Fine, round hand, light touch.
Cassie B. Jones s' house: z~~~~DunbarCourt Valley Hills, Ca.
A phone number with an 8z8 area code.
'That's out at the north end of Topanga Boulevard,' she said.
'Near the Santa Susanna Pass.'
'Pretty good ride to the hospital.'
'Sure is.' She wiped her eyes again. Bit her lip and tried to smile.
'What is it?' I said.
'I was just thinking. When we come in, it's always the middle of the night and the freeway's clear. Sometimes I hate the night.'
I squeezed her hand. Her fingers were slack.
I released them, looked at the paper again, folded it and put it in my pocket.
'Cassie B' I said. 'What does the B. stand for?'
'Brooks-that was my maiden name. It's sort of a tribute to Aunt Harriet. It's not exactly feminine, I guess. Brooke with an would have been more of a girl's name. Like Brooke Shields. But I wanted to remember Aunt Harriet.' She glanced sideways. 'What're they doing now, Cass? Cleaning up the dishes?'
'Dih.'
'Good! Dishes!'
She got up. I rose too. Any questions before I go?'
'No.. I don't think so.'
'Then I'll stop by tomorrow.'
'Sure. Great. Cass? Dr. Delaware's leaving. Say bye-bye?'
Cassie raised her eyes. Each hand clutched a plastic doll.
I said, 'Bye-bye, Cassie.'
'Bah-bah.'
'Great!' said Cindy. 'That was really great!'
'Bah...bah.' The hands clapped, dolls clicking upon impact.
'Bah! Bah!'
I walked over to the bed. Cassie looked up at me. Shiny eyes.
Neutral expression. I touched her cheek. Warm and buttery.
'Bah!' A tiny finger probed my arm, just for a second. The puncture wound was healing nicely.
'Bye, cutie.'
'Bah!'
Vicki was at the nursing station. I said hi, and when she didn't answer, I noted my visit in Cassie's chart, walked to Five East, and took the stairs down to the ground floor. Leaving the hospital, I drove to a gas station at Sunset and La Brea and used a pay phone to call Milo at Parker Center.
The line was busy. I tried twice more, same result, dialed Milo's home, and listened to Rick's sister do Peggy
