Read Online Life Support by Robert Whitlow - Free Book Online Page B

answered his questions. The doctor set his clipboard on the corner of the bed.
    â€œI don’t think there is any need to send you to x-ray. There’s no indication of broken bones.”
    Rena touched the bruise on her head and winced.
    The doctor noticed and continued, “You may have a slight concussion, but I think the nausea you experienced was due to mild shock at what happened to your husband. The bump on your head is a bruise, but I don’t see any evidence of intracranial injury.”
    â€œWhen can I leave?” Rena asked. “I need to contact my husband’s family. They don’t know what happened.”
    â€œJust a few minutes. I’ll send a nurse in to take out the IV. I’m very sorry about your husband’s accident.”
    Hearing the doctor use the word “accident” was comforting. Rena lay on the bed staring at the ceiling while she waited for the nurse. Suddenly, she sensed someone standing in the doorway behind her head. Rena didn’t turn her head. It wasn’t a nurse. A nurse would have immediately entered the room to remove the IV. The presence didn’t come into the room, but stayed still, watching her.
    Her woodland encounter with Baxter flashed through Rena’s mind. If he manifested in the busy hospital, how would she suppress the scream necessary to banish him? The encounter with her husband’s ghostly specter had been almost as bad as the dead gaze on his face at the bottom of the waterfall. She groaned in frustration. The person at the door spoke in a low voice that didn’t sound like Baxter.
    â€œCould I talk to you for a minute?”
    Rena recognized the voice. It was the scar-faced detective. He stepped into the room and stood close to the gurney. From his position, he could see her, but she couldn’t see him unless she turned her head.
    Rena groaned louder. “I feel terrible,” she said. “I think I’m going to be sick again.”
    â€œOh, the doctor told me you were going to be released. Do you want me to get him?”
    Rena didn’t answer. She was going to have to talk to the police sooner or later. Perhaps her sympathetic status on the gurney with an IV in her arm would encourage the troublesome man to make it quick.
    â€œNo, if I lie still, I’ll be okay.”
    â€œI know this is hard for you but tell me what happened.”
    Rena shut her eyes to conceal the truth that lay embedded in her soul and repeated verbatim the lines she’d rehearsed as she walked along the trail.
    â€œI’d camped in the area when I was a little girl and wanted my husband to see it. We left Greenville this morning and hiked down the trail to the waterfall. We spent some time enjoying the view from the rocks. No one else was around. Baxter had put a bottle of wine along with some bread and cheese in his backpack. We ate a snack, and Baxter drank most of the wine. When we got ready to leave, he wanted to take one last look. He stepped too close to the edge and lost his footing on the wet rocks. I was a few feet away but couldn’t do anything. He slipped and fell. It was a tragic accident.”
    Rena stopped. It was the end of her story. It sounded much more mechanical than when she’d rehearsed it in her head, but at least she’d been able to repeat it verbatim. She waited for the detective to thank her and leave, but he didn’t say anything. She turned her head to see if he was still there. He was looking down at her with an expression that was neither friendly nor hostile. He let the silence linger until Rena felt that she really might get sick.
    â€œIs that all?” he asked.
    Rena closed her eyes again and tried to keep her voice calm.
    â€œWhat do you mean?” she asked.
    â€œIs that all you remember?”
    â€œUh, I looked over the edge. That’s when I saw he was dead. I’d rather not talk about it anymore.”
    â€œOf course. I know you’re upset, but