You never sleep, nevertheless…when you get this message I more than likely will be gone from here. I’m going back to Sandy River in the morning to make sure that Miss Dove has all the proper medical treatment she requires, and not by a vet, and oh ya, I’m taking the heli!”
Not so early the next morning
As Megan strolled by the nurses’ station she ignored the greeting and the attempted offering of information from the young nurse with the purple hair, but instead continued walking towards Blair’s room with unwavering superiority. After entering the room Megan immediately noticed that the room was barren of any signs of occupancy. Showing noticeable signs of annoyance she swung her entire body around and once again collided with the purple haired nurse.
Megan’s anger was instant as she unleashed her wrath, “Really. Do you not understand the concept of personal space boundaries? Now step back. And tell me the location of my fiancée?”
Understanding that fewer words spoken would be the best route to take, the purple haired nurse informed the crazed looking person, “She has left.”
Megan had taken two steps forward placing her hot-tempered quivering lips just inches from the nurses’ face, then spouted out, “What the fuck do you mean, she has left. What exactly does that mean?”
Stepping backwards the nurse stated again but surprisingly showed some potency of her own. “First of all, please step back, and then I will tell you what I was attempting to tell you as you walked past the nurses’ station.”
Stunned by the insolence of this young person she did as requested, taking the required steps backwards and then impatiently waited for her information.
“Thank-you, now as I have stated Miss Foster departed very early this morning, contrary to her doctors’ wishes. She really didn’t give any reason for her hasty departure other than she wanted someone to be cared for that wasn’t a veterinarian. Will there be anything else?” The young nurse remained very professional in spite of their first two unprofessional encounters.
“No, that will not be all.” Megan’s response was void of feelings as she rapidly looked at her cell phone, and with deliberant movements she dialled a familiar number. “Yes, hello, my name is Miss Megan Post and I am affiliated with the Foster Law Firm, now if I may inquire what was the destination of the Foster private helicopter that departed very early this morning and who was on board?”
It seemed only seconds passed before Megan received the information she requested. “Yes, I see thank-you. Oh one more thing could you please contact me when the helicopter returns. Thank you, and yes you can reach me at this number, good-bye.” And then as per usual, Megan turned away from the young nurse and with an exaggerated ladylike saunter, she walked away without a word of praise or gratitude.
Once seated in the back of the limo and instructions given to the driver to return to the firm, Megan settled back into the plush leather seat and began to inventory the many strange occurrences that she had witnessed between the guide and her fiancée, not to mention her fiancée’s most recent baffling personality changes.
With the passenger side door wide open, the driver stood with a professional stance waiting for his passenger to exit, however Megan was not ready to depart as she was still considering her options. As time slowly ticked by the driver remained in his stance standing outside with his hand remaining on the top of the opened door. As he waited he could hear a somewhat normal conversation transpire from within the confines of the back seat, even though he was fully aware that his passenger was alone in this conversation, so again he allowed the time required to complete the unusual one-sided conversation to continue as it was clear a solution was required, and then as rapidly as the conversation was in full bloom it seemed to be over as a long thin arm with the hand in a noticeable assistance appeared just beyond the break of the door frame, and as the assistance was offered by the driver Megan mumbled out loud but to herself she concluded, “game on.”
So as she walked through the enormously large glass entrance door of the generational law firm she had already put into action the first stage of her game plan. She had begun to visualize a welcome home party for her fiancée, which of course would include the guide as the guest of honour.
The Hamlet of Sandy River
Once the helicopter received landing clearance the pilot gently set the private helicopter on the outfield of the local baseball diamond just on the outskirts of town. The slight delay in landing was dedicated to the fact that the Sandy River area remained in an unstable environmental disaster zone limiting all aircrafts to localized areas for rapid departures if need be.
Running on feelings and pure energy Blair could hardly wait for the rotor blades to slow enough for her to escape the confines of the helicopter. As her feet greeted the grass of the outfield she felt completely disorientated. “How is it that you can navigate a city of millions of strangers but a small wilderness town seems to have you spinning in circles trying to get your bearings?” She chastised her tired mind as she pivoted a full one hundred and eighty degree turn trying to remember what little information Turtle had given to her about the hamlet.
After she gained a petite amount of nervous control she looked towards the roadway, and much to her surprise she spotted a rather odd sight of an older model station wagon parked beside the players dug-out, with a hand painted brightly coloured florescent sign on the driver’s door, ‘S.R. Cab Co.’ Out of options and out of energy she walked over to the running vehicle and opened the back door and stepped into the running vehicle.
“The medical centre please.” Blair stated as she cautiously settled onto the back seat, instantly noticing several well-used small animal carriers that were situated both beside and behind her, and then as she casually turned her head attempting to locate the opposite of what she thought she should be smelling, a pleasant odour.
“Excuse me… but if I may be so bold to ask.” She cautiously spoke to the lady driver who really did not immediately react to her entering the car, “What is this wonderful smell? If I didn’t know any better I would say it smells like… pepperoni?” She questioned her own sanity as it remained very early in the morning, a little early to smell freshly baked pizza-pie just afte
r sunrise.
“Double cheese and pepperoni pizza. The best in town, I might add.” The driver stated with great pride, as not only did she own the only single car cab service but also the only pizzeria. “And if you don’t mind my delivery is just before the medical center, which allows me to kill two birds with one stone, the pie needs to get to the park gate keepers hut, and they get mighty ornery if it’s cold. They’ve been up all night, lots of stuff happening here over these past several weeks, with the mountain and then the death of the two escapees, and such. It just proves the truth in the old adage, ‘when one door closes another one opens.’ My business is booming between taxing guests new in town to delivering my homemade pizza pies.”
And then with a jerk of the entire vehicle the car came to a complete stop and before Blair knew what was happening she was sitting in a running vehicle with the lingering smell of double cheese and pepperoni pizza filling her nostrils with the oddest feeling of peace and tranquility.
After the cab’s second abrupt stop the driver announced their journey's end which was outside the medical center, and after completing her business transaction of paying for the cab and ordering a double cheese and pepperoni pizza-pie, Blair stood just outside the open door of the cab hesitating for just a few extra moments contemplating on whether she should intrude back into Turtles’ life or return home without visiting.
With the bright sun just rising above the impressive mountain ridge in the background of the small medical center, she suddenly felt that maybe she should have thought about this trip a little bit more before she engaged this impulsive decision to just jumped into flying back here. She didn’t for a single second think about Turtle’s feelings not to mention the fact that she had lived a totally different life than she did just ten days ago, and what if she didn’t want to see her.
“Shit, I never even thought of that.” She panicked as her mind went into overdrive regarding this impulse, to the point that she secured her hand back onto the handle of the car door to escape back into the waiting cab without detection. But then suddenly and much to her amazement she heard a familiar voice that settled her back from her panicking racing thoughts.
