A Deadly Homecoming by Jane Bennett Munro

Author:Jane Bennett Munro [Munro, Jane Bennett]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781532054914
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2018-10-26T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

The jury, passing on the prisoner’s life

May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two

Guiltier than him they try.

—Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

I took a few deep breaths and tried to calm myself before I went back inside. I wasn’t ready to tell Mum about this new development; it would just upset her.

When I went back inside, Mum was dressed and ready to go visit Doris. “We’ll take my car, dear,” she told me. “I wouldn’t dare drive that Mercedes.”

“You’re not driving anything,” I said. “You’ve had Compazine; it acts like a sedative.”

“Really, dear? I don’t feel the least bit sleepy.”

“It’ll hit you when you least expect it. Don’t worry; I know the way to St. Mary’s.”

To our surprise and delight, Doris had regained consciousness. Dr. Parker was in the process of extubating her when we got there. We stayed out in the waiting room until he was finished. Even so, we could hear Doris coughing up a lung in there, and I grimaced in sympathy, knowing exactly what that felt like, since I’d once had occasion to be intubated myself some years ago. Jeff came out to tell us we could go back in.

“It’s like a miracle,” he declared. “I didn’t know it would work that fast. She won’t be able to talk much, though; her throat will be too sore for the next couple of days.”

I remembered that part too. “Does Dr. Connors know she’s awake?”

“I certainly do,” boomed a voice behind us, and we turned to see the good doctor walk into the waiting room. “I guess there’s no question about what was wrong with her now, is there?”

“Does she know about Dick yet?” my mother asked anxiously.

“She hasn’t asked,” Jeff said. “I’m not sure how much she remembers. I didn’t want to bring it up right away, because she’s still pretty fragile. Maybe when she gets some of her strength back …”

“I’ll tell her,” a new voice announced, and Vicky walked into the room. This was turning into a convention. We couldn’t have managed it better if we’d called everybody and told them when to be there. “She has a right to know. Somebody’s bound to mention it, and she shouldn’t be blindsided by it.”

Seeing Vicky reminded me of the name Worthington and why it sounded so familiar. It was Greg’s middle name. Could Greg be related to Sonia? I made a mental note to ask Vicky about it later, after we broke the news of Dick’s death to Doris. I didn’t know how Mum felt about it, but I was quite happy to let Vicky be the bearer of bad news.

“You go tell her, Victoria dear,” my mother said. “We’ll wait out here until we see how she takes it.”

“I’ll go with you,” Dr. Connors said, and they left. Dr. Parker remained with us and informed us that Doris had regained consciousness during the night and by morning was breathing on her own, although still intubated, with the ventilator off.

So he called Dr. Connors and asked about taking the endotracheal tube out, and Dr.

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