“She left when Brian started screaming,” she answers.
“Do me a favor and see if you can get her on the phone, will you?” I ask. “I’ve got to stay here until-”
“Yeah,” Yuri says. “I’ll call her.” She picks up the phone and dials the number.
Brian comes out of the office, his eyes red from crying.
“I’m very sorry, Brian,” I tell him, but he just walks past me and out the door.
Mr. Probst died a few years ago, so Brian’s the next of kin. There are some things he needs to sign, but I feel okay giving him some time.
“Boss?”
“Yeah?” I respond, turning back to Yuri.
“She’s not answering her phone,” she says. “I can keep trying.”
“Please do,” I tell her, and look to the doctor and nurses still in the waiting room with me. “We should get her down to the morgue,” I tell them, and that’s what we do.
It’s about 20 minutes before I’m back in my office, and Yuri’s quick to tell me that she still hasn’t been able to reach Grace.
I have another appointment in about 10 minutes. I’d planned to use my lunch break to take Grace down for her first day in the trial, but with the situation being what it is, that’s just not going to happen.
“Has anyone been in to take the chair?” I ask Yuri.
“It’s still in there,” she says. “Do you want me to call someone?”
“Yeah,” I tell her. “Let’s see if we can get it out of here before my next appointment comes in.”
“Sure thing,” she says, and picks up the phone.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she says. “I’ll be fine. I’m just a little shaken, I guess.”
“Okay. When you’re done, you can take a break if you need it.”
“That’s okay,” Yuri says. “I’ll stay.”
“All right. I’ll be in my office. Let me know if someone can get up here in the next few minutes.”
The sheer impracticality of getting the electric wheelchair out of my office without climbing in and driving it — more than a little insensitive, I think — is something I’m going to have to deal with if Yuri can’t get someone to come in and take care of it.
I’ve never given much thought to that sort of thing, but it can’t be a new situation to the hospital.
I pull out my phone and dial Grace’s number. It rings a couple of times and then goes to voicemail. She’s ignoring my call.
If I knew she was still in the building, I’d risk being a little late for my next appointment to talk to her.
There’s no telling where she is, though.
After something like that, she might already be in for her first day of the trial, or she might have left the hospital entirely.
Yuri pops her head into the room and says, “Nurse Travis is on her way.”
“Thanks, Yuri,” I say. “Let me know when Mr. Farrer gets here. And if Brian Probst comes back in, let him know where Nurse Travis took the chair and call Benedict so Brian can fill out the paperwork.”
“Okay,” she says, and leaves the room.