Chương 11
Daniel taking off his coat.
The charger conversation.
Her anger.
His own.
He had left the room carrying the coat and overnight bag because he planned to bring back a few things from home.
The badge had remained behind.
“I didn’t wear it out.”
Harris said, “You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you have it now?”
Daniel opened his mouth.
Nothing came.
He looked at the badge in Harris’s hand.
“I don’t know.”
Mara’s face went pale.
Daniel tried to remember Tuesday morning.
He had returned to the hospital sometime after one.
By then Laura was in surgery.
Someone had moved her belongings.
A nurse had given him a clear plastic bag containing her phone, wallet, jewelry, and miscellaneous personal items.
Had the badge been inside?
Maybe.
He had lived the next twelve hours in fragments.
“What happened to Laura’s things after she went to surgery?” he asked.
Rachel answered from the nurses’ station.
“We bagged them.”
“Who?”
“I did some of it.”
“Was my badge there?”
“I don’t remember.”
Harris turned toward her.
“Who else had access?”
“Staff.”
“Family?”
Rachel looked at Daniel.
“Possibly.”
Daniel’s attention sharpened.
“What family?”
Rachel seemed confused by the question.
“Who visited her Monday night?”
“I’d need to check.”
“Mara wasn’t here.”
“No.”
“My parents are in Arizona.”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel moved toward the nurses’ station.
“Check.”
Harris said, “Mr. Mercer.”
“You have visitor records.”
“We’re already reviewing them.”
“Then tell me who came.”
“I can’t disclose other visitors’ information in the hallway.”
“It was my wife’s room.”
Harris lowered his voice.
“And we will handle it.”
Daniel almost pushed harder.
Then Ruth’s words returned to him with irritating clarity.
Tell the truth even when the truth makes you look bad.
He forced himself to stop.
“Fine.”
He walked to the waiting area.
A vending machine hummed beside three upholstered chairs.
A television mounted near the ceiling showed a home-renovation program with captions on and no sound.
Daniel sat.
Mara followed after a minute.
She lowered herself into the chair beside him.
Neither spoke.
On television, a smiling couple discovered mold behind drywall.
Daniel watched them react with exaggerated horror.
“I owe you eight hundred dollars,” he said.
Mara stared at the screen.
“I’m aware.”
“Laura thinks it came from savings.”
“I figured.”
“I was going to tell her.”
“Sure.”
“I was.”
“When?”
He had no answer.
Mara folded her hands.
“Did you take pills again?”
“No.”
“Not once?”
“No.”
“Not one from an old bottle, not something somebody at work gave you, nothing?”
Daniel looked at her.
“No.”
She nodded.
He could not tell whether she believed him.
“Why did Laura think you had?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s becoming a popular answer.”
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
“Maybe because somebody wanted her to.”
Mara’s expression hardened.
“Don’t start building a conspiracy because your wife remembers things differently.”
“She remembers a room we don’t have.”
“She almost died.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Daniel looked at her.
Mara’s eyes filled unexpectedly.
“She almost died, Danny.”
He sat back.
“I know.”
“No, you were here.”
Her voice cracked.
“I got a phone call.”
Daniel said nothing.
Mara wiped beneath one eye angrily.
“I drove ninety miles thinking she was dead because nobody would tell me anything.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t need you sorry.”
“I don’t know what else to give you.”
“That’s the problem.”
The words stayed between them.
A vending machine compressor clicked off.
For the first time, the waiting area became quiet.
Then Laura’s room alarm sounded.
Daniel was on his feet before the second tone.
A nurse hurried past him.
Another followed.
Cynthia emerged from a consultation room.
“What happened?”
“No idea.”
Daniel moved toward Laura’s room.
Rachel blocked him.
“Give them space.”
“My son is in there.”
“Mara has him.”
“I don’t care.”
He tried to look past her.
Through the doorway, he saw two nurses around Laura’s bed.
Mara stood against the far wall holding Owen.
Laura was awake.
She was not crashing.
She was crying.
One nurse silenced the alarm.
The other adjusted a sensor on Laura’s finger.
“False reading,” someone said.
Daniel’s knees weakened with relief.
Then Laura saw him.
“Daniel.”
Rachel stepped aside.
He entered cautiously.
Laura’s face was wet.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
Her breathing was uneven.
“I moved my hand and the monitor went crazy.”
Mara said, “She’s okay.”
Daniel nodded.
Laura looked at the doorway.
“Close it.”
He did.
The nurses finished checking the monitor and left.
Mara handed Owen back to Laura.
For a few seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Laura said, “I need to tell you something.”
Daniel remained near the door.
“Okay.”
Her eyes went to Mara.
“You too.”
Mara sat beside the bed.
Laura looked down at Owen.
Her thumb moved gently over his blanket.
“I keep remembering Monday wrong.”
Daniel felt his pulse in his throat.
Laura continued before he could speak.
“Not all of it.”
She swallowed.
“Pieces.”
“What pieces?” Mara asked.
Laura’s eyes lifted to Daniel.
“I remember you leaving.”
Daniel waited.
“I remember being angry.”
“Okay.”
“And then I remember you coming back.”
He said nothing.
Laura’s mouth trembled.
“But when I try to see your face, I can’t.”
Daniel moved one step closer.
“Laura.”
“I remember the jacket.”
“The gray one?”
She nodded.
“I remember thinking it was yours.”
“Was it?”
“I don’t know.”
Her eyes closed.
“I don’t know anymore.”
Mara leaned forward.
“Did the person speak?”
Laura opened her eyes.
“Yes.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“What did he say?”
Laura looked at him.
“He told me you had lied about more than the money.”
Daniel did not move.
“He showed me the prescription bottle.”
The room seemed to lose all sound.
Daniel glanced at Mara.
“What else?”
Laura’s fingers tightened around Owen’s blanket.
“He said if I went home with you, I’d regret it.”
Daniel crossed the room before catching himself.
Laura flinched again.
He stopped.
“Who was he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You must have seen him.”
“I was exhausted.”
May you like
“You talked to him.”
“He stayed near the door.”
