Page 11 of Ewan

“Tell me what happened,” I say, trying to keep my voice even. “I’m on my way.”

“I told you… It was an accident. Everything is fine now. You don’t need to worry about me,” he says with the clueless voice of a nineteen-year-old who fell off his bike and still thought things were fine.

“What does it mean fine?” I ask, stepping on the gas andnotaccidentally running a red light.

“What are you in there for?”

“They’re running some tests to make sure everything looks fine.”

“Any broken bones?”

“A torn ligament, some bruises, and a couple of broken ribs,” he says quickly––someone must’ve coached him to do this.

Smoke comes out of my ears.

“Broken ribs? Can you breathe?”

He chuckles at the other end of the line.

“They’re hairline fractures. It hurts, but I can breathe.”

“I want to see you. I’ll video call you.”

“No, no. I can’t do that. My phone has been smashed. This is her phone. You’ll see me when you get here. I gotta go now. The doctor is here.”

And he hangs up.

3

EWAN

“Ewan Bard,”I bark at the woman in front of me. “I’m here to see my son, Ezra Andrew Bard.”

She stares at me, transfixed, and I don’t know whether to do a 'swinging-flashlight test' on her or simply call her supervisor and ask her to replace her.

“Ma’am?”

The girl––she can’t be more than twenty-three years old––blinks rapidly.

“Yes,” she says in response to what exactly? “Right away,” she goes on. “You said he was here.”

“I just talked to him.”

“Okay. I’ll find him for you.”

She does her best, still looking at me from time to time while two security guys witness everything from the waiting area.

This is not the time for a woman to be smitten with me and unable to do her job while I start a brawl with the security personnel.

So, I’m waiting patiently, although patience has never been my strong suit.

“I found him. Follow me, please,” she says and zips out of her seat, hugs closer the sweater she wears on top of her scrubs, and signals me to follow her down the corridor.

Good thing she didn’t see me roll my eyes.

She’s extra diligent with me now.

A few directions would have been sufficient. No need to lead me there.

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