“It’s less exciting than it sounds,” I replied. “There was a knife sticking out of him, I got it out.”
“You got it out?”
“Yes,” I said. “He didn’t need surgery, it was good. But I was going to ask where he was. I wanted to follow up on his situation.”
“It was a sticky situation,” she said with a snicker.
“Yes,” I said. “A pointed issue.”
We both giggled under our breath as she walked around the nurses’ table. She tapped on the keyboard several times, and she got a little bit closer to the screen before he spoke. “Oh, that’s strange,” she said. “It looks like he was discharged. Well, no, that’s not right. It looks like he discharged himself.”
I shook my head. “Why?”
“I don’t know, there was no reason provided.”
I blinked. “Do you have contact details?”
“Yes,” she said. “Do you want me to email them to you?”
I nodded. “Yes, I’ll go to my office and call,” I said. “I’m concerned about infection.”
“Got it. Should be in your email inbox now, Doctor.”
“Thank you, Louise,” I said. “I appreciate you.”
She smiled at me. “Oh, wait,” she said. “Someone left a note on his file.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“Nothing medical,” she said. “He just left a bunch of his personal belongings here. As if he was running for something. I’m surprised no one called the police, to be honest.”
“Oh, someone definitely called the police,” I said. “That’s probably why he left, right?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Wonder how he got the knife in his arm,” she said.
“He told me he fell while cleaning the kitchen.”
She rolled her eyes, tapping the desk with her long fingertips rhythmically before smiling. “They should probably come up with better lies.”
“I agree,” I replied. “Anyway, I’m going to call before it gets too late, and before anyone else comes in and needs my attention.”
“Yes, Dr. Meyer,” she said.
I walked away from her and toward my office. I opened the door and shivered a little. The office was always a little too cold and the window always felt like it never closed properly, so I walked toward it and tried to pull it to my own body. It didn’t budge.
I didn’t care that much about the window. I was just putting off the phone call, because I didn’t know if I wanted to call Jody. I probably should, just because he was a patient in my hospital. He had every right to check himself out on his own recognizance and it was probably the smart idea, considering the hospital had to call the police once he was out of danger.
When he was checked into the room, he was probably worried about what the police were going to do. If I was him, I might be worried too.
God, I could remember that boy, who was so bright and so promising, and I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to him. After our confrontation at school, we rarely ever spoke to each other again. Maybe that was the way it should have been, but it felt wrong, and when I found him again—when he walked into my life again.
Completely unexpectedly.
I logged into my computer, checked my emails for five minutes, then told myself to stop putting it off. I needed to call him.
I grabbed the phone, steeled myself by taking a deep breath, and grabbed the receiver. The hospital hadn’t updated for a while and I was surprised we didn’t have rotary phones. Each number key made a loud beep noise as I dialed his number.
It rang a few times before he answered. I thought about hanging up before it sent me to voicemail. But he answered before I could chicken out.
“Hello?” the familiar voice said.
I swore under my breath, moving the receiver away from my face. I sighed before I spoke into the receiver. “Mr. Banks?”
“Jess? Oh, shit, I mean, Dr. Meyer,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting your call.”
“I went to check in on you today, but you weren’t in the room, like you were supposed to be,” I said. “How are you feeling? How’s your arm?”
He sighed. “I’m okay,” I said. “Just a little spooked. You didn’t have to call.”
“I did have to call,” I replied. “I’m worried about infection, Mr. Banks.”
“Can we drop this? Seriously.”
“Sure,” I said. “I’m worried about any infection there, Jody.”
“I’m fine. I’ve taken the antibiotics you prescribed.”
I shook my head. I was trying to be patient, but it was hard to be patient with him. “You can’t just stop taking them,” I said. “You have to keep taking them. You have to finish the course. I would feel much more comfortable if I was able to see it.”
He sighed. “I can’t be at the hospital,” he said. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I shouldn’t have driven myself there in the first place, but I was too much of a coward to pull it out myself.”
I practically winced. “You should have not pulled it out yourself! Pulling it out yourself would have been a terrible idea.”
“Actually, it might have been the best idea,” he said. “I had to practically leave in the middle of the night. I didn’t want the cops to find me and…”
I cleared my throat when he trailed off. “Maybe it would be good if the cops found you,” I said. “You didn’t do anything wrong, did you?”
I heard him chuckle quietly. “No,” he said. “Of course not.”
“Well, then.”
“Still, I would rather not deal with the cops, if I can help it.”
“Just how much trouble are you in?”
“I’m not,” he said. “Because I left the hospital.”
“So I can’t coax you to come back,” I said after a little while. “Not even if I ask very nicely?”
“Unfortunately not,” he said. “Unless
