** November 27th, 2015 **
Lissy
Saturday night, late, my phone rang.
"Good lord, who's calling you so late at night," Kara asked, her voice thick with sleep.
"It can't be good this late, babe," I said as I opened the phone.
It was Rachel, who was crying. My heart sank, and I felt myself tense.
"Honey, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"It's June, Mom. She was mugged downtown and is in the hospital with a broken leg and a concussion." I felt myself tear up. "I didn't want her to go to work today. I was off and so were almost all of the people we know. But she said she had stuff to catch up on and I couldn't talk her out of it. The police called me; the ambulance was on it's way to the hospital."
The word came in a torrent. She sounded terrified.
"You're at the hospital, right?"
"Of course I am," she said, sounding put out that I'd even ask. "Saint Joseph's on Lake Shore." I'd never been there but I knew of it.
"Okay, honey, I'll get dressed and head down there. I shouldn't be too long at this time of night. See you in a bit."
As soon as I closed the phone, Kara began to ask questions.
I kissed her and said, "We'll talk while I get dressed."
She had all kinds of questions, and we chattered away as I dressed.
"I'll make you coffee. Sounds like you'll be there a while." Fabulous idea!!
When I got to the kitchen, Kara had a steaming mug of coffee waiting, as well as a thermos. God bless that woman.
"You know I want to come too, but I've got to stay here with Mick," she said after we'd kissed, my half hearted thanks for the coffee.
I was already at the closet getting a coat and pulling it on. A scarf, gloves, and a beret, just in case. And, oh, one more thing. I hurried to the front door and peered through the window. Phew!! Okay, good, it hadn't snowed, at least out here. No telling what was going on in the city, let alone near the lake where the hospital was.
One odd thing about my city. It can be a crisp, clear, cold, cloudless night out here in the burbs, and snow squalls can be dumping inch after inch of white stuff closer to the lake. "Lake effect snow," they call it.
"Whatcha doin', honey? Oh wait, you're checking to see if it snowed." Once a blonde...
"Yeah, I figured I'd check before I headed out."
Kara brought my purse and the thermos. We kissed and hugged each other.
"Please drive carefully. And do let the girls know I'm thinking about them. And if you get to see June, give her a kiss from me." She smiled. "She's a rascal, that one!"
I smiled. "That she is, lover, that she is."
Another kiss and I headed to the garage. Damn it was cold, even in the garage. We hadn't watched the news after cleaning the kitchen, so I had no clue what the forecast was. I opened the garage door and sat for a minute or two to let the car warm up a bit. I waved to Kara, who stood huddled and shivering in the doorway. She blew me a kiss and I put the car in reverse and headed out.
I turned the radio on once I got on the main road. There's a news station that does weather "on the eights" as they put it. I didn't know if they did it all night, but thought I'd take the chance.
My mind wandered as I drove and I froze. Had June been raped? I was certain Rachel would have said something, but she was in such a state that she might have forgotten to tell me, unlikely as that may seem. Or maybe the police and ambulance people... no, they would have reported any sort of sexual assault to the ER people. I think they're required to by statute.
I had to concentrate, even though the roads were mostly wide open at that time of the morning. I'd probably have more worry driving on the surface streets, with late night drinkers leaving bars and parties and such.
I got off the expressway and headed east toward the lake. As I drove, light snow dusted streets and parked cars. It wasn't heavy enough for me to turn my windshield wipers on, but I slowed down a bit.
I didn't know where the parking garage was off the top of my head, but that didn't matter. It was easy to find. I pulled in, took a ticket, and hurried to find a spot.
The hospital was quiet as you'd expect. A young black woman manned the front desk. I gave her June's name. She worked the keyboard, trying to find what room she was in.
"Seven thirty three." She pointed to her left. "Those elevators will take you to the seventh floor." I thanked her and hurried, pushing a button when I got to the bank of elevators. I looked for a nurses station when I exited.
"Seven thirty three, please." A pretty redhead with tired eyes pointed down a hallway. "Thank you."
I hurried down the hall, looking for the room. Well just goddamn me!! I'd left the stupid thermos in the car in my hurry to get inside and find my kid and her honey. Shit, shit, shit!!
I knocked on the half-closed door and heard a tiny, "Come in." I pasted a smile on my face and entered. Rach was there, face drawn, obviously stressed, and looking like what the cat dragged in. I breathed a sigh of relief that she was okay. June, on the other hand, had her leg in a cast, suspended in the air by some gizmo. She and Rachel were holding hands. But what drew me up short and sent my heart careening to my stomach was her face. Her pretty face was puffy and was already showing signs of bruising. A few steri-strips were holding swollen skin together. I had to gather myself.
"Thank you so much for coming, Mom. I'm a little sore, and my leg's busted up too. They set it and put this icky cast on, and gave me some meds for pain. La la la." She tried to smile through swollen lips and winced.
I leaned over the railing and gave her a gentle kiss. "I hurried as quickly as I could once Rachel called me, June. Tell me, have either of you called your parents?"
"Yes," they both said. Rach looked at her honey, whose nod indicated she could go ahead with her report.
"I called while they were setting and casting her leg. They'll fly in tomorrow... wait, later today, and will call or text once they're at the airport to let me know what time they land in Chicago."
"Do you want Kara to meet them and bring them here?" Both girls looked at me like I had two heads. Rachel answered.
"She's gotta stay home and take care of Mick. And her parents can take a cab in from the airport. No biggie there."
"We don't know for sure, but they might call on the way. And if I'm doing okay, they might find a hotel, check in, and cab it to the hospital."
Oh, right. I guess I was more shaken up than I thought. June looked like hell, and she might have been on pain meds, but she seemed sharp mentally. I was still all dressed up, so I took off all the outerwear and put it on the window sill.
"June, you got knocked around some and broke your leg. Anything else?" Rachel's eyes clouded and she looked like she wanted to cry.
