Death Takes a Gander by Goff Christine

Author:Goff, Christine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Astor + Blue Editions
Published: 2014-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

The hospital was a two-story, white building situated on the west side of town, with beds for ten. In the reception area, cushioned chairs rimmed the outer walls, then formed two rows down the middle of the carpet. A long desk was carved out of the wall across from the entrance, and a collage of brightly tabbed medical files decorated the bookcase beyond.

The chairs were full of fishermen and, upon spying Lark, several booed.

Angela glared. Lark didn’t seem to notice.

After depositing her friend into a chair, Angela banged on the bell at the desk. “Hello?”

“Hold your horses, I’m coming.” A heavyset receptionist bustled into view. “Be patient. Can’t you see there’s a line in front of you?”

“We’re here to see, Eric, Betty,” Lark whispered from the front row.

“Oh, you poor girl, come around this way.” While Betty squeezed passed the desk to let them into the inner sanctum, Angela helped Lark to the door.

“Hey, what’s the big deal?” said a man wearing flannel. “I’ve been waiting here for an hour. Why does she get to go in?”

“Hush up,” said Betty, not unkindly. “This is a different matter. We’ll get to you next, Clyde.”

Angela slipped through behind Lark, and Betty closed the door in Clyde’s face. “Big babies, all of them.”

“Where is he?” Lark asked.

The floors beyond the doors were covered in white linoleum. The squares gleamed, giving the illusion they were slippery wet. Blue handrails, dividing whitewashed walls, ran the length of the corridor on either side, and the air smelled of antiseptic.

“I’ll have to check with the doctor to see if you can go in,” said Betty, depositing them into two chairs in the hallway. “You wait here.”

Lark plopped down, dropping her head between her knees and extending her hands to the floor.

After what seemed an eternity, a door across from them burst open, and a white-coated doctor bustled out into the hall. “I’m so sorry.”

Lark’s face drained of all color, and the doctor backpedaled. “No, no, not sorry like that. I didn’t mean to scare you. I meant, I’m sorry about what’s happened to Eric. He’s fine. I mean, he’s still alive. We’re doing everything we can.”

“Can I see him?”

“We need to locate his family,” the doctor said.

“His mother lives in Norway.” Lark’s voice sounded flat, and Angela worried she was giving up hope.

“Does he have anyone in the States?” she asked.

Lark shook her head.

“That poses a problem,” the doctor said.

“Can’t Lark serve as the next of kin? She’s the closest to him.”

“By law, it might have to be his supervisor, Nora. She’s the one who… ”

Lark’s expression caused him to trail off. Whoever Nora was, Angela could see the suggestion didn’t sit well.

“I’ll make any decisions that need to be made,” Lark said. “Now, is he going to be okay?”

The doctor wrung his hands. “The water was cold.”

“That’s a good thing,” Angela pointed out.

“She’s right,” the doctor agreed. “On top of everything else, he took a blow to the head. The cold water kept his brain from swelling.

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