The Squirt sat sprawled in the back seat of the patrol car. The IV pole lay precariously over the front seat back, still dangling his bag of medicine. Candy had squeezed in around the pole.
“How are you doing back there, Squirt?”
The young man smiled and rolled his head. “I’m doing fine.”
“Bet you are. I bet you are.” Bobby Sue had slipped Micha a syringe of morphine and Demerol just in case he was feeling any pain before they got back. Micha just figured why bother with carting the syringe back to the hospital. His wife would just stick it in the Squirt anyway. So he injected the load before they got out the door.
Micha pulled up to the emergency ambulance doors. Two attendants came out. He directed them to take the Squirt back up to room 324.
He parked the cruiser, took off his tie, and opened the collar on his shirt. He checked the inside pocket of his jacket. He looked at Candy. “You ready?”
“I guess.”
They were walking down the hall. The elevators were ahead. “What is it we are really doing?”
The officer bit on his lower lip. He stopped and then took her arm and guided her into the small chapel. The place was as empty as it always was. He sat her down.
“It’s hard to explain. Now looking back, it was just the start of another day in what we do. Not that someone dies every day—it’s just not uncommon. You never get used to it, but you learn how to take it in stride and move on.
“Back when we were young, and I suspected Hooker was younger than we all thought, there was a really big accident. It was the first rain of the season. It was under the big overpasses going to nowhere, the altars to government waste and stupidity.
“The summer oils and such had built up, and then the little rain had turned it into slippery snot. There was maybe a dozen or so cars. It was a total cluster ...”
Candy nodded and smiled. “Micha, I’m a waitress. I’ve heard the term clusterfuck before.”
If the man could have blushed, he would have. His shoulders relaxed to know he didn’t need to dance prissy around things with Hooker’s girl.
“Well, it was about an hour clearing things. The rotation had everyone getting a tow but Hooker. Even though he was first to get there, he was screwed by the rotation. But he was Hooker. He just didn’t seem to care. He showed up and jerked a few cars around for us, and then broke out his broom. He would sweep until his trashcan was full, and then dump it in one of the other truck’s cans. And then back at the cleaning. By the time we were half done, he was soaked. I think he was wearing a jean jacket back then.
“Anyway, we finally got all of the cars towed off. I think Mike told him he was going to dump a bone in one of the parking lots so Hooker could have it.”
Micha noticed the frown of confusion on Candy’s face. “I’m sorry. So many years, I just think everyone knows the shorthand we all use. A bone is a bonus car. One you got—just because.
“Mike didn’t need the tow as much as he knew Hooker could use it. So, he threw him the bone. But as it was, Hooker got two.
“There was a sweet red restored 50’s truck parked off on one side. The way it was stopped, you knew it was an accident, but it didn’t fit in with the rest of the cars. All the wreck had been in the center dividing dirt. This one was on not only the shoulder, but it looked like the person was trying to drive up the hill to the top of the ramp. It just had a crazy doesn’t fit kind of look about it. So after everything had been cleared, Hooker was the last tow truck out there. He waved to me he was going to check it.
“I was right behind him when he got to the door. There was a young blonde girl in the cab. Even in the pouring rain, you could tell at first glance she was a daddy’s girl—one of those pretty young blondes who was a cheerleader and the prom queen of her school. Her daddy probably bought her the truck to drive to school in hopes it would scare off most of the riffraff. It was probably the sweetest thing in the school parking lot.
“When Hooker got up to the door, she turned her head and looked at him. I remember him asking her if she was all right. As he opened the door, she just folded out into his arms as she said, ‘Don’t let me die.'”
Candy gasped. “She was dead.”
The officer tightened his lips and nodded. “We just stood there and cried. There was nothing we could have done. Everything had been internal.”
Candy held her hands to her mouth. She had never thought about what kinds of things Hooker had seen in his life and job. He just towed cars. But now she knew.
Micha could see the revelation in her face. “A few months later, I ran into Hooker at the Bold Knight. For some reason, I bought him a drink. I think I even knew he wasn’t old enough at the time. It didn’t matter. We were sitting there with two shots of whiskey and Hooker asked what we should drink to.”
Candy finished the now understood refrain and nodded.
The room was dark, except for the monitor and the nurse’s light. The tall nurse turned around at the sound of the door and automatically started her litany. “Visiting hours are over...”
Then she recognized the visitors. “But if I’m bribed with a kiss from one of California’s finest, I might be persuaded to look the other way.”
Micha gave her a hug and a kiss. “Candy, this is what my wife looks like at work.” They laughed.
“How did you beat us over here?” She looked at Micha.
His wife then asked the obvious. “Let me guess, you gave the drunk the shot, and then tried to get him in the car?” She laughed at the stupid look on her husband’s face.
Candy laughed. “It was entertaining.”
The tall woman grabbed the ends of her long braids as she laughed. “Oh, I bet it was.” She slapped him on the shoulder and muttered, “Dumb ass.”
She turned back to her patient. “Let me get the last vitals, and then you can get him drunk.” She looked back over her shoulder at her husband and then at Candy.
He nodded. “She knows.”
Candy nodded.
“Is he awake?”
The white blob of gauze moved. “I’m awake.”
Candy went to the side of the bed. “I’d kiss you, but I don’t know where your mouth is.”
Another wad of gauze came up and bumped against the lower dark slit.
“Boy, and I thought they wrapped the Squirt up. I don’t know if I’m dating the Southside Hooker or the Mummy.”
Bobby Sue finished and kissed Micha again. “I’ll leave you two. Candy, how about I buy you a cup of coffee?”
Candy thought a moment and then looked at Micha. She knew he would not ask, but he and Hooker needed a personal moment. She turned and took Bobby Sue’s arm. “Did I ever tell you how much I love coffee?”
The room was dark, except for the monitor and the nurse’s light.
The two men were silent as the one opened the two little bottles. “Here.” He held out the bottle where Hooker could feel it was between the two balls of gauze. Micha tapped his bottle against Hooker’s.
“Here’s to prom queens, may they always be pretty, and daddy’s little girl.”