Heather Chinn ran off to get help. Renie stood
rooted by the window. “The car took off,” she said in a
shaky voice. “Poor Addison’s lying there in a heap.”
Judith had rolled over onto her side, though she
74
Mary Daheim
couldn’t get a better view of what was happening beyond the window. “Is he . . . ?” she asked in a fearful
voice.
“No, he’s moving,” Renie said. “Sort of.”
“Damn!” Feebly, Judith swung a fist in frustration.
“I feel so helpless!”
“Here comes a guy in a white coat and another guy in
some kind of uniform.” Renie was trying to open the
window with her good hand, but it wouldn’t budge.
“The white coat may be a doctor. Yes, I think it’s what’shis-name—Garnett, the second in command. The guy in
uniform may be security. Here comes somebody else, in
civvies. He looks sort of familiar.” She gave up trying to
open the window and flexed the muscles of her left arm
before rapping loudly on the wavery old glass. “Hey,
he’s looking up. It’s Jim Randall,” Renie said, breathless. “Here come some more people with a gurney.”
“Double damn,” Judith muttered. “I feel like an
idiot. Why couldn’t I at least be in a wheelchair?”
“You will be,” Renie responded. “Huh. They seem to
be paying special attention to Addison’s left leg.
Maybe it’s broken. Poor guy.”
“Where’s the car that ran him over?” Judith asked.
“I don’t know. It hit Addison and kept going, toward
the parking lot.” Renie paused, staring down below.
“Dr. Garnett and one of the others are hovering over
the gurney. Jim Randall is walking away. The security
guy is wandering around, like he’s looking for someone or something.”
“The car, I suppose,” Judith said. “You’ll have to tell
him you saw it. What color and make was it?”
“It was sort of beige,” Renie said, “fairly new, but
from up here on three, I couldn’t guess what make. All
I could see was the roof.”
SUTURE SELF
75
“Do you remember if there’s an outlet from the
parking lot?” Judith inquired.
“No, of course not,” Renie answered. “We pulled
into the patient admitting area on the opposite side of
the entrance.”
“Oh.” Judith rolled over onto her back. “I forgot.
That anesthesia has muddled my brain.”
“It does that,” Renie allowed. “They’re all going inside now, including the uniform.” She waited a moment, then went back to her bed. “Shall I phone
security and tell them I saw it?”
“Sure,” Judith said. “They’ll need a witness. Insurance,
