Read Online The Wisdom of Evil by Scarlet Black - Free Book Online Page B

fright.” She was like that, always taking pride in her appearance, not even going to the store without looking “presentable.”
    Joan was whisked away as soon as they got to the emergency room. Blood was drawn, x-rays were taken.
    Mickey and Glory sat anxiously, awaiting the results. Joan, meanwhile, repeatedly commented, “I hope they get done soon. I just wanna go home.”
    Two young male doctors came into the section where Joan lay on a bed. They didn’t have any x-rays.
    “So, can you give me an antibiotic and send me home?” Joan struggled as her words mingled with the incessant cough.
    “I’m sorry, but the x-rays were n’t conclusive. We’re going to admit you and run some more tests. We’ve notified your primary care doctor that you’re here. Dr. Marshall will be here first thing in the morning to go over the results with you,” the doctor who looked as if he were twelve years old said. His name plate read Dr. Kaplan.
    “But , its pneumonia right?” Glory asked. “She’s had it before.”
    The two doctors looked at each other with restraint, as if they were about to burst out a secret that should not yet be revealed.
    “We can’t say it’s pneumonia at this point. Dr. Marshall will talk with all of you in the morning and let you know what he finds,” Dr. Kaplan said, leaving the room in haste.
    A nurse quietly drew back the curtain and gently put an admittance band on Joan’s wrist. Her eyes widened in fear.
    “I want to go home!” This time, she merely mimicked the words. The band on her wrist told her she wasn’t going anywhere.
    “Go along home . I’m goin’ to sleep anyway.”  She turned her face away from them. Glory looked back on her way out the door and saw tears silently falling down her cheeks. She felt as though they’d betrayed her in bringing her here, leaving her alone in that room when she just wanted to go home.
    A light mist of spring rain had begun to fall as they left the hospital parking lot. Glory and Mickey were both silent on the drive home.
    She called Michael as soon as she reached home and told him what was going on.
    “Did they say what she has?” he asked.
    “No. They didn’t even bring in any x-rays .” For some unknown reason, this greatly disturbed her.
    “Well, they must a told you something !” Frustrated anxiety resonated in his voice.
    “No, they said they ’d run more tests and Dr. Marshall would be there in the morning.”
    “I’m goin’ ovah there right now. I’ll call yah later.”
    “She said she wanted to be alone, Michael. I felt bad leaving her there like that.”
    “ I don’t care what she says. I’m goin’, and I’m staying the night too.”
    “Do yah think the hospital will let you do that?”
    “I’m a cop; they beddah’. Tough shit if they don’t like it. I’m stayin’.”
    “Do yah want me to come down there?”
    “No, you take care of the kids. I’ll meet you here in the mornin’ .”
    Olivia ! She better be in her room , Glory thought. She had enough to deal with right now without wondering what her daughter was doing.
    “Olivia!” she called out.
    “In my room, Mom. I’ll be right out.”
    Thank God !
    “ What’s going on with Nana?” she asked, her doe eyes large and scared and… hazy . It was subtle, but there. Her eyes didn’t look right. Glory said nothing about it. She should have, but didn’t. Instead, she told Olivia that Joan was in the hospital and Michael would be gone all night.
    Alone in bed , Glory tossed and turned. Finally, she wrapped the comforter tightly around her, tucking her feet under Haley who lay at the bottom of the bed. She slept fitfully. The room was getting colder. The early spring nights in Maine could be quite cool. She pulled the comforter up to the tip of her nose. Still, she was cold. Too cold. On Michael’s side of the bed, the covers shifted upward.
    “Did you decide to come home after all?” she asked sleepily, not turning around. She was over tired, which