Cupid's Christmas (Serendipity #3)(41)

Gavin returned to the lobby and used the telephone at the admitting desk. He punched in the number—it rang once then stopped. He tried again, same thing. After the third try, he returned to the hallway where he’d parked Lindsay. “Are you sure this is the right number?” he read back the number she’d given him.

“Yes, that‘s it.”

“Strange,” he said, “must be trouble on the line.”

“Trouble?”

He nodded, “I get one ring then it goes dead…”

Lindsay realized what was happening. “Oh my God, the calls are still being forwarded to my cell phone. You have to find my cell phone…please…go back, look for it…”

“I can’t do it right now,” Gavin said apologetically, “but give me your home address and I’ll get a patrol car to drive out and inform your dad.”

“Seven-six-seven Oak Tree road in Medford.”

Gavin jotted the address down then brought the Gurney back to the admitting area and began filling out the necessary paperwork. When the orderlies rolled Lindsay into the small examining room she called back to Gavin, “Don’t forget.”





Cupid…The News



When John returned home from the game, the house was empty, so he showered and dressed for dinner. After a full day of shopping, he figured Eleanor would most likely be tired and in no mood for cooking, besides he was anxious to try that new steak house on Route 70. Thinking about the steak smothered in onion rings with a buttery baked potato sitting beside it, he grew hungrier by the minute. John waited until shortly after six, and then began calling Lindsay’s cell phone. He clicked call #3 but nothing happened. No ring, nothing. He tried again—still nothing, so he punched in the number manually. Still nothing. “Son-of-a-gun,” he grumbled. “She’s turned the phone off because they’re busy shopping.”

He’d called the number a dozen times before the doorbell rang at seven o’clock. John hurried to the door and yanked it open expecting to see Eleanor and Lindsay too overloaded with packages to come through the garage—instead, he found Matthew standing there.

“Is Lindsay ready?” Matthew asked.

“They’re not back from shopping yet.” The agitation in John’s voice was obvious.

“Really?” Matthew pulled his cell phone from his pocket and scrolled through the messages. “That’s odd,” he said. “She didn’t leave a message.”

“Because they’re busy shopping,” John griped. “Looks like she’d have called if—”

“Lindsay would have called,” Matthew cut in. “She knew I was picking her up at seven.”

“Maybe they’re caught in traffic…”

“Lindsay would’ve called,” Matthew repeated.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive!” The look on Matthew’s face indicated something was wrong.

John’s expression quickly changed from one of annoyance to one of concern. He began picturing a five car pileup on the bridge. “Let’s check the news,” he suggested.

Matthew agreed although he thought it more likely Lindsay had misplaced or lost her cell phone, perhaps allowed it to fall from her pocket as she walked through the department store. A lost phone and traffic jam combined would make sense, it would explain why—

They were both standing in front of the television waiting for a commercial to end when the doorbell rang. “That must be them,” John said happily, but the downturn of Matthew’s mouth didn’t change.

When John opened the door, the sight of a uniformed Police Officer was not what he expected. “Apparently there’s something wrong with your telephone,” the officer said. “Your daughter has been trying to call but couldn’t get through. She asked—”

“Is Lindsay alright?”

“There’s been an accident but your daughter is going to be okay. According to the paramedic I spoke with she has a broken leg, but other than that—”

“What about Eleanor?”

“Eleanor? The paramedic didn’t mention an Eleanor.”

Standing right behind John, Matthew asked, “Where are they?”

“They? The only one I know about is Lindsay Gray. She’s in the Emergency Room at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. It’s downtown—”

“I know where it is,” Matthew said, and by then he had his jacket on and was pulling the car keys from his pocket.



In thirty minutes, they made the drive that normally took double the time. Before Matthew parked the car, John jumped out and barreled into the Emergency Room. “Do you have an Eleanor Barrow here?” he asked the nurse at the Admissions counter.

“I’m on the phone sir,” she answered. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Less than a minute later, Matthew rushed in and asked, “Did you find out anything yet?”

John shook his head and glared impatiently at the nurse who was still talking.

When the nurse finally hung up the phone, she turned to them and asked, “Okay, now what was that name?”

“Eleanor Barrow,” John said.

“Lindsay Gray,” Matthew added.