Compass (Siren Songs Book 2)

by Stephie Walls

  “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Are you kidding me with this? I just followed an ambulance for over three hours. They gave me this pack of information to give to a nurse after they checked us in over an hour ago.”

  “Look, I’m sure your situation is an emergency, so is everyone else’s here.” She waves her hand around to illustrate the crowd of people waiting like I haven’t fucking seen every one of them. “But we don’t have any beds and are trying to treat as many people as we can here before releasing them.”

  “What do you mean you don’t have any beds?”

  “I mean, every bed in the hospital is accounted for, so if your husband has a gurney he’s doing better than most of the people around you.”

  “My husband had a fucking stroke two days ago, and they haven’t been able to stabilize his blood pressure! He isn’t some junky looking for a goddamn fix!” I shouldn’t yell. I know it won’t accomplish anything but I have no other way to express my frustration—not just the current irritation but the mounting annoyance from the last two days.

  “Let me see what you have,” she extends her hand for the package never losing her self-control.

  I relinquish it, watching her go through the files. After several minutes, she picks up the phone, I assume calling Regional by the way she’s talking.

  “Regional never discharged him, so he wasn’t showing in our system for transfer.”

  “Well, obviously he was discharged since they transported him here, he’s sitting over there, and all his records are currently in your hand.”

  “I meant he wasn’t discharged out of their computer system to allow ours to pick him up.”

  “Look, I’m sorry. This has been a rollercoaster. I don’t know whether I’m coming or going and I’m simply flying by the seat of my pants. I don’t mean to be rude, I just need someone to help me.”

  She disregards my apology. “We still have the same issue. There are no beds available. It’s likely you will be in the ER until someone is released in the morning.”

  “You’re telling me, my husband, who was in ICU hours ago, is going to spend the night in the hall because Regional didn’t bother communicating properly to MUSC?”

  “I don’t make the rules.” She hands me the packet back and walks away.

  My phone rings precisely at the same moment the nurse walks away, dragging it from my pocket, I look at the screen to see Patty’s name. Squeezing my eyes closed in an effort not to roll them, I answer out of obligation.

  “Hello?”

  “Piper, it’s Patty.” Like I didn’t see her name on the caller ID. “We should be there in about three hours. Brooks ended up coming with us, so we had to wait for him to get to the house.”

  I silently send up a little prayer thanking God for Brooks ability to rearrange his schedule.

  “Are you guys there yet?”

  “Yes, we’re here.”

  She interrupts before I can finish my sentence. “Great, what room is Moby in?”

  “He’s not. We’re in the ER. I’ll send you a message when I know more.”

  I think I’m in hell. The people around me are moaning, some in agony, with no relief in sight. I imagine this is what Hades would be like. This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, even on television, busy emergency rooms should have abundant lighting, state of the art facilities. This is nothing like that. The halls are dim, the noise is deafening, from both the patients and the construction, and everything appears dirty. Being alone, unable to walk, these halls freak me the fuck out almost as much as the people filling them.

  With Piper in view, I can tell by the look on her face things are not going as planned. Her skin is a purplish red, her eyes slightly squinted, and a vein is bulging in her forehead. Someone has pissed my wife off, and I’m thankful it wasn’t me. When we make eye contact, all signs of irritation wipe clean, her face softens, the color begins to return to normal, and her eyes fill with love. There’s only a slight trace of the vein that gives her away.

  When she gets close enough, I ask, “Do I even want to know?” She shakes her head no. Of course, now I have to know. “What’s going on?”

  “You really don’t want to know.” My brow furrows telling her that’s not the answer to my question.

  Piper gives me the sordid details suddenly looking overly tired. Not physically, but emotionally. I can see it written all over her. Her shoulders slump, her eyes dull. The light normally surrounding her is nowhere near as bright as it should be. Finishing her story, something catches her eye. Her head snaps to focus on whatever, or whomever, she saw.

  “Be right back, Moby.” With no explanation, she dashes off stopping to talk to a pretty blonde in scrubs. The nurse obviously works here, and it appears Piper knows her. My wife speaks with animation, her hands doing the same amount of talking her mouth is. Concern marks the other girl’s face when she looks over her shoulder at me before she pulls Piper into a long hug.

  “Who was that?” I ask when she returns to my side.

  With the biggest smile I’ve seen on her face in days, she proclaims, “That, is Jennifer. She went to college with Cam. I’ve hung out with her a few times but haven’t seen her in a couple years. Anyway, she’s moving you to a bay in the ER while she tries to figure out how to get you in a room.”

  My girl’s proud of herself. She doesn’t know it, but she can handle anything thrown at her. No matter the situation, she’s always on her game, always collected and ready for a challenge. This is no different. I wouldn’t want anyone else by my side fighting for my cause.

  True to her word, Jennifer has me moved to a bay shortly after speaking with Piper. It’s not a private room, and I’m currently sharing it with someone named Jermaine. Although there’s a curtain separating us, it’s easy to hear what’s going on in Jermaine’s world. He’s obviously a regular here. The doctor speaks with him about having followed up with his doctor about his diabetes, which he hasn’t done because he can’t get a ride to the clinic, and when he does, he can’t afford the insulin anyway so he comes here where they can’t turn him away. It’s sad to hear; he can’t stabilize his medical condition long enough to hold a job and ends up living off the system. The shame is evident in his voice. He wants something different but seems caught in a vicious cycle he can’t escape.

  A chubby, dark-haired female doctor entering my side of the room interrupts my audible intake of Jermaine’s history.

  She extends her hand to Piper first, introducing herself. “I’m Dr. Ryan. I’m the Chief Nephrologist on staff here.” She reaches out to me before continuing. “Tell me a little about what’s going on. Jennifer said you guys came from Greenville?”

  Piper looks at me to see if I’m going to answer, I give her the nod confirming it’s easier for her to speak than it is for me, although my speech is improving with every hour. She goes into as much depth as she can tell the doctor about the events of the last couple days and what medical information she has managed to retain. I listen as they banter back and forth, Piper sounding like an expert after only forty-eight hours.

  Her phone alerts her to a text message while she’s talking, she hands me the phone. I see my mom is the culprit, so I respond to her messages. We’ve been here longer than I realize if they’re outside trying to find a parking place. I text her the vague information I have about where we are in the building.

  “The issue remains the same, Mrs. Cooper. We don’t have any open beds for your husband. He is at the top of the priority list, but right now, I don’t have anywhere to move him. We’re going to start monitoring him again while he’s in the ER, but it will most likely be morning before we can get him upstairs.”

  She never loses her cool. I know her frustration, but she stays calm. I look at the chair my wife will be spending a great deal of time in and wish this were a bed instead of a gurney. If she could crawl up here with me, it wouldn’t matter if we had a room tonight or six days from now. If I could hold her, we would bo
th be okay.

  As Dr. Ryan is about to leave, my mom, dad, and Brooks come barreling through the door. The inquisition starts as my mom lays into the unsuspecting physician. Demanding to know why I haven’t moved, why I am here if they didn’t have a room, and on and on and on.

  “Mom.” I try to get her to calm down. “Mom.” She’s too busy chewing on Dr. Ryan to hear me talking to her. Before I can get her attention, Dr. Ryan explodes on her.

  “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the fact is, I’m your only way in this hospital. If I say he doesn’t need to be here, I put his ass back on a bus to Greenville and walk away. I’m trying to help but you barging in screaming in my face isn’t getting you anywhere. You’re barking up the wrong tree. I suggest you take some lessons in decorum from your daughter-in-law, and sit down.”

  Piper comes to the rescue, not for my mom’s sake, but mine. “Dr. Ryan, please forgive Patty. It’s been a rough couple of days for all of us. I’m sure you can imagine how frustrated you would be if the situation were reversed.”

  “I’ll have a nurse come get Mr. Cooper situated.” And she leaves.

  “Jesus Christ, Mom. Are you trying to get me kicked out?” My rage understood only by Piper. The fact my wife comprehends my words but no one else does baffles me. My speech sounds more normal to me but by the looks on everyone’s face is still incoherent babble.

  “Moby, calm down. Getting mad at your mom isn’t going to help you. We don’t need to elevate your blood pressure.” She directs the last sentence to my mother in a sneer.

  “Now that we know where you are, and that you won’t be moving anytime soon, your dad and I are going to get some dinner. We’ll be back soon.” She kisses the top of my head as I wonder what the fuck just happened. She storms in here, busts my doctor’s chops, then leaves to get a bite to eat. Brooks and Piper just watch in awe as she and my dad walk out the door.

  “What the hell is going on, man?” Brooks asks me, totally bewildered.

  “With?” I don’t know which situation he’s referring to and don’t care to guess.

  “Mom and Dad.”

  I shrug, unable to answer his question.

  “One minute she was crying, the next she was looking for her swimsuit to pack so she could go to the beach, and then she’s chewing out a doctor she’s never met. You think she’s going through the change?”

  Piper backhands his arm, closing her eyes and shaking her head like Brooks is a moron. “No, ding dong. Why does every man assume a woman being emotional is her having a period or going through menopause?”

  I can’t help but laugh at her and Brooks. He’s an idiot, but she loves him. They have a sibling-like relationship. She’s almost eight years older than he is and finds most of his antics childish but endearing. He adores her. Primarily, because she’s the first woman I’ve ever loved, but she’s a lot like him. Very bright, reserved, but has a heart of gold, and loyal to a fault.

  I fall asleep listening to the two of them chatter. She loves hearing his football stories from college, and he loves telling them. I lived most of them and those I didn’t I’ve heard a hundred times.

  The sound of machines flat lining and my bed moving causes me to wake in shock. Initial panic takes over watching the lines stream horizontally on the screen, the long drawn out beep following, sending terror through me.

  Piper notices me. “Hey, sleepyhead. Jennifer came through.”

  I try to sit up but with no real ability to move my left arm it’s difficult using only my right hand to adjust the dead weight.

  “We’re moving up to a room. Sixth floor. It’s not the penthouse, but I figured it would do for now.” When she winks at me, I want to hug my brother. His presence has eased her tension and put a smile back on her face.

  “Where are my parents?”

  “They haven’t come back from dinner, but Brooks sent them a text to let them know we’re moving. No worries. They’ll find us.”

  The room is small, with no furniture for visitors, but Moby’s away from the creeps downstairs and will now have the proper medical attention. I can’t ask for more right now.

  The light is fading from the window and it’s nearing eight o’clock. When his parents find us, I’m rather confused by Patty. She tells us about her plans for the week to shop, soak up the sun, and essentially enjoy an unexpected vacation. I look at Brooks who shrugs not knowing what’s going on with her either and seemingly as surprised as I am at her focus not being on Moby. Maybe this is her way of saying, if he doesn’t need her because he has me, then so be it. She will do what she wants. I roll my eyes, silently communicating the absurdity of it all with Brooks.

  They make their exit with Brooks in tow, confident Moby is now in good hands to retreat to the comfort of their respective hotel rooms. None of them ask me what my plans are for the night, and I certainly don’t want to worry Moby, so I make no mention of it. The nurse comes in shortly after they leave telling us visiting hours are over, essentially noting it’s time for me to depart as well. She informs me I can return at eight tomorrow, and they plan to move Moby to the stroke ward before lunch.

  “I’m going to get going. Get a good night’s sleep. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

  Tugging me down to him with his good hand, he kisses my forehead. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too, Moby.”

  With no way to pay the parking bill and therefore no escape, I walk to my car to hang out for the night. I pray the parking lot will be relatively safe. I unlock the car and sit in the driver seat with the heater running for a bit to warm up the interior, listening to the radio. I pass some time while reading through comments on Facebook about Moby, well wishes, people asking for updates. I respond to a few, post a vague update about his status in hopes my phone will stop blowing up with every Tom, Dick, and Harry, who has ever met either of us asking for information. Unable to hold my eyes open any longer, I turn the car off, retreat to the backseat, lock the doors, and lie down to sleep for the night with a jacket as my pillow.

  The sun shines through the openings in the garage, peeking into the car windows. Finding my phone, the clock reads 6:04 a.m. Looking in the rearview mirror, I see exactly what I had hoped not to, a woman who looks like she slept in the back of her car in a parking garage. With a heavy sigh, I release my hair from its messy ponytail to retie it, hopefully looking more presentable before going to find a restroom and freshen up. Riffling through my change, I manage to scour up a little over four dollars and pray I can at least get myself a cup of coffee with my findings. Sometime during the night a chill set in and I can’t shake the ache buried deep inside. The wind rushing through the parking garage only makes it worse.

  The hospital is much quieter than the emergency room was, there are a few people roaming the floors, mostly staff, and medical personnel. I locate the nearest restroom. A first morning pee has never felt so glorious. I wash my hands and face in the warm water, scrub my teeth with a paper towel, and rinse before asking the next person I see for directions to the cafeteria.

  The aroma of food about knocks me over when I pass through the double doors causing my stomach to grumble. Waves of flavor pass through the air, eggs, bacon, sweets…and coffee. There’s a flurry of people buying and eating food—mostly doctors. I step up to Cup o’ Joe to look at the menu when a familiar voice calls my name.

  “Piper?” I turn in the direction of the man speaking to me. “Piper Pritchard?”

  “Will? Wow, is that really you?” Will and I went to high school together. We dated my freshman year if you can call his mom taking us to the movies dating. It was an innocent romance. We never kissed, both of us too shy to embark on that endeavor.

  “What are you doing here?” he asks, concern taking over his features. He turned into a handsome man. He was a cute guy in high school but in a goofy way. He was a brainiac, which obviously paid off since there’s an MD after his name on his badge. Now, he’s tall, dark, poised, confident, and not at all quir
ky.

  “My husband had a stroke. He’s here for a brain stent.” I say as if he’s having a hangnail removed.

  “Let me buy you some breakfast and a cup of coffee and you can tell me what’s going on.”

  As much as I don’t want to agree, I haven’t eaten since dinner the day before yesterday, and I can’t afford anything more than coffee. “That would be nice. Thank you.” I order a cup black and a blueberry muffin.

  Sitting down at a table at the side of the room, Will probes me. “Tell me what happened. Are you still living in Greenville?”

  I give him the condensed version of the story leading up to this moment, minus the sleeping in my car and having no money. “Dr. Ryan is the best Nephrologist in the state and one of the best in the country. One of the cool things about this hospital is it’s a teaching facility for the University, so they draw talent from all over the world. Your husband couldn’t be in a better place.”

  “I hope so. No one has really told us much. I don’t know what to expect or how long we’ll be here. It’s hard being away from family and friends.”

  “Where’s your clan? What do you guys call each other, ducks?”

  I laugh. Will knew us when we first met outside of high school, we were an odd bunch. “Fish. They’ll be here sometime tomorrow, I hope.”

  “Let me give you my number. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me. Even if it’s just a friend. I’m sure my wife would love to keep you company if you need someone to talk to as well.” He writes his number down on a prescription pad.

  “That wouldn’t be awkward at all,” I mumble sarcastically under my breath.

  “Not at all. You know her. Danielle Tucker, she went to school with us.”

  “Small world, huh? Please tell her I said hello. And thank you again for the coffee and muffin. I can’t tell you how nice it was to run into you.”

  “Likewise. I hate to run off, but my shift starts in ten minutes. I’ll find your husband’s room later and check on you. What’s your last name now?” he asks, backing away from me toward the door.