Her mother paced a few feet away, jelly flats squeaking softly against the floor.
The waiting room was fairly busy. An older man with thinning hair sat in the far corner, flipping through a battered copy of Newsweek. At his side, a teenage boy concentrated on a handheld video game. Katie had seen them arrive, carrying in a young girl who’d sprained her ankle while doing cartwheels in the backyard. The girl’s mother had followed her from the ER when called, leaving the man and teen to play the waiting game. A man with a bandaged hand, a middle-aged couple who’d brought in an elderly grandparent, and an obese woman complaining of back pain occupied the other chairs.
“I called as soon as we got here.” Katie’s mom folded her arms across her chest in a posture that said she was ready for battle.
No wonder. They were often at odds, their relationship a bumpy rollercoaster of highs and lows. It had been that way since Katie was a child. It was bad enough her mother had spent most of Katie’s youth smoking, drinking, and carousing with men who treated her like garbage, but worse knowing she’d favored Wendy. As much as Katie loved her sister, she’d never measured up to Wendy’s potential. There was something about a missing child that erased all faults and elevated that sibling to make-believe perfection.
“Sam was in his room drawing, and I was watching TV,” her mom persisted. “It was only when he came out to tell me his eyes hurt that I saw how swollen they were. On a Friday night with no doctors available, I brought him straight here.”
Her mother had done the right thing. She was the one who’d screwed up going to Eve’s house when she’d seen how pink Sam’s eyes were. She never should have left. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m just worried about him.”
“Oh, honey, of course you are. But he’s going to be fine.” Doreen Sue sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Kids get pinkeye all the time. It’s nothing serious.”
“The doctor said they had a bunch of cases.”
“Then it must be going around. A little medication, some drops, and he’ll be as good as new.” Hugging Katie closer, she kissed her temple. “You saw Sam in the exam room. He was far from scared, asking the nurses all kinds of questions.”
She nodded, sniffling a little. “I wish they’d let me stay with him.”
“They’re doing an eye bath. You would’ve been in the way. And Sam’s at that age when he’s got to prove how brave he is to everyone around him.”
Her stomach fluttered. He was growing up too fast. “How do you know all that?”
“I may have raised girls, but I dated plenty of men who had boys.”
Katie frowned reflexively, soured by the thought of her mother’s past.
As if sensing she’d said something wrong, Doreen Sue drew back and folded her hands in her lap. “As for pinkeye, you and Wendy both had it.” She faltered, twining her fingers together. Her expression looked guarded, as if she feared prodding a buried memory awake. “Do you remember?”
“No.” Katie imagined she’d had a lot of childhood illnesses she couldn’t recall.
“You started drawing around that time,” Doreen Sue continued, still studying her. “Like Sam.”
She grew agitated. So what if she drew? So what if she’d had pinkeye? Her son was in the ER, and she had a headache from too much wine. How could she point her finger at her mother’s past behavior when she was guilty of not looking after her only child?
“Katie?” She jerked at the intrusion of a masculine voice and glanced up to find Ryan Flynn standing in front of her.
“I thought you were spending the night with Eve and Sarah.” His blue eyes darkened with concern. “Did something happen?”
“No.” She shook her head, coming to her feet. “Or yes.” Confusion made her trip over her thoughts. “I mean, it’s Sam.” Registering the shock on his face, she rushed to explain. “It’s nothing serious, just a bad case of pinkeye.”
He exhaled in relief. “Still, it must be pretty bad to have you both here.” He looked at Doreen Sue.
“I’ll let you two talk,” her mom said. “I’m going outside for some air.”
And a cigarette. Katie buried the instinctive criticism as she watched her mother leave.
“Sam’s going to be okay,” she told Ryan. “What are you doing here?”
She shuffled to the side, clearing a path when the little girl with the sprained ankle returned to the waiting room. Aided by her mother, the girl hobbled in on crutches, managing a weak smile when her father and brother rose to greet her. The girl’s doctor followed, stopping to talk quietly with the family.
“I’m off shift,” Ryan said. He must have only recently gone off duty, because he still wore his uniform. “I thought I’d do some poking around on Jerome.”
Poor Jerome. In all the turmoil over Sam, she’d almost forgotten him.
“Caden and I went to his house earlier,” Ryan said. “His car was there but he didn’t answer the door.”
So he’d made it home safely. “He must have been sleeping.”
“Yeah, that’s what Caden said too.” A sliver of doubt crept into his voice. “I called the hospital earlier, and there was no record of him being brought in last night.”
“That’s good. He must have been able to drive home on his own.”
Ryan nodded. “I thought I’d check with ER admissions to be sure. And I wanted to follow up on Deputy Brown. If he was here, someone should remember him.”
“So you believe me about him?” Why couldn’t she recall the man’s face?
“Let’s just say if someone’s running around, impersonating an officer with the sheriff’s department, I want to get to the bottom of it.”
At least he didn’t discount her story entirely. Before she could comment, her mother burst into the ER in a whirlwind of panic.
“Please! Someone help!” Doreen Sue focused on the doctor who stood speaking with the young girl’s family. “Outside! Come quick!” Without waiting to see if he followed, she raced for the exit. Ryan bolted behind her.