The Return(66)

After Frank took my order, I pulled a Snapple from the refrigerator and went to the register. Claude nodded toward the windows.

“Can you believe this? It’s spitting serious water out there.”

“Crazy weather,” I agreed.

“What did you order?”

I told him and he rang me up; after receiving my change, I went on. “Do you have a minute? I’d like to ask you a couple of questions about Callie.”

“She’s right over there if you want to speak with her yourself.”

“I was hoping for a reference,” I began, and after I explained what I was thinking, he nodded.

“She’s a great worker,” he said. “She doesn’t complain, doesn’t mind staying late, and she’s never missed a shift, even when she was going through some hard times. She’s really good at cleaning, too—almost OCD about it. I think she’d do a great job for you, but keep in mind she’s a strange one.”

“In what way?”

“She’s worked here for…I don’t know. Ten or eleven months? She came on at the end of last summer, but aside from the fact that she still lives in the trailer park up the road, I swear I don’t know the first thing about her. No one knows much about her.”

No surprise there, I thought. “She told me she wasn’t from New Bern.”

“I don’t doubt it. Until Carl recommended her, I’d never seen her before. It’s like she dropped in out of the sky one day.”

I tilted my head, wondering if I’d heard him correctly. “My grandfather recommended her?”

“That he did,” Claude said. “He drove her here, in fact, and walked her in the door. Asked me to take a chance on her and said he’d vouch for her personally. It was the end of summer and a couple of the college kids that had worked for me over the summer were heading back to school, so I had an opening. I took a chance and I’m glad I did. But it’s a shame you’ll be leaving.”

“I’m sure I’ll be back,” I said. “Thanks for the info.”

“She should be going on break in a little while if you want to talk to her about the hives. Because of the weather, she’ll probably eat in the back instead of by the creek.”

“I imagine so. It’s miserable out there.”

“She was soaking wet when she arrived. Felt bad for her. If her lunch got wet, I’ll probably try to get her something from the grill. If she’ll take it, which she might not. She isn’t real good at accepting favors. But I can’t imagine eating a soggy peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

I felt the clicking of a memory, like a bubble slowly rising to the surface, when Claude mentioned the sandwich. Strangely, I felt certain it had something to do with my grandfather, but I couldn’t yet put my finger on it.

“That’s what she was eating when I talked to her before.”

“It’s what she eats every day.”

I raised my gaze. Finished with the waders, Callie was still high on the stepladder, now hanging fluorescent hunting vests. I was wondering again how she’d come to know my grandfather when I heard Frank call out my order.

“You should grab your burger before it gets cold,” Claude said. “A quick question, though. I’ve heard rumors that you’re going to sell the place, so why worry about the hives?”

“I’ve decided I’m going to keep it.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s what my grandfather would have wanted.”

Claude smiled. “No doubt about it.”

*



The burger was cooked and seasoned perfectly, and I devoured my lunch in minutes. While tossing the remains in the wastebasket, I heard a sudden crash from the back of the store and saw Claude rush out from behind the register. Other diners jumped up as well, everyone moving in the same direction, and I followed. When I spotted the toppled ladder and Callie’s crumpled form on the floor, instincts kicked in, and I began pushing past people.

“Let me through!” I shouted. “I’m a doctor.”

Claude was already squatting beside her body, his face strained with worry, and by the time I reached her side I was already taking in the scene, the information coming quickly.

Patient on her side…not moving…pallor almost a grayish white…possible internal bleeding?…blood in her hair and beginning to pool on the floor beneath her head…arm bent at an unnatural angle beneath her body, indicating likely fractures of the radius and ulna…

I gently reached for her carotid while others crowded around; I vaguely heard Claude telling people that he saw her fall from the ladder. Her pulse was thready and weak.

“Everyone step back!” I shouted. “Claude…I need you to call 911!”

It took a second for him to register that I was shouting at him.

Claude dug into his back pocket for his phone and I returned my attention to Callie. Though it had been years since I did a rotation in emergency medicine, I’d seen numerous head wounds, and the blood from her ear was a dangerous sign. While I suspected a possible subdural hematoma, she’d need a CT scan before anything was definitive. I gently repositioned Callie’s body onto her back, while keeping her neck as steady as possible. Her breathing was shallow, the compound fractures visible. Her arm was already swelling and beginning to turn black and purple. She remained unconscious. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I turned on the flashlight and checked her pupils. Thankfully, they dilated with the light, but head wounds always needed to be treated with caution…