'I'll be clomping up and down the hall with one of them metal walkers like an old crippled person,' Herman said ruefully.
'Better than a wheelchair,' said Nadine.
But it might be a wheelchair.
It was his first stay ever in a hospital; and, since Nadine was probably the only woman who'd touched his body since he was married, he was finding the experience almost as embarrassing as it was interesting. Certainly it was a novelty to have a pretty young physical therapist manipulate his legs and massage his hands and feet.
The tips of his fingers were still numb, too. He was aware of pressure, but not tactile discernment. He could handle a fork well enough to do justice to his supper tray, 'but I don't know as I'll ever be able to hold little screws again.'
'Sure you will,' said Nadine.
'And if you can't, you'll let Annie Sue do it while you ride around from job to job and supervise,' I said.
He'd been told all the details of the night he collapsed and he shook his head stubbornly. 'If I hadn't let her stay there working by herself, that bastard'd never touched her.'
'You can't wrap her in cotton. Anyhow, the kid's pretty good at it. Rufus Dayley sent over another inspector sometime this week and he gave her an 'A-OK' on the rough-in.'
'Did he now?' He tried to look nonchalant and didn't quite succeed.
It was still a wonder to him where he could have gotten arsenic. He and Nadine had wracked their brains for Mr. O'Connor and neither could think of a single place he'd eaten when others hadn't partaken of the same dishes.
'Abandoned wells?'
'I carry my own water cooler for my workers and an ice chest with drinks.'
'What about pottery juice mugs? I've heard that the acid in fruit juice can leach arsenic out of ceramic cups and pitchers.'
'His orange juice comes right out of the Minute Maid carton and right into the same plain glasses we've had for ten years,' said Nadine.
As for Carver Bannerman, Herman knew he was a county inspector and remembered now that he'd seen him several times at the Coffee Pot. They had never exchanged more than a few words in passing, though, and certainly they'd never shared a meal anywhere else that he knew of.
'Dwight and Terry,' Herman said. 'When they were here the other night, they think I was the one killed Bannerman?'
'You, Annie Sue or me, one. But only because of the circumstances.'
He nodded. 'I reckon any of us would've.'
'Would've what?' chirped Annie Sue from the doorway.
Inevitably she was trailed by Cindy and Paige, and I was touched by the sadness in Paige's brown eyes as my niece scampered over to Herman for a big bear hug.
Indeed, her face was brightly animated as she chattered with Nadine.
The girls were quickly followed by more friends and relatives who still believed in visiting the sick and comforting the afflicted. By eight-thirty, the room was so full that we spilled out into the hall, a dozen different conversations going at once.
Nobody would miss me if I left, I reasoned, and maybe it was still early enough to zip over to K.C.'s cottage. Watch the moon rise above Jordan Lake. See how the steaks were holding up.
Not to mention the men. * * *
The night air was deliciously cool as I headed toward the parking lot, but I'd only gotten as far as the ramp when I heard running footsteps behind me.
'Miss Deborah! Judge Knott?'
Paige Byrd.
'Are you going home now? Could I ride with you? Please?'
I hesitated, and she drooped like a bright-headed zinnia deprived of water. 'Oh. You're going somewhere else, aren't you? I'm sorry.'
'No, no,' I lied. 'Come along. It'll be nice to have company.'
