Chapter 8
“I’m starting to feel a tickle in my throat already!” Mona wailed as she rode up on the elevator to the second floor of Bar Harbor Hospital with Hayley and Liddy.
Liddy rolled her eyes. “Oh, Mona, relax. You’re not going to catch something. Please. You’ve raised more kids than you’ll find at Disney World. If that hasn’t built up your immune system, nothing will!”
“I can almost see the germs in the air,” Mona snapped, eyes blinking as if she was actually trying to spot them. “Hospitals are crawling with all kinds of diseases. I’ve known more than a few people who came in here for a simple run-of-the-mill procedure, like a bunion removal, and never left. They were just shipped straight to the morgue.”
“Well, I’m sure Randy will appreciate you braving it to come see him this morning.”
“He’s always treated me right; keeps my beer mug full at his bar. I guess it’s worth the risk,” Mona sighed. “I haven’t got much going on this morning anyway, since my sons are out hauling my lobster traps today. They insisted I take a personal day, maybe get my nails done.”
Liddy erupted in laughter.
Mona waved her off. “I know, I know, that was their idea, not mine.”
“What a waste of money. Honestly, have they seen how you gnaw at your fingers like a chipmunk on an acorn?” Liddy said.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened.
The floor was quiet.
Nurse Tilly was the lone person at the nurses’ station and was busy at her computer. She didn’t even look up as Hayley, Liddy, and Mona breezed past her and proceeded down the hall to Randy’s hospital room.
The curtains were still drawn, but Randy seemed to be awake. His eyes were open and he was staring up at Gayle King delivering the early headlines on CBS This Morning.
“How are you feeling today?” Hayley asked, leaning over his bed and kissing him on the forehead.
Randy shrugged. “Fine . . .”
He mustered a smile but his eyes were glassy and unfocused. He swallowed a couple of times as if he was dehydrated.
“Do you need some water?” Hayley asked, picking up the plastic pitcher from the Formica table next to the bed.
Randy shook his head. Then noticed Mona and Liddy hovering in the doorway and smiled.
They both waved at him.
“Mona, you look like you’re going to be sick,” Randy said.
“No, I’m fine. I’m here to show you my support. I’m sure someone didn’t breathe on me and give me some life-threatening disease when we first walked in that’s getting worse by the minute,” Mona moaned.
Hayley threw her a look and then turned back to Randy, setting the bag of muffins she had brought from Jordan’s on the side table. “Has the doctor told you when they might be able to schedule your gallbladder surgery?”
He shook his head again.
“Has he been in here yet this morning?” Hayley asked.
“No, they did a bunch more tests earlier, like around six o’clock, so we’re still waiting on the results,” Randy said, shifting uncomfortably in his bed.
Unexpectedly, two orderlies wheeled someone in on a gurney and began preparing the free bed across from Randy.
“Looks like you’re getting a roommate,” Liddy said.
Nurse Fredy followed behind the orderlies, one of whom was turning down the bed as the other spoke softly to the large man lying prone on the gurney. Fredy smiled at all of them and was about to close the drape to give them some privacy when Hayley suddenly saw who it was the two orderlies were lifting up and lowering down on the bed.
“Chef Romeo?” Hayley gasped.
Romeo turned on his side toward Hayley as the orderlies got him settled, propping up his pillows and pulling the sheets up over his big belly. “Well, good morning, Hayley! What brings you here!”
“My brother Randy. Looks like you two will be sharing this room. What happened?”
“Oh, it’s nothing!” Romeo scoffed.
Hayley noticed Nurse Fredy grimacing.
It was obviously not nothing.
Nurse Fredy bit his tongue as he pretended to be busy perusing Chef Romeo’s chart.
The two orderlies finished and departed the room as Nurse Fredy took Romeo’s blood pressure. “It’s still a little high. I’ll make sure the doctor gets you on something to bring it down some more.”
Romeo shrugged. “Don’t bother. I’ll be out of here by lunchtime. I need to shop for some ingredients for tonight’s special, osso buco à la Milanese. Yes, it will be as scrumptious as it sounds!”
Fredy smiled skeptically at Romeo.
Hayley could tell that Fredy knew Romeo would not be going anywhere, but chose the path of least resistance and refrained from arguing with him.
“Get some rest,” Nurse Fredy ordered before turning to Randy and lighting up with a warm smile. “I’ll be around with your breakfast soon, Randy.”
“You’re too good to me, Fredy,” Randy cooed with a blast of renewed energy, blowing him a kiss.
Nurse Fredy chuckled and headed out.
“Would you stop flirting with your nurse?” Hayley sighed.
“It’s the morphine . . . It’s causing me to lose my inhibitions,” Randy slurred.
“Oh, is that it?” Hayley asked dubiously, chuckling. “Remind me when he comes back to give him his muffin.”
Romeo grabbed the TV remote from his bedside table. “Hey, do you mind if I switch over to the Today Show? I got a big crush on Savannah Guthrie.”
“Knock yourself out,” Randy said.
Romeo changed the TV channel, and then settled back in his bed as Hayley wandered over and folded her arms. “So are you going to tell me why you’re here?”
Romeo frowned, not eager to discuss it, but it was obvious Hayley was going to pester him until he spilled the details. “Like I said, it’s nothing. After you left yesterday, I started to feel some dull chest pains. I figured I was just still upset over Vic Spencer and his goon showing up and making threats the way they did. But the pains lasted through the night. I thought it was just indigestion, but early this morning, the pains got sharper and I felt a tightening in my chest . . .”
“You had a heart attack,” Hayley gasped.
“A mild one. Nothing to worry about. I feel fine now, so if they think they’re going to keep me here for longer than an hour or so, they’re going to be in for a big surprise.”
“You really should take this more seriously, Romeo,” Hayley warned.
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about me, Hayley, I’ve had heart attacks before.”
“Heart attacks? You mean you’ve had more than one?”
“Three, I think. Wait—no, four. I forgot about the one I had when I was in Sicily visiting relatives two summers ago.”
“Romeo, you really should listen to your doctor. This mild attack could be a warning for a much bigger one ahead if you don’t take care of yourself,” Hayley said solemnly.
Romeo shrugged, unconcerned. Suddenly his face flushed red and he slammed a meaty fist down on his over bed table. “Oh no! You have got to be kidding me!”
“What?” Hayley asked, staring up at the TV.
“Savannah’s off today. I hate when she’s not there. We might as well turn back to Gayle King!”
“Calm down. I can literally see your blood pressure rising on the monitor over there.”
Fredy returned with Randy’s breakfast tray. Soupy scrambled eggs. A packaged plain bagel. A box of Rice Krispies and a carton of low-fat milk. Of course, Randy acted as if Fredy was presenting him with a meal personally prepared by Chef Bobby Flay.
Once Fredy took the muffin Hayley had brought him and left, Romeo reached over and pulled back the dividing curtain just as Randy scooped up a generous forkful of eggs and took a bite.
“Don’t bother eating that crap, it’ll just make you sicker,” Romeo cautioned. Then he grabbed the phone next to his bed and called the operator. “How the hell do I get an outside line? This is an emergency!”
Hayley, Liddy, Mona, and a loopy Randy all stared at him, curious to know what he was planning to do.
“I have muffins from Jordan’s,” Hayley offered, pointing to the bag on the side table.
“That won’t cut it!” Chef Romeo scoffed as someone came on the line. “Betty, it’s me. I want you to cook up some menu items: spaghetti and meatballs, some eggplant parm, a couple of pizzas. Make sure you include lots of garlic bread and get it over here to the hospital just as soon as you can!”
Mona perked up.
“I don’t know, a lot! There are one, two, three, four, five of us—wait, bring enough food for the hospital staff too. Hell, bring enough for the whole floor. There are a lot of starving people in dire need of some decent food around here! Okay, hurry!”
Romeo slammed down the phone.
“I’m not sure that’s going to go over well with the hospital administrators. They have certain rules,” Hayley reminded him.
“Rules are made to broken,” Romeo roared. “Trust me, they won’t be complaining once they taste it!”
“Well, we should be going,” Hayley said. “I have to get to the office.”
“We’ll be back later, Randy,” Liddy said.
“Thank you for stopping by,” Randy said softly.
As they walked toward the door, Hayley noticed that Mona had remained behind, still standing next to Randy’s bed.
“You coming, Mona?”
“I think I’ll stick around for a few more minutes,” Mona said.
Liddy threw her hands up in the air. “But you hate hospitals. You just said—”
“I’m staying until the eggplant parm gets here. I love eggplant parm. You got a problem with that?” Mona growled.
Liddy turned to Hayley. “She has a point. Chef Romeo’s meatballs are to die for.”
Hayley sighed, then rummaged through her bag for her phone and made a quick call. “Hi, Sal, I’m going to be a little late this morning.”