The Holding Station (Rivercreek Crossing Book 2)

Chapter 2

Reese aroused to the steady beeps and hums of hospital equipment. She was acutely aware of her surroundings, even the child who sat so close to her bed she could hear his breathing. She pried her eyes open and looked to her left. The visitor’s chair which was most likely normally positioned near the window was drawn to the bed. A sandy haired boy leaned close with his elbows propped, chin nestled in his palms. He stared at her with a faraway look in his eyes.

Reese cleared her throat and wished she hadn’t. It was dry and scratchy. She ignored the discomfort and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her throat ached more than her body. Surprising since if she remembered correctly she had been shot.

The child never took his eyes off of her as she propped pillows behind her back.

“Hi,” she said in his direction, once again feeling the scratchiness. She needed water.

He didn’t respond, didn’t even willingly move as she tugged at the bed covers, pulling them up to her chest.

A nurse started into the room on quiet heels, reading from a clipboard in her hands. She looked up tentatively as if she didn’t want to wake the patient.

“Oh my goodness, you’re awake,” she said startled. She glanced from Reese to the boy. “Jonah, what are you doing here? You should be in your sister’s room. Where is she?”

Reese watched curiously as Jonah ignored the nurse. She wasn’t even sure the boy had blinked.

The nurse sighed heavily and approached the chair. She started to pull it away from the bed, but Jonah wailed like a trapped wild animal.

“Alright, alright,” the nurse said sounding frustrated. She pushed the chair back into position. “You need to keep your voice down, Jonah. There are patients trying to sleep.” The nurse circled the chair and leaned across to Reese. She grabbed at Reese’s wrist like nurses do, placed two fingertips on her pulsing vein, and said, “Did he wake you?”

Reese looked at the boy. Something wasn’t right about him. She figured he was in enough trouble for venturing into rooms he wasn’t supposed to be in without her adding to his list of offenses. “Naw. I just woke up on my own.” She was surprised by her throat. It felt fine as if just the thought of water had soothed it.

The nurse took another heavy breath and then let go of Reese’s wrist, letting it flop back to her side. She pulled a thermometer from her pocket and tucked it under Reese’s tongue without so much as a “please.” Reese realized that any normal child who was intrigued by the going-ons would have focused on the nurse’s movements, but he didn’t. He just kept staring at Reese, eyes never darting.

The nurse removed the thermometer when it beeped and looked at it. She made a vocal sound of amazement and then made some notes on the clipboard’s paper. Reese wondered why the nurse didn’t have some kind of electronic device to input the information. It’s not like they lived in the back woods or anything. The hospital should be modernized. Then Reese had a thought which she formulated into a question for the nurse. “Which hospital am I at?”

“Norfolk County,” the nurse answered without looking up. It was the local hospital.  “The other gunshot victim was med-flighted to Boston.”

“What other victim?”

The nurse quizzically looked up at Reese. “The guy who shot you.”

“Gregory? He survived?”

“I guess that’s his name,” she said as she looked back to her notes, apparently uninterested in Gregory. He wasn’t her patient after all.

Reese had the urge to jump out of bed, but figured the nurse wouldn’t appreciate her desire to smoother Gregory with a pillow. Besides, he was in another hospital, in another town. She wondered if Paul knew Gregory was still alive. Where was Paul?