0062200631 by Joe Hill

Author:Joe Hill [Hill, Joe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, United States, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, Thrillers & Suspense, Psychological Thrillers, Supernatural, Suspense, Paranormal, Thrillers, Psychological, horror, Science Fiction, fantasy
ISBN: 9780062200631
Amazon: B013C5M08O
Barnesnoble: B013C5M08O
Goodreads: 25816688
Publisher: William Morrow
Published: 2016-05-15T21:00:00+00:00

10

“Tell me about my father,” Carol said. “Is he dying?”

“His condition is stable right now.”

“But he won’t wake up.”

“I’m hopeful.”

“Ben says he should’ve woken up by now.”

“Yes. If it was a subdural hematoma with no complications.”

“So why hasn’t he?”

“There must’ve been complications.”

“Like what? What kind of thing is a ‘complication’?”

“I couldn’t say with any certainty. I’m a nurse, not a neurologist. A piece of bone in his brain? Or just a deep bruise on the brain. Or maybe he had a stroke while we were operating. I don’t have any of the diagnostic equipment I’d need to figure it out.”

“If he wakes up”—Carol began, and her breath seemed to hitch before she could go on, although her face remained slack, expressionless—“how retarded will he be?”

They didn’t use the word retarded to discuss brain damage, but Harper didn’t think it was the time or place to correct her. “He may suffer no impairment at all or he may be severely damaged. At this point I’d just be guessing.”

“Would you agree, though,” Carol said, “that he should’ve recovered by now? This is an unexpected outcome, isn’t it?”

“I was hoping for better.”

Carol nodded, slowly, almost dreamily. “Is there anything you can do for him?”

“With what I have on hand? Not much. I rigged up a way to pass him fluids—watered-down apple juice—but that will only sustain him for so long. If the infirmary was better stocked, though, it would open up a range of options to improve his care. It would give me more flexibility with other patients, too. That’s what I was hoping to talk to you about. I spoke with John—”

“Yes,” Carol said. “So I heard.”

Harper continued as if there had been no interruption. “—and he has a plan to get us the supplies—”

This time Ben broke in.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Ben asked Carol. “Didn’t I say we could trust the Fireman to have a plan for us?” He spoke in a flat, almost bored tone, but beneath that there was an edge in his voice.

Harper tried again. “John thinks he can help us get what I’d need to look after your father and see to his long-term care, if he remains incapacitated. I think it ought to be considered.”

“Tell me,” Carol said.

Harper laid out the Fireman’s plan: how he wanted them to take Ben’s police cruiser to Verdun Avenue, use one of the camp cell phones to call an ambulance, wait for them to show up, and then—

“—then John says he’ll send a phoenix to chase away the EMTs and any police who come along with them,” Harper finished. She felt this was a rather lame way to wrap up and was, briefly, nettled with John and John’s perverse theatrical impulses. “I’m not sure what he means by that, but he hasn’t let us down in the past.”

“It’ll be another of his stunts,” Carol said. “One of his distractions. He does like his distractions.”

Ben said, “I don’t see why we need his help. We can take down an ambulance without him.

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