Between Dusk and Dawn (13 page)

Schaffer called out something else,
but LaShaun ignored him as she drove off. When she pulled up to
stop sign she saw the two men heading toward the square in front of
city hall. Sure they weren’t observing her, LaShaun drove down
Parish Road to the hospital. Just to be even more cautious, LaShaun
parked in the lot behind the extended wing of the hospital. Since
it was farther away from the entrance, only a few cars were
scattered around the available spaces. She locked the CRV and
entered through a side entrance. LaShaun paused. Even if she knew
the man’s name she wouldn’t have asked which way to his room. But
she didn’t need directions.

LaShaun walked into the first floor
lobby of the modest three story hospital. Despite being in a small
town, Vermillion Hospital had a reputation for excellent care.
Contributions from two local wealthy families helped buy state of
the art medical equipment. An agreement with Tulane Medical School
meant top residents and their instructors were on staff as well. As
a result patients came from all over the parish for treatment.
LaShaun took care to blend in with the few people who were walking
around. She pretended to study the list of departments on a large
wall sign. In reality she narrowed her focus on the image of the
man from the photos Chase had shown her. She felt a tug inside,
like an invisible cord pulling her toward the elevators. A bell
announced one had just arrived. Three people stepped out when the
doors opened, one woman crying. LaShaun ignored the strong emotion
of shock and grief to keep her focus.

Once on the elevator she had a moment
of indecision. No clear signal gave her a clue which floor to
choose. A man hurried in just as the doors started to shut causing
them to pull back.

“
Third floor, ma’am,
thanks. Got to go up and visit my brother.” The tall man wore jeans
and fancy cowboy boots. In the typical southern way he started a
conversation as though they knew each other. “Least they moved him
out of ICU and into a room.”

LaShaun gasped at the sharp jab she
felt. She hit the button to take them to the third floor.
“Sure.”

“
You okay?” The man glanced
at her nervously. “Visiting family, huh? I’m sure they gone be
fine. Good care in this place.”

“
Thanks, I’m okay.” LaShaun
swallowed hard and forced a brief smile.

“
Don’t you worry. These
nurses keep a sharp eye on all them fancy monitors and such. My
sister-in-law wouldn’t have Kent in here if the care wasn’t tops.
Don’t wanna get on the wrong side of that little woman. No, lordy.”
The big man gave a gruff laugh.

Moments later another bell announced
they had arrived, The doors slid open. LaShaun stood looking at the
opposite wall for a few seconds then blinked when she realized the
man was waiting for her to go first.

“
Thank you,” she murmured
and smiled at him again.

The man nodded and strode down one of
the four hallways. LaShaun lingered for a few seconds, and then
followed him. The tug on her mid-section told her she should go
that way as well. The tall man’s heavy footsteps echoed in the
silence. He turned down a hall branching off to rooms three
hundred-six through three hundred fifteen. A nurse stood in front
of a wheeled cart reading the computer screen and entering
information. When she looked up and said hello, LaShaun replied
with another forced smile. Soon she would have to pick a room or
her presence would look odd. If anyone asked she wouldn’t be able
to give them a name of who she was visiting. When she walked by
room three hundred thirteen the skin on her arms tingled, and the
sensation in her stomach felt like a light punch.

LaShaun looked down the hall to her
left and right. The nurse had been joined by one of the nursing
assistants. They were too busy talking to each other to notice her.
No one else was around, so she pushed open the door and went into
the room. The man’s left leg was elevated on a foam wedge. He had
gauze wrapped around on wrist. His breathing was raspy and loud. As
LaShaun took a few steps closer he grimaced. He moved his head and
lips as though trying to speak, but his eyes remained closed. She
went still until he seemed to settle down again. Suddenly being in
the room with this stranger didn’t seem like such a great idea. The
sensations of danger, dread and horror hit LaShaun like a body blow
from a wrestler.

“
Damn,” she blurted out and
staggered back half a step.

She grabbed the back of the single
chair in the room to steady herself, took in a few deep breaths and
let them out. When she looked at the man again he stared back at
her. His dark brown eyes were glassy, but he seemed alert. His lips
moved for a few seconds, but no sound came out. Then he looked at
the bed table. A plastic pitcher sat on it along with a small cup
with a straw. He looked back at LaShaun.

“
Water?” was all she
managed to get out.

When he nodded she took a cautious
step forward. Feeling nothing she kept going until she got to the
table. She poured water into the cup. After a second of hesitation
she went to the bed and held the cup close to his mouth. He got the
straw between his lips and with effort sucked on it. His throat
worked. Seconds later he turned his head slightly to let go of the
straw. He resumed staring at LaShaun.

“
Can you help
me?”

“
I’m not a nurse,” LaShaun
replied.

“
I know,” he rasped, and
then stopped to rest, panting for a few seconds. “Can you help?
Please. Please.”

LaShaun offered him more water. He
took the straw into his mouth once more, drank and rested between
three sips. His eyes closed and opened again. Dark circles under
his eyes looked like bruises. She glanced up at the dry erase
board. The name of his nurse, Crystal, was listed along with the
schedule of how often his vital signs would be checked. When the
door swished open LaShaun jumped.

“
Didn’t mean to scare you,
hon. I’m just checking to make sure our patient is okay.” The short
plump redhead bustled about. She activated a blood pressure monitor
attached to his arm, and then wrote down the last reading. Next she
stuck a thermometer in his mouth.

“
You a family member or
friend?” The nurse smiled at LaShaun.

“
Yes, ma’am.” LaShaun
nodded. She looked at the man who stared at her.

“
Which one, baby?” The
woman prodded.

“
What? Oh, sorry, uh,
family friend. I decided to see how he’s doing.” LaShaun rubbed her
hands together. She fidgeted with the strap of her cross body
bag.

“
That’s nice.”

The nurse turned her back to check his
pulse, and then she carefully touched the bandage wrapped around
his leg. When the man let out a groan she stopped. She checked the
IV tubes and adjusted the sheets. Then she turned to face LaShaun
again.

“
I can’t stay long, I just
wanted to pop in for a minute,” LaShaun said to head off more
questions.

“
No problem. You live close
by?” The redhead looked at her patient. A slight frown pulled her
arched red eyebrows together.

“
I’m a good ways off, so
like I said I won’t wear him out with a long visit,” LaShaun
replied.

“
Stay,” the man whispered
hoarsely without taking his gaze from LaShaun. “Talk.”

“
Well, let me know if you,
uh, need anything.” The nurse looked from the man to LaShaun as she
walked to the door again.

“
Thank you so much.”
LaShaun smiled at the woman, trying not to look impatient for her
to leave. Once the door whisked shut she walked to the bed
again.

“
Tell me what you mean,”
LaShaun said.

His lips moved, but she couldn’t make
out what he was saying. LaShaun leaned over and tried to
understand, but the words sounded garbled. The man seemed to strain
with the effort to be heard. He stopped trying for a few moments
then looked at her. He wore a frightened and frustrated expression.
His mouth opened, and LaShaun moved closer.

“
Don’t want to live like
this. Help me.” Quick as lightening he reached out and gripped
LaShaun’s left arm.

She fought down panic as the heat from
his breath hit her in the face. “I have to know more.”

The man seemed to lose his burst of
strength. He let go and his eyes glazed over as he looked past
LaShaun. “God have mercy on me.”

“
You’ll be alright. The
medical care here is...” LaShaun’s voice froze in her throat at the
wild look in his eyes.

Without warning the man sat up, pushed
her away and shouted. “Get out now. I can’t control it.”

LaShaun backed away until she bumped
against the wall. The man’s expression seemed to melt and change,
his skin moved like the rubber of a mask. He face became elongated
as she watched. His eyes grew brighter as he glared at LaShaun.
When he tried to sit up, thick cloth restraints jerked him back.
LaShaun felt smothered by a flood of hostility beating against her
entire body. Air seemed sucked from the room. One restraint strap
broke, and he lunged across the bed at her. Frustrated that three
other straps held, he knocked aside the table. LaShaun stared at
him in fascination for a few seconds. She shoved the chair between
them when he lunged again. The nurse rushed in with a male
orderly.

“
What in the world?” The
nurse took one look at the man and gasped. She spun around and
yelled down the hallway. “Code blue! Restraints off.”

Two male medical aides hurried into
the room. They went past the nurse, and paused to take in the
situation. One of them stood with his arms out by his sides as
though to show he was no threat. His bicep muscles bulged, and
LaShaun judged he could use as much force as necessary. Only
LaShaun knew the two men weren’t facing a totally human
force.

“
Okay, man. Remember me?
Joe. I brought you breakfast this morning, and helped you get
cleaned up. Everything gonna be alright.” Joe nodded slowly. When
the other aide moved sideways the man grunted and glared at him
with wild eyes.

“
Lord have mercy,” the
nurse whispered.

“
Don’t let him bite you,”
LaShaun blurted out. She shrank back when the wild man looked at
her.

“
Believe me, lady, that’s
something we don’t intend to happen,” Norman whispered back to her.
He wrapped a towel around his right forearm.

“
Come on, now, calm down.
What do you need?” Joe spoke in a calm even voice. The man blinked
back at him, but didn’t move.

“
Get him tied down again,
and I’ll give him some Ativan.” The nurse circled to get closer to
the IV tubes still attached to the patient’s left arm.

“
May God give you peace,
and may he free you from the evil that binds you,” LaShaun
whispered.

She repeated the short prayer three
more times as the man struggled against the thick straps. After
several minutes his movements slowed until he slumped back against
the pillow. Tears rolled down his face. He shook his head slowly,
let out a long breath then looked at her again. His expression of
sadness and hopelessness brought LaShaun close to tears as well.
His eyes glazed over, and his lips parted. The man’s bottomless
despair engulfed her like a plastic bag over her nose and mouth.
She backed out of the room fighting to catch her breath. When she
stumbled out into hallway and leaned against a wall, staff and
patients who had gathered stared at her. The lone hospital security
guard finally arrived. As he ran toward the room he barked
information into a cell phone.

“
Get some deputies over
here fast, man.” The guard stuffed the phone in his pocket, and
went into the room.

The crowd lost interest in LaShaun for
a moment. She took advantage of that small window of distraction
and walked quickly toward the elevators still heaving in gulps of
air. As she waited LaShaun could hear the nurse describing her to
the security guard, so she dashed to the stairs instead. Minutes
later LaShaun was in the lobby, out through a side entrance and in
the parking lot. Avoiding the exit to the main street, LaShaun
chose a side parking lot exit. She took a series of small streets
to drive home. By the time she got to Rousselle Lane the feeling of
suffocation had completely stopped. But her hands shook badly. She
gripped the steering wheel and gasped when she saw the figure of an
elderly woman sitting on her porch, in Monmon Odette’s favorite
spot. The Chevy Traverse sitting in the driveway reassured her.
With a long shuddering sigh of relief, LaShaun parked the CRV and
got out. Miss Clo waited for her wearing a grave
expression.

“
Something wrong is loose
in these parts, baby. Something that I don’t like to think
about.”

“
You have the most unusual
way of greeting me, Miss Clo.” LaShaun wiped perspiration on her
brow and sat down. Miss Clo sat again.

“
Sorry to bring more
trouble to your doorstep, child. If your grandmother was alive...”
Miss Clo rocked back and forth.

“
Monmon Odette’s spirit is
with me always,” LaShaun said softly.

“
Oh my Lord.” Miss Clo made
the sign of the cross. “Please tell me she’s not here
now.”