Page 49 of Scrooge

“Ahhh, hurts, everything hurts,” Deloris says, then she coughs. It doesn’t sound like a harmless cough either.

“What hurts?” Haylee asks. I suspect they put Deloris in this back room to quarantine her and probably forgot about her until we showed up. There’s nothing or nobody else around, and for how crowded the other areas are, that doesn’t make much sense.

“To breathe, to eat. To talk,” she says, looking empty of any energy. At least compared to the last encounter of hers I witnessed.

“We have been keeping her warm, offering her pain relief, but she needs to go to hospital, or at least be seen by someone,” the man relays.

“Why didn't you take her?” I ask, wondering if leaving people unwell like this is common or if this place is just a shithole. Haylee frowns at my demanding tone.

“I can’t force her to go. We have tried everything, but she flat-out refuses.”

“She clearly needs medical attention,” I say with a bite to my tone.

“We can’t just drag her down there,” he spits back, our words getting heated.

“Alex, it's fine,” Haylee says, coming to stand beside me.

“How do you usually handle this kind of thing?” I ask. I am sure they would have some type of protocol. Isn’t this what my taxpayer dollars are funding?

“Usually, the police need to get involved. The paramedics sometimes come, but even they are too busy to bother stopping here for a homeless person,” he says almost flippantly, and I grit my teeth.

“You need a hospital, Deloris,” I tell her. It is the first time I have ever spoken to her, so she looks at me warily.

“I'm not going to no hospital,” she mutters through another coughing fit.

“Deloris, they will make you feel better,” Haylee says, her caring tone much softer than my own.

“No, Haylee. They’re not nice,” she says with a quick shake of her head, and I frown.

“Who isn’t nice?” I ask, my voice sharp.

“The nurses. The doctors,” Deloris murmurs.

“I'll make them be nice to you, Deloris,” I tell her, my arrogance coming out, but if I have to make every staff member sing a fucking song to Deloris in that hospital ward, I will. Deloris is important to Haylee, so she is important to me.

“They will help you feel better,” Haylee says, again in her soft tone, and I wonder how she does it. I have been in these shelters for merely a few hours, and I am angry at how these people live. I pay my fair share of taxes and thought that it was enough. Clearly, it isn’t.

“They are assholes, Haylee.”

“Please, Deloris. Let us take you,” Haylee implores again, reaching out her hand to cover Deloris’. Not unlike what I just did to her in the car. I see Deloris softening.

“Is Sandra going to give my dicks back?” she asks, looking at Haylee under her lashes.

“If you come to the hospital, I will talk with her,” Haylee says with a nod.

“Come on, Deloris. I’m taking you into the hospital.” My tone doesn’t leave room for any argument. I’m sick of all this dancing around the topic. She probably has the flu as well as some type of infection. We need to get her out of here.

“Let us help you,” Haylee says, and I see Deloris give her a small nod and start to stand.

“Where are her things?” I ask the staff member, who snorts a laugh at me.

“She is homeless. She has no things.” Then he walks off on me, straight out the door.

“Asshole.” I grit my teeth and help Deloris and Haylee back out to the car. Opening the back door, we help Deloris inside, then I do the same for Haylee and walk around to the driver’s side.

“There is a health clinic just a few blocks down,” Haylee says, her phone in her hand, looking for the closest medical center.

“We are going to the Presbyterian,” I tell her quickly, pulling the car around across the street hastily, to a few honks and a gleeful cheer from Deloris in the back.

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