Who's Sorry Now? (19 page)

“I couldn't read anything right now. I just need to get clean and into a bed to think about today.”

She shook his hand and went away, closing the door behind herself.

Parker threw off all his clothes and took the long hot shower the doctor had prescribed. He dried off, put on the robe that was hanging on the back of the bathroom door, and tested out the bed. It was nice and hard the way he liked beds. And had nice soft sheets. He'd always been told that hospital sheets were starched into boards you had to make bend.

The shower had eased the ache in his shoulder, and in spite of himself he fell fast asleep for almost two hours.

He hated getting dressed in his slightly bloodstained uniform, but there was nothing he could do about it. At least the uniform was dark blue and the dry blood hardly showed. He did call Nurse Hawkin and asked if he could have a toothbrush and a clothing brush if he came down to her desk.

“
I'll have them sent up to you. You need to rest all you can.”

Moments later a cute young nurse knocked on his door. "Nurse Hawkin said you needed these. But that she could do a better job than any man at getting blood out of clothing if you want to send yours down. They'll be back in an hour. Please let me take your jacket and trousers to her. Your shirt, too, if you need it cleaned."

“
I probably do. I got blood all over myself.”

He gathered up his pile of outwear and bundled it up for her. No reason to send his underwear along with such a pretty young girl. He'd be able to change it tomorrow when he got home.

True to her promise, she was back in an hour with the uniform jacket, trousers, and shirt on hangers, smelling fresh and still warm from an iron. He thanked her and hung them in the closet.

“Are you married, Deputy Parker, if you don't mind my asking?"

“No, I'm not," he said, fearing that he was blushing slightly.

“Neither am I." And with that she smiled and slipped out of the room, rattling slightly in her starchy nurse clothing.

Deputy Parker met Dr. McCoy at the door of the hospital cafeteria at six, as planned.

“How's my boss doing?"

“
Very well. He's still not fully awake but his blood pressure is good, his temperature is normal. We're still giving him some drugs for the pain. But I think it's likely he'll come through fIne. Let's go through the line and you can ask the rest of your questions while we eat.”

Parker chose macaroni and cheese, two slices of meat loaf, green beans, and a roll. The macaroni was undercooked and tasteless. The meat loaf was overcooked and also tasteless. The green beans were old and tough. The roll was delicious.

“Sorry I suggested this," Dr. McCoy said. "We should have gone to the restaurant across the street. It's slightly better." Both of them pushed their plates away and Dr. McCoy said, "Have you thought of more questions?"

“A few. How long will you have to keep Chief Walker here?"

“At least five days. We need to watch carefully for infection. And I'll tell you a few other things. The inside stitches in the artery will be there forever. They may be uncomfortable as they stiffen up. He might want to come back in a year or so and we'll lightly sedate him and remove them when the artery is thoroughly sealed up. It will be up to him."

“
You'll explain all this to him before he leaves?"

“
Of course. The arm is going to be sore for a while. He might want to keep it in a sling so he doesn't accidentally use it too much."

“
Is the circulation in the rest of the arm okay?"

“
Amazingly so. No bruising in the hand. He's a durable man. Do you happen to know his age?"

“No. I've only been his deputy for a short time, but I met him earlier when I worked for another chief of police. I'd guess a little over thirty."

“I'll be able to ask him when he comes around," Dr. McCoy said. "But that would be my guess, too."

“Will the town reporter who's coming to fetch me tomorrow be able to talk to him?"

“I don't know why not. It's up to the patient, not me. He'll be sitting up by morning. It's not good for his circulation to be horizontal for long periods. Anything else you want to ask?"

“
Will he remember any of what happened to him?”

“Probably not."

“Should I tell him?"

“
Not unless he asks," Dr. McCoy said. "I have to go back to work. I suggest you have your breakfast across the street. They do a really good ham and eggs and cinnamon toast.”

They left the cafeteria and Dr. McCoy went back to work. Parker decided to go for a walk. He'd never been in Poughkeepsie before. He'd ask the nurse at the desk what there was to see within walking distance.

She gave him a couple of brochures and a map. "We keep these for out-of-towners like you who are here to visit family members who are patients.”

There didn't seem to be much close to the hospital. No museums. A couple of hotels, and a big park a mile away. He headed for the park and watched children feeding the ducks for a while. Then he followed some paths through pretty gardens. He knew nothing about flowers except that they looked pretty this time of year. Especially the many bushes that were blooming.

Bored, and aware that it would be dark in an hour or two, he strolled back to the hospital and sat on a bench outside for a while. Later, he'd go across the street and see if the restaurant Dr. McCoy told him about had good desserts.

But he couldn't take his mind away from the events of the earlier part of the day. It was the worst day of his life, seeing Walker faint, and seeing all that blood running over the dirty floor.

The next day, Parker was up early. He checked with Nurse Hawkin. "Dr. McCoy is doing another surgery right now," she said. "But he checked on your boss earlier and he's doing fine. Don't you worry.”

Parker went to breakfast across the street and walked around a bit
more
in the other direction. When he returned, Jack Summer was already waiting for him. "Are we allowed to see Howard today?"

“Yes, close to noon. It's up to him if
he
wants to see either of us."

“One of Colling's guys who went with you said you saved his life."

“I helped to. But it was the doctor who really saved him." Parker went on to repeat what Dr. McCoy had told him about the artery that was nicked. And the possibility of losing his arm if it had been cut clear through.

“But he says Walker is extremely durable and barring an infection he'll survive.”

They waited near Nurse Hawkin's station. "That's a good nurse," Parker told Jack. "She even cleaned the blood off my uniform and had it pressed. I need to send her some nice flowers when I get back home. Does everybody in Voorburg know about this?"

“A lot of them asked me where you two had gone. I reported first to the people at Grace and Favor, of course. Robert was determined to come along and take Walker home in the Duesie right away," he added with a laugh. "I also told the greengrocer why you wouldn't be in your apartment until today. Oh, and Mrs. Gasset got wind of it and came in on one of her breaks to ask about what happened. I told her, truthfully, that I had no idea except that
Walker had been stabbed and was still alive. You're going to have to fill me in more on the way back to Voorburg."

“The doctor also told me something else you should know," Parker said. "We're not to tell Walker anything unless he asks.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Tuesday, May
30

AT EXACTLY NOON, as Dr. McCoy had promised, he came out of Howard's hospital room and found Deputy Parker and Jack Summer waiting on a bench near the door. Both leaped to their feet.

“I'm Jack Summer, the editor of the Voorburg
Times,"
Jack said, shaking the doctor's hand.

“Your chief of police is eager to
see
both of you. Go on in. Don't stay for more than twenty minutes. You are his first visitors and he'll tire easily. He's lost a lot of blood and needs a lot of sleep before it builds back up.”

He opened the door for them and went away.

Howard Walker was sitting up in the bed. Parker almost got teary at how much better he looked. Howard was smiling. His face wasn't quite as pale as it was yesterday, and his left arm was in a lightweight sling.

“Am I ever glad to
see
you two. Pull up some chairs and talk to me. I don't remember anything after walking in the door of the tailor shop in Cold Spring.”

He was looking at Deputy Parker, and went on to say, "They tell me you saved my life."

“
I helped. But God and Dr. McCoy did the rest.”

Howard put out his right hand to shake Parker's. "Do sit down, both of you. Where is the tailor we went to arrest?"

“At the Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Matteawan," Parker said. "I had him sent there because I couldn't get back to Voorburg. I'd ridden here in the ambulance with you."

“
I'm surprised they let you do that.”

Parker grinned. "They didn't let me. I forced myself in and sat in a corner near your feet.”

Walker was silent for a moment then asked, "What did you do while we came here?”

Parker almost blushed. "I took off your shoes and massaged your feet. It was a dumb thing."

“I thought I'd dreamed that someone was messing around with my feet and I wondered why they were doing it. It really happened?"

“I just wanted to do something—anything for you," Parker admitted.

Walker closed his eyes for a few minutes, then openedthem and asked, "Who's taking care of Voorburg in our place?"

“
One of Colling's men who was with us at the tailor shop."

“
Who else knows about this?" Walker asked.

Jack said, "I was told by Colling's man that you'd been stabbed and taken away to the hospital in Poughkeepsie. That's all that I knew. I spent a lot of yesterday trying to get Parker on the phone at the hospital. Naturally nobody would tell me anything about any patient. Deputy Parker finally called back and said the surgery was over and you were alive."

“
Then what?"

“
I went up to Grace and Favor and told them where both of you were and that you'd been stabbed while arresting the man who killed Edwin McBride, and that you were alive but still unconscious after a successful operation. I also told the greengrocer why his upstairs tenant was missing. Then it got around to almost everybody. You'll be inundated by flowers and get-well cards by tomorrow.”

He went on. "1'11 bet Mrs. Prinney is making pots and pots of soup to force down you when you get back. I'm in the way right now. I'll leave you two to talk a little more. Deputy Parker, I'll wait for you in the parking lot to take you back to Voorburg.”

Jack closed the door as he left.

“I want to go home," Walker said quietly with his eyes closed.

“
In good time," Parker said. "I'll tell you the rest of it when and if you want to know. Get some more rest.

Parker wanted to touch him again, just out of respect, and he put his hand briefly on Howard's right hand before leaving. He stopped at the front desk to thank Nurse Hawkin again. "And there's something else. I have Chief Walker's uniform jacket and his shoes, but I need his trousers as well. Does anybody know what became of them?"

“I'll find out." She summoned the pretty nurse and said, "Please go find Chief Walker's trousers.”

She was back in ten minutes with them in a big bag. "This will hold his jacket and shoes as well.”

As Jack turned the car toward Voorburg, Parker told Jack almost everything the doctor had told him. All except the mention of bleeding to death.

When he got back to Voorburg, Parker asked the temporary substitute deputy to stay on for a little while. He took his motorcycle to the Hospital for the Criminally Insane where the tailor was locked up and asked permission to see him.

The tailor swore at him and tried, without success, to spit at him, but Parker ignored it and said, "I just have one question I hope you'll answer. The man you stabbeddeserves to know. Why did you put the can of paint back where you found it?" It wouldn't hurt to make this man suppose his victim was dead.

The man, whoever he was, grinned. His teeth were greenish and chipped. As a child Parker had been taught that there is a God and there is a Devil, and he had now seen the Devil.

“
You don't get it, do you?" the man said.

“No, I don't. But I'll pray that in heaven He'll know.”

The man finally said, "You stupid kid. I wanted the police to think those dumb boys had painted the swastika.”

Parker turned away and went back to Voorburg thinking,
Just wait until I tell Walker.

The first thing Parker did when he again returned to Voorburg was to take Chief Walker's trousers and jacket to Mr. Kurtz to clean and fIx the hole in the sleeve. "I'll do it gladly. No charge. He's a good man.”

Parker then took Walker's shoes to the cobblers'. They were happy to clean up, shine, and resole them at no cost. His third call was on Jack Summer, telling him about the tailor and the cobbler and suggesting that if Jack wanted to, he could find a good white shirt for Walker. Jack agreed. "I'll pay Mr. Kurtz to make one. Since he has Walker's jacket, he'll make it the right size.”