Page 78 of Motorycle Daddies

A nurse spins around in her chair and puts a Styrofoam cup down beside her as she pulls her chair in closer to the computer.

“Yes? How can I help you?”

“The girl with the head injury down the hall, Meredith, is awake and I think she should have someone come take a look at her. She seems out of it.”

“We’ll send a nurse in straight away, thank you.”

Harlow doesn’t look back at me but starts walking away from the nurse’s station in the opposite direction from Meredith’s room. She’s not planning on sticking around. I can’t say I blame her, but I also can’t have her leave when things are so unresolved. I can’t stand the tension.

“Wait,” I say, a desperation in my voice that stops her in her tracks. “Don’t leave, not just yet. There’s more to talk about. Let’s just make sure she’s okay.”

Harlow turns around, pulling her phone out of her pocket and glancing at her home screen.

“I have to get back to the twins soon.”

“That’s fine,” I say. “I just don’t want you leaving when you’re this worked up. Hate me all you want, but you’ll regret not being there for your friend, on the off chance you forgive her.”

“Yeah, you know, that’s asking a lot.”

“I know.”

The nurse walks by us and Harlow doesn’t say anything else. She takes a moment for herself and then walks back toward the hospital room behind the nurse. I walk back to the room behind Harlow, my thoughts bouncing all over the place. I don’t know how I’m going to make things right with Harlow, but I will. And I’m just so thankful Meredith is up and talking.

The nurse is upbeat as she walks to Meredith’s bedside. She adjusts some of the wires and lines that are hooked up as she speaks. “The doctor will be in shortly. The nurse looks around the room and smiles. “A lot of visitors for you I see.”

“Count me lucky,” Meredith says. She sounds hoarse and she moves her hand to her throat as she smiles.

“Well, maybe it’s a good thing, because we’re going to do a little experiment.”

“What kind of experiment?” she asks.

Meredith coughs and the nurse offers her a sip of water sitting on her bedside. The nurse takes the control from the bed and hits the button to let Meredith rise higher in bed. Meredith sips slowly from her water, and I’m relieved to see her getting hydrated, the first step toward health.

“Well, your vitals are looking good. But with head trauma, some things can get a little hazy. I’d like to do an assessment of where you are.”

“Okay,” Meredith says, handing the cup back to the nurse.

“We’ll start with something easy. What is your name?”

“Elvis,” Meredith says, smirking. “I’m kidding. It’s Meredith.”

“She’s got jokes,” Dart says, and he gives Meredith a wink, grabbing and squeezing her hand.

“Yes,” the nurse says with encouragement. “We’re off to a great start. And your age?’

“Twenty-one.”

“Excellent! You’re on a roll.”

I’m starting to feel nervous about what she might say if the questions become too open-ended. There’s so much she could reveal that I wouldn’t want a random stranger knowing, and not Harlow for that matter either.

“Now,” the nurse continues. “Let’s use these fine people in the room as our helpful volunteers for the next part. Can you go person by person, letting us know the name of each person and something about them? It can be anything the person can verify is true. Start on your left.”

“Okay,” she says, turning her head slightly to the left. “This is Dart.”

Dart smiles, a sense of relief washing over his face as he looks down at her with gratitude.

“He didn’t always have his head shaved like this, but it’s a good thing he does now because I’d probably be giving him gray hairs.”

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