“Good. I had prayed something like that would come out of this afternoon’s picnic.” He glanced her way and grinned. “I’ll confess that I was surprised at Dad’s sociable mood, especially since I coerced him into coming today. He didn’t want to. But that’s what God can do―change a man’s heart.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Marilee’s voice trailed off, and Logan sensed she had more to say. “What is it?” he finally prompted.
She took an audible breath. “I hope I’m not out of line in saying this, Logan, but I think you should drop the idea of finding your biological mother. Your dad is warming up. But if you consume yourself with searching for your mother, you might lose the precious ground you’ve gained with him.”
“Consume myself?” He made a right onto Lake Cook Road.
“Logan, I know you. Once you get an idea in your brain, you’ve got a one-track mind. It’s all you think about.”
He grinned. Marilee did, indeed, know him well. Moreover, she was right about another thing―he didn’t want to hurt his dad. He desired a close relationship with him and had been working on cultivating it. Logan sensed, even more strongly after today that beneath the rocky resolve of his father’s beat an extremely tender heart―one that, Logan guessed, had been wounded far too many times. Did he dare challenge him with the past and add to it?
Logan’s thoughts plagued him until they reached Marilee’s townhouse. Located in a lively neighborhood, it was walking distance to the church and school. Pulling up to the curb, he parked, climbed from the car, and walked around to the other side where he opened the door for Marilee.
She smiled. “It always amazes me what a gentleman you are. You’re the first guy who ever insisted I stay seated until he opens the door for me.”
“Good training,” he quipped.
Her smile broadened.
Taking her hand, Logan walked her to the front door.
“Will I see you tomorrow?” With her free hand, Marilee fished her keys from her purse.
“Sure. I’ll be around all day.”
“Good.”
Logan released her hand and Marilee stuck the key into the door. She turned back to him. “I had a lovely afternoon. Thanks.”
“Sure.” He cupped her cheek and resisted the desire to kiss her.
If he succumbed to his feelings right now, he’d betray himself and everything he wanted to stand for. Besides, he would be a hypocrite in every sense of the word. He would know it in his heart, and there was at least one young lady that he knew of who lived on this block and attended the youth group. What if she saw? She would think all pastors were phonies who imposed rules on others but didn’t follow them themselves. It’d destroy her faith.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and gazed across the tiny porch. “Sometimes it’s no fun being a youth pastor, you know that?”
A mischievous spark lit Marilee’s eyes. “I wouldn’t let you kiss me,” she whispered, “even if you tried. So there.”
Logan laughed and suddenly the tension evaporated. “You’re good for me. You keep me on track.”
“I’m glad you finally noticed.” She gaze a dramatic toss of her head.
“Oh, I noticed.”
“That’s news to me.”
Marilee’s soft laughter floated on the autumn breeze. Embarrassment warmed Logan’s face. But he figured he deserved the jab for dragging his feet in this relationship.
“G’night, Logan. See you tomorrow.”
“Night.” He gave her a parting smile, wishing he could give her more.
Marilee entered the house and smiled before closing the door behind her. Hearing the lock turn, he strode back to his car.
What was wrong with him? If he had any sense he’d ask Marilee to be his wife before she got bored and some other guy caught her eye.
But would she? Would she ever leave him?
Part of Logan didn’t think so, but the other part, his most inward and guarded part, still wondered.
* * *
“Listen, ol’ lady, this is what I want you to say. I want you to say that I’m the best CNA that ever took care of you.”
“What’s a CNA?” Cynthia eyed the man who had made her last nine hours a waking nightmare. Her requests for pain medication went unanswered. She’d defecated and needed her under things changed, but he refused. Worse, he wouldn’t allow another nurse to care for her, and he had slapped her twice when she’d screamed for help. Now the flesh around her left eye felt bruised and swollen.
“CNA―certified nursing assistant. That’d be me. Now when my supervisor comes in this morning, that’s what I want you to say. Got it?”
Cynthia clamped her mouth shut. She would do no such thing.
“Can you go all day with no pain meds?” the man with slick, black hair sneered. “I’m real good at changin’ doctors’ orders.”
“All right, I’ll do it. I’ll say anything you want,” Cynthia lied, feeling the perspiration trickle off her brow. The pain slicing through her bones felt so intense, she could barely breathe. Even so, she refused to say a single good word about this…this CNA, or anyone else is this rotten place. When someone, anyone but the nursing staff, came by, Cynthia planned to holler for all she was worth. But for now, she’d hold her tongue.
The attendant smiled. “See, I knew I’d whip you into shape. You ain’t gunna give us no problems no more.” He wrinkled his nose at the pungent order filling the room. “Now I’ll just get that lazy Katrina in here to clean you up…”
* * *
Allie figured her biological clock had sprung a spring when she’d awakened at three in the morning and couldn’t fall back to sleep. For some odd reason, she felt anxious to get to work today. Even so, she made a miniature pot of coffee and lingered over her daily Bible reading before finally preparing a light breakfast and readying herself for the day.
Scanning her wardrobe, she decided on comfort, so she chose a knit navy dress with a red, white, and yellow paisley print. To complete the outfit, she pulled on a red blazer in case she’d require a more professional image.
As she headed for her office at Arbor Springs, she couldn’t believe that the clock on her rental car glowed 6:00. She yawned. It was going to be a long day. But on the plus side, this could work out for the best. She might be able to leave early and run some errands. Besides, she thought, pulling into a parking slip at the healthcare facility, she hadn’t introduced herself to the third shift employees. Maybe now would be a good time.
Allie let herself into the facility via the building’s side door, making sure it slammed shut and locked once she was inside. She strode to her office, but before unlocking its door, she glanced around the lobby and noted the security guard was nowhere in sight.
Maybe he’s on break. She wanted to be fair and give the guy the benefit of the doubt. But suddenly she was thankful she’d come in early…and unexpectedly.
After locking her purse in a filing cabinet, Allie closed her office door and headed for the elevators. Looking at the numbers on the panel inside the car, she selected 4, thinking she might as well begin with the top floor and move down. However, when the doors opened and she stepped out, a foul order assailed her. Allie hoped she wouldn’t lose the bagel and peanut butter she’d eaten earlier. Her gut instinct was to retreat into the elevator and escape to her office. But she tamped it down.
Slowly, she made her way into the ward. The sight that greeted her was almost as sickening as the smell.
Half a dozen employees were congregated at the nursing station, a square unit in the center of the ward. They sat around a television while potato chip bags, bottles of soda, plastic cups, and an empty pan of what Allie assumed were once brownies littered the counters around the station. That wouldn’t have been entirely so bad, except for the moans and shouts for help that went ignored
“Ma’am, how’d you get up here?” A heavy-set woman ambled toward Allie. “Visitor hours aren’t till nine o’clock.”
&nbs
p; “And a good thing, too,” she quipped.
The woman paused. Blond, with a short, spiky haircut, she wore blue pants and a matching top, called “scrubs.” Allie had recently learned some medical vernacular.
She offered her right hand. “Allison Littenberg. I’m the new consultant here. And you are?”
“Uhh…” The woman glanced over her shoulder at the station before looking back at Allie. She appeared about as guilty as a bank robber caught in the vault. “I’m, um, Jessie.”
“Jessie?”
A resigned expression spread across her wide face. “Jessie Nardin. I’m the RN up here on nightshift.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“The staff and I were just having a little Labor Day party since we had to work the holiday.”
“I don’t have any problem with that, except you might want to clean up the mess now.”
“We were just about to do that.”
Allie dipped her head. “Good. Now would you mind explaining the disgusting odor up here?”
“Oh, well…we have a lot of incontinent patients on this floor.”
A man suddenly emerged from the room to Allie’s immediate left. Cupping his hands over his mouth, he bellowed across the entire ward, “Hey, Kat, get your carcass in here and change this ol’ bag’s diapers. She’s learned her lesson. I think she sat in it long enough.”
“She’s not my responsibility,” a female shouted back. “Change her yourself!”
The attendant swore.
Allie gaped at the less-than-professional exchange. And here she’d thought Nurse Ratchet only existed in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
“This is unacceptable!”
The man’s dark head spun in Allie’s direction.
Jessie waved him over. “Kenny, this is Ms. Littenberg,” A tentative note hung in her tone. “She’s that new consultant we got the memo about.”
The man’s expression crumbled, and Allie admitted to feeling a semblance of gratification. “Looks like we need to work on our customer service skills,” she said with a cynical grin, “among other things.”
He suddenly transformed into a polite young man. “Yes, ma’am.”
“For starters, I’d like to know what’s going on.” Allie folded her arms. “Why did you say this patient has ‘learned her lesson’?”
“Oh, she’s just crazy. She’s always cussin’ and swearin’ at us.”
Screams from the patient’s room made their way into the hallway. “Help me! Help me!”
Prickles of apprehension climbed Allie’s her spine. She knew something was wrong―very wrong. “Why is the woman on this floor if she’s mentally unstable?”
“Psych ward was full, I guess.” Kenny lifted his shoulders.
The patient obviously overheard them and comprehended what they’d said. “Don’t listen to him!” Her voice sounded hoarse and broken. “I’m not crazy. I’m dying, that’s why I’m here. I’m dying…” A pause. “Wish I were dead!”
Allie moved forward, but Kenny held out his palms to forestall her. “She just wants to be changed, and we’re gunna see to that right now.”
“Good.”
“No, no, don’t leave! That man’s not fit to take care of a goldfish, let alone a human being. None of these people are. Please, please, help me!”
Leaning forward, Allie tried to get a glimpse of the patient.
Kenny tried on a laugh. “Poor thing. She’s outta her very mind.”
Allie nibbled her lower lip in indecision. On one hand, she could well believe the distraught individual was “out of her mind.” But at the same time, Kenny’s behavior didn’t warrant Allie’s trust…or her respect.
“I want this patient cleaned up immediately.”
“That’s what I was ‘bout to do.”
Allie took another step toward the woman’s doorway.
“Now you be careful,” Kenny warned. “She’s violent.”
Again, the patient cried out. “I couldn’t hurt a flea, you idiot, otherwise you’d be dead for all the things you did to me!”
Imagining what sort of “things,” caused Allie’s breakfast to creep up her esophagus. She narrowed her gaze at Kenny. “Get this patient cleaned and changed―and do it as though your job depends on it. Because it does.”
“All right, all right.” He walked away at a snail’s pace. “Ever’one’s in a hurry these days.”
Casting a glance at Jessie, Allie noticed contrition pooled in the nurse’s eyes, so she held back another reprimand.
“Don’t leave me. Please. Please…” The woman sobbed. “Please, for the love of God, don’t…leave…me…”
Allie knew she couldn’t abandon the woman, crazy or not. She would, however, take special care in case the patient was, indeed, violent or suffered with something contagious.
Standing to one side, she peered into the repugnant-smelling room. She cringed, wondering how these employees could stand working in such stench. Worse, how awful to be a patient and left to lie in it!
Squinting into the darkness, Allie could barely make out the ghostly figure in the bed. She almost laughed. The patient had been right. In her feeble state she couldn’t hurt a fly, let alone a strapping young man like Kenny. “I won’t leave, ma’am. I’ll make sure you’re cared for. When you’re cleaned up, I’ll come in a talk to you. All right?”
Allie had to pull back out of the room to breathe again.
“Don’t leave, don’t leave…” the woman whimpered. “Pleeeeeeese!”
“I won’t leave,” Allie promised again. Looking hard at Jessie, she added, “I’m going to stay right here and make sure everything is in order before the first shift arrives.”
Chapter Nine
With each passing minute, Allie grew more appalled by sights around her. The patient in Room 8 wasn’t the only one suffering from neglect. The man in Room 3 appeared to be in similar shape, although he wasn’t conscious as far as Allie could tell. Out of the twenty patients residing on the this floor, she discovered four who required immediate attention, and three of them, including the woman in Room 8, were calling out for help―or had been until she’d arrived. Many others were heavily sedated.
“Where would I find an incident report?” Allie stepped into the nurse’s station.
A slender African-American woman with short hair opened the bottom to the right of where she sat near the computer. She pulled a printed form from a hanging file. “This would be what you need.”
“Thanks.” Allie held out her right hand and introduced herself.
“I’m Sherelle Barnes, the unit secretary.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Same here.” After giving Allie’s hand a polite shake, Sherelle resumed her work on the computer.
Form in hand, Allie made her way into Room 8. Reaching it, she rapped on the door. “Ma’am? Can I come in?”
“Yes,” the woman rasped.
The heavy draperies were closed, so Allie walked to the windows. “It’s shaping up to be a lovely morning. Would you like some sunshine?”
“What’s that?” Sarcasm tainted the patient’s reply. “I’ve been in the dark so long I’ve forgotten.”
Allie took the comment as a yes and pulled the draperies open. Brilliant light filled the room and she got a better view of the mere specter of a woman, lying in the bed. The poor dear looked like a skeleton with fragile rice paper pressed over her bones. Allie guessed her age to be at least ninety, and she was amazed at the patient’s feistiness, given her present condition.
“My name is Allison Littenberg. Please call me Allie.”
The woman’s head lulled in her direction and rheumy blue eyes stared at her.
“I was hired almost two weeks ago as the consultant here at Arbor Springs. We’re in the process of making improvements.”
“Plenty of room for improvement around here.”
“So I see.” Allie narrowed her gaze and took a step closer. “Is that a bruise around your left eye?
”
“Probably. That imbecile CNA hit me. Then he wanted me to say he was the best nursing assistant I ever had.” The patient let out a guffaw. “He can go straight to he―”
“I get the picture,” Allie put in quickly. She pulled up a chair. “But let’s you and I agree to something right now. I’ll talk like a lady to you and you do the same. No profanity, okay? It’s not necessary.”
The patient’s gaze roamed over her skeptically before she gave a nod. “Agreed.”
“Good.” Allie smiled. “Now, why don’t we start at the beginning? With your permission, I’m going to fill out an incident report.”
“Go for it.”
“Last name?”
“Matlock.”
“First?”
“Cynthia.”
“Middle initial?”
“R.”
“Home Address?”
“None.”
Allie glanced up from her form. “None?”
“Well, this place, I guess. I’m essentially homeless.” The woman exhaled a wheezy sound.
“No family members whose address―?
“I said I’m homeless,” Cynthia barked.
Saying nothing, Allie wrote “N/A” in the address line.
“Sorry,” the woman said grudgingly. “I’m in a lot of pain. I didn’t get a shot all night.” Tears slipped from the woman’s eyes, now closed. Her head wagged back and forth on the pillow. “I hurt so much…”
“Let me see what I can do. I’ll be right back.”
Exiting the room, Allie hailed Jessie to the nurses’ station. “The patient in Room 8 wants some pain medication.”
“She just had some.”
“Who gave it to her?”
“Um…” Jessie frowned, looking confused.
“Since you’re the only RN on the floor during third shift, and since the rest of the staff are CNAs, I’m assuming it would have to be you who dispersed the medication. Correct?”
“Yes, but I thought…” Jessie’s gaze swept the surrounding area before coming back to Allie. “Um, let me check the chart, and talk to Kenny. I’ll get back to you.”
Broken Things (Faded Photograph Series) Page 9