I looked down at my feet, peeking out from under the white covers. I stretched out the big toe of my left foot, reaching towards the sky, and lifted my left leg, almost involuntarily. Then I spread out the toes of my right foot. They were covered partially in a sheet, and lifted it to the sky as well.
“Very good.” Dr. Helm turned to me. “Now squeeze my hand.” He put his fingers in my right hand and I squeezed them. Then he said, “Here’s the other one.” I realized that the intravenous tubing was in my hand, but I gripped with this hand strongly as well. He said, “Ah, very good now.” Then he said, “Open your mouth and say Ahhhh.” He took a wooden object from his front coat pocket and a flashlight from his right side pocket and then shone the light in my mouth. He said to me again, “Say ahhh and stick your tongue out.” With a warm smile, he looked down into my throat.
Repeating, “You’re going to be just fine.” He patted me on my head, not like a pitiful pat nor like a dog pat, but like a fatherly pat. Then he turned to the police officers and said to them, “Can you guys give us a break? We’re trying to have rounds here.”
The police officers just stood there, looking silently at me, intermittently staring at each other.
One of the assistants entered the room again and said to him, “His laboratory data looks okay. His BUN and creatinine are within normal limits, and his Is and Os have been good for the past 24 hours.”
The surgeon turned to me again and said reassuringly, “You’re going to be just fine, buddy.” He turned smoothly, placing the clipboard chart at the end of the bed, and left the room. The rest of his team scurried behind.
Moments later, Job and Rose came back in, sighing in unison.
“Boy, you went out on us there real quick. Good thing we got a chance to talk to you first, though. How you feeling?”
I nodded my head as if to say I’m doing okay. Then I tried to sit up.
The nurse who was still in the room said, “Be still, honey. Be still. You’ve got a long way to go yet.”
Rose broke in, “It’s time for us to go to church, dear. You know we’ve got to go to church pretty soon. We’ve got to head on back to New Orleans.”
Job turned to Rose. “Listen, honey. Church can wait for a moment. It’s my brother.”
“Honey, you know we’ve got to go to church, you being a deacon and all. We’ve got an important meeting at the church tonight. We can pray and talk to him later.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Then he turned to me and said, “You know how I am, trying to be a minister in this church and practicing law. Well, I got to go, bro. I’ll talk to you later. We’ve got a lot of things to figure out. I don’t think you realize what’s going on here.”
I nodded to him and waved my hand goodbye. The nurse walked them out. I heard her mumbling something to them. She didn’t seem desperate or serious; it was something said in parting, nothing informational.
I shut my eyes.
Chapter 5
It’s amazing how quickly bad news spreads. I looked up, thinking that my next visitor would be a physician or some nursing assistant, but in walked Pepper Louise. Behind her was Iris French. Strange that the two would arrive to visit me at the same time. I closed my eyes as quickly as I had opened them, hoping they would think I was asleep, and perhaps would not want to be disturbed.
Strange. I found myself not wanting visitors, particularly these two—not these two together. Had they talked? Did they know? I didn’t need any confusion, drama at this point in my life. There was too much going on.
“Hi, baby,” Pepper grabbed my hand. In her mid-40s, she looked like she was in her mid-20s, pretty brown, short black curly hair, not too much make-up, bright dark black eyes, dancing with the rooms contents, immaculately dressed in a causal blue pin stripped jump suit. She kissed me on my cheek gently.
“Job’s gone over some things with me. We’re going to help you with this.”
Iris chimed in behind her, “Hey, Jake. How ya doing?” She hesitated before she said “honey,” which she usually called me, looking at Pepper.
Iris, my most recent love interest, a young 20-year-old Midwestern blonde with piercing gray-green eyes, looked around the room, smiling. It was obvious to me that Iris would be cool. They hadn’t talked.
We sat there for a few moments chit-chatting about the events of my encounter until a nursing aide walked in to take vitals. She scurried around the equipment, tubing, and devices and looked at the two ladies as if to say, “I think it’s time for you two to leave.”
It must’ve been no later than 7:30 in the morning, and I thought, “Good, someone is in the room to break the tension.” The two of them, Iris and Pepper looked at each other. “Come on, Mrs. Louise, let’s leave.”
“Are you heading back to New Orleans?”
Pepper looked at her with her head tilted to the side. “Yes, I think I am. But, how do you know my name?”
“I’m Iris French. I work in the Tulane Law Library. I have helped you out on several occasions. I’m a Tulane Law student.”
“Oh, yes. Okay. I thought you looked familiar.”
Again, I heaved a sigh of relief hearing this dialogue. They knew each other on a different level, not associated with me. They exited, each waving.
* * *
I don’t know how long I was out, but when I opened my eyes, two gentlemen were in my room. One of them had a serious expression on his face and the other one seemed indifferent. Dressed in suits, both had legal pads in their hands and began asking questions.
“Where were you going when the police officers stopped you?”
I sat up in my bed and cleared my throat. “I was going home. I had been in the country taking care of some business. I got stopped. Do you know why? Who were the officers?”
“We’re asking the questions.” The man with the mustache sounded hassled as he reached for the chair adjacent to the night table.
“Where did you get that weapon?” The clean-shaven, bald man frowned.
Wait a minute now. Hmmmm, who are you guys and why are you asking me these questions?”
“Don’t get smart. You’re already in deep shit.”
“I need to speak with a lawyer. Is there a lawyer around?”
I stirred around, my sheets rustling. “I would like to speak with a lawyer.”
They looked at each other slyly.
“Okay, fine. You want to do this later, that’s fine with me. We just wanted to get some answers out of you.” They said it almost as if to say, you’ll be sorry if
