Marie raced through the doors in the emergency wing and headed straight to the admissions counter. She’d come alone and promised to call her mother, Mary, as soon as she had news of Mitch’s condition. Somebody needed to be at home with the girls, and reluctantly, Mary had stayed behind.
Marie stood at the counter while one woman behind it tapped keys on her computer, and the other was on the phone.
“Excuse me.”
The woman typing held up her index finger. “One minute, ma’am.”
Marie let out a frustrated groan, which was returned with a scowl from the typing woman.
She finally finished whatever she was doing and addressed Marie. “Okay, what can I do for you?”
“My brother, Detective Mitch Cannon, was just admitted here after a serious car accident. I need to speak to a doctor about his condition.” Marie hoped mentioning that Mitch was a detective would create a certain amount of urgency.
“Why don’t you take a seat in the waiting area? I’ll try to find out who his attending physician is.”
“Thank you.”
Marie wrung her hands as she took a seat. After giving the clock a glance—8:04—she hoped she wouldn’t be sitting there long and forgotten. She picked up a magazine and paged through it mindlessly. It kept her hands busy but didn’t do anything for her mind. That was on Mitch. She needed to have a serious talk with him about the dangers of being a cop.
You would think being a homicide detective would be less dangerous than being a beat or patrol cop, but somehow, danger seems to find Mitch at every turn.
By the time she’d lifted the third magazine from the coffee table, the doors from the emergency hallway swung open, and a woman wearing a white lab coat walked out. She called Marie’s name and stared at the few people in the waiting area.
Marie leapt to her feet. “That’s me!”
“Right this way, ma’am. I’m Dr. Rita Jansen, one of the attending emergency doctors on duty tonight. Detective Cannon is your brother?”
“That’s right. How is he?”
“Well…”
Marie’s eyes began to water.
“He’ll be okay in time, but for the next month or so, he’ll either be on desk duty or at home taking it easy. Mitch has a broken right leg, broken right arm, and contusions on the left side of his head from slamming it into the car’s driver’s-side window. He’s in surgery right now then will stay here for a couple of days. He was unconscious when he arrived, so we need to keep our eyes on him. That blow to the side of the head was a hard one.”
“Will he make a full recovery?”
“As far as bones healing, yes. We’ll monitor his brain activity overnight, and so far, it appears to be functioning properly, but he needs rest. Tomorrow should tell us more.”
“Will I be able to see him tomorrow?”
“Probably, but please call first.”
“Thank you, Dr. Jansen.”
“You bet.”
Marie’s relieved sigh made the people in the waiting area look up. She needed to regroup then call her mom with an update, but she would make the call in a less public area.
After she stepped outside and took a seat on the bench, Marie’s fingers shook as she tapped Mary’s phone number. It took only a second for her mother to pick up.
“Don’t tell me anything bad, Marie. I swear we’ve had enough crap go down this year already.”
“It’s not as bad as it could have been, although the doctor will know more tomorrow as far as the hard hit Mitch got to the side of his head. What we do know is that his right leg and arm are broken.”
“But they’ll heal in time.”
“Yes, they will.”
“So, the doctor is mostly concerned with Mitch’s head?” Mary asked.
“Yeah. He was unconscious when the EMTs brought him in. He has a concussion and I guess cuts or scuffs to that side of the head. Whatever contusions actually mean. No matter what, they’re keeping him for a few days, and then he’ll be off work for a while. After that, he’ll likely be on desk duty.”
Mary groaned. “He isn’t going to be happy about that.”
“No, he isn’t. At least at home, there’s both of us. We’ll do whatever we can to keep him comfortable until he goes back to work. I can’t see him tonight because he’s in surgery, so I’m heading home. I’ll call Devon and update him, and he can pass the information on to Royce.”
“Okay. I’ll have two stiff drinks waiting when you get here, honey.”
“Thanks, Mom. I think we’ll both need them.”
Marie updated Rue as she drove. He thanked her and said he would tell Royce, who would pass on the information to the others at the precinct. They would probably stop in at the hospital anyway to see how Mitch’s surgery had gone.
Still shaken, Marie arrived home fifteen minutes later. Both girls, even as young as they were, wanted to hear what had happened to Uncle Mitch. Marie explained the best she could and said only that he’d broken his arm and leg and would be off work for a while as he healed. They seemed satisfied with that explanation.
“Now go upstairs and get ready for bed. I’ll come up and tuck you in pretty soon.”
“Mama?” Chloe said.
“Yeah, honey?”
“Can we go to the hospital and visit Uncle Mitch?”
Marie smiled. “I think so, maybe after school, but I have to clear it with the doctor first.” Marie shooed her along. “Go on. Get into your jammies and brush your teeth.”
Once the girls had gone upstairs, Mary spoke up. “What do you think really happened?”
“I don’t know, Mom. Mitch isn’t one to drive carelessly, especially in his beloved Corvette. Devon said it was a total loss. He also said something that was curious.”
Mary frowned. “What’s that?”
“That what he was looking at didn’t make sense. That’s all I know, but it sounds like there’s more to the accident story than what Devon described to me.”
Mary huffed. “Between you and me, we’ll get to the truth one way or another. That, you can count on.”