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There was no way I was getting away from Magnolia House. Perhaps in a different life. I learned in those two summers that the things you love, you also come to hate, but you have to choose your battles. Also, Daddy usually got what he wanted, and this case was no different.
Johnny reaches out to shake Dr. Erichs hand, and then with a nod he slumps down in one of two plastic chairs.
“I’m sorry you had to come out so late,” I say.
He waves me off. “It’s par for the course. Carnivals and bouncy houses?
?” He stops mid-sentence as he pulls back the makeshift bandage on Davis’s forehead. “They’re good for business.”
“I still want to know what you were thinking,” I say, gripping the handrails of the gurney.
“You’re going to need some sutures in that hand, too,” Dr. Erichs says, looking him over.
So while Davis is getting his hand sewn up, I keep asking him what in the fuck he was thinking and he keeps deflecting by asking where Ashley is.
Finally, I say, “Cole took her home.”
“Are you sure? She isn’t answering her cell or the house phone.”
“Why would she? She doesn’t live there.”
I know what my brother is thinking. He’s thinking he doesn’t trust the Holts. He’s thinking about retaliation. But it isn’t Magnolia House at the forefront of his mind, and it really should be.
“They’re going to kill you,” I say, and Johnny waves me off.
“No one is going to kill anyone.”
“Sure they are. They’ll kill him.”
Dr. Erichs gets a call. I watch closely as he deftly silences his phone with one hand while threading sutures with the other. “I wouldn’t worry too much, Ruth. That family’s more bark than bite.”
I can tell he’s lying because I know Dr. Erichs. Working with large animals requires a certain kind of trust. You learn to read cues real quick. And he taught me well.
His phone rings again. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I need to take this.”
We can’t help but listen to the muffled voice coming from his phone as a woman speaks in a hurried tone. Dr. Erichs responds with a series of questions. It doesn’t sound good.
He ends the call and points at the sutures. He tells us he has to go and then he hands me the scissors. “You okay to take over, Ruth?”
At first I think he is kidding, but then I remember Dr. Erichs doesn’t kid. I motion toward my brother. “What about Johnny? He’s the EMT.”
“I’m off duty,” Johnny says, which is a lie. He’s never really off duty.
I don’t want to seem petty in front of Dr. Erichs, so I shrug. “Sure, I’ll fix his face.”
When I walk over to the sink to scrub my hands, Davis closes his eyes and lets out a long and heavy sigh. “This better get me a discount on my bill.”
“You should have waited,” Johnny says to Davis after Dr. Erichs leaves the room. “Why didn’t you wait?”
“He knocked Ashley to the ground and then he ran off. What was I supposed to do, let him go?”
“Yes,” Johnny and I shout at the same time.
“After what he did to that girl?” He moves as he speaks, and I almost drop the needle. “You two think I should just let him get away with it?”
“That’s what cops are for,” Johnny says. He doesn’t mean it, at least not when it comes to personal matters, but I appreciate the effort.
“The Holts get away with enough, don’t you think?”
