Lance currently sat in a wheelchair, shaky from the long trip, parked off to the side of the reception area, a big man, an orderly, holding on to Lance’s chair.
Just then a whistle broke through, and a small woman stepped from her office off to the side, and, with a glare, said, “What is going on here?” The receptionist looked relieved as she stepped forward.
“Dani, we have a problem. Steven here is trying to leave, and Jonathan is here to check in. But Steven isn’t supposed to go until tomorrow, at least according to my records. Jonathan says he was supposed to be in today, but I’m not seeing it.”
Dani shook her head. “So, they’re assigned to the same room. Is that the idea?”
The receptionist nodded, blowing a strand of hair from her flushed face.
Dani looked at Steven and said, “Steven, we went over this. Today is Tuesday. Your bride is coming Wednesday.”
He frowned at her. “No, see? They told me Tuesday,” and he held up a cell phone.
She looked at the cell phone message. “Well, that may be, but you haven’t been signed out of here yet. The doctor only approved you to leave tomorrow. So, if you make changes to your arrangements,” she said, “you have to let us know.”
He looked at her, looked at his phone again, and said, “Oh. But this guy wants in today, so why can’t I just leave early?”
“I’m not saying you can’t,” she said, “but I have to get the doctor to sign off on this.” She turned to look at the new arrival. “And you must be Jonathan, correct?” She reached out a hand. He nodded and shook her hand. He was at least ambulatory from what Lance could see. She smiled and said, “So you’re a day early. How come?”
Jonathan shrugged and said, “I was supposed to spend the night in town, but the hotel didn’t have a room for me for some reason, so I took a shot and had a cab bring me straight here.”
“Figuring that we might have a room for you instead?” she said with a note of humor.
He had the grace to look ashamed. “I know I’m not expected until tomorrow.”
“No, you aren’t,” she said. “However, it’s not the end of the world. So why don’t you both go sit down and give us a chance to sort this out.” Then she turned and looked at Lance. She took several steps over, held out her hand, and said, “So, you’re a new arrival as well, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m Lance,” he said.
“Good,” she said. “You, I was expecting.” A note of humor was in her voice, and he was amazed that she had kept her cool as much as she could.
She said, “I’m Dani, and I run this place with my father,” she said, as she turned to the receptionist and said, “Melanie, Lance’s room should be ready.”
The receptionist quickly made several clicking motions on the keys, then looked up and nodded. “Yes, he’s in room 1214.”
“Good,” Dani said. Turning back to Lance, she smiled, motioned at the big man standing behind Lance, and said, “I’ll let Jim here take you to your room. I’ll be there in a few minutes with your introduction package, and we’ll go over everything you need to know. Is that okay?”
He nodded and smiled. “Of course. I’m assuming you’ll get this fixed first,” he said with a wave to the other two guys.
“Let’s hope,” she said, stepping out of the way with a smile. Jim, the big burly orderly behind Lance, immediately picked up Lance’s bags, tossed them over his shoulders, and pushed his wheelchair out and away from the reception area.
“Well, I’m glad I have a proper room at least,” he said.
Jim laughed. “It happens,” he said. “At every center everybody always wants to leave early, and we do get a few people who try to come in early, but it does mess up the count on the available beds. We’re always full up, so it’s not like we can just shuffle out a bed for an unexpected visitor.”
He wondered at that. “I guess there’s also all the cleaning and housekeeping that has to be done when a room changes over.”
“Top to bottom,” Jim said, a smile in his voice. He pushed Lance down a long hallway, with several short hallways leading off to the sides. They passed a large open game room, where several guys were playing pool, others reading, and a big screen TV played with a basketball game on.
“So, what’s this? A common room?”
“One of them,” he said, sounding cheerful as they passed another hallway.
From that area Lance heard the sounds of dishes clinking together. “So, somewhere down there is the cafeteria?”
“Exactly,” he said. “Once we get you settled in your room,” he said, “and depending on how you feel, I can either grab you a cup of coffee or whatever you want or maybe take you around for a little bit of a tour until Dani comes.”
“Not a bad idea, at that,” he said. “Any idea if Jaden is still here?”
“Jaden, Jaden, Jaden,” he muttered. “Hmm, I’m not sure I remember that one,” he said. “It’s a big place though, and we’re generally assigned to one area, so we all get to know each other better in our own sections.”
“That’s okay,” he said. “I’ll find out soon enough.”
“Friend of yours?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I was just hoping maybe I could see him before he
