Chapter 6

“It’s Flynn not Flynt” yelled Callie and Cassie in unison. The bath sponge shifted from my face and was shoved in front of Cassie who was one step nearer. “And you are?” asked the reporter.

“I’m Cassie.” she said “ And that’s my mother Callie.” she pointed. “And what is your relationship to Mr. Flynt er ... Flynn?” asked the reporter. “He saved me and my best friend from the bobcat” responded Cass.

The bath-sponge microphone thingy was now shoved in front of Callie. “Mrs. Flynn, what was your reaction when you heard that your husband selflessly jumped to the rescue of your daughter and her friend? I understand that you arrived on the scene later?” the reporter asked.

Callie nodded. “Yes. My daughter called me for help after Larry scared the bobcat away. I was very distressed to see him hurt but very glad that my daughter and her friend were safe.” she said.

I noticed that neither Callie nor Cassie had denied that I was their husband or step-father, respectively. “I am sorry, Mr. Flynn has had a very hard day and needs time to recover. He is still under medication and will not be answering questions.” she announced.

Just then Nurse Sally stepped out of a side door, probably to have a quiet smoke. She noticed me and waved and I waved back.”Who’s that?” asked the alert reporter. “Oh that’s Mr. Flynn’s nurse since yesterday.” responded Callie.

Almost immediately the entire gaggle of cameras, microphones and reporter types turned as a body and advanced on Nurse Sally presumably to get some information out of her.

She wisely beat a hasty retreat by using her employee key card to nimbly re-enter the locked door and disappear. We used the distraction to quickly get into Callie’s car that she had previously parked in the reserved patient pickup area.

The attendant rolled the wheelchair away and we were already moving before the reporters discovered that the door was locked and turned towards us. All of us heaved a sigh of relief.

“I wonder who told them the story about the so called rescue?” I mused. “I think the paramedic called it in.” said Cassie. “Paramedic?” I asked, surprised as I had no recollection of an ambulance ride.

“Yeah.” said Cassie. “We called 911 after mom saw that you were hurt.” Callie did not say anything but nodded. She very focused on driving through the milling bunch of reporters now trying to stick cameras at the windscreen and windows.

Finally we made it out of the hospital campus and out onto the street and the reporters dispersed. We heaved a sigh of relief and Cassie who was on my right snuggled up to me on the back seat and helped me put on my seat belt.

I glanced up and felt Callie’s laser like gaze at me via the rear view mirror. I dropped my head and glanced out the window and Callie began driving back home. The car was tensely silent interrupted only by traffic noises and the swish of the tires on tarmac.

Truth be told, I was dreading a showdown with Callie when she would confront me about Cassie. I did not think she knew about Sue at this point. I heaved a sigh and Cassie squeezed my hand in sympathy.

I resolved to tell all to Callie. She deserved nothing but the truth. If she decided to have nothing more to do with me, then so be it! Decision made, I relaxed. Callie was in the driver’s seat both literally and figuratively from that point on.

We arrived home to a small crowd of neighbors headed by Sue, Nora and Doug. They also included about a half-dozen or so familiar faces from the next street over including three smart-looking women who were carrying various covered casseroles.

I glanced at Cassie who rolled her eyes and whispered “The googly-eye brigade is here.” I recalled my interactions with those three at the Independence Day block party the previous month and suddenly my interactions with them began to make sense.

I saw how Callie had tensed up and reached out to grip her shoulder with my right hand. “Thank You, Callie! I couldn’t have done without all your help.” I said, expressing my heartfelt gratitude. I looked up to see three pairs of eyes tracking my every move.