needed to get to a hospital, but I'd be lucky if I could even drive.
Chapter 40
I managed to drive myself to the nearby Torrance Medical Center and went inside. There was a doctor there whose son was on Harvard Westlake's football team, and he'd set Chooch s finger after he broke it on a blitzing linebacker's helmet while throwing a pass during the last game of his junior year.
Dr. Raymond George was listed as on duty. Kveryone from school called him Dr. Ray.
I spoke to the admitting nurse and told her I wanted to see him and that I needed to get my arm set. I was directed to the waiting room of the ER and was given patient insurance forms to fill out, which was a severe challenge using only my left hand.
I needed help on some of the more involved written stuff and kept pestering the nurse for assistance.
While I waited, a woman who looked like she'd been in a bar fight helped me dial my phone. I cradled my swelling right arm in my lap, held the cell in my left hand, then put it gingerly to my ear.
Alexa answered a few seconds later by saying, 'Whats going on, babe?'
I filled her in on what had happened with O'Shea and told her where I was. When I finished, she said, 'He broke your arm?'
'Don't make me say it again. I already feel like a total pussy. T he guy has taken me out twice in two days and hasn't even broken a sweat.'
'I'm on my way.'
'Not necessary. I'm okay, sorta. I'll meet you at home. How are you doing with Chief Filosiani?'
'I haven't even been in to see him yet. Maria's trying to fit me in between appointments.'
'Stay there. I'm okay. I'll call you when I get out of here.'
Dr. Ray met me in one of the ER exam rooms. He was a tall, skeletal guy with an infectious smile. I showed him my arm and told him I missed a step and fell down some stairs.
'Let's see what you did,' he said. 'Gonna have to take a picture.'
He numbed the arm and took X rays. Once he got them back, he showed me the results.
'You have a hairline fracture,' he said, pointing to a slight crack in the bone visible on the X ray. 'It's gonna need a cast.'
He opened a cabinet and pulled out some fiberglass casting tapes and put them in a bowl of water to moisten. Then he began to wrap the waterproof cast liner, starting down by my first knuckle.
'I need to be able to use my hand,' I told him.
'Shane, to keep this stable I should immobilize the entire arm, wrist to shoulder,' he said, holding the dripping tape in his hand.
'Yeah, but I need to be able to fill out my police reports. I'll be careful. I'll keep it in a sling.'
He looked at me skeptically.
'Come on, you immobilize my whole arm and my boss will pull me outta the field and stick me on a desk answering phones. Don't do that to me. I'll die of boredom.'
Reluctantly, Dr. Ray acquiesced.
When he was done, the cast went from just above my wrist, almost up to the elbow.
'You have to leave this in a sling. The arm needs the support.'
'No problem,' I said.
Then he checked my swollen left wrist and declared it a sprain.
'This is gonna be sore. I'm going to prescribe something for the pain.'
'I don't want it,' I said. 'I deserve the pain.'
He left the room to get the sling. As soon as he was gone, I got off the table, limped to the medical supply cabinet, and stole a fiberglass tape roll, jamming it down into my pocket. I had a devious notion of how to use it.
Dr. Ray came back with the sling. He fitted it around my neck and put my broken right arm inside, adjusting the straps.
'Pay the front desk,' he instructed.
I went out and gave them my card. The computer hummed and blipped. My broken arm ached like a bitch.
Chapter 41
I had a voice dial on the MDX, so as I carefully held the steering wheel, I recited Vargas's cell number. Miraculously, I got him on the phone.
After I told him what happened, he said, 'Are you telling me O'Shea beat you up again?'
'I'm getting real tired of saying this more than once.'
I hesitated for a minute, swallowed my pride. 'Look, we're running out of time. I got the FBI circling because of Jack. O'Shea knows I'm a cop and that's bound to produce bad results. We need to get the pallbearers together and pool our knowledge. If it's not too much trouble, I'd really appreciate it if we could meet at my house.'
'What about Diamond?' he asked after another long pause.
'Invite her. She's okay.'
'You sure?'
'Yeah. O'Shea didn't know I was a cop 'til he found my badge. If Diamond was in on it, she certainly would have told him.'
'I'm glad.'
'Me too.'
We set up the meeting for an hour from now. It would allow me time to get home, take some ibuprofen, ice my wrist, and try to get my head to start working again.
It was hard driving with one hand, but I made it. My sprained left wrist was throbbing almost as badly as my right arm by the time I pulled into my drive.
I put the MDX in park, which was no easy task with the wrong hand. Then I got out and lumbered into the house. I opened the refrigerator, fumbled some ice into a bowl, took it to the counter, and spent a frustrating ten minutes trying to get the cubes into a baggie. I tore off some adhesive tape using my teeth and made a clumsy icepack compress for my left wrist.
Next, I went into the bathroom, put the roll of fiberglass gauze in the medicine cabinet, and took the ibuprofen. As I was clinging to the sink, I got a distressing look at myself in the bathroom mirror.
I won't bother to describe my appearance except to say it was startling.
The pallbearers all showed up at a little past five. We sat in my living room. I stretched out painfully in the lounge chair, and then we discussed my broken arm, swollen wrist, and how Rick O'Shea had changed my tires for the second time in two days. I told them not to worry, it wasn't going to happen again. They settled into chairs in my living room and regarded the remark skeptically.
'Shane, you called this meeting, so I guess you're on,' Sabas said.
Diamond, Vicki, and Seriana also sat there, waiting for me to dispense some wisdom. I almost couldn't summon enough energy to start talking.
'Some stuff happened since we split up,' I began slowly. Then I told them about the gift Jack had left for me in my mailbox. I handed Sabas the SD card, and he loaded it into my computer. They all watched it, then turned to face me.
'Mesas house?' Vicki asked, and after I nodded she said, 'Hes got a long board just like Pop?'
They spent a few minutes discussing that, and I gave them my theory about Pop and E. C. Mesa maybe being surfing buddies. Then I told them how Alexa and I had culled the Rolodex and about last nights trip to the house on Avalon Terrace, which led to the underground fight at the Hayloft. Lastly I filled them in on everything Alexa had
