“Hey—you never told me who I should watch out
for.”
“I told you,” Judith said, over her shoulder. “The
man who hit you might be dead.”
“He was the man who killed my wife? For God’s
sake, I have to know that.”
“No,” Judith responded. “He didn’t kill your wife.
He didn’t kill anybody. I’m not entirely convinced that
your accident wasn’t just that—an accident.”
Addison wasn’t finished. “Am I in danger?”
“I don’t think so,” Judith said, “but it’s always prudent
to trust absolutely nobody in this kind of situation.”
“Not even you two?” Addison shot back.
“Not even us,” Judith replied. But she smiled.
Judith was intent on talking to Sister Jacqueline.
Heather Chinn thought that the hospital administrator
was in a meeting, probably something to do with the
Restoration Heartware takeover. But she promised to
convey the message to Sister Jacqueline.
“Meanwhile,” Judith said, “I’m going to see Joe.”
Renie made a face. “Are you sure you’re up to it?
That shower must have taken a lot out of you.”
“Of course I’m up to it,” Judith asserted, once again
sitting up on her own. This time she managed to swing
her legs around to the side of the bed, put her feet on
the floor, and start to stand up. “See? I can . . . Oops!”
Judith started to topple forward and caught herself on
the wheelchair.
“Good grief,” Renie muttered, hurrying as fast as
she could to help her cousin, “I warned you about
being too rash.”
“Okay, okay,” Judith grumbled, “let’s get out of
here.”
302
Mary Daheim
The cousins paused briefly outside the door to what
had been Mr. Mummy’s room and now was tenanted
by Jim Randall. Two nurses and a doctor Judith didn’t
recognize were hovering over Jim’s bed.
“He must have been almost blind,” Judith remarked.
“Otherwise, he might not have gotten a cornea transplant.”
The lunch carts had been removed from the hallway;
the Pakistani woman was polishing the floor with an
electric cleaner; the two nurses at the station, one of
whom was a nun, were consulting over charts. No one
stopped Judith and Renie as they proceeded to the elevator.
But they were stopped anyway. An OUT OF ORDER
sign was on the door of the car.
“Damn!” Judith cursed under her breath. “Where’s
the freight elevator?”
