As soon as the doors to the waiting room swooshed open, my sisters jumped up as if they were stitched together.
“Thank God!’’ Marty ran to me and threw her arms around my neck. The tears started to flow.
“Come over here and let me take a look at you,’’ Maddie commanded, using her middle-school principal tone.
With my knee aching and Marty still clinging to my neck, I inched across the floor toward Maddie. I untangled myself, and Maddie clasped me by the shoulders. She turned me in a complete circle. When we came face-to-face again, I thought I saw a glimmer of moisture in her eyes. It was probably just a reflection from the hospital’s bright lights. She patted my arm, which turned into an awkward, one-handed hug.
“Mace, you had us so worried.’’ She let out a sigh of relief. “Donnie Bailey called to tell me about your accident. I’ve been wracking my brain for a way to break the news to Mama if you didn’t make it.’’
I expected overreaction from Marty. Mama always says her nerves are too close to the surface of her skin. But not from Maddie. “You can see I’m fine,’’ I told her. “Didn’t Donnie tell you I was okay?’’
“He did. But he also told us you were on your way to the hospital. Marty and I were afraid he just didn’t want to break the truth about how bad things were.’’
“We were afraid,’’ Marty chimed in, sniffling into the tattered tissue.
“That’s why we rushed over here to see for ourselves.’’ Maddie patted at me again. “Lord, Mace, I’m so glad to see you in one piece.’’
“Your forehead is bloody.’’ Marty tenderly brushed my hair away from the cut. “What happened? Did you swerve to avoid a possum?’’
My sisters knew I’d never hit any animal, not even a possum, if I could help it.
“I didn’t swerve. I was run off the road.’’
Alarm registered on Maddie’s face. Marty looked even more scared.
Martinez had been standing by the check-in desk, studying a sign about insurance co-payments like it held the cure to cancer. I got the feeling he was more comfortable with my family arguing than with our affection. He cleared his throat, a loud rumble in the quiet waiting room.
“There’ll be plenty of time for you to get into all that, Ms. Bauer. Now, you need to check in and let the doctor take a look at you.’’
“Y’all remember Detective Martinez,’’ I said to my sisters.
Maddie looked at him like he’d poisoned the fundraising candy for the middle-school band. “How could we forget him? He’s the man who put our poor mother into prison.’’
“Jail, Maddie, not prison.’’ I figured I’d head off another vocabulary lecture on correctional facilities. “By the way, Detective.’’ I put some ice in my voice. “I spoke to the daughter of one of my mother’s bingo cronies today. I know you have some information about Mama’s trunk being empty of any murder victim last night while she was playing bingo. Playing bingo all night long, as it happens.’’
The granite came back to his jaw. “I’m still gathering facts in relation to the investigation, Ms. Bauer. I’m not willing to go into those matters right now. Besides, I came here to make sure you get medical attention. And that’s what we’re going to do.’’
“That’s true,’’ I conceded to my sisters, “he was nice enough to give me a ride here. And he’s promised to look into why Big Sal called me to meet him at the golf course, and then disappeared before I got there. If not for that call, I’d never have been way out that way in the first place, nor landed my Jeep in a canal.’’
My sisters started talking over each other, peppering me with questions. Maddie was louder, of course. “What does Mama’s obnoxious boyfriend, have to do with anything?’’ she demanded.
“You were in a ditch, Mace? Were there water moccasins?’’ Marty shuddered.
Martinez stuck his hands into his pockets and slipped away. In a few moments, he returned with a middle-aged black woman. She had on a white coat. A stethoscope was draped around her neck. He stepped between my sisters and me and held up his hand to interrupt.
“This is Dr. Taylor,’’ he said to me. “She says she can see you immediately.’’
He turned to Marty and Maddie. “I’d appreciate it if you’d let your sister go now. The doctor’s going to examine her and run some tests. You can fill the admitting clerk in on all her insurance information. Then, I hope you’ll stick around to make sure she gets home safely.’’
“Are you saying we wouldn’t do that anyway, Detective?’’ Maddie didn’t give him time to answer. “I know you’re accustomed to dealing with lowlifes and criminals, but you don’t need to tell decent people how to act.’’
“Hush, Maddie.’’ Marty’s voice was soft but firm. “You’re not acting very decent right now. This man saw that Mace got here all right. I think we owe him gratitude, not rudeness.’’
Maddie looked as if a rat had just run over her foot in her spotless kitchen. I was surprised, too. Marty never stands up to Maddie, not even mildly.
Maddie harrumphed, but she shut up. She turned her back on the rest of us, and put her purse up tight against her chest, like a shield. She didn’t say thanks to Martinez. But she didn’t say anything else nasty, either.
As I was walking into the examining room with Dr. Taylor, I saw Marty place a hand on Martinez’s arm. She was gently steering him away from our older sister and toward the emergency room exit to outside.
___
Martinez was gone, but my sisters were still waiting when I came out after two hours, one brain scan, and a short argument over my refusal to wear a hospital gown. The gown fight I lost. But I won the scan, which was far more important. Dr. Taylor saw no evidence of damage to my hard head, so she cleared me to go home.
Maddie was asleep sitting up, snoring softly. It’s a good thing the emergency room was empty. She’d be beside herself if she ever thought someone had seen her dozing—eyes closed, mouth open, defenses down.
Marty leaned against a wall, one tennis-shoed foot propped up behind her. Eyes cast downward, she was fending off the attentions of two handsome guys in green hospital scrubs. One offered her a cup of coffee; the other looked like he was ready to offer her his heart. Happily married or not, Marty attracts men the way honey draws bears. Always has.
“I’m back, better than ever,’’ I called from the doorway.
Marty looked up with Mama’s radiant smile; Maddie rubbed drool from her chin and frowned. “Is it time for school yet?’’ she asked.