Night Movies

by Mary SanGiovanni

  Something about the emptiness of her eyes made him shudder inwardly. He’d be glad to get her upstairs to Harry. If medicine was an art then psychology was a kind of magic, and whether that meant parlor tricks or ancient rites to cure the mind, it was beyond his ability or comfort level, and so were those in need of it. Let Harry work his old magic on this girl.

  As an afterthought, he added, “Chloe, it looks like you’ve got a bit of a bloody nose. There are tissues right there by your bed. I’ll tell the nurse to bring you a cold compress as well.”

  Chloe, who didn’t seem to have noticed the blood before, sniffed and dragged a pale finger beneath her nose. The smear of blood stood out bright red against her pale cheek.

  “Thank you,” she said, and coughed.

  Dr. Seever gave her a smile he did not feel and left the room. He handed off the chart for Chloe Wells to a shift nurse, Stephanie Fowler, and had almost made it to his office when he heard the first of the nurse’s screams.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I‘D LIKE TO THANK MY family and Brian Keene for their love and support, and Eric Beebe and Kenneth Cain for their insight and opportunity to grow.