by James Evans
Just then the door opened and Teresa, the black charge nurse, poked her head in the room and looked at Michelle. “Doctor Nunn needs you!”
“Uh-oh! Be back soon!” she said, and made a hasty exit.
Kevin followed her to the door and watched her scoot down the hall, then went back into Doc’s room. Doc and Carolyn had resumed their conversation, only now Carolyn was talking about her father, and how she missed him. She glanced at her watch and said she’d better check in with the staff to see if they needed any meds.
“Not that they don’t know where to find me!” she added. After she left, Kevin remarked on the story Doc had told Carolyn.
“I don’t recall hearing that story,” he said.
“Just between you and me, I lifted it from Robert Traver,” Doc admitted. “It’s a story worth telling!”
Nurse Tracey came in to check on Doc. As she took his temperature and asked about his bladder, Kevin suddenly felt like he was intruding. “I’m going to head down to Stormcloud, see if I can earn a few credits. Maybe Brian has something for me.” He turned to go, then stopped. “By the way, is it safe to walk the beach? Could I head north, past the bluffs?”
“It’s pretty safe until you get to the fence leading to Crystal Lake. I wouldn’t go past it, though!” Tracey replied.
Kevin said his thanks and went to the nurses’ station. “Could you tell my wife I’ll be back in a few hours?”
“Sure!” the nurse said with a smile, “I can’t tell you how glad we are she’s here!”
Kevin considered going for a quick walk on the beach, but knew two things: one, his beach walks were seldom quick, and two, Michelle would want to go with him.
He headed downtown, once again smelling the aroma from the bakery. Now he smelled something new: boiling wort. He found the front door to Stormcloud locked, so he went around to the alley. There he found the back door open and several people working, including Rick and Brian. They waved as Kevin entered the room.
“Sure can tell it’s brew day! I love the smell of boiling wort. What are you brewing?”
“It’s time to get our Summer Citrus Wheat going,” Brian said.
“How can you do a citrus wheat without lemons? There can’t be a lot of lemon juice in Frankfort!”
“No, we use an insane amount of lemongrass and some lemon mint. The mint is barely perceptible, but gives it a nice lift.”
“You add the herbs at the end of the boil?”
“No, we add it at the end of fermentation, otherwise the flavor ferments out. By the way, what were you saying about a cilantro beer?”
Kevin discussed his idea about brewing with cilantro, but had to overcome a few of Brian’s doubts.
“I don’t know, the cilantro terpenes are mainly aromatic and volatile. I doubt much flavor would survive.”
“That’s why it’s dry-hopped. I wouldn’t use much, just enough to notice. You’d probably have to add it in stages, tasting between each stage.”
“I wonder how it would work as a variation of the Summer Wheat?” Rick asked. Both Kevin and Brian raised their eyebrows.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea! Rick, I don’t know why everybody says you’re so dumb! Why don’t we siphon off five gallons of the wort and dry-hop some cilantro? Kevin, are you here by chance because you’re looking for a job?”
“I could tell you I came to go bowling, but you probably wouldn’t believe me. As long as I’m here, what can I do?”
Rick put Kevin to work cleaning up. They’d emptied quite a few canvas grain bags, and spilled some grain here and there. As Kevin swept the fermentation room, he overheard Rick say to Brian, “Hey! Who says I’m dumb?!” He laughed at the old joke.
A few hours later he finished cleaning the fermentation room, just in time for lunch. “Hey, it’s lunch time!” he called to Brian. “Mind if I head to the hospital?”
“Sure, go ahead. Can you be back by two? One of the girls can’t work. Think you can help serve and beer?”
“Sure, no problem. See you then!” Kevin took off for the hospital. He wanted to check on Doc, but he also missed Michelle. They hadn’t been apart this long since Kevin went on his solo trip. Once again he chided himself for being so whipped.
When he got to the hospital, Michelle was at the nurses’ station, charting her latest patient. She had a harried look on her face. “Hey, baby! Come here often?” Kevin quipped as he sidled up next to her.
Michelle looked up and beamed. “As often you want me too! But don’t tell my husband, he’s insanely jealous! Did you get a lot of work done at Stormcloud?”
“Yeah, I cleaned up. I’m on lunch break. Then I get to help serve. Do you have time for lunch?”
“Are you kidding?! We’re slammed! We have six patients to take care of, not including Doc!”
“Six patients? That doesn’t sound so bad!”
“When you don’t have a lot of meds or equipment or help, six patients can be a handful. I haven’t worked this hard since before the Collapse!”
Doctor Nunn called out from one of the patient rooms. “Doctor Williams! I could use your help!”
“Who’s Doctor Williams?” Kevin asked.
“Me, silly!” Michelle said, socking him in the arm. “Be right there!” She glanced at Kevin. “I gotta run! See you around six?”
“I’ll be here. Hey! How’s Doc?!” he called as she walked briskly down the hall.
“Go see for yourself!” she called over her shoulder.
Kevin walked into Doc’s room and was surprised to see Doc sitting up, chatting with Carolyn again. He noticed they were holding hands. “Hey, Carolyn, how’s the patient?”
“Much better! His temperature’s normal, his EKG showed no heart problems, and he’s nearly rehydrated. We’re going to keep him one more night, but as you can tell, he’s much better already!”
“It’s the quality of care,” Doc said, looking at Carolyn warmly. “Carolyn’s kept my spirits up.”
Carolyn smiled at Kevin. “It’s been my pleasure. We have a lot in common.”
“Yeah, like our age. We both have one.”
“Have one what?”
“An age. Mine’s more advanced than hers.”
“Now, stop it,” she replied. “Remember, you’re as young as you feel.”
“When I came in I was about a hundred and ninety. Now I’m only 68. You’ve taken…” Doc stopped to do the math. “One-hundred, twenty-two years off me! Don’t stop now! Keep going and maybe I’ll end up younger than you!”
Carolyn tittered and Kevin felt awkward once again. “I’m on my lunch break. I thought I’d pay you a quick visit. Time to head back!”
“You don’t have to leave so soon!” Carolyn said, but Kevin felt like an intruder.
“Sorry, beer and duty call! I’ll be back around six to get Michelle, maybe I’ll see you then. Are you going to Jake’s party tonight?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I may stick around, keep an eye on Doc,” she answered.
“Oh, nonsense. I don’t need babysitting. You go, I insist,” Doc retorted.
“Well… we’ll see.”
“Okay, maybe I’ll see you later,” Kevin said as he made a hasty retreat. Once outdoors, Kevin paused. He wasn’t due back to work for a half-hour. Should he go for a quick walk on the beach? Check out the stores downtown? Or just head back early? He decided there wasn’t enough time to visit the beach and he wasn’t in the mood to window shop. He needed to earn a few more credits if he and Michelle were going to eat any time soon.
He took a different route back which led him through a different neighborhood. Several of the houses were clearly deserted; the yards were unkempt, the porches littered with leaves, the windows dark and empty. He wondered if he and Michelle could move into one and made a mental note to ask Rick or Brian. He walked around one of the houses and was pleasantly surprised to see a small mother-in-law cottage at the rear of the yard. Doc could live there! he thought. I’ll have to see what Michell
e thinks. Then, he headed back to Stormcloud.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Kevin sat at the bar on one of the barstools. “That was fast,” Brian said. “I didn’t expect you back for another fifteen or twenty minutes! How about a beer? On the house! Another benefit of working here. And we have some wonderful venison chili on the menu. Add a little Zombie Blood and you’ll feel like you’re livin’ the dream! How about it?”
“Yes and yes!” Kevin said enthusiastically. “What would you pair the chili with? Whiled Away IPA or Nightswimmer?”
“Definitely the IPA. The hops help offset the chili heat, and the chili mellows the hops. The porter would be too malty.”
“Sold!” Kevin said with a smile. A few minutes later Brian placed the bowl of chili and a bottle of Zombie Blood in front of Kevin along with the IPA. Kevin’s mouth watered at the aroma of the chili, and he tasted an exploratory spoonful. It wasn’t spiced quite the way Kevin expected, so he asked about it.
“Chili usually has cumin in it. Cumin comes from India, and we’ve already run out. I sure will miss cumin,” Rick said, “but coriander seed tastes similar to cumin, so we substituted.”
“I like it!”
“Have you tried it with Zombie Blood yet?” Rick asked.
“No, I wanted to try it plain first.” Kevin opened the bottle and placed a drop on the end of his index finger to taste, then added a few healthy dashes to the bowl. He nodded his head appreciatively, “very good! Just the right amount of heat!”
Rick looked satisfied and moved on to pour another beer.
“Rick, when new people move here, who decides where they’ll live?”
“Most of the time they find an empty house they like and check with the town council. Why?”
Kevin told him about the house, and Rick said, “I know the house. I’ll check with the council members who come in, but as far as I know, it’s available.”
“And something else,” Kevin said. “I’d like to volunteer for patrol.”
“Now you’re talking,” Rick said. “You’ll be well-liked in this group if you’re willing to work!”
“I’ve been coming here on vacation for decades. I fell in love with the area. Since I live here now, I want to give back some of what I’ve received. I’m sure you know about Lake Menekaunee?”
Rick tilted his head back and laughed heartily. “Yeah, I know about it. My wife is part owner.”
“What?! Who’s your wife?”
“Her name’s Penny.”
“Penny is your wife? How did I not know that? I never made the connection!”
“So you were one of the regulars?”
“Yeah, I went every August since the eighties and a few times in between. You know I stopped at the resort on my way here.”
“Which time?”
“Both times. The first time I broke into the wash house. One of the windows was unlocked, I didn’t actually break in. But that’s where I slept. It was kind of spooky, to tell the truth. I’ve never seen the resort empty.”
“I wish it was empty. Unfortunately, there seem to be plenty of zombie residents.”
“Don’t I know it! I had to abandon the wash house in the middle of night because of them. Did you know there’s a zombie on the raft?”
“Yeah, that’s Gabriel. He lived across the lake. After he got bit, he paddled to the raft in a canoe, then set the canoe adrift. He wanted to make sure he couldn’t infect anyone.”
“It scared the crap out of me. I went for a midnight swim and didn’t know he was on the raft! I came very close to making it a two-zombie raft!”
“You went for a midnight swim this early in the year?”
“Let’s just say I was reliving old memories. Next time you head down there, let me know, I’d like to ride along. The place means a lot to me. Some of my best memories were made there.”
“And some of your best times in the future may be spent there. We don’t know what’s going to happen. Somebody will find a cure. Maybe there’s already a cure, who knows?! Penny and I don’t plan on giving it up. The inn’s an old girl, she’s weathered tough times before. She’ll weather this one too.”
His optimism was infectious. Hope stirred in Kevin’s heart. Maybe one day he’d be back at Lake Menekaunee as a guest instead of an intruder.
A few minutes later, Kevin carried his bowl back to the kitchen. He washed it in the sink and placed it on the drying rack.
“Hey Kevin! Instead of serving, how about washing dishes?” Brian hollered.
“Sure thing,” Kevin said with an inner groan. He was looking forward to serving and getting to know some of the folks. Washing dishes was bad enough with hot water. Washing them in cold water was disgusting.
“And don’t use much soap! Be frugal!” Brian added.
Kevin sighed and got to work. With the reduced amount of soap and the cold water, he had to use much more elbow grease to get the dishes clean.
There were quite a few dishes to wash, and every time he thought he was about done, one of the wait staff would bring another tub of dirty dishes. But he plugged away and around five-thirty, Doug, one of the regular crew, relieved him.
“Thank God,” Kevin sighed. “My hands feel like cold prunes.”
“Yep. Industrial dishwashers are another thing belonging to the good ol’ days. Next time, do what I do. Heat some water up over the fire. You’ll end up saving time and soap.”
“Great, now you tell me!” Kevin said ruefully. Doug laughed while Kevin took off his apron and hung it to dry. A few clouds interrupted the otherwise clear sky as he headed to the hospital.
Once again, he found Doc resting comfortably in his bed, an IV line in his arm, reading a book. “Hey, Bones! Looks like you’re feeling better!”
“Yes, much better thanks, but don’t call me Bones! I don’t know why they’re making me stay another night. I feel fine.”
“Maybe that’s Carolyn’s doing. Maybe she wants to keep you around. I get the feeling she’s kind of sweet on you!”
“Bullshit,” Doc said. “What would a woman like that want with an old guy like me? She’s quite a package, I’ll bet she has the men lined up to court her.”
“No-o-o,” Kevin said. “I talked to her on my first visit. She told me she doesn’t have a lot of friends, no boyfriend, and she’s lonely.”
“I say bullshit again! She’s smart, accomplished, attractive, and likes to fish! She’s every man’s dream!”
Maybe just one man’s dream, Kevin thought. “Beats me, I’m just telling you what she told me.”
“So are you and Michelle going to the party tonight? At Jack’s and Lee’s?”
“His name is Jake, not Jack, and I’m pretty sure we’re going. You haven’t met them yet, have you?”
“No, but I’ve heard some interesting things. He’s supposedly just a glorified hippie who supplies the city with enough electricity to run the hospital. He’s also a pothead who thinks it’s a miracle plant, along with his exhibitionist wife. They have a whole greenhouse just for pot, and they’re making all kinds of ridiculous claims about it.”
“Far be it from me to tell you what to think, Doc, but I will say this: meet them and get to know them a little before you make up your mind about them. They seem like good folks. I’m thinking about asking for a job in the greenhouse.”
Michelle walked in. “Well, how about that! My two favorite men in the same room at the same time!” She gave Kevin a quick kiss. “How are you feeling Doc?”
“Like getting out of here. I hate hospitals.”
“Now you sound like a patient,” Michelle said.
“I told him maybe Carolyn wants to keep him here. I think she likes him.”
“Could be!” Michelle said. “She spends more time with Doc than anyone else!”
“We have a lot in common! Don’t you think I’d be able to tell if she was interested in me?”
“No!” Kevin and Michelle said in unison.
“Do you enjoy her company?”
Michelle asked.
“Of course I do! What man doesn’t enjoy spending time with a beautiful, articulate woman?!” Doc replied.
“Of course, you’re right. Silly question. But if you enjoy spending time with her, who cares what we think. Life is short. Grab pleasure by the tail anytime you can. Lord knows it’s fleeting,” Michelle said.
“Damn straight,” Doc said. He felt like he’d just won an argument.
Kevin glanced at his watch. “We’d better get a move-on. We’re supposed to meet Jake at the marina in twenty minutes. Sorry you can’t go, Doc.”
“Not as sorry as I am. Now get outta here!” Doc said, shooing them off.
Once they were too far down the hall for Doc to hear them, Michelle said, “I think Doc’s in deep trouble. I saw the look in his eyes when he talked about her!”
“I could tell he was quite taken with her when he said she was a beautiful, articulate woman!”
“I hope Carolyn doesn’t break his heart. I’d hate to have to kick her ass!” Michelle said as they rounded a corner. They practically ran into Carolyn.
“Kick whose ass?” she asked with a smile.
“Anyone who breaks Doc’s heart!” Michelle warned.
“He’s such a likeable guy, I can’t imagine anyone breaking his heart,” Carolyn replied with a blush.
“Are you going to the party tonight?”
“Yes, I’ll be there.”
“Are you riding over on Jake’s boat?”
“No, I’d rather paddle my canoe. That way I can leave whenever I want or if I get called back to work.”
“Okay, we’ll see you there! Say hi to Doc for us,” Kevin said with a wink. Carolyn blushed even more.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Just thought I’d check in with my favorite patient!” Carolyn said warmly as she entered Doc’s room. “Anything I can get you?”
“No thanks, I’m good. One more indecent night’s rest in the hospital and I’ll be discharged. Have a seat!”
Carolyn sat on the edge of the bed. “Then where will you go?”
“Kevin and Michelle found a house with a mother-in-law—or in this case father-in-law-house behind it. Assuming they get permission to move in, I’ll be living on my own without roommates for the first time in months. I can walk around naked. I can scratch my ass and belch. I can entertain members of the opposite sex.”