Chapter 12: Theo

† Saturday, November 11, 2023 (two days after the explosion).

At 9:30, Julie’s phone rang, and she stepped away from the kitchen table. Sylvie was inhaling the steam from her second cup of coffee, and Sette was loading their breakfast dishes into the dishwasher.

“Julie Kaiser. Oh, hi, Archie. What? Yeah, that sounds about right. His right leg, yes, below his hip. Has to be.”

Sylvie is rising, pushing back her chair.

“Oh, that’s not good. Really? Shit! Oh, sorry, Sergeant. Lutheran Downtown Hospital. We’ll be there in a half-hour. We will, thank you.”

“Cosette, get your coat on. Your father is in the hospital, and we’re going to go visit him.”

In the car, Julie spoke calmly and directly.

“Now, listen to me. Belts are on? Good. I’m going to drive carefully because Theo is stable, but he is unconscious. Here’s what I know from Sergeant Wilson. On Tuesday, the FWPD found a man near the Maumee River. He had been beaten and robbed. His wallet and coat were gone, and evidently, they took his phone as well. Fire/Rescue was called, but they were unable to rouse him. His temperature was extremely low, so he was transported to the emergency department at Lutheran Downtown.

“When Sgt. Wilson came on duty this morning, he was reviewing last night’s reports and made the connection to your husband because of the scar on his leg. Now, understand that this is second-hand information, but Theo is not in good shape. He has damage to his face, like a black eye, and has lost a tooth. His body has bruises all over, and his hand has two fractures and boot marks showing that it was stepped on.

“They are more concerned that he hasn’t woken up yet, although they’ve raised his temperature to normal. I know this is awful to hear, but I wanted to prepare you. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Julie flicked her eyes to the right. Sylvie was distraught; tears streamed down her face. Cosette’s expression was no better, but she leaned forward to hold her mother’s shoulder reassuringly. Once again, Julie noticed that Sette seemed to have the maturity of an adult instead of the pre-teenaged girl she actually was.