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“Slow down, Hazel, and take a deep breath.” Sandy gently grasped my left arm and lowered it to the bed while I took a deep breath. “Mayor Tottle knows where you are and that you had an accident. Do you remember what happened?”
I closed my eyes, hoping the memories would return, but all I saw was darkness. “The last thing I remember was getting in my car this morning. What time is it? Did I miss the event at the park?”
“I'm afraid you did,” Sandy said. “It’s after four p.m. You made it to the park, but something happened to you before you met up with Mayor Tottle. At least, that's what the witness told us. His dog found you in the grass near the parking lot.”
“I...I don't remember. I'm sorry.”
“That's okay,” Sandy assured me, patting my shoulder. “That's quite common with a head injury. Don't try to force anything. Just give yourself a little time. Eventually, the memories may return. Do you have any chronic health conditions? Things like diabetes or seizures?”
“No, no,” I said, touching my hand to my forehead as I tried to think. “I’m healthy as a horse. What about my hand? What's wrong with it? I need my hand!”
She gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “We’re waiting for the x-rays to come back and then the doctor will decide what needs to happen from there. Are you in any pain?”
“My head and my hand,” I whispered, blinking again mostly to fight back the tears threatening to fall. Everything was messed up now and I couldn’t afford to lose this job.
“I’m sure you’re hurting. There are only certain medications I can give you because of your head injury, but I’m happy to get you something for the pain. Just hang tight.”
Hang tight? Where am I going to go?I wondered as she walked out of the cubicle. I was literally tied to the bed with wires, not to mention I feared what would happen when I stood up. If the pounding in my head was any indication, I might collapse.
I swiped away the tears with my right hand before they could drip down my cheeks. Show no weakness. That was the mantra. I lifted my left hand and rested my elbow on the bed. My hand was in a giant inflatable tube that looked like bubble wrap. It was slightly hooked to the left. I closed my eyes and tried to force a memory, but instead drifted off into sleep to escape the pain.
Chapter Two
"I'm sorry, Irving. I can't give you any information about the patient without her permission," the charge nurse said from the desk. "We'll have to wait until she is done with the doctor and then I can ask her if she wants company."
"Sure, I understand," I said, biting my lip. “But Mayor Tottle had to leave, so he asked me to stay and keep him updated. Hazel and I will be living together, so I want to be here for her."
"Living together?" Nurse Sandy's brow went up at the same time my hands started waving in the air.
"No, no, not like that! I meant that she’s the new programs director and will be my neighbor in the same building. We’re getting ready to open in January. I know it’s a year late, but we ran into some big issues with New Beginnings.” I could see Sandy’s eyes glazing over, so I cleared my throat and tried to relax. “Anyway, Hazel will be living in the apartment next to me. She doesn’t know anyone in Bells Pass, so I wanted to be here for her in case she was scared or confused.”
Wearing a smile that I couldn’t decipher, Sandy patted the top of the nurse’s station. “I’ll go stick my head in and see if they’re done. Sit tight.”
“Literally,” I said, tongue in cheek and she grimaced before she laughed.
“I never said I wasn’t socially awkward.” She gave me the palms up and then disappeared into the back of the ER.
I glanced down at Star who sat by my left side, awaiting his next command. “I guess we sit tight.”
The emergency department was quiet, which surprised me. With the events at the park and the games going on around town, you’d think there would be more action in a place like this. I wasn’t going to say that aloud and jinx them, though. My time working in a hospital taught me how things could go from quiet to off the rails in the blink of an eye. I would be happy to get an update on Hazel before things went off the rails.
When Mayor Tottle was called away on city business, I assured him that I would text as soon as I heard anything, but so far, my attempts had been futile. I was praying Sandy could get me in to at least reassure Hazel that we knew she was here and that we’d take care of her.
Gabe had also arrived to take her statement, but the docs wouldn't allow it since she had a head injury. He left frustrated but with a promise from me that I’d reach out as soon as she was released. We had no idea if a crime was committed, but if that was the case, every minute that passed gave the perpetrator more time to get away. Gabe would need to talk to her and with any luck, Hazel would remember what happened and be able to give him solid information to find the person responsible. There was no way she had done this to herself, so whether on accident or purpose, someone else was responsible.
I stroked the top of Star’s head absently while I ran Hazel’s bio through my head. She was a social worker, like myself, who had worked with several large community groups in Florida for the last six years. Her first job was working with people with developmental disabilities which led her into her job as a community social worker for a school to work program. Both were difficult positions, but she had published several papers on activity-based day programs and carried a masters in social work. She transitioned into social programs for seniors before she applied for the job in Bells Pass. That’s why I found it strange that she was here. The Bells Pass center was nowhere near the size or caliber of the one she left, and that made my human side suspicious but my social worker side concerned. Had something happened to make her run away? Then again, maybe she was burned out of city work and wanted a smaller, more intimate place to work for a few years. I was man enough to admit that she intrigued me, even though we hadn’t met yet.
“Irving?” Sandy called and I looked up, my daydream broken. “Hazel said you can come back. We’re still waiting for the doctor.” She motioned me to follow her, so I unlocked my chair.
“Forward.” Star stood and walked alongside me on the left as I pushed my chair around the desk and toward Sandy. “Switch,” I commanded, when Sandy was holding the curtain open on the left side. Star walked around the back of my chair and took up a position on my right side inside the tiny cubicle.
“That dog is something else,” Sandy mumbled as she dropped the curtain and walked away.
“Sit,” I said and he lowered his butt to the ground, but just barely. The moment he’d laid eyes on Hazel again, he wanted to check her over.
“Hi, I’m Irving Wallace. It’s nice to officially meet you, Hazel, though I wish the circumstances were better,” I said to the woman in the bed. “Seems you had a bit of a debacle.”
“A fiasco, you might say,” she said with a weak smile. “It’s nice to officially meet you too, Irving. I guess you’re my hero.”
