Mary Daheim
chuckle. “Come on, let’s head back to the old corral.”
He grasped the wheelchair firmly and steered Judith
through the double doors.
She regained her speech only when they got to the
elevator. “Mr. Magee,” she said, sounding weak, “can
you check this whole thing out for me? I swear to you,
my husband was in ICU until . . . until whenever he
was moved.”
“I’ll try,” Torchy replied as the elevator doors
opened, “but I’m the only one on duty tonight. My
backup couldn’t get here in this snow.”
“Please.” Judith sounded pitiful. Then, summoning
up all her courage, she asked the question that had
been uppermost on her mind: “If something happened—that is, if my husband didn’t make it—
wouldn’t they tell me right away?”
“Oh, sure,” Torchy replied breezily, hitting the button for the third floor. “Say,” he said, looking around
the car, “where’s the other one?”
Judith gave a start. For the first time, she realized
that Renie wasn’t with them. “I don’t know. Wasn’t she
right behind us?”
“If she was, she didn’t get in the elevator,” Torchy
said as the car began its ascent. “I hope she’s not still
down in the ICU, giving Bertha heat. Bertha’s pretty
tough.”
“So’s my cousin,” Judith said. But her worries rose
right along with the elevator.
“I’ll check on Mrs. Jones after I get you to your
room,” Torchy said as they exited into the hall. “Maybe
she didn’t make it into the car before the door closed.
She’ll probably show up in a few minutes.”
When Judith and Torchy passed the third-floor
nurses’ station, the nun at the desk looked up. “Your
SUTURE SELF
253
mind must be at rest after going to the chapel,” she said
with a smile. “Prayerful moments with our Lord before
bedtime are much better than any sedatives.”
Judith uttered a response that was supposed to come
out as “My, yes,” but sounded more like “Mess.”
Which, Judith thought dismally, was more appropriate
to her situation.
“Please,” she begged after the security guard had
gotten her back into bed, “can you find out what happened to my husband?”
“I’ll give it a try,” Torchy said. “What about your
cousin?”
“She’ll be all right,” Judith said, though not with
complete conviction. “For now, I’m more worried
about Joe.”
Torchy nodded half-heartedly. “Okay, I’m off.”
