That Christmas Feeling by Catherine Palmer

Author:Catherine Palmer
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2010-08-21T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

NATE’S CELL PHONE woke him from a sound sleep. He almost ignored it, then remembered he’d given his number to the nurse’s station when he talked to the hospital earlier. Just in case.

Nate had been downright shocked to learn that his name was listed among the people with whom the doctors could discuss Duke’s medical condition, but perhaps that list had been made years ago, before Nate even left Hallam Fork.

Whatever the reason, that list had definitely simplified getting information. But it also meant they’d probably call him if anything went wrong.

His fingers fumbled across the unfamiliar nightstand, found the phone and answered it.

“Nate, it’s Annie. I just heard from Imogene, the head nurse. Duke’s taken a turn for the worst.”

She didn’t actually ask the question, but he heard it anyhow. He didn’t answer immediately. His gaze went to the window, where he saw a frenzied dance of snowflakes, illuminated by the cold, white moon. He cracked his neck, feeling the burn from lifting about a hundred rafter beams. He stared at his feet and realized he was too tall for this bed, which had probably been carved a hundred years ago.

“I’ll drive,” he said. “I’ll meet you at the car.”

She didn’t talk on the way, which was fine with him. Bill had sent Nate the best rental car he could find on short notice, but the heater was crap. The roads were badly illuminated, and, given that it was three-thirty in the morning, he needed a cup of coffee in the worst way.

He considered letting Annie go up ahead of him, while he negotiated with the vending machine, which was trimmed in cheap blue and gold garland. But at the last minute he realized he would just get lukewarm panther piss out of the damn thing anyhow, and he joined Annie in the elevator.

When they reached the second floor, a middle-aged nurse bustled out from behind a station, around which colored lights had been awkwardly strung. If it was supposed to look festive, it failed.

The woman met them at the door to Duke’s room, where a sprig of fake holly covered his name, leaving it to say “uke Araby.”

“I hope I’m wrong,” the woman—he assumed she was Imogene—said quietly. “But his breathing is much worse tonight. He has a definite rattle. So I thought…better safe than sorry, right?”

She looked curiously at Nate when she said this, and her inflection indicated it might be a real question.

“Sure,” he said, because she seemed to expect it.

“Absolutely right,” Annie said with extra warmth, as if to make up for his lack of it. “Thanks, Imogene. Is it okay for us to sit with him a while?”

“Of course.” The nurse inched open the door with the tips of two fingers. “I’ll be out here if you need me.”

Though Annie made a beeline to Duke’s bed, Nate didn’t know his way. He hung near the threshold, waiting for his eyes to adjust. The room seemed alive with shadows and stray light. Blue numbers blinked their mysterious messages on vaguely threatening monitors.

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