Chapter 8
Meredith tucked the note back under her soup bowl and stole a glance at Dr. Sparling, who was still watching the television. Then she looked at Vi, who was similarly engrossed. Was the note a joke?
She slurped a spoonful of her soup as she considered what to do, her mind racing. She tried to remain calm as she sorted through the possibilities. If the note was a prank, then she should ignore it. But if the note was genuine… could she risk it? Undecided, she said, “Hey, Vi.”
Both Vi and Dr. Sparling looked at her.
Meredith swallowed, trying her best to seem normal. “You should try my soup. It’s really not bad.” She pushed the rolling hospital tray toward her friend until it was within reach.
Vi pulled the tray toward herself hesitantly. “Okay. Though I’m not exactly on a quest for the perfect chicken broth, you know.”
In her mind, Meredith willed Vi to find the note. Look under the bowl, Vi. Look under the bowl. The bowl Vi, the bowl.
Vi spooned some of the soup into her mouth and smiled in mock appreciation. “Mmm, hospital soup. My favorite.” She started to push the tray back toward Meredith.
Shit. Frustrated, Meredith tried another tack. “Hey, Vi, do you want to use my saucer so you don’t have to eat off of that flimsy Styrofoam?”
Vi gave her an odd look. Thankfully, Dr. Sparling had turned her attention back to the movie, which had reached a climactic scene, and didn’t notice. Meredith widened her eyes and looked pointedly down at the bowl and saucer and then over at Dr. Sparling. Vi picked up on her vibe and said, “That would be great, thanks.” She pulled the rolling tray table back toward herself and picked up the soup bowl. Spying the note, Vi quickly hid it under her thumb as she took the saucer and replaced the soup bowl onto the tray.
Meredith watched Vi’s face closely as her friend made a show of spooning her food out of the Styrofoam container and onto her plate. She could tell the moment that Vi had read the note; Vi’s face paled and her eyes darted over to Dr. Sparling and then to Meredith.
Vi took her cell phone out of her pocket and typed in a quick message, hitting send.
Meredith waited for her phone to notify her of Vi’s text, but nothing happened. She picked up her phone to make sure it wasn’t set to silent, and her lips pursed as she saw she had no cellular signal. Casually, she said, “Hey Vi, do you have service? ‘Cause I don’t.”
“Oh,” Vi said, deflated. She looked at her phone and added, “I don’t have a signal either.”
Dr. Sparling chimed in. “Yeah, cell service in the hospital is horrible. That’s why all the docs carry pagers instead.” As she said it, she tapped the pager that she wore clipped to her breast pocket. She paused for a moment, and then asked with a chuckle, “Have you two seen this movie before or something? You’re mighty distracted.”
Meredith shrugged. “You know us young’uns, Dr. Sparling. We need constant stimulation.”
Satisfied, Dr. Sparling returned her attention to the TV.
Meredith glanced at her watch. Seven-thirty. Still too early to claim to be tired and ready to sleep. They would simply have to wait. Her soup remained untouched as Meredith did her best to watch the rest of the movie. It was difficult to worry about whether the on-screen couple would end up together when she had her own situation to consider.
If the note was a prank, she knew she was going to feel like an idiot. However, she found it extremely odd that Dr. Sparling seemed glued to her side, so it would follow that the doctor likely knew something she didn’t. That, combined with the evident interest of the local news community, made her entire situation seem fishy. Her gut told her that the note was genuine, but who was it from?
As the ending credits of the movie were rolling up the screen, the door to the hospital room opened once again. Dr. Wells stepped in, the surprise evident on her face at Dr. Sparling’s presence. “Dr. Sparling! I just sent the nurse to call you.” She turned to Meredith and said, “I have just been informed that there is a gentleman over at Phoenix Mercy that has your same condition. He also needs to be treated as soon as possible. Therefore, we need to perform your procedure tonight.”
Meredith balked. “But my parents aren’t here.”
Dr. Wells suppressed an eye roll. “Then I suggest you call them.” She looked with a sharp eye down at Meredith’s soup, which still hadn’t been cleared away. “How much of that have you had?” she demanded.
Meredith responded that she’d only had a spoonful or two, annoyed at Dr. Well’s brusque manner.
“Well, don’t have any more of it. We will begin in about forty minutes.” She left as abruptly as she had come in, and for a few minutes they all stared at the empty doorway.
Dr. Sparling spoke up, infusing her trademark cheerfulness into her voice. “Well, isn’t that lucky? That means you’ll get to go home that much sooner!”
Meredith forced a smile, the thought of the warning note pressing on her mind. Judging by her face, Vi’s thoughts appeared to be running along a similar vein.
Dr. Sparling reached over to one of the side tables and picked up the hospital phone. It was an old style punch-button phone with a curly cord leading to the handset. She handed the phone to Meredith with the suggestion that she call her parents back to the hospital.
The Carpenters’ home phone rang eight times before Meredith hung up in frustration. She tried both her parents’ cell phones as well, without luck.
After she set the phone back down on the cradle for the last time, Meredith felt like crying. She wished she could talk to her parents and have them help her decide what to do. She took a long, deep breath to calm her nerves, and then in a cool voice said, “Dr. Sparling, would you mind giving us some privacy?”
Dr. Sparling immediately sprang out of the recliner while exclaiming, “Of course! I seem to have overstayed my welcome, eh? I’ll be just outside, though, if you need anything.” She made her way around the bed and to the door. Just before she left, she added, “We’ll probably be back to get you in around ten or fifteen minutes to prep you for the surgery.”
Once they were alone, Meredith and Vi waited silently for a moment to ensure they wouldn’t be overheard. Then Vi moved to the recliner chair and leaned toward Meredith, speaking in a whisper. “What do you want to do?” she asked.
Meredith responded in a low voice, “I believe whoever wrote that note.”
Vi nodded. “Me, too. You should have seen the reporters downstairs, Mere. They knew they had something good. How are you feeling?”
Meredith considered. She hadn’t had a dose of morphine for several hours, but the pain in her belly was nowhere near what it had been. “Okay,” she said. “Do you think they would just let me leave?”
Vi scoffed quietly. “I doubt it. And if we ask for permission, they’ll know to keep a close eye on us. I think we should just sneak out.”
Meredith agreed, and they quickly made a plan. Vi stuffed the clear plastic bag of Meredith’s belongings into her purse and exited the room, turning down the hallway toward the elevators, which were just past the nurse’s station. Meredith yanked her IV out and then waited a few moments before following in her bare feet. As they had expected, Dr. Sparling was at the nurse’s station, and she raised her eyebrows when Meredith came down the hall, still wearing her hospital gown.
“Do you need something, Meredith?” the doctor asked.
“I’ve been in that bed all day, and I figured that after the surgery I will be lying down a bunch, too. I just wanted to stretch my legs a bit while I still can.” Meredith was a terrible liar, and she hoped that she wouldn’t give herself away. She boldly made eye contact with Dr. Sparling, and then wondered if she was making too much eye contact. She glanced down the hallway where she knew Vi had gone.
“Your friend came down here a second ago,” Dr. Sparling observed.
Meredith nodded. “She smokes, so she was going to go down to have a cig.”
Dr. Sparling frowned. “There’s no smokin
g allowed on hospital grounds.”
Meredith shrugged. Then she asked, “Does this hallway loop back around?”
“I don’t think you should be taking a walk right now. We’re going to take you back for your procedure any minute.”
“Just a short one, I promise,” Meredith pleaded.
Dr. Sparling huffed. “Five minutes then. If you take this hallway all the way down, you pass the elevators and then turn right. Keep turning right and then you’ll end up back here.”
Meredith smiled. “Great! It’ll make me feel so much better.” She continued down the hallway toward the elevators, and was frustrated to discover that they were in plain view of the nurses’ station. A quick glance back showed her that Dr. Sparling was watching. She sauntered past the elevators casually, while her eyes darted around looking for the stairwell.
She turned right down the hallway Dr. Sparling had indicated and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a door with a picture of a stairway on it. It was a heavy gray door that made a clanking sound as she pulled on the handle, and she held her breath. She opened it just wide enough to fit her body and was about to step through when she heard a male voice call her name. She glanced back and saw that it was the handsome nurse who had been taking care of her.
“I was just on my way to come get you,” he said with a friendly smile as he came to stand next to her. Meredith’s hand was still holding the door open, and he looked at her with some confusion. “Where are you going?”
“Um, I’m just taking a quick walk.”
“Sorry, but you don’t have time. They’re ready for you now.”
Meredith didn’t move, trying to decide what to do.
Her prolonged silence made the nurse suspicious, and he narrowed his eyes slightly. “Where are you really going?”
Meredith wanted to tell him everything. She thought he seemed so nice, and he was young, like she was, so he might understand. But the note had said, Trust no one. She swallowed nervously, wondering what to say. She had to confess something now, she’d been quiet for too long. Finally she said, “My friend and I got in a fight. I have to make up with her before I go under. What if something happens? That can’t be the last thing I say to her.”
The nurse’s expression turned sympathetic, and he glanced down the hallway, thinking. Then he conceded, “Well, I think we could wait a few extra minutes. But you’d better hurry.”
Meredith grinned and thanked him and ran down the stairs before anyone else could stop her. At the bottom of the stairs she slowed down, not wanting to attract any attention to herself. She pushed on the heavy door and found herself in another featureless hallway that seemed to have miles of gleaming white linoleum stretching in either direction.
She and Vi had agreed to meet in the restrooms that were across from the elevators in the hall next to the lobby. However, the hallway that should have had the elevators wasn’t accessible from where Meredith stood; it was a solid wall. Frustration bubbled up inside her, and tears sprang unbidden to her eyes. She knew that where she wanted to go was right on the other side of that stupid wall, but she had no idea how to get to it.
Cursing, Meredith glanced left and then right, trying to decide which way to go. She felt exposed in her hospital gown, and she clutched at the back of it to hold it closed. Someone rounded a corner at the very end of the hallway on her right, so she decided to go left, hoping she wouldn’t run into anyone. She walked as quickly as she could without arousing suspicion, keeping a keen eye out for any passage or doorway that could lead her to the elevators.
Meredith knew that if she could find the lobby, she could go through the double doors there and get to the restroom where Vi was waiting, but she balked at the idea. In only her hospital gown, she was bound to attract a lot of attention.
Meredith’s cell phone was tucked in her armpit under the hospital gown, and she pulled it out, hoping for service. She glanced at the screen and frowned. Still nothing. She reached the end of the hall and turned left again, seeing the cafeteria on her right. A few people still lingered inside, though it was pretty quiet this late at night. At last she saw a sign pointing toward the lobby, which was another left down a long hallway.
She passed a few orderlies pushing an empty cot as well as some nurses and an official looking woman wearing a sensible tweed suit. They looked at her curiously, but not suspiciously. Meredith tried to smile, but she was completely preoccupied. Her heart pounded nervously as small beads of sweat broke out above her lips.
Meredith was nearing the end of the hallway, and she saw rows of chairs in the lobby just beyond. She slowed down and considered how to proceed. The double doors that led to the elevators and the restrooms were on the other side of the lobby, as she had feared. She moved closer to the wall and edged her way toward the end so she might peek around the corner.
The reporters were all camped to one side of the double doors, looking tired and bored. Some had dozed off while others fiddled with their equipment or their cell phones. Briefly, Meredith wondered how they had service while she didn’t.
Retreating back out of sight, Meredith walked back down the hall to where a supply cart had been parked. She found one of the thin white blankets and wrapped it around her body like a skirt. It was far better than her short hospital gown alone, but her ensemble certainly wouldn’t pass any level of scrutiny.
Stepping out into the lobby, Meredith kept her stride calm and even, holding her head up confidently. Just act like you’re supposed to be here, she coached herself. She didn’t dare look over at the reporters, because she didn’t want to betray her intense interest in whether they noticed her or not.
After what seemed like an eternity, she reached the double doors and pulled. The door didn’t budge. Panicked, she pulled again.
A voice behind her said, “You have to hit the button on the wall.”
Meredith glanced over her shoulder. The man who had spoken to her was one of the reporters. He had golden brown eyes and dark blonde hair that fell in soft waves over his ears. He looked like the kind of man that knew how attractive he was to women, with a confident glint in his eye.
Meredith took an immediate dislike to him. “Thanks,” she muttered. She reached over and punched the button on the wall, watching him from the corner of her eye. He resumed looking down at his cell phone, and she relaxed imperceptibly.
The double doors opened and the security guard, upon seeing her hospital gown, waved her through. She went directly into the restroom where Vi was waiting, relieved to at least have made it this far.
“Jesus, Mere! Where have you been?” Vi demanded, as soon as Meredith came through the door.
“This hospital is a maze! Just give me my clothes.” As Meredith spoke, she stripped off the blanket and yanked her hospital gown over her head. In a few moments she had all her clothes back on, and she felt immensely better. Walking around in the hospital gown had made her feel extremely exposed.
“Okay, what next?” Vi asked. “Your parents took the car, so we’re going to have to call a cab. I think we should walk a ways first, and then call from a gas station. Agreed?”
Meredith nodded. “But before we get that far, I have to tell you that one of the reporters talked to me.”
A line appeared between Vi’s eyebrows as she frowned slightly. “Okay, so if we go through the lobby, the reporter might recognize you. But if we go the other way, we might get stopped by one of the doctors.”
“That about sums it up, yes.” Meredith ran her hands over her face, stressed. “I’m not cut out for this spy crap!” she cried.
Vi laughed. “I’m impressed you’ve made it this far, kid. Your poker face is lamentable.”
Meredith cracked a small smile. “Shut up.” She took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh. “Let’s go through the lobby. The reporters probably want to exploit the hell out of me, but at least they don’t want to cut me open.”
“Good thinking,” Vi agreed. “Besides, if we act cool, the re
porter might not even notice that you’re the same person. You were in a flimsy hospital gown before--I’d bet anything he wasn’t looking at your face.” She grinned salaciously while Meredith stuck out her tongue and rolled her eyes.
They left the bathroom and made their way back through the double doors and out to the lobby. Meredith turned her face away from the reporters and made small talk with Vi to try to keep the sandy-haired one from recognizing her again. Her palms felt clammy and her heart raced as she attempted to put on an air of indifference. At last they pushed their way through the glass doors and out into the night, and it was all Meredith could do to not breathe a sigh of relief.