Page 63 of Chosen Road

He pulled right up to the front door to let me out. “We’ll be in as soon as I park.”

I nodded and ran up to the Emergency entrance, impatiently waiting for the automatic doors to slide open.

Thankfully, it was not that busy inside. I ran to the reception desk. “Hi, my name is Amber. My grandmother was just brought in-”

“Ma’am, take a number and a seat, I’ll call you in a moment.”

I looked up in surprise to find the blond bimbo from last time, the one who bore an unfortunate resemblance to Jacqueline, sitting behind the desk filing her damn nails. My mouth dropped open.

I tried again. “My grandmother was brought in by ambulance. English is not her first language. She bumped her head. I need you to take me to her.”

She replied in a bored voice, with as much life as an audio recording. “Ma’am, like I said, there’s no one ahead of you, if you could just take a number-”

I cut her off. “From here?” I asked with my eyebrows raised, pointing to the machine on the wall to her right.

“Yes.”

I went over and exaggerated the motion of taking a number and went back to the desk. I slapped the number down on the counter and tried again. “My grandmother-”

She cut me off. “If you would please wait-”

“No. I will not wait. I work out of this hospital two days a week in pediatric trauma. I don’t know if I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting your supervisor, but I am not opposed. Find out where my grandmother is and take me to her. Now.”

Gus came up behind me and lay a gentle hand on my back.

Nurse Ratchet’s eyes skittered back and forth between us as she appraised my gentle giant of a husband with greedy eyes. “Do I know you?”

“Go. Find. My. Grandmother,” I bit out.

She smiled at Gus. “Of course.”

I looked up at Gus over my shoulder, reminded of the last time I was here. His face was grim. He, of course, had no recollection of this nurse. Maybe he had selective blond bimbo amnesia, I thought meanly.

I took a deep breath. He circled his big palm on my back having no idea how deeply furious I was with him. Even so, I leaned back against his hand, taking comfort from his presence.

Thankfully, a different nurse came to the door. “Are you Mrs. Vasilakis’ family?”

I hurried over and she took me to Yiayia who was already in a room with the doctor.

In her primary assessment, she determined that Yiayia had a broken arm and a concussion. They were concerned about her hip and were arranging for tests for all three.

Gus texted fifteen minutes later, and I scooted to the door to let Ruby in. Nurse Bimbo opened her mouth but perhaps thought better of it after getting a look at my face.

I reached for Ruby’s hand and held it firmly, worried for her. “Keep your cool when you see her, Ruby. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

She actually looked terrible, and I squeezed Ruby’s hand to reassure my sensitive sister.

Yiayia lay still and quiet, an I.V. pumping fluids through long tubes taped to her left hand. Her right hand lay limp at her side, blood pooling purple under the thin skin of her arm, just barely covered by the short sleeve of her hospital gown. Monitors beeped as they tracked her oxygen levels and heart rate, and a tube attached to her catheter snaked out from under the blankets.

Her eyes were closed, her veins visible blue lines beneath the fragile skin. With no makeup, no flowery blouse, and no jewelry, Yiayia looked her age. It was not a comforting sight.

“Thank, God, Gus was there so early. What was he doing there so early?” Ruby asked, her voice muted at the sight of our yiayia.

“Apparently they have a standing date for breakfast on Sunday mornings. He said he went early because you weren’t there, and he knew she gets up at five most mornings.” I raised a questioning brow at her. Why would she keep this from me? I felt betrayed by both Ruby and Yiayia. Even Gus.

She lay her hand on my arm. “I didn’t know, Amber. I would have told you.”

I closed my eyes and nodded. I should not have been suspicious of my own sister. What the hell was wrong with me?

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