typea_all (18 page)

     I didn't wait for an answer. I ran to the steps, and then turned around to make sure Chester was still on the ground. I heard the elevator door open and saw two security men get out. They must have heard our conversation in the elevator and come to the rescue. I walked down to the sixth floor and then took the elevator down to four and drove off.

     It took me some time to calm down. On the way home I tried to sort everything out, and I went over all of the events to figure out what I should have done. I guess I should have gotten off the elevator on the third floor with the group of four people for protection and asked for their help. Or maybe I shouldn't have gone on the elevator in the first place.

     By the time I got home I hadn't figured out anything. I guess if something like that ever happened again, and I felt that I was in danger, I would start screaming at the top of my lungs.

     I was drained. I was too tired to do anything except shower and watch Friday's soaps. The phone rang a few times but I just ignored it. With the soap operas playing out their world in the background, I woke up screaming but I really hadn't fallen asleep yet. I eventually did fall asleep on the sofa with the television on.

******

     Ryan called on Sunday. We didn't say anything about Friday night, just small talk. He was friendly but a little distant, and he made no sex jokes. That bothered me, but I figured he needed some time to cool off. I also decided that when I saw him next, I'd tell him everything about what's going on.

All day Sunday, I just stayed home, read the paper, cleaned, and sewed.

There is something soothing about the rhythm of the sewing machine, feeding the material under the needle and thinking about nothing but the thread. I watched the needle go up and down, feeding the thread from the bobbin through the material into the seam. My leg was against one of the table legs and I could feel the vibration of the machine.

Up and down. Up and down.

I started thinking about Ryan.

Up and down. Up and down. The vibration massaging my thigh.

About Officer Luke.

Up and down. Up and down. The pulsing machine beating a constant rhythm, vibrations moving inward to my lower abdomen.

About Ryan again.

Up and Down.  The vibration growing, the throbbing surging, getting louder and louder, pounding in my ear until...the machine stopped. The bobbin emptied, released just before I reached the end of my seam.

Damn!

     Monday was just a great day.

     Joan told me that she and Steve planned on getting married.

     "I think I really do love him," she said.

     "Think you love him?"

     "That's about the best I can do, right now. There's too much to think about, with the baby and all."

     "I just want you to be happy."

     "I am, and I will be. I want you to meet Steve some time." She sounded a little weepy.

     "I'd like that."

     Just then, Gert yelled in, "Why is no one answering the phone in there? Call on line three."

     I yelled back "Ever hear of the intercom? Why are you yelling?"

     "If you're not answering the phone, why would you answer the intercom?" She made sense for the first time.

     "I can't talk now," Joan said. "Would you mind?"

     I picked up the phone and pressed the button that was blinking. "Hello, outpatient lab."

     "Who is this?"

     "Who is this? It's your dime, you called here, remember."

     "This is Officer Chandler, Somers Point police. Now, who is this?"

"Sorry. Brooke Castle, M. T. ASCP. How can I help you?"

Since he didn't ask for me from the beginning, I wasn't worried, and I figured playing nice might get me a friend on the Somers Point police. Sort of like an insurance policy.

"We have a person here who is testing positive for a controlled substance."

I turned on the charm. "How can I help, Officer?"

"We have a call in to the State Police, but in the meantime, this guy is claiming it's because he just ate two poppy seed bagels."

"With butter or cream cheese?"

"Does it make a difference?"

"No, just a joke, sorry."

"Anyway, do you know anything about that?"

"About the guy eating two bagels?"

"No, whether eating poppy seeds can cause a false positive in a drug test?"

"Well, some opiates can be falsely detected in urine for at least a day after eating a bagel covered with poppy seeds. But most drug tests can tell the difference."

"That's why we're waiting for the State Police."

"Does the guy have pinhole pupils? How's his behavior? If he's acting stoned then it's not a bagel."

     "He is acting strange. We picked him up on a DUI."

     "Then don't believe the bagel story. But just in case, let me give you two numbers for a follow up. Hold on a second." I pushed the hold button. "Joan, is there anyone in the hospital that knows anything about substance abuse?"

     "That would be the toxicology lab, extension 503."

     I took it off hold. "Officer? Here are two numbers. The first is extension 503 here at the hospital. It's the tox lab.  The second is 555-1872."

     "What's the second number?"

     "The bagel store up in the mall. Maybe then can tell you how many poppy seeds they put on a bagel."

     "Thanks."

     "And if you do call the bagel store, will you do me a favor?"

     "I don't think I'll be calling them, but what is it just in case?"

     "Remind them to use clean gloves when they touch bagels."

******

     At 11:30, Bruno walked in with two large paper bags.

     "What are you doing here?" I asked.

     "I feel terrible about the other night. I didn't want to get between you and your boyfriend."

     "Why does everyone call him my boyfriend?"

     "Well, ain't he?"

     "It's just that at my age...oh forget it. Why do I bother?"

     "You'll forgive me? I brought Chinese." He handed me one of the bags. It smelled delicious. "I got it for us. For lunch. From that Chinese place on Ventnor Avenue in Margate."

     "Bruno, you didn't have to do this."

     "Yes I did. I was a little tipsy the other night and I'm really sorry. I actually don't remember what I said, but my pals said I might have sounded insulting. I'm really sorry."

     I thought about his comments about my dress and underwear, and I wondered what he was thinking. Then I shuddered at the thought and looked down into the bag.

     "What's in here?"

     "Is there someplace we can eat in this place?"

     "Let's take it over to the cafeteria in the hospital. We can make everyone else jealous."  And, we'll be in a very public place, I thought. "There's so much here, though. Joan, do you want to join us for Chinese? Over at the cafeteria."

"Thanks, but I've been nauseous all morning. To you that probably smells wonderful, but it's making my stomach do flip-flops right now."

     "How about Gail and Eileen? Should I ask them?"

     "They're doing retrievals all day today. They won't have any time. Just go and enjoy it with your . . . friend."

     As we walked over to the hospital, Bruno told me what be brought.

     "I got four egg rolls, a quart of wonton, and a quart of egg drop. I didn't know which you liked. There's a large order of ribs, and orders of lemon chicken, sweet and sour chicken, and their special, Emperor's Chicken. I got that in case you liked it hot. There's orders of sweat and sour pork, a quart of the house special lo main, and fried tofu, just in case you're into that stuff.  I got a bag of almond cookies and four fortune cookies."

     "What army is invited?"

     "I wanted to make sure I got something you liked."

     When we got to the cafeteria, I found a large empty table and laid everything out. It looked like a buffet at one of the casinos.

     "Bruno, we can't possibly eat all of this."

     "You can take home what we don't eat."

     I looked around the cafeteria and saw nurses Helen and Bernice. I kind of owed them for filling me in about Jerry Odem's interview.

     "Would you mind if I asked two friends to join us?"

     "That's fine with me, if you think we have enough."

     "We have enough for the whole hospital."

     I went over and asked Helen and Bernice if they wanted to join us for Chinese.  "A friend of mine just bought out a Chinese restaurant. How about if you join us for lunch."

     "Sure thing, girl." Helen.

     "My pleasure." Bernice.

     "Helen and Bernice, this is Bruno. Bruno, two of my favorite nurses in the hospital, Helen and Bernice."

     "My pleasure." Bruno.

     "Glad to meet you." Helen.

     "What a spread!" Bernice.

     I nibbled on a few things, eating an egg roll and some lemon chicken. Bruno, Helen, and Bernice finished everything else, and I mean everything.

     "Woe, that was good."  Bernice belched.

     "I'm stuffed."

     "Helen, whatever happened to that orderly? Jerry, I think his name was." I’m so subtle.

     "Oh, don't talk about that now, girl. Not on a full stomach."

     "He's one pissed off orderly," Bernice said. "Doesn't talk to hardly anyone anymore, which is a welcomed change, I'll tell you that. He's trying real hard to be good, not to make any waves."

     "Did he get the promotion?"

     "Are you kidding? After what he did, lying and all that about some Dr. Anosmia. There's no way he'd be up for supervisor in a hundred years."

     "Yeah, Jerry Odor they call him now. Even to his face. Get it. Jerry Odem, Jerry Odor." Helen really thought that was funny, because she starting laughing and hitting the table so hard that an empty container of lo main fell on the floor.

     On the way back to the outpatient parking lot, after Helen and Bernice both thanked Bruno with a kiss, I could tell that Bruno had something to say.

     "Spit it out, Bruno."

     "Spit what out?"

     "I can tell there's something you want to say."

     "You know those earrings the boss gave you?"

     "Yeah?"

     "They were his wife's. He took them from her drawer."

     Ugh, that's gross. They weren't even new. I'm glad I sanitized them before putting them on.

     "That's it?"

     "There's more. You were right about the insurance. The boss is worried about money, and real upset about not being able to get insurance. He's not even acting right half of the time, like he's not thinking right. I don't know what's going on but I'll find out. I owe Mr. Reynolds a lot."

     "What about Mrs. Reynolds? Can you think of any reason why she wouldn't want Reynolds to get the insurance?"

     "I know that they hate each other. Can't say a kind word about the other. They did fine for the first few years, and then they started arguing all the time. She's hardly at the house anymore. Jules takes care of most things at the house now."

     He paused.

     "Something else. He's not telling me everything anymore. He used to take me everywhere with him, but he has a lot of secrets lately. He's taking calls in private, now, and going out by himself, without me. I don't like it. He's just not acting right."

     "I appreciate you telling me all this, Bruno. Maybe we can help each other figure out what's going on." I didn't care one bean about Reynolds; I just wanted to get them off my back.

     "I hope so. Like I said, I owe the boss a lot."

     When we got to Bruno's car, a black Cadillac Deville just a few years old, I thanked him for the food.

     "Think nothing of it," he said. Then he gave me a little kiss on the cheek, got in his car, and drove away.

     Do I attract men, or what?

******

     As soon as I got home from work that night, I called the Wild West Casino to complain. I was really upset that the lines were so long the past weekend, and that I had to disappoint the girls. After all, I was the one who invited Sophie, although I didn't know that she was bringing her pregnant friend.

     Deep down inside, I knew it wasn't the casino's fault, business is business. But when I'm frustrated about something I have to vent and get it out.

     I asked to be connected to the president's office. Always start at the top.