The Eyes of the Doe by Patricia Taylor Wells

Author:Patricia Taylor Wells
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YOUNG ADULT FICTION/ Family/Siblings
Publisher: Bedazzled Ink Publishing
Published: 2017-10-03T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

The mind may forget, but the heart remembers each tiny breath of despair.

Mrs. Lake

IT WAS MONDAY afternoon. Ross called and asked me if I could drive Holly to the hospital that evening. I was tired, but there was no way I could refuse his request. Jake was bleeding internally and needed transfusions to boost his blood count. Ross didn’t want me to say anything about it to Holly.

Around four, I looked out my front window when I heard the school bus stop down the street. Holly was standing next to her mailbox. Her arms were full of books. She shifted them to the crook of her arm so she could check what was inside the box. She walked up the steps and opened the front door. I waited a few minutes before calling her.

I told Holly I would pick her up at six. That would give her time to do her homework. She was waiting outside when I came to get her. The collar of her corduroy jacket was turned up to keep the cold, damp air from nipping the back of her neck.

“Did you have any supper, dear?” I asked as she slid into the front seat.

“No, ma’am,” she said. She seemed embarrassed that I had asked.

“Then let’s stop off at Burger King. You can eat on your way to the hospital.”

I pulled in and parked. We went inside and ordered a burger, fries, and a large Coke to go. Holly looked inside the paper bag I handed her, then carefully rolled the top edges twice to seal it shut.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” I asked.

“No ma’am. I’ll wait ‘til I get there.”

It was very dark by the time we arrived at the hospital and a few driblets of rain matted against the windshield. I let Holly off under the portico.

“You go on in,” I said. “It’s about to pour. I’ll be there as soon as I find a parking space.”

Holly waited for me in the lobby. During the day, it buzzed with a steady stream of patients, medical staff, and visitors. At night, with fewer people around, it appeared much larger. Bright fluorescent lights flooded the open floor plan much like the sun did each afternoon.

Up ahead, the elevator doors closed, prompting us to take the stairs to the second floor instead of waiting for another car.

“That’s the sister of the young cancer patient in room 211,” one nurse whispered to another as we walked past the nurse’s station on the way to Jake’s room.

“Such a shame,” her companion murmured, glancing up from a patient chart.

Holly walked faster, outpacing me by several feet.

By the time I got to Jake’s room, she had already gone inside. I stayed at the doorway to give her a moment with her family. The room was ghostly quiet. Ross was sitting in a chair close to Jake’s bed. He was reading a book in the dim light of a floor lamp. He glanced over my way, but didn’t acknowledge he had seen me.

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