anything good, though.”
Judith had to strain to hear the last part of Mr.
Mummy’s sentence. “Do you see anybody else?” she
asked Renie.
“Umm . . . Here comes Margie Randall. Can you
hear her?”
Judith could, as Margie uttered a series of keening
noises that sounded like mourners at an Irish wake.
“That’s awful,” Judith said, putting her hands over her
ears.
“There must be a bunch of people in the room,”
Renie said, cautiously taking a couple of steps farther
into the hallway.
But suddenly, except for Margie Randall’s shrieks,
the commotion seemed to subside. Renie informed Judith that there were a handful of staffers milling about,
with anxious, curious expressions on their faces.
54
Mary Daheim
“Here comes Sister Jacqueline,” Renie said. “She’s
with some guy who looks like Ronald Colman on a
bad day. What was that movie he made where he was
drunk all the time?”
“Never mind,” Judith responded. “What does the
guy look like? A doctor? Security? A wizard?”
“A doctor, he’s wearing a white coat,” Renie answered as the man quickly passed by. “He looks very
grim. So does Sister Jacqueline.”
For several minutes, nothing seemed to happen, at
least nothing that Renie could tell. Then, quietly and
somberly, several of the people who had been in Bob
Randall’s room came back into the hallway. They
spoke in hushed tones, shaking their heads and placing
hands on each other’s arms, as if to give comfort.
Margie Randall had finally stopped shrieking, though
she was nowhere in sight.
Mr. Mummy gave a sad shake of his head. “I don’t
like the looks of this, do you, Mrs. Jones? Or may I call
you Serena?”
“Mrs. Jones is fine. What did you do to your leg?”
“I broke it in several places,” Mr. Mummy said. “A
nasty fall off a ladder while I was taking down Christmas lights. I had surgery in the community hospital out
where I live, then they transferred me in here today. It’s
a very small town and a very small hospital, with only
one surgeon. Excuse me, I must lie down. Perhaps I’ll
see you again?”
“Probably,” Renie said in mild surprise. Mr.
Mummy returned to his room.
“Is Mr. Mummy going to ask you out?” Judith inquired with a quirky little smile.
“I hope not. He’s almost as old as I am, bald except
