Merry Scary Victorian Christmas: A Victoria Town Mystery Novella by Mollie Cox Bryan

Author:Mollie Cox Bryan [Bryan, Mollie Cox]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mollie Bryan
Published: 2020-11-07T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Viv rode in the ambulance with Aunt Libby, and by the time they arrived at the hospital, Libby was talking. Talking gibberish, but still.

The hospital staff whisked Aunt Libby away, not allowing Viv to go through the doors into the ER. A sizable woman with a clipboard stopped her. “We need information from you, and once she’s stabilized, you can go back with her.”

Viv kept walking. “But I—” She just wanted to lay her eyes on her. Hold her hand.

The woman stood in front of her. “I can’t let you.”

Viv watched the door swing and finally close. Aunt Libby was far out of her sight. Something pulled in her chest and sank. Like Alice in Wonderland, Viv grew smaller, the hall larger.

“Follow me, please.” Her voice sounded hollow as she led Viv to a desk. Viv answered the questions. She’s sixty-three. Heart attack last year. No other family health problems. She answered each question in a numb state. Frozen. Aunt Libby! What happened to you? “I’m sorry. I don’t have her insurance card or anything.”

The woman, a bleached blonde with dangling earrings and claw-like fingernails, smiled. “It’s okay. We have her in the system.”

Viv tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “When can I go back with her?”

She smiled, tapping her pen on the desk. “I’ll find out for you.” She arose from the desk and disappeared into the back, leaving Viv alone in her numbness. Her brain was in a fog.

Her phone’s buzz snapped her back. She glanced at the screen. It was her mother.

“Mom?” Her voice sounded as if she were 5 instead of 28.

“What’s going on? I’ve gotten a call from the police and from the hospital. I’m her emergency contact.” Her voice quivered. “Is Libby okay?”

“Vivian!”

“Uh, sorry, Mom. I’m at the hospital. They haven’t let me back to see her so I don’t know anything.” Viv didn’t recognize her own voice. Flat. Zombie-like.

“But, what happened? Why is she there?” Her mom’s voice held an edge of impatience.

Viv took a breath and recounted what happened.

“You got back from work and there she was,” her mom repeated. “How long had she been lying there?”

Viv’s heart sank into her stomach, and a wave of sickness came over her. “I don’t know.”

The last time Aunt Libby was in the hospital, she’d had a heart attack and almost died because she was alone and had been for hours before Sadie found her. Aunt Libby not being alone was one reason Viv was in Victoria Town.

Silence on the other end of the phone. “Oh, Viv,” her mother finally said.

“Right?”

“Are you okay, sweetie?”

Viv wasn’t sure. “I’m fine, surprisingly enough. I haven’t even cried.”

Her mom laughed a nervous laugh. “Typical of you, Viv. You’ll be a mess later.”

Viv resolved not to be a mess. She’d prove her mom wrong, even when she was so, so right.

The woman with the fingernails came back into the room.

“I’ve gotta go, Mom. I’ll call you back soon.”

The woman stood in front of Viv. “You can go back to see her.

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