Pie Town by Lynne Hinton

Author:Lynne Hinton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780062045102
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2011-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-two

Hey, Lena,” Roger whispered from the hospital door, calling out to his ex-wife, who was asleep in the chair beside Alex’s bed.

She didn’t respond.

“Malene,” he whispered, and she blinked her eyes. “Hey, why don’t you go home? I’m here for the long haul.” Roger had just gotten to the hospital. It was the fifteenth day of Alex’s stay in the intensive care unit. He stood at the door until Malene noticed him standing there.

She yawned and raised her arms above her head and stretched. She had only recently fallen asleep. “What time is it?” she asked.

Roger glanced at his watch. “Eight-thirty,” he answered. “I’m prepared to stay a couple of days. Why don’t you go home and come back on the weekend?” He moved into the room and stood next to the little boy.

“He’s doing much better,” Malene told him. She slid her hand across the top of her head, trying to fix her hair. “And he sat up for most of the afternoon yesterday,” she added.

Roger nodded. “Is his fever down?”

“It’s been normal since yesterday evening when I called you,” she replied. She stood up from the chair where she had been resting and began folding the blanket she had been using. “I think we’re finally out of the woods.”

Roger stepped into the room and moved over to his grandson. He stood by the bed and reached for Alex. An IV line was taped to the back of Alex’s hand, and his arm was bruised from all the needlesticks. When Roger touched him, Alex opened his eyes, blinked a few times, and smiled.

“Well, look who’s awake,” Roger said.

“Hey, Sheriff,” the boy said, his voice sounding soft and weak. “You coming to take me in?”

Roger smiled. “That depends. Have you broken the law?”

“I stole Grandma’s heart,” he replied. It was a familiar conversation for the two of them.

“Well, that may require jail time, trooper,” Roger said.

Alex winced as he tried to sit up a bit in the bed.

“You hurting?” Roger asked.

Alex shook his head. “No, I feel a lot better,” he replied.

Roger grinned. “Then maybe we’ll get you home soon,” he noted.

“That’d be nice,” Alex responded.

He closed his eyes, and Roger stood next to the bed for a few minutes, watching as the boy slept. He finally walked around the bed, pulled out another chair from near the door, and sat next to where Malene had been sleeping. She had moved over to the mirror and was brushing her hair.

“You look terrible,” Roger commented.

“Well, thank you,” Malene said. “That’s always nice to hear.” She moved back over to her seat.

“You know what I mean,” Roger said. “Go home. Take a shower in your own bathroom. Eat at your own table. Take a nap.”

Malene considered the instruction.

“I left Danny in charge for the rest of the week. I brought my stuff. Go,” he ordered. “The car is parked on the top level in the lot.” He reached in his pocket, pulled out the set of keys, and placed them on the table between them.

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