“I wish I knew.” Lynne said. “We were upstairs, talking about books. Then...we kissed...” She was embarrassed to reveal this. “The next thing I knew he was out the door.”
Dan followed Rick out into the snow in his stocking feet. “Hey! Where are you going?”
“I’m going home Dan...” Rick hollered. He was walking past the house next door and fast disappearing down the street. He was more than twenty miles from home. Dan cursed and ran back into the house.
“I don’t know what his problem is, but I have to go after him.” He pulled on his shoes, grabbed their coats and kissed Carly. “I don’t know if we’ll be back...I’ll call.” He went out and drove off in his car.
The streets of Kensington-Bailey were deserted. The street lights illuminated
unbroken stretches of snow along the avenues and intersections. When Dan caught up
with Rick, he’d turned the corner of Lynne’s street and was just crossing Kensington
Avenue.(what is Dan thinking - cursing - talking to himself - - - or Rick?) Dan turned the
corner to follow him, but the car fishtailed. Dan hit the brakes and - hard as he tried not to
- slammed into Rick, who landed hard on the curb.
The car came to a stop a few feet away. Dan shut it off and hurried to Rick who was sprawled on the grass next to a tree in front of someone’s house. He tried to sit up, shaking the dizziness away.
“Are you allright? I’m sorry - I didn’t mean to do that. Don’t move, I’ll get some help...”
“Dan - Dan - I’m OK. Just let me get to the car.” Rick pressed his left arm against his side. He shivered in the cold and in pain.
“No, don’t move. Something might be broken. I’ll go to a house and call -”
“Nothing is broken Dan. I can tell. I’m freezing sitting here in the snow.”
“Here.” Dan took his jacket off and put it over Rick’s shoulders. “What were you doing anyway? Leaving without your coat? Why’d you leave? Where do you think you were going?”
“Spare me the twenty questions Dan. Just help me get to the car.”
“No - I have to call -”
Rick grabbed Dan by his shirt collar and snarled at him. “Just get me into the car Dan. I’m freezing, I’m in pain and I don’t feel like sitting on this person’s lawn arguing the point with you.”
So, a little taken aback, Dan helped Rick stand up and negotiated him to the passenger seat. As he started up the car, he said: “Sisters Hospital isn’t too far away from here. I’ll take you there.”
“You will not take me there. I’ve had a wonderful, fun-filled evening. Now I just want to go home.” Rick was angry and didn’t bother trying to hide it. “Like I wanted to before this all started.” His tone set Dan off.
“What the hell is the matter with you anyway? Why’d you run out on Lynne?”
To Dan’s surprise, Rick hauled off and slugged his shoulder with his good arm. “What the hell is the matter with me? What the hell is the matter with you? I told you I didn’t want to come here tonight. I told you I wasn’t comfortable going there and I just wanted to go home after the Banks. You told me where I was eating dinner, you told me where I was going afterward. You even told me what to wear. Who the hell do you think you are?”Dan was stunned into silence. “Will you please just let me go home?”
Dan stared at Rick a few seconds, completely taken off guard by his rage. “I don’t want you to die during the night from internal bleeding or a concussion or anything else. I know I did this to you, I know this is all my fault. Don’t you think I know that?” His voice was very quiet, nearly choking on the guilt he felt. “Please - let me take you to the hospital.”
“...allright...”
Rick sat at the Nurse’s desk in the Emergency Room at Sisters Hospital in Buffalo.
He had an ice bag on his elbow, she had his insurance card in her hand. “What happened
to you this evening?”
“I got clipped by a car that slid on the ice.”
“Did you report it to the police?” “No...” Rick looked out the door to Dan who was making excuses over the pay phone to Lynne and Carly. “...the guy who did it occasionally is my best friend.”
Dan paced the Emergency Room hallway. He glanced anxiously out at the street,
then paced back to the Nurse’s Station, back to the hallway, looking out the door. He was
hovering near the cubicles when Mr. and Mrs. Banks came in behind him.
“Where is he?” Mrs. Banks asked.
“What happened?” Mr. Banks asked.
Dan looked down, still embarrassed. “They took him to x-ray. I haven’t heard anything.”
Mrs. Banks took a few steps. “I’ll see what I can find out.” And Dan watched her go with an old sense of impending chastening. Mr. Banks looked at Dan with sternness and concern.
“Let’s have a talk.” Mr. Banks said. Head down, hands in his pockets, Dan followed him into the hallway. “Allright, what happened?”
“I appreciate you coming out here so fast...” But Mr. Banks waited for something more. Dan took a breath and tried to get it all out at once. “Rick was crossing Kensington at Suffolk, I was in the car and I turned the corner and...I hit ice and spun out...and I hit Rick.”
“How bad is he?”
“He got up, he walked to the car. I had to fight to bring him to the hospital at all. I mean, there wasn’t any blood, he said he didn’t have any broken bones.” Dan finally blurted. “I didn’t mean to hit him.”
“I know you didn’t Danny.” Mr. Banks put his arm around him. “I’m sure he’ll be allright. How are you?”
“As soon as I can breathe again, I’ll be able to tell you.”
Mrs. Banks reappeared. “You can see him.”
“Rick, can you hear me? You awake?” Dan put his hand on Rick’s arm. He was
holding a Rosary.
“Dan? What - are you praying?” Rick touched the beads and Dan let him take them.
“It fell out of your pocket...I’se just holding ‘em for you. How do you feel? You gonna be okay?”
“Oh, I’ll be fine as soon as they spring me and I get home into a really hot shower and down some massive amounts of pain killers and sleep fifteen hours or so...” “I’m real sorry Rick. You know I didn’t mean it.”
“I know” He ran the Rosary beads through his fingers. “You called Lynne?”
“Yeah, I told her you suddenly got sick and I was taking you home...I’ll take you home as soon as they spring you. My - the Banks came. I called them too. Mr. Banks said he wants to talk to you though...I’ll wait out here...” He left and Mr. Banks came into the curtained cubicle.
“How are you feeling Rick?” His eyes took in Rick’s whole body with a quick sweep.
“I’m okay. A little banged up. I’ve survived worse. I appreciate you coming here, I’m sorry to drag you out on Thanksgiving, especially a night like this.”
“Never mind about that...I want you to tell me exactly what happened.”
Rick laughed and it hurt his side. “Dan told me you’re a detective...where should I start?”
“How about at the beginning?” “Well...I guess I’d have to say that it all started last March first when Dan came to work and live on the farm. I liked him well enough but he seemed to talk constantly which was hard on me coming as I did from near silence and working pretty much by myself for four years...”
“Can we cut to the chase?”
“Yeah, umm...” Rick shifted uncomfortably on the gurney. “We were at Lynne’s house, but Lynne and I had a - misunderstanding - and I left. I walked a couple of blocks from her house but I didn’t have my jacket and Dan followed me in his car. I crossed a street and Dan turned the corner but he must’ve hit ice and he swerved into me. Clipped me mostly. Mr. Banks, I don’t want to get Dan into trouble.”
“Oh, he won’t get into trouble with me...my wife is a different matter entirely.”
Dan held the car door open and guided Rick into the passenger seat. “Watch your
head.”
“I’m not an invalid for Heaven’s sake.” But he let Dan support him into the car.
Mrs. Banks told them “If you need anything, call us. Anytime. Okay, Honeybunches?”
“Okay. You two drive careful in the snow.” Dan said, even though he knew he was one to talk. “I’ll call you when we get home.”
On the ride home, Rick stared out the window. Dan tapped his thumbs on the
steering wheel and occasionally whistled. Snow swirled around the car. “How’re you
doing?” Dan asked once they were off the expressway and heading down Route 5.
“Still alive. I ache some, but I’ll survive.”
“I’m really sorry Rick. I didn’t mean to run into you.”
“I know Dan. If you feel really really guilty, someday I’ll hit you with a cow
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Chapter Nine
Chapter Eleven
