Chapter 7 - The Hospital Room
The Pinewood Ridge Community Hospital smelled of antiseptic, warm blankets, and floor wax.
By midnight, Mom and Dad were resting in clean, heated hospital beds in a private room on the second floor. The doctors had administered intravenous fluids, warmed their body temperatures back to normal, and run a full battery of tests.
Dad had suffered mild hypothermia and a lung infection from the cellar dampness, but he was stable. Mom was severely dehydrated, her mind still fragile from the trauma, but she was slowly coming back to herself.
I sat in an armchair between their two beds, watching the quiet monitor screens pulse in the dark.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
Mr. George, my father’s oldest friend, stepped quietly into the room, holding two paper cups of hot coffee.
He set one cup on the bedside table next to me and sat down in the opposite chair.
“The whole town is talking about it, Shawn,” George whispered softly, looking at my parents sleeping peacefully. “We knew something was wrong when Greg started driving Arthur’s truck around town last month. But whenever we tried to visit the house, Brenda would stand on the porch and tell us your folks were sleeping or sick.”
I rubbed my tired face with both hands. “I should have come home years ago, George. If I hadn't come tonight...”
“Don't do that to yourself, son,” George interrupted firmly, laying a heavy, calloused hand on my knee. “You came when it mattered. You saved their lives.”
“I was selfish,” I confessed, tears burning behind my eyes. “I let my anger keep me away for twelve years. I thought sending money was enough.”
“Money doesn't build a fence, Shawn,” George said gently. “And it doesn't keep a cold door locked. But you’re here now. That’s what your father will remember.”
George stood up, patting my shoulder. “The Sheriff said Brenda’s bail hearing is tomorrow morning. She’s facing felony charges.”
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I stared out the window at the snow falling softly over the hospital parking lot.
“She won't get bail,” I said quietly. “I’m hiring the best legal firm in the state tomorrow morning. Neither she nor Greg will ever step foot in Pinewood Ridge again.”
