Gutter Child by Jael Richardson

Author:Jael Richardson [Richardson, Jael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781443457828
Google: 9uh4zQEACAAJ
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada, Limited
Published: 2021-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

20

ON THE WALLS OF THE RIVERSIDE MEDICAL CLINIC, there’s a large map of the Mainland with “Our Home, Our Land” written in thin, curling letters. Next to the map, there’s a row of framed degrees and certificates with shiny gold seals. When a man in a long white coat emerges from a door at the back of the clinic, I know that he’s the person who earned them and the one we’ve come to see: Dr. Thomas D. Luca.

“Charlotte,” he says, bending down and kissing her on each cheek while I stare at a head so pink and bald it seems to reflect light. “It’s always a good day when you come by.”

“Well, that means a lot coming from you, Thomas. I know how busy you are. I came because I wanted you to meet our new girl. This is Elimina.”

“Oh yes, Elimina, the project case. All the way from Mainland City. It’s quite an honor,” he says, removing a pen from behind his ear and placing it in his chest pocket, his fingers long and bent like a spider. “How are you liking Riverside?”

“It’s fine, sir.”

“Oh, you don’t have to call me sir, Elimina. Doc or Doc Luca will do just fine.”

“Do you have a minute?” Miss Charlotte says, looking around at the quiet clinic, where a receptionist is clicking away on a typewriter.

“Is everything okay?” he says.

“Well, no, actually. We had a bit of a scare yesterday,” Miss Charlotte says.

“What kind of a scare?” he says, looking at me with concern.

Miss Charlotte looks over and nudges me.

“I almost fainted,” I say, biting down on my lip because all this fuss over what happened in front of Cranberry Manor is embarrassing.

“I think it was the heat. Although she hadn’t eaten much either. You know how those academies can be,” Miss Charlotte says. “She’s well fed now. But I wanted to make sure everything’s in tip-top shape—that there are no problems or concerns. She said this happened at the academy as well.”

“Of course. Always good to check everything. Let’s have a look,” Doc Luca says.

He leads us through a door that opens into a room where a large silver lamp hangs over a medical bed with wheels and metal levers. The bed and the lamp are positioned in the center of the room, with machines and trays full of surgical tools lined up along the far wall. I stare at the jars of cotton and the containers of gauze on the counter, thinking about Mother’s last days in a place that also felt stiff and cold.

“So how are you settling in?” Doc Luca says as Miss Charlotte sits down in a chair in the corner of the room. He pulls out two long metal arms with plastic grooves, which extend from one end of the bed.

“Good, sir,” I say, anxiously watching as Doc Luca prepares a tray of tools.

“Lulabelle Turner had one of her episodes in front of the Manor. She mistook Elimina for someone else and just cried all over her,” Miss Charlotte says, pulling a magazine out of her purse.

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