Chương 6
“Her diner’s in Lakeview.”
“She doesn’t drive,” I said.
He searched transit directions.
“Bus to the Blue Line, transfer east.”
“She was sick and exhausted.”
“Yeah.”
Nina looked between us.
“There was a problem with the trains this morning.”
Luke’s head came up.
“What problem?”
“I heard somebody say service was suspended after a medical emergency.”
He checked.
His face changed.
“What?”
“There was an incident at the Belmont platform.”
My stomach tightened.
“Details.”
“Woman collapsed around five forty.”
The words seemed to remove sound from the room.
Luke scrolled.
“No name.”
“Hospital?”
“Swedish.”
“Call.”
He did.
The hospital would not confirm anything.
I turned my chair toward the exit.
Luke caught up beside me.
“Danny.”
“What?”
“You need to understand we don’t know it’s her.”
“I understand perfectly.”
My voice sounded calm.
That frightened me more than anger would have.
Outside, the ramp descended again.
I rolled toward the SUV while Luke spoke to the driver.
Halfway there, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
For several seconds there was only static.
Then a woman’s voice, weak and irritated, said, “Why are three different people leaving messages like I’ve been kidnapped?”
I stopped moving.
Luke saw my face.
“Emma.”
A pause.
“Oh.”
I closed my eyes.
Anger arrived so quickly it almost felt like relief.
“Where the hell are you?”
Another pause.
May you like
Then, very quietly, she said, “Hospital.”
“Which hospital?”“Swedish.”Luke closed his eyes and pressed two fingers against the bridge of his nose.I looked at the building behind us, then at him.“You knew?”“No.”Emma’s voice sharpened through the phone.“Knew what?”“Nothing.”“That means something.”“What room?”“I don’t know.”“How do you not know what room you’re in?”“I’m in a hallway.”Luke was already signaling the driver.I turned toward the ramp.“What happened?”“I passed out.”“On the train platform?”There was a pause long enough to answer the question.“Emma.”“Yes.”I stopped.Nina, who had followed us outside, covered her mouth with one hand.“You collapsed at Belmont.”“I’m guessing so.”“You’re guessing?”“I remember sitting down.”“That is not the same thing.”“I know.”“Were you alone?”“There were people around.”“That doesn’t answer me.”“Danny.”Her voice dropped.“I’m okay.”I hated those two words more than I had hated anything she said to me.People used them when they wanted everyone else to stop asking questions.“What did the doctor say?”“I haven’t seen one yet.”“You’re in a hospital.”“Very observant.”“You’ve been there for hours.”“I was asleep.”“You were unconscious.”“I was asleep after.”“You don’t know that.”“Do you want me to invent a better answer?”I wheeled onto the lift platform.“Stay there.”A beat passed.“What?”“Don’t leave.”“You fired me.”“This is unrelated.”“That’s not how employment works.”“Emma.”She sighed.“I’m not going anywhere.”“Good.”“Mostly because I don’t have my coat.”“What happened to your coat?”“I think somebody cut it off.”I looked at Luke.He mouthed, “Paramedics.”“Stay there.”“You already said that.”I ended the call.Luke climbed into the SUV behind me.Nina remained on the sidewalk.“Call me if you hear anything,” she said.I nodded.The doors shut.For the next eighteen minutes, every red light felt personal.Luke made two phone calls and then stopped talking.I stared through the tinted window at streets I had spent most of my life owning in one way or another.Restaurants paid protection.Developers paid favors.Contractors paid percentages.Politicians returned calls.None of it made traffic move faster.“You could have just told her you were worried,” Luke said.I kept looking outside.“That sounds like something from a greeting card.”“Still true.”“She fainted because she hasn’t been eating.”“You don’t know why she fainted.”“She works fifteen hours a day and lives on crackers.”“Could be anything.”“That’s supposed to help?”“No.”The hospital entrance was crowded.A man with a bandaged hand smoked beneath a NO SMOKING sign.Two women argued over where they had parked.A child in dinosaur pajamas dragged a blanket behind him while his father filled out paperwork.I entered through the automatic doors and immediately wanted to leave.Hospitals had their own air.Bleach, plastic, coffee, and fear.My palms went cold.For a second I was back beneath white lights with blood drying behind my ears while someone told me not to move legs I could no longer feel.Luke stepped in front of me.“Danny.”“I’m fine.”He looked at me.“Don’t.”I hated that Emma’s favorite lie had just come out of my mouth.We found her near the emergency department, sitting in a plastic chair with a hospital blanket around her shoulders.One sneaker was missing.Her hair was down.A square bandage covered the inside of her elbow.She looked smaller than she did inside my house.Then she saw me.Her expression moved from surprise to irritation.“You came here?”“No.”She looked at Luke.“He always this stupid?”“Yes.”“I was nearby,” I said.“You live thirty minutes away.”“I had business.”“In a hospital?”Luke coughed.Emma narrowed her eyes.Then she looked at my chair.Something shifted in her face.“You came outside.”The words landed softly.I glanced toward the vending machines.“I do that occasionally.”“No, you don’t.”Luke suddenly became fascinated by a poster about handwashing.Emma studied me for another second and let the subject go.“Where’s your shoe?” I asked.“No idea.”“What do you mean no idea?”“I woke up without it.”“That happens to you often?”“Only on Thursdays.”I almost smiled.A nurse appeared holding a clipboard.“Emma Carter?”Emma raised her hand.The nurse looked at us.“Family?”“No,” Emma said.“Yes,” I said at the same time.Emma turned.I looked at the nurse.“Friend.”Luke made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a suppressed laugh.The nurse ignored all three of us.“We have your labs back.”Emma straightened.“Okay.”“Your blood sugar was very low when paramedics brought you in.”I looked at Emma.She stared at the nurse.“You were also dehydrated.”“Okay.”“Your blood count shows significant anemia.”Emma’s mouth tightened.“How significant?”“Enough that the physician wants to talk about follow-up today.”“What does that mean?”“It means we need to figure out why.”Emma pulled the blanket closer.“Can I just take iron?”The nurse gave her a measured look.“That may be part of it.”“May?”“There are several possible causes.”Emma looked at the floor.The nurse continued gently.“Have you been having unusually heavy periods?”Silence.Luke cleared his throat.“I’m going to find coffee.”He disappeared.I looked away too late.Emma gave me a murderous glance.“You can also find coffee.”“I don’t drink hospital coffee.”“Today seems like a good day to start.”The nurse almost smiled.“I’ll give you two a minute.”When she left, Emma stared at me.“You absolutely cannot sit there while people ask me questions about my uterus.”“I wasn’t planning to.”“You looked comfortable.”“I’m in a custom wheelchair.”“That’s not what I meant.”“I know.”She rubbed her forehead.The humor left her.“I hate this.”“Hospitals?”“Being here.”She looked at the IV taped to her hand.“Being the person in the chair.”I said nothing.Her eyes lifted.The mistake registered immediately.“Oh.”“Don’t.”“I didn’t mean—”“I said don’t.”She closed her mouth.A cart rattled past us.Somebody laughed too loudly near the nurses’ station.Emma looked down at the blanket.“I guess that was a bad choice of words.”“It was accurate.”Her fingers tightened in the fabric.“I’m sorry.”I stared toward the emergency room doors.“No one asks permission before they start touching you.”She looked at me.“They explain what they’re doing, but they don’t really ask.”I kept my eyes forward.“After the shooting, there were twelve people in the room.”Emma stayed quiet.“Someone cut off my clothes.”My voice sounded distant.“Someone else put a tube in me.”I swallowed.“There was a resident standing near my feet.”I could still see his face.Young.Terrified.Trying not to look terrified.“He kept touching my toes.”Emma did not interrupt.“He asked if I could feel it.”I rubbed my thumb against the side of my index finger.“I couldn’t.”The words came out flatter than I expected.“He moved higher.”I stopped.Emma’s breathing changed beside me.“I told him to stop.”My jaw tightened.“He thought I was confused.”“What did you do?”“I broke his nose.”Emma blinked.“With what?”“My fist.”“You could move your arms.”“Yes.”“Efficient.”I looked at her.She was trying not to smile.“You’re terrible.”“You threw a paperweight at a therapist.”“Different man.”“Glad there are categories.”Luke returned carrying three coffees and stopped several feet away when he saw our faces.“Did I miss something?”“Yes,” Emma said.“No,” I said.He handed me a cup.“I got black.”“I told you I don’t drink hospital coffee.”“You also told me you had business here.”Emma took the second cup from him.“What’s mine?”“Whatever they had that looked least dangerous.”She sipped it.Her face twisted.“This is terrible.”“I warned you,” I said.She took another sip anyway.The doctor arrived ten minutes later.She introduced herself as Dr. Lin and asked Luke and me to step away while she examined Emma.I expected Emma to look relieved.Instead she caught my sleeve.The movement was quick.Almost accidental.“Stay nearby.”I looked down at her hand.She let go immediately.“Just until they’re done.”“I’ll be right there.”Her eyes moved to mine.For once, she didn’t argue.Luke and I waited beside the elevators.He drank his coffee slowly.I stared at the numbers changing above the doors.“You’re in trouble,” he said.“What does that mean?”“You know exactly what it means.”“No.”Luke smiled without humor.“You left your house voluntarily for a woman who insulted you, ignored you, got fired by you, and then called you from an emergency room.”“That doesn’t mean anything.”“It means at least four things.”“I’m not discussing this.”“Fine.”We stood in silence.A family came out of the elevator carrying balloons.The little girl in front stared at my chair.Her mother touched her shoulder.“Don’t stare.”“It’s fine,” I said.The girl looked at me.“Does it go fast?”Her mother flushed.“Lily.”“What?”I glanced at Luke.He was trying not to grin.“Fast enough,” I told her.“How fast?”“Not as fast as your mother wants this conversation to end.”The mother laughed despite herself.The girl seemed disappointed by the answer.Then the elevator opened and they left.Luke waited until the doors closed.“You used to be human.”“Shut up.”“Tiny traces remain.”Twenty minutes later, Dr. Lin came out.“She’s stable.”The word loosened something in my chest.“Her anemia needs follow-up, but we don’t see an immediate emergency requiring admission.”“What caused it?”“I can’t discuss details without her permission.”“Right.”“She’s also severely sleep-deprived and undernourished.”That part, apparently, required no permission because anyone with eyes could see it.“Can she leave?”“After fluids finish.”Dr. Lin looked at me carefully.“She should not go to work today.”“She won’t.”“You’re her employer?”“Former employer,” Luke said.I turned my head slowly.He smiled.Dr. Lin looked between us.“I see.”“No, you don’t,” I said.Luke laughed.Emma was dressed when we returned, though dressed was generous considering she had one sneaker and the remains of her coat in a plastic hospital bag.“You’re not taking the train,” I said.“I figured.”“My driver will take you home.”She looked at me.“I can call Maribel.”“My driver is already here.”“Danny.”“Emma.”“I can manage my own transportation.”“You fainted on a platform.”“I’m aware.”“You lost a shoe.”“That’s not medically relevant.”“It is to me.”“Why?”The question stopped me.Luke looked away.Emma waited.I could have ordered her.I could have made a joke.I could have lied.Instead I said, “Because I was afraid you were dead.”Her face changed.The noise of the hospital seemed to move farther away.I hated how exposed the sentence made me feel.I hated even more that I did not want to take it back.Emma looked down at the plastic bag in her lap.“Oh.”“That’s all you have?”“I’m thinking.”“You usually do that faster.”“Maybe I’m anemic.”Luke turned and walked toward the exit, shoulders shaking.Emma looked at me again.“You really came looking for me?”“Yes.”“To my apartment?”“Yes.”“My mother’s facility?”“Yes.”She closed her eyes.“You met Maribel.”“Unfortunately.”“She tell you I called you lonely?”“Yes.”“That woman cannot keep anything to herself.”“I noticed.”Emma’s mouth twitched.Then the smile disappeared.“I’m still not letting you fix everything.”“I know.”“No paying medical bills.”I said nothing.“Danny.”“I heard you.”“No calling the facility.”“I haven’t.”“No buying my apartment building.”I looked at her.She stared.“You were thinking about it.”“Briefly.”“Oh my God.”“It has terrible accessibility.”“I live on the second floor.”“Exactly.”She put her face in her hands.A laugh came through her fingers.It was tired and embarrassed and real.When she looked up again, her eyes were wet.Neither of us mentioned it.“Can I at least drive you home?”I asked.She sniffed once.“You personally?”“Don’t be difficult.”“You don’t drive.”The words slipped out.She froze.I stared at her.Then, unexpectedly, I laughed.It hurt.Not physically.Something else.Something unused.Emma watched me as though she had never heard the sound before.Luke stopped near the doors and looked back.For a few seconds none of us moved.Then Emma started laughing too.People glanced at us.I didn’t care.When it faded, she wiped beneath one eye.“Your driver can take me.”“Thank you.”“But I’m not coming back to work.”The warmth disappeared.“I didn’t ask.”“No.”She stood carefully.“But you were going to.”I watched her pull the ruined coat around her shoulders.She was right.That annoyed me almost as much as the fact that I had no idea what I was going to do about it.
