The Moon is Missing: a novel by Jenni Ogden

Author:Jenni Ogden [Ogden, Jenni]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sea Dragon Press
Published: 2020-08-24T22:00:00+00:00

Within thirty minutes, identified by a coded wristband, I was in the corridor outside the sixth floor Intensive Care Unit, listening to a tired junior neurosurgery resident as she summarized the case histories of the patients they hadn’t been able to discharge before Katrina hit. The patients, many attached to beeping life-support equipment and a few to noisy mechanical ventilators, were crowded side-by-side in the corridors and other common areas. They’d been shifted there last night when the large glass windows in the adjacent ICU shattered, covering the unit with glass. The crowded spaces also housed other less critically ill patients from wards damaged during Katrina. Pauline, the resident, who looked not much older than Lara, was struggling to keep the frightened and distressed patients as safe and comfortable as possible.

On our bed round, we had difficulty hearing each other over the dissonant sounds of the monitors, pumps, and ventilators, and the worried voices of family members who were trying to still the patients’ fears in spite of their own. We arrived at the bed of an elderly woman, whose labored breathing could be heard even above the racket. She lay motionless, her weathered, wrinkled arms lying outside the white sheet, an IV snaking from the inside of her right wrist, and an emerald ring adorning a thin brown finger on her left hand. From the end of her bed I could see her long, white hair, but her face was obscured by the covers stretched over a cradle that spanned her from waist to knees. She had no one with her, and Pauline flipped through her notes.

“I don’t know this patient. She was brought in from orthopedics early this morning and I haven’t even had time to say hullo.” Pauline’s shoulders slumped; she was close to tears.

“Take your time,” I said quietly. “You’ve been doing an amazing job. No one is expecting you to be able to do everything. Why don’t I look at her notes?”

I saw Pauline’s shoulders straighten a little, and her eyes closed briefly behind her glasses as she took some deep, shuddering breaths. She managed a tremulous smile as she handed me the file. “I lost it there for a minute. I’m so tired…”

“As soon as we get through here you should take a few hours sleep. I can manage by myself for a while.” I began to read the summary page at the front of the file.

Mrs. Leaumont is an 89-year-old woman who underwent a total right hip replacement on August 24th. Prior to her surgery she was an exceptionally healthy woman for her age with no major risk factors and no previous significant medical problems apart from a total left hip replacement in February of this year. Her recovery from that was excellent.

As I scanned down the page, the patient’s name slowly penetrated my buzzing thoughts. Of course, I’d known who it must be. I was going to meet her after all. I checked the patient label at the top of the page.

Savannah Leaumont; DOB April 12th, 1916.

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