“She couldn’t get home from work last night. She and a few others had to stay over at Othello's because of the storm. Anything new?”
“Nothing since Momma told me the ambulance got there and he’d stopped breathing. We're on our way to the Janeway, so we'll see you there. Hurry, please.”
Kalen put the car in drive, but Samantha put out her arm in a signal to stop him. She stuck her head out the window and waved to the truck.
“Oh, and Mandy? Don't tell Veronica that last part.”
“We won’t,” Mandy said, rolling her window back up and driving off.
Kalen made excellent time going the rest of the way; and for once in her life, Samantha set her fears aside and didn’t ask the driver to slow down. Yet, the ride felt like an eternity, as if they were pushing their way through dense, heavy quicksand. Each second stretched out as if in a dream, or a nightmare, where you run and you run but you’re stuck in the same place; you can't move forward, though you struggle with all your will and might. Fortunately, all the main roads had been plowed by now, so the snow didn't slow them down. She knew it was her own agitated mind in a frozen haste of panic that made the trip seem so interminable.
At last, they pulled into the hospital parking lot and under a carport to the emergency entrance. Kalen told her to go on inside while he found a parking space. She flung open the car door, slammed it behind her, and took off in a dead run through the double entrance doors.
At first, she didn't have a clue where to go. She hurried in the direction of the check-in desk and stood behind a young couple there, before she spied her mother at the far end of the emergency waiting room. Darlene, her head in her hands, huddled on a chair against the wall, while Cash paced in front of her. She ran to them.
“How is he?” she demanded, catching her breath.
Darlene looked up at Samantha, her features swollen and streaked with tears. “We don't know,” she cried. “They said they’d tell us when they knew anything. Why are they taking so long?”
“It’s only been a short while,” Cash said, sitting down in the molded chair next to Darlene and putting an arm around her shoulders. “The doctors are working on him. Did you get a hold of your sister, Sam?”
“She should be here soon. She got stranded at work last night because of the blizzard. Mandy's gone over to bring her in. What happened, Momma?”
“I overslept, and I didn’t hear him get up. He…” She cried afresh, inside the horror of her memory. Samantha watched her as her face registered the chain of painful events, as if she relived every terrifying detail.
“Calm down, Dar,” Cash said, a frustrated edge to his words. “Crying isn't doing anyone any good. Get control of yourself.” He turned to Samantha. “I got stuck all night at the tavern. The storm came early and all the taxis I called were busy, so I slept in the stockroom. I shovelled out this morning, got a cab home, and found Henry on the floor in the hall.”
Kalen joined them, his cheeks pink with the cold. He grabbed Samantha by the hand. Cash picked up his story again from where he’d left off.
“He lay there, unconscious. I didn’t know what I should do. I was afraid to move him in case it would hurt him. I couldn’t tell what happened. I woke your mother, who’d slept on the couch all night, and we called 911 for an ambulance.”
“But why did he lose consciousness?” Samantha asked. She looked to Cash and her mother and saw palpable fear. “Momma?”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Darlene murmured, her complexion ghastly white. She bolted to her feet, looking around the lobby.
“Come on, I’ll bring you to the washroom,” Cash offered, looping his arm around her and ushering her down the corridor. “We’ll be back as soon as we can,” he said over his shoulder to Samantha.
As she sat down to wait, she looked to Kalen. “It makes no sense! Why would a young boy lose consciousness? He didn’t fall or anything. Could it mean he ate something poisonous, or what?”
Kalen sat in the chair next to her and shook his head. “We’re sure to find out soon enough.”
Long moments inched by while they kept their vigil. The waiting played havoc with Samantha’s nerves, feeling more like hours to her before Darlene and Cash returned from the washroom.
As soon as they were within earshot, Samantha repeated her question. “Why was he unconscious, Momma?”
Before Darlene could respond, the entrance doors surged open again. This time, Veronica arrived, with Gina behind her. Her sister's face, white and tense, displayed terror personified. As she reached their small huddle, a young East Indian man wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope emerged from behind the swinging doors of an inside room. His expression grave, he cleared his throat as he walked toward them.
“I’m Dr. Banjera, the emergency physician. We can't get Henry to regain consciousness. He has sustained a serious drug overdose.”
Samantha's hand flew to her mouth. Her gaze raced over the others until it came to rest on her sister.
Veronica let out a low, guttural moan before her eyes fluttered and rolled, leaving only the whites visible. Samantha watched, helpless, as her sister faltered and her body crumpled toward the floor.
Chapter Nineteen
Kalen caught Veronica under her arms before she collapsed on the hard hospital tile. He squatted down, cradling her head in his lap, while the others swarmed around them. Mandy arrived, out of breath, from parking her pickup truck.
“Stand back, people,” the doctor said. “The woman needs air.” He knelt beside Kalen, placing his fingers on Veronica's neck. “She’s fainted. Would somebody please get her some water?”
Gina ran to get it, while Samantha fanned Veronica with a magazine she found on a nearby chair. Darlene and the others hovered behind her. After a couple of minutes, her eyes blinked open and she looked around at them. Tears sprang out on her eyelids as her awareness returned.
“Henry,” she whispered, trying to stand. “I need to see my baby.” Kalen and Mandy held her arms and helped her to her feet.
“I think you should sit for a minute and drink your water,” Dr. Banjera said. “I'll check on him first, then come to get you.” He nodded at their group and disappeared through the doors from where he’d come.
Veronica pushed away the paper cup of water Gina offered. “What did he take, Momma?” she demanded. “Tell me right now!”
“He must’ve gotten into the…the pill bottle.”
“What pills?”
Darlene's mouth twisted in anguish. “The Tylenol I had for my back spasm. I must have left them out last night. On the coffee table. I couldn't have put the cap on properly.”
“You left medication lying around for him to find? What the hell is wrong with you? Do we know how many he took? Were they extra-strength?”
“I told the doctor I couldn’t be sure how many, only I knew there weren’t many left in the bottle. But why would he take medicine? You’d think he could tell the difference between pills and candy! Why would he eat them?”
“Why? You're asking us why a four-year-old does something? Because he's a child, remember? And you're supposed to be the adult! The babysitter!”
Samantha stepped between them, ignoring Darlene's sobs. “This isn’t helping, Ronnie.” She held her by the arm, guiding her to a chair. But Veronica shook her off and remained standing.
“Why weren't you there, Sam? Why was there no one watching him this morning?”
Cash looked at Veronica, his face grim. “I took another cab back to the house earlier to find the pill bottle, so the doctor might have an idea of how many he swallowed. There were two pills left in the bottle, and they weren’t regular Tylenol, Veronica.”
“What? What were they, then?”
“Tylenol Number Ones.”
“What are they, stronger?”
“They have codeine in them.”
Veronica let out a strangled cry. “Oh my God…”
Before she could say or do anything else, the d
oors swung open again.
The doctor addressed them all with a solemn voice. “I'm afraid he's had a seizure.”
A collective gasp rose from their little group.
“Because of this, we’ve induced a coma for his own protection. I'll allow only his mother in to see him right now.” Veronica came forward and followed the doctor.
Numbly, Samantha watched her go. A seizure? A coma? Codeine? What did all of this mean? Was it possible Henry wouldn't survive? She didn't want to sit down either; to stay still felt impossible. She moved away from Darlene and the others and paced back and forth.
“Excuse me,” said a voice. A plump, middle-aged woman walked toward Samantha from the reception desk area.
“Yes?”
“There's a gentleman on the phone, asking for Veronica Cross. Is she with your party?”
Samantha assumed it was Sebastian. Her sister had mentioned they were having problems in their relationship, but he must have found out something had happened and had tried to reach her. “Yes, she is. I can take the call.” She trailed after the receptionist and leaned over the counter, taking the receiver from her outstretched hand. “Hello, this is Samantha, Veronica's sister. Is this Sebastian?”
There was a short pause. “It’s Ben, Samantha. I'm here in town.”
“Ben! What are you doing here? Why are you calling? Have you heard what happened?”
“I got the gist of it. I phoned Gina’s cell when I couldn’t get a hold of you or Veronica, and all she told me was that she was driving Veronica to the Janeway, where Henry had been taken by ambulance. How is he? What's going on?”
She filled him in with everything she knew.
“I'll be right over,” he said, before the line went dead.
***
When Veronica came back from seeing her son, her face had grown more haggard than ever. A deep vertical crease had formed between her eyebrows, and her mouth stayed pressed in a thin, grim line. Never in her life had Samantha seen her so distraught, so inconsolable, so afraid. She wished she knew what to say or do to help her sister cope with the fear, or with the possibility that threatened them all.
“How is he?” Darlene asked.
Veronica stared into space. “He's lying there with tubes everywhere and machines and an I.V. He's pale, so terribly pale.”
“He's gonna be alright, my love,” her mother said. “He's got to be. He's a tiny, innocent child, Cash. How could I have let this happen?” Exploding into tears again, she clung to Cash, her cheek pressed to his chest.
“Let me guess,” Veronica cut in, her voice rising. “You took strong painkillers with codeine for your back, washed 'em all down with a bottle of wine, and then you passed out. All the while knowing you were supposed to take care of a small, defenseless child. My baby. I'd say we should nominate you for Grandma of the Year, whaddya think? Huh?”
“Ronnie,” Cash said.
“Don't you dare ‘Ronnie’ me!” she yelled. “You know it's true what I’m saying, all of you. But especially you, Cash. You are what they call an enabler. Letting an alcoholic work in your bar. Letting her drink whatever and however much she damn well pleases. And acting like it's perfectly alright for her to indulge herself, even when she is entrusted with Henry's care. And I don’t care how bad your back hurt, Momma, you took pain pills with your wine and you left them out! I never thought you could be so neglectful and stupid! And dangerous!”
Darlene rocked back and forth in her chair, crying harder. “I'm so sorry, Ronnie! I never meant to hurt our precious boy, you should know that. You know how much I love him.”
Veronica moved toward her mother, waving a finger at her. “Well, listen to this, and listen good. If that poor little boy manages to pull through and survive this…this abuse, I swear on a stack of bibles you will never, ever be trusted around him again!”
Samantha wedged herself between them. “Come on, you need to calm down, for Henry's sake, if for no one else's. Why don’t we go to the cafeteria and get a coffee or something?”
“You didn't answer my question before. I thought you were staying home last night.”
Samantha tried to avoid her sister’s accusing glare. “I went out and couldn't get home because of the storm, too.”
Veronica pointed at Kalen. “Let me guess. With him?”
Samantha dipped her head, staring at her hands. “He deserved an explanation for why I was—”
“Look, all of you can go square to hell. You’re a useless bunch of idiots.”
The receptionist stared at them from the door of her office. “You're going to have to keep it down over there,” she warned. “I understand you're upset, but this is a children’s hospital.”
“Is that so?” Veronica shot back. “I thought it was Disneyland.” She sat down and leaned her head back against the wall. “Stupid bitch,” she muttered under her breath.
“I'm going to get coffee,” Kalen said. “May I bring some back to you guys, or tea?”
No one answered at first. Samantha suggested he get a few cups in case they wanted some when he returned.
A few minutes after he left, Ben showed up. Wiping her cheeks with a handful of Kleenex, Darlene thanked him for coming.
“How's Henry?” he asked the group in general, before he zeroed in on Veronica's wan appearance. Samantha told him they had heard nothing new since she’d talked to him and they probably wouldn't for a while, or at least until they brought him out of the coma.
Dr. Banjera returned. Veronica scrambled to her feet and hurried over to him, her worried face full of questions.
“Your son will be unconscious for at least twenty-four hours,” he told her. “We're running tests, so we should learn more about his condition when we get the results.”
“He’s going to be alright, isn’t he, doctor?” Veronica pleaded.
“Unfortunately, we aren’t certain how many of the pills he ingested. We did a gastric lavage, but some of the drug could have already passed into his small intestine. If the bottle was almost empty when he found them, however, like your mother said, well, there is room for optimism. But I can’t make any promises. In the meantime, I suggest you get some rest. Has anyone notified the boy’s father?”
Everyone in their group looked to Ben. His eyes, unreadable, met the doctor's. After a second's hesitation, he gave a quick nod.
“Something else you need to be made aware of. It is hospital policy to consult with our Child Protection team for instances of drug overdose or poisoning. They may want to ask the caregiver further questions, but we’ll advise you if it is taken to the next step.”
“Do you mean the police will be involved?” Veronica put in.
“If the team recommends it,” Dr. Banjera said. “In the meantime, the whole family doesn’t need to stay. It could be a while before we learn more, or if there is any change.” He withdrew through the swinging doors once again.
“I'm staying,” Veronica said. “Momma, you need to go. You’re not wanted here. Go home with Cash.”
“I’ll stay here with her,” Samantha assured them, “and I'll call you guys if there’s any change at all. One of you should get in touch with Daddy and fill him in.”
Cash must have thought it best, so he coaxed an unwilling Darlene, until, after several objections, she finally gave in and left with him.
Kalen came back with a steaming coffee in one hand and a full tray of them in the other. He murmured a hello to Ben as he passed a cup to Veronica.
“Gina, the both of you should go home too,” Veronica suggested. “No sense in all of us staying.” But Gina would hear none of that, and Mandy refused to leave without Gina. They both sat down, flanking Veronica on either side.
“Rita called while I was at the cafeteria,” Kalen told them. “Her car wouldn’t start this morning and she needs a battery boost to get to work. I hate to leave, but—”
Samantha waved him away, saying his mother needed him and she would call him as well, if there were any new develo
pments. She stole a peek at Ben, wondering what he might be thinking. His clean-cut features did bear an element of worry, yes, but something indefinable loomed there as well. She hadn't shaken off her anger at him from the last time he'd visited. His whole song and dance about gaining custody and proving his paternity of Henry still rankled with her, reinforcing her defense of her sister against his hinting at legal maneuverings. She frowned at him when he caught her eye.
But he sidled up next to her. “Can we go somewhere to talk?” he said, his voice crisp in her ear.
“I'm staying here with Ronnie.”
“Just around the corner for a minute,” he murmured, “where we won't be overheard? Please?”
She frowned up at him, but curiosity got the better of her. “Ronnie, we're going to get a bite to eat. Do you want me to grab you a muffin or a sandwich?”
Leaning against Gina with her friend's arm wrapped snugly around her, she shook her head. “Food is the last thing I want. Maybe later.”
Ben took Samantha’s arm.
“You know where the cafeteria is?” she asked him.
“Second floor. Come on, we’ll go up the ramp way.”
Together, they walked out through the larger outpatient waiting area of the hospital where Samantha was surprised to see an immense, rectangular aquarium against the wall, full of colourful tropical fish. The area was filled with seating and, at present, dotted with only a few outpatient children and their waiting parents. Straight ahead she saw the ramp Ben spoke of: a concrete walkway that took them smoothly from the first floor to the second. Samantha glanced to the side on their way up, catching the expansive view of the lower level. An inviting play area lay adjacent to the aquarium, stocked with a rich assortment of toys and books. A tiny girl with an arm cast sat on the floor, flipping through a picture book almost as big as she was.
“Henry would love to see all of this,” she murmured. A painful lump rose in her throat and her eyes misted with hot tears.
Ben squeezed her hand and nodded. “I bet he would.”
Samantha pulled her hand away and stuffed it in her jeans pocket. “You know your way around the Janeway.”
Calmer Secrets: Calmer Girls 2 (Calmer Girls Series) Page 17