I’d been in this hospital once before, in this very waiting room, trying to process the flood of emotions that were coming out of me. It was here, in the halls of this hospital, that I walked through these very doors, and saw a dead body for the first time. My mother’s body was just a shell. The life, that effervescent energy, had been taken from her. Where did the warmth go? Where did her vibrant personality go? I was so confused that day. There was a body, but it had no soul. I was only five years old at the time, but even now, the memory of that day was still as clear as what I had for breakfast. I spent a full day in the hospital after that. I didn’t leave. I didn’t know where to go. I just sat on the chair in the waiting room, mostly with my head in my hands. People came and talked about funeral arrangements to my father. They talked about support services. They talked about where I could go. But nothing sunk in. I was lost. I didn’t know what to do. The next weeks went by in a blur. I couldn’t remember a thing—where I was or what I was doing.
The nurse at the counter had asked me to wait in the room until the doctors had finished their discussion with Casey. I asked if there was another room, but she said no, this was the only one available. Staying near the exit to the room, I leaned against the wall, arms folded across my chest. When I finally lifted my eyes off the ground, I looked around the room. It was just about the same as it was thirty years earlier—the magazines on the table, the plastic flowers in the corner of the room, the bulletin board full of notices about support services. There was a new coat of paint, there were new plastic chairs, but the feel of the room hadn’t changed.
The nurse tapped me on the shoulder, interrupting my thoughts, and informed me that the doctor had finished with Casey and she was able to see me. I was happy to leave behind the tears that threatened to pour out. I wiped my eyes with the back of my leather jacket sleeve, coughed, and then proceeded to Casey’s room.
Casey was in a long room, five patients along one wall, portioned off by curtains. I came to the last space, the one next to the window, pulled the curtain back and smiled. Casey was sitting up in bed, staring at the television hanging from the ceiling. Her face was bruised down the right side, colored deep purple with spots of red.
“You’d think there’d be something on daytime television.” She didn’t take her eyes off the screen. “But there’s nothing. It’s almost enough to force me back to work.”
I smiled. At least the attack hadn’t dented her cheeky attitude. “How are you?”
“Don’t give me that bull, Jack. Don’t start treating me like I’m some sort of little girl that needs protection. I don’t want, or need, your sympathy.” She snapped. She was embarrassed by what happened to her. I could give her a speech about how it wasn’t her fault, but I was sure that would only make her angrier.
“I’m not asking for you. I’m asking for me. I want to know how you’re doing.” I pulled up a plastic chair next to her bed, turned it around, and sat down. “Because you’re my business partner, of course. I need to know when you’ll be back at work, to look at costs and business stuff.”
The tension from her face disappeared and she turned and looked at me. She was going to be in pain once the drugs wore off, that was obvious. “Doctor Wright says I should be out of here in a few days. There’s nothing broken, but he wants to monitor the concussion. They’ve just wheeled me back from an x-ray to look for cracks in my skull, but they think I’ll be ok. Results will come in early tomorrow.” She drew a long breath. “I took a big blow to the back of the head and if it doesn’t go down, they might have to cut me open to relieve some of the swelling.” She pointed to the area at the base of her skull. “I can feel the swelling, and I’m barely able to swallow without pain. And I sure don’t want to look in a mirror right now.”
“You’ve never been prettier.”
“Always the charmer,” she scoffed, and then grimaced in pain. “The doctors think there’s some swelling on the brain, so if it gets any worse, they’ll have to whisk me off to surgery, but right now, it’s just wait and see. They said there shouldn’t be any long-term effects. And I’m in good hands here.”
“If it’s swollen, then at least you’ve got a bigger brain.”
She laughed, but then grimaced again, bending forward. She paused for a moment, before resting her hand on the back of her head. “I didn’t see him, Jack. I was walking to my car, and the next thing I know, I’m on the ground. I didn’t even have a chance. I was cautious, but I didn’t see anybody around the parking lot.”
I could see a tear in her eye. “It’s ok. We don’t have to talk about it.” I reassured her. “When you’re ready.”
“No, I’m ready to talk about it now. It’s better to talk about it when it’s fresh.”
I nodded my response.
“I was hit from behind. I didn’t hear him coming, and suddenly I was on the ground. He must’ve hit me with a bat,
