Arrest, Search and Séance : Book 1 of the Fringe Society by R.D. Hunter

Author:R.D. Hunter [Hunter, R.D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-04-08T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I’ve woken up in a hospital twice in my life. The first time was when my parents died. The second, I was in the fifth grade on an overnight school trip and my appendix decided to burst. If I’d been at home, Gramps could likely have taken care of it himself. But Mrs. Punkle, my teacher, was a practical woman who didn’t believe in magic, so to the hospital and into surgery I went. Both times, when I’d come to, Gramps had been there by my bedside. This was the third.

“How are you feeling, My Dear?” he asked, wiping my forehead with a cool, damp cloth. It smelled faintly of lavender, and I had a feeling it was soaked in more than regular water.

I thought about it. Everything hurt, but it was a distant ache, like I’d worked out too much without stretching and this was my bodies payback. I made a motion to sit up, and slivers of pain sliced their way up and down every muscle and tendon I had.

“Shit!” I gasped, abandoning my efforts to move, then glanced over at my grandpa. “Sorry.” He didn’t approve of vulgarity, but he only smiled kindly and continued wiping away the fresh beads of perspiration on my forehead.

“Under the circumstances, you’re forgiven. I should have counseled you against trying to move.” He lifted a cup of water to my lips and I drank several sips, knowing better than to chug the whole thing like I wanted.

“How bad is it?” I asked after a moment. My head felt fuzzy, but whether that was from injury or the medication flowing into me through a tube in my arm, I wasn’t sure.

“You have minor fractures in your left arm, leg, and foot. You also have two broken ribs, but nothing that needed to be reset. You have a minor concussion and several lacerations all over your body that required the removal of debris and a total of sixteen stitches. You were lucky.” I wanted to snort with laughter, but it hurt too damn much.

A new thought broke its way through my foggy consciousness and I almost tried to sit upright again, but stopped myself at the last instant.

“Bill,” I whispered hoarsely. “What about Bill? He was closer to the blast than I was. Is he ok?” My grandpa looked at me gravely and I prepared myself for the worst.

“He’s in surgery,” he said softly. “Has been for several hours. We’re not sure of the exact severity of his injuries, but there was major internal trauma, as well multiple compound fractures. I met his wife in the waiting room. Lovely woman. Asked about you and wanted to be notified when you woke up.”

That was Pam, Bill’s wife and mother of their two kids. She was wonderful; caring, compassionate, and a terrific cook. She always made Bill pack extra when he brought his lunch, just so he had enough to share with me. I’d been over at their house several times since joining the S.

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