Chapter 28

"I'll kill that Mother Fucker. Do you hear me? I'll kill him. I swear to God I'll cut his fucking balls off and shove them down his fucking throat!"

We were on the way to the hospital. I'd been able to get Mom to let me drive without too much argument. There was no way she could see, much less drive the way the tears pouring out.

"Mom, we don't know that he's involved in this."

"You saw them at the game. What do you think they were doing under that blanket? Why the hell do you think they left early?"

"What did they say on the phone?"

"Only that she'd been raped and they had her in surgery. They said I had to come down to the hospital to find out any more. My own damn hospital and they wouldn't tell me anything."

"OK, Mom. We're almost there. Just hang on and we'll find out what happened."

She had me pull up to the emergency entrance, right where the ambulances are supposed to park. She was out of the car like a shot. I moved the car to a parking space and went in.

Mom was pacing. They wouldn't or couldn't tell her anything. All she knew was that her daughter was in emergency surgery and she was going to have to wait for the doctor to come out.

"Jackie, I'm scared. They didn't even wait for approval before they took her in. This place is so afraid of being sued they only do that if a person's life is at stake."

"Mom, you've always told me this is the best hospital around. You know they'll do everything they can."

"Oh, Jackie. Hold me. I told her it was time to explore. I even gave her condoms for God's sake!"

"Mom. Come on. Giving her condoms isn't going to make someone rape her. It's not your fault. You didn't know anything was going to happen. Nobody could have known."

The nurse at the admitting desk got Mom's attention and told her she needed to fill out some forms. She asked if Mary had ever been admitted to the hospital.

"I work here on the fifth floor."

"That doesn't matter. Has your daughter ever been treated here before?

"No."

"Then you'll have to fill out this new patient form."

When Mom pulled her hospital insurance card out of her wallet, the nurse said,

"We'll need your husband's insurance, too."

"I told you I work at the hospital. I'm covered."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but the rules say we have to get your husband's insurance policy as the primary policy."

"You want his policy? You have to have his policy? Well, then, you can just go dig him up yourself. I buried him nine years ago, Bitch."

"There's no need to get rude about it."

Watching all this, I understood why Mom complained about what she called the hospital's bureaucratic bullshit. At least it took her mind off Charlie for a while.

The more I thought about it, the harder it was for me to imagine he could be involved in this. The two of them had been as lovestruck over at Jill's as any couple I'd ever seen. And they were in their own little world at the game. I just hoped I'd get a chance to talk to him before Mom found him. If he'd been in the waiting room when she arrived, I don't think he would have gotten out alive. I have never seen my mother that enraged. In fact, I've never seen anybody that enraged.

Mom finished her forms and came back to the couch I was sitting on.

"Have they said anything yet, Jackie?"

"No, Mom. You were right over there. I would have sent them over to you."

"I know. I'm just so worried." She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and buried her face in me. She shook and I knew the tears had started again.

Once again, we reversed roles. The son, comforting the mother, telling her everything was going to be all right. Hoping desperately that everything was going to be all right and I wasn't lying to her.

The crying slowed down until she was just sniffling a bit. She got a beat up Kleenex from wherever mothers keep Kleenex and dabbed at her eyes.

"I must be a mess."

"You're fine, Mom."

"Oh, Jackie, you're just saying that to be nice. It's past our bedtime. Would you like some coffee?"

"Yeah, Mom. I'd like that a lot."

"OK. Tell you what. Why don't you go up to the fifth floor. Turn right when you get off the elevator and go through the double doors. You'll see a nursing station at the end of the hall. Tell them your name and that you're my son and see if you can get a couple of cups of real coffee. I'm afraid the stuff in the machines is almost cold and it doesn't taste much like coffee."