“Close enough.” Ranson slapped him on the back. “We have plenty to talk about over lunch.”
PEGGY PULLED INTO THE PRESBYTERIAN Hospital emergency parking lot and locked the Saturn Vue before she rushed up to the door. This whole thing was probably too much for Luther. He’d been ill for such a long time. It was probably stupid to think he could fill in for Darmus on the spur of the moment. Not that she’d been much help.
“I’m looking for Luther Appleby.” Peggy looked at the papers on the hospital desk. “He was brought in a short while ago.”
The emergency room was packed. Apparently, there was a bus accident on North Tryon. The casualties had spilled over from Carolinas Medical Center to Presbyterian. People with blood on their clothing were trying to find out what had happened to their loved ones. A Hispanic interpreter raced from one person to another taking names and information.
“We’re very busy.” The woman at the desk moved the papers into a folder. “Take a seat. We’ll get to you when we can.”
“I’m fine. I just want to know what happened to my friend.”
“We only allow family members to see patients down here. You’ll have to wait until your friend is sent upstairs. Call the hospital switchboard and ask about his condition.”
Peggy thanked her and reluctantly took a seat on one of the orange vinyl chairs. A team of nurses and doctors began to sort through the patients from the bus accident. A young woman sitting beside her jiggled a crying baby. She asked the nurse at the desk for help, received the same answer Peggy did, then came back and sat down again.
Peggy was anxious about Luther, but curious about the young woman next to her. She straightened up a leaf on a jack-in-the-pulpit beside her. Really, they should know better than to have a poisonous plant in the waiting room! A child could chew on it. Just because something could grow well in a low-light area wasn’t a good reason to have it. People needed to think more about what they were planting.
“What’s wrong with your baby?” Peggy finally asked when she was done worrying about the plant She wasn’t a doctor, but the baby didn’t seem to be seriously ill, just fretful. She could tell how frazzled the mother was by the dark circles under her eyes and her tightly drawn lips. “May I hold her for a few minutes for you?”
The young woman considered the question and might have said no at another time. But she finally handed the baby to Peggy. “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She started this a few days ago. She eats and then she starts crying. I think she might have the flu or something. I don’t have any insurance, so I can’t afford to take her to the doctor.”
“Is she running a fever?” Peggy put her hand on the baby’s forehead. It felt cool to the touch. The blue button eyes looked clear, but she kept drawing her little legs up to her chest and balling up her fists like something was hurting her.
“I don’t think so. But she can’t sleep, so I can’t sleep. I had to take time from my job to bring her in here because the day care won’t keep her like this. I haven’t been at my job long. I hope they don’t fire me. This looks like it could take all day.”
“I think she might be a little colicky. You might try giving her a little chamomile tea. It shouldn’t take much, just a few teaspoons in a bottle. It will help settle her tummy and calm her down. My son had colic, too. It’s terrible. They gave me a sedative for him that was too harsh. Chamomile worked for him. Be sure to use bottled water to make the tea.
The nurse called the woman’s name from the doorway. The anxious mother thanked Peggy.“I’ll try it if what they say doesn’t work. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Take good care of that beautiful baby.” Peggy smiled as the mother disappeared behind the door that led to the examining rooms. The door had to be opened from the inside to allow patients to enter. She watched and waited as several of the people from the bus accident were called back.
She glanced at her watch. It had already been more than an hour since she heard about Luther being found in the garden. Anything could be happening. She had seen enough of death in recent years to realize it crept up without warning. Maybe Luther was fine. Maybe he wasn’t. She didn’t want to take that chance.
When the next group of patients went through the electronic door, she was right behind them. She respected that hospitals needed protocol. She really did. But life slipped away too easily. She had to see Luther now.
Walking down the long hall that led to the examining areas, she passed dozens of relatives waiting for word on a family member’s condition.
The examining areas were small cubicles closed off with green cotton curtains. Quiet weeping came from behind one of them. A child screamed and cried behind another. Busy nurses and doctors walked past her. They looked at her but didn’t ask why she was there. If she was back there they figured someone had to have let her in.
The smell of chlorine and other cleaning solutions was strong. A young man ran past her with an empty hospital bed, nearly knocking her over. The place was an overcrowded maze. How was she ever going to find Luther?
She skirted around a nurse’s station when the phone rang and a young woman in green and blue scrubs answered it. It gave her an idea. It might not work, but it was worth a try. Luther carried Darmus’s cell phone in his pocket to make the transition easier for people who wanted to get in touch with him. If he still had his clothes on or near him, she could hear the phone ring and use it to locate him.
She’d laughed with Darmus about the ringer he gave her. It was the Beatles’ “Octopus’s Garden.” He said it reminded him of her. Her ringer for him was the “Garden Song.” Their love of plants was their first bond. Darmus became involved in politics as an extension of that love just as she opened her garden shop in the same spirit.
It didn’t help to think about Darmus. His death saddened her more than she let on to the people around her. Paul and Steve wanted to her to stay home and take it easy. She couldn’t. She needed work to keep her from thinking about what happened. It was too fresh in her mind, especially at the end when she wasn’t sure if she were going to make it out of the house alive.
Peggy took out her cell phone and called Darmus.
