To Quiet the Little Voice - 15. Trouble Comes in Three's

Trouble Comes in Three’s

Sharon sat with her head buried in her hands. Her sobs could be heard down the hallway. Carmen sat down next to her. He really had no clue what to say or do to comfort her, but he was trying. "Come on Shar. Let’s get out of here. We’ll get some coffee and see what we can figure out.

Sharon lifted her tear stained face and gave him a tiny little smile.

“I can always count on you for a strong shoulder, can’t I?”

Carmen grinned wide, his infectious enthusiasm shining in his eyes.

“Of course you can – If I can’t be here for my absolute best friend in the world, just how sorry would that be? Come on – let’s blow this pop stand!”

***

They made a pretty couple sitting at the table of the deli across from the hospital. Well, maybe it’s more accurate to say it’s in the center of the town square? It was one of those 400 year old towns on the east coast that had the huge green area in the center of a traffic circle where the farmers still set up to market their goods on Fridays. This one still had the old water fountain/watering trough at one end. When the town found themselves broke and on the verge of defaulting on loans and bonds, they sold the entire Village Green as they still called it to an enterprising young guy who built a small place at one end and put out tons of tables with umbrellas over them around it. No one in town would ever think the sad lady and her hunky friend were about as NOT a couple as it could humanly be.

“OK Shar, start at the beginning. I can’t help if I don’t have a clue.”

“Well – I guess it started about 6 months back…” Sharon mumbled.

***

Ryan had come home one night and told her he had met a fantastic guy. He had always been like that - love at first sight, full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes. The kid never learns to take things slowly. He didn't bring this one home to meet her though. It made her nervous, wondering if there was something Ryan wasn't telling her about this one. She shrugged it off at first. Thought maybe the guy was still in the closet or something. Not everyone has family who support them when they come out, so she figured maybe the idea of meeting them was too much for him yet. Well, it was, but not cause the guy was gay!

About a week ago Ryan called her to come pick him up. Said there had been a bit of an accident, and he was fine but he needed a ride home. When she got there, this old man was sitting on a bench in front of one of those crazy old newsstands like they have in the city. His coat was in poor shape. It looked like the pocket had been torn right off, and his ear was bleeding. Ryan was trying to convince him to come to the hospital, that he might be hurt and not realize it.

“My sister works in the ER. She will take good care of you, I promise!”

“Ry?”

“This is her. Sharon, this is Rob – he runs this news stand. Some dude held him up at knife point. When the cops finished taking the report they just left. No one made him go get his ear taken care of. The creep ripped his diamond earring right out of his ear! I gave my keys to Billy so he wouldn't be late to class and I stayed here and called you”

For some reason it relieved Sharon a little, knowing the elderly gentleman wasn't Ryan’s latest “Love of his life”.

Sharon had sank down in front of the shaking man, and gently turned his face up to look at her. She told him how she was a trauma nurse at the local hospital, and asked him if she could help. He had nodded mutely, and she had returned to her car for the massive first aid box she kept in the trunk. As she cleaned him up, he told them about how the guy had come out of nowhere waving a knife, had reached into his pocket for the wad of singles he always had there, and then reached out and grabbed the earring. She wasn't sure which angered her more, that some scumbag had robbed an old man just trying to make an honest living, or that the cop who took the robbery report hadn't cared enough to get the man some help for the wicked tare in his ear.

“You really do need to go into the hospital Rob. My brother is right; this ear needs more than I can do for you here. It will need a plastic surgeon to put a couple stitches in it if you want it to look like an ear again.”

“I don’t think my healthcare will cover a plastic surgeon. The new national health care crap isn’t as great as the politicians want us to believe.”

“Don’t I know it?” She gave him a little smile. “Don’t worry. The hospital has a policy of no one gets turned away for any reason. If it comes down to it, they would take a payment of a nickel a week if they had to. It’s one of the nicer things about a small hospital in a small town.”

Ryan had busied himself gathering up the tumbled stack of magazines which had been scattered during the attack, and stacked the bundles of old papers on the curb for pick up when the morning edition was delivered sometime before dawn. He locked up the stand and handed Rob the keys, and the siblings helped the old man into the car. She took him right past the front desk when they got to the ER, earning her a dirty look from the receptionist. The kid was a mouthy college freshman with a huge pimple on her nose. It made Sharon want to drag her into the back and scrub her face with antiseptic soap.

That was when all hell broke loose. A young guy was walking in, a big smile on his face as he waved at Ryan, when the old man pointed at a teenager sitting in the corner and started yelling “That’s him! That’s the guy who robbed me!” The kid broke for the door, Ryan took off after him. The good looking dude was hot on their heels, shouting for Ryan to let the guy go before he got hurt. The next thing Sharon knew, there were a couple cops and the one security guard the hospital kept on duty in the ER scuffling with her brother, the punk, and what turned out to be Ryan’s boyfriend. The security guard had mistaken who the old man was pointing at, and had hit Billy over the head with a nightstick.

“Now Ryan’s boyfriend is in surgery, Ryan refuses to leave the O.R. waiting area and the old man, Rob, refuses to let them fix his ear till they get word about Billy. He said Ryan was there when he needed help and he would be damned if he would leave my brother alone. They both damn near tossed me out when he found out I had come off a double shift when Ryan had called me.”

“Well I am glad Ryan was thinking clearly enough to call me to come get you.”

“There’s more. This kid Ryan has been seeing? Billy? He is the governor’s son. They were keeping the relationship under wraps till after his father leaves office next month. His father is fit to be tied, wants to shut the hospital down, and somehow he thinks all this is Ryan’s fault. Keeps saying stuff like Ryan was trying to corrupt his son, and calling Ryan all sorts of nasty names. I lost my temper and yelled at him, and now he wants me fired from the hospital.”

“Let’s get you home. A shower and a nap will do wonders for you, and then I’ll bring you back here to wait with Ryan. I am sure he will appreciate a shirt that doesn't look like he was the rope in a tug of war, too.”

Sharon raised her face to look at her best friend in the world.

“Why does everything always turn into such a recipe for disaster?”