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Atoward h the shadoith a kid perched on his shoulders He had his arms raised, in part to secure the child, in part to torers of one hand into his ribs The kid clung to thein a te pace, like a rider mounted on a cahted passageway, an alcove where I’d seen the soft drink and icesound of a can of soda plued, this ti co theain on the second floor where they entered the third room from the end End of episode I wasn’t even aware that I’d taken un out, but ht, tucking un away My heartbeat slowed and I shook sos, like a runner at the end of an arduous race

I returned tothe narrow drive that ran behind thethe open parking lot I cut around the end of the building and unlocked ht on before I slipped inside The roo exactly as I’d left it I locked the door behind me and closed the drapes When I sat down beside the bedtable and picked up the telephone, I realized my underarms were damp with sweat, the fear like the aftershock of an earthquake It took a

I called Irene first She picked up instantly, as if she’d been hovering by the telephone "Oh, Kinsey Thank God," she said when I identified ot a call fro chat with Mrs Haynes earlier this afternoon and we’ve eone to a great deal of trouble to get her into a nursing home up here Really, it’s a lovely place and quite close to us I thought she’d be thrilled, but when Mrs Haynes told her about it, she went berserk… absolutely out of control She had to be sedated and even so, she’s raising hell Soet her calht "Well, I don’t want Jo argue, Irene, but I can’t believe I’d be of any help Your mother hasn’t the faintest idea who I am and, furthermore, she doesn’t care When she saw me this afternoon, she threw a bedpan across the room"

"I’m sorry I know it’s a nuisance, but I’ to her myself by phone, but she’s incoherent Mrs Haynes says so these older patients down, it just see up from El Centre for the eleven-o’clock shift, butfor help"

"God All right I’ll do what I can, but I don’t have any training in this kind of thing"

"I understand," she said "I just don’t knoho else to ask"

I told her I’d head on over to the hospital and then I hung up I couldn’t believe I’d been roped into this My presence on a geriatric as going to prove about as effective as the padlock on the trailer door All fored ested that a boy detective do likewise I didn’t want to see that old lady again While I ade of her I had my own ass to worry about

Why does everybody assuuished by my Betsy Wetsy doll Every time she peed in her little flannel didies, I could feelher and that cured it, but it did e of six, how suited I was for motherhood

It was in this charitable frame of mind that I proceeded to the Rio Vista I drove with an eye toI watched for pickup trucks of every color and size I thought the one I’d seen was a Dodge, but I hadn’t been paying close attention at the ti untoward occurred I reached the convalescent hospital, parked h the front entrance and headed for the stairs It was ones was up to It was only 8:00 phts had already been dimmed and the facility was bathed in the ht The old sleep restlessly, pained li, filled with fretful dreams, the fear of death, or, worse perhaps, the certainty of waking to another interminable day What did they have to hope for? What aht? I could sense the hiss of oxygen in the walls, the pall of the pharmaceuticals hich their bodies were infused Hearts would go on beating, lungs would pu all the poisons fros of dread, and hoould anyone provide relief fro malady, which was despair?